College Sample (college + sample)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


HUMAN STUDY: Heavy drinking relates to positive valence ratings of alcohol cues

ADDICTION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
Carmen Pulido
ABSTRACT A positive family history of alcohol use disorders (FH) is a robust predictor of personal alcohol abuse and dependence. Exposure to problem-drinking models is one mechanism through which family history influences alcohol-related cognitions and drinking patterns. Similarly, exposure to alcohol advertisements is associated with alcohol involvement and the relationship between affective response to alcohol cues and drinking behavior has not been well established. In addition, the collective contribution that FH, exposure to different types of problem-drinking models (e.g. parents, peers) and personal alcohol use have on appraisal of alcohol-related stimuli has not been evaluated with a large sample. We investigated the independent effects of FH, exposure to problem-drinking models and personal alcohol use on valence ratings of alcohol pictures in a college sample. College students (n = 227) completed measures of personal drinking and substance use, exposure to problem-drinking models, FH and ratings on affective valence of 60 alcohol pictures. Greater exposure to non-familial problem-drinkers predicted greater drinking among college students (, = 0.17, P < 0.01). However, personal drinking was the only predictor of valence ratings of alcohol pictures (, = ,0.53, P < 0.001). Personal drinking level predicted valence ratings of alcohol cues over and above FH, exposure to problem-drinking models and demographic characteristics. This suggests that positive affective responses to alcohol pictures are more a function of personal experience (i.e. repeated heavy alcohol use) than vicarious learning. [source]


Personality and psychopathology in an impulsive aggressive college sample

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2006
Laura E. Helfritz
Abstract Certain personality traits have been associated with impulsive aggression in both college and community samples, primarily irritability, anger/hostility, and impulsivity. The literature regarding the psychopathology associated with impulsive aggression is relatively sparse and strongly emphasizes DSM-IV-TR [APA, 2000] Axis II personality disorders, although some comorbidity with Axis I clinical disorders has been reported. The current study compares impulsive aggressive (IA) college students with their non-aggressive peers on several self-report measures of personality and psychopathology. Personality results were as predicted, with IAs scoring higher than controls on measures of impulsivity and aggression. Additionally, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), which was given for exploratory purposes, revealed a unique pattern of psychopathic traits in impulsive aggression that contained key differences from the callous-unemotional profile seen in premeditated aggression. Contrary to our hypothesis that a specific pattern of psychopathology (personality disorders, bipolar disorder, and adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) would emerge for impulsive aggression, IAs scored significantly higher than controls on nearly every clinical scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Somatic Complaints, Anxiety, Anxiety-Related Disorders, Depression, Mania, Schizophrenia, Borderline Features, Antisocial Features, Alcohol Problems, and Drug Problems), indicating a global elevation of psychopathology. In conclusion, while the personality traits and behaviors that characterize impulsive aggression are relatively consistent across individuals, its associated psychopathology is unexpectedly variable. Aggr. Behav. 00:1,10, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Longitudinal Associations Between Personality Profile Stability and Adjustment in College Students: Distinguishing Among Overall Stability, Distinctive Stability, and Within-Time Normativeness

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2010
Theo A. Klimstra
ABSTRACT In the present study, longitudinal associations of 3 aspects of personality profile stability (i.e., overall stability, distinctive stability, and within-time normativeness) with 3 adjustment measures (i.e., depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and delinquency) were examined, using 4 waves of longitudinal data on a Belgian college sample (N=565). Longitudinal path models revealed strong longitudinal associations between adjustment and overall stability. Subsequent analyses showed that it is not the degree to which one's personality profile consistently diverges from the average personality profile within a population (i.e., distinctive stability) that is related to adjustment but the degree to which a personality profile of an individual matches the average personality profile within the sample at a certain point in time (i.e., within-time normativeness). The current study thereby underscores the importance of distinguishing normativeness and distinctiveness when examining personality profile stability. [source]


Attitudes Toward the Poor and Attributions for Poverty

JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 2 2001
Catherine Cozzarelli
Prior psychological research on attitudes toward the poor has focused almost exclusively on the attributions people make to explain why individuals are poor (e.g., Smith & Stone, 1989; Zucker & Weiner, 1993). The goal of the current study was to investigate the relationships among feelings about the poor and poverty, stereotypes of the poor, attributions for poverty, and sociopolitical ideologies (as assessed by the Protestant Ethic, Belief in a Just World, and Right Wing Authoritarianism Scales). In our Midwestern college sample (n = 209), attitudes toward the poor were found to be significantly more negative than attitudes toward the middle class. In addition, participants were most likely to blame poor people them-selves for their poverty. However, attitudes toward the poor and attributions for the causes of poverty were found to vary among individuals from different sociodemographic backgrounds and by degree of endorsement of Protestant ethic, just world, and authoritarianism beliefs. Few gender differences were obtained. [source]


Personality disorder scale predictors of depression stability over time as a partial function of mental health history

PERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2009
Alan R. King
The high comorbidity of personality disturbance and psychiatric symptomatology has been well established. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV) personality disorder symptom clusters often represent aberrant, intense and labile emotional reactions to stressors. The role of personality disorder traits on the variability of depression symptoms as expressed over time, however, has gained relatively little research attention. The presence and number of personality disorder diagnoses have been associated with earlier depression onset and less favourable treatment outcomes suggesting that this form of mood disturbance may be more durable over time when associated with Axis II features. The present study examined Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) temporal stability as a function of Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) personality disorder base rate scores among 406 college students with and without reported histories of significant mental health concerns. Instability of BDI scores across time was shown to be predicted (r = 0.15) by selected personality disorderscale dimensions (antisocial, self-defeating, borderline and total number of MCMI-II personality disorder elevations). BDI reliability did drop significantly among participants reporting a mental health treatment history and multiple personality disorder elevations. Gender differences were not found in the strength of these bivariate correlations. Women generated smaller BDI absolute differences than men. While BDI test,retest reliability was only linked modestly to personality disorder attributes in this college sample, further study may be warranted to evaluate similar relationships within a clinical sample. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Measuring Sexism, Racism, Sexual Prejudice, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance: The Intolerant Schema Measure

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 10 2009
Allison C. Aosved
Despite similarities between sexism, racism, sexual prejudice, ageism, classism, and religious intolerance, investigators do not routinely investigate these intolerant beliefs simultaneously. The purpose of this project was to create a brief, psychometrically sound measure of intolerance reflecting these 6 constructs. Data from existing measures (Attitudes Toward Women Scale, Neosexism Scale, Modern and Old-Fashioned Racism Scale, Modern Homophobia Scale, Frabroni Scale of Ageism, Economic Beliefs Scale, and M-GRISM) and from items created by the authors were obtained from several college samples to create the Intolerant Schema Measure (ISM). Results support the internal consistency, test,retest reliability, and factor structure of the questionnaire. Expected relationships between measured concepts, social dominance, social desirability, and across key demographic groups support the validity of the instrument. [source]