Compulsive Sexual Behavior and Personality Characteristics : A Comparative Analysis (open access)

Compulsive Sexual Behavior and Personality Characteristics : A Comparative Analysis

The purpose of the present study was to compare the scores of the Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Coopersmith Inventory of heterosexual men with compulsive sexual behavior (N = 22), homosexual men with compulsive sexual behavior (N = 19), heterosexual men without compulsive sexual behavior (N = 38), and homosexual men without compulsive sexual behavior (N = 8). The Sex Addiction Screening Test was used to determined placement in a group. Findings revealed men who exhibit compulsive sexual behavior are significantly more depressed, experience lower self-esteem and have higher state anxiety (situational) than controls.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Austin, Christopher Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance of Children With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury on the Process Scoring System for the Intermediate Category Test (open access)

Performance of Children With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury on the Process Scoring System for the Intermediate Category Test

The clinical utility of the Intermediate Category Test, a measure of executive functioning in children 9 to 14 years of age, is currently limited by the availability of only a Total Error score for normative interpretation. The Process Scoring System (PSS) was developed to provide a standardized method of assessing specific processing patterns and problem-solving errors. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of the PSS scores to discriminate between children with and without suspected executive deficits, thereby providing evidence of criterion-related validity.
Date: May 1997
Creator: Bass, Catherine
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Performance Levels of Subject Matter Experts on Job Analysis Outcomes (open access)

Effects of Performance Levels of Subject Matter Experts on Job Analysis Outcomes

Much research has been undertaken to determine how Subject Matter Expert characteristics affect job analysis outcomes. The current study seeks to discover if performance levels are related to current incumbents ratings of their positions. A group of 114 corporate associates, from two administrative positions, served as Subject Matter Experts (SME) for this study. Separate job analyses for each position were conducted using the Job Analysis Task Checklist. The results for each job were analyzed to determine if SME performance levels affected job analysis outcomes. The results for both jobs showed that there were very few differences in job analysis results as a function of SME performance levels.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Boyd, Charlotte Friedersdorff
System: The UNT Digital Library
External and Internal Influences on Congruence Between Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (open access)

External and Internal Influences on Congruence Between Sexual Attitudes and Behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the hypotheses that the external factors of family environment, gender, and clinical status and the internal factors of self-esteem and impression management would have either a positive influence or a negative influence on individuals' congruence between their sexual attitudes and their sexual behavior. The hypotheses that the external and internal factors would be significant predictors of congruence between sexual attitudes and behavior were not supported by regression analyses. Clinical status and impression management were significant predictors of congruence but in the opposite direction than hypothesized. When age was factored out of the regression equation, clinical status was no longer a significant predictor of congruence. However, impression management remained a significant predictor of congruence.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Brewer, Laura C. (Laura Catherine)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Clinical Correlates of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A) for a Male Delinquent Population (open access)

Clinical Correlates of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A) for a Male Delinquent Population

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was one of the most widely used psychological tests administered to adolescents. The MMPI-A is a revised version of the MMPI that was developed specifically for adolescents. The purpose of this study is to establish clinical correlates for the MMPI-A standard scale codetypes.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Cashel, Mary Louise
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance of Psychiatric and Head Injury Patients on the General Neuropsychological Deficit Scales (open access)

Performance of Psychiatric and Head Injury Patients on the General Neuropsychological Deficit Scales

Reitan and Wolfson's General Neuropsychological Deficit Scale and Left and Right Neuropsychological Deficit Scales were applied to Halstead-Reitan test data of individuals with psychotic or substance abuse disorders with and without a head injury.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Collingwood, Lisa M. (Lisa Marie)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Differences in Parenting Stress Between Parents of Children with ADHD, Children with Internalizing Behavior Problems, and Non-Referred Children (open access)

Differences in Parenting Stress Between Parents of Children with ADHD, Children with Internalizing Behavior Problems, and Non-Referred Children

Recently, researchers have begun to explore the associated impacts of ADHD on parent and family functioning, with an increasing focus on parenting stress. Accumulating empirical evidence is mixed, suggesting that parents of children with ADHD report increased levels of parenting stress when compared to parents of children with learning disabilities, and parents of non-referred children, but report equally stressful parenting levels when compared to parents of children with externalizing behavior problems. Results of the present study comparing reported parenting stress levels between parents of children with ADHD, children with internalizing behavior problems, and nonreferred children, were partially supportive of results found in past studies indicating higher levels of parenting stress among parents of children with ADHD. However, strong gender effects were found between mothers and fathers, which mediated the overall results.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Conte, Deborah A. (Deborah Ann)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship between Hardiness and Responses to Life Events in Adulthood (open access)

The Relationship between Hardiness and Responses to Life Events in Adulthood

The relationship between psychological hardiness and individuals' coping with two life events, involuntary job loss and post-parental launching of adolescent children, was investigated in a sample of 146 adults, 83 of which had experienced job loss and 61 of which had experienced the empty nest. Volunteers completed questionnaires which measured hardiness, distress, coping strategies, neuroticism, and extraversion. Multivariate analyses were performed, both with and without covariates, for overall hardiness as well as the hardiness subscales of control, commitment, and challenge. Significant hardiness by life event interactions on escape-avoidance coping were found in both sets of analyses. Main effects for hardiness, however, disappeared when controls for neuroticism and extraversion were utilized. Findings underscore the necessity of employing neuroticism controls in future hardiness research.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Crowley, Barbara Jo
System: The UNT Digital Library
Motivational Style, Length of Residency, and Voluntariness in Relation to Nursing Home Adjustment (open access)

Motivational Style, Length of Residency, and Voluntariness in Relation to Nursing Home Adjustment

This study related length of residency, motivational style, and the resident's role in deciding to move to a nursing facility to adjustment, represented by a number of variables (e.g., desired control, expected control, life satisfaction, and affect). Fifty-five residents of nursing facilities and assisted-living apartments were given an interview, compiled of a number of brief measures relating to aspects of adjustment. While results from multivariate analyses of variance failed to support any of the hypotheses, post-hoc univariate analyses of variance and regression analyses revealed important relationships between motivational style and voluntariness regarding the move and factors of adjustment. Overall, post-hoc findings indicated that, in the relatively constrictive environment of the nursing home, persons with a non-self-determined motivational style and persons who decided themselves to come to the nursing home had higher scores on various factors related to adjustment.
Date: May 1997
Creator: Curtiss, Karin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cluster Analysis of the MMPI-2 in a Chronic Low-Back Pain Population (open access)

Cluster Analysis of the MMPI-2 in a Chronic Low-Back Pain Population

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most frequently used psychological measure in the assessment of chronic pain. Since the introduction of the MMPI-2 in 1989 only two published studies have focused on cluster analysis of chronic pain patients. This study investigated MMPI-2 cluster solutions of chronic low-back pain patients. Data was collected from 2,051 chronic low-back pain patients from a multidisciplinary pain clinic in the southwestern United States. A hierarchical clustering procedure was performed on K-corrected T-scores of the MMPI-2 using the three validity and ten clinical scales. Four relatively homogeneous subgroups were identified for each sex with the MMPI-2. In general, these results replicated the findings of previous researchers using both the MMPI and MMPI-2.
Date: December 1997
Creator: DeBeus, Roger J. (Roger John)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Elementary School Teachers' Responses to Potential Child Abuse (open access)

Elementary School Teachers' Responses to Potential Child Abuse

This study was designed to evaluate: (a) teachers' behavior when they are confronted with potential cases of child abuse and (b) the information teachers require to make accurate decisions regarding the reporting of suspected child abuse. Teachers were presented with three vignettes describing cases of varying levels of suspected maltreatment, and different amounts of additional information. They were then asked to indicate how likely they would be to report the case to Child Protective Services (CPS). It was expected that reporting behavior would increase as available information increased. The results generally did not support this hypothesis. No significant impact on reporting behavior was found when teachers were presented with either the symptom list or the legal interpretation; however, there was a trend toward an interaction with the level of abusive indications in the case. These results are discussed in the context of the need for further training.
Date: May 1997
Creator: Driskill, Julie D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Cognitive and Emotional Correlates of Neglect in School Age Children (open access)

The Cognitive and Emotional Correlates of Neglect in School Age Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive and emotional functioning of neglected, physically abused, and clinical control children between six and thirteen years of age who were referred for testing at the Dallas Child Guidance Clinic.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Elisens, Merrie M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparing Quality of Life: American and Portuguese Cancer Patients with Hematological Malignancies (open access)

Comparing Quality of Life: American and Portuguese Cancer Patients with Hematological Malignancies

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences and similarities of quality of life (QoL) in American and Portuguese cancer patients with hematological malignancies as well as the robustness of the measures cross-culturally. Portuguese participants were 98 patients and 49 accompanying persons and the American participants were 55 patients and 22 accompanying persons. Fifty (Portuguese sample) to 40% (American sample) of the patients came with an accompanying person who answered the questionnaire concerning the patient's QoL. The two cultural groups were characterized in terms of QoL (measured by the SF-36 and the FLIC), social support (Social Support Scale), socio-demographic and clinical variables. Portuguese patients reported a higher QoL. However, this result could be attributable to the fact that the two cultural samples differ in socio-economic status. The measures seem to be comparable for the Portuguese and American samples, at least in what concerns reliability and concurrent validity.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Forjaz, Maria João
System: The UNT Digital Library
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Differential Diagnosis of Sexually Abused Children: a Survey of Psychologists (open access)

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Differential Diagnosis of Sexually Abused Children: a Survey of Psychologists

Psychologists' diagnostic choices when the specificity of child sexual abuse in a clinical vignette is varied was examined. The degree to which Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was judged to be a viable diagnostic choice among a set of diagnoses was analyzed under conditions with sexual abuse stated, implied, not stated, and excluded. PTSD was rated as more likely for the stated and implied sexual abuse vignettes than for the not stated and excluded vignettes.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Gonzalez, Christine
System: The UNT Digital Library
Impact of TAT Card Selection on Evaluation of Object Relations Functioning Following Childhood Physical Abuse (open access)

Impact of TAT Card Selection on Evaluation of Object Relations Functioning Following Childhood Physical Abuse

The purpose of this study is to show principles of TAT card pull are applicable to object relations theory, and card pull effects are greater in subjects with greater impairments. Stories of physically abused and control child and adolescent subjects were evaluated on object relations scales of the SCORS (Westen et al., 1985). Scores varied systematically as a function of card stimulus characteristics. Analysis of scales assessing internalization of self supported stimulus inhibition interpretation while scales measuring views of others or individual affective experiences advanced stimulus pull explanation. Abused individuals' response patterns were similar to controls except on CR. Results of this study may increase TAT utility for evaluating object relations functioning by guiding card selection.
Date: May 1997
Creator: Grissett, Dana L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Perceived Relationships of Young Adults Reared in Stepfamilies with their Grandparents and Stepgrandparents (open access)

The Perceived Relationships of Young Adults Reared in Stepfamilies with their Grandparents and Stepgrandparents

This study proposed that the perceived quality of the custodial grandparent/grandchild relationship in step families will not be interrupted by the parental separation and remarriage and that the determinants of the quality of this relationship would be similar to that associated with the grandchild/grandparent relationship in intact families. The research by Shoire and Hayslip (1988) who studied grandparenting indicates that four variables are significant in this perceived relationship (in order of magnitude): kinship position (maternal versus paternal), grand parenting style, parent/grandparent bond, and influence the grandparent has on the grandchild. There same four variables were proposed to predict the perceived quality of the custodial grandparent/grandchild relationship in step families. Grandparenting style, as defined bu Shore and Hayslip (1988), is comprises of three variables, parentlike behaviors provided, services provided, and visitation patterns. To have a continuous rather than nominal value for grandparenting style and to determine which aspect of grandparenting style is most important, these three variables, parentlike behaviors, services, and visitation were used in place of grandparenting style. Therefore, this study proposed that the following variables would predict perceived quality of the custodial grandparent/grandchild relationship: kinship position,parentlike behaviors provided, services provided, visitation patterns, parent/grandparent bond, and influence the grandparent has …
Date: August 1997
Creator: Haberstroh, Chris L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sociocultural and Psychological Correlates of Eating Disorder Behavior in Nonclinical Adolescent Females (open access)

Sociocultural and Psychological Correlates of Eating Disorder Behavior in Nonclinical Adolescent Females

The purpose of this study was to examine sociocultural and psychological correlates of bulimic symptomatology and drive for thinness in a sample of nonclinical female adolescents.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Helmcamp, Annette Marguerite
System: The UNT Digital Library
Prediction of Aggressive and Socially Disruptive Behavior among Forensic Patients: a Validation of the Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (open access)

Prediction of Aggressive and Socially Disruptive Behavior among Forensic Patients: a Validation of the Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version

Psychopathic criminals commit more crimes, are more prone to recidivism, and more likely to engage in violent crimes and other aggressive behavior than nonpsychopathic criminals. Less is known about forensic patients, both with and without psychopathy, and their aggression. In the current study, patients in a maximum security hospital were examined with respect to their psychopathy and its predictive value on institutional management and dangerousness. In this regard, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R) have proven to be valid and reliable measures of psychopathy. The present study was an attempt to establish predictive validity for a new version: the Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCLSV). As such, this study examined the PCL-SV's relationship to (a) diagnoses of Antisocial Personality Disorder according to DSM-III-R criteria and (b) the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Aggression, Drug Problems, and Antisocial Features scales. The influence of major Axis I disorders on the assessment of psychopathy with the PCLSV was also examined. Participants were 150 male forensic psychiatric patients at Vernon State Hospital who were committed for various reasons: incompetence to stand trial, initial evaluation and treatment after having been found not guilty by reason of insanity, and manifest dangerousness. Chart reviews …
Date: May 1997
Creator: Hill, Christie D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Continuation in the Defining of the Construct of Optimism (open access)

A Continuation in the Defining of the Construct of Optimism

One hundred twenty-two undergraduate students at the University of North Texas were administered several different optimism scales and also measures of similar constructs such as hope. Results indicated that most measures of optimism show only low to moderate intercorrelations with other measures of the same construct. Additionally, factor analysis confirmed that the measures of optimism actually appear to be assessing multiple factors and not necessarily optimism alone. Implications of the present study include the necessity of individual researchers to be familiar with the specific measure of optimism used in a given study as scores on differing measures of optimism may actually be providing very different information.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Hinze, Travis Wayne
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Process of Sharing Team Leadership : A Study of Key Leadership Behaviors and Who Exhibits Them (open access)

The Process of Sharing Team Leadership : A Study of Key Leadership Behaviors and Who Exhibits Them

Using a manufacturing setting that is organized into self-managed teams, the current study identified and measured key leadership behaviors within the teams. Questions that were asked include: are some team leadership behaviors more critical to a team's level of functioning than other behaviors? and do successful self-managed teams rely on formal leadership to a lesser extent than members of less successful teams? These questions were asked in the context of leadership as a process, not an individual.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Horner, Melissa A. (Melissa Amy)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Detection of Malingering on Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and the Booklet Category Test (open access)

Detection of Malingering on Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and the Booklet Category Test

The capacity of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and the Booklet Category Test (BCT) to discriminate between groups of brain-injured, simulated malingering, and normal participants was investigated in this study. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to examine the differences between groups categorized as sophisticated and naive fakers. Clinical decision rules and discriminant function analyses were utilized to identify malingerers. Clinical decision rules ranged in hit rates from 41% to 78%, in sensitivity from 2% to 100%, and in specificity from 86% to 100%. Discriminant functions ranged in hit rates from 81% to 86%, in sensitivity from 68% to 73% and in specificity from 82% to 87%. Overall, the least helpful detection method examined was below chance responding on either measure, while the most efficient was gross errors for SPM.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Isler, William C. (William Charles)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship of Gender Discrepant Attitudes, Behaviors and Characteristics to Disordered Eating (open access)

The Relationship of Gender Discrepant Attitudes, Behaviors and Characteristics to Disordered Eating

This study extended earlier research supporting discrepancy theory by including a multidimensional conceptualization of gender including attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics. Analyses revealed that gender discrepancy when assessed multidimensionally or unidimensionally (as in past research) was not significantly related to eating disordered symptomatology.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Johnson, Courtney Ellen, 1969-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hemispheric Interactions and Event-Related Potentials in Lateralized Stroop and Stroop Analog Tasks (open access)

Hemispheric Interactions and Event-Related Potentials in Lateralized Stroop and Stroop Analog Tasks

Classical Stroop stimuli and newly developed face/word Stroop analog stimuli were used to investigate hemispheric interactions in Stroop interference effects (SEs) and corresponding event-related potentials (ERPs). Lateralized stimuli were presented unilaterally and bilaterally as congruent or incongruent color strip-word or face-word pairs (to invoke right hemisphere (RH) and left hemisphere (LH) specialization, respectively, in the latter case). The common finding for such tasks is that responses for the congruent condition are faster and more accurate than for the incongruent condition (i.e., the SE). A primary prediction is that the SE will be maximized when both the distractor and target components, or distractor alone, are presented to the specialized hemisphere (i.e., LH for words and RH for faces). A total of 88 right-handed University of North Texas students participated in one of four experiments. Participants manually responded to one component of the stimuli (i.e., color, face, or word), while ignoring the other. Behaviorally, participants showed a robust SE across all experiments, especially for the face/word task with word targets. Findings from the face/word Stroop analog tasks also indicated that SEs were produced by selective attention to either faces or words, implicating a role for top-down (controlled) processes. Hemispheric asymmetries were observed …
Date: December 1997
Creator: Kavcic, Voyko
System: The UNT Digital Library
Increasing Differentiation on Vocational Assessments among Gifted High School Students (open access)

Increasing Differentiation on Vocational Assessments among Gifted High School Students

Multipotentiality makes career counseling with gifted students difficult. High-flat vocational profiles give the impression that gifted students can develop a wide range of abilities to an equally high level. High-flat vocational profiles may be due to assessments that consider abilities and disregard interests and values, and ceiling effects from the use of age-appropriate, rather than cognitively-appropriate measures. Subjects included 170 gifted students from a residential, early college entrance program (M=15.9 yrs., SD=.361). Subjects completed the Scholastic Aptitude Test, Self-Directed Search, and Study of Values. McNemar's Test of Correlated Proportions shows the proportion of multipotential profiles decreases significantly when cognitively-appropriate measures of interests and values are considered, in addition to abilities. Pearson Chi-square shows no ethnic differences.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Kidner, Cindy L. (Cindy Lee)
System: The UNT Digital Library