The purpose of this study was to analyze the factor structure of items pertaining to health on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI2) for chronic back pain patients in comparison to a control group. The results may be used as groundwork for developing an MMPI2 subscale to describe this population. The groups differed in the sequence of the resulting factors and the percentage of variance accounted for by each factor. The factors extracted when evaluating the control group were titled in order: Poor Physical Health, Digestive Difficulties, Equilibrium, Depression/Malaise, and Multiple Somatic Complaints. Resulting factors for the pain group were: Depression/Malaise, Digestive Difficulties, Multiple Somatic Complaints, Headaches/Dizziness, and Neurological Reaction/Poor Physical Health.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of sexually aggressive behavior through the examination of humor appreciation among male undergraduates. As compared to nonaggressive males, sexually aggressive males showed a significantly greater appreciation for humor which negatively stereotyped females, portrayed prejudicial views of rape-and rape victims, and contained content related to male sex drive and virility. Differences in humor appreciation were also found for males with high sex drive. Additional findings included correlations between aggressive drive and sexually aggressive status, as well as between sex drive and likelihood to rape.

The purpose of the present study was to test a specific path model. It was hypothesized that the relationship between the impact (amount and valence) of stress and an outcome (expressing violence toward a partner) would be mediated by an individual's cognitive appraisal of stressful events. Multiple regression procedures were used to test the model. Standardized beta coefficients indicated the strength of the relationships among the variables. Significant findings indicated that the strength of specific relationships among the ten variables (impact of events, three types of primary appraisal, four types of secondary appraisal and the expression of threats and acts of physical violence toward a partner) differed depending upon subject sex and whether the impact of the events was perceived as positive or negative.

Differences in college student's psychological well-being, extrapunitiveness, and intropunitiveness were related to the presence or absence of maltreatment during childhood years, and its acknowledgement by the student. Subjects were 56 male and 85 female undergraduate students at the University of North Texas. Subjects were given structural scale v.3 of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the Extrapunitive (E), and Intropunitive (I) indices of the Hostility-Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), and the Physical Punishment scale (PP-scale) of the Assessing Environments Questionnaire (AEIII). Results indicate no significant differences in psychological well-being, extrapunitiveness, or intropunitiveness, which would be explained by the presence of maltreatment or its acknowledgement.

The purpose of the present study was to begin development of a psychological profile for environmentally ill patients. Existing psychiatric labels are unable to encompass these patients. Test scores were drawn from a pool of 89 patients whose environmental exposures were verified by the presence of toxins in the blood serum. A Mental Status Exam, a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised screen, and the Profile of Mood States were administered. Results indicate a primary pattern which is significantly different from test norms consisting of fatigue, reduced mental functioning, and a lack of psychotic or personality disorder indicators. The reported symptoms of environmentally ill patients were objectively verified by current psychological test instruments. The need for a new diagnostic category for people who have been poisoned by environmental toxins is discussed.

Sleep, emotions and pain are intimately connected, physiologically, by their location and utilization of the same brain centers and neurotransmitters. Sleep disturbances have been clinically observed in chronic pain populations; yet, no treatment program has formally addressed this aspect of patient care. It is hypothesized that a pain population (PN) will differ significantly from a non-injured workforce (WF) when reviewing quantitative and qualitative sleep data. This study strongly supports that sleep disturbances and socioeconomic decrements exist in chronic pain patients. Forty-seven variables were surveyed and 13 were found to show significant differences between the groups and seven were found to discriminate between the PN and WF groups at less than the .0001 level. A discriminant analysis was performed to determine the smallest model which could efficiently classify cases, according to successive root variables. The major discriminators are pain levels, medication, amount of sleep obtained and number of awakenings.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain more information about the developmental skills and abnormal behaviors of children with autism. Major interests included exploring the pattern of developmental strengths and weaknesses, the relationship between unusual behaviors, and the relationship of autistic behaviors to development and IQ.

Spousal congruence at multiple levels of perception was examined in relationship to marital adjustment. Subjects were 164 active duty and retired Air Force married couples.

The purpose of this study was to determine if two elements of self-conception, environment and biology, influenced trait and dyadic measures of empathy.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reliability of parallel-forms of the Comprehensive Neuropsychological Screening Device (CNS). Forty-five subjects ranging in age from 16 to 69 were administered Form A and Form B of the CNS at two week intervals. Results indicated that the CNS has adequate test-retest reliability. The results suggest the applicability of using the CNS as a screening device for brain dysfunction.

Two interviews were conducted with 20 participants from a Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) crisis house. Subjects were classified as good or poor premorbid level of functioning using a case history form and information from their social history charts. The study employed a self-narrative method to direct self disclosure. In the first interview, participants were asked to describe themselves. In the second interview they were asked to identify what they would change about their histories and to describe how this would make a difference in how their lives turned out. Support was not found for the hypothesis that those with the higher premorbid functioning would be better able to shift perspectives and use more positive self constructs. Methodological, theoretical and future research areas are discussed.

Immunological correlates of anger conditions were investigated. Participants were 33 females and 36 males, ranging from 25 to 55 years old. Percentages of total T-lymphocytes, suppressor-T, helper-T, and ratio of helper-T to suppressor-T cells were measured. Differences were found between males and females for Anger Control and Anger Expression. For females, total T-cell percentages correlated with State Anger, Angry Temperament, Anger Out, and the combination of State Anger/Angry Reaction. Suppressor-T cell percentages correlated with State Anger, Trait Anger, Angry Temperament, Anger Out, Anger Expression, and the combination of Angry Temperament/Anger In. Helper-T cells correlated with State Anger, Angry Temperament, Angry Reaction, Anger Out, and Anger Control. Mindbody appears to function in a unified fashion.

The present study investigated the relationship between level of security clearance in engineering occupations and stress. A total of 63 male employees in the field of engineering and design with varying levels of security clearance employed by a large Southwestern defense company participated in the study. Data was obtained utilizing the Engineering Stress Questionnaire which measures sources of stress, work locus of control, social support, job difficulty, job characteristics, perceived stress, and demographic variables. T-tests revealed no statistically significant differences between employees with low security clearances and high security clearances with regard to perceived stress level. However, correlational support was found for hypotheses involving social support, job difficulty, job characteristics, sources of stress, and perceived stress. Path analysis was performed to investigate the impact of variable relationships.

Only a limited amount of research exists which addresses low self-esteem, poor self-concept, and distorted self-image in ADHD children. The most urgent task is to test assumptions regarding self-perception and to assess the dimensions of self-concept of ADHD children. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) was used in the proposed study to assess those dimensions. Subjects of this study are 8- to 12- year-old boys diagnosed with ADHD and the same age boys who exhibit no symptoms of psychopathology. Results of analyses of covariance indicate that ADHD boys tend to view themselves as significantly less competent in the areas of scholastic competence and global self-worth in comparison to their normal counterparts. Differences between means of ADHD and normal boys on the social acceptance subscale of the SPPC approached significance. Intelligence and social status also had a significant impact on some of the differences noted between the two groups.