Andre Gomez

Personality traits of the behavioural approach and inhibition systems: associations with processing of emotional stimuli

Abstract This study examined the relationships of the traits associated with Grays behavioural approach system (BAS) and behavioural inhibition system (BIS) with cognitive processing of emotional information. Initially, participants completed questionnaires covering trait impulsivity and anxiety, and BAS and BIS sensitivities. They were then tested individually. After completing a questionnaire of current positive and negative moods, they completed three tasks measuring processing of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral information. Consistent with Gray’s theory, the results showed that impulsivity and BAS sensitivity were associated with the processing of pleasant information, while anxiety and BIS sensitivity were associated with the processing of unpleasant information. These findings imply that Gray’s BAS–BIS theory can be extended to cognitive processing of emotional information.

Susceptibility to positive and negative mood states: test of Eysenck’s, Gray’s and Newman’s theories

The study examined the relationships of extraversion and neuroticism with trait anxiety and impulsivity, and how extraversion and neuroticism, and impulsivity and anxiety are related to negative and positive mood states. Subjects completed questionnaires covering extraversion, neuroticism, anxiety and impulsivity, and were divided randomly into two mood induction groups: positive (N=50) and negative (N=48). The positive mood induction group was provided with money, progressively, during performance of a go/no-go task, while for the negative mood induction group, money was progressively withdrawn during task performance. Results showed that negative mood induction was predicted by neuroticism and extraversion×neuroticism, while positive mood induction was predicted by extraversion. Anxiety and impulsivity also predicted negative and positive mood induction, respectively. These findings are discussed in the context of Eysenck’s, Gray’s and Newman’s theories of personality and mood.

Neuroticism and extraversion as predictors of coping styles during early adolescence

Abstract This study examined how neuroticism, extraversion and neuroticism×extraversion predict cognitive approach, behavioral approach and avoidance coping styles. A group of 268 (138 males and 130 females) 12- and 13-year old adolescents completed questionnaires covering these measures. The results indicated that in males, extraversion predicted all three coping styles positively. In this group, neuroticism also predicted avoidance coping positively, and it exacerbated the effect of extraversion on all three coping styles. In females, extraversion predicted both the approach coping styles positively, while neuroticism predicted avoidance coping positively. For females, there was no neuroticism×extraversion interaction. These findings are discussed in terms of the effects of gender, neuroticism and extraversion on adolescent coping styles during early adolescence.

Children's Depression Inventory: invariance across children and adolescents with and without depressive disorders.

In the study, the authors examined the measurement (configural, factor loadings, thresholds, and error variances) and structural (factor variances, covariances, and mean scores) invariance of the Childrens Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1992) across ratings provided by clinic-referred children and adolescents with (N = 383) and without (N = 412) depressive disorders. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis of the Craighead, Smucker, Craighead, and Ilardi (1998) CDI model supported full measurement invariance and invariance for structural variances and covariances. Invariance for thresholds was also supported by multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) procedures that controlled for the effects of age; sex; and the presence or absence of anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant/conduct disorders. The MIMIC analyses showed that for latent mean scores, the group with depressive disorders had higher scores, with at least medium effect sizes, for Self-Deprecation and Biological Dysregulation. The theoretical, psychometric, and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Item Response Theory Analyses of Parent and Teacher Ratings of the ADHD Symptoms for Recoded Dichotomous Scores

Objective: The two-parameter logistic model (2PLM) was used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the inattention (IA) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) symptoms. Method: To accomplish this, parents and teachers completed the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale (DBRS) for a group of 934 primary school-aged children. Results: The results for the discrimination parameters showed that all the IA and HI symptoms for both groups of respondents were generally good for discriminating those with and without IA and HI, respectively. For virtually all symptoms, their threshold values showed endorsement of the symptoms when the underlying trait levels were at least 1 to 1.5 SD above the mean. The item information function values for most symptoms indicated reasonable reliability from around the mean trait levels to moderately high trait levels. Conclusion: These findings indicate good discrimination and reliability for parent and teacher ratings of the DBRS for identifying children with relatively high levels of the ADHD symptoms. (J. of Att. Dis. 2011; 15(4) 269-285)