Dianne E. Green

Development And Evaluation Of A 21‐Item Version Of The Hopkins Symptom Checklist With New Zealand And United States Respondents

Abstract The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) is a widely used measure of symptom distress and in particular is a valuable criterion measure in psychotherapeutic drug trials. Its reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change have been well established. However, its factor structure has been subject to much debate. In previous studies a wide range of different factor structures have been found by various researchers. The aim of the present study was to produce a short, less arduous, but acceptably reliable version of HSCL with a replicable factor structure. The factor structure which was based on a previously described, robust three-factor version of the HSCL, was established using a two-step process which began with a two-factor analysts of the largest subscales, General Feelings of Distress (GFD) and Somatic Distress (SD). This was followed by a three-factor analysis of seven items from each of three subscales. The robustness of the factor structure of the resulting scale was revealed by the factor co...

Attitudes to AIDS: A comparative analysis of a new and negative stereotype

Two propositions about attitudes, which have previously been supported with respect to the mentally ill, were examined with respect to AIDS patients. The first, that people attach a stigma to the AIDS patient, was strongly supported, and two quite independent components of the stigma were found. One of these components identified as dependence, was closely related to the attributes of typical cancer patients and coronary heart patients, while the other, identified as low moral worth, clearly distinguished the AIDS patient from the other two groups of patients. The second proposition, that attitudes to AIDS are not strongly related to age, sex and occupational background, was largely supported. However there was some evidence that males rated AIDS patients lower on moral worth than did females.

Community attitudes to mental illness in New Zealand twenty-two years on

Three propositions about attitudes to mental illness derived from Nunnally (Popular Conceptions of Mental Health. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1961) were examined with the semantic differential technique as it was used originally by Olmsted and Ordway (Final Report to National Institutes of Mental Health, 1963). Attitudes were compared between several studies using the same measures, that ranged over 22 years from 1962 to 1984. The results were remarkably consistent across all studies, indicating that the community had persistently negative attitudes towards the mentally ill and was no more likely today to want to play a major role in the care of the mentally ill than was the case more than 20 years ago. As a consequence it appears that there will need to be substantial and permanent attitude change, of a kind fleetingly observed over the period of the study, before the professional care of the mentally ill in the community may be expected to have maximum impact.

The Structure Of The Eysenck Personality Inventory: A Comparison Between Simple And More Complex Analyses Of A Multiple Scale Questionnaire

Responses of 392 students to the Eysenck Personality Inventory were analyzed using conventional factor-analytic techniques and a nonmetric multidimensional scaling method. Rotating the first two factors gave a result clearly comparable with an earlier third-order analysis, while a three-factor rotation neatly clustered the original Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie scale items. A three-dimensional non-metric analysis appeared to provide no more information for users of the questionnaire than was given by a comparable two-dimensional analysis which had produced a solution closely resembling that of the two-factor rotation. The conclusion reached was that psychometrically useful information may be more readily revealed by simple and rationally restricted analyses than by exhaustive, more complex, and higher order solutions.

Community attitudes to mental health: A comparative study

Abstract Three propositions about attitudes to mental illness derived from Nunnally [36] were examined with the semantic differential technique in the manner of Olmsted and Ordway [37] and Olmsted and Durham [38]. The examination was conducted in a population of 215 New Zealand University students. The outcome, in the same direction as some earlier studies, gave no confidence to those who considered that the community was ready, willing and able to play a major role in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of the mentally ill. As a consequence, it was considered that some prevailing social attitudes will need to be changed before professional care is transferred to the community.

Do we need positive illusions to carry out plans? Illusion: and instrumental coping

This study tested the theory that positive illusions and instrumental (problem-focused) coping behaviours are related (Brown, J. D. (1993). Coping with stress: The beneficial role of positive illusions. In A. P. Turnbull, J. M. Patterson, S. K. Behr, D. L. Murphy, J. G. Marquis, & M. J. Blue-Banning (Eds.), Cognitive coping, families, and disability, Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.). Positive illusion was assessed as a discrepancy between positive bias towards the self in trait ratings and positive bias towards average others, where ratings were self-favouring. Problem-focused coping was assessed through recall of coping with a recent stressful situation. The results showed that positive illusion scores were unrelated to problem-focused coping scores. It was suggested that although individuals need to be positive to cope well they do not need positive illusions. Tests for gender differences showed that males held more positive illusions than females. No gender differences were found for problem-focused coping but females used emotion-focused coping more than males to cope with a recent stressful situation.

The three-factor structure of the Eysenck personality inventory revealed by a two-step confirmatory procedure

Abstract Evidence for the existence of the assumed three-subscale structure of the Eysenck Personality Inventory has been persistent but tenuous. It was suggested that a substantial reason for this may be the discrepancy between the numbers of items in the Lie (L) scale (9 items) and those in the other two scales [Neuroticism (N) and Extraversion (E)] which have 24 items in each. A two-step confirmatory procedure to circumvent this problem was proposed, involving a two-factor analysis of the Neuroticism and Extraversion items, followed by a three-factor analysis of equal numbers of N, E and L scale items. An analysis of the responses of 386 undergraduates demonstrating the proposed procedure revealed in the first step, quite unequivocally, the presence of Neuroticism and Extraversion factors, and in the second step, a third factor clearly congruent with the L scale.

The general factor in the conservatism scale: A multinational multicultural examination

Abstract The focus of this study was an examination of a general factor of Conservatism identified in the Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale. A group of 23 items related to this factor, has previously been identified using the responses of five independent English speaking subject groups all of which have strong cultural associations with the Judeo-Christian religious tradition which appears to provide its core. The suggestion examined, was that the further a group lies, culturally and linguistically, from such English speaking groups, the fewer of the 23 core items identified, that would remain significantly associated with the general factor. First principal components loadings derived from the responses of two South African groups, two Israeli groups and a Japanese group were compared. Expectations based on the relationship of the responses of these groups to those of the previously described subjects were clearly supported. An English speaking South African group showed significant loadings on the highest number of items, followed by Afrikaans speakers, Jewish Israelis, and finally Arab Israelis and Japanese.

The Conservatism Scale: In Search of a Replicable Factor Structure

Abstract Responses of three independent groups of subjects to the Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale were submitted to principal components analyses followed by varimax rotation. Inspection of the unrotated factor loadings provided evidence for the presence of a general factor in all three groups, supporting the contention of the scales authors (Wilson & Patterson, 1968). Detailed analyses of the present and previously published results revealed a consistent underlying theme of fundamental religious conservatism. Examination of loadings obtained from two-, three-, and four-factor rotations, using the FACTOREP procedure for factor comparison, failed to identify any other consistently replicable factor structure, a result consistent with conclusions based on an examination of previously published research.

A multiple replication of the three-factor solution of the Eysenck personality inventory identified using a two-step confirmation and the factor replication procedure, FACTOREP

Abstract For more than 20 yr there has been argument over the precise factor structure of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). There has recently been some empirical support for the suggestion that this failure to find the original structure is a result of the discrepancy in size between the Neuroticism and Extraversion scales (24 items each) and the Lie scale with nine items. In a recent study the present authors identified the three-factor structure using a two-step process which involved a two-factor analysis of the Neuroticism and Extraversion items followed by a three-factor analysis of an equal number of items from all three scales. This process was repeated in the present study across the responses from two further independent subjects groups. The factor comparison procedure FACTOREP provided strong evidence of the robust and consistent replications of both the two-factor structure of the Extraversion and Neuroticism items and of the three-factor structure of the nine Extraversion, nine Neuroticism and nine Lie scale items.