Nuri Bagés

The Short-EMBU in Australia, Spain, and Venezuela: Factorial invariance, and associations with sex roles, self-esteem, and Eysenckian personality dimensions

The short(s)-EMBU (Swedish acronym for Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran [My memories of upbringing]) consists of 23 items, is based on the early 81-item EMBU, and was developed out of the necessity of having a brief measure of perceived parental rearing practices when the clinical and/or research context does not adequately permit application of time-consuming test batteries. The s-EMBU comprises three subscales: Rejection., Emotional Warmth, and (Over)Protection. The factorial and/or construct validity and reliability of the s-EMBU were examined in samples comprising a total of 1950 students from Australia, Spain, and Venezuela. The data were presented for the three national groups separately. Findings confirmed the cross-national validity of the factorial structure underlying the s-EMBU. Rejection by fathers and mothers was consistently associated with high trait-neuroticism and low self-esteem in recipients of both sexes in each nation, as was high parental emotional warmth with high femininity (humility). The findings on factorial validity are in keeping with previous ones obtained in East Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, and Sweden. The s-EMBU is again recommended for use in several different countries as. a reliable, functional equivalent to the original 81-item EMBU.

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations. Part I: Dimensional constancy of the five-factor model

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Masculinity-femininity as a national characteristic and its relationship with national agoraphobic fear levels: Fodor's sex role hypothesis revitalized

Hofstedes dimension of national culture termed Masculinity-Femininity [. Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill] is proposed to be of relevance for understanding national-level differences in self-assessed agoraphobic fears. This prediction is based on the classical work of Fodor [. In: V. Franks & V. Burtle (Eds.), Women in therapy: new psychotherapies for a changing society. New York: Brunner/Mazel]. A unique data set comprising 11 countries (total N=5491 students) provided the opportunity of scrutinizing this issue. It was hypothesized and found that national Masculinity (the degree to which cultures delineate sex roles, with masculine or tough societies making clearer differentiations between the sexes than feminine or modest societies do) would correlate positively with national agoraphobic fear levels (as assessed with the Fear Survey Schedule-III). Following the correction for sex and age differences across national samples, a significant and large effect-sized national-level (ecological) r=+0.67 (P=0.01) was found. A highly feminine society such as Sweden had the lowest, whereas the champion among the masculine societies, Japan, had the highest national Agoraphobic fear score.

Drinking and driving in university students: An international study of 23 countries

Alcohol-impaired driving is a major problem in many countries. We assessed drinking and driving and associated attitudes and legislative practices in 8282 male and 10 816 female students at universities in 23 countries. The age-adjusted prevalence of drinking and driving was 20% in men, and 7% in women. There was wide variation between countries, with the highest levels in men and women from the USA and men from South American and Mediterranean countries. Rates correlated significantly with national surveys of drinking and driving, and with national road traffic accident death rates. Drinking and driving was more prevalent in country samples in which the legal blood alcohol threshold was higher. Attitudes to drinking and driving and other aspects of hazardous driving were strongly associated with drinking and driving both within and between countries. A multi-level approach involving changes in blood alcohol laws and efforts to shift the attitudes of individuals who drink and drive is suggested by the current results.

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations.

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Vital exhaustion measures and their associations with coronary heart disease risk factors in a sample of spanish-speakers

Abstract The main purpose of this research was to study the reliability and conceptual validity of two Spanish language measures of Vital Exhaustion (VE), a short-term risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). The English version of the Maastricht Questionnaire for Vital Exhaustion was used to make a Spanish language questionnaire (VEQ) and a Spanish language interview (VEI) whose scoring systems were equal to the original version. These instruments were administered to a sample of healthy working men (n = 100) and women (n = 130) in Caracas, Venezuela. Participants also completed questionnaires designed to measure anger-expression and social support and were assessed by means of the Structured Interview to measure Type A Behaviour Pattern (TABP). Information about other CAD-risk factors, such as age, smoking behavior, and health habits, were collected. High reliability coefficients, .85 and .91, were found for the VEI and VEQ, respectively. Principal component analysis provided one-factor solutions for each instrument. The pattern of correlations between VE, assessed by the VEI, and other personality characteristics was rather similar to the pattern observed in other cultures. In general significant, but modest, correlations were observed between VE and TABP, anger expression, a negative self-concept, and low social support. We conclude that VE appears to be a meaningful construct in this particular cultural context.

Differences between informants about type a, anger, and social support and the relationship with blood pressure

Abstract In a study on the influence of different natural environments on self-perception and that of significant others, behavioral manifestations of Type A, Anger, and Social Support were assessed. It was hypothesized that due to different environmental demands, participants will be perceived as displaying differences in Type A behavior, anger, and social support at home and at work. Participants were 45 university employees, constituting a convenience sample. Assessment included Type A Structured Interview scores of participants and questionnaire scores for Type A, anger, and social support of participants who were also evaluated by their spouses and work supervisors. Other risk factors for coronary heart disease (i.e., blood pressure, smoking, previous heart condition, being sedentary, and family history) and their relationships with Type A, anger, and social support were also examined. Participants and spouses agreed significantly on all measures, whereas participants and work supervisors agreed only...

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations - Part I

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.