Phillip K. Wood

Characteristics of children of alcoholics: putative risk factors, substance use and abuse, and psychopathology.

A sample of 253 children of alcoholics (COAs) and 237 children of nonalcoholics (non-COAs) were compared on alcohol and drug use, psychopathology, cognitive ability, and personality. COAs reported more alcohol and drug problems, stronger alcohol expectancies, higher levels of behavioral undercontrol and neuroticism, and more psychiatric distress in relation to non-COAs. They also evidenced lower academic achievement and less verbal ability than non-COAs. COAs were given Diagnostic Interview Schedule alcohol diagnoses more frequently than non-COAs. The relation between paternal alcoholism and offspring alcohol involvement was mediated by behavioral undercontrol and alcohol expectancies. Although gender differences were found, there were few Gender X Family History interactions; the effects of family history of alcoholism were similar for men and women. When gender effects were found, they showed greater family history effects for women.

Personality and the predisposition to engage in risky or problem behaviors during adolescence

Longitudinal data from a representative sample of 1,978 Black and White adolescents were used to examine the role of personality in multiple risk or problem behaviors. Results indicate that covariation among diverse behaviors (educational underachievement, delinquent behavior, substance use, sexual behavior) can be adequately modeled by a single higher order factor, and that impulsivity and avoidance coping serve as generalized risk factors for involvement in these behaviors. Whereas none of the personality variables examined explained change in problem behaviors once established, avoidance coping prospectively predicted involvement among a subgroup of adolescents with little or no prior involvement. Results suggest that dysfunctional styles of regulating emotions and emotionally driven behaviors are core features of risky or problem behaviors during adolescence.

Revised NESARC Personality Disorder Diagnoses: Gender, Prevalence, and Comorbidity with Substance Dependence Disorders

We applied different diagnostic rules for diagnosing personality disorders to the NESARC epidemiological study of over 40,000 individuals. Specifically, unlike previous NESARC publications, we required that each personality disorder criterion be associated with significant distress or impairment in order to be counted toward a personality disorder (PD) diagnosis. Results demonstrated significant reductions in prevalence rates for PDs (9.1% versus 21.5% using original NESARC algorithms), and these revised prevalence rates were much more consistent with recent epidemiological studies in the U.S. and Great Britain. We also found gender differences in the prevalence rate for most PDs. Comorbidity analyses revealed strong associations between PDs and alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and tobacco dependence. PD diagnoses were also associated with scores on dysfunction and impairment, perceived stress and less social support, lifetime history of suicide attempts, interpersonal difficulties, and problems with legal authorities.

Affective instability: measuring a core feature of borderline personality disorder with ecological momentary assessment.

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA; Stone & Shiffman, 1994) was used to characterize and quantify a dynamic process--affective instability in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Sixty outpatients (34 with BPD and affective instability; 26 with current depressive disorder but not with BPD or affective instability) carried electronic diaries for approximately 1 month and were randomly prompted to rate their mood state up to 6 times a day. Results indicated that BPD patients (a) did not report significantly different mean levels of positive or negative affect; (b) displayed significantly more variability over time in their positive and negative affect scores; (c) demonstrated significantly more instability on successive scores (i.e., large changes) for hostility, fear, and sadness than did patients with depressive disorders; and (d) were more likely to report extreme changes across successive occasions (>or=90th percentile of change scores across participants) for hostility scores. Results illustrate different analytic approaches to quantifying variability and instability of affect based on intensive longitudinal data. Further, results suggest the promise of electronic diaries for collecting data from individuals in their natural environment for purposes of clinical research and assessment.

Alcohol Outcome Expectancies and Alcohol Use: A Latent Variable Cross-Lagged Panel Study

The relation between alcohol outcome expectancies (EXP) and alcohol use was prospectively examined over 3 years in a mixed-gender sample of college students (N = 465) at low and high risk for the development of alcoholism. Alcohol use remained fairly stable over 4 years, but EXP decreased significantly over the course of the study. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine reciprocal relations between EXP and alcohol use over 1- and 3-year intervals. Reciprocal prospective effects were demonstrated, but the nature of these effects appears dependent on the interval between measurement periods. Conceptually, these findings indicate both an etiologic role for EXP in predicting future alcohol use, and the influence of alcohol consumption on the development and maintenance of EXP. Methodologically, they point to the importance of the consideration of measurement interval in longitudinal research.

Analysis of Affective Instability in Ecological Momentary Assessment: Indices Using Successive Difference and Group Comparison via Multilevel Modeling

Temporal instability of affect is a defining characteristic of psychological disorders such as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and mood cycling disorders. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) enables researchers to directly assess such frequent and extreme fluctuations over time. The authors examined 4 operationalizations of such temporal instability: the within-person variance (WPV), the first-order autocorrelation, the mean square successive difference (MSSD), and the probability of acute change (PAC). It is argued that the MSSD and PAC measures are preferred indices of affective instability because they capture both variability and temporal dependency in a time series. Additionally, the performance of these 2 measures in capturing within- and between-day instability is discussed. To illustrate, the authors present EMA data from a study of negative mood in BPD and major depressive disorder patients. In this study, MSSD and PAC captured affective instability better than did WPV. Given that MSSD and PAC are individual difference measures, the authors propose that group differences on these indices be explored using generalized multilevel models. Versions of MSSD and PAC that adjust for randomly elapsed time interval between assessments are also presented.

TWO SEPARATE VERBAL PROCESSING RATES CONTRIBUTING TO SHORT-TERM MEMORY SPAN

Previous research indicates that verbal memory span, the number of words people can remember and immediately repeat, is related to the fastest rate at which they can pronounce the words. This relation, in turn, has been attributed to a general or global rate of information processing that differs among individuals and changes with age. However, the experiments described in this article showed that the rates of 2 processes (rapid articulation and the retrieval of words from short-term memory) are related to memory span but not to each other. Memory span depends on a profile of processing rates in the brain, not only a global rate. Moreover, there appears to be only a partial overlap between the rate variables that change with age and those that differ among individuals.

Is “Maturing out” of Problematic Alcohol Involvement Related to Personality Change?

Problematic alcohol involvement typically peaks in the early 20s and declines with age. This maturing out of alcohol involvement is usually attributed to individuals attaining adult statuses incompatible with heavy drinking. Nevertheless, little is known about how changes in problematic alcohol use during emerging/early adulthood relate to changes in etiologically relevant personality traits that also change during this period. This study examined the relation between changes in problematic alcohol involvement and personality (measures of impulsivity, neuroticism, and extraversion) from ages 18 to 35 in a cohort of college students (N = 489) at varying risk for alcohol use disorders. Latent growth models indicated that both normative and individual changes in alcohol involvement occur between ages 18 and 35 and that these changes are associated with changes in neuroticism and impulsivity. Moreover, marital and parental role statuses did not appear to be third-variable explanations of the associated changes in alcohol involvement and personality. Findings suggest that personality change may be an important mechanism in the maturing-out effect.

Developmental Range of Reflective Judgment: The Effect of Contextual Support and Practice on Developmental Stage

In this study of K. W Fischers (1980) skill theory and the development of reflective judgment (K. S. Kitchener & P. M. King, 1981), 156 students, 14-28 years old, were tested. Two thirds responded to the Reflective Judgment Interview (RJI) and the Prototypic Reflective Judgment Interview (PRJI) twice, with the 2 administrations approximately 2 weeks apart. The remaining one third were tested at 2-week intervals only on the RJI. The PRJI was designed to provide support for optimal level reflective judgment responses, whereas the RJI measured functional level. Ss scored significantly higher on the PRJI than they did on the RJI at both testings, and there was a significant age effect on both measures. Age differences on the 2 measures could not be statistically accounted for by a measure of verbal ability. The PRJI data also provided evidence for spurts in development

Characteristics of borderline personality disorder in a community sample: comorbidity, treatment utilization, and general functioning.

This study provides estimates of the prevalence and demographic features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a community sample as well as BPD comorbidity rates with Axis I and II disorders. In addition, the authors provide data on general functioning and treatment seeking among individuals with BPD. Data from 34,481 participants in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were analyzed. Results suggest that 2.7% of adults in the United States meet diagnostic criteria for BPD, with slightly higher rates of the disorder in females, people in lower income brackets, people younger than 30, and individuals who are separated or divorced. Racial/ethnic differences were evident, with Native Americans (5.0%) and Blacks (3.5%) having significantly higher rates of the disorder, on average, and Asians having significantly lower rates (1.2%). Individuals with a BPD diagnosis were likely to have co-occurring lifetime mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and other personality disorders. Specifically, 84.8% of individuals with BPD also had a lifetime anxiety disorder, 82.7% had a lifetime mood disorder/episode, and 78.2% were diagnosed with a lifetime substance use disorder. Individuals with BPD showed significant impairment in functioning and were highly likely to seek therapy or receive medication for mental health concerns.