Veljko Jovanović

Do humor styles matter in the relationship between personality and subjective well-being?

The primary goal of this research was to examine the role of humor styles in the relationships between personality (extraversion and neuroticism) and two components of subjective well-being: life satisfaction and affective well-being. The sample consisted of 225 young adults, with mean age 23.61 years. Results indicated that the relationship between both extraversion and neuroticism and satisfaction with life could be partially explained by the mediating role of self-enhancing humor. Additionally, affiliative humor proved to be a partial mediator of the relationship between neuroticism and affective well-being. The findings of this research suggested that adaptive humor styles might be one of the mechanisms linking personality and subjective well-being.

Relations among positive and negative affect, dysphoria and anxiety1

According to Tellegen et al.s Two-factor model, commonalities between depression and anxiety are due to their shared variance with Negative affect (NA), a broad dimension of general distress. Low Positive affect (PA), a dimension of pleasurable emotions, is believed to be uniquely related to depression. In this study, we tested these basic assumptions. A sample of 141 students at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad filled out a state measure of PA, NA, and basic emotions (SIAB-PANAS), a depression scale (BDI-II), and a state anxiety scale (STAI-S). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to estimate the unique contributions of PA, NA, and basic emotions in the prediction of dysphoria and anxiety. The hypothesis that NA is a general dimension related to both dysphoria and anxiety was supported. Sadness and fear added incrementally to the prediction of both criteria. However, contrary to our hypothesis, PA was related to both dysphoria and anxiety. Joviality, attentiveness, and self-assurance were better predictors of anxiety than dysphoria. Methodological and clinical implications of the results were discussed.

Psychometric evaluation of the depression anxiety stress scales-21 (DASS-21) in a Serbian student sample

The purpose of the current research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) in a student sample. In Study 1 (N = 1374), a confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate construct validity of the DASS- 21. The stability of the DASS-21 structure over time (5-month follow-up, N = 693) was investigated also in Study 1. In Study 2, associations with measures of depression, anxiety, stress, affect, life satisfaction and general distress were examined to assess the convergent validity of the DASS-21. The results suggested that the DASS-21 was reliable and valid measure of unpleasant emotional states. The model with optimal fit consisted of general factor of negative affect plus three specific factors of depression, anxiety and stress. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179006: Nasledni, sredinski i psiholoski cinioci mentalnog zdravlja]

The factor structure of the mental health continuum-short form (MHC-SF) in Serbia: an evaluation using exploratory structural equation modeling

Abstract Background: The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a brief measure to assess emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Aims: We examined the factor structure of the MHC-SF in Serbia. A secondary goal was to examine measurement invariance and latent mean differences across gender. Method: The methods of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) were used to investigate the factor structure of the scale in a large sample (N = 1883). We compared 1-, 2-, and 3-factor models of mental well-being. Results: The results supported the superiority of the 3-factor model of well-being over the alternatives. ESEM yielded better fit with the data and considerably smaller factor correlations than did CFA. ESEM also uncovered a number of cross-loadings in the MHC-SF. Full measurement invariance was established across gender, yet no significant gender differences were identified in the latent means. Conclusions: These results indicate that emotional, social, and psychological well-being represents correlated yet distinct factors in Serbia. The results also suggest that ESEM is a more appropriate method than CFA for examining the factor structure of mental well-being. The contributions of ESEM to current debates surrounding the distinction between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being are discussed.

Psychometric characteristics of the Beck depression inventory on a Serbian student sample

Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is one of the most popular instruments for measuring intensity and symptoms of depression in clinical and general population. The instrument has been translated into many languages and validated in many different cultures, but there is still no published paper on psychometric characteristics and the norms for the BDI in Serbian language. In this paper, we checked psychometric characteristics of the BDI-II on 400 students of the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Descriptive statistics (M=8.02; SD=7.10), internal consistency (α=.87), and test-retest reliability (.63) are satisfactory and similar to the results of other validation studies. Convergent and divergent validity of the instrument are also supported by moderate to high correlations with the measures of similar phenomena (r=.70 with Depression Symptoms Scale) and by low correlations with unrelated constructs (i.e., r=.19 with Impulsive Sensation Seeking Scale). However, the divergent validity is not supported by a high correlation with a measure of anxiety (r=.70), similar finding is commonly obtained in other validation studies. Our results suggest cut-off scores which are similar to those suggested by Canadian authors (Kappa coefficient=.85). Two-factor structure of the inventory is also in concordance with other authors. Cognitive-Affective factor explains 29.27% of the variance and its structure resembles those reported in other analyses. The second extracted factor explains 7.76% of the variance and is saturated mostly with somatic items; however, a significant contribution of some cognitive items has led us to identify the factor as Exhaustion, specific to our student sample. The two-factor solution is confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analyses once the item related to sexual difficulties was eliminated. General conclusion is that BDI-II has satisfactory psychometric characteristics and can reliably be used with Serbian student population.

Prediction of school achievement and conative functioning among Roma and non-Roma children

The main aim of this study was to examine the validity of The School Maturity Test (SMT) in the prediction of school achievement among children of different socioeconomic status (SES). The sample consisted of 142 children: 46 Roma, 48 low SES non-Roma children, and 48 average SES non-Roma children. Moderate positive correlations were obtained between the SMT subscales and three indicators of school success: point grade average and average school marks in Serbian language and Mathematics. Regarding associations with teachers’ ratings of pupils’ conative functioning, results showed that the SMT subscales had the highest correlations with the ratings of self-confidence, interest in school and study habits. The lowest correlations were found between the SMT subscales and the ratings of self-discipline, peer acceptance and attitudes toward school. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that significant predictors of school achievement were: Information and Block design subscales of the SMT, socioeconomic status and group (Roma/non-Roma).

The role of anxiety in the relationship between need for closure and paranoid tendencies

The aim of the study was to determine the role of anxiety in the relationship between paranoid tendencies and dimensions of Need for closure (NFC). NFCS – a measure of Need for closure, PS – paranoia scale and STAI-Tanxiety scale were administered to 170 students of Novi Sad University. The sample was divided into group with high (N=75) and low (N=95) paranoia tendencies on the basis of mean score on PS. Principal Component Analysis of NFCS produced five Varimax dimensions: Intolerance of Unpredictability, The Need for Order and Structure, The Need for control and routine, Decisiveness and Openness/flexibility. The relation of extracted NFC dimensions, with paranoid tendencies were tested through MANOVA and MANCOVA, while controlling anxiety as covariate. The Need for order and structure was not related to either paranoia, or anxiety, and Need for Control and Routine was related only to paranoid tendencies. The Decisiveness and Openness were related to paranoid tendencies only when anxiety had been controlled. The mediating role of anxiety was proposed, and confirmed through series of Regression analysis and Sobels test. The results were discussed in the context of current cognitive theories of paranoia and anxiety.