Wilhelm Janke

RELIABILITY AND CONSTRUCT VALIDITY OF THE GERMAN VERSION OF CLONINGER'S TRIDIMENSIONAL PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Abstract Cloninger (Psychiatry Development, 3, 167–226, 1986; Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 573–588, 1987a) postulated a biosocial theory of personality consisting of three independent dimensions. The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was developed for the measurement of Novelty Seeking (NS), Harm Avoidance (HA) and Reward Dependence (RD). In this study reliability and construct validity of a German translation of the TPQ were investigated in a sample of 160 subjects. The internal consistencies of the superscales NS, HA and RD were high. The small intercorrelations of the TPQ superscales and the factorial structure of the twelve TPQ subscales yielded some support for Cloningers personality theory. NS seems to tap an impulsivity factor because of strong correlations with Psychoticism, Extraversion, Impulsiveness and Sensation Seeking. HA correlates with Neuroticism and Introversion and appears to measure a neuroticism or behavioral inhibition factor. RD, however, showed only marginal associations with other variables. In general, results for the German version indicate, with exception for the RD scales, sufficient psychometric properties.

Validation of the german version of Cloninger's TPQ : Replication and correlations with stress coping, mood measures and drug use

Abstract The tridimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ) was developed by Cloninger (1986, 1987a) to measure the independent personality dimensions Novelty Seeking (NS), Harm Avoidance (HA) and Reward Dependence (RD). After having investigated the basic psychometric properties of a German version of the TPQ in a first study (Weyers et al ., 1995), a new sample of 200 subjects was collected to investigate the reliability of the results of this first study and to add further validity data by including measures of stress coping, mood and drug use. In general, the results of the first study were replicated. The internal consistencies of the superscales NS, HA and RD were high, and a factor analysis of the TPQ subscales yielded some support for Cloningers personality theory. Because of its strong correlations with Psychoticism, Extraversion, Impulsiveness and Sensation Seeking NS seems to tap an impulsivity factor while HA correlates with Neuroticism and Introversion and appears to measure a behavioral inhibition factor, the latter interpretation being supported by correlations between HA and some mood measures like anxiety and self-confidence. In addition, HA showed substantial positive correlations with coping strategies like Rumination, Resignation and Self-pity and substantial negative correlations with strategies like Self-aggrandizement by Comparison with Others and Positive Self-instructions, while the other two TPQ superscales hardly correlate with any of the coping strategies measured. With respect to drug use, only NS showed small but substantial bivariate correlations with the use of nicotine and psychodysleptics for the last 12 weeks and last 2 years. However, a configurational analysis of the TPQ superscales demonstrated that the type II alcoholism pattern proposed by Cloninger (high NS, low HA and low RD) was associated with a strong alcohol consumption.

Scanning Behavior of Rats During Eating Under Stressful Noise

Behavioral ecological theories postulate that threatening environments should increase eating speed and vigilance during feeding. In the present experiment, eating speed and scanning behavior during eating were measured in 36 rats in 5 consecutive test sessions under stressful noise (95 dB white noise, n = 18) and control conditions (60 dB, n = 18) after the animals had been habituated to the test environment. Intense noise induced an increase of scanning rate and eating speed. These effects are similar to those reported for novel and light environments.

Comparison of the Emotional Effects of a Beta-Adrenergic Blocking Agent and a Tranquilizer under Different Situational Conditions

This study investigated the emotional effects of the beta-adrenergic blocking agent oxprenolol (40 mg, p.o.) and the tranquilizing agent diazepam (5 mg, p.o.) in healthy subjects under three situational conditions: an emotionally neutral control situation and two situations designed to arouse different levels of anxiety. Both oxprenolol and diazepam induced positive emotional changes only in the more strongly anxiety-arousing situation. Significant differences between oxprenolol and diazepam in inducing emotional stabilization were not demonstrable.

Concurrent validity of the German version of S.B. Eysenck's impulsiveness questionnaire for children

Abstract This study examined whether the German adaptation (IVE) of the I6 Impulsiveness Questionnaire from Eysenck, Easting, and Pearson (1984) is a sufficiently valid instrument to assess impulsivity in school-aged children. Concurrent validity was investigated within a well established laboratory test developed in accordance with a task used by Newman Wallace, Schmitt, and Arnett (1997). Children aged 9–11 years were administered a go/nogo paradigm assessing the ability to inhibit ongoing behaviour (passive avoidance) in order to avoid punishment and nonreward. Results clearly indicate that children who score high on impulsiveness are more impulsive in the used laboratory task than non-impulsive children.

Comparing Two Approaches for the Assessment of Coping

Stress coping inventories can be divided into trait questionnaires independent from situational factors and situation-related inventories. In a previous study, a situation-related version of the Stressverarbeitungsfragebogen (SVF120; Janke & Erdmann, 1997), adapted from the instructions of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ, Folkman & Lazarus, 1988), showed reliabilities and factor structures similar to those of the standard version. In the present study, we compared the medium-term stability over a time period of 4 weeks between the situational WCQ version and the situation-independent standard version of the SVF120. The standard version of the SVF120 was filled out by 140 subjects and the WCQ version by 132 subjects. We could confirm that both questionnaires provide similar psychometric properties when a single assessment is considered. We found, however, distinct differences in stability over time. While stability coefficients of the standard version are close to the values of the internal consistency of the scales and factors, almost all stability coefficients of the WCQ version were significantly lower. Absolute stability proved to be considerably lower for the WCQ version. It can be concluded that the WCQ test format is not appropriate for the assessment of person-environment transactions according to the objective of the Lazarus theory, since it is not insensitive to test repetition.

The nuclear plant accident in chernobyl experienced by men and women of different ages: Empirical study in the years 1986–1991

Abstract Psychological responses to the nuclear accident in Chernobyl were assessed in several self-report inventories once a year from May 1986 until May 1991. Independent groups of subjects, divided according to sex and age (18–39 versus 40–59 years) were examined at six points in time for the subjective effects of the nuclear accident. The inventories included items related to attitudes, behavior, emotional states and coping styles. The results showed a generally greater emotional concern for women and for younger people. The findings also suggest that the psychological effects of the nuclear accident are long lasting.

Die Gütekriterien des SVF78 von Janke und Erdmann, einer Kurzform des SVF120

Zusammenfassung: Bei einer Stichprobe von 246 Personen, deren Anwerbung stratifiziert nach Geschlecht und Alter erfolgte, wurde der SVF78, eine Kurzvariante des SVF120 von Janke und Erdmann (1997), hinsichtlich seiner Reliabilitat und internen Validitat uberpruft. Die inneren Konsistenzen nach Cronbach und die Halbierungsreliabilitaten sind ebenso wie die von Janke und Erdmann (2002) in der Handanweisung zum SVF120 angegebenen gut bis sehr gut. Faktorenanalysen ergaben eine Faktorenstruktur, die der vergleichbar ist, die aus den Daten der Standardisierungstichprobe bei Verwendung des SVF120 errechnet wurde. Ebenso bildeten sich Geschlechts- und Altersunterschiede entsprechend denen der Standardversion ab. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse legen nahe, dass der SVF78 als zuverlassige Kurzvariante des SVF120 angesehen werden kann, die bei Auserachtlassung von 7 Stressverarbeitungsweisen die wesentlichen Stressverarbeitungsweisen des SVF120 erfasst.

Effects of imagined stress intensity on responses in a stress coping inventory

We investigated whether and how different imagined stress intensities modify responses in a stress coping inventory, the SVF78. In the original non-specific version of the test, subjects just decide for each item how probable the reaction presented corresponds to his or her way of reacting, when he/she is “…disturbed, irritated or upset by something or someone...”. We compared this non-specific version of the SVF78 with three intensity variants containing reformulations of the introductory instruction: “When I am disturbed, irritated, or upset to a low degree/considerable degree/very high degree [italics added] by something or someone...”. Each subject filled in the non-specific version and two of the three intensity variants according to a balanced permutation design. Results showed good internal consistency as well as split-half-reliability for all subtests. The factorial structure was similar for the non-specific and the considerable- and high-intensity versions, but altered for the low-intensity version. The mean values changed monotonically with imagined stress intensity for some, but not all of the subtests of the SVF78, with the non-specific version matching best with the considerable-intensity level. It can be concluded that coping questionnaires like the one used in this study, based on a dispositional approach and asking for the normal way of reacting in stressful situations, are valid for a certain range of stress intensities mostly covering the considerable range of the intensity dimension.

Effect of stress on feeding behavior in rats: individual differences

Abstract The experiment was conducted to study individual differences in stress-induced changes of food intake in rats and to examine concomitant changes of non-eating behaviors. Eating and non-eating behaviors were measured during five consecutive test sessions under stressful noise (95 dB white noise, n =18) and control conditions (60 dB white noise, n =18). Two thirds of the stressed rats were classified as normophagic, one third showed hypophagic responses. Hypophagic rats spent less time eating and more time grooming and resting than normophagic and control rats. Hypophagic rats also showed an increased tendency of scanning movements during eating and an increased tendency to leave the food area. Their eating speed was significantly lower than that of the normophagic rats. Hypophagic rats were characterized by a heightened reactivity to stressors which may have counteracted the adaptation to the stressful feeding situation. Results point to a role of biological factors for individual differences in stress-induced changes of eating.