William F. Gayton

Further Validation of the Indecisiveness Scale

Scores on the Indecisiveness Scale have been shown to be correlated with scores on measures of obsessive-compulsive tendencies and perfectionism for women. This study examined the validity of the Indecisiveness Scale with 41 men whose mean age was 21.1 yr. Indecisiveness scores were significantly correlated with scores on measures of obsessive-compulsive tendencies and perfectionism. Also, undeclared majors had a significantly higher mean on the Indecisiveness Scale than did declared majors.

An Investigation of the Validity of the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale in Predicting Marathon Performance

Data from 33 marathon runners (22 men, 11 women) were used to examine the validity of the Physical Self-efficacy scale as a predictor of marathon running performance. Both total Physical Self-efficacy scores and Perceived Physical Ability scores were significantly correlated with both predicted and actual finishing times.

An investigation of the utility of an MMPI posttraumatic stress disorder subscale.

This study attempted to cross-validate an MMPI subscale designed to diagnose posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The PTSD subscale scores of 19 Vietnam combat veterans with a diagnosis of PTSD were compared to those of 40 Vietnam era veterans with a psychiatric diagnosis other than PTSD. Diagnostic hit rates were considerably lower than those reported in the original investigation despite several attempts to control for misdiagnosis.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD HYPERACTIVITY AND ACCIDENT PRONENESS

Previous research suggested that hyperactive children are especially susceptible to accidents. Two questions remain: is the relationship peculiar to hyperactivity in childhood or for behaviorally disturbed children in general and does the relationship hold for females as well as for males? To answer these questions 189 patients at a child psychiatric clinic were rated on a scale which included measures of hyperactivity and accident proneness. The hyperactive patients were more likely to be described as accident prone than nonhyperactive patients. The relationship between childhood hyperactivity and accident proneness is confirmed and is specific. The relationship holds for both boys and girls.

Parent Interview Findings Regarding the Impact of Cystic Fibrosis on Families.

An assessment of the impact of cystic fibrosis (CF) was conducted with 43 families. Semistructured parental interviews on family functioning, parent-child interactions, sibling and peer relationships, and medical issues were coded by two independent raters to identify “major,” “minor”, or “no” problems. Of the 62 questions presented, only 8 were viewed by more than 10% of parents as “major problems.” The impact of hospitalization upon parents was the most prevalent “major problem.” Parental communication was a “major problem” for 28% of the mothers but for only one father. Ten to 15% of the parents described “major problems” related to: their marital relationship, accepting the illness, feeling they should do more for their child with CF, feeling their other children had been deprived or complained about inattention, or their relationship with the ill childs grandparents. While most families were generally coping successfully, health care professionals should be alert to specific areas of potential problems.

Home Advantage: Does it Exist in Individual Sports

This study examined whether the home advantage exists in individual sports. The percentage of 792 wrestling matches won at home and away were compared for a high school wrestling team from 1980–1984 A significant home advantage was found: 61% vs 54%.

HOPELESSNESS AND LOCUS OF CONTROL

Prociuk, Breen, and Lussier ( 5 ) examined the relationship between hopelessness and locus of control using a 20-item inventory entitled the Hopelessness Sca!e ( 1 ) They reported significant correlations of .40 and .27 for two samples of undergraduates. Male and female subjects were combined for purposes of their analysis. This study examined the relationship between hopelessness and locus of control wirh separate analyses reported for male and female subjects. Subjects were 7 3 undergraduates ( 4 3 females, 30 males) ranging in age from 18 to 26 yr. with M of 21.9 yr. Pearson product-moment correlations between scores on the hopelessness scale and Rottets I-E Scale (Rortet, 1966) were .14 for females and .35 ( p < .05) for males. These correlations suggest that the relationship between hopelessness and a belief that behavioral outcomes are determined by luck, chance, or fate exists only for male subjects. This is consistent with previous studies that have examined the relationship between locus of control and depression. An examination of four studies involving six male and three female s3mples indicates significant correlations between locus of control and depression for all of the male samples and only one of three female samples (2, 3, 4, 7 ) . In light of these findings, attempts to examine the relationship between hopelessness and locus of control should report the relationship separately by sex. There is no apparent reason why either depression or hopelessness should relate to locus of control more strongly for males than females. Future research should determine the reasons for such a differential relationship.

The Home Advantage in High School Basketball

Occurrence of the home field advantage in high school basketball was examined for percentages of games won at home and away for four male varsity basketball teams from 1968–1988. Statistically significant home advantage for three of the four teams extends previous findings that the difference in the size of the home advantage between sport levels, i.e., college and professional levels within the same sport, is minimal. Results are consistent with the contention that the effects of travel on the size of the home advantage are minimal.

COMPARATIVE VALIDITY OF HARRIS AND KOPPITZ SCORING SYSTEMS FOR HUMAN-FIGURE DRAWINGS

This study examined the comparative validity of the Harris and Koppitz scoring systems for human-figure drawings by 50 boys who were administered these tests as part of a regular psychological evaluation. No differences were found between the Harris Point Scale and the Koppitz system in terms of interscorer reliability and concurrent validity. The validity coefficients obtained with the Quality Scale were significantly lower than those of the Point Scale and Koppitz system in relation to both Verbal and Full Scale IQ.

Continued validation of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale.

Scores on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale have been correlated with measures of obsessive-compulsive tendencies for women, so the validity of scores on this scale for 41 men was examined. Scores on the Perfectionism Scale were significantly correlated (.47–.03) with scores on the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory.