A bright side facet analysis of borderline personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: This study looks at the "bright-side" normal, personality trait correlates of the "dark-side" Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). METHODS: Over 5000 British adults completed the NEO-PI-R which measures the Big Five Personality factors at the Domain and the Facet level, as well as the Hogan Development Survey which has a measure of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) called Excitable. RESULTS: Correlation and regression results confirmed many of the associations between these "bright" and "dark" side individual difference variables. The Excitable score from the HDS was the criterion variable in all analyses. Excitable individuals are high on Neuroticism, but also Introverted and Disagreeable. The facet analysis identified Angry Hostility, Anxiety, Depression and Vulnerability as particularly characteristic of that type. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed work on BPD using different population groups and different measures, showing that it is possible to describe personality disorders in terms of extreme scores on personality traits.

Awareness of schizophrenia and intellectual disability and stigma across ethnic groups in the UK.

Research has examined the public's understanding of mental illness and stigma, but there is scant evidence on intellectual disabilities. This study investigated whether the public from different ethnic groups can recognise symptoms of schizophrenia and intellectual disability depicted in a vignette, and what factors predict recognition and social distance. A survey of lay people of working age was completed in the UK (N=1002). The sample was ethnically mixed, with the largest groups consisting of white UK residents, and people from Asian and black African/Caribbean backgrounds. Regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of recognition and social distance. Across the whole sample, 25.7% recognised schizophrenia and 28.0% intellectual disability. Ethnicity, gender, education and prior contact predicted recognition of both vignettes. Social distance was higher for schizophrenia than intellectual disability, but overall participants were ambivalent to mildly negative about social contact with individuals with either symptomatology. Familiarity was associated with lower social distance for both conditions. Symptom recognition predicted reduced social distance for intellectual disability, but not for schizophrenia. The low levels of awareness of symptoms and high levels of stigma among some ethnic groups indicate a need for targeted public education efforts and further research.

The effects of gender and migrant status on physical and psychological well-being.

Adolescents (n = 962; 55% migrant and 45% native) between the age of 11 and 19 were administered the Kovac's Children Depression Inventory (CDI), Children Trait Anxiety Inventory (CTAI), Offer's Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ), and Brähler's Checklist of Symptom Complaints (GBB). Foreign-born and German-born samples were matched for age, gender, and educational status. Females were more anxious and complained more about physical ailments, particularly tiredness, stomach disorders, colds, and circulatory ailments than males, but not for depression. Adolescent migrants did not display any significant differences in terms of physical health, but they did report more depression and anxiety measures. The association between anxiety, depression, and physical ill-health was significant for both males and females, but tended to be more pronounced for females. There was scarce evidence of gender making an impact on the migration-health linkage. The implications of the results are discussed within the framework of migration and health policies for second generation children and their families.

Benefits of all work and no play: the relationship between neuroticism and performance as a function of resource allocation.

The authors evaluate a model suggesting that the performance of highly neurotic individuals, relative to their stable counterparts, is more strongly influenced by factors relating to the allocation of attentional resources. First, an air traffic control simulation was used to examine the interaction between effort intensity and scores on the Anxiety subscale of Eysenck Personality Profiler Neuroticism in the prediction of task performance. Overall effort intensity enhanced performance for highly anxious individuals more so than for individuals with low anxiety. Second, a longitudinal field study was used to examine the interaction between office busyness and Eysenck Personality Inventory Neuroticism in the prediction of telesales performance. Changes in office busyness were associated with greater performance improvements for highly neurotic individuals compared with less neurotic individuals. These studies suggest that highly neurotic individuals outperform their stable counterparts in a busy work environment or if they are expending a high level of effort.

Peer-assessed behavioural characteristics and sociometric rejection: differences between pupils who have moderate learning difficulties and their mainstream peers.

BACKGROUND: The outcomes of social inclusion and skills training programmes for pupils with special educational needs have been mixed. Programmes are generally based on research with mainstream samples yet it has been suggested that the social skills important for sociometric acceptance may be different for children who have special educational needs. AIMS: The study aims to compare peer-assessed behavioural characteristics associated with sociometric status for included children who have moderate learning difficulties and their mainstream classmates. SAMPLE: Mainstream classmates (N=867) of all the children ascertained as having Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) and included in mainstream middle schools (8-12 years) in one English county. Subgroups of rejected mainstream (n=38) and pupils with MLD (n=32) were further investigated. METHOD: Discriminant function analysis was carried out with peer assessment items as predictors of sociometric status group membership in the mainstream sample and contrasted with previously reported data from pupils with MLD in the same classes. Cluster analysis was used to identify behavioural subtypes within the rejected groups drawn from each sample. For pupils with MLD subtypes were validated using teacher assessments of social behaviour. RESULTS: Systematic differences were identified across different analyses between the peer-assessed behavioural characteristics associated with rejected sociometric status for pupils with MLD and for mainstream pupils. CONCLUSIONS: The appropriateness of generic social skills training programmes for promoting the social inclusion of pupils with MLD should be questioned and consideration given to rejected pupil subtypes.

A Cross-cultural Investigation of the Factors and Biases Involved in the Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources.

In this study Spanish and English lay participants were given minimal demographic information regarding 16 hypothetical patients, and were required to rank them in order of priority for a kidney dialysis machine. The patients differed in terms of their gender, smoking behaviour, political affiliation and place of birth. These factors were combined factorially, so that each of the 16 patients presented a unique combination of attributes. The English sample showed a preference for local, female, non-smoking patients. The results for the Spanish sample were similar with respect to place of birth and gender, but smoking behaviour was not significant. Neither sample demonstrated a preference on the basis of political affiliation. The results suggest that certain demographic factors may bias the decision making of individuals or committees involved in the allocation of scarce medical resources.