Support for the three-factor model of narcissism and its personality underpinnings through the lens of the network psychometrics.

Recent literature on narcissism argues that there are three factors covering the construct: agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic. Within the current study, we aim to (a) empirically test whether this hypothesized structure reproduces using, for the first time, network psychometrics with eight distinct narcissism measures as well as reanalysing data from eleven narcissism measures from Crowe et al. (2019) and (b) scrutinize the personality underpinnings of the differentiated facets through the lens of the circumplex of personality metatraits (CPM) model. Within the study, N = 465 Polish adults were administered eight distinct narcissism measures, comprising 13 scales capturing different aspects of narcissistic personality and a measure of personality metatraits. Results revealed that the three-factor structure reproduces well in the network approach across both data sets. The circumplex analyses provided further evidence for the personality underpinnings of the three factors. We discuss the role of pathological narcissism within the three-factor conceptualization of narcissism. Findings of the current article facilitate the understanding of narcissistic personality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal impact and effects of booster sessions in a cognitive training program for healthy older adults.

This paper reports the results from a 3-year follow-up study to measure the long-term efficacy of a cognitive training for healthy older adults and investigates the effects of booster sessions using an entropy-based metric. DESIGN: semi-randomized quasi-experimental controlled design. PARTICIPANTS: 50 older adults, (M = 73.3, SD = 7.77) assigned into experimental (N = 25; Mean age = 73.9; SD = 8.62) and control groups (N = 25; mean age = 72.9; SD = 6.97). INSTRUMENTS: six subtests of WAIS and two episodic memory tasks. PROCEDURES: the participants were assessed on four occasions: after the end of the original intervention, pre-booster sessions (three years after the original intervention), immediately after the booster sessions and three months after the booster sessions. RESULTS: the repeated measures ANOVA showed that two of the cognitive gains reported in the original intervention were also identified in the follow-up: Coding (F(1, 44) = 11.79, MSE = 0.77, p = .001, eta squared = 0.084) and Picture Completion (F(1, 47) = 10.01, MSE = 0.73, p = .003, eta squared = 0.060). After the booster sessions, all variables presented a significant interaction between group and time favorable to the experimental group (moderate to high effect sizes). To compare the level of cohesion of the cognitive variables between the groups, an entropy-based metric was used. The experimental group presented a lower level of cohesion on three of the four measurement occasions, suggesting a differential impact of the intervention with immediate and short-term effects, but without long-term effects.

Preliminary investigation of longitudinal sociodemographic, injury and psychosocial characteristics in a group of non-English speaking Latinos with brain injury.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To describe the sociodemographic and injury characteristics and psychosocial outcomes at 1 and 10 years post-injury in a group of Spanish-speaking individuals with traumatic brain injury. RESEARCH DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of prospectively collected data. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Assessments were completed on 57 non-English speaking Latinos with TBI, injured between March 1991 and January 2008, who were treated at a Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Care acute rehabilitation facility. Follow-up data was collected cross-sectionally at 1 year (n = 41) and 10 years (n = 23) post-injury. Longitudinal data (both Y1 and Y10) were available for 17 of those individuals. MAIN OUTCOMES: Post injury employment and residence, Disability Rating Scale, Functional Independence Measure. RESULTS: At 1 year, the majority of participants were unemployed (63.4%) and did not require assistance of another individual (58.5%) as measured by the DRS Level of Functioning. FIM scores showed that the greatest difficulty was in the area of problem-solving and memory with over half the sample needing assistance in these areas. At 10 years post-injury, 47.8% were unemployed and remained independent of assistance from a caretaker (56.5%) as measured by the DRS. FIM results revealed that slightly less than half continued to need assistance in areas of problem-solving and memory. Longitudinal changes were seen in that, over time, individuals reported more difficulties in areas of bathing and dressing, but fewer difficulties in areas including social interaction, comprehension and memory. CONCLUSIONS: Non-English-speaking Latinos with brain injury are at a double disadvantage with regard to obtaining much-needed ongoing services, ultimately impacting long-term outcomes post-injury. If such issues are not adequately addressed, as the Latino population continues to grow, disparities in service delivery and unsuccessful outcomes will continue to grow.

Early predictors of employment outcomes 1 year post traumatic brain injury in a population of Hispanic individuals.

OBJECTIVE: To determine which demographic, injury, and rehabilitation factors are associated with employment rates in Hispanic individuals 1 year post traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Longitudinal dataset of the TBI Model Systems National Database. PARTICIPANTS: 418 Hispanic individuals with TBI hospitalized between 1990 and 2009 having year 1 follow-up data (18-55 years and not retired at injury). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Competitive employment status 1 year post-injury (yes/no). RESULTS: A multiple logistic regression model indicated that pre-injury employment status, pre-injury level of education, etiology, days of posttraumatic amnesia (PTA), associated spinal cord injury, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) motor at rehabilitation discharge, and length of stay in rehabilitation were significant predictors of competitive employment post-injury, controlling for the effects of each other (all p-values ≤ 0.014). Increases in the odds of not being employed post-injury were associated with not being employed pre-injury, having lower levels of education pre-injury, etiologies due to violence or falls, increased PTA, an associated spinal cord injury, lower FIM motor scores, and greater lengths of stay in rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: The first year post-TBI is critical for recovery and gainful employment, particularly for Hispanic individuals. Early identification of factors influencing successful gainful employment and expeditious implementation of services to ameliorate these issues are paramount in improving employment outcomes for Hispanic individuals with TBI.

Mortality in late post-traumatic seizures.

The objective of this study was to examine the mortality rates in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were classified as having experienced late post-traumatic seizures (LPTS) in the first 2 years post-TBI compared to those who were seizure-free (non-LPTS). Participants were a pooled sample (n = 508) from two studies which enrolled individuals with TBI who were injured between March 31, 1992 and December 20, 1999. The first sample was made up of individuals enrolled in a study of risk factors for LPTS development; the second sample was composed of individuals enrolled in the TBI National Database from a single rehabilitation center. Seventy-one (14%) participants had LPTS, of which 27% had died at 8-15 years post-injury, as compared to 10% of non-LPTS participants. Individuals with LPTS died at a younger age (54.1 versus 67.7 years; p = 0.01), but there were no statistically significant differences in either time from date of injury to death or highest GCS score in the first 24 h. Causes of death were variable and not specifically related to epilepsy. Of those with LPTS, risk factors for death include advanced age at time of injury and presence of subdural hematoma. The higher mortality rate and death at younger age with variable causes in TBI individuals with LPTS warrant close medical evaluation and monitoring of these individuals, particularly accessibility and compliance with ongoing general medical care, and education of primary care colleagues of the unique needs of this at-risk population.