Assessing Behavioral Styles Among Nurse Managers: Implications for Leading Effective Teams.

Nurse leaders must use behaviors that foster effective teams. The purpose of this study was to determine the behavioral style by 3,396 nurse leaders who attended leadership and communication continuing education courses. Sessions included identifying behavioral style preferences using the DiSC® Personal Profile Instrument. Of the four behavioral dimensions, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness, 73% scored highest in Dominance and Conscientiousness. The remaining 27% scored highest in preferences for Influence and Steadiness. Nursing leaders may benefit from awareness of differences in behavioral style preferences to enhance communication and team effectiveness, as well as improve satisfaction among team members.

Adaptación y validación en población mexicana del Cuestionario de personalidad tipo C (PCTC) / Adaptation and validation of the Mexican population type C personality questionnaire (PCTC)

Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo es la adaptación y validación del Cuestionario de personalidad tipo C, elaborado por López, Ramírez y Esteve & Anarte (1998, 2002) a una población mexicana. Se realizó una adaptación lingüística del Cuestionario, y se aplicó a una muestra de 391 personas en las ciudades de Chihuahua y Xalapa, México. El análisis factorial llevó a eliminar seis de los reactivos de la escala original. El resto de los reactivos se agrupan en cuatro factores. El análisis factorial confirmatorio indica que los factores fundamentales del constructo de personalidad tipo C en población mexicana son los de comprensión, no expresión emocional y necesidad de armonía, aunque en la muestra de la ciudad de Xalapa, este último factor no fue fundamental. La confiabilidad total de la escala por el método alfa de Cronbach fue de 0.757, y en las cuatro subescalas osciló entre 0.645 y 0.842.

Abstract The aim of this work was the adaptation and validation of the Type-C Personality scale C, by Lopez, Ramirez and Esteve & Anarte (1998, 2002). Linguistic adaptation of the questionnaire was carried out with a sample of 391 people in the cities of Chihuahua and Xalapa, México. Factor analysis led to eliminate six items from the original scale. The remaining items were grouped in four factors. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates that the fundamental factors of type C personality construct are understanding, emotional inexpressiveness, and need for harmony. Nevertheless, need for harmony was not fundamental in the sample from Xalapa. The overall reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale was 757 and for the four subscales ranged from 0.645 to 0.842.

Personality type influence the gestational weight gain.

Pregnancy is frequently followed by the development of obesity. Aside from psychological factors, hormonal changes influence weight gain in pregnant women. We attempted to assess the potential association between personality type and the extent of gestational weight gain. The study group involved 773 women after term delivery (age 26.3 ± 3.9 years, body mass before pregnancy 61.2 ± 11.1 kg). Weight gain during pregnancy was calculated by using self-reported body mass prior to and during the 38th week of pregnancy. Personality type was assessed using the Polish version of the Framingham Type A Behavior Patterns Questionnaire (adapted by Juczynski). Two hundred forty-six (31.8%) study subjects represented type A personalities, 272 (35.2%) type B and 255 (33.0%) an indirect type. Gestational weight gain was related to the behavior patterns questionnaire score and age. In women <30 years with type A personality, the weight gain was higher than in women with type B behavior of the same age. In women >30, the gestational weight gain was larger for type B personalities. Type A personality and increased urgency in younger pregnant women increases the risk of developing obesity during pregnancy in women below 30 years old. A higher level of competitiveness demonstrates a risk factor of excessive weight gain during pregnancy regardless of age.

Associations between Hunter Type A/B Personality and Cardiovascular Risk Factors from Adolescence through Young Adulthood.

PURPOSE: Type A personality, characterized by action-oriented tendencies, has been linked to cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and elderly adults. Alternatively, limited research has tested whether personality type A/B and cardiovascular (CVD) risk are linked prior to adulthood. Therefore, we used the Hunter-Wolf A/B personality score to determine whether personality type A/B is associated with traditional CVD risk factors during adolescence, and more importantly if personality type, or its individual type A components, are associated with cardiovascular risk through young adulthood. This study is the first to assess personality type A/B on a continuous spectrum with regard to its relationship with cardiovascular disease risk, as well as the first to examine this association in a biracial, adolescent population. METHODS: Subjects (3396) from the Bogalusa Heart Study were surveyed from 1984 to 1986, and multivariable regression was used to test adjusted, cross-sectional associations between personality type A/B, as determined by Hunter-Wolf A/B personality questionnaire, and CVD risk factors during adolescence. To test whether associations existed longitudinally, subjects were followed through 2007, and general estimating equation (GEE) models were used to examine the associations of personality type A/B with CVD risk factors, as well as with Framingham risk score as a global score of CVD risk. The component traits of type A personality (leadership, hard-driving, eagerness-energy, and impatience-aggression) were tested individually to determine their independent, longitudinal associations with global CVD risk. RESULTS: Baseline mean (SD) age was 15.9(5.2). Mean( SD) Hunter-Wolf score in was 96.9 (11.6). After adjustment, more type A Hunter-Wolf scores were cross-sectionally associated with lower alcohol consumption (p = 0.03), female gender (p < 0.0001), and black race (p < 0.0001) in adolescence. After follow-up (median = 11 years), personality type A/B as the continuous Hunter-Wolf score was non-linearly associated with young adult BMI (p = 0.01), fasting blood glucose (p < 0.01), and Framingham score (p = 0.05). Of the type A components, leadership and hard-driving were non-linearly associated with Framingham risk at follow-up (both p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent personality type A is associated with female gender and black race. Generally, type A children have higher CVD risk during young adulthood, though this relationship is non-linear. Additionally, adolescents exhibiting strong leadership-oriented personality traits have worse cardiovascular risk profiles in early adulthood, whereas hard-driving adolescent personalities are protective of young adult CVD risk. Our results warrant consideration of personality as a continuous, non-categorical, trait in studies of cardiovascular disease.

Personality traits and body weight: Evidence using sibling comparisons.

RATIONALE: Past research has shown that personality traits relate to body weight, but this relationship may be confounded by unobserved family-level characteristics such as genetic endowments. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the association between personality traits, as measured by the Big Five taxonomy, and body weight among young adults is spurious owing to shared family background. METHODS: Participants were drawn from the full (n = 14,366) and family (n = 2813) samples of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The study employed family-fixed effects to eliminate shared family background factors that might affect personality traits and body weight simultaneously. RESULTS: Among the Big Five personality traits, only conscientiousness showed a robust association with body weight, including body mass index (BMI) and obesity risk. These results were robust to adjustments for family-fixed effects, which indicates that the association between conscientiousness and body weight is generally not confounded by unobserved family-level characteristics shared by siblings. A one-standard-deviation increase in conscientiousness was associated with a decrease in BMI by 0.89 (equivalent to a 2.5 kg decrease in weight for an individual with an average height of the sample) and a 12% reduction in the probability of being obese. This study also found some suggestive evidence of gender and racial/ethnic differences. The association between conscientiousness and obesity was larger and statistically significant only for women, and conscientiousness was most strongly associated with obesity among Hispanic people. CONCLUSION: Conscientiousness is associated with decreased body weight net of unobserved background characteristics that are shared by siblings. The results suggest that interventions that develop personality traits may have "spillover effects"; in other words, they may also help reduce obesity.

An exploratory investigation of personality types attracted to ENT.

BACKGROUND: Careers in medicine are embarked on by people with various personalities, with highly strung and motivated characters usually drawn to surgery. This study was conducted to identify the personality types of ENT surgeons in comparison to a control group of foundation doctors. METHOD: A validated personality questionnaire was distributed to ENT specialty trainees and two cohorts of foundation doctors between October 2013 and November 2015. The questionnaires were scored and individuals were categorised as having either type A or type B personalities. RESULTS: Response rates were 90 per cent (26 out of 29) for ENT specialty trainees and 76 per cent (79 out of 104) for foundation doctors. There was a significantly higher proportion of type A personalities in the ENT specialty trainees compared to the foundation doctors (18 out of 26 ENT specialty trainees vs 32 out of 79 foundation doctors; p = 0.01, chi-square = 6.4708). There were no associations between personality type and grade, gender or subspecialty of interest. CONCLUSION: ENT surgeons are more likely to be of type A personality in comparison to foundation doctors. This could be a reflection of the recruitment process into the specialty or a characteristic of individuals that get drawn to ENT.

Correlation between personality type and vocal pathology: A nonrandomized case control study.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: In this study we have made an attempt to find out if there is any correlation with type of personality (type A or B) and incidence of vocal pathology, subsequent to a tendency of vocal abuse. We also noted the loudness of speech and rate of speech for both personality types and compared these parameters for each personality type. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 100 subjects (50 with vocal pathologies and 50 with normal vocal folds) underwent voice and personality assessment, and the above-mentioned factors were compared with statistical methods. RESULTS: It was found that subjects with type A personality had a statistically significant increased incidence of vocal pathology, as compared to those with type B personality (P = .04). The other two parameters (i.e., loudness of speech and rate of speech) were both found to be higher in subjects with type A personality than those with type B, but did not attain statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that there is a very close relationship between personality type and voice quality, and the incidence of vocal abuse and subsequent vocal pathologies are heavily governed by the person's personality traits. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3b Laryngoscope, 126:2063-2066, 2016.

Estimation of a common effect parameter from follow-up data when there is no mechanistic interaction.

In a stratified analysis, the results from different strata if homogeneity assumption is met are pooled together to obtain a single summary estimate for the common effect parameter. However, the effect can appear homogeneous across strata using one measure but heterogeneous using another. Consequently, two researchers analyzing the same data can arrive at conflicting conclusions if they use different effect measures. In this paper, the author draws on the sufficient component cause model to develop a stratified-analysis method regarding a particular effect measure, the 'peril ratio'. When there is no mechanistic interaction between the exposure under study and the stratifying variable (i.e., when they do not work together to complete any sufficient cause), the peril ratio is constant across strata. The author presents formulas for the estimation of such a common peril ratio. Three real data are re-analyzed for illustration. When the data is consistent with peril-ratio homogeneity in a stratified analysis, researchers can use the formulas in this paper to pool the strata.

Cluster B personality symptoms in persons at genetic risk for schizophrenia are associated with social competence and activation of the right temporo-parietal junction during emotion processing.

Personality disorders are common in nonpsychotic siblings of patients with schizophrenia, and some personality traits in this group may be associated with an increased risk for full-blown psychosis. We sought to establish if faulty right-hemisphere activation induced by social cognitive tasks, as previously described in patients with schizophrenia, is associated with specific personality symptoms in their unaffected siblings. We observed that cluster B personality symptoms in this group were inversely related to activation in the right temporo parietal junction (rTPJ, a structure critical in social cognitive processing) in response to a basic emotion processing task and also to social competence, whereas in contrast to our initial hypothesis, cluster A traits were not associated with right hemisphere activation during emotion processing or with social competence. These findings suggest the existence of clinical traits in at-risk individuals which share a common neurobiological substrate with schizophrenia, in regards to social performance.