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Biomedical subjects

W A Arrindell

Publications and source records attributed to W A Arrindell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Invariance of SCL-90-R dimensions of symptom distress in patients with peri partum pelvic pain (PPPP) syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: There are no studies available that have examined the factorial invariance of dimensions underlying the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) across at least three distinct samples. In the following study, we wished to determine whether a dimensional model comprising eight primary factors previously identified in psychiatric out-patients, phobics and the general population (Arrindell & Ettema, 2003) could be extended to a homogeneous sample of pain patients comprising females suffering from peri partum pelvic pain (PPPP) syndrome (N = 413). The internal consistency and discriminant validity of the dimensions were also examined. METHOD: The SCL-90-R and measures of disability, pain-related fear, pain intensity and fatigue were administered to the participants. The multiple group method was used to determine factorial invariance. Pearson correlations were determined between the SCL-90-R and aforementioned measures. RESULTS: The factorial invariance of an 8-dimensional model of primary factors underlying the SCL-90-R, namely, agoraphobia, anxiety, depression, somatization, cognitive-performance deficits, interpersonal sensitivity-mistrust, acting-out hostility and sleep difficulties, was extended with success to the present sample of PPPP patients. In spite of substantial correlations between the internally consistent SCL-90-R symptom dimensions, some evidence of discriminant validity was reported in that specific subscales showed different patterns of correlations with measures of disability, pain-related fear, pain intensity and fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: The 8-dimensional system based on the work of Arrindell and Ettema (2003) was invariant across psychiatric patients, phobics, the general population and pain patients. The invariance of the SCL-90-R hostility dimensions may have implications for a re-formulation of Watson and Clark's tripartite model of general distress, specific anxiety and specific depression.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Are patients with COPD psychologically distressed?

This study was designed to assess the level of psychological distress in a heterogeneous group of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and compare them with the general population and psychiatric outpatients. A total of 118 patients with COPD, a random sample of 500 subjects from the general population and 500 psychiatric outpatients participated in this study. The Dutch version of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised was used to assess general psychological distress. The sample of patients with COPD experienced significantly more psychological distress than the general population and significantly less than psychiatric outpatients. Furthermore, no significant association was found between the severity of the pulmonary disease and the level of psychological distress, although patients with severe or very severe COPD appeared to be at increased risk of depression. Lastly, the pattern of psychological complaints seems comparable in depressed patients with COPD and psychiatric outpatients. Once patients with COPD report suffering from depressive symptoms, the level of distress seems to increase to that found in psychiatric outpatients. In conclusion, in clinical settings in which psychological complaints are not routinely assessed, the Beck Depression Inventory and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised are very useful for drawing attention to depression and psychological distress.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations. Part I: Dimensional constancy of the five-factor model.

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Higher levels of state depression in masculine than in feminine nations.

Studies using identical measures have identified different levels of depression in different countries or cultures. Until now, however, explanations for such differences, other than methodological ones, have not been empirically addressed. It was hypothesized and found that soft or feminine nations in which both women and men are offered equal opportunities for the fulfillment of multiple social roles that are associated with good self-rated health would score significantly lower on national depression levels than tough or masculine societies in which such opportunities exist to a clearly lesser extent. Analyses of data collected in 14 nations in Europe (total N>5000) demonstrated that higher scores on Hofstede's national masculinity index and lower ones on national wealth were independent predictors of higher national depression levels. National trait neuroticism did not mediate the relationship between national masculinity and national depression levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Masculinity-femininity as a national characteristic and its relationship with national agoraphobic fear levels: Fodor's sex role hypothesis revitalized.

Hofstede's dimension of national culture termed Masculinity-Femininity [. Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill] is proposed to be of relevance for understanding national-level differences in self-assessed agoraphobic fears. This prediction is based on the classical work of Fodor [. In: V. Franks & V. Burtle (Eds.), Women in therapy: new psychotherapies for a changing society. New York: Brunner/Mazel]. A unique data set comprising 11 countries (total N=5491 students) provided the opportunity of scrutinizing this issue. It was hypothesized and found that national Masculinity (the degree to which cultures delineate sex roles, with masculine or tough societies making clearer differentiations between the sexes than feminine or modest societies do) would correlate positively with national agoraphobic fear levels (as assessed with the Fear Survey Schedule-III). Following the correction for sex and age differences across national samples, a significant and large effect-sized national-level (ecological) r=+0.67 (P=0.01) was found. A highly feminine society such as Sweden had the lowest, whereas the champion among the masculine societies, Japan, had the highest national Agoraphobic fear score.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Changes in waiting-list patients over time: data on some commonly-used measures. Beware!

When samples of psychiatric patients are assessed on 2 occasions on state and trait measures, without any formal intervention having yet taken place, a mean change in scores towards less psychopathology is often observed. This re-test effect, which is a potential threat to the validity of longitudinal studies, has not been given serious attention by researchers using repeated administrations. The present study addressed this issue by examining re-test effects in 2 independent clinical samples with the Symptom Check List-90-Revised and other widely-used state and trait measures. Time intervals between intake and re-take were 3 months and 11-350 days (M = 93 days, median = 81 days). Results indicated that the re-test effect occurred for most of the measures. Where significant testing effects were observed, 54-72% of the patients had time 2 scores that were lower than the average time I scores. The importance and practical and scientific implications of the findings are discussed. Eleven hypotheses concerning the nature of the re-test effect are offered, including mood-congruent associative processing, natural coping mechanisms, self-monitoring hypothesis and response-shift.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Normative studies with the Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour (SIB): II. US students. A cross-cultural comparison with Dutch data.

The Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour (SIB), a multidimensional, self-report measure of state assertiveness, was administered to a nationwide sample of 2375 undergraduates enrolled at 11 colleges and universities across the USA. The SIB was developed in the Netherlands for the independent assessment of both distress associated with self-assertion in a variety of social situations and the likelihood of engaging in a specific assertive response. This is done with four factorially-derived, first-order dimensions: (i) Display of negative feelings (Negative assertion); (ii) Expression of and dealing with personal limitations; (iii) Initiating assertiveness; and (iv) Praising others and the ability to deal with compliments/praise of others (Positive assertion). The present study was designed to determine the cross-national invariance of the original Dutch factors and the construct validity of the corresponding dimensions. It also set out to develop norms for a nationwide sample of US students. The results provide further support for the reliability, factorial and construct validity of the SIB. Compared to their Dutch equivalents, US students had meaningfully higher distress in assertiveness scores on all SIB scales (medium to large effect sizes), whereas differences on the performance scales reflected small effect sizes. The cross-national differences in distress scores were hypothesized to have originated from the American culture being more socially demanding with respect to interpersonal competence than the Dutch, and from the perceived threats and related cognitive appraisals that are associated with such demands.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

The short-EMBU in East-Germany and Sweden: a cross-national factorial validity extension.

The factorial stability and reliability of the 23-item s(hort)-EMBU previously demonstrated to be satisfactory in samples of students from Greece, Guatemala, Hungary and Italy, were extended with 791 students from East-Germany and Sweden. Previous findings on factorial validity, internal reliability and correlations among scales were replicated. The 23-item form thus continues to be recommended as a reliable functional equivalent to the early 81-item EMBU, when the clinical and/or research context does not adequately permit application of time-consuming test batteries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Phobic dimensions: IV. The structure of animal fears.

Research designed to determine the number and kind of dimensions underlying self-reports of animal fears is relatively rare. To contribute further knowledge to this area of study, Davey's methodology [Davey, G. C. L. (1994a). Self-reported fears to common indigenous animals in an adult UK population: the role of disgust sensitivity. British Journal of Psychology, 85, 541-554.] was improved. Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation of the self-ratings to items of Davey's Animal Fears Questionnaire returned by Ss from a Dutch community sample (N = 214) revealed four reliable, relatively independent dimensions: (1) fear-relevant animals, (2) dry or non-slimy invertebrates, (3) slimy or wet looking animals and (4) farm animals. Replicating Davey (1994a), females, relative to males, reported higher levels on most fear items. Principal components analysis with Oblimin rotation involving animal fears scales (derived from the dimensions identified in the present study), dimensions of non-animal fears, disgust sensitivity, sex-role orientation and the major dimensions of personality from the Eysenckian system revealed 4 higher-order factors, namely specific animals fears, positive affectivity, toughmindedness and negative affectivity. At an even higher level, these 4 higher-order factors merged into two factors: (1) a bipolar positive affectivity versus neuroticism/general emotionality/negative affectivity factor and (2) a toughmindedness dimension. Studies such as these contribute in helping provide the elements of the hierarchical model of fears proposed by Taylor [Taylor, S. (1998). The hierarchic structure of fears. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 205-214.]. Findings across different studies suggest that there are at least 5 first-order dimensions of animal fears, the above 4 and predatory (fierce) animals, that may be included in such a model.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Disgust sensitivity and the sex difference in fears to common indigenous animals.

Davey's mediational hypothesis [Davey, G. C. L. (1994). Self-reported fears to common indigenous animals in an adult UK population: the role of disgust sensitivity. British Journal of Psychology, 85, 541-554.] suggests that the sex difference in self-assessed animal fears can be accounted for by the sex difference in disgust sensitivity. An empirical test failed to support this hypothesis in a non-clinical sample (N = 214). Holding constant the influences of confounders such as age, fear of contamination, sex roles, neuroticism, psychoticism and disgust sensitivity, biological sex kept emerging as a significant predictor in relation to four types of animal fears (fear-relevant animals, dry or non-slimy invertebrates, slimy or wet looking animals and farm animals). Other things being equal, high disgust sensitivity either lost its predictive capability (in relation to dry or non-slimy invertebrates and slimy or wet looking animals) or predicted high fear of fear-relevant animals and of farm animals inequivalently across, respectively, the sexes (high in females only) and age groups (high in the old only). A multifactorial, interactionist approach should be advocated in the study of the aetiology of animal fears if progress in this area is to be achieved.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Psychometric appraisal of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (SIB) in France.

The present study was carried out in France to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (SIB), a multidimensional measure of difficulty and distress in assertiveness that was originally developed in The Netherlands. This appraisal was conducted with a clinical sample (N = 166) and a general population sample (N = 150). The clinical series comprised 115 patients with social phobia and 51 patients with personality disorder, 28 of whom were of the avoidant type. Support was found for internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the French SIB. Compared to controls, both social phobics and patients with an avoidant personality disorder had significantly lower mean scores on all performance scales and significantly higher ones on all distress scales, with the social phobics occupying a position in between. Findings in relation to convergent and divergent validity were quite satisfactory. Sensitivity of the French SIB for detecting change was demonstrated in a subgroup of the clinical Ss who had undergone 15 sessions of cognitive-behavioral group therapy for underassertiveness.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Establishing clinically significant change: increment of precision and the distinction between individual and group level of analysis.

Some essential adaptations to the method for determining clinically significant change originally introduced by Jacobson, Follette and Revenstorf [Jacobson, N. S., Follette, W. C. & Revenstorf, D. (1984a). Psychotherapy outcome research: methods for reporting variability and evaluating clinical significance. Behavior Therapy, 15, 336-352.] are presented. One adaptation deals with the failure in the original method to distinguish between analysis at the individual versus analysis at the group level. A second adaptation entails the provision of a closer approximation of the underlying true scores. This refinement represents an enhancement in precision. Specific aspects of this refinement may be understood in terms of a correction for error-based regression to the mean. Taking into account these adaptations, new procedures are described for determining (clinically significant) change. Some guidelines for the publication of outcome findings are also presented.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMed1999

Clinically significant and practical! Enhancing precision does make a difference. Reply to McGlinchey and Jacobson, Hsu, and Speer.

UNLABELLED: Based on a secondary analysis of the Jacobson and Truax [Jacobson, N.S. & Truax, P. (1991). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: a statistical approach to defining meaningful change in psychotherapy research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 12-19.] data using both their own traditional approach and the refined method advanced by Hageman and Arrindell [Hageman, W.J.J.M., & Arrindell, W.A. (1999). Establishing clinically significant change: increment of precision and the distinction between individual and group level of analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 1169-1193], McGlinchey and Jacobson [McGlinchey, J. B., & Jacobson, N. S. (1999). Clinically significant but impractical? A response to Hageman and Arrindell. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 1211-1217.] reported practically identical findings on reliable and clinically significant change across the two approaches. This led McGlinchey and Jacobson to conclude that there is little practical gain in utilizing the refined method over the traditional approach. Close inspection of the data used by McGlinchey and Jacobson however revealed a serious mistake with respect to the value of the standard error of measurement that was employed in their calculations. When the proper index value was utilised, further re-analysis by the present authors disclosed clear differences (i.e. different classifications of S's) across the two approaches. Importantly, these differences followed exactly the same pattern as depicted in Table 2 in Hageman and Arrindell (1999). The theoretical advantages of the refined method, i.e. enhanced precision, appropriate distinction between analysis at the individual and group levels, and maximal comparability of findings across studies, exceed those of the traditional method. Application of the refined method may be carried out within approximately half an hour, which not only supports its practical manageability, but also challenges the suggestion of McGlinchey and Jacobson (1999) that the relevant method would be too complex (impractical) for the average scientist. The reader is offered the opportunity of obtaining an SPSS setup in the form of an ASCII text file by means of which the relevant calculations can be carried out. The ways in which the valuable commentaries by Hsu [Hsu, L. M. (1999). A comparison of three methods of identifying reliable and clinically significant client changes: commentary on Hageman and Arrindell. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 1195-1202.] and Speer [Speer, D. C. (1999). What is the role of two-wave designs in clinical research? Comment on Hageman and Arrindell. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 1203-1210.) contribute to a better understanding of the technical/statistical backgrounds of the traditional and refined methods were also discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed1997

Assessing rearing behaviour from the perspectives of the parents: a new form of the EMBU.

The EMBU (Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran) is a self-reporting questionnaire developed to assess memories of adults about their parents' rearing practices. In the present study, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out on items of the EMBU-P, a new version of the EMBU especially designed to obtain ratings from parents about their own rearing behaviour with their children. The factor analysis yielded a structure similar to that obtained with the original EMBU (Rejection, Emotional Warmth, Control Attempts and Favouring Subject), but composed of fewer items. The internal consistency was adequate for the three major scales. Some significant correlations emerged between the EMBU-P scales. The Rejection scale correlated negatively with the Emotional Warmth scale and positively with the Control Attempts scale. The latter also correlated positively with Emotional Warmth. There were no significant correlations between the scales and the age of the parents. The sex of the parents was significantly associated with the EMBU-P scores.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Phobic dimensions--II. Cross-national confirmation of the multidimensional structure underlying the Mobility Inventory (MI).

In a previous study (Cox, Swinson, Kuch & Reichman, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 427-431, 1993), factor analyses of the responses of 177 Canadian panic disorder with agoraphobia patients to the 'When Accompanied' and 'When Alone' scales of the Mobility Inventory (Chambless, Caputo, Jasin, Gracely & Williams, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 35-44, 1985) revealed three factors in each case: Fears of (1) Public places; (2) Enclosed spaces; and (3) Open spaces. Using two distinct methods of factorial analysis, evidence was found for the cross-national generalizability of the factor model when the responses of Dutch members of a society for individuals suffering from an anxiety disorder (N = 213) were contrasted with the original Canadian findings. Inventory items were distributed in a non-overlapping fashion across the corresponding three subscales. Psychometric properties of the subscales were encouraging, although some difficulties emerged when attempts were made at distinguishing Fears of Enclosed spaces from Fears of Open spaces. This was because of their correlational configurations with other measures. Scores on all scales varied with socioeconomic status (SES); Ss in lower SES groups had significantly higher agoraphobic avoidance scores than their equivalents in higher SES groups. Results of higher-order analysis, which included several state and trait measures of psychological functioning in addition to the Mobility Inventory, revealed two orthogonal, second-order factors which were interpreted as Agoraphobia and Neuroticism/Negative Affect vs Positive Affect. Implications for further studies are briefly outlined.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Men are innocent until proven guilty: a comment on the examination of sex differences by Pierce and Kirkpatrick (1992).

Pierce and Kirkpatrick (1992, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30, 415-418) addressed the finding that men reported lower levels of fear than women in response to specific fear items and concluded on the basis of their experiment that this was because the men were lying. Their conclusion is questioned on various grounds, including inappropriate statistical analyses, inadequate treatment of physiological data, failure to address the possibility of sample selection bias (signalled by the high drop-out rate) and the inadequacy of self-assessed fear measures based on a small number of single items. An alternative interpretation of their data is offered, based on the inverse correlation between initial response level and size of increment, demonstrable in their study in males but not in females. It is argued here that the increments may have been due to anticipatory arousal, a mediating factor that would also account for the facilitation of generalization between certain specific items. It is further suggested that, if this explanation is correct, the men were acting with more rather than less honesty, and it may on the other hand be the reports of the females that were affected by their sex-role stereotype. Another possible explanation of the findings is discussed. If men relatively high in masculinity had a greater tendency to drop out, the experimental sample at the second testing would be biased towards men relatively low in masculinity and reporting higher fear levels.

Arousal↗
PubMed1993

The fear of fear concept: stability, retest artefact and predictive power.

Three related issues concerning the theory, measurement and clinical utility of the fear of fear construct as operationalized by the Agoraphobic Cognitions and Bodily Sensations Questionnaires (Chambless, Caputo, Bright & Gallagher, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 1090-1097, 1984) were addressed: stability of ranked scores, stability of means (retest effect) and predictive ability. In addition to measures assessing moods and enduring personality traits, the relevant fear of fear scales (and introducing a companion frequency measure to the BSQ-intensity scale) were administered to somewhat over 60 clients with "panic disorder with agoraphobia" or "agoraphobia without a history of panic attacks" on two occasions, 3 months apart, with no intervention having taken place between first and second testing. As predicted, ranked fear of fear scores were highly stable. In addition, Howarth's mu index values pointed to the description of the fear of fear constructs in terms of traits. Specific fear of fear scales showed evidence of a retest effect. The short-term course of agoraphobic avoidance behaviour in untreated cases was predictable from specific fear of fear variables, even after controlling for their shared variance with pre-test measures of either state anxiety-panic or trait neuroticism. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Adult↗