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Psychopathy has often been thought to be associated with a deficit in processing of the affective content of stimuli. This hypothesis was tested by examining if stimuli that depicted a threat to the viewer, or stimuli that depicted distressing scenes, would produce an automatic shift in spatial attention, and whether this effect would be modified by individual differences in trait psychopathy as conceptualised by the triarchic model of psychopathy. Using a large mixed gender community sample (N = 286) it was found that spatial attention was averted away from threat stimuli for both short (200 ms) and long (500 ms) periods from cue to target, while the distress cues did not produce any spatial attention shifts. The trait of Meanness was found to be associated with a reduction in the effect of threat stimuli, while the trait of Disinhibition was found to be associated with an increase in this threat effect. However, the dot-probe task showed poor reliability. We conclude that the callous unemotional aspects of psychopathy, as captured by the Meanness scale, are underpinned by a lack of response to affective information, whereas impulsive/irresponsible traits of psychopathy, as captured by the Disinhibition scale, are underpinned by an exaggerated response to such affective information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is a 40-item instrument designed to screen children at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Both Lifetime and Current forms of the scale are available. Although these forms are manageable for many respondents, their use may result in substantial respondent and administrative burden, particularly among individuals who have difficulty reading, have physical illness, and/or are asked to take multiple questionnaires. The objective of this research was to examine the potential of two stopping rules for computer-based testing (namely, curtailment and stochastic curtailment) to shorten the SCQ without compromising its screening properties. A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR); responses regarding 1236 at-risk individuals from the SCQ Lifetime and 709 at-risk individuals from the SCQ Current were analyzed. In post-hoc simulation, curtailment reduced mean test lengths by 29% to 44% compared to the full-length Lifetime form, and by 25% to 39% compared to the full-length Current form, while providing the same screening result as the corresponding full-length form in 100% of cases. Stochastic curtailment made further reductions in test length, but was not always concordant with the full-length form's screening result. These findings suggest that curtailment has potential to improve the efficiency of the SCQ in computer-based administrations and should be tested prospectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3; Garner, 2004) is a 91-item, self-report measure scored on 12 scales (three Eating Disorder Risk scales, nine Psychological scales) and six composites. A sample of 1206 female eating disorder patients was divided randomly into calibration (n = 607) and cross-validation (n = 599) samples for confirmatory factor analyses. A bifactor model best fit the data in both samples, but a model with second-order factors corresponding to the risk and psychological scales approached the fit of the bifactor model. Rasch analysis identified only two items whose level of misfit showed a lack of coherence with other scale items (the only items referring to drug and alcohol use), there were no items with reversed or "disordered" response categories, and only five items had sub-threshold estimated discrimination values. Overall, the results were supportive of the EDI-3's psychometric properties and consistent with interpretive guidelines presented in the test manual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the internal consistency reliability and the convergent validity of the Spanish version of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and to provide EDE-Q norms for Spanish undergraduate women. Seven hundred eight college women, aged 18-30 years, volunteered to complete the EDE-Q, BSQ and EDI-2. Satisfactory internal consistency for the four subscales and the global score of the EDE-Q was obtained (Cronbach's α ≥ .81). The EDI-2 Drive for Thinness and Body Dissatisfaction subscales and the BSQ global factor score correlated highly and positively with the corresponding EDE-Q subscales ( r ≥ .72). Average scores, standard deviations and percentile ranks for the raw EDE-Q subscales and data on the occurrence of binge eating and compensatory behaviors are presented. Most of these values were lower than those found in other non-European developed countries. Results support the satisfactory internal consistency and convergent validity of the Spanish version of the EDE-Q. Lower scores in EDE-Q subscales suggest the need to study a lower cut-off point for clinical significance in Spanish college women. These data will help clinicians and researchers to interpret the EDE-Q scores of college women in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

lthough currently classified as a somatoform disorder, cognitive-behavioral models conceptualize hypochondriasis (HC) as a severe form of health anxiety. The Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) is a measure derived from this conceptualization that measures health anxiety symptoms across the range of severity. Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding this measure's factor structure, but these studies employed factor analytic tools that did not account for the categorical nature of SHAI items. The present psychometric study was designed to address these inconsistencies using categorical factor analysis. Using data from a large student sample we found that the SHAI had two factors: Illness Likelihood and Illness Severity. We also examined the relationship between these domains and cognitive variables associated with other anxiety disorders. Results suggested that the psychological processes present in obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder are also associated with health anxiety. Implications for the conceptualization and classification of severe health anxiety are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The validity of the Axis II Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) category and its position within the Cluster C personality disorder (PDs) section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, APA ) continues to be a source of much debate. The present study examines the associations between general and maladaptive personality traits and OCPD symptoms, prior to and after controlling for co-occurring PD variance, in a general population sample of 274 Flemish adolescents and further explores the incremental validity of two different maladaptive trait measures beyond general traits. The results demonstrate that the number of (general and maladaptive) personality-OCPD associations decreases after controlling for a general personality pathology factor, with the FFM factor Conscientiousness and its maladaptive counterpart Compulsivity as remaining correlates of OCPD. The findings further suggest to complement the general NEO-PI-R (Costa and McCrae 1992) scales with more maladaptive items to enable a more comprehensive description of personality pathology variance. Implications for understanding and assessing OCPD in the developmental context of adolescence are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]