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There is limited evidence in the literature that hostility, anger, and aggression are involved with social anxiety. The present study examined the relationship of personality traits and aggression with social anxiety and social skills in forensic psychiatric outpatients convicted of a violent crime. Social anxiety was mainly contributed to by neuroticism, state anger, and social skills, while neuroticism and social anxiety were the main contributors to social skills. Anger, next to neuroticism and social skills, appeared to be involved in the outpatients' social anxiety. Neuroticism and social anxiety were found to be the main contributors to social skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a functional analysis of aggressive behavior, the present study investigates the psychological determinants of state anger and aggression in violent prison inmates. Comparing psychiatric forensic inpatients with violent prison inmates revealed considerable overlap in these determinants between both samples. Next, the personality traits of neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, hostility, and anger were studied in explaining the violent prison inmates' state anger and aggression. Data were obtained from 102 male inmates prisoned for four years or more because of a serious violent crime. Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between the patients' characteristics of anger and aggression. It was found that neuroticism, trait anger, and hostility contributed to state anger. Furthermore, the main factor contributing to aggression was state anger. Implications of the results for reducing anger and aggression in violent prison inmates are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the psychometric properties of the Novaco Anger Scale--Provocation Inventory (NAS-PI, 1994 version) in Dutch violent forensic psychiatric patients and secondary vocational students. A confirmatory factor analysis of the subscale structure of the NAS was carried out, reliability was investigated, and relations were calculated between NAS-PI scores and other measures of personality traits and problem behaviors. The 3-subscale structure of the original NAS could not be confirmed. However, the internal consistency of the NAS and the PI was excellent, and the test-retest reliability of the NAS was good. The validity of the NAS and the PI was supported by a meaningful pattern of correlations with alternative measures of anger and personality traits. Forensic psychiatric outpatients displayed higher NAS scores than secondary vocational students, but inpatients scored even lower than this nonclinical control group. Our preliminary conclusion is that the NAS-PI is a valuable instrument for the assessment of anger in Dutch violent forensic psychiatric patients. (Contains 1 footnote and 5 tables.)

The psychometric properties of a Dutch version of Buss and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) were examined in a sample of violent forensic psychiatric inpatients and outpatients and a sample of secondary vocational students. The internal consistency, interitem correlations, and item--scale correlations of the subscales Physical Aggression, Anger, and Hostility were good but turned out to be unsatisfactory for the subscale Verbal Aggression. The four-factor structure of the AQ could not be confirmed, but the four-factor structure of a 12-item version (short form) of the AQ, the AQ-SF, produced an acceptable fit. The test--retest reliability of the AQ and AQ-SF total scores was good, although the test--retest reliability of the AQ-SF subscale Physical Aggression was not satisfactory. The validity of both the AQ and AQ-SF could be demonstrated by meaningful correlations with alternative measures of aggression and personality, but inpatients were not found to display higher scores on the AQ or AQ-SF than the students. (Contains 6 tables.)

A group of 63 domestically violent patients and a group of 103 generally violent patients at a Dutch forensic psychiatric outpatient clinic are examined with regard to personality traits and problem behaviors to develop treatment programs for domestically violent patients. The domestically violent patients are more unstable from a psychological viewpoint but not more inclined to anger than the average Dutch male. They report less anxiety in situations in which criticism can be given but more anxiety in situations in which someone can be given a compliment. When comparing domestically violent patients with generally violent patients, domestically violent patients score lower on anger as disposition and on aggressive behavior than the generally violent patients do. However, both groups do not differ from each other in their score on the dimension of psychopathy. (Contains 1 table.)

This follow-up study presents psychometric data and norms of the Adapted Version of the Picture-Frustration Study (PFS-AV) from 422 male violent forensic psychiatric in- and outpatients, 101 male violent long-term prisoners, and 319 secondary vocational students (160 males and 159 females). The PFS-AV is a production instrument to measure hostility with 12 items. A diagnostician scored the responses on a seven-point scale, running from not at all hostile (0) to extremely hostile (7). Support was found for the PFS-AV construct, concurrent, and discriminant validity in all three samples. Therefore, the present results underline the generalizability and applicability of the PFS-AV in different populations. Furthermore, for clinical diagnosis, norms are presented for the three samples, just as examples for the scoring on the Likert scale. Also, Dutch, English, and German versions of the PFS-AV with scoring instructions are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain-related avoidance factors and social resources, as assessed by pain coping and social support, are supposed to have lasting effects on functional disability and pain in chronic pain disorders. As a follow-up to a prospective study demonstrating short-term effects after one year (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 179-193, 1998), the role of pain coping and social support at the time of diagnosis was investigated in relationship to the long-term course of functional disability and pain after three and five years in 78 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), taking into account personality characteristics of neuroticism and extraversion, clinical status and use of medication. In line with findings at the one-year follow-up, results showed that more passive pain coping predicted functional disability at the three-year, but not the five-year follow-up. In addition, low levels of social support at the time of diagnosis consistently predicted both functional disability and pain at the three and five-year follow-ups. Results indicate that pain coping and social support, assessed very early in the disease process, can affect long-term functional disability and pain in RA, and suggest that early interventions focusing on pain-related avoidance factors and social resources for patients at risk may beneficially influence long-term outcomes in RA. Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis; Chronic pain; Functional disability; Pain coping; Social support; Avoidance

The literature on chronic diseases recognizes the role of illness cognition as a mediator between stress and illness. Few conceptualizations and instruments, however, give an indication of both unfavorable and favorable ways of adjusting to an uncontrollable long-term stressor, such as a chronic disease. The authors propose 3 generic illness cognitions that reflect different ways of reevaluating the inherently aversive character of a chronic condition: helplessness as a way of emphasizing the aversive meaning of the disease, acceptance as a way to diminish the aversive meaning, and perceived benefits as a way of adding a positive meaning to the disease. A self-report instrument, the Illness Cognition Questionnaire, was developed to assess these cognitions across different chronic diseases. The results support the reliable and valid assessment of these illness cognitions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis and indicate the maladaptive function of helplessness and the adaptive function of acceptance and perceived benefits for the long-term physical and psychological health of patients with a chronic disease.

In order to examine the influence of active and passive pain-coping strategies and social support characteristics on the change in functional status in the first stage of the disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients, self-report data and clinical and laboratory measures were collected from 91 patients (70% female, mean age 57 yr) shortly after diagnosis and 1 yr later. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, after taking the influence of demographic variables, disease activity and pain into account, a decrease in functional status (mobility, self-care, grip strength) after 1 yr could be predicted by an initially more frequent use of the passive pain-coping strategies of worrying and resting. A decrease in mobility could be additionally predicted by an initially smaller social network. Results indicate the impact of passive pain-coping strategies and social network characteristics for the prognosis of functional outcome in the first stage of the disease and suggest the early manifestation of avoidance mechanisms, including behavioral, cognitive-emotional and social components, in face of a chronic stressor. Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Functional disability, Chronic pain, Coping, Social support, Avoidance