Testing the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Gender of the Big Five Inventory Through Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling.

Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) typically fail to support the a priori 5-factor structure of Big Five self-report instruments, due in part to the overly restrictive CFA assumptions. We show that exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), an integration of CFA and exploratory factor analysis, overcomes these problems in relation to responses to the 44-item Big Five Inventory (BFI) administered to a large Italian community sample. ESEM fitted the data better and resulted in less correlated factors than CFA, although ESEM and CFA factor scores correlated at near unity with observed raw scores.

The Italian version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Personality Disorders Scales (IIP-47): psychometric properties and clinical usefulness as a screening measure.

The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-47 (IIP-47) is a brief and valid self-report measure for screening Personality Disorders (PDs). This study examined internal consistency, factor structure, criterion validity, temporal stability, and operating characteristics of the Italian version of the IIP-47 in two independent samples: PD subjects (n = 120) and nonclinical subjects (n = 475). Alpha coefficients ranged from .

Referral to group psychotherapy: a retrospective study on patients' personality features associated with clinicians' judgments.

This study was designed to explore selected personality features of patients that are associated with clinicians' judgments about whom to refer to dynamic group psychotherapy versus individual therapy. Results suggested that an aspect of patients' adult attachment style, namely level of confidence and level of hostility, may have influenced the clinicians' judgments and decision making about treatment referrals.

Decision-making functioning as a predictor of treatment outcome in anorexia nervosa.

The pathological eating behaviour of patients with anorexia nervosa reflects a deficit in planning real-life strategies that can be observed in an experimental setting through the Gambling Task, a tool designed to detect and measure decision-making abilities. We examined the role of Gambling Task performance as a predictor of treatment outcome in anorectic patients, and we evaluated changes in decision-making after clinical improvement. Performance on the Gambling Task was evaluated, and a clinical-nutritional assessment of 38 anorectic patients was carried out before and after a cognitive-behavioural and drug treatment program.

Neuropsychological investigation of decision-making in anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) could be considered a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which an impairment of the cognitive domain related to decision-making was found. We explored this function in AN patients, as well as possible differences between restricting type and binge/purge type, with the aim of examining the hypothesis that AN is part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Decision-making was assessed in 59 inpatients with AN and 82 control subjects using the Gambling task, which simulates real-life decision-making by assessing the ability to balance immediate rewards against long-term negative consequences.

Basal-corticofrontal circuits in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder: a controlled, double dissociation study.

Background: Several lines of research suggest that prefrontal cortex dysfunctions observed in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia (SKZ) are linked to two partially independent neuroanatomic systems: the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, with different neuroanatomic connections, including the striatum. The primary aim of this study was to test this hypothesis using a double dissociation study of neuropsychological tasks performance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Methods: We administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Gambling Task, and the four-disk version of the Tower of Hanoi to 110 SKZ and 67 OCD patients and 56 control subjects.