Personality trait similarity in recently cohabiting couples: Partner choice, convergence, or selective breakup?

Romantic partners tend to be more similar in self-reported personality traits than would be expected by chance. This similarity can be due to the choice of a similar partner, partners becoming more similar to each other over time, or dissimilar couples breaking up. To examine whether these processes (choice, convergence, or breakup) explain personality trait similarities in couples, we followed a sample of 1,180 German couples ( = 2,360 individuals; age range = 17-82 years old) from right after moving in together (ranging from 0 to 4 years after) up to 16 years thereafter.

Future time perspective and depression, anxiety, and stress in adulthood.

Background And Objective: Research has shown that perceptions of future time as limited are associated with more depressive symptoms. However, there is limited research on which dimensions of future time perspective (FTP: opportunity, extension, constraint) are associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, and whether these findings vary across age.

Design And Methods: Data came from a cross-sectional study in a nonclinical U.

Management of a Rare Case of Multiple Coronary Artery Fistulas Associated with Ascending Aortic and Root Aneurysm: Case Report and Review of Literature.

Coronary artery fistulas draining into the left ventricle is a rare finding. They can be associated with other congenital cardiac anomalies like ventricular septal defect or tetralogy of Fallot. While most of them are asymptomatic, they can lead to severe cardiac complications like infective endocarditis, heart failure, or myocardial ischemia.

Measuring Global Character Dimensions: An Ant Colony Optimization Approach toward Three Core Strength Scales.

The Values in Action (VIA) framework encompasses 24 universally valued character strengths. Recent factor-analytic work has identified three global core strengths (metatraits) that proved to be well-interpretable and cross-culturally replicable: , , and . However, there are no short scales to economically measure these core strengths that would encourage (large-scale) survey-based research on the global level of the VIA trait space.

Examining sense of purpose and conscientiousness as unique correlates of health: A bifactor examination.

Conscientiousness and sense of purpose consistently predict health, wellbeing, and health behavior. However, it remains an open question whether they are unique or overlapping predictors of health and wellbeing. The current study considered this question using the MOSAiCH study, a nationally representative sample of 2305 Swiss adults (: 52.

Model Specification Searches in Structural Equation Modeling Using Bee Swarm Optimization.

Metaheuristics are optimization algorithms that efficiently solve a variety of complex combinatorial problems. In psychological research, metaheuristics have been applied in short-scale construction and model specification search. In the present study, we propose a bee swarm optimization (BSO) algorithm to explore the structure underlying a psychological measurement instrument.

Purposeful and purposeless aging: Structural issues for sense of purpose and their implications for predicting life outcomes.

Despite the value of sense of purpose during older adulthood, this construct often declines with age. With some older adults reconsidering the relevance of purpose later in life, the measurement of purpose may suffer from variance issues with age. The current study investigated whether sense of purpose functions similarly across ages and evaluated if the predictive power of purpose on mental, physical, cognitive, and financial outcomes changes when accounting for a less age-affected measurement structure.

The effects of a personality intervention on satisfaction in 10 domains of life: Evidence for increases and correlated change with personality traits.

The desire to change one's personality traits has been shown to be stronger if people are dissatisfied with associated aspects of their life. While evidence for the effects of interventions on personality trait change is increasing, it is unclear whether these lead to subsequent improvements in the satisfaction with various domains of life. In this study, we examined the effects of a 3-month digital-coaching personality change intervention study on 10 domains of satisfaction.

Association between personality traits, leisure activities, and cognitive levels and decline across 12 years in older adults.

The engagement in cognitively stimulating activities has been found to be associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in old age. In which type of activities people engage in may depend on their personality traits, which thus might have an impact on later cognitive fitness. To study these potential links, we examined the associations between Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness; different types of leisure activities (e.

Do associations between sense of purpose, social support, and loneliness differ across the adult lifespan?

Past research has suggested that the path to purpose involves connections with people along the way. In support, sense of purpose appears higher amongst those adults with more positive social relationships and interactions. However, research has yet to consider whether associations between sense of purpose and social relationship variables differ across adulthood.

The link between personality, global, and domain-specific satisfaction across the adult lifespan.

Meta-analytic evidence has shown that personality is one of the strongest correlates of global and domain-specific satisfaction. The main goal of the present study was to examine whether the associations between personality traits and satisfaction differ across the adult lifespan. We used bivariate latent growth curve models and local structural equation modeling to study correlations between levels and change of Big Five personality traits and satisfaction with life, satisfaction with work, and satisfaction with social contacts.

Mapping established psychopathology scales onto the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP).

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) organizes phenotypes of mental disorder based on empirical covariation, offering a comprehensive organizational framework from narrow symptoms to broader patterns of psychopathology. We argue that established self-report measures of psychopathology from the pre-HiTOP era should be systematically integrated into HiTOP to foster cumulative research and further the understanding of psychopathology structure. Hence, in this study, we mapped 92 established psychopathology (sub)scales onto the current HiTOP working model using data from an extensive battery of self-report assessments that was completed by community participants and outpatients (N = 909).

Validation of the German Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory and Construction of a Brief Form Using Ant Colony Optimization.

Narcissism is a multifaceted construct commonly conceptualized as comprising grandiose and vulnerable aspects in a two-factor model. While the manifold correlates of these aspects imposed a challenge for research on the structure of narcissism, recent models converge in a three-factor structure of agentic-extraverted, antagonistic, and neurotic aspects, capturing variance in different conceptualizations and correlates of narcissism. We construct and validate a German adaptation of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI), a measure assessing these aspects based on the Five-Factor Model.

Homocysteine as a Predictor Tool in Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive and irreversible disease which affects the central nervous system (CNS) with still unknown etiology. Our study aimes to establish the homocysteine pattern that can predict the MS diseases progression and to identify a potential disease progression marker that can be easy to perform and non-invasive, in order to predict the diseases outcome. In order to achieve this goal, we included 10 adult RRMS subjects, 10 adult SPMS subjects and 10 age-matched healthy subjects.

The HEX-ACO-18: Developing an Age-Invariant HEXACO Short Scale Using Ant Colony Optimization.

In this study, we developed an age-invariant 18-item short form of the HEXACO Personality Inventory for use in developmental personality research. We combined the item selection procedure ant colony optimization (ACO) and the model estimation approach local structural equation modeling (LSEM). ACO is a metaheuristic algorithm that evaluates items based on the quality of the resulting short scale, thus directly optimizing criteria that can only be estimated with combinations of items, such as model fit and measurement invariance.

Responses to interpersonal transgressions from early adulthood to old age.

In this study, we addressed age differences in how people respond to interpersonal transgressions. Specifically, we examined whether the tendencies to respond with revenge, avoidance, and benevolence differ as a function of age in a cross-sectional study with a large sample ( = 1,413; age range: 19-83 years). We used local structural equation modeling (LSEM) to examine nonlinear mean level, structural, and variance-related differences in responses to transgressions across continuous age.

The immediate impact of lockdown measures on mental health and couples' relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic - results of a representative population survey in Germany.

Background: Lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to have negative effects on mental health and relationship quality. However, little is known about the magnitude of these psychological effects on a population level and for vulnerable subgroups.

Methods: A representative sample (N = 2503; 50.

Functional Recovery in Parkinson's Disease: Current State and Future Perspective.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative disorders, affecting not only the motor function but also limiting the autonomy of affected people. In the last decade, the physical exercises of different intensities carried out by kinetic therapeutic activities, by robotic technologies or with the participation of sensory cues, have become increasingly appreciated in the management of Parkinson's disease impairments. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the impact of physical exercises with and without physical devices on the motor and cognitive variables of PD patients.

Examining the Factor Structure and Validity of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness.

The goal of this study was to psychometrically evaluate the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), a popular self-report questionnaire claimed to assess the most important subjective aspects of interoception. We collected data in two samples (N = 644 and N = 1,516) and focused on the factor structure and validity of MAIA, as well as its associations with personality traits. Confirmatory Factor Analysis suggested that six of the eight subscales measure a common general factor of self-reported ; two MAIA subscales, and were only weakly related to this factor.

Developing Cross-Cultural Short Scales Using Ant Colony Optimization.

This article demonstrates how the metaheuristic item selection algorithm ant colony optimization (ACO) can be used to develop short scales for cross-cultural surveys. Traditional item selection approaches typically select items based on expert-guided assessment of item-level information in the full scale, such as factor loadings or item correlations with relevant outcomes. ACO is an optimization procedure that instead selects items based on the properties of the resulting short models, such as model fit and reliability.

Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Interdependence in Multiple Sclerosis.

The study aims to explore the oxidative status related to inflammation in peripheral blood of stable relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with low disability. In this study, 31 people were included and divided into two groups: an MS group in which 16 relapsing-remitting MS patients with a low disability level (age 38.9 ± 7.

Situational Judgment Tests as a method for measuring personality: Development and validity evidence for a test of Dependability.

Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) are criterion valid low fidelity measures that have gained much popularity as predictors of job performance. A broad variety of SJTs have been studied, but SJTs measuring personality are still rare. Personality traits such as Conscientiousness are valid predictors of many educational, work and life-related outcomes and SJTs are less prone to faking than classical self-report measurements.

Modern health worries: Deriving two measurement invariant short scales for cross-cultural research with Ant Colony Optimization.

Worries about possible harmful effects of new technologies (modern health worries) have intensely been investigated in the last decade. However, the comparability of translated self-report measures across countries is often problematic. This study aimed to overcome this problem by developing psychometrically sound brief versions of the widely used 25-item Modern Health Worries Scale (MHWS) suitable for multi-country use.

A confirmatory examination of age-associated personality differences: Deriving age-related measurement-invariant solutions using ant colony optimization.

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine age-associated personality differences using a measurement-invariant representation of the higher-order structure of the Five-Factor Model.

Method: We reanalyzed the German NEO-PI-R norm sample (N = 11,724) and applied ant colony optimization in a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis setting in order to select three items per first-order factor that would optimize model fit and measurement invariance across 18 age groups ranging from 16 to 65 years of age.

Results: Ant colony optimization substantially improved absolute and relative model fit under measurement invariance constraints.