Relative impact of adverse events and screened symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among active duty soldiers seeking mental health care.

Symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress are among the most studied psychological difficulties among soldiers. Such symptoms have been linked to a history of adverse events among both civilians and combat veterans. There is a paucity of research on this topic that can be applied to an active duty clinical population.

The Colorado Sex Offender Risk Scale.

This study documents the development of an adult sex offender risk assessment tool. A sample of 494 sex offenders were followed for an average of 30 months. A risk scale was developed based upon criminal and therapeutic outcomes.

Psychopathology of incarcerated sex offenders.

The psychopathology and particularly the personality disorders of sex offenders were compared to general inmates of the Colorado Department of Corrections. Using the MCMI-III (Millon, 1994, 1997), sex offenders in general were found to have more varied types of personalities than general population inmates. Specifically, they were more schizoid, avoidant, depressive, dependent, self-defeating, and schizotypal.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) in a clinical sample.

Evidence for the validity of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) based on internal structure was examined in a sample of children with mixed clinical diagnoses via maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis. Four alternative factor models of children's executive function, based on current theories that posit a unidimensional versus fractionated model (Rabbitt, 1997; Shallice & Burgess, 1991), using the revised 9-scale BRIEF configuration that separates two components of the Monitor scale, were examined for model fit. A 3-factor structure best modeled the data when compared directly with 1-, 2-, and 4-factor models.

The Armstrong Laboratory Aviation Personality Survey: development, norming, and validation.

This work describes the development of a new psychological test for aviators. The Armstrong Laboratory Aviation Personality Survey was developed through the integration of clinical theory, psychometric methods, and empirical testing. It is currently given to all incoming U.

Predicting scores of the Halstead Category Test with the WAIS-III.

The Halstead Category Test (HCT) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) are two of the most widely used neuropsychological tests. Often assessment conclusions are dependent upon the comparison of these measures. Therefore, it is crucial for clinicians to know how they relate to one another.

Psychopathology and tattooing among prisoners.

Tattooing has always been associated with criminals. Indeed, it is both an administrative and clinical problem in prisons. This article looks at the relationship between psychopathology and tattooing infractions within prison.

The use of the MCMI-III in the screening and triage of offenders.

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) is well suited for use in corrections settings. The MCMI-III's scales correlate with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) personality disorders (frequently found in correctional settings), and the publisher offers a corrections-specific interpretive package. To further elucidate the usefulness of the MCMI-III with offenders and assess its efficacy, the authors administered the test to more than 10,000 inmates of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Assessment of personality and crew interaction skills in successful naval aviators.

Purpose: We were interested in studying a full range of successful aviators to discern which personality factors were present and whether these factors correlate with age, rank, and accumulated flight time.

Method: The Armstrong Laboratory Aviator Personality Survey (ALAPS) was administered to 312 designated naval aviators and flight officers from a variety of aircraft communities. The sample included O-3/O-4 elite aviators who were selected for their squadron billets based on superior performance, O-5/O-6 aviators selected for command positions, and 59 flag officers.

Revised NEO Personality Inventory profiles of male and female U.S. Air Force pilots.

The study of pilot personality characteristics has a long and controversial history. Personality characteristics seem to be fairly poor predictors of training outcome; however, valid personality assessment is essential to clinical psychological evaluations. Therefore, the personality characteristics of pilots must be studied to ensure valid clinical assessment.

Clinical procedures for the neuropsychological evaluation of U.S. Air Force pilots.

The neuropsychological assessment of U.S. Air Force pilots presents several unique problems given their relatively high cognitive functioning.

Development of the Tower of London-Revised.

The objective of this work was to reconstruct the Tower of London (TOL) test in order to increase its reliability. A three-phase process was undertaken to accomplish this goal. In Phase 1, the TOL item pool was increased, the task was administered to a sample of college students (N = 50), and item-total correlations were calculated in order to identify the items that had the highest correlation with the total score.

A comparison of two U.S. Air Force pilot aptitude tests.

Background: The Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) and Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB) were administered to 2233 U.S. Air Force pilot candidates to investigate the common sources of variance in those batteries.

Female United States Air Force pilot personality: the new right stuff.

With increasing numbers of female military pilots, it is important to understand the psychological and psychiatric gender differences of pilots. Using the "big five" personality structure (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), female United States Air Force pilots were compared with both male Air Force pilots and to a female comparison group. Female Air Force pilots were higher on the Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness scales than male pilots.

Towers of Hanoi and London: Reliability and Validity of Two Executive Function Tasks.

The Towers of Hanoi and London are presumed to measure executive functions such as planning and working memory. Both have been used as a putative assessment of frontal lobe function. In this study, both tasks were administered to 61 normal adult participants to test the assumption that the two tasks are measuring the same cognitive processes.

Female United States Air Force (USAF) pilots: themes, challenges, and possible solutions.

Background: Identification of stresses of mixed-gender squadrons, attention to the psychological concerns of pilots in combat, and recognition of the difficulties of balancing a career and family are important in today's United States Air Force (USAF). What qualities are desirable in male and female pilots in combat situations, how do men and women view their career and family goals, and how do men and women work together in day-to-day squadron activities versus deployment and combat situations?

Methods: A semi-structured clinical interview sought in formation about personal/family health, squadron relationships, and career/deployment stresses. The interview covered the effect of grounding for more than 30 d, motivation to fly, health decrements due to aircraft design, teamwork difficulties and blocks to success, career demands, combat and prisoner of war (POW) concerns, stress and coping styles, flying goals, and family/health concerns.

Cognitive assessment of USAF pilot training candidates.

Background: Most intellectual and cognitive assessment of pilots is done with locally developed assessment devices. The United States Air Force currently uses the recently developed CogScreen (Aeromedical Edition) to assess these areas.

Hypotheses: There will be differences on the CogScreen across USAF student pilot candidates and commercial pilots.

MCMI-III diagnostic validity: bad test or bad validity study.

Operating characteristics describe the validity of tests that attempt to dichotomously predict a diagnosis. These statistics are not fully published in the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III Manual (MCMI-III manual; Millon, 1994). When calculated from available statistics, the positive predictive powers of the MCMI-III scales are poor both in absolute terms and relative to the MCMI-II (Millon, 1987).

Measuring self-efficacy in people with multiple sclerosis: a validation study.

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of a measure of self-efficacy in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Design: Cross-sectional study by mail with retest.

Setting: MS Clinic registry of a large Boston teaching hospital .

Event-related potentials during the Continuous Visual Memory Test.

The Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT; Trahan & Larrabee, 1988) is a recognition format assessment of figural memory. It includes 112 ambiguous designs presented sequentially, with a number of designs that recur through the 112 presentations. The patient's task is to identify the recurring figures by responding with the word "old" for recurring stimuli and "new" for non-recurring stimuli.

Compensation and pension evaluations: psychotic, neurotic, and post-traumatic stress disorder Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory II profiles.

The purpose of the present work was to provide an examination of the three major VA adjudication classifications (post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], psychotic, and neurotic) through objective psychological testing. During routine follow-up compensation and pension evaluations, 143 patients were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory II (MCMI-II). Additionally, their current disability diagnoses as well as their current percentage of disability were coded.

Event-related potentials during delayed recognition of Wechsler Memory Scale-R paired associate learning.

The P300 is a component of cortical event related-potentials that has been linked to memory and recognition. This study examined P300 amplitude and latency during recognition of pairs of words from the WMS-R Verbal Paired Associate Learning subscale. After 24 subjects learned the pairs of words, they were shown pairs of words taken directly from the subscale that were combined to form matching or nonmatching pairs.

Psychopathology in caregivers of the chronically ill: personality and clinical syndromes.

The purpose of this study was to examine the caregivers of the chronically physically ill across personality and clinical psychopathology dimensions. The MCMI-II inventories of 30 caregivers and 28 matched controls were analyzed. Differences between the two groups were found on the clinical scales of anxiety, somatoform, dysthymia, and major depression.

Relationships between measures of auditory verbal learning and executive functioning.

Relationships between performance on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and executive abilities were examined. In a sample of 115 neurological cases principal components factor analysis produced five theoretically and clinically meaningful CVLT factors. The five CVLT factors reflected general verbal learning (CVLT1), response discrimination (CVLT2), a proactive interference effect or "working memory" (CVLT3), serial learning strategy (CVLT4), and a retroactive interference effect (CVLT5).