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The Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised (IBQ-R; GartsteinRothbart, 2003) is one of the most common parent-report instruments for assessing infant temperament. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a German version.We studied item characteristics, internal consistency, and descriptive statistics for all 14 scales in a sample of 7- to 9-month-old infants and their mothers (N = 119). Factor analysis was conducted to identify higher-order relationships between the scales.Item analysis showed mixed corrected item-total correlations. Internal consistencies were all moderate to high. Results of the factor analysis confirmed the two dimensions of Surgency/Extraversion and Negative Affectivity, whereas the dimension Orienting/Regulation was not replicated. In contrast to the American sample, activity level in the German sample loaded on the factor Negative Affectivity. The scales low intensity pleasure and soothability, which loaded on factor Orienting/Regulation in the original version, showed substantial loadings on both dimensions Surgency/Extraversion and Negative Affectivity (inverted), whereas the scale duration of orienting was located on the factor Surgency/Extraversion.The German version of the IBQ-R provides a satisfying instrument for investigating infant temperament. However, further work is needed to improve the methodological quality of the questionnaire. Further research should especially focus on the factor structure of infant temperament. We suggest developing a shorter version and testing it with a larger and more diverse sample.

Despite effective pharmacologic and therapeutic strategies some patients do not sufficiently benefit from antidepressive treatment. The influence of personality and cognition onto response in depressive inpatients shall be explored.Depressive inpatients were rated concerning depressive pathology immediately after admission as well as at discharge. In addition, prior to discharge, cognitive performance and personality traits were measured. The sample was divided into responders and nonresponders by the reduction of depressive symptoms from admission to discharge. For the assumption of response, a reduction of minimum 50 % was defined.Preliminary results suggest an impact of personality traits onto response in depressive patients, particularly extraversion seems to have a salutary effect. Furthermore, significant differences between responders and nonresponders were shown concerning alertness.In the treatment of non-response depression, cognitive and personality traits should be taken in account by using multimodal strategies.

About 10 % of students suffer from test anxiety to such an extent that treatment is warranted. The correlation of high test anxiety with other mental disorders and study success is rarely investigated.Do students with high test anxiety differ from students with low test anxiety regarding mental health and success in their studies?Out of 945 medical students of all semesters 115 test persons were selected which scored either very high or very low for test anxiety. They were subjected to a clinical interview and two personality tests (NEO-FFI, TAS-20). The analysed sample contained 109 men und women.Students with high test anxiety suffered in a much higher proportion from social anxieties. Also, specific isolated anxieties and other mental disorders appeared in this group more often. They had a higher score of neuroticism, lower scores of extraversion and conscientiousness and they consumed more medication. In the high test anxiety group were more long-term students than in the low test anxiety group. Only 7 % of the students with high test anxiety were in psychotherapeutic treatment. Study finances, family status, cultural and gender affiliation were without or of minor significance.Students with high test anxiety are to a significant extent compromised in their performance and emotional wellbeing. They most likely would benefit from a low threshold psychotherapeutic outreach program offered by the university focusing among others their social anxieties.

Impulsive traits are key characteristics in a number of psychiatric disorders and are part of the normal behavior spectrum. The BIS-5 is an instrument developed to assess impulsivity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the BIS-5 in two German psychiatric inpatient samples and healthy controls proving the originally proposed four-factor structure as well as convergent and discriminate validity.159 alcohol-dependent subjects and 77 suicidal inpatients were recruited in an University psychiatric hospital. 182 healthy subjects were recruited from town community. BIS-5 items were translated and back-translated. Principal component analysis with oblique rotation was conducted in the whole group. Furthermore, the discriminate and convergent validity of the BIS-5 was evaluated by correlation with other instruments measuring impulsive traits and comparing sample subgroups.A two-factor solution could be identified in this German sample. Alcohol-dependent individuals showed significantly higher factor 1 values compared to suicidal patients. The group of suicidal patients had higher scores in factor 2 compared to controls. Factor 1 correlated most significantly with extraversion-related personality traits while factor 2 showed significant relationships with irritability and neuroticism.A two-factor solution may be more appropriate in using the BIS-5 scale in German samples. These two factors might reflect different aspects of impulsive behavior and might be useful to characterize impulsive behavior in psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples.

The personality factors neuroticism, extraversion, openness for experiences, agreeableness and conscientiousness were investigated in a random population sample of n=497 people over 60 years old with the help of a German version of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory - NEO-FFI (2, 6). The results were compared with those from n=497 people between 18 and 30 years old and with those from n=1051 people between 31 and 60 years old. The elderly described themselves as being less extroverted, less open, more agreeable and more conscientious than the people under 60 years old. Means of the personality factors were not associated with age in the over 60 years old. The average level of neuroticism and conscientiousness was significantly higher in women over 60 years old than in men. People living in the former Eastern Germany were more open and conscientiousness than those living in former Western Germany. A higher level of openness was found in people with a higher educational level. There was a higher level of neuroticism in people living without a partner than in those living with a partner.

The scientific usefulness of the popular construct "subjective quality of life"(QoL) is critically investigated in a psychiatric context. Six problem areas were chosen: QoL is rooted in different scientific traditions (area I) and characterized by definitional uncertainty (area II). It is conceptually and empirically confounded with several other psychosocial constructs and lacks clear causal specificity (area III). The operationalization of QoL comprises a great number of heterogeneous instruments (area IV), and there are additional problems created by methodological and statistical issues (area V).Finally, there is no integrative, theoretical model that can be tested empirically in a systematic way (area VI). These problems support the conclusion that subjective QoL is a preparadigmatic or scientifically immature concept which should be applied with caution and under strict methodological standards when used to answer clinically relevant questions.

Pain and aches are part of subjective experience. Caring for chronically ill children and adolescents not only objective results but also the children s subjective perception of their illness should be taken into consideration. We have tried to record the extent of subjective suffering of a group of pediatric rheumatic patients and to correlate our findings with personality traits.We interviewed thirty-one 8 to 18 years old children and adolescents (average age 12 years) by means of a standardized questionnaire (Giessener Beschwerdefragebogen) and of a standardized personality questionnaire (HANES,KJ). The tested group comprised of 9 boys and 22 girls. 14 patients suffered from a chronic oligoarthritis, 9 from a chronic polyarthritis, 8 from a other rheumatic disease. Percentiles of more than 89 percent have been considered significant compared to norm collectives.28% of the patients showed augmented values on the scales "exhaustion" and "intestinal pain", 25% on the scale "pain in joints". Only 3 respectively 2 patients showed augmented values on the scales "heart" and "symptoms of cold". 28% showed augmented values on the overall scale "feeling of discomfort". 35% showed augmented values on neuroticism, 61% values89. percentile on the scale "extraversion". There is a significant connection between augmented strong feelings of discomfort and augmented values of neuroticism on the level 0.1%. A context to the duration of the illness was not found.Experience of physical pains is not only limited to isolated symptoms of the basic illness but also associated with general features of personality.

To evaluate the extent of psychosomatical complaints in patients with primary keratoconjunctivitis sicca (pKCS).20 patients (m:f = 1.19; mean age 49 +/- 7 years) with pKCS were rated according to the von Zerssen Symptom List (psychosomatical discomfort), the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI)-N (emotional status) and -E (extroverted-introverted) and to Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). 54 subjects (m:f = 35:17; mean age 46 +/- 17 years) without any ocular or general chronic disease were used as control group.In comparison to the control group the patients with pKCS showed significantly (p0.0001) more complaints (von Zerssen Symptom List), were more (p0.0001) emotionally unstable (MPI-N) and more (p0.0001) depressive (BDI). No group differences were found regarding extroversion-introversion (MPI-E).Our results demonstrate that many patients with pKCS showed psychological problems and disturbances. We therefore recommend an additional psychological treatment (e.g. autogenic training) for these patients to stabilize their emotional condition, which may even have a positive effect on their dry eye problems.

In this paper, the main questions examined are: 1. The relationship between clinically diagnosed hyperkinetic syndrome (HKS) and 3 questionnaires for parents (Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) by Achenbach and Edelbrock, Enzephalopathie-Fragebogen by Meyer-Probst and 10-Item scale by Conners). 2. The relationship between the clinical psychiatric diagnosis and the questionnaires and allergological parameters. In order to answer these questions, a sample of 122 psychiatric patients with "extraversive" behavior disturbances (HKS: N = 104, other "extraversive" disorders, mainly conduct disorders (EVD): N = 18) was examined prospectively and sequentially. The preliminary results are: a) The children with HKS, the children with EVD and the children with HKS and conduct disorder could be differentiated by several subscales (Especially by "introversive" symptoms) of the CBCL and the Fragebogen by Meyer-Probst. The Conners scale showed significant differences between the groups on only one item. b) The children with HKS, especially those without conduct disorder, had two to three times as many allergies as the children with HKS and conduct disorders or those with EVD.

Studies were conducted to determine whenther or not scoliosis in childhood affects the behavior and experience of the affected children. Two groups of scoliotic and nonscoliotic children were examined with selected psychological tests. No differences could be found in regard to neuroticism, extraversion, manifest fear or the children's self-image. Differences were found in regard to the social environment which scoliotic children experienced as more demanding and supportive. As a result they were more concerned with achievement in a performance situation and more confident of success. The type and extent of the psychological effects of scoliosis is determined by the position accorded to the children by the social environment. Negative consequences can best be dealt with by educating the parents.

40 healthy male students were randomly assigned to either the exercise or control group. The latter was asked not to alter their common physical activity while the exercise group trained three times weekly on the bicycle ergometer for 15 minutes with a constant heart rate of 140bpm. At the beginning and after five weeks physiological data comprising cardiovascular and pulmonary responses at rest and under submaximal ergometric exercise were assessed. Additional data included psychological achievement tests, self reports of personality dimensions and frequency of physical complaints. Results indicated a marked increase in physical fitness for the training group improving the work load from 158 watt to 197 watt at constant heart rate. At rest and especially at submaximal work load there was an improvement of the economy of the cardiovascular and respiratory system. Contrary to these findings there were no changes or impairment in the psychological achievement tests, measuring concentration. Compared with the control group self reports of personality dimensions did not change except for a tendency to more extrovert behavior in the exercise group. Unexpectedly, the frequency of physical complaints did not decrease. The reason for this discrepancy is discussed.

This study tests Eysenck's psychophysiological hypotheses concerning the relationship between intellectual performance and personality type. The data originated from two partial samples with N = 314. The personality types were distinguished with the ENNR-Questionnaire. The intellectual performance was tested using items which are based on Jäger's factor analytic studies. 23 differentially complex items stemed from the main intelligence factors, and separate measures for speed and quality were used to test the hypotheses. The results of all analyses of variancy falsify Eysenck's hypotheses. The "neurotic introverts" showed the worst results in both quality and speed by most of the items, independent of complexity and intelligence factor (chi-square-test of positional frequency). The "stable" and "neurotic extraverts" showed the best results.

With the aid of a clinical questionnaire and the I-N-R-personality test of Eysenck (as modified by Böttcher), we examined 127 male patients with clinically and radiologically proven ulcer compared to 145 age-matched persons without gastric affections. The features extraversion, neuroticism (emotional lability) and rigidity were determined and the question of an association with symptoms, age at onset of disease as well as occupational and familial factors statistically analyzed. With high significance, duodenal ulcer patients are more often emotionally labile and psychically more rigid. In the event the disease manifests under the age of 30, in ulcer patients introversion too is pronounced with highly significant frequency. Those patients complaining of conflicts with collaborators, lack of sleep, occupational overexertion, noise, draught at work place, present, compared to others without these complaints, a frequently emotional lability with high significance.

Three doses of a substance from the thieonodiazepine series (BAY g 5653), a drug under investigation, were tested as well as 5 mg of diazepam and a placebo, including a condition with no medication. 180 healthy male student volunteers, previously classified according to emotional stability/lability, took part in the study following a double-blind procedure. All subjects received white noise discontinuously with an intensity of 95 dBA. From the subjective and objective test variables employed, only the results from an adjective check list were evaluated fro the present paper. Diazepam showed some typical but not very strong effects. BAY g 5653 showed also little difference from placebo. There were some positive effects in the group of emotionally stable under stress.

Alcohol was administered in a dose of 0.77 g per kg bodyweight to 16 healthy male subjects in a cross-over-design. A study was made of a number of psychological and physiological variables to determine the modifications that accompany the alcohol-induced changes in the orienting response to an auditory stimulus. Five determinations were made at intervals following a dose of alcohol and five in a control session when no alcohol was given. The results obtained for the psychological variables (self-ratings of the intensity of intoxication and the degree of being startled by the first stimulus; and self-assessment of mood) show alcohol to have stimulant as well as depressant effects. Some of the variables show stimulant effects, mainly at the beginning of the absorption phase, whereas other variables show depressant effects, both in the absorption phase and the postabsorption phase. Changes in physiological variables (such as parameters of electrodermal activity and of the heart rate response) support these findings. The simultaneous presence of both stimulant and depressant effects is pointed out as well as the difficulties in describing these findings in terms of a unidimensional model of activation.

This paper reports the use over a period of five months of operant conditioning methods, which consisted above all in the withdrawal of privileges, in the case of ten preschool-age problem children. In all of the patients, the program of behavioral therapy resulted in a considerable reduction of the rate of occupational malbehavior. "Good conduct" showed a slight decrease as the challenging character of recompense grew smaller, but was still above the initial level. Intelligence, extraversion, and emotional lability are related to the results of behavioral therapy and discussed in detail. Operant conditioning appears effective when a clear reaction is required under simple conditions of stimulation. In the case of more complex situations with a variety of behavioral alternatives, imitiative learning should be far more promising.

In 1148 control persons and 498 cancer patients, the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI), developed by H. J. Eysenck, was used to determine the personality dimensions neuroticism (N) and extraversion (E). The results in the control group were similar to studies in other countries showing that the MPI is a useful instrument for psychometry in the G.D.R., too. Personality scores depend upon sex, age and social group (defined by education and occupation). Cancer patients generally do not differ from non-cancerous patients (so-called "controls"). In patients with breast cancer (female N = 231) or lung cancer (male N = 123), it was found that patients consulting the doctor without delay after onset of symptoms (breast cancer4 weeks; lung cancer8 weeks) are characterized by low scores for neuroticism (N) and high scores for extraversion (E). The combination of low N (--12) and high E (13 +) is significantly more prevalent in patients seeking medical advice without delay. It is suggested that these observations which are in agreement with reports from other countries and observers should be used in planning health education. Obviously it is not enough to disseminate factual information on cancer but it seems necessary to develop means and methods to reach people with low education, high scores for neuroticism and for introversion in order to influence their health behavior by personal discussion.

The influence of psychic factors on the accuracy of counting of fetal movements (FM) by pregnant women is investigated. The typologic features extraversion/introversion, stability/lability and vegetative lability are the criterion of judgement. Introverted pregnant women note FM under the condition of extensive protection of external irritation more exactly than extraverted pregnant women. Under the influence of an external irritation by transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TNS) no differences are to be seen. Psychic stable pregnant women are not as much alterable by external irritations as unstable pregnant women. Psychic stable pregnant women count FM under the influence of TNS more exactly than psychic unstable pregnant women. Without the influence of TNS there is no difference between stable and instable pregnant women concerning perception of FM.

20 diabetic as well as 20 obese children and adolescents ware matched considering their age and IQ and the differences in regard to their intelligence subtest abilities, in their attention behavior and in their variables of personality such as neuroticism and extraversion. No differences were found in the subtest achievements of the Hamburg Wechsler Intelligenz Test für Kinder (Hawik). Diabetic patients were superior to obese patients in their concentration. The latter gained significantly higher scores in neuroticism and prefered answers of social desirability. Diabetic adolescents showed a lack of personal indepence and anxieties in regard to stress and frustration.

Stress coping can be valid for a paradigm of psychopathology of children and adolescents. This concept is supported by an extensive literature which shows the way of coping from a "footnote to stress theory" (Lazarus) to its central concept. Neither the "objective" stress (stimulus side) nor the specificity of stress reaction (adaptation syndrome) are the important factors, but rather the mediation between stress coping and the individual, the transaction in the sense of an exchange process. Above all, permanent personality attributes have been examined here, most intensively extraversion/introversion and neuroticism, and recently, more and more often coping processes. The research situation also confirms in its approach the concept of Lazarus (1981) in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. According to Lazarus, stressors are less meaningful as a cause of psychiatric disturbances than cognitive-emotional reaction mediating coping processes. They should be examined preferably under natural conditions; a combination of standard research strategies with individual case analyses is recommended. Therapeutically, it is essential to help children and adolescents to achieve an adequate correlation between their own capabilities and limitations on the one hand, and of conflicts and stress situations on the other hand, whereby the adolescent (young) patient is interested in a quick solution to personal and interpersonal crises. He is not at all interested in its extension in the sense of a 'Sturm-und-Drang'-idea of adolescent age. Hence coping cannot be confined only to coping with a functional crisis; it must rather aspire to achieve a schematisation of the situation in accordance with the truth.

Clicks were delivered in trains of 2,5 s duration at click repetition rates of 5 or 8/s to provoke rhythmical activity in the vertex-EEG ('driving response') and to condition the driving response to neutral stimuli in a discrimination paradigm. The Eysenck Personality Inventory was administered to define an independent personality variable, i.e. extraversion-introversion; the interaction of background activity, driving and conditioned driving response with the personality dimension was analyzed. In the background EEG there was a significant difference in the absolute power of the fast alpha-band between introverts and extraverts. Driving was only observed in the fundamental frequency of acoustic stimulation, not in the first harmonic. There was no interaction between driving response and extraversion-introversion or resting EEG activity. Classical conditioning of the driving response was successful with introverts only. Results were interpreted within the framework of Eysenck's personality theory. The possibility to study neurophysiological correlates of memory processes in humans by means of conditioned driving responses is discussed.

A total of 125 student teachers, who at the time when these investigations were conducted were unable to work or study, respectively, were subjected to the ENR test of Brengelmann/Brengelmann and the VELA test of Fahrenberg. Fifty-six student teachers had to take their names off the books. Their failures were closely correlated with introversion, neuroticism, and vegetative lability. The latter may already be evident from the medical history of the subject and should be sufficient cause for psychological testing in case the student should encounter difficulties in his work. Rigidity is not yet fully developed in the age group to which students normally belong and shows no significant correlation with failure.

The results of a pharmacopsychological study on male students high or low in emotional stability are compared to those of a clinical study on neurotic out- and inpatients. These studies examine the effects of diazepam and various doses of a thienodiazepine (Bay g 5653), a drug under investigation. Although the studies are not completely comparable (placebo control missing in the clinical study, not enough information about comparable base line measures) the differences in effects of Bay g 5653 and diazepam on the actual emotional state, as measured by an adjective check list, show a certain amount of correspondence between normal subjects and patients but also considerable discrepancies.

A group of rockers (N = 46) was tested using questionnaires by means of which their social background, views and attitudes to others, intelligence, performance motivation and further personality variables such as aggression, extraversion, neuroticism and rigidity were investigated. The control group comprised a sample population of non-rockers (N = 132) matched with the rockers as regards age and education. Rockers come more frequently from broken homes and families with financial difficulties. They display more aggression, criminality, intolerance and dislike of other groups and have a higher alcohol consumption. They advocate physical strength and violence. There are frequent changes of employment, as well as a high proportion of unemployment and unqualified occupations. Their intelligence lies below that of the average population. As regards the other personality variables they did not differ from the control group.