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Biomedical subjects

Eamonn Ferguson

Publications and source records attributed to Eamonn Ferguson.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Negatively oriented personality and perceived negative job characteristics as predictors of future psychological and physical symptoms: a meta-analytic structural modelling approach.

OBJECTIVES: There is evidence that perceptions of negative job characteristics (e.g., lack of control) and negatively oriented personality (e.g., negative affect) both predict symptom reporting. However, the relative contribution of these factors is rarely examined. This paper uses meta-analytic structural equation modelling (MA-SEM) to explore their relative contribution. METHODS: A meta-analysis of recent longitudinal studies was conducted. Eight studies covering 10 separate samples met the inclusion criteria (N=2104) and were used in the MA-SEM. Meta-correlations were used to construct structural equations models in which perceived negative job characteristics (PNJC) and negatively oriented personality (NOP) at baseline were used to predict concurrent and future symptom reporting, controlling for symptom reporting at baseline. RESULTS: The results indicated that a model based solely on NOP offered a more parsimonious account for baseline and future symptom reporting than did PNJC. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence indicates interventions should focus on both individuals and organizations, and not just organizational-level interventions.

Affect↗
PubMed2005

A new selection system to recruit general practice registrars: preliminary findings from a validation study.

OBJECTIVE: To design and validate a new competency based selection system to recruit general practice registrars, comprising a competency based application form, referees' reports, and an assessment centre. DESIGN: Longitudinal predictive validity study and a matched case comparison. SETTING: South Yorkshire and East Midlands region, United Kingdom, comprising three deaneries. PARTICIPANTS: 46 of 167 doctors were followed up in training after three months in practice, and 20 general practice trainers were selected by using traditional recruitment methods. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Trainer ratings of trainee performance in practice on targeted competencies. RESULTS: Performance ratings of targeted competencies at the assessment centre predicted trainer ratings of performance in the job. Furthermore, those trainees recruited through the new competency based process performed significantly better in the job than those recruited through traditional recruitment processes. CONCLUSION: A new competency based selection process using assessment centres improves the validity of selection of general practice registrars compared with traditional selection techniques.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

A stage model of blood donor behaviour: assessing volunteer behaviour.

Are there valid stages to explain blood donor behaviour? Three studies (event contingent diary, interview and psychometric) are reported that address this question. Stage and process constructs from the transtheoretical model (TTM), past behaviour and intentions are measured. The qualitative studies demonstrated that blood donors describe their behaviour using TTM constructs. The psychometric study identified: (1) groupings of blood donors consistent with Ferguson's (1996) stage predictions; (2) TTM constructs varied meaningfully as a function of these groupings; (3) associations within clusters indicated qualitatively distinct stages; and (4) TTM constructs showed incremental validity over intentions with respect to past behaviour.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Intentions to use hormonal male contraception: the role of message framing, attitudes and stress appraisals.

Two studies are reported. Study one (N = 104) explored the extent to which male hormonal contraception is perceived as risky compared to other prevention behaviours. Study two examined the effects of message framing on intentions to use hormonal male contraception and investigated whether attitude moderates message framing effects. Three hundred and four participants read either a loss frame or gain frame message and then completed questionnaires assessing their intentions to use hormonal male contraception, stress appraisals and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) variables. Exposure to a loss frame influenced intention to use the daily male pill in men with a more positive attitude. This suggests that attitude, but not other TPB variables or stress appraisals have the capacity to moderate framing effects. Stress appraisals, in addition to TPB variables, significantly predicted variance in behavioural intentions in men and women. These findings are discussed within the context of Prospect Theory, perceived risk and prevention/detection behaviours.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Personality as a predictor of hypochondriacal concerns: results from two longitudinal studies.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the extent to which the domains of the Big 5 are risk factors for hypochondriacal concerns (HCs). METHODS: Two longitudinal studies, one using blood donors (over a 16-17-month period) and one using undergraduate students (over a 2.5-month period), were used to collect data on the Big 5 and HCs. RESULTS: Univariate analyses indicated that: (1) emotional stability predicted future levels of HCs once baseline levels of HCs were controlled, and (2) reductions in HCs over time were predicted primarily by increases in conscientiousness and emotional stability scores. Structural modelling of cross-lagged effects indicated that emotional stability was related to future levels of hypochondriacal concerns by contributing to initial levels of HCs. Regression analysis indicated that those who become more conscientious become less health anxious. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional stability and conscientiousness have predictive roles with respect to HCs.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Odors and sounds as triggers for medically unexplained symptoms: a fixed-occasion diary study of Gulf War veterans.

BACKGROUND: Both laboratory studies on healthy volunteers and epidemiological evidence from patient samples indicate that odor can act as a trigger for the reporting of medically unexplained symptoms (MUSs). PURPOSE: The relationship between concurrent experiences of odor and MUSs has not been explored in a patient sample. METHODS: This study used an 8-day fixed-occasion diary study, in which 17 veterans of the Persian Gulf War completed diary assessments of (a) the intensity and duration of odor and sound and (b) MUS severity. RESULTS: The results showed that the intensity of odor was positively associated with the severity on the same day and subsequent days' symptoms, whereas the duration of odor was negatively related to the severity of MUS reporting on the same day. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with an associative mechanism underlying symptom reporting in veterans. By contrast, the duration, but not the intensity, of sound was related to the severity of MUS reporting on the same day.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Conscientiousness, emotional stability, perceived control and the frequency, recency, rate and years of blood donor behaviour.

OBJECTIVES: Personality factors were used to explore aspects of blood donor behaviour (a form of prosocial volunteer behaviour). Based on the Big 5 model of personality, a number of mediation (via perceived control) and moderation hypotheses linking personality to aspects of blood donor behaviour (frequency, recency, rate and years of past behaviour) were explored. DESIGN: A cross-section quasi-experimental survey of 630 blood donors. METHOD: Prior to donation, 630 donors completed measures of the Big 5 personality domains and donor history (frequency, recency, rate and years of past behaviour); after donation, they indicated levels of perceived procedural and emotional control. RESULTS: There was no evidence that perceived control mediates the relationship between personality and behaviour. However, donors were able to express control in a low control context. For males, the relationship between years as a donor and both the frequency and the rate of donation were stronger for those higher in conscientiousness (C), whereas for females, emotional stability (ES) acted as the moderator. Recency and frequency of past behaviour were orthogonal. DISCUSSION: The results extend previous work by showing that C (for males) and ES (for females) help to sustain behaviour over time. The recency and frequency of past behaviour assess qualitatively different aspects of past behaviour and this should be explored in future studies. These results have important practical implications for designing donor recruitment and retention interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Individual differences in the temporal variability of medically unexplained symptom reporting.

THEORY: Non-specific or medically unexplained symptoms account for up to 35% of outpatient referrals. In contrast to the literature on affect, little is known about how people frame daily symptoms and how these patterns are influenced by individual differences. METHOD: Three fixed occasion diary studies over an 8-day period (one on ill veterans of the Gulf War and two on healthy undergraduates) and a single cross-sectional survey (on ill Gulf War veterans) were conducted. The severity and frequency of daily symptoms were assessed in all daily diary samples, together with the Big 5 personality domains in one of the undergraduate samples and in the survey of veterans. The data were analysed using auto-correlations and hierarchical multivariate linear modelling. RESULTS: In all the chronically ill and healthy samples, the data suggested potential cyclical patterns for symptom severity reporting. With regard to the frequency of symptom reporting, the veterans showed a pattern of constant symptom reporting. Finally, the relationship between the reported severity of symptoms was attenuated by intellect and surgency. DISCUSSION: There is evidence that daily experiences of symptom severity are framed relative to each other and this relationship is influenced by personality. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Pilot study of the roles of personality, references, and personal statements in relation to performance over the five years of a medical degree.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the power of three traditional selection procedures (A levels, personal statements, and references) and one non-traditional selection procedure (personality) to predict performance over the five years of a medical degree. DESIGN: Cohort study over five years. SETTING: Nottingham medical school. PARTICIPANTS: Entrants in 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A level grades, amounts of information contained in teacher's reference and the student's personal statement, and personality scores examined in relation to 18 different assessments. RESULTS: Information in the teacher's reference did not consistently predict performance. Information in the personal statement was predictive of clinical aspects of training, whereas A level grades primarily predicted preclinical performance. The personality domain of conscientiousness was consistently the best predictor across the course. A structural model indicated that conscientiousness was positively related to A level grades and preclinical performance but was negatively related to clinical grades. CONCLUSION: A teacher's reference is of no practical use in predicting clinical performance of medical students, in contrast to the amount of information contained in the personal statement. Therefore, simple quantification of the personal statement should aid selection. Personality factors, in particular conscientiousness, need to be considered and integrated into selection procedures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Predicting future blood donor returns: past behavior, intentions, and observer effects.

A prospective design was used to explore the efficacy of 6 factors (e.g., intentions) to predict the number of future blood donations in an initial sample of 630 blood donors. Differential predictions are made for the roles of past behavior and intentions with respect to occasional (4 or fewer previous blood donations) and regular (5 or more previous blood donations) blood donors. Intentions were predictive for occasional donors, and past behavior was predictive for regular donors. Furthermore, for regular donors only, an inverted U-shaped curve explained the relationship between past behavior and future behavior. Finally, it is reported that observing others fainting produces a reduction in the number of future donations for occasional donors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Public perception of the risk of HIV infection associated with blood donation: the role of contextual cues.

BACKGROUND: Previous surveys have reported that a high proportion of people believe that HIV can be contracted through donating blood. It was hypothesized that this may reflect an artifact of the survey methods used. This study was therefore designed to test the hypothesis that providing contextual cues specific to HIV would cause respondents to express an increased belief that the virus can be contracted by donating blood. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A one-way, between-group design was used to test this hypothesis. Adult subjects (n=168) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions, all three groups receiving information about the small risk of infection from blood transfusion. The variation across the experimental conditions was the example of infection given (i.e., Condition 1=no specific example of infection risk, Condition 2=data on the small risk of contracting hepatitis C through transfusion, Condition 3=data on the low risk of contracting HIV through transfusion). Respondents answered a single question, "Do you think you could catch HIV by giving (donating) blood in the UK?" RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents in the HIV-cued condition were almost 11 times (OR=10.6) more likely to answer "Yes" to the survey question, as compared with the no-cue condition. There was no significant difference in response between the no-cue and the hepatitis C-cue conditions. CONCLUSION: Providing contextual cues relating to HIV increased the expressed belief that the virus could be contracted through donating blood. To better develop donor recruitment policies, future survey tools should minimize contextual effects.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Parents' and pupils' causal attributions for difficult classroom behaviour.

BACKGROUND: Studies of causal attributions for difficult pupil behaviour in schools have tended to focus on the perspectives of teachers. AIMS: The present study examines the causal attributions made by parents for difficult behaviour in classrooms. It reveals the structure of these attributions and serves as a direct comparison to a previous study of pupils' attributions (Miller, Ferguson, & Byrne, 2000) and, more indirectly, with the teacher studies. SAMPLE: The participants were 144 parents (106 mothers and 38 fathers) whose children all attended the same inner city school. METHOD: A questionnaire was constructed following three initial small group interviews with parents to identify the wide range of factors they viewed as potential causes of difficult classroom behaviour. This was then administered to all the parents of children attending the same inner-city primary school. RESULTS: Factor analysis indicated that parents' attributions for misbehaviour were best represented by three factors: (1) 'fairness of teachers' actions', (2) 'pupil vulnerability to peer influences and adverse family circumstances', and (3) 'differentiation of classroom demands and expectations'. While there were no differences between parents in terms of gender or ethnicity, they did see the first two factors as more significant contributors to pupil misbehaviour than the third. CONCLUSION: There is both agreement and conflict between parents' attributions and those made by pupils and by teachers. The implementation of policy initiatives, such as home-school agreements and Pastoral Support Programmes, risk exacerbating tensions and difficulties if these differences in attributions are not acknowledged and acted upon.

Child↗
PubMed2001

Personality and coping traits: A joint factor analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this paper is to explore the structural similarities between Eysenck's model of personality and the dimensions of the dispositional COPE. Costa et al. {Costa P., Somerfield, M., & McCrae, R. (1996). Personality and coping: A reconceptualisation. In (pp. 44-61) Handbook of coping: Theory, research and applications. New York: Wiley} suggest that personality and coping behaviour are part of a continuum based on adaptation. If this is the case, there should be structural similarities between measures of personality and coping behaviour. This is tested using a joint factor analysis of personality and coping measures. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS: The EPQ-R and the dispositional COPE were administered to 154 participants, and the data were analysed using joint factor analysis and bivariate associations. RESULTS: The joint factor analysis indicated that these data were best explained by a four-factor model. One factor was primarily unrelated to personality. There was a COPE-neurotic-introvert factor (NI-COPE) containing coping behaviours such as denial, a COPE-extroversion (E-COPE) factor containing behaviours such as seeking social support and a COPE-psychoticism factor (P-COPE) containing behaviours such as alcohol use. This factor pattern, especially for NI- and E-COPE, was interpreted in terms of Gray's model of personality {Gray, J. A. (1987) The psychology of fear and stress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press}. NI-, E-, and P-COPE were shown to be related, in a theoretically consistent manner, to perceived coping success and perceived coping functions. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that there are indeed conceptual links between models of personality and coping. It is argued that future research should focus on identifying coping 'trait complexes'. Implications for practice are discussed.

Journal Article↗