Biomedical subjects

Ellen Hartmann

Publications and source records attributed to Ellen Hartmann.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Psychopathic and nonpsychopathic violent offenders on the rorschach: discriminative features and comparisons with schizophrenic inpatient and university student samples.

We examined discriminant and convergent validity of theoretically relevant Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) variables (Exner, 2003) and Meloy and Gacono's (1992) aggression variables in distinguishing between imprisoned violent offenders (VO) who were psychopathic (P-VO) and nonpsychopathic (NP-VO) under psychiatric treatment, schizophrenic inpatients (ISs), and university students (USs). A total of 7 of 12 variables discriminated significantly between P-VO and NP-VO, which suggests more aggressive, cognitive, and interpersonal disturbances among P-VO. We also found significant differences between VOs, ISs, and USs. Logistic regression analyses revealed that AgPast accumulated incrementally in the classification of P-VO versus NP-VO, and AgC accumulated incrementally in the classification of VO versus IS when entered after CS variables. The findings support the view that psychopathy is a distinctive form of antisocial personality disorder (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) organized at a more severe pathological level.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Rorschach administration: a comparison of the effect of two instructions given to an inpatient sample of drug addicts.

The effect of administering the Rorschach Inkblot Method under two instructional sets was compared on three classes of outcome variables: the frequency with which subjects asked questions about the test; the frequency of brief protocols (fewer than 14 responses); and 17 traditional Rorschach structural summary scores. Sixty subjects, obtained from three inpatient psychiatric clinics treating drug addicts, randomly received either the short pre-testing instruction "What might this be?" originally developed by Herman Rorschach and recommended in the Comprehensive System, or a longer and more elaborated instruction, which for many years has been the standard instruction in Norway. Compared with the Norwegian instruction, the short instruction produced significantly more questions to the examiner about the test. For the other outcome measures no differences were observed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Psychological measures as predictors of military training performance.

The predictive validity of 7 ability tests, the Big Five, and the Rorschach method administered to 71 male applicants at the Naval Special Forces (NSF) of Norway was evaluated based on pass/fail results in training. The findings showed: (a) small correlations between the ability tests, the Big Five scales, and the success criterion; (b) Rorschach variables measuring stress tolerance, reality testing, cognition, and social adjustment correlated significantly (r =.25 to.48) with pass/fail results in training, and (c) logistic regression analysis revealed that 3 of the Rorschach variables accumulated incrementally in the prediction of training completion when entered after the ability tests and the Big Five scales, thus supporting the merit of using Rorschach variables for predicting NSF training performance

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Depression and vulnerability as assessed by the Rorschach method.

We examined clinically depressed (CD; n = 16), previously depressed (PD; n = 19) and never depressed (ND; n = 18) individuals on 13 theoretically selected Rorschach (Exner, 1993; Rorschach, 1942) variables and on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). The group assignment was made according to the criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). We tested 2 contradictory models for depressive vulnerability, Beck's (Clark & Beck, 1999) and Miranda and Persons's (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992), in a planned comparison design with focused contrasts. The CDs significantly contrasted the combined group of NDs and the PDs in a pathological direction on 8 of the 13 Rorschach variables and on the BDI. However, the combined group of CDs and PDs also significantly contrasted the NDs in a pathological direction on 3 of these Rorschach variables and on the BDI. In addition, logistic regression analyses indicated that Rorschach indexes significantly improved the prediction of major depression above and beyond that achieved by the BDI. The findings show that the Rorschach method was able to identify (a) cognitive and aggressive disturbances that are present in individuals who are actively depressed but not in individuals who have been depressed in the past or never been depressed and (b) affective and coping disturbances that are present in depressed individuals and to some degree in PD individuals but not in individuals who have not experienced depression. We discuss the scanty evidence of psychological disturbances in PD individuals, as measured with the Rorschach, in relation to the mood-state dependent hypothesis of Miranda and Persons (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992).

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Motivations and concerns of women considering genetic testing for breast cancer: a comparison between affected and at-risk probands.

Since the discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, there has been an increasing demand for breast cancer risk assessment programs. In an effort to understand and serve the population such programs target better, several studies have identified factors influencing high-risk women to pursue breast cancer risk assessment and genetic testing services; none, however, has focused on how the motivations and concerns of at-risk women may differ from their previously affected counterparts, who are typically the initial members of their families to undergo genetic testing. The majority of both previously affected and unaffected women felt that preventative surgery decisions, surveillance practices, the assessment of children's risks, and increased breast cancer anxiety were "more important" or "very important" issues regarding their thoughts about genetic testing. Significantly more affected women deemed family members' opinions "more" or "very important" (p < 0.01). Opinions concerning insurance and employment discrimination did not vary significantly between groups; however, a larger percentage of affected women felt this issue was of importance. Although all issues above should be addressed with women seeking cancer risk assessment and genetic testing, this research may help health care providers to gain a greater understanding of how the motivators and concerns of high-risk women can differ with personal cancer status so that referral, counseling, and education can be executed optimally.

Breast Neoplasms↗