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Biomedical subjects

P T Costa

Publications and source records attributed to P T Costa.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Personality characteristics and sexual functioning of 188 cross-dressing men.

The literature on cross-dressing men has been primarily limited to self-identified patients at psychiatric clinics who are in distress. To understand the personality trait characteristics and sexual functioning of nonpatient cross-dressers, 188 non-treatment-seeking male cross-dressers completed the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI). Respondents were classified as transvestites (TV; N = 83), transgenderists (TG; N = 61), or transsexuals (TS; N = 44) based on self-report and the nature of their cross-gender activities (e.g., use of female hormones, desire for sex reassignment, and amount of time spent in female role). These diagnostic groups did not differ on the five broad personality domains of the NEO-PI, but TS men scored higher than TV and TG men on the Aesthetics facet scale of Openness to Experience (O). In terms of the DSFI scales, TS men reported lower sexual drive than TV and TG men, and TS and TG men exhibited greater psychiatric symptoms and feminine gender role, and poorer body image than TV men. Upon exclusion of a group of 49 respondents who previously sought treatment for psychological problems, no significant differences emerged among the three diagnostic groups on the NEO-PI domain and facet scales. Consideration of the DSFI scales showed that TS men experienced less sexual drive, more psychiatric symptoms, and a greater feminine gender role than TV or TG men. This study suggests that cross-dressers not seen for clinical reasons are virtually indistinguishable from non-cross-dressing men using a measure of personality traits, a sexual functioning inventory, and measures of psychological distress. These results emphasize the importance of using clinical significance criteria as required by DSM-IV guidelines before diagnosing men who cross-dress with an axis I disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Primary traits of Eysenck's P-E-N system: three- and five-factor solutions.

The Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP), a set of 21 scales measuring primary traits hypothesized to be definers of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Psychoticism factors, was administered to 229 adults together with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Revised (H. J. Eysenck & S. B. G. Eysenck, 1991) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992b). Correlations of EPP scales with NEO-PI-R facet scales provided preliminary evidence supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of the EPP scales. However, varimax and targeted validimax factor analyses suggested that some EPP scales were misclassified and that EPP scales could better be understood in terms of the 5-factor model than the intended 3-factor model.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Relationship of trait anger to resting blood pressure: a meta-analysis.

A series of meta-analyses were conducted to assess whether anger is related to essential hypertension. The present review also considered the relevance of the distinction between anger experience and anger expression, the effect of participant selection bias, and the white-coat hypertension effect for the anger-blood pressure (BP) association. Anger experience was correlated with elevated BP, but the relationship was small and highly variable. When positive effects emerged, both participant selection and the reliability of BP measurement posed interpretational problems. Persons high in anger are not merely exhibiting elevated BP in response to testing, so a white-coat effect is not evident. Being labeled as hypertensive may contribute to higher anger scores, however. The review suggests lines of future research concerning associations between trait anger and blood pressure.

Anger↗
PubMed1995

Adult life span changes in immediate visual memory and verbal intelligence.

A sample of 558 women and 1,163 men 17 to 102 years old, screened for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease, was administered tests of immediate visual memory (Benton Visual Retention Test) and crystallized intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Vocabulary subtest) from 1 to 5 times over 27.7 years. Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence led to the conclusion that the 65-74-year decade was a watershed for decremental changes in immediate visual memory and verbal intelligence. Age accounted for considerably less variance in vocabulary than in immediate memory. The proportion of individuals whose longitudinal trajectories were contrary to group trends decreased substantially with increased age; observed age changes remained when analyses were restricted to individuals who had perfect or near-perfect mental status scores. Selected neuronal loss and slower reproduction times were considered as possible causes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Solid ground in the wetlands of personality: a reply to Block.

The five-factor model (FFM) of personality offers a structural organization of personality traits in terms of 5 broad factors. J. Block's (1995) critique of the FFM failed to recognize the utility of a trait taxonomy and the intent of research designed to test the 5-factor hypothesis. In a number of instances he omitted reference to empirical evidence that addresses concerns he raised; this evidence shows strong support for the FFM beyond the lexical and questionnaire traditions he reviews. Many of his suggestions for improving the quality of personality research are valuable, but are likely to be more fruitful when used in conjunction with established knowledge about the structure of personality traits: the FFM.

Factor Analysis, Statistical↗
PubMed1994

Personality and personality disorders.

The mental disorders that most clearly relate to personality are the personality disorders. The purpose of this article is to review the support for the hypothesis that the personality disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) represent variants of normal personality traits. We focus in particular on the efforts to identify the dimensions of personality that may underlie the personality disorders. We then illustrate the relationship of personality to personality disorders using the five-factor model, discuss conceptual issues in relating normal and abnormal personality traits, and consider methodological issues that should be addressed in future research.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Depressive symptoms as a nonspecific, graded risk for psychiatric diagnoses.

Using data from a 16-year follow-up of a nationally representative sample of 6,913 adults, measures of depressive symptoms were used to predict psychiatric diagnoses taken from hospitalization records. In proportional hazards analyses, two measures of depression were significantly associated with subsequent diagnoses of depression and other psychiatric disorders after statistical control for demographic variables and previous history of psychological problems. Depressive symptoms predicted late as well as early occurrence of psychiatric diagnoses and showed a pattern of increasing risk with increasing scores, even below clinical cutoffs. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that depressive symptoms predict future psychiatric disorders largely because they serve as proxy measures of some chronic vulnerability, such as the normal personality dimension of neuroticism.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Genetic and environmental effects on openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness: an adoption/twin study.

Previous research has indicated that extraversion and neuroticism are substantially affected both by genotype and environment. This study assesses genetic and environmental influences on the other three components of the five-factor model of personality: Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. An abbreviated version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) was administered to 82 pairs of identical twins and 171 pairs of fraternal twins reared apart and 132 pairs of identical twins and 167 pairs of fraternal twins reared together. Estimates of genetic and environmental effects for Openness and Conscientiousness were similar to those found in other studies of personality: Genetic influence was substantial and there was little evidence of shared rearing environment. Results for Agreeableness were different: Genetic influence accounted for only 12% of the variance and shared rearing environment accounted for 21% of the variance. Few significant gender or age differences for genetic and environmental parameters were found in model-fitting analyses.

Adoption↗
PubMed1993

Antisocial personality disorder among drug abusers. Relations to other personality diagnoses and the five-factor model of personality.

Antisocial personality disorder among drug abusers has been associated with poor drug abuse treatment outcome and greater human immunodeficiency virus infection risk compared with drug abusers without the disorder. Despite this, less is known about the personality trait dimensions of antisocial drug abusers, or about the prevalence of axis II comorbidity among this group. Similarly, little is known about the personality trait dimensions of antisocial drug abusers compared with those with axis II diagnoses other than antisocial or those with no personality diagnosis. The present study compared the personality traits of 203 outpatient opioid drug abusers categorized into either a pure antisocial group (i.e., antisocial diagnosis only), mixed antisocial group (i.e., antisocial plus another axis II diagnosis), other axis II group (i.e., axis II diagnosis other than antisocial), or a non-axis II group. Psychiatric diagnoses were made using a structured interview and personality traits of the four groups were compared using a self-report measure of the five-factor model of personality. As predicted, the mixed group was significantly more prone to neuroticism compared with the pure group, with higher scores on the vulnerability to stress and hostility facets. The mixed group also had a greater score on the neuroticism domain compared with the non-axis II group, with higher scores on five of the six facets. Significant differences were also found on agreeableness. The mixed group had lower scores on this domain (i.e., had higher interpersonal antagonism) compared with the non-axis II group. Somewhat surprisingly, the agreeableness score for the pure group was not significantly different from those of the remaining three groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1992

Response stability and reliability in longitudinal health evaluations.

Two approaches were used to study the stability over time and intravisit reliability of health questions and clinical medical examination items in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). The stability of responses was determined by evaluating the medical history and physical examination completed at each visit to identify items that once answered in a positive manner, should continue to be answered positively over time. Stability for each question and subject was calculated by the number of positive responses following the first positive response divided by the total number of visits following the first positive response. For 35 questions answered by the subject, the stability was 58% by a simple average or 64% when weighted for the percentage of subjects who had a positive response to the question; for 10 physician-asked questions, the corresponding figures were 29% or 36%. Eighteen items from the physical examination had a stability of 34% or 37%. Intravisit reliability was estimated by comparing responses from the general health questionnaire to responses on the Cornell Medical Index completed at the same visit. Subject-completed questions had substantial agreement (Kappa = 0.74, for questions worded the same), while physician-asked questions had moderate agreement (Kappa = 0.44).

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Using college alumni populations in epidemiologic research: the UNC Alumni Heart Study.

The UNC Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS) is a prospective study of the role of psychosocial factors, in particular hostility, in the development of coronary heart disease. The target population is composed of persons who completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory while attending the University of North Carolina in the mid-1960s. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine whether hostility, demographic and other variables were significant determinants of the subjects' locatability and participation. It was found that MMPI hostility scores at initial testing were unrelated to either potential or actual locatability or participation. Thus there is no evidence that hostility is the source of selection bias in the UNCAHS. Selection into the study was predicted by age, sex, degree status and variables concerned with the conditions under which the MMPI was administered. It is concluded that follow-up studies of college cohorts may have study-specific sources of selection bias.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Covariance of personality, neurocognition, and schizophrenia spectrum traits in the community.

Clinical researchers have observed in relatives of schizophrenic individuals abnormal personality traits resembling the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Further similarities have been observed in correlations between measures of brain function, including attention and executive abilities, and these personality psychopathologies. However, two methodologic factors might account for the covariation of these 'schizophrenia spectrum' personality traits and measures of brain function. Clinical selection bias (Berkson's bias) might result in subjects with overlapping conditions being more likely to be studied, and normal personality attributes could affect performance on neurobehavioral tasks. This study investigated relationships between neurobehavioral correlates of schizophrenia, clinical schizophrenia spectrum personality traits, and normal personality dimensions in the five-factor model of personality. To avoid Berkson's bias, subjects expected to have a high probability of spectrum traits were recruited from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Survey community sample. About 40% of the sample were found to have DSM-IIIR Schizotypal, Schizoid, or Paranoid Personality Traits or Disorders. Schizophrenia Spectrum traits showed significant associations with personality dimensions of the five factor model, particularly Openness to Experience and Neuroticism. In ordinary linear regression models, after adjustment for a number of normal personality characteristics, Schizotypal Personality Traits were still strongly associated with perseverative responses on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). In logistic regression models, subjects with Schizotypal, Schizoid, or Paranoid Traits differed in terms of normal personality profiles and WCST performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

An assessment of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule from the perspective of the five-factor model.

We examined the validity of need scales of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) by correlating them with a measure of the five basic factors of personality; we also considered test format as a possible source of invalidity. Three hundred thirty (223 women, 107 men) undergraduate students completed both the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI)--a measure of the five factors--and one of two versions of the EPPS. Results show that both ipsative and normative versions of the EPPS could be meaningfully interpreted within the five-factor model, although the ipsative, forced-choice format of the standard EPPS apparently lowered validity coefficients and decreased convergent and discriminant validity. We argue that the five-factor model can provide a useful interpretive context for evaluating many clinical measures.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The five-factor model of personality and sexual functioning in outpatient men and women.

454 adults seeking evaluation at a sexual behaviors consultation clinic were evaluated for the major dimensions of personality as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory and various aspects of sexual attitudes and experiences via the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory. The results showed that elevated Neuroticism was correlated with dysphoric symptoms, negative body image and lowered satisfaction. More extraverted individuals reported increased drive, more sexual experience, positive body image, and more positive affects. Agreeableness was unrelated to sexual drive and satisfaction but was negatively related to symptomatology. Openness was positively associated with amount of Information, range of sexual experiences, liberal attitudes toward sex, sexual drive and fantasy and appears to broadly impact upon sexual functioning. The more conscientious subjects had lowered sexual drive, but fewer dysphoric symptoms and a better body image. Women showed a similar pattern of personality correlates with the exception that personality was unrelated to females' sexual experiences and sexual satisfaction. The present findings support and expand previous research and contribute to our understanding of how personality dispositions influence the experience and expression of sexual functioning in male and female clinical samples.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Personality and sexual functioning of transvestitic fetishists and other paraphilics.

Utilizing the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), 24 transvestitic fetishists (TVs) were compared with a similar clinic-evaluated group of 26 other paraphilics (OPs). The data replicated previous results and extended them by showing that TVs did not differ from OPs on most dimensions of the NEO-PI and the DSFI. Both groups were significantly higher on neuroticism and significantly lower on agreeableness than the NEO-PI male normative population. The other paraphilic group tended to score lower on conscientiousness than the TVs and the normative comparison group. For nine of the 10 DSFI variables, there were no significant differences between the TVs and the OPs. The TVs were significantly higher than the OPs on role identity, indicating a more feminine identification. Both the TVs and OPs reported elevated levels of fantasy. The implications of these findings suggest that, in general, TVs and OPs are more similar than they are different, with a common personality profile and a similar pattern of sexual functioning.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Clinical use of the five-factor model: an introduction.

In the past decade, clinical psychologists have developed a renewed appreciation of the value of assessment. At the same time, personality psychologists have come to agree on a fundamental taxonomy of personality traits, the five-factor model. Articles in this special series describe the model and its measurement and discuss applications in three different settings: general clinical practice, a sexual behaviors consultation unit, and a behavioral medicine clinic. This introduction raises questions about the use of personality profiles in psychodiagnosis, the range of applicability of the five-factor model, the utility of personality feedback in psychotherapy, the stability of personality scores among psychotherapy patients, and the feasibility of using personality scores to select optimal forms of treatment. This special series is intended to stimulate research on such topics.

Humans↗
PubMed1991

A comparison of five-factor personality dimensions in males with sexual dysfunction and males with paraphilia.

We compared personality profiles of men with sexual dysfunction (n = 51) to those of age-matched men with a primary diagnosis of paraphilia (n = 51) employing the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI), a measure of the five-factor model. Preliminary analyses in a large sample of patients in a sexual behaviors consultation unit supported the reliability and factorial validity of the NEO-PI for this population. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between the dysfunctional and the paraphilic groups on two of the five NEO-PI domains, Neuroticism (N) and Agreeableness (A). The group personality profile of the sexually dysfunctional men was comparable to the normative sample of the NEO-PI, except for a slight elevation in N. By contrast, men with paraphilia had a personality profile marked by high N, low A, and low Conscientiousness (C). Treatment implications of the average personality profile of the sexual dysfunction group and the distinctive personality profile of paraphilic men are discussed.

Adult↗