Biomedical subjects

W Grant Dahlstrom

Publications and source records attributed to W Grant Dahlstrom.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Prediction of all-cause mortality by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Optimism-Pessimism Scale scores: study of a college sample during a 40-year follow-up period.

OBJECTIVE: To examine a measure of explanatory style, the Optimism-Pessimism (PSM) scale derived from college-entry Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scores, as a predictor of all-cause mortality. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 7007 students entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory during the mid-1960s. Of those students, 6958 had scores on the PSM scale and data for all-cause mortality through 2006. Scores on the PSM scale were evaluated as predictors of mortality using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, adjusted for sex. During the 40-year follow-up period, 476 deaths occurred. RESULTS: Pessimistic individuals who scored in the upper tertile of the distribution had decreased rates of longevity (hazard ratio, 1.42; 95% confidence Interval, 1.13-1.77) compared with optimistic individuals who scored in the bottom tertile of the distribution. CONCLUSION: In a model that adjusted only for sex, a measure of optimistic vs pessimistic explanatory style was a significant predictor of survival during a 40-year follow-up period such that optimists had Increased longevity.

Female↗

PubMed1997

Factor analytic approaches to personality item-level data.

Factor analysis models have played a central role in formulating conceptual models in personality and personality assessment, as well as in empirical examinations of personality measurement instruments. Yet, the use of item-level data presents special problems for factor analysis, applications. In this article, we review recent developments in factor analysis that are appropriate for the type of item-level data often collected in personality. Included in this review are discussions of how these developments have been addressed in the context of two different (but formally related) statistical models item response theory (IRT: Hambleton, Swaminathan, & Rogers, 1991) and structural, equation modeling (Bollen 1989) for item-level data. We also discuss the relevance of item scaling in the context of these models. Using the restandardization data for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Scale (cf. Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989), we show brief examples of the utility of these approaches to address basic questions about responses to personality scale items regarding: (a) scale, dimensionality and general item properties, (b) the "appropriateness" of the observed responses, and (c) differential item functioning across subsamples. implications for analyses of personality item-level data in the IRT and factor analytic traditions are discussed.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Patterns of change in hostility from college to midlife in the UNC Alumni Heart Study predict high-risk status.

OBJECTIVE: To examine hostility measured in college and patterns of change in hostility from college to midlife as predictors of high health-related risk later in midlife. METHODS: Logistic regression models were used to test hostility/risk associations. RESULTS: College hostility predicted being a current smoker, consuming more than two drinks of alcohol, low social support, achieving less than expected in career and in relationships, risk for depression, and appraisal of life changing for the worse in terms of family events at midlife. Change in hostility did not predict smoking and drinking; however, it did significantly predict social isolation, lower income (only for women), obesity, avoidance of exercise, high-fat diet, and negative changes in economic life, work life, and physical health events-all risk indicators measured during the next decade. Appraisals of social support, lowered expectations, risk for depression, and reports of family life changing for the worse were predicted at both time periods. When change in hostility was modeled with college hostility, all risk indicators were significantly predicted by college hostility. CONCLUSIONS: High hostility in college and change in hostility from college to midlife predicts a full range of health risk indicators. When compared with the average population decline in hostility, gains in hostility at midlife are related to increased risk while declines in hostility are related to reduced risk. Higher midlife hostility is associated with increased odds of being in the higher risk group. Future research should focus on developing interventions to reduce hostility.

Achievement↗