A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Medicine in part fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Medicine in Psychiatry at the University of the Witwatersrand. / The motivation for undertaking this study stems from the confusion that reigns in the literature regarding the relationship between personality, personality traits and dysthymic disorder. A large body of theorists ancl researchers still claim a definite association between dysthymia and personality. Their views arose to an extent from the concept of dysthymia as it developed through the past few decades. Dysthymia grew out of the concept of depressive neurosis which had a stronger basis in personality pathology. other terms like neurotic depression and depressive reaction preceded depressive neurosis. with the advent of DSM-III and DSM-III-R, dysthymia was moved from the neuroses to the mood disorders category. The DSM-IV Mood Disorders Work Group has also reinforced the classification of dysthymia with mood disorders. The Work Group has embarked on research to determine the symptomatology that should be used for the diagnosis of dysthymia. It is proposed that cognitive, functional and vegetative symptoms be included in DSM-IV to further entrench dysthymia as an affective disorder and extricate it from the personality disorders. / Andrew Chakane 2018

Over the past twenty years, there seems to have been an increased interest on the topic of adolescent personality pathology among researchers and clinicians in the field of psychiatry and clinical psychology. There have been many contentious debates on the topic, the most prominent being around the possibility of diagnosing a personality disorder or variant thereof in adolescence. With this in mind, the researcher attempted to understand some of the most pertinent debates as well as investigate some of the hypotheses proposed in the arguments. The main focus of the study was on the possibility of diagnosing personality pathology in adolescence and whether or not this was being achieved in an inpatient psychiatric ward. The present study quantitatively investigated the prevalence of personality pathology as well as the extent to which health care professionals in South Africa are diagnosing various personality pathologies among adolescents admitted to an inpatient psychiatric ward. The data collected has been analysed using the statistical study of frequencies and correlations, in order to assess whether there were positive correlations between genders, Axis I disorders, a set of reported problematic or pathological behavioural symptoms and having an Axis II diagnosis. The results reveal that clinicians are cautiously diagnosing personality pathology in an inpatient adolescent psychiatric ward, with the borderline personality pathology being the most prevalent.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand , in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in the branch of Psychiatry / The aim of this report was to establish the profile of all the patients with borderline personality disorder admitted to the Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Assessment Unit at the Helen Joseph Hospital over the course of one year. A retrospective record review was conducted to investigate the prevalence, demographics, reasons for admission, treatment and length of stay of the group of patients that was selected based on discharge diagnosis and DSM-IV-TR criteria, that were admitted throughout the course of 2010. The follow-up plan upon discharge was also reviewed. Statistical data analysis revealed findings mainly in keeping with international norms. The length of stay of patients with borderline personality disorder exceeded the average length of stay of all the patients in the ward in 2010, which illustrates that these patients are above-average users of resources. Patients with borderline personality disorder were shown in the review to be extremely inconsistent with regards to scheduled follow up plans, however significantly used emergency services at the hospital. Implementation of targeted prevention and early intervention strategies, based on systematised programs such as dialectical behavioural therapy and mentalisation-based therapy, may be useful in addressing this. This report supports further research into the utilisation of services available for patients with borderline personality disorder in the wider context of both psychiatric and psychological interventions in Southern Gauteng.

This study examined Karl Tomm's (1988) theory of interventive questioning styles. The four types of questioning Tomm (1988) presents are: "lineal" (cause-and-effect based assessment questions); "circular" (holistic based assessment questions); "reflexive" (holistic based change questions); and "strategic" (cause-and-effect based change questions). Tomm (1988) suggests that circular and reflexive questions tend to elicit feelings of freedom/acceptance whereas lineal and strategic questions usually trigger feelings of judgement/constraint. Since it is the nature of the therapist's intentions and assumptions that determines the type of questioning style, an analog design was employed to control these two variables. Each of the four styles was portrayed in 5 minute videotaped scenarios. With a sample of 40 families (father, mother, and teenage son), 10 families were randomly assigned to view one of the four questioning style scenarios. After viewing a tape each family member filled out four dependent measures: the Family Therapy Alliance Scale (FTAS), the Counselor Rating Form (CRF), the Questionnaire of Therapeutic Environments (QTE), and a validity check instrument. / Results of both the MANOVA (p / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-10, Section: B, page: 5442. / Major Professor: Mary Hicks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Psychologists have long been interested in the factors that influence behavior. With the rise of information processing theories, there has been an increasing emphasis on the role of thinking as an important factor in behavior. Bandura's social and cognitive theory of behavior is the most popular of the recent social learning theories. According to this model, the most important of the cognitive constructs mediating behavior is one's self efficacy belief. While Bandura's ideas are appealing and promising, a number of conceptual and methodological problems have been raised. / The present study investigated a self efficacy based model of mathematical performance, math self efficacy, and outcome expectations. College females took a series of mathematical word problem tests. In each test the subjects choose the level of problem level difficulty on which to be tested and how much effort to expand. A path analysis procedure was used to test the expected relationships. / Two past experience measures, previous college math courses and CLAST test scores, were found to be related to general math self efficacy. General math efficacy predicted situational math efficacy which accounted for the majority of variance in task level choice. In the second trial, situational efficacy again accounted for task choice while outcome expectations explained task persistence. In the final trial, past experience was the major contributor to performance. / The theoretical contentions of Bandura were only in part supported. Self efficacy was, at the beginning of the task, the major contributor to task level choice. Following two trials, self efficacy was only indirectly related, with past experience being the major factor in performance. A three stage process of transformation, replication, and behavior pattern was proposed to explain the results. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-03, Section: B, page: 0909. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Object Relations theorists contend that the object representations of borderline personality disordered individuals are distorted in the direction of malevolent and harmful schema. In this connection, the Social Cognitions and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) was developed by Westen and his colleagues (1985, 1988) to assist in assessing object representations. / The typical clinical data used for evaluation by the SCORS system has been narrative stories produced by subjects in response to Thematic Apperception Test. These studies have produced mixed results. For example, the cognitive complexity of object representations of Borderline Personality Disordered subjects (BPDs) has not always been different from that of normal subjects. / The study employed the clinical data contained in Early Childhood Memories (ECMs) to assess the complexity and affect-tone of BPDs as compared to normal individuals. The subjects for this study were 20 clients at the Ancora Psychiatric Hospital, southern New Jersey, and twenty normal comparison subjects who had no history of psychological or psychiatric services and who were matched on the basis of age, race, gender, and education to the clinical sample. Five ECMs were solicited from each subject. These memories were assessed for cognitive complexity and affect-tone through the use of the SCORS rating system. It was hypothesized that the BPD subjects will score higher than the normal subjects on the variable of cognitive complexity and lower than normal subjects on the variable of affect-tone. / This study employed a quasi-experimental, two-group post-test only design. A two-group Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted. Follow-up t-tests were used to assess group differences on the two dependent variables. The results of the two-group Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed overall significant differences between the Borderline Disordered subjects and the normal subjects. Follow-up tests showed significant between-group differences on the variable of affect-tone, but non-significant between group differences on the variable of cognitive complexity. A Discriminant Analysis yielded an accurate classification rate of 82.50%. / The findings were interpreted from an Object-Relations perspective. In addition, the utility of Early Childhood Memories as an assessment tool and the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale as a scoring format were also discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: B, page: 6443. / Major Professor: F. Donald Kelly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Numerous studies have been done examining the consistent patterns of attributions that individuals make for their own behavior, referred to as attribution styles (Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale, 1978; Peterson et al., 1982; Weiner et al, 1976; Weiner, 1979; Seligman, 1990; Abramson et al., 1989; and Kent 1992). There also has been considerable research into the differences between self-attributions, and observer attributions (Martinko and Gardner, 1987; Bernardin, 1989; and Dobbins and Russell, 1986). However, the idea of attribution styles has yet to be applied to observer attributions. This study proposes that individuals may have cross-situational consistencies, or styles, in the attributions they make for the outcomes of others. / This proposal is supported through the development of a questionnaire to measure observer attribution styles. Initial construct validity was tested by examining the relationship between observer attribution style as measured by the instrument and a number of other constructs, specifically: self-attribution styles, self-monitoring, Theory X/Y beliefs, Field Dependence, Machiavellianism, and leadership behaviors. Relationships were found between Observer attribution style, and self attribution style, field dependence, and leader behaviors. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: B, page: 7081. / Major Professor: Mark Martinko. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine demographic characteristics related to total, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction in certified athletic trainers. A secondary purpose was to ascertain which job satisfaction items ranked higher in importance on measures of total, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction in the sample of athletic trainers investigated. / Subjects for the study were National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA)-certified athletic trainers (n = 286) attending the 1989 NATA Annual Convention and Clinical Symposium. The subjects completed a personal data sheet and the short-form Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), the instrument utilized to measure total, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction scores, at a designated location at the convention. The demographic variables of interest included age, race, employment setting, number of sports covered, teaching responsibilities, highest educational level, physical therapy status, number of job changes in the last ten years, total years of experience in athletic training, years at the present position, marital status, gender, and position held. / An analysis of job satisfaction scores for the subgroupings of the aforementioned demographic factors indicated definite trends and tendencies in mean scores of the subgroupings in comparison to each other. A one-way analysis of variance with post-hoc analysis for total, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction with regard to the demographic subgroupings revealed statistical significance. Greater job satisfaction was found in clinic/industry athletic trainers, athletic trainers without team responsibilities, athletic trainers credentialed also as physical therapists, male athletic trainers, married athletic trainers, and athletic trainers employed as sports physical therapists. Significant relationships were also found between job satisfaction scores and interval level demographic characteristics (age, number of sports covered, number of job changes, total years of athletic training experience, and years at present position) in many of these interval-level demographic subgroupings. This sample of athletic trainers revealed greater satisfaction with intrinsic job satisfaction characteristics (characteristics associated with the task itself) and less satisfaction with extrinsic job satisfaction characteristics (nontask characteristics associated with the job). / The study has implications for those supervising the certified athletic trainer employed in different settings, as well as the trainer's co-workers. Additionally, athletic trainer educators and clinicians can benefit from the results of this study and share the realities of job satisfaction-dissatisfaction of the athletic training profession with the student athletic trainer. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3886. / Major Professor: Robert Alan Rider. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The present exploratory study examined the applicability of personality constructs derived from the theory of Transactional Analysis (TA) to the understanding of women's career preferences and vocational identity. More specifically, it investigated the differences among groups of occupationally traditional and nontraditional women with high or low levels of vocational identity and their scores on seven TA personality characteristics. The study further explored whether a constellation of the TA variables formed a discriminating dimension that distinguished between the four occupational groups. / A nonrandom sample of 124 undergraduate college women was employed in the study. An equal number of subjects were recruited from classes in the Colleges of Education and Engineering to represent women's traditional and nontraditional career choice respectively. Volunteers completed the Vocational Identity Scale of the My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980), Adjective Check List: TA Scales (Gough & Heilburn, 1983), TA Life Position Survey (Kramer & Strade, 1976), and a demographic data form. / Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance procedures were employed to examine group differences on measures of the TA personality characteristics. The MANOVA procedure yielded a significant (p $<$.01) overall multivariate main effect due to group differences of vocational identity on a weighted linear combination of the TA variables. Subsequent univariate ANOVA procedures on each of the TA variables clarified the significance of the MANOVA result. Findings of the ANOVA procedure revealed significant (p $<$.01) differences in group means on three of the seven TA variables. Significant main effects were obtained in this analysis on the Adult ego state, Adapted Child ego state, and I'm OK life position variables. / Further analysis was conducted with the discriminant function technique. It was found that the I'm OK life position and Adapted Child ego state variables made the greatest contribution to the discriminating dimension. Results indicated that the discriminant function formed by these two TA personality characteristics had moderate to high utility as a mechanism to correctly classify subjects in their respective occupational group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: B, page: 1145. / Major Professor: F. Donald Kelly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries