Psychometric Properties of the Lifetime Assessment of Violent Acts.

The Lifetime Assessment of Violent Acts (LAVA) inventory provides estimates of the frequency, triggers, and consequences (including injuries to others) of historic acts of aggression. The LAVA also identifies the situational contexts in which prior violence was triggered and allows classifications based on past reactive, intimate partner, alcoholrelated, and/or weapon-related violence. Normative and psychometric data were provided from a college (N = 1,133) and general population (N = 545) sample. Around 15% of the general population sample recalled inflicting 5 or more injuries on others at some time in the past. LAVA scores were significantly higher for women than men (d = .45), and respondents from the general population were more aggressive than those in the college sample (d = .41). The potential benefits, applications, and limitations of this retrospective self-report inventory are discussed.

Trait modulation of alcohol-induced laboratory aggression.

Modest alcohol and aggressive trait effects on laboratory-induced aggression among men have been reported with some consistency in the literature. Relationships between aggressive personality traits and laboratory-induced aggression appear to become less consistent under the influence of alcohol. Several research teams have found suggestions that the effects of alcohol on laboratory aggression may be reduced or even reversed among individuals with aggressive personality traits. This study examined the effects of alcohol on the aggressive responding on the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) of eight undergraduate men who generated evidence on the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) of sadistic-aggressive personality disorder features. This sample was compared with a group of 18 undergraduate male peers without MCMI-II elevations described in a previous study. Neither alcohol ingestion (0.8 ml/kg) nor aggressive personality traits predicted laboratory behavior in isolation, but alcohol was found to selectively attenuate (d = 0.75) PSAP responding for the sadistic-aggressive as opposed to the control subjects (i.e., a significant aggressive trait by alcohol interaction). The possible value of this counterintuitive response tendency in identifying men at elevated risk for alcohol-related aggression was discussed. Large, immediate reductions in laboratory-based aggressive responding while under the influence of alcohol might provide a paradoxical high risk indicator that has not been previously identified.

General versus gender-specific attributes of the psychology major.

In the present study, the authors extended the search for general and gender-specific factors associated with the selection of psychology as a college major by using the Family Environment Scale (FES; R. H. Moos & B. S. Moos, 1994) and Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI; F. L. Coolidge & M. M. Merwin, 1992). The findings were restricted to one general (Schizoid) and one gender-specific (Self-Defeating) set of personality traits that seemed to be associated with the selection of a college major. The intuitive role of many presumed gender-specific factors (e.g., women are more open to discussing personal problems with others) may prove difficult to establish empirically.

A failure to replicate alcohol-induced laboratory aggression among college men without evidence of personality disturbance.

The effect of acute alcohol intoxication on laboratory-induced aggression among men has been fairly well established. The present study hypothesized that alcohol effects on Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) responding would not be replicated among "low-risk' college men distinguished by their absence of personality disorder features. Participants were assigned to either Alcohol (n=18), Placebo (n=7), or Time (n=8) comparison groups with each completing 25-min. sessions during the baseline, ascent, peak (70 mg%), and descent (40 mg%) phases of absorption and elimination process. Participants assigned to the Alcohol condition received a .80 ml/kg dose of 95% ethanol mixed with soda in a 1:5 ethanol/soda ratio. As hypothesized, alcohol was associated with stable Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm responding across the course of absorption, peak, and elimination for all three groups. Aggression Paradigm responding was least variable among the men administered alcohol. The present procedure served to identify a subset of "low-risk" college men whose Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm responding was not adversely affected by alcohol. The extent to which aggressive personality dispositions contribute to alcohol-induced laboratory aggression remains to be identified. Low-risk college drinkers warrant systematic examination to specify what factors attenuate their reactions to alcohol and other situational provocations.