Depicted Immorality Influences the Perceived Applicability of the Phrase "Committed Suicide".

Background: "Committed suicide" is often deemed less acceptable than alternative phrases, but such judgments vary widely across individuals. Aim: We tested whether the endorsement of statements containing "committed suicide" is greater when a suicide death is depicted as immoral. We also assessed the degree of immorality suggested by the free-standing phrases "committed suicide" and "died by suicide." Method: Undergraduate participants (N = 154) read scenarios of a suicide depicted as immoral and one depicted more neutrally and judged the applicability of statements employing either "committed suicide" or "died by suicide" to each scenario. Participants next chose between the free-standing phrases "committed suicide" or "died by suicide" in terms of which connoted immorality and provided written justifications for their choices. Results: Participants judged "committed suicide" statements to be most applicable to the immoral-suicide scenario. A large majority of participants chose "committed suicide" over "died by suicide" as connoting immorality and participants' justifications for this choice revealed several meaningful themes. Limitations: Our manipulation of immorality employed religious overtones and our participants were undergraduate students. Conclusions: Findings contribute to the empirical basis for concerns regarding the phrase "committed suicide," with implications for stigma reduction and help-seeking.

College students who have an eveningness preference report lower self-control and greater procrastination.

Previous research suggests a possible link between eveningness and general difficulties with self-regulation (e.g., evening types are more likely than other chronotypes to have irregular sleep schedules and social rhythms and use substances). Our study investigated the relationship between eveningness and self-regulation by using two standardized measures of self-regulation: the Self-Control Scale and the Procrastination Scale. We predicted that an eveningness preference would be associated with poorer self-control and greater procrastination than would an intermediate or morningness preference. Participants were 308 psychology students (mean age=19.92 yrs) at a small Canadian college. Students completed the self-regulation questionnaires and Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) online. The mean MEQ score was 46.69 (SD=8.20), which is intermediate between morningness and eveningness. MEQ scores ranged from definite morningness to definite eveningness, but the dispersion of scores was skewed toward more eveningness. Pearson and partial correlations (controlling for age) were used to assess the relationship between MEQ score and the Self-Control Scale (global score and 5 subscale scores) and Procrastination Scale (global score). All correlations were significant. The magnitude of the effects was medium for all measures except one of the Self-Control subscales, which was small. A multiple regression analysis to predict MEQ score using the Self-Control Scale (global score), Procrastination Scale, and age as predictors indicated the Self-Control Scale was a significant predictor (accounting for 20% of the variance). A multiple regression analysis to predict MEQ scores using the five subscales of the Self-Control Scale and age as predictors showed the subscales for reliability and work ethic were significant predictors (accounting for 33% of the variance). Our study showed a relationship between eveningness and low self-control, but it did not address whether the relationship is a causal one.

Judgments of impairment and distress associated with symptoms of internalizing and externalizing disorders.

The pattern of dysfunction (i.e. impairment vs. distress) judged to be associated with disorders empirically identified by Krueger, Caspi, Moffitt and Silva (1998) as internalizing (e.g. major depressive episode; agoraphobia) was compared to the pattern characterizing disorders classified as externalizing (e.g. antisocial personality disorder; alcohol dependence). In Study 1, lay raters (N=270) judged the social impairment, occupational impairment, and personal distress associated with symptoms of seven internalizing and four externalizing disorders. As predicted, symptoms composing internalizing disorders were perceived as involving a greater degree of distress, and a lesser degree of impairment, relative to symptoms composing externalizing disorders. In Study 2, conducted with a small sample of clinician judges (N=21), symptoms composing internalizing disorders were again judged as involving a greater degree of distress (but, in this case, not a lesser degree of impairment) relative to symptoms composing externalizing disorders. This research provides a novel means of validating the distinction between internalizing and externalizing groups of disorders.

Impairment and distress associated with symptoms of male-typed and female-typed DSM-IV Axis-I disorders.

Recent research has established a pattern of impairment and distress associated with the symptoms of DSM-IV Axis-II disorders such that personality disorders occurring more commonly among males are associated with more social and occupational impairment, but less personal distress, than personality disorders occurring more commonly among females. The current study examined whether a similar pattern exists for DSM-IV Axis-I disorders. Lay judges (N = 206) rated the social impairment, occupational impairment, and personal distress associated with the symptoms of six male-typed and six female-typed Axis-I disorders. Impairment and distress were associated with male-typed and female-typed Axis-I disorders in the same manner as personality disorders. Reasons for the emphasis of social and occupational impairment among male-typed disorders and distress among female-typed disorders are discussed.

Sleep quality, sleep propensity and academic performance.

We examined associations between measures of sleep propensity on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, sleep quality on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and academic performance by GPA and grades in introductory psychology for 414 students. In the total sample, neither sleep propensity nor sleep quality correlated with GPA or introductory psychology grades. However, among students carrying a full course load, those reporting poor sleep quality performed less well on academic measures than those reporting a better quality of sleep. Further research is needed to assess the moderating influence of overall demands of daytime functioning on the association between sleep quality and academic performance.

Perceived dysfunction of male-typed and female-typed DSM-IV personality disorder criteria.

To determine whether female-typed personality disorders are associated with a different pattern of dysfunction than male-typed disorders, lay judges (N = 216) estimated the amount of social impairment, occupational impairment, and personal distress related to symptoms of personality disorders. Results for both the subset of six disorders originally rated by clinician judges in the research of Funtowicz and Widiger (1999) and for a larger set of nine disorders revealed a pattern originally reported by Funtowicz and Widiger where female-typed disorders were associated with relatively higher ratings of personal distress, whereas male-typed disorders were associated with relatively higher ratings of social (and sometimes occupational) impairment. Findings are discussed with respect to the emphasis of different forms of dysfunction for male- and female-typed disorders, lay versus clinician judgments, and directions for future research.