[Anxiety and stress reaction and its management in ambulatory gastrointestinal endoscopy: is premedication justified?]. / Angst- und Stressreaktion und ihre Bewältigung bei ambulanter gastrointestinaler Endoskopie: Ist eine Prämedikation gerechtfertigt?

This study is a contribution to the the question, whether the fear of ambulant gastrointestinal endoscopy generally justifies an anxiolytic premedication. Intensity of the stress reaction (subjective stress reactions, cardiovascular and endocrinological stress parameters), situation-specific determinants and coping behavior were analyzed one week and immediately before and immediately after the diagnostic procedure in N = 135 patients. The results showed significant effects of the procedure on subjective, cardiovascular and endocrinological stress parameters. Furthermore, other stress-eliciting conditions like former experiences with the procedure, behavior of the doctor and the assisting staff, organisational conditions could be identified. All in all, for most of the patients the endoscopy examination was less aversive as reported in the literature. According to our results, the amount of fear and stress reactions cannot justify the risks of an anxiolytic premedication. Only for a small group of patients (about 25%) the question of premedication should be proved individually. These patients can be identified by a questionnaire or by a rough screening of the anxiety level by behavior observation during a preparating anamnesis.

[A comparison of East German and West German probands: emotionality and objective personality variables]. / Ostdeutsche und Westdeutsche im Vergleich: Emotionalität und Objektive Persönlichkeitsvariablen.

Data from a joint research project between the University of Trier and the Humboldt University Berlin of personality dimensions were compared and analyzed. Since Germany was separated for forty years, studies of the general population are necessary in order to yield possible cultural differences. In the present comparison we analyzed personality constructs like anxiety, curiosity, anger and anger expression as well as variables of objective personality tests. The sample from the former western German states contained N = 109 persons. As a basis for comparison, we selected a parallized matched sample (n = 109) from the new eastern German states out of a larger sample (N = 586). The main results were as follows: (1) reliability (consistency) and factor structure of the measures are similar for both samples. This equivalency is the formal prerequisite for a comparison. (2) There are substantial differential effects between eastern and western samples. Wellness as well as emotionality also show different results considerable with regard to age and sex.

[A questionnaire for assessing anger and expression of anger]. / Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Arger und Argerausdruck.

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) developed by Spielberger is a measure for state- and trait-anger and three different forms of anger expression. People differ in the extent to which they express anger overtly and directly (anger out), how often anger feelings are hold in or suppressed (anger in) or in the extent to which they are able to control their angry feelings or their overtly expressed anger (anger control). The scales are developed to determine the relevance of individual dispositions to express anger in the etiology and course of psychosomatic illness like hypertension, coronary heart disease etc. The present report is a summary of the research reports presented by Schwenkmezger and Hodapp (1986, 1989). It describes the development of the German adaptation of the STAXI, including itemmetrical and factor analytic results, detailed research on construct validity, and first experimental analyses.

[Responsibility for damage and anger]. / Schadensverantwortlichkeit und Arger.

Anger about frustration or damage was assumed to depend on how much responsibility can be attributed to the perpetrator. This hypothesis was tested experimentally (N = 120). Drawing upon constituents of the action concept (e.g. free will), three everyday situations (e.g. being obstructed while driving) were varied with regard to responsibility. Twenty subjects each were asked to imagine the three situations from one of the six levels of responsibility and to indicate how angry they would feel. In addition to state anger, anger in, anger out, and anger control were assessed. When trait anger was controlled for, state anger as well as anger out increased as a function of the perpetrator's responsibility, whereas anger control decreased. These results were in line with theoretical expectations. They demonstrate that the expression of anger is subject to social norms and depends largely on the situation. This finding complements original assumptions on the trait-like nature of anger in, anger out, and anger control.

[Value of the interactional anger model: studies in management and competitive sports]. / Zur Gültigkeit des interaktionistischen Argermodells: Untersuchungen im Management und Leistungssport.

This study focuses on testing the interactional approach underlying the anger models of Novaco (1978) and Spielberger (1988). An additional goal was to demonstrate different types of situations that give rise to anger and different dimensions of anger response in two samples of 97 managers and 74 athletes. Results showed that an anger response could be differentiated into a physiological, a cognitive, and two behavioral components. For the latter, it was confirmed that the expression of anger could be categorized into two independent components, anger in and anger out. Classifying anger situations revealed only a limited situation specificity of the tendency toward anger. The results on the validity of the interactional approach depended on the methods of analysis chosen. If the percentage of variance components were interpreted in the direction of an interactional approach, the external validity coefficients in at least one sample could not be interpreted unequivocally in this direction.

Cortisol and behavior: 2. Application of a latent state-trait model to salivary cortisol.

In two studies we applied a new stochastic model for the measurement of latent states and traits to salivary cortisol in healthy subjects. Data were analyzed by Linear Structural Relations (LISREL). In the first study, 48 students collected saliva samples on two occasions at 1300h with an interval of six weeks between occasions. Salivary cortisol levels were found to be mainly influenced by situational and/or interactional effects, which determined approximately 75% of the total variance of the hormone data, while only approximately 21% were determined by the latent trait. Measurement unreliability was found to be approximately 4%. In the second study, 54 young mothers collected saliva at 0800h, 1500h, and 2000h for three consecutive days, starting on the second day after delivery of a healthy baby. Early morning salivary cortisol showed high consistency across the three days. Approximately 60% of the total variance in the early morning cortisol samples was determined by the latent trait. For the 1500h and 2000h samples, however, the corresponding proportions of variances amounted only to 33% and 28%, respectively. These results appear to reflect the absence of a clear-cut circadian rhythm in some of the women on the second day after delivery.

Report on a group form for the measurement of color-word interference: speed of color discrimination test.

Although there have been some suggestions towards the development of a standardized form for a group version of Stroop's color-word interference test yet, to some extent, a group form has not been applied in psychological research. In this study the equivalence of group and individual procedures as well as some standards for psychological tests of the group form were examined. The results show that the interference score does not comply with the requirements of psychological tests and the equivalence of the interference scores of the group and individual procedures could not be determined. For further research experimental analysis of convergent and discriminant validity is suggested.