The effect of blood alcohol level and preinjury chronic alcohol use on outcome from severe traumatic brain injury in Hispanics, anglo-Caucasians, and African-americans.

OBJECTIVE: To examine (a) ethnic differences in blood alcohol level (BAL) and preinjury chronic alcohol use (PI-ETOH) within a severe closed head injury (CHI) sample and (b) the main and interaction effects of BAL, PI-ETOH, and ethnicity on functional outcome following severe CHI. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 434 Hispanic, Anglo-Caucasian, and African-American individuals with severe CHI. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Consecutive admissions to a level 1 trauma center. MAIN MEASURES: After admission to the trauma center, BAL was collected for each patient. Additional information regarding PI-ETOH was collected in a subset of patients (N = 116). Functional outcome was measured using the Disability Rating Scale (DRS) at 6 months after injury. RESULTS: A one-way analysis of variance revealed ethnic differences in mean BAL. Hierarchical multiple regression indicated that BAL did not predict DRS outcomes after controlling for pertinent covariates. An interaction effect between PI-ETOH and ethnicity was observed, such that presence of chronic alcohol use predicted worse functional outcome for Anglo-Caucasians and African-Americans, but more favorable outcome for Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic differences in BALs within our severe traumatic brain injury sample mirrored ethnic drinking patterns observed in the general population, with Hispanics having the highest BALs. A paradoxical relationship between PI-ETOH and functional outcome was observed for Hispanics.

Testing the efficacy of a new procedure for reducing faking on personality tests within selection contexts.

The authors propose a new procedure for reducing faking on personality tests within selection contexts. This computer-based procedure attempts to identify and warn potential fakers early on during the testing process and then give them a chance for recourse. Two field studies were conducted to test the efficacy of the proposed procedure. Study 1 participants were 157 applicants competing for 10 staff positions at a large university located in a southern city in the People's Republic of China. In Study 1, potential fakers received a warning message, whereas nonfakers received a nonwarning (control) message. Study 2 participants were 386 Chinese college students applying for membership of a popular student organization at the same university where Study 1 was conducted. In Study 2, the warning and control messages were randomly assigned to all applicants. Results showed some promise for the proposed procedure, but several practical issues need to be considered.