No abstract

Gifted adolescents reported degree of loneliness to be a function of anger, depression, and stressful life changes. Furthermore, the most salient aspects of depression for predicting loneliness were helplessness, social introversion, and low self-esteem. The relationship between loneliness and depression suggests further evidence of a possible success depression in certain gifted adolescents. The results help to clarify the complex relationship between loneliness and other dysphoric states in these youths.

The construction and evaluation of a new self-report depression inventory was presented. Altogether 833 subjects participated in the various phases of the study. A sequential item selection strategy resulted in an inventory that provided separate scores for ten subscales: Sad Mood, Fatigue, Learned Helplessness, Guilt, Pessimism, Social Introversion, Irritability, Instrumental Helplessness, Low Self-Esteem, and Cognitive Difficulty. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. Concurrent validity of the full scale was demonstrated by high correlations with existing measures. Criterion related validity and face validity were also demonstrated. It was concluded that the new inventory might prove to be a useful research tool for studying depression in normal populations, and the need for further evaluation of psychometric properties in normal and clinical populations was noted.

Reading grade levels were obtained for depression scales by use of two empirically based readability formulae. Kovacs' children's measure had the easiest reading level, the General Behavior Inventory was appropriate for college-level reading, and most other measures clustered at a fifth-to ninth-grade reading level. Results suggest that most of the scales are appropriate for use with both adolescents and adult patients who have attained ninth-grade-level reading skills. The limitations of empirical estimates of readability are discussed, and it is noted, that comprehension could be influenced by contextual variables such as scale format.

Forty-two insulin-dependent latency and adolescent age diabetics were studied over a four-month period. Half of the population received a multicomponent intervention designed to enhance diabetic regulation. Psychological and demographic variables and glycosylation of hemoglobin were correlated in order to investigate the interaction between personality factors and metabolic control. Number of life event changes predicted initial values of glycohemoglobin, while ego development predicted the magnitude of improved diabetic control.