This 84-item self-report instrument measures personality characteristics and has been validated for use with both clinical and non-clinical populations across a wide range of ages. This nationally standardized inventory measures two primary dimensions that are distress (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and low well being) and self-restraint (impulse control, considerations of others, suppression of aggression, responsibility) with additional subscales for repressive defensiveness and denial of distress. The interactions of scores on the primary scales can be used to produce a typology of four adaptive styles (Figure 1) that predict different behavior potentials in juvenile delinquents, among others. The non-reactive profile has a 90% chance of re-arrest in the four and a half year span after release from detention, while the suppressor profile has an about 56% chance of relapse. In addition, we can generate an undifferentiated category, if the subjects’ responses fall within one-half standard deviation on both axes in both directions. These children are thought not to be formed types, but types in development (Weinberger and Schwartz 1990; Steiner et al. 1999). For the purposes of this study, this questionnaire provides a baseline assessment of certain personality dimensions within the subject. Nine control subjects and 10 delinquent subjects failed to complete the WAI and therefore their measures were excluded from analyses which required the WAI.

In examining the AUC and mean increase in heart rate we see a marked difference between the control and delinquent samples (Table 2). In both the stress and free association conditions, delinquents showed statistically lower responsiveness to stressors and less arousal overall. The stem-and-leaf plots for heart rate at each event point showed a consistent set of outcomes. Delinquents with non-reactive personality types repeatedly demonstrated the lowest average heart rate of any subgroup (cf. Figures 2, 3 & 4). In addition, delinquents with suppressor personality types showed the highest average heart rate of any subgroup. Post-hoc analyses of the pooled dataset showed that there was a trend towards significance (p=0.056) for difference between WAI subgroups when examining AUC in the stress condition. In this analysis, the non-reactive subgroup demonstrated the lowest physiological response in the stress condition.

In examining the AUC and mean increase in heart rate we see a marked difference between the control and delinquent samples (Table 2). In both the stress and free association conditions, delinquents showed statistically lower responsiveness to stressors and less arousal overall. The stem-and-leaf plots for heart rate at each event point showed a consistent set of outcomes. Delinquents with non-reactive personality types repeatedly demonstrated the lowest average heart rate of any subgroup (cf. Figures 2, 3 & 4). In addition, delinquents with suppressor personality types showed the highest average heart rate of any subgroup. Post-hoc analyses of the pooled dataset showed that there was a trend towards significance (p=0.056) for difference between WAI subgroups when examining AUC in the stress condition. In this analysis, the non-reactive subgroup demonstrated the lowest physiological response in the stress condition.

In examining the AUC and mean increase in heart rate we see a marked difference between the control and delinquent samples (Table 2). In both the stress and free association conditions, delinquents showed statistically lower responsiveness to stressors and less arousal overall. The stem-and-leaf plots for heart rate at each event point showed a consistent set of outcomes. Delinquents with non-reactive personality types repeatedly demonstrated the lowest average heart rate of any subgroup (cf. Figures 2, 3 & 4). In addition, delinquents with suppressor personality types showed the highest average heart rate of any subgroup. Post-hoc analyses of the pooled dataset showed that there was a trend towards significance (p=0.056) for difference between WAI subgroups when examining AUC in the stress condition. In this analysis, the non-reactive subgroup demonstrated the lowest physiological response in the stress condition.