Over the last decades much research has been devoted to the analysis of psychosocial factors associated with the development of health problems. However, less attention has been paid to mechanisms explaining why people keep engaging in risky behaviours and do not develop, instead, those habits that could increase their quality of life. To answer these questions, two lines of research have been followed: the main hypothesis of the first line is that there are personality characteristics that predispose the development of certain patterns of behaviour. The second line is focused on the analysis of the psychological processes that, together with situational factors, explain what behaviour is initiated and how it is maintained or changed. The main purpose of this paper is to review these two lines of research: what their main contributions are and what the problems they face are. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The goal of the present study was to demonstrate the value of a multiple data analytic approach for testing the cross-cultural generalizability of a personality measure. Data were collected in four different countries (Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States) on the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), which is a measure of the Five Factor Model of personality traits. Different analytical strategies were conducted. Item-level analyses were carried out to study item bias and to select (by means of simultaneous component analysis) the BFQ items that showed better functioning in all countries simultaneously. Scale-level analyses were conducted on item aggregates and were focused on the examination of structural or construct equivalence (i.e., comparability of latent structures). Three analytic approaches were compared (exploratory factor analysis, simultaneous component analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis), and converged in corroborating the basic five factor structure across the four country samples. However, these methods also yielded some noteworthy differences in the conclusions that could be drawn from the analyses. Both the methodological and conceptual implications of this multiple analytic approach are discussed.

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Background: Sepsis is a major health problem that can be investigated in experimental animal models. Results: Its etiology is divided into an early therapeutically reversible phase displaying a robust inflammatory response followed by a late therapeutically irreversible stage with reduced innate immune response. Conclusion: Mortality is associated with a late immune dysfunction. Significance: This study provides information for the potential window for treatment.

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