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Affective and personality disturbances among female former microelectronics workers
Author(s) -
Bowler Rosemarie M.,
Mergler Donna,
Rauch Stephen S.,
Harrison Robert,
Cone James
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(199101)47:1<41::aid-jclp2270470107>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - minnesota multiphasic personality inventory , personality , psychopathology , microelectronics , psychology , anxiety , clinical psychology , depression (economics) , organic solvent , psychiatry , social psychology , chemical engineering , electrical engineering , economics , macroeconomics , engineering
The production and manufacture of microelectronic components, carried out primarily by women workers, require extensive use of organic solvents. Affective and personality disturbances frequently have been associated with organic solvent toxicity. A group of women, former microelectronics workers ( N = 70), primarily of Hispanic origin (77.1%) but raised in the United States, were evaluated for affective and personality disturbance with the MMPI. Profiles were analyzed, and diagnostic classification was performed blind. Results showed that (1) 85.7% of the profiles indicated abnormally high clinical elevations; and (2) MMPI profile classification revealed four clinical diagnostic groups: somatoform (24.3%), depression (15.7%), anxiety (28.6%), and psychotic (14.3%). These findings indicate significant psychopathology among these women, who formerly had worked in a microelectronics plant. The patterns of impairment present similarities to previous reports of organic solvent toxicity.