Acquiescent (ARS) and extreme response styles (ERS) can have detrimental effects on survey data and, for unknown reasons, are more frequently used by Latino than non-Latino white respondents. This exploratory study examined the influence of culture on these response styles by investigating their associations with individual-level cultural factors and ARS and ERS among 1,296 Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American telephone survey respondents. Principal components representing stronger endorsement of marianismo/machismo and social attentiveness (simpatía, personalismo, respect for elders, value for sincerity, collectivism, individualism) were associated with higher ARS and ERS, while higher trust in strangers and more limited health literacy were associated with lower ERS. Findings from this study will enable survey designers to better anticipate ARS and ERS in surveys with Latino populations and, in turn, guide the selection of data collection and analysis methods to mitigate measurement error in the presence of these response styles.
Background: Percutaneous electrical nerve field stimulation (PENFS) improves symptoms in adolescents with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). However, little is known about its impact on sleep and psychological functioning. We evaluated the effects of PENFS on resting and evoked pain and nausea, sleep and psychological functioning, and long-term outcomes.
Methods: Patient ages 11-19 years with FAPD requiring PENFS as standard care were recruited. Evoked pain was elicited by a Water Load Symptom Provocation Task (WL-SPT) before and after four weeks of treatment. Pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep, somatic symptoms, and physical and psychological functioning were assessed. Actigraphy was used to measure daily sleep-wake patterns.
Key results: Twenty patients (14.3 ± 2.2 years old) with FAPD were enrolled. Most patients were females (70%) and white (95%). During pain evoked by WL-SPT, visual analog scale (VAS) pain intensity and nausea were lower following PENFS compared with baseline (p = 0.004 and p = 0.02, respectively). After PENFS, resting VAS pain unpleasantness (p = 0.03), abdominal pain (p < 0.0001), pain catastrophizing (p = 0.0004), somatic complaints (0.01), functional disability (p = 0.04), and anxiety (p = 0.02) exhibited significant improvements, and some were sustained long-term. Self-reported sleep improved after PENFS (p's < 0.05) as well as actigraphy-derived sleep onset latency (p = 0.03).
Conclusions and inferences: We demonstrated improvements in resting and evoked pain and nausea, sleep, disability, pain catastrophizing, somatic complaints, and anxiety after four weeks of PENFS therapy. Some effects were sustained at 6-12 months post-treatment. This suggests that PENFS is a suitable alternative to pharmacologic therapy.

