JOURNAL OF APPLIED BIOBEHAVIORAL RESEARCH最新文献

Little is known about how control-oriented coping affects the stress responses in victims of technological catastrophes. In this study, control-oriented coping and immediate stress responses were studied in 40 evacuees (during a nearly 3-week evacuation) from a technological accident and concurrently in 50 participants from a demographically similar comparison site. Control-oriented coping was significantly and negatively associated with psychological, behavioral, and physiological stress responses in evacuees, but not comparison-site participants. This is the first investigation we are aware of relating control-oriented coping to immediate stress responses in the acute phase of exposure to evacuation from a technological accident.

Falls are common and costly in older adults. Risk factors include deficits in gait and postural control, both of which are linked to cognitive impairments. These cognitive impairments may be attributed to a genetic predisposition. A previous study found that a genetic risk factor related to Alzheimer's disease (the ApoE-ε4 genetic variant) is also related to gait speed decline in older adults. No research has attempted to assess the impact of this variant on postural control in older adults. The purpose of this pilot study was to replicate the gait findings and extend these to measures of balance in older adults. Forty-six older adults, without a history of neurological disorder, were genotyped and had their gait and postural control assessed. Surprisingly, analyses showed lowered double-stance time for carriers than noncarriers of the ε4 isoform. However, no significant differences were observed between carriers and noncarriers for any other comparisons, including postural control scores. Results suggest that the ε4 isoform may affect gait, but not postural control.

The study examined whether cardiovascular responses to psychological stress tests predict future anxiety and depression scores 40-months later. Hemodynamic measures were obtained from 102 healthy adults before, during and after mental arithmetic, a speech task, and a cold pressor task. The 14-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was administered at initial testing and at 40-months follow-up. At initial testing analyses revealed that high anxiety symptoms were characterized by blunted cardiovascular reactions to acute mental stress, particularly mental arithmetic. Furthermore, after adjustment for baseline blood pressure (BP), baseline anxiety levels and traditional risk factors, attenuated systolic BP responses to mental arithmetic were associated with future anxiety levels (ΔR² = .055). These findings suggest that blunted cardiovascular reactions to stress may be an independent risk factor for future anxiety levels.

The purpose of this study was to determine if participants in a summer camp met physical activity guidelines and to examine whether physical activity levels differed by gender, race, socio-economic status, or weight status. Height, weight, demographic information, and accelerometer-measured physical activity were obtained from 132 participants aged 6–12 years at 6 day camps. Participants engaged in an average of 57.7 min (SD = 26.54) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the 8 hr of camp. Almost 40% (39.8%) of the campers met the physical activity guidelines of at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the camp day, but there were gender and weight status differences. Results of an ANOVA analysis indicated that boys were more active than girls and normal weight children were more active than obese children. Summer day camp attendance appears to provide many children with an opportunity to attain recommended levels of physical activity, but differs by gender and weight status.

The objectives of the study were to (1) assess the extent to which interrater reliability of pain drawing location and dispersion scoring methods are similar across pain disciplines in a sample of patients with cancer treatment-induced neuropathic pain (N = 56); and (2) investigate indicators of validity of the pain drawing in this unique sample. Patients undergoing cancer therapy completed the Brief Pain Inventory Body Map, the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Intraclass correlation coefficients among medical and psychology professionals ranged from .93 to 99. Correlations between pain drawing score and symptom burden severity ranged from .29 to 39; correlations between pain drawing score and symptom burden interference ranged from .28 to 34. Patients who endorsed pain in the hands and feet more often described their pain as electric, numb, and shooting than patients without pain in the hands and feet. They also endorsed significantly more descriptors of neuropathic pain. Results suggest a similar understanding among members of a multidisciplinary pain team as to the location and dispersion of pain as represented by patients’ pain drawings. In addition, pain drawing scores were related to symptom burden severity and interference and descriptors of neuropathic pain in expected ways.

Catastrophizing, a persistent negative mental set characterized by helplessness, rumination, and magnification of pain sensations, has a potent effect on pain report and clinical outcomes. Previous studies have documented an association between cognitive factors and central sensitization. The current analysis sought to test the potential modulating effect of pain catastrophizing on the association between capsaicin pain and the region of secondary hyperalgesia. Thirty-eight healthy individuals (50% women, mean age = 25.7, SD = 5.3) completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), then underwent topical application of 10% capsaicin, which was covered by a thermode maintained at 40°C for 90-min. Following removal of the capsaicin, the region of secondary hyperalgesia was determined. Hayes’ PROCESS macro was employed to examine catastrophizing's potential moderating effect, which did not reveal a significant association between capsaicin pain ratings and the region of secondary hyperalgesia (β = 15.1, p = .06). Though PCS was not associated with area of secondary hyperalgesia (β = 23.9, p = .29), a significant interaction was present between PCS and capsaicin pain ratings (β = 3.7, p = .0004). Specifically, those endorsing higher catastrophizing levels and higher pain ratings experienced the greatest areas of secondary hyperalgesia. The Johnson-Neyman technique was used to determine the regional effect of the moderation, which indicated that when PCS scores were ≥10.6, capsaicin pain significantly moderated the association between pain and area of secondary hyperalgesia. These results suggest that catastrophizing plays an important role in the area of secondary hyperalgesia, and potentially central sensitization, warranting further testing in future research.

The aim of this prospective study was to explore the role of catastrophizing in vulvovaginal pain. The study entails two research questions. The first question was whether catastrophizing predicts the occurrence of vulvovaginal pain. The second question focused on exploring the links between catastrophizing, partner responses and pain. Five hundred and ten women filled out questionnaires at two measurement points, 10 months apart. The women were divided into three groups based on levels of catastrophizing. To study the first research question, the groups were used as predictors of pain at follow-up. To study the second research question, the groups were compared regarding their perceived solicitous partner responses. Subsequently, two mediation models were tested to explore whether catastrophizing mediated the relationship between solicitous partner responses and pain, cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Baseline levels of catastrophizing distinguished between pain and no pain 10 months later. High catastrophizers reported higher levels of solicitous partner responses than low catastrophizers. The mediation analyses revealed catastrophizing as a significant mediator between solicitous partner responses and pain, cross-sectionally and over time. The findings support catastrophizing as being an important factor in women with vulvovaginal pain, cross-sectionally and over time.

Pain catastrophizing has become an in increasingly popular subject in pain research. It has been found to be associated with self-reported pain severity, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and disability. This construct is an important component of the well-established, and continually evolving, Fear-Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain. More recently, a Communal Model of Pain Catastrophizing has been proposed. The concept of pain catastrophizing has an interesting history. This article discusses the origins, various definitions, and conceptual evolution of the catastrophizing in clinical evaluation and research.