摘要:

ObjectiveTo assess endocrinological and immunological correlates of marital conflict and marital satisfaction, 31 older couples (mean age 67 years) who had been married an average of 42 years were studied.MethodCouples were admitted to the Clinical Research Center and a catheter was placed in each subject's arm. Blood was drawn on entry for immunological assays; for hormone analyses, five blood samples were drawn during a 30-minute conflict discussion and a 15-minute recovery session. The conflict session was recorded on videotapes that were later coded for problem-solving behaviors using the Marital Interaction Coding System (MICS).ResultsAmong wives, escalation of negative behavior during conflict and marital satisfaction showed strong relationships to endocrine changes, accounting for 16% to 21% of the variance in the rates of change of cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and norepinephrine (but not epinephrine). In contrast, husbands' endocrine data did not show significant relationships with negative behavior or marital quality. Both men and women who showed relatively poorer immunological responses across three functional assays (the blastogenic response to two T-cell mitogens and antibody titers to latent Epstein-Barr virus) displayed more negative behavior during conflict; they also characterized their usual marital disagreements as more negative than individuals who showed better immune responses across assays.ConclusionAbrasive marital interactions may have physiological consequences even among older adults in long-term marriages.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo evaluate the biological and psychological effects of role overload, we examined the effects of marital (or partnership) status and parental status (defined as having children at home) on daily excretion of urinary catecholamines and cortisol in a sample of 109 employed women. Other measures included work and home strain, and social support.MethodsUrine collection was conducted on two consecutive workdays in three separate aliquots, a) overnight, b) daytime, and c) evening. Repeated-measures analysis of covariance with age and caffeine consumption as covariates was conducted on levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol in the three aliquots averaged across the 2 days.ResultsWe found a significant main effect of parental status on 24-hour cortisol excretion, (p<.01) such that women with at least one child living at home excreted significantly more cortisol, independent of marital status or social support. Women with children at home also reported higher home strain (p<.001) but not work strain. A significant period of day effect for catecholamine levels was found (norepinephrine, p<.001; epinephrine, p<.0001) with all subjects showing an increase during the workday and little or no decline in levels during the evening. Catecholamine levels were unrelated to marital status, parental status, or social support.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that working women with children at home, independent of marital status or social support, excrete greater amounts of cortisol and experience higher levels of home strain than those without children at home.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveClinical research on psychosocial and behavioral medicine interventions has burgeoned in the past two decades, so much so that sole reliance on standard no-treatment control conditions may no longer be appropriate or feasible. We discuss the ethical, theoretical, scientific, and statistical considerations that shape current clinical outcomes research for psychosocial and behavioral medicine interventions.Method and ResultsSecondary analysis of a psychosocial randomized trial (N = 127) illustrates some of these points.ConclusionsA new design for randomized clinical trials is described that does not require a no-treatment control group, and that reveals dose-response relationships between interventions and treatment outcomes.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveWe have reported high rates of social phobia in growth hormone-deficient (GHD) adults who had been treated with growth hormone during childhood. This follow-up study was conducted to determine whether the increased social phobia observed in GHD subjects was secondary to the effects of short stature.MethodsTwenty-one age- and sex-matched non-GHD short adults were evaluated for social anxiety and compared with the previously studied 21 GHD subjects.ResultsThirty-eight per cent (8 of 21) of GHD and 10% (2 of 21) of short subjects met DSM-III-R criteria for social phobia. GHD subjects scored significantly higher than short subjects on the following self-report questionnaires: Fear of Negative Evaluation (p = .03), Fear Questionnaire (p = .01), Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (p = .01), Beck Depression Inventory (p = .007), and the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire-harm avoidance subscale (p = .0004).ConclusionsThese data suggest that the high prevalence of social phobia in GHD adults is not explained by short stature alone.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveDecreased endothelium-dependent arterial dilation to reactive hyperemia has been shown in adults to be associated with various manifestations of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular risk factors. In a sample of children, we examined the relationships between flow-mediated femoral artery dilation and anthropometric, demographic, cardiovascular, and serum lipid variables that have been associated with cardiovascular diseases.MethodThirty-three asymptomatic, healthy 11 to 14 years olds were randomly selected from participants in a longitudinal cardiovascular health study. There were 17 boys and 16 girls; 21 whites and 12 blacks. Sixteen had documented family history of premature myocardial infarction (ie, <or=to 55 years of age) in first-degree relatives and 17 did not. Measurements included fasting lipids, anthropometrics, blood pressure and heart rate at rest and during supine exercise, postural change, and forehead cold stimulation. Femoral artery dilation to reactive hyperemia was measured via high resolution ultrasound.ResultsBivariate analyses indicated flow-mediated dilation was negatively correlated with systolic pressure increases to postural change, forehead cold stimulation and dynamic exercise, greater average skinfold thickness, and body fat via dual x-ray absorptiometry and positively correlated with cardiovascular fitness (all ps<.05). Stepwise multiple regression revealed that cardiovascular fitness and systolic pressure reactivity to exercise significantly predicted flow-mediated dilation accounting for 31% of the variance (p<.01).ConclusionsDecreased flow-mediated dilation is associated with decreased cardiovascular fitness, increased systolic pressure reactivity to various stressors, and increased indices of body fatness in asymptomatic youth. Further research is warranted to better understand early relationships between this noninvasive measure of endothelial function and cardiovascular risk factors in youth.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveThe current investigation sought to determine whether intellectual performance is related to serum lipid concentrations.MethodsSubjects were 177 healthy, Caucasian adult males and females, aged 25 to 60 years, with widely varying total cholesterol concentrations. Crystallized intelligence was estimated from the Information and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Revised (WAIS-R). Fluid intelligence was estimated from the WAIS-R Block Design subtest, and from a computerized version of the Letter Rotation test.ResultsControlling for age, better performance on both Information and Vocabulary subtests was associated with lower total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations (r's = -.24 to -.35, p's<.005). In contrast, better performance on Block Design was correlated with higher total and LDL cholesterol (r's = .22 to .23, p's<.005). Letter rotation response latency was unrelated to serum lipids.ConclusionThese opposing relationships between serum cholesterol and different dimensions of intellectual performance, on the one hand, may reflect the propensity of knowledgeable individuals to consume low fat diets, and on the other hand, suggest that serum cholesterol concentration may be a correlate of brain nutrients important to mental efficiency.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveWe investigated whether the effects on cardiovascular reactivity of social support from an audience member depend only on the behavior of that person or also depend on the relationship between the audience and the actor. That is, is there any added reduction in physiological response if the person who is nodding and smiling supportively is also a friend?MethodNinety subjects gave a speech to an observer. In two of the conditions, this observer was a confederate of the experimenter and a stranger to the subject. This confederate acted in either a supportive or neutral manner during the speech. In the final condition, this observer was a friend, brought by the subject, who was then trained to show support in the same manner as the supportive confederate. The comparison of the two confederate conditions tested the effect of support, holding the relationship constant. The comparison of friend and confederate supportive conditions tested the effect of the relationship, holding the supportive behaviors constant. All participants were female.ResultsBoth supportive conditions produced significantly smaller cardiovascular increases than the confederate-neutral condition, and the friend-supportive condition produced significantly smaller systolic blood pressure increases than the confederate-supportive (friend-supportive: 7.9 mm Hg; confederate-supportive: 14.9 mm Hg; confederate-neutral: 22.9 mm Hg). Differences for diastolic pressure and heart rate were not significant, although the data followed the same pattern.ConclusionsSocial support from a friend attenuated cardiovascular reactivity in a laboratory setting to a greater degree than support from a stranger. The subjects' construal of the supportive behaviors can have an effect on reactivity, over and above the effects of the actual behaviors themselves.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveThe present investigation was designed to provide the first empirical examination of the effects of clonidine, a selective alpha2-adrenergicagonist, on sexual arousal in women with and without prior sympathetic nervous system (SNS) stimulation by exercise. The purpose was to help elucidate the influence of adrenergic mechanisms on sexual function in women.MethodsThirty sexually functional women participated in two experimental sessions in which subjective (self-report) and physiological (vaginal photoplethysmograph) sexual responses to erotic stimuli were measured after either clonidine (0.2 mg) or placebo administration in a randomized, double-blind, crossover protocol. Before viewing the experimental films, 15 subjects engaged in 20 minutes of intense exercise designed to elicit significant SNS activation.ResultsClonidine significantly decreased vaginal pulse amplitude, vaginal blood volume, and subjective sexual responses to the erotic films in subjects who were in a state of heightened (via exercise), but not baseline (no exercise) SNS arousal.ConclusionsClonidine can significantly inhibit subjective and physiological sexual arousal in women. These findings have implications for deriving an etiological theory of sexual function in women and for understanding the effects of psychotherapeutic drugs on female sexual function.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID