摘要:

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine whether distinctive features of language could be discerned in the poems of poets who committed suicide and to test two suicide models by use of a text-analysis program.MethodApproximately 300 poems from the early, middle, and late periods of nine suicidal poets and nine nonsuicidal poets were compared by use of the computer text analysis program, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). Language use within the poems was analyzed within the context of two suicide models.ResultsIn line with a model of social integration, writings of suicidal poets contained more words pertaining to the individual self and fewer words pertaining to the collective than did those of nonsuicidal poets. In addition, the direction of effects for words pertaining to communication was consistent with the social integration model of suicide.ConclusionsThe study found support for a model that suggests that suicidal individuals are detached from others and are preoccupied with self. Furthermore, the findings suggest that linguistic predictors of suicide can be discerned through text analysis.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between religious coping, ethnicity, and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) measured during daily life.MethodsA 24-hour ABP was obtained from 155 men and women (78 African American and 77 white) on a typical workday. ABP was averaged over awake and sleep periods, and clinic BP was also assessed. Psychosocial measures of coping style, negative affect, social support, stress, and health behaviors were completed before ABP measurement.ResultsMultiple regression analyses, controlling for demographic variables, revealed a significant religious coping by ethnicity interaction for ABP (p< .01) and clinic BP (p< .05). Religious coping was not related to BP among whites. Among African Americans, however, higher levels of religious coping were associated with lower awake (p< .05) and sleep (p< .01) ABP. Social support satisfaction also was related to lower awake ABP among African Americans, but it did not mediate the relationship between religious coping and ABP.ConclusionsThe results of this study extend previous findings by showing that, among African Americans, religious coping and BP are related during daily activities as well as in the clinic. Lower 24-hour BP load may be a pathway through which religiosity and cardiovascular health are related.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveA hypercoagulable state before overt thrombosis resulting from an imbalance between the coagulation and fibrinolysis systems is related to cardiovascular disease progression and acute coronary syndromes. Psychological stressors and depressive and anxiety disorders also are associated with coronary artery disease. This review explores whether changes in blood coagulation, anticoagulant, and fibrinolytic activity may constitute psychobiological pathways that link psychological factors with coronary syndromes.MethodsLiterature on coagulation, anticoagulation, and fibrinolysis measures in conjunction with psychological factors (mental stress, psychosocial strain, and psychiatric disorders) was identified by MEDLINE search back to 1966 and through checking the bibliographies of these sources. Sixty-eight articles were critically reviewed.ResultsIn healthy subjects, acute mental stress simultaneously activates coagulation (ie, fibrinogen or von Willebrand factor) and fibrinolysis (ie, tissue-type plasminogen activator) within a physiological range. In patients with atherosclerosis and impaired endothelial anticoagulant function, however, procoagulant responses to acute stressors may outweigh anticoagulant mechanisms and thereby promote a hypercoagulable state. Chronic psychosocial stressors (job strain or low socioeconomic status) are related to a hypercoagulable state reflected by increased procoagulant molecules (ie, fibrinogen or coagulation factor VII) and by reduced fibrinolytic capacity. There is also some evidence that points to hypercoagulability in depression.ConclusionsDifferent categories of psychological measures to varying extent are associated with characteristic patterns of coagulation and fibrinolysis activity. Associations between psychological factors and several coagulation and fibrinolysis variables related to atherosclerosis provide a plausible biobehavioral link to coronary artery disease.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveThe current study investigated whether the relationship between sex and experimental pain report was explained by systolic blood pressure (SBP) at rest or during pain task, by gender-role socialization as assessed by the Bem Sex Role Inventory, or both. The influence of gender-role socialization on pain report is often inferred but rarely studied.MethodsFifty female and 54 male healthy, young adults completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory and then underwent a cold pressor task. Blood pressure was assessed before and during pain testing.ResultsUnivariate analyses indicated significant sex-related differences in pain threshold and pain tolerance. Baseline SBP was positively related to pain tolerance but did not explain sex differences, in accord with previous research. The Bem Sex Role Inventory demonstrated a relationship with pain, but did not explain sex differences.ConclusionsWe suggest that context-specific measures of gender are needed to assess gender-related pain behaviors in specific situations. Results from the current study support our contention that gender is part of sex as commonly measured. Also, blood pressure does not appear to fully account for sex-related differences in pain.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveThe diabetes literature contains conflicting evidence on the relationship between depression and glycemic control. This may be due, in part, to the fact that past studies failed to distinguish between patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Because these are actually completely different diseases that are often treated differently and consequently make different demands on patients, the relationship between glycemic control and depressed mood in type 1 and type 2 diabetes was examined separately.MethodsThe relationship between Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores and HbA1c, as an index of long-term glycemic control, was measured in samples of 30 patients with type 1 and 34 patients with type 2 diabetes.ResultsGroups of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes did not differ in mean BDI score or HbA1clevel. Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between BDI scores and HbA1cin the type 1 group (r= .44,p< .02) butnotin the type 2 group (r= −0.06,p> .05). This relationship was evident throughout the entire range of BDI scores and was not restricted to scores indicative of clinical depression. Patients with type 1 diabetes who had higher HbA1cand BDI scores reported a lower frequency of home blood glucose monitoring.ConclusionsVariations in depressive mood, below the level of clinical depression, are associated with meaningful differences in glycemic control in type 1 but not type 2 diabetes. Preliminary data analysis suggests that this effect may be mediated, at least in part, by decreased self-care behaviors in patients with more depressed mood.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveThe object of this study was to evaluate the evidence linking attachment insecurity to illness. Attachment theory describes lifelong patterns of response to threat that are learned in the interaction between an infant and his or her primary caregiver. Despite its biopsychosocial domain, attachment theory has only recently been applied to psychosomatic medicine.MethodMEDLINE and PsychInfo databases were searched from 1966 to 2000 for English language papers with key words “attachment” and “object relations.” Papers and their cited references were reviewed if they were directly related to physical illness, symptoms, or physiology. A hypothetical causal model was developed.ResultsDirect and indirect evidence from survey studies supports an association between attachment insecurity and disease. Animal studies and human experiments suggest that attachment contributes to individual differences in physiological stress response. There is also less robust support for insecure attachment leading to symptom reporting and to more frequent health risk behaviors, especially substance use and treatment nonadherence. Evidence supports the prediction from attachment theory that the benefits of social support derive more from attachment relationships than nonattachment relationships.ConclusionsAlthough the available data are suggestive rather than conclusive, the data can be organized into a model that describe attachment insecurity leading to disease risk through three mechanisms. These are increased susceptibility to stress, increased use of external regulators of affect, and altered help-seeking behavior. This model warrants further prospective investigation.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo examine whether increased sleep during viral or bacterial infections supports host defense mechanisms.MethodsTo test this assumption in humans, healthy male subjects were assigned either to sleep from 2300 to 0700 hours (n= 10) or to stay awake through the night (n= 10). In the sleeping subjectsSalmonella abortus equiendotoxin (0.4 ng/kg) or placebo were intravenously injected in balanced order during the first SWS episode. The age-matched, sleep-deprived subjects were injected at the same time point.ResultsAs expected, endotoxin significantly increased rectal temperature, the plasma levels of cortisol, tumor necrosis factor-&agr; (TNF-&agr;), the soluble TNF receptors p55 and p75, Interleukin (IL)-6, the IL-1 receptor antagonist (RA), leukocyte, and granulocyte counts in both sleeping and sleep-deprived subjects, whereas lymphocyte and monocyte counts were transiently reduced. Time courses of endotoxin-induced host responses did not differ between the sleep and sleep deprivation groups. Endotoxin did not affect the amount of nocturnal wakefulness, nonrapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, or rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep across the total night compared with placebo, but significantly increased electroencephalogram-arousals (EEG-arousals) in stage 2 and decreased arousals in SWS. In addition, the amount of SWS, spectral EEG-delta and -theta power was increased at the beginning and at the end of the sleep period, respectively, when the degree of immune activation was relatively low.ConclusionThe present results support the notion that short-term sleep deprivation is unlikely to harm the immune system as far as unspecific acute responses are concerned. The effects of endotoxin on sleep in this case support prior observations that in humans, enhanced SWS and intensified NREM sleep occur when host defense activation is subtle.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo determine whether 1-week continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, compared with placebo CPAP, improves cognitive functioning in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).Methods36 OSA patients (aged 32–60 years, respiratory disturbance index [RDI]>15) were monitored 2 nights with polysomnography, then randomized for 1-week treatment to CPAP or placebo (CPAP at 2 cm H2O with holes in mask). Participants completed Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised Digit Symbol and Digit Span, Trailmaking A/B, Digit Vigilance, Stroop Color-Word, Digit Ordering, and Word Fluency tests pre- and posttreatment. These produced 22 scores per participant, which were analyzed by use of repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a rank-sum test.ResultsIn ANOVA, only 1 of the 22 scores showed significant changes specific to CPAP treatment, a number that could be expected by chance alone: Digit Vigilance-Time (p= .035). The CPAP group improved their time (from 7.5 to 6.9 minutes,p= .013). The rank-sum test revealed that the CPAP group had significantly better overall cognitive functioning posttreatment than the placebo group (mean ranks of 17.8 vs. 20.2, respectively;p= .022).ConclusionsAlthough results suggest overall cognitive improvement due to CPAP, no beneficial effects in any specific cognitive domain were found. Future studies of neuropsychological effects of CPAP treatment should include a placebo CPAP control group. Placebo studies that use longer-term treatment might demonstrate additional effects. It is also possible that, even at 2 cm H2O, CPAP conveys some beneficial neuropsychological effects.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID