ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of social support and religion to mortality after elective open heart surgery in older patients.Of the 232 patients included in the study, 21 died within 6 months of surgery. Three biomedical variables were significant predictors of mortality and selected as adjustment variables for a multivariate analysis: history of previous cardiac surgery; greater impairment in presurgery basic activities of daily living; and older age. Among the social support and religion variables, two were consistent predictors of mortality in the multivariate analyses: lack of participation in social or community groups and absence of strength and comfort from religion. These results suggest that in older persons lack of participation in groups and absence of strength and comfort in religion are independently related to risk for death during the 6-month period after cardiac surgery.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study examines the possibility that social support operates as a moderator of cardiovascular reactivity in women.Two models by which social support may operate were examined: the direct effects and buffering models. Twenty-six subjects were exposed to four conditions while playing a video game: two levels of stress (low, high) and two levels of social support (alone, together). Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored continuously. Ratings of stress were obtained for each condition. Results indicated that the support manipulation produced significant main effects for diastolic blood pressure and stress ratings, with lower diastolic blood pressure and ratings observed in the "together" condition, and that the interaction between support and stress produced lower reactivity for the cardiovascular measures in the high stress (but not the low stress) condition. No interaction was found for the stress ratings. We conclude that the results provide support for both the buffering and direct effects models. Implications concerning the (within-subjects) design of the study and the stress ratings are discussed.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The effects of short-term social support on cortisol levels and subjective responses to acute psychological stress were investigated in healthy adults (total N = 66). In anticipation of a public-speaking task in front of an audience, subjects received either no social support ("no support") or social support from an opposite-sex stranger ("stranger") or from their boyfriend or girlfriend ("partner"). Support providers were instructed to enact both instrumental and emotional support during the 10-minute anticipation period. The results obtained suggest sex-specific effects of social support. Although men in the partner support condition showed significant attenuation of cortisol responses compared with unsupported and stranger-supported men, women showed no response decrement under stranger support. In contrast to men, women showed a tendency toward increased cortisol responses when supported by their boyfriends. The endocrine response differences between male and female subjects were unrelated to questionnaire-derived psychological variables. No sex and group differences in perceived stress, mood changes, or social desirability were observed. Although the overall level of subjective well-being throughout the experiment was elevated in the partner support condition, no sex or group differences were observed in perceived stress, well-being changes, and social desirability. Opposite to their cortisol responses, women rated both stranger and partner support attempts more favorably than did men. No significant correlations were observed between the perceived stressfulness of the situation, mood changes, and cortisol responses. These results provide preliminary evidence for sex-specific patterns of social support efficacy to acute psychological stress with respect to adrenocortical responses.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

A psychosocial investigation offered to all human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected men with moderately severe or severe hemophilia in Sweden was made in 1986. Most of these men had been infected in the years 1980 to 1984 and told about their infections in 1985. Forty-nine subjects had answered questions in regard to sources of emotional support in their life situation. Based on the responses to these questions a score of "availability of attachment" (AVAT) was calculated, and two groups of patients were identified: one with high AVAT and one with low AVAT scores. The subjects were followed with regard to the state of their immune system, as reflected by CD4 counts, until 1990. The results indicated that a low AVAT score in 1985 was associated with a significantly more rapid progressive deterioration in CD4 count during subsequent years. The mechanism behind this associated is unknown. Several possible confounders were not studied. However, if the association between a poor AVAT score and rapid CD4 deterioration after HIV infection is replicated in other samples, it could be important to the future clinical care of HIV-infected subjects.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Analyses tested the following contrasting hypotheses:a) The occurrence of a new symptom in the presence of ongoing life stress increases the attribution of symptoms to illness and increases the use of health care; b) new symptoms occurring in the presence of ongoing life stress are attributed to stressors if they are ambiguous indicators of illness, and they are unlikely to motivate care-seeking if the stressor, i.e., the perceived cause, is of recent onset. The 43-to-92-year old subjects in this longitudinal study were less likely to seek care for the ambiguous symptoms they experienced during the previous week if there was a concurrent life stressor that began during the previous 3 weeks; these symptoms were attributed to stress rather than to illness, and subjects tolerated the emotional distress caused by the combination of a stressor and an ambiguous symptom. Subjects were less willing to tolerate the combined distress of an ambiguous symptom and a concurrent life stressor if the stressor onset was not recent; under such conditions, subjects were more likely to seek health care. Current life stressors did not affect care-seeking for symptoms that were clear signs of disease; these symptoms were readily identified as health threats in need of medical attention. The findings contribute to a better theoretical understanding of how individuals perceive their physical states and how they cope with stress. Practical implications of these findings for increasing efficient use of health care services are also discussed.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The plasma cholesterol levels of 279 students were measured and related to decision and movement times in choice reaction time tasks with one, two, four, and eight lamps.In female subjects, low plasma cholesterol levels were associated with slower movement times and, when responding to one or two lamps, slower decision times. In male subjects, there was a nonlinear relationship between cholesterol level and decision times. Because these data are correlational in nature, it is not possible to assume a causal relationship between cholesterol levels and speed of mental processing. The literature, however, supports the suggestion that further work should consider the possibility of a causal relationship.

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0033-3174    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1995

数据来源: OVID