Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association
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The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of 205 male and 157 female patients with acute and chronic low back pain (LBP) were studied for replicable homogeneous subgroups using three cluster-analysis procedures. Two normal and three clinically elevated profile subgroups were identified. The two normal subgroups were characterized by relatively normal musculoskeletal condition and were least disabled, but they differed somewhat from each other in duration of pain, presence of physical abnormalities, and daily functioning. ⋯ The fifth and most pathologic profile subgroup surprisingly consisted largely of acute-pain patients whose musculoskeletal condition and daily functioning were similar to those of the normal subgroups. Patients in the three abnormal MMPI subgroups were exposed to more LBP physical-risk factors in the workplace. Implications for psychological treatment with these different profile types are discussed.
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Migraineurs and nonmigraineurs were compared in their selection of, psychophysical evaluation of, and psychophysiological response to verbal pain descriptors. Participants observed a series of 20 pain descriptors, each presented twice, 12 sec each time. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded during each presentation. ⋯ Pain descriptors more frequently selected by migraineurs on the MPQ were associated with greater skin conductance orienting responses. No differences were observed between migraineurs and nonmigraineurs in the number of intensity of pain descriptors chosen for any of the sensory, affective, evaluative, or miscellaneous dimensions of the MPQ. Results suggest that migraineurs may be conditioned or sensitized to particular sets of verbal pain descriptors and that these processes may serve to differentiate among pain sufferers and pain-free populations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Coping skills training for children: effects on distress before, during, and after hospitalization for surgery.
Thirty-three parent-child dyads (children's mean age = 7.2 years, SD = 1.2) were randomly assigned to information, anxiety reduction, or coping skills presurgical preparatory interventions. All groups received the "information" procedure that described typical hospitalization and surgery experiences via a puppetry film viewed 1 week prior to hospital admission. In the anxiety reduction group, parents also learned procedures (e.g., relaxation) to help them reduce their own distress. ⋯ Anxiety reduction and coping skills groups, compared to the information group, reduced children's self-reported fearfulness and parents' reported distress. Furthermore, only the coping skills group, compared to the information group, exhibited fewer maladaptive behaviors during hospitalization (ratings by observers) and less problematic behavior in the preadmission week and second postdischarge week (daily parental diaries). Theoretical explanations for these results are discussed in light of the similar findings obtained by Peterson and Shigetomi (1981).
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Psychological changes over the course of pregnancy: a study of attitudes toward the fetus/neonate.
Pregnant women's attitudes towards their fetus over the course of the pregnancy were studied in relation to physiological events of pregnancy, namely seeing the fetus via ultrasound and experiencing fetal movement. A consecutive series of primiparae (n = 129) was randomly assigned, at recruitment between 10 and 14 weeks menstrual age, to conditions of high (n = 67) or low (n = 62) feedback real time ultrasound. Thereafter, women were assessed at 16 and 32 weeks gestation, within 24 hours of delivery and by questionnaire at 3 months postpartum. ⋯ At delivery, ratings of attachment to the neonate were related to drug requirements in labor and attachment ratings at 32 weeks. Reactions to the neonate at delivery and ratings of postpartum mood emerged as significant predictors of maternal attachment at 3 months postpartum. These results are discussed in the context of research attempting to establish the importance of postpartum bonding.