Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine
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Maintaining Healthy Behavior: a Prospective Study of Psychological Well-Being and Physical Activity.
Although higher psychological well-being has been linked with a range of positive biological processes and health outcomes, the prospective association between psychological well-being and physical activity among older adults has been understudied. ⋯ Psychological well-being was independently associated with attaining and maintaining higher physical activity levels over 11 years, suggesting that it may be a valuable target for interventions aimed at helping older adults acquire more physical activity.
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Poor sleep quality among people with chronic low back pain appears to be related to worse pain, affect, poor physical function, and pain catastrophizing. The causal direction between poor sleep and pain remains an open question, however, as does whether sleep quality exerts effects on low back pain differently across the course of the day. ⋯ Sleep quality appears related not only to pain intensity but also to a wide range of patient mood and function factors. A good night's sleep also appears to offer only temporary respite, suggesting that comprehensive interventions for chronic low back pain not only should include attention to sleep problems but also focus on problems with pain appraisals and coping.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Comparison of Deceptive and Non-Deceptive Placebo Analgesia: Efficacy and Ethical Consequences.
Research has demonstrated the efficacy of analgesic placebos. The manner in which they are usually delivered deceptively raises questions about their impact on recipients. However, there has been little empirical investigation into the potential harms of analgesic placebo. Moreover, the role of deception in determining the magnitude of analgesic placebo response remains poorly understood. ⋯ Our results indicate that the placebo manipulation groups experienced an anti-sensitization effect. The use of analgesic placebo did not result in any detrimental ethical or psychological effects.
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Perceptions of pain as unfair are a significant risk factor for poorer physical and psychological outcomes in acute injury and chronic pain. Chief among the negative emotions associated with perceived injustice is anger, arising through frustration of personal goals and unmet expectations regarding others' behavior. However, despite a theoretical connection with anger, the social mediators of perceived injustice have not been demonstrated in chronic pain. ⋯ The current findings highlight the strongly interpersonal nature of perceived injustice and anger in chronic pain, though these effects do not appear to extend to the intensity of pain itself. Nevertheless, the results highlight the need for interventions that ameliorate both maladaptive cognitive appraisal of pain and pain-related disruptions in social relationships.
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Numerous studies have described and evaluated communication in healthcare contexts, but these studies have focused on broad content and complex units of behavior. Growing evidence reveals the predictive power and importance of precise linguistic characteristics of communication. ⋯ These findings reveal patterns in the way physicians speak to patients who vary in their demographic characteristics and health status and point to potentially fruitful targets for linguistic interventions with both physicians and patients.