International journal of behavioral medicine
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Most physicians sometimes apply therapies without specific active ingredients. Although patients seem to judge such placebo treatments as acceptable under certain circumstances, deception is still an ethical problem. Open-label placebos (OLPs) might be a promising approach to solve this dilemma. This study compared general acceptance and outcome expectations of OLPs and deceptive placebos (DPs). ⋯ When laypersons read about placebo treatment, their outcome expectations toward DPs were higher than toward OLPs. Surprisingly, the application of DPs was rated as more acceptable than OLPs. This result might be explained by indirect effects of treatment expectations.
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Traumatic childhood experiences (TCEs) are associated with poor adulthood sleep, but racial/ethnic disparities have not been well-studied. We investigated the TCE-adulthood sleep relationship among non-Hispanic (NH)-White, NH-Black, and Hispanic/Latina women. ⋯ TCEs were positively associated with poor sleep characteristics among women, and TCEs appear to contribute to short sleep duration and long SOL disparities.
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The additive effect of experiencing chronic pain in the context of nicotine addiction places smokers with chronic pain at elevated risk for experiencing physical and mental health problems. Isolating factors that explain linkages between pain and health-related outcomes among smokers with chronic pain is an important next step. Therefore, the current study examined the explanatory role of anxiety sensitivity in relations between pain intensity and current opioid misuse, severity of opioid dependence, tobacco-related problems, and anxiety/depressive symptoms. ⋯ The current investigation highlights the potential importance of anxiety sensitivity in terms of the experience of pain with severity of substance use and anxiety/depressive symptoms among smokers with chronic pain.
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There is growing evidence that five-factor model personality traits are associated with self-reported sleep. We test whether these associations extend to objective sleep measures in older adulthood and whether measures of objective sleep mediate the relation between personality and subjective sleep. ⋯ The present research indicates that the associations typically found for personality and subjective sleep extend to objective sleep fragmentation. These objective measures, however, do not account for the relation between personality and feeling rested.
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The opioid epidemic is a significant public health crisis and prescription opioids are often used to manage chronic pain, despite questionable long-term efficacy. Furthermore, co-substance (mis)use is also common among individuals with chronic pain who use opioids. Alcohol has been consistently used to manage chronic pain, partly due to its acute analgesic properties. Cannabis has also recently garnered attention in the context of pain management, though research examining its efficacy for pain has produced mixed results. Nevertheless, there is accumulating evidence that concurrent substance co-use is positively associated with use and misuse of additional substances, particularly among individuals with chronic pain. Thus, the goal of this study was to examine the main and interactive effects of alcohol use problems and cannabis use problems in relation to opioid misuse among adults with chronic pain who use opioids. ⋯ Collectively, these findings suggest there may be utility in assessing and treating alcohol and cannabis use problems among persons with chronic pain who are using opioids for pain management.