International journal of behavioral medicine
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Active commuting to school can contribute to active living among children, and environmental characteristics might be related to transportation mode to school. ⋯ This study shows that there is a relation between several characteristics in the home, neighborhood, and school environment and walking and bicycling to school among Dutch primary school children. Especially the social neighborhood characteristics were related to active commuting. Therefore, apart from providing a physical infrastructure that facilitates safe and convenient active commuting to school, policy makers should be aware of opportunities to facilitate active commuting by social initiatives in local communities.
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Chronic pain has been shown to be highly comorbid with other medical conditions. Theoretical and empirical associations between pain and cardiovascular health can be made based on the current literature. Psychosocial variables associated with the pain experience may, however, have an impact on cardiovascular health. ⋯ Psychosocial aspects of pain may constitute a form of chronic stress as described in the cardiovascular reactivity literature. The findings highlight the need for comprehensive multidimensional treatments of pain.
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Cognitive models explaining medically unexplained complaints propose that activating illness-related memory causes increased complaints such as pain. However, our previous studies showed conflicting support for this theory. ⋯ The current study did not support the hypothesis that associations between activated self-related memory and illness-related memory cause increased reporting of complaints. Instead, activating self-related memory increased pain tolerance in participants with low SFA. This seems to indicate that the self-prime might cause an increase in SFA and suggests possible new ways to promote adaptive coping with pain.