International journal of behavioral medicine
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Observational Study
Life changes in patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest : the effect of near-death experiences.
Cardiac arrest is a traumatic event that often affects patients' lives in many ways. Patients after near-death experiences (NDEs) often express strong and permanent change of their values, beliefs and principles. ⋯ Cardiac arrest survivors do not express extensive life changes. But, the presence of NDEs is significantly associated with the change of interest in some aspects of patients' lives. Such patients should be prepared for significant life changes that might occur after NDEs by health workers and receive professional help to accommodate to them.
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Depression in cardiac patients has gained importance due to increased mortality. Although sleep disturbances are a core symptom of depression, the prevalence and patterns of sleep disturbances in heart disease have hardly been examined regarding depression. ⋯ Most cardiac patients experience poor sleep quality. Self-reported sleep disturbances in heart disease could serve as predictors of clinical or subclinical comorbid depression outside of a psychiatric setting in cardiology and other fields, and such patients should be referred to consultation-liaison psychiatry or polysomnography where sleep disorders like sleep apnea are suspected.
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Although functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is in widespread research use, the safety of this approach has not been extensively quantitatively evaluated. Real-time fMRI (rtfMRI)-based training paradigms use fMRI neurofeedback and cognitive strategies to alter regional brain activation, and are currently being evaluated as a novel approach to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions. ⋯ Repeated fMRI scanning and rtfMRI training, consisting of repeated fMRI scanning in conjunction with cognitive strategies and real-time feedback from several regions of interest in multiple brain systems to control brain region activation, were not associated with an increase in adverse event number or severity. These results demonstrate the safety of repetitive fMRI scanning paradigms similar to those in use in many laboratories worldwide, as well as the safety rtfMRI-based training paradigms.
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Comparative Study
Confirmatory factor analysis of the stagnation scale--a traditional Chinese medicine construct operationalized for mental health practice.
Traditional Chinese medicine stagnation ("yu") syndrome is characterized by a cluster of mind/body obstruction-like symptoms. Previous studies have operationalized the concept as a psychological construct through scale development, producing a three-factor 16-item inventory with good psychometric properties. ⋯ The Stagnation Scale appeared to be robust in factorial and construct validity. With prevalence of illness by self-appraisal at 6.2% and intention for treatment at 1.9%, stagnation is a fairly common condition associated with treatment-seeking behaviors.
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Comparative Study
Parents' pain catastrophizing is related to pain catastrophizing of their adult children.
Parents' pain behavior is associated with the way their children experience and express pain. ⋯ The results from the present study indicate that there is a positive association between levels of pain catastrophizing in parents and their adult children. A family may have a specific cognitive style for coping with pain, which is associated to a child's responses to pain experiences.