Journal of psychosomatic research
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Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation during pregnancy is linked to dysfunctional behavioral outcomes in the offspring. According to Belsky's differential susceptibility hypothesis, individuals vary regarding their developmental plasticity. Translating the differential susceptibility hypothesis to the field of fetal programming, we hypothesize that infants' temperament, as the constitutionally based reactivity to stimulation, moderates prenatal environmental effects on postnatal emotion regulation. ⋯ The findings indicate that newborns' reactivity to stimulation is moderating the association between prenatal exposure to maternal glucocorticoids and emotion regulation in infancy. Data suggests that temperamental characteristics of the newborn are a relevant differential susceptibility factor with regard to prenatal effects on emotion regulation.
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The association between maternal psychological state during pregnancy and birth outcomes is well established. The focus of previous studies has been on the potentially detrimental consequences of maternal stress on pregnancy and birth outcomes, particularly shortened gestation and increased risk of preterm birth. Despite a growing literature linking positive affect with favorable health outcomes this construct has received little attention in the context of pregnancy. Therefore, in the current study, we tested the hypothesis that maternal positive affect during pregnancy is associated with beneficial consequences in terms of increased length of gestation and reduced risk of preterm birth above that of the absence of stress. ⋯ These findings suggest that maternal positive affect may be beneficial for outcomes related to the length gestation, and that this effect cannot be accounted for by the lower stress levels associated with higher positive affect. Interventions to increase maternal positive affect may be beneficial for fetal development.
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Somatic symptoms are widespread in clinical practice. The association of somatic symptom severity with impaired health status holds both when symptoms are medically unexplained and when they are medically explained. The role of personality dimensions in the formation of somatic symptoms in patients with established, chronic diseases when compared to healthy participants had not been investigated prior to this study. ⋯ These data suggest that similar personality traits and defense mechanisms are associated with somatic symptom severity in health and disease, indicating that somatic symptoms are not simply consequences of having a medical condition. The specific associations of the self-sacrificing defensive profile and self-criticism with somatic symptom severity in the patient sample may have important clinical implications.
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Nonadherence to immunosuppressive medication (IM) after kidney transplantation is related to poorer patient and graft outcomes; therefore research into modifiable factors associated with nonadherence is a priority. In this prospective cohort study we investigated whether changes in goal cognitions, illness perceptions, and treatment beliefs were related to self-reported medication adherence six months after kidney transplantation. ⋯ The self-reported nonadherence levels found in this study so soon after transplantation demonstrate the need for early and continued intervention after kidney transplantation in order to maximise adherence and consequently clinical outcomes. Changes in (unrealistic) beliefs regarding the longevity of the graft may offer a potential target for intervention among nonadherent patients.
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Psychological thriving reflects a trajectory of growth over time as opposed to scaling back expectations. Whether thriving is a product, precursor, or process of coping with arthritis-related limitations is unclear. We examined associations between thriving, coping efficacy, and expectations for future growth in individuals with arthritis, and the relations of thriving to depressive symptoms and retrospective perceptions of personal growth over a six-month period. ⋯ Overall, these findings suggest that psychological thriving is synergistically related to coping efficacy, and to expectations for future growth and less depression, in people with arthritis. Importantly, our findings support the notion that psychological thriving is more than scaling back expectations, and that thriving may be an important quality to cultivate to address the burden of depression in people with arthritis.