Journal of psychosomatic research
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This study evaluates the concordance of two self-report methods of operationalizing repressive-defensive style in children with asthma. It was hypothesized that, compared with low-anxious children, repressive-defensive children would exhibit increased physiological reactivity during a stressful laboratory task, despite comparable self-reports of state anxiety. ⋯ These results cast doubt on our ability to measure repressive-defensiveness reliably using self-report measures. Future research should determine whether children and adolescents can be reliably classified as repressive-defensive, whether this classification is related to physiological reactivity as in adults, and whether repressive-defensiveness plays a role in emotionally triggered asthma symptoms.
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Pain interrupts, distracts, and is difficult to disengage from. In this study, the role of pain-related fear in moderating attentional interference produced by chronic pain was investigated. ⋯ Multiple regression analysis revealed that the attentional interference was best predicted by the interaction between pain severity and pain-related fear. These results are discussed in terms of how pain-related fear creates a hypervigilance to pain.
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The study was designed to assess the frequency and intensity of patients' anger directed toward various potential targets and how intensity of anger toward different targets was related to the chronic pain experience. Ninety-six chronic pain patients who were referred for a comprehensive evaluation completed questionnaires to assess their levels of anger, pain, distress, and disability. Approximately 70% of the participants reported to have angry feelings. ⋯ Anger toward oneself was significantly associated with pain and depression, whereas only overall anger was significantly related to perceived disability. The results suggest that anger should be conceptualized as a multifactorial construct. In addition to presence, intensity, and expression of anger, targets of anger may be important to better understand psychological adaptation to chronic pain.
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Comparative Study
Chronic burnout, somatic arousal and elevated salivary cortisol levels.
Burnout syndrome, comprised of the symptoms of emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness, is believed to be a result of ineffective coping with enduring stress. This study of 111 nonshift blue-collar workers free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) examined whether chronic burnout is associated with a state of somatic and physiological hyperarousal. ⋯ These results suggest that chronic burnout is associated with heightened somatic arousal and elevated salivary cortisol levels. This may be part of the mechanism underlying the emerging association between burnout and risk of CVD.
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Incidence of and preoperative predictors for postoperative delirium were studied in 296 patients (age 26-83 years, mean age 63 years) undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Delirium occurred in 40 (13.5%) patients. Predictors included old age, low level of albumin, poor physical condition, use of nifedipine, and a high ratio of the amino acids phenylalanine to the sum of isoleucine, leucine, valine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. These findings suggest that preoperative physical condition and amino acid disturbances may be related to delirium after cardiac surgery in the elderly.