Behav Med
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This study examined the relationship between dysmenorrhea and insomnia, as well as variability in sleep across the menstrual cycle. Participants were 89 women, ages 18 to 24 (M = 18.63, SD = 0.93), who completed daily surveys for five weeks. On the second day of menses, they completed a questionnaire regarding dysmenorrhea. ⋯ Further, participants with mild dysmenorrhea reported significantly better sleep quality than did those having moderate or severe dysmenorrhea. Additionally, wake time after sleep onset was shortest and number of awakenings was lowest around the time of ovulation. Future research should examine whether treating dysmenorrhea or insomnia alone results in improvements in the other condition.
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Little is known about the course of recovery of acute low back pain (LBP) patients as a function of depression. In a prospective study, 286 acute LBP patients were assessed at baseline and followed up over 6 months. Recovery was defined as improvement in the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). ⋯ Of 286 participants, 135 were lost to follow-up. In the longitudinal sample of 151 patients the course of recovery was slower in depressive patients. Depression was associated with LBP especially after 6 weeks and should therefore be included in screening instruments for acute LBP patients to identify those at risk of delayed recovery at an early stage.
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The study investigated implicit memory function in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and its association with clinical parameters. Implicit memory refers to the influence of past experience on current behavior without conscious awareness of these experiences. Eighteen FMS patients and 25 healthy individuals accomplished a word-stem completion task. ⋯ The study documented reduced implicit memory function in FMS. In contrast to former findings on impaired performance of FMS patients on classical memory tests, lower implicit memory function cannot be ascribed to motivational deficits. Instead, the aberrances may relate to functional inference between central nervous nociceptive activity and cognitive processing.
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The study investigated the ability to identify facially expressed emotions in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and its association with clinical parameters. Thirty-five FMS patients and 35 healthy controls accomplished a face recognition task. Additionally, pain severity, alexithymia, depression, anxiety, psychiatric co-morbidity and medication use were assessed. ⋯ Psychiatric co-morbidity and medication had no impact on performance. The study documented impaired emotion recognition in FMS, which may contribute to the interpersonal difficulties and reduced social functioning related to this condition. As potential mechanisms mediating the occurrence of the deficits, altered affective processing due to interoceptive impairment as well as interference of central nervous nociceptive activity with cognitive and emotional processing are discussed.
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Fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is usually assessed with retrospective measures rather than real-time momentary symptom assessments. In this study, the authors hypothesized that in participants with CFS, discrepancies between recalled and momentary fatigue would be related to catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression and to variability of momentary fatigue. They also expected that catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression would be associated with momentary fatigue. ⋯ In addition, catastrophizing, depression, and momentary fatigue were all significantly related to recall discrepancy. Catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, and momentary negative affect were all significantly associated with momentary fatigue. The findings suggest that momentary fatigue in patients with CFS is related to modifiable psychological factors.