Psychosomatic medicine
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Psychosomatic medicine · Apr 2010
Comparative StudyDepressive symptoms, social support, and risk of adult asthma in a population-based cohort study.
To investigate the association between depressive symptoms, social support, and prevalent as well as incident asthma. Depressive symptoms and social support may affect the development of asthma. This relationship could be mediated by health behaviors and/or inflammatory processes. Evidence from prospective cohort studies on depressive symptoms and social support in relation to asthma risk in adults remains sparse. ⋯ Risk of adult asthma was found to increase with depressive symptoms and to decrease with social support. These associations do not seem to be explained by health-related life-style factors.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Apr 2010
Comparative StudyEarly heart rate responses to standardized trauma-related pictures predict posttraumatic stress disorder: a prospective study.
To investigate whether chronic posttraumatic stress disorder can be predicted by heart rate responses (HRR) and skin conductance responses (SCR) to standardized trauma-related pictures at 1 month after trauma has ocurred. Trauma survivors with PTSD report heightened physiological responses to a wide range of stimuli. It has been suggested that associative learning and stimulus generalization play a key role in the development of these symptoms. Some studies have found that trauma survivors with PTSD show greater physiological responses to individualized trauma reminders in the initial weeks after trauma than those without PTSD. ⋯ HRR to standardized trauma reminders at 1 month after the trauma differentiate between trauma survivors with and without PTSD, and predict chronic PTSD. RESULTS are consistent with a role of associative learning in PTSD and suggest that early stimulus generalization may be an indicator of risk for chronic PTSD.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Apr 2010
More than the sum of its parts: meta-analysis and its potential to discover sources of heterogeneity in psychosomatic medicine.
Meta-analyses may contribute to more reliable knowledge about the existence of certain relations in the area of psychosomatic research. Surprisingly, the increasing popularity of meta-analysis is not reflected in the number of meta-analyses of observational studies published in Psychosomatic Medicine. This may be due to the specific difficulties that apply to meta-analyses of observational research. ⋯ We will highlight general principles of meta-analysis and discuss the major threats to its validity, with an emphasis on its specific merits and pitfalls for psychosomatic research, using several examples. We conclude that meta-analysis is a relatively simple technique, leaving little reason for not routinely applying it when performing a systematic review. An adequately conducted meta-analysis may not only provide a summary estimate of a certain association, but it has additional value in discovering relevant confounders, mediators, and moderators, as well as identifying areas of research that require more attention.