functional genomic perspective on human well-being Fredrickson, Barbara L.; Grewen, Karen M.; Coffey, Kimberly A. ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
08/2013, Letnik:
110, Številka:
33
Journal Article
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To identify molecular mechanisms underlying the prospective health advantages associated with psychological well-being, we analyzed leukocyte basal gene expression profiles in 80 healthy adults who ...were assessed for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, as well as potentially confounded negative psychological and behavioral factors. Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being showed similar affective correlates but highly divergent transcriptome profiles. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from people with high levels of hedonic well-being showed up-regulated expression of a stress-related conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) involving increased expression of proinflammatory genes and decreased expression of genes involved in antibody synthesis and type I IFN response. In contrast, high levels of eudaimonic well-being were associated with CTRA down-regulation. Promoter-based bioinformatics implicated distinct patterns of transcription factor activity in structuring the observed differences in gene expression associated with eudaimonic well-being (reduced NF-κB and AP-1 signaling and increased IRF and STAT signaling). Transcript origin analysis identified monocytes, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and B lymphocytes as primary cellular mediators of these dynamics. The finding that hedonic and eudaimonic well-being engage distinct gene regulatory programs despite their similar effects on total well-being and depressive symptoms implies that the human genome may be more sensitive to qualitative variations in well-being than are our conscious affective experiences.
The mechanisms underlying the association between positive emotions and physical health remain a mystery. We hypothesize that an upward-spiral dynamic continually reinforces the tie between positive ...emotions and physical health and that this spiral is mediated by people's perceptions of their positive social connections. We tested this overarching hypothesis in a longitudinal field experiment in which participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group that self-generated positive emotions via loving-kindness meditation or to a waiting-list control group. Participants in the intervention group increased in positive emotions relative to those in the control group, an effect moderated by baseline vagal tone, a proxy index of physical health. Increased positive emotions, in turn, produced increases in vagal tone, an effect mediated by increased perceptions of social connections. This experimental evidence identifies one mechanism—perceptions of social connections—through which positive emotions build physical health, indexed as vagal tone. Results suggest that positive emotions, positive social connections, and physical health influence one another in a self-sustaining upward-spiral dynamic.
Research on mindfulness indicates that it is associated with improved mental health, but the use of multiple different definitions of mindfulness prevents a clear understanding of the construct. In ...particular, the boundaries between different conceptualizations of mindfulness and emotion regulation are unclear. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which any of these conceptualizations of mindfulness might influence mental health are not well-understood. The two studies presented here addressed these questions using correlational, self-report data from a non-clinical sample of undergraduate students. The first study used a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to better understand the factor structure of mindfulness and emotion regulation measures. Results indicated that these measures assess heterogeneous and overlapping constructs, and may be most accurately thought of as measuring four factors: present-centered attention, acceptance of experience, clarity about one’s internal experience, and the ability to manage negative emotions. A path analysis supported the hypothesis that mindfulness (defined by a two-factor construct including present-centered attention and acceptance of experience) contributed to clarity about one’s experience, which improved the ability to manage negative emotions. The second study developed these findings by exploring the mediating roles of clarity about one’s internal life, the ability to manage negative emotions, non-attachment (or the extent to which one’s happiness is independent of specific outcomes and events), and rumination in the relationship between mindfulness and two aspects of mental health, psychological distress and flourishing mental health. Results confirmed the importance of these mediators in the relationship between mindfulness and mental health.
Both dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions have been found to be associated with less psychological distress. The current study investigated three mechanisms by which ...mindfulness might exert its beneficial effects: emotion regulation, nonattachment, and reduced rumination. Correlational self-report data were collected from two independent, nonclinical samples of undergraduates. Structural equation modeling was then used to test the role of these three mechanisms in mediating the relationship between mindfulness and a psychological distress factor, consisting of measures for depressive and anxious symptomatology. The model was respecified based on the first sample and retested in the second sample. Results confirmed an inverse relationship between mindfulness and psychological distress. Furthermore, emotion regulation, nonattachment, and rumination significantly mediated this relationship.
Objective:
To report on remission rates in anxious youth who participated in the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS). The CAMS, a multisite clinical trial, randomized 488 children and ...adolescents (ages 7-17 years; 79% Caucasian; 50% female) with separation, social, and/or generalized anxiety disorder to a 12-week treatment of sertraline (SRT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), their combination (COMB), or clinical management with pill placebo (PBO).
Method:
The primary definition of remission was loss of all study-entry anxiety disorder diagnoses; additional definitions of remission were used. All outcomes were rated by independent evaluators blind to treatment assignment. Predictors of remission were also examined.
Results:
Remission rates after 12 weeks of treatment ranged from 46% to 68% for COMB, 34% to 46% for SRT, 20% to 46% for CBT, and 15% to 27% for PBO. Rates of remission (i.e., achieving a nearly symptom-free state) were significantly lower than rates of response (i.e., achieving a clinically meaningful improvement relative to baseline) for the entire sample. Youth who received COMB had significantly higher rates of remission compared to all other treatment groups. Both monotherapies had higher remission rates compared to PBO, but rates were not different from each other. Predictors of remission were younger age, nonminority status, lower baseline anxiety severity, absence of other internalizing disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression), and absence of social phobia.
Conclusions:
For the majority of children, some symptoms of anxiety persisted, even among those showing improvement after 12 weeks of treatment, suggesting a need to augment or extend current treatments for some children.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation on the day of an HIV diagnosis or as soon as possible after diagnosis, known as rapid ART (henceforth "RAPID"), is considered to be a safe and effective ...intervention to quickly reduce viral load and potentially improve engagement in care over time. However, implementation of RAPID programming is not yet widespread. To facilitate broader dissemination of RAPID, we sought to understand health care worker experiences with RAPID implementation and to identify essential programmatic elements.
We conducted 27 key informant interviews with medical providers and staff involved in RAPID service delivery in three distinct clinical settings: an HIV clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center and a sexual health and wellness clinic. Interviews were structured around domains associated with the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed.
We identified seven (7) essential elements across settings associated with successful RAPID program implementation. These high-impact elements represent essential components without which a RAPID program could not function. There was no one requisite formation. Instead, we observed a constellation of essential elements that could be operationalized in various formations and by various people in various roles. The essential elements included: (1) presence of an implementation champion; (2) comfort and competence prescribing RAPID ART; (3) expedited access to ART medications; (4) expertise in benefits, linkage, and care navigation; (5) RAPID team member flexibility and organizations' adaptive capacity; (6) patient-centered approach; and (7) strong communication methods and culture.
The RAPID model can be applied to a diverse range of clinical contexts. The operational structure of RAPID programs is shaped by the clinical setting in which they function, and therefore the essential elements identified may not apply equally to all programs. Based on the seven essential elements described above we recommend future implementers identify where these elements currently exist within a practice; leverage them when possible; strengthen them when necessary or develop them if they do not yet exist; and look to these elements when challenges arise for potential solutions.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection of pregnant women is associated with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) and no vaccine is available, although several are being tested in clinical trials. We tested the ...efficacy of ZIKV DNA vaccine VRC5283 in a rhesus macaque model of congenital ZIKV infection. Most animal vaccine experiments have a set pathogen exposure several weeks or months after vaccination. In the real world, people encounter pathogens years or decades after vaccination, or may be repeatedly exposed if the virus is endemic. To more accurately mimic how this vaccine would be used, we immunized macaques before conception and then exposed them repeatedly to ZIKV during early and mid-gestation. In comparison to unimmunized animals, vaccinated animals had a significant reduction in peak magnitude and duration of maternal viremia, early fetal loss, fetal infection, and placental and fetal brain pathology. Vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody titers on the day of first ZIKV exposure were negatively associated with the magnitude of maternal viremia, and the absence of prolonged viremia was associated with better fetal outcomes. These data support further clinical development of ZIKV vaccine strategies to protect against negative fetal outcomes.
Offering antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients directly following an HIV diagnosis ("Rapid ART") improves clinical outcomes and is feasible and acceptable for patients and providers. Despite this, ...implementation of Rapid ART is not yet standard practice in the USA. Structural-level implementation guidance is available, but research at the individual provider level that explores the patient-provider interaction itself remains scarce. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) provides a nuanced guide to investigating the less visible, more social elements of implementation like the knowledge and feelings of people, and the influences of culture and resources on individual approaches.
We conducted a multi-site qualitative study, exploring intervention commonalities across three HIV clinic environments: an HIV primary care clinic; an HIV/STI testing, treatment, and prevention clinic; and a large federally qualified health center (FQHC). Qualitative data were gathered from 27 provider informants-Rapid ART program staff and clinicians-using an interview guide developed using the CFIR. An experienced qualitative team conducted a comprehensive thematic analysis and identified cross-cutting themes in how providers approach and engage in the Rapid interaction, as well as longer-form narratives from providers that describe more fully what this interaction looks like for them.
Three main themes represent the range and content of individual provider approaches to the Rapid interaction: (1) patient-centeredness; (2) emotional support and partnership; and (3) correcting misperceptions about HIV. Each theme encompassed both conceptual approaches to offering Rapid ART and concrete examples of messaging to the patient that providers used in the Rapid interaction. We describe and show examples of these themes, offer key take-aways for implementation, and provide expanded narratives of providers' personal approaches to the Rapid interaction.
Exploration of provider-level approaches to Rapid ART implementation, as carried out in the patient-provider Rapid interaction, contributes a critical layer of evidence for wider implementation. It is our hope that, together with existing research showing positive outcomes and core components of systems-level implementation, these findings add to an instructive body of findings that facilitates the implementation of Rapid ART as an enhanced model of HIV care.
Open Hearts Build Lives Fredrickson, Barbara L; Cohn, Michael A; Coffey, Kimberly A ...
Journal of personality and social psychology,
11/2008, Letnik:
95, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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B. L. Fredrickson's (1998
,
2001
) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions asserts that people's daily experiences of positive emotions compound over time to build a variety of consequential ...personal resources. The authors tested this
build hypothesis
in a field experiment with working adults (
n
= 139), half of whom were randomly-assigned to begin a practice of loving-kindness meditation. Results showed that this meditation practice produced increases over time in daily experiences of positive emotions, which, in turn, produced increases in a wide range of personal resources (e.g., increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, decreased illness symptoms). In turn, these increments in personal resources predicted increased life satisfaction and reduced depressive symptoms. Discussion centers on how positive emotions are the mechanism of change for the type of mind-training practice studied here and how loving-kindness meditation is an intervention strategy that produces positive emotions in a way that outpaces the
hedonic treadmill
effect.
Abstract
Background
Guidelines recommend immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) at or shortly after human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis, yet little is known about how people living with HIV ...(PLWH) experience this treatment strategy, including racial/ethnic minorities, cisgender/transgender women, and those with housing instability.
Methods
To assess the acceptability of immediate ART offer among urban PLWH, understand how this approach affects the lived experience of HIV diagnosis, and explore reasons for declining immediate ART, we conducted a cross-sectional qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with individuals who had been offered immediate ART after HIV diagnosis at a safety-net HIV clinic in San Francisco and a federally qualified health center in Chicago. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results
Among 40 participants with age range 19–52 years, 27% of whom were cisgender/transgender women or gender-queer, 85% racial/ethnic minority, and 45% homeless/unstably housed, we identified 3 major themes: (1) Individuals experienced immediate ART encounters as supportive; (2) individuals viewed immediate ART as sensible; and (3) immediate ART offered emotional relief by offsetting fears of death and providing agency over one’s health. Reasons for declining immediate ART ranged from simply needing a few more days to complex interactions of logistical and psychosocial barriers.
Conclusions
Immediate ART was highly acceptable to urban persons with newly diagnosed HIV infection. Immediate ART was viewed as a natural next step after HIV diagnosis and provided a sense of control over one’s health, mitigating anxiety over a decline in physical health. As such, immediate ART somewhat eased but in no way obviated the psychosocial challenges of HIV diagnosis.