This review highlights consistent patterns in the literature associating
positive affect (PA) and physical health. However, it also raises serious
conceptual and methodological reservations. Evidence ...suggests an association of
trait PA and lower morbidity and of state and trait PA and decreased symptoms
and pain. Trait PA is also associated with increased longevity among older
community-dwelling individuals. The literature on PA and surviving serious
illness is inconsistent. Experimentally inducing intense bouts of activated
state PA triggers short-term rises in physiological arousal and associated
(potentially harmful) effects on immune, cardiovascular, and pulmonary function.
However, arousing effects of state PA are not generally found in naturalistic
ambulatory studies in which bouts of PA are typically less intense and often
associated with health protective responses. A theoretical framework to guide
further study is proposed.
Comments on an article by K. J. Conover et al. (see record 2017-30398-007). Conover and colleagues developed and validated the self report Ableist Microaggressions Scale (AMS). Using factor analysis, ...the authors identified four subscales, including Helplessness, Minimization, Denial of Personhood, and Otherization. The psychometric properties of the AMS have been examined with adults with a range of disability types. The AMS consists of 20 items, and each item is scored on a 6- point Likert scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (very frequently). Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting greater experiences of microaggressions. Three positively worded items are reverse scored. The initial validation study included a sample size of 1,392 participants with various types of disabilities, an average age of 34, and a higher proportion of participants who identified as female relative to other sex/gender expressions, the majority of the sample identified as heterosexual and White. In this study, the AMS had good total-score internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of .91; three of the four subscales generally showed adequate as given their number of items: .83 for Helplessness, .90 for Denial of Personhood, and .84 for Otherization. However, the Minimization subscale displayed relatively weaker internal consistency with an a of .65. Additionally, the AMS showed adequate item-total correlations ranging from .21 to .77. Despite the high potential of the AMS to be used in research and clinical work, there are several limitations. The original validation study sample was comprised primarily of White heterosexual participants which may warrant caution in applications to racially/ethnically diverse groups and sexual minorities. Because individuals with mild-to-moderate disability may be less likely to participate in research, caution should also be exercised regarding generalizability to and use with more severe disability groups, including individuals with psychiatric disabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
This study aimed to determine the perceived musculoskeletal and psychological symptoms and job satisfaction of Lithuanian dental hygienists. Second, the study aimed to examine the relationships ...between job satisfaction and musculoskeletal and psychological symptoms amongst dental hygienists in Lithuania.
A 41-item survey was sent by email to all members of the Lithuanian Dental Hygienists Association (N = 328) up to 3 times. The questionnaire comprised 5-point Likert scale structured questions, which were developed according to 3 existing questionnaires.
The final response rate was 52.4% (N = 172). The level of overall work-related physical health was 3.76 ± 0.65, and the most common physical health symptom was upper back pain; the level of overall work-related psychological health was 3.84 ± 0.64, and the most common symptom was stress. The level of overall job satisfaction was 3.87 ± 0.62, and the most satisfying areas were their relationships with colleagues, relationships with dentists, and working conditions (equipment, work environment); the least satisfying practice areas were income, work-related physical and psychological health, and social security.
According to the results of this study, Lithuanian dental hygienists were quite satisfied with their job but sometimes experienced work-related musculoskeletal and psychological disorders. Their physical health score and the total psychological health score were significantly correlated with all job satisfaction criteria. The better the self-evaluation of physical and psychological health, the higher the job satisfaction reported.
Background: We examined whether the difficulties of patients with somatoform disorders (SFDs) in integrating medical reassurance can be altered by preventing patients from devaluing reassuring ...information through defensive cognitive strategies. Method: Patients with SFD (n = 60), patients with major depression (n = 32), and healthy volunteers (n = 37) watched a videotaped doctor's report, which provided medical reassurance for gastroenterological complaints. Subsequently, participants were asked about their perception of the report. In the SFD sample, patients' appraisal of the reassuring was experimentally modulated: In one condition, doubts about the validity of the doctor's diagnostic assessment were triggered; in another condition, the devaluation of medical reassurance was blocked through underscoring the validity of the doctor's diagnostic assessment; and a control condition received no manipulation. Results: As evident on all outcome variables, patients with SFD had more difficulty integrating medical reassurance than depressed and healthy people. Within the SFD sample, participants from the experimental condition blocking the devaluation of medical reassurance rated the likelihood of an undetected serious disease to be significantly lower than the other two conditions. They also reported less emotional concern and a lower desire to seek the opinion of another doctor. Conclusions: By comparing patients with SFD to both a healthy and a clinical control group, the current study suggests that the difficulty in processing reassuring medical information is a specific psychopathological feature of SFD. Furthermore, our results suggest that the integration of medical reassurance can be improved by preventing patients from devaluing reassuring information through dismissive cognitive strategies.
Research has documented an overlap between people's aversion toward nonsocial pattern deviancy (e.g., a row of triangles with 1 triangle out of line) and their social prejudice. It is unknown which ...processes underlie this association, however, and whether this link is causal. We propose that pattern deviancy aversion may contribute to prejudice by heightening people's dislike of statistical minorities. Infrequent people in a population are pattern deviant in that they disrupt the statistical regularities of how people tend to look, think, and act in society, and this deviancy should incite others' prejudice. Nine studies (N = 1,821) supported this mediation. In Studies 1.1 and 1.2, adults' and young children's nonsocial pattern deviancy aversion related to disliking novel statistical minorities, and this dislike predicted prejudice against Black people. Studies 1.3 and 1.4 observed this mediation when experimentally manipulating pattern deviancy aversion, although pattern deviancy aversion did not directly impact racial prejudice. Study-set 2 replicated the proposed mediation in terms of prejudice against other commonly stigmatized individuals (e.g., someone with a physical disability). Importantly, we also found pattern deviancy aversion to affect such prejudice. Study-set 3 provided additional support for the mediation model. Pattern deviancy aversion predicted prejudice dependent on group-size, for instance, greater racial prejudice in cases where Black people are the statistical minority, but decreased racial prejudice when Black people are the statistical majority. Taken together, these findings indicate that people's aversion toward pattern deviancy motivates prejudice, and that this influence is partially driven by a dislike of statistical minorities.
Objective: Abundant evidence has linked everyday discrimination with health risks. Because the COVID-19 pandemic has increased exposure to discrimination (e.g., based on age and race), it is ...important to understand the day-to-day implications of discrimination experiences for well-being. Furthermore, daily positive events were examined as a moderator due to their potential for mitigating the associations between everyday discrimination and well-being. Method: From March to August 2020, 1,212 participants aged 18-91 in the United States and Canada (84% women, 75% White) completed surveys for seven consecutive evenings about everyday discrimination, positive events, physical health symptoms, and positive and negative affect. Data were analyzed using multilevel models and controlled for sociodemographic factors. Results: Everyday discrimination was reported on 9.3% of days when in-person or remote social interactions occurred. Within-persons, positive affect was lower and negative affect and physical symptoms were higher on days when discrimination occurred versus on days without discrimination. Positive events mitigated the within-person association between everyday discrimination and same-day negative affect, but not for positive affect or physical symptoms. Discrimination perceived to be due to age was associated with higher negative affect and lower positive affect within-persons. Positive events did not moderate the associations between age-based discrimination and same-day outcomes. Conclusions: Everyday discrimination was related to lower daily positive affect and higher negative affect and physical symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study provides initial evidence that daily positive events partially offset the increased negative affect associated with same-day discrimination.
Objective: The purpose of this review is to critically examine studies that have examined investigated the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and functional or medical outcomes and other health ...variables in patients with non-neurologic medical conditions. Method: Databases OVID Medline and Embase were systematically searched through April 2020, yielding 281 articles that were separately screened for inclusion. Study characteristics extracted from retained articles are presented in Table S1 (online supplemental materials). Results: Thirty-six articles were retained. Cognitive impairment as assessed by the MoCA was associated with adverse health variables including increased morbidity/mortality, poorer functional abilities, increased length of hospital stay, and increased hospital readmissions in 34 of 36 articles. Conclusions: Cognitive impairment as detected by the MoCA was shown in 34 of 36 studies to be associated with worse functional or medical status compared to those with better cognitive functioning across a variety of medical populations. Further research is needed to better understand how to best use the MoCA to potentially inform treatment planning in medical populations, including referral for more detailed neuropsychological evaluation.
Objective: To evaluate the longitudinal associations between self-reported physical activity and anxiety and depression symptom severity in adults with long-term physical disabilities. Method: A ...secondary analysis of data from a United States-based longitudinal survey study of community-dwelling adults with 1 of 4 potential long-term physical disabilities (multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, postpoliomyelitis syndrome). The first time point (T1) for the current study was completed by 1,594 participants. The second survey (T2) was sent 1 year later, and the third (T3) was sent 3 years later; each were completed by 1,380 and 1,218 participants, respectively. At each time point, participants completed a measure of physical activity (Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire) and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System short forms evaluating depression and anxiety severity. Results: Mixed growth curve models showed greater quantities of physical activity were associated with decreases in both depression (χ2(2) = 84.01, p < .001) and anxiety (χ2(2) = 21.66, p < .001) symptom severity over the 4-year period. However, while greater quantities of moderate (anxiety z = −2.24, p < .05; depression z = −5.48, p < .001) and strenuous (anxiety z = −2.59, p < .05; depression z = −3.90, p < .001) physical activity were significantly associated with decreases in negative affect, mild physical activity was not. Conclusion: The current study provides evidence that physical activity is longitudinally associated with anxious and depressive symptoms in adults with long-term physical disabilities. Future research should examine the quantities and intensities of physical activity necessary to impart psychological benefits.
Men are reluctant to seek help for depression. This is an important public health concern, and it has been largely attributed to the stigma attached to men who seek help. The present studies aim to ...understand the nature of such stigma. Specifically, are men who seek help for mental distress perceived to be less masculine and/or more feminine? Our findings suggest that symptomology, the diagnostic label, and targets' reaction to the symptoms jointly shape the gendered perceptions of help-seeking. In four experiments (N = 1118), participants read descriptions of targets with varying psychological or physical symptoms and provided masculinity and femininity ratings of the targets. People seeking help for internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressed moods) are perceived to be less masculine and more feminine than those seeking help for physical symptoms, yet the reverse pattern was found for people seeking help for externalizing symptoms (e.g., angry outbursts). In addition, the knowledge of a depression diagnosis decreased masculinity ratings and increased femininity ratings of male targets with physical symptoms (but not those with psychological symptoms), suggesting the power of labeling in shaping perceptions. Importantly, seeking help affects how men are perceived above and beyond symptomology: Men who downplay physical symptoms are perceived to be more masculine; whereas those who seek help for psychological symptoms are perceived to be more feminine. The association between help-seeking and masculinity ideologies shapes person perception, particularly because help-seeking violates norms of masculinity.
Public Significance Statement
The stigma attached to mental health deters men from seeking help for mental health concerns. This study investigates the nature of such stigma and finds that symptomology, the diagnostic label, and the action of seeking help for (as opposed to downplaying) the symptoms shape masculinity and femininity ratings of help-seeking behaviors.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can disrupt cognitive, social, and behavioral functioning. Temperament is often used to reflect emotional and behavioral tendencies in young children, but has never been ...assessed after TBI. Objective: Evaluate whether early TBI disrupts the trajectory of temperament. Method: Primary caregivers of 173 young children (age: 36 ± 12 months) with uncomplicated mild TBI (n = 83), more severe TBI (msTBI; mild complicated, moderate and severe, n = 21) and with orthopedic injuries (n = 69) reported on their child's temperament retrospectively to assess preinjury profiles and at 6 and 18 months postinjury. For each domain of temperament (Surgency, Negative Affectivity, Effortful Control), linear mixed-model analyses were conducted to explore group differences on the rate of change across time. Results: There were no preinjury temperament differences between groups for any domains, χ2(2) = 2.84; p = .24; χ2(2) = 0.27; p = .87; χ2(2) = 1.47; p = .48. There was a significant effect of group on the rate of change across time for Surgency, χ2(2) = 6.77; p = .03, but not for Negative Affectivity, χ2(2) = 1.47; p = .48, or Effortful Control, χ2(2) = 2.21; p = .33. Children with msTBI showed a lower rate of increase in Surgency compared to children with mild TBI and orthopedic injuries. Conclusions: Developmental trajectories of Surgency appear to be affected by msTBI. Disruptions in expected developmental trajectories of temperament could underlie some of the sociobehavioral manifestations of TBI in this young age group.
General Scientific Summary
This study explores whether early brain injury could disrupt temperament and suggests that children with more severe traumatic brain injury show altered developmental trajectories in terms of Surgency, a dimension of temperament involved in energy/activation by a tendency to approach new information, for example. Temperament may not be as robust as once thought; it may be vulnerable to brain insult, underpinning sociobehavioral symptoms after pediatric brain injuries.
PDF
