Personality correlates of glycemic control in type 2 diabetes.
(17/1417)
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether traits of normal personality are associated with variations in glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted using data from 105 type 2 diabetic patients in a clinical trial of a stress management intervention. Before treatment assignment, patients completed the NEO Personality Inventory, Revised, which is a questionnaire inventory measuring 5 major domains of normal personality and 30 important traits that define these domains. Glycemic control was assessed by measures of HbA1c and average blood glucose levels based on 7 days of self-monitoring at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. Relationships between personality traits and measures of glycemic control were examined by correlation and linear regression models that were adjusted for age, sex, race, duration of diabetes, medication status, and experimental treatment. RESULTS: Lower average blood glucose values at baseline were associated with higher scores for the personality domain of neuroticism and several specific traits including anxiety, angry hostility depression, self-consciousness, and vulnerability but were associated with lower scores for the trait of altruism. Results were similar for HbA1c but were not as strong. Follow-up results were similar but were less consistent. CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits may offer new insights into variations in glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes undergoing standard management. The relative tendency to experience fewer negative emotions and to focus on the needs of others instead of oneself could prove to be a risk factor for poor glycemic control. (+info)
Validity and cost-effectiveness of diagnostic procedures in CS2 poisoning.
(18/1417)
To determine relatively useful diagnostic procedures of carbon disulfide (CS2) poisoning in terms of validity and cost-effectiveness, several diagnostic tests are evaluated on 1,552 people by prevalence ratio (exposed/nonexposed), dose-response relationship, sensitivity and specificity, and the cost of the tests. Several symptoms with high kappa indices are found to be useful in various combinations, showing a consistent dose-response relationship and high exposed-nonexposed ratio. In clinicopathologic tests on functions of the kidney, liver and hematopoietic systems, eight items out of 22 have been shown to have significant dose-response relationship, mostly in liver function tests. A thorough dental examination failed to identify any useful indicator peculiar to the CS2 poisoning. Unlike Western people, the prevalence of coronary heart disease among Koreans was too low to be useful in the diagnosis of CS2 poisoning. Among four elective tests, i.e., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nerve conduction velocity (NCV), and fluorescent angiography (FAG), the NCV appeared to be a more sensitive and specific test than the others are. Combinations of the tests improved the probability of diagnosing CS2 poisoning cases when any one test out of four was positive. Addition of other valid tests increased the probability of excluding non-cases. It was concluded that diagnosis of CS2 poisoning could be made validly and inexpensively if the diagnostic tests were carefully chosen step by step. (+info)
Personality type and neural circulatory control.
(19/1417)
Psychosocial factors, including type A personality, anger, hostility, and anxiety, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. Abnormal sympathetic responses to stress may help explain the link between certain behavior patterns and cardiovascular disease. We tested the hypothesis that in normal humans, type A personality characteristics are associated with exaggerated heart rate, pressor, and sympathetic nerve responses to mental and physical stress. We measured heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (obtained with direct intraneural recordings) at rest and during stress in 45 healthy subjects (19 men and 26 women, age 29.2+/-8.7 years) who had no chronic diseases and were taking no medications. Subjects were divided into tertiles based on type A scores. There were no significant differences in sympathetic or hemodynamic reactivity among the 3 different intensity levels of type A characteristics. Baseline measures and responses to stress tests were similar across the 3 groups. Sympathetic and hemodynamic changes during stress tests were also similar in subject groups stratified according to anger scale and cynicism scale. Sympathetic nerve and hemodynamic measurements at rest and during stress were not different in normal subjects with type A characteristics. Abnormalities in sympathetic or cardiovascular reactivity are unlikely to be implicated in any excess of cardiovascular disease in people with type A personality characteristics. (+info)
Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory applied to college students: factor analysis and relation to the Beck Depression Inventory.
(20/1417)
The psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the trait form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T) and its relation to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were evaluated in a large Brazilian college student sample containing 845 women and 235 men. STAI-T scores tended to be higher for women, singles, those who work, and subjects under 30 years. Factor analysis of the STAI-T for total sample and by gender yielded two factors: the first representing a mood dimension and the second being related to worrying or cognitive aspects of anxiety. In order to study the relation between anxiety and depression measures, factor analysis of the combination of the 21 BDI items and the 20 STAI-T items was also carried out. The analysis resulted in two factors that were analyzed according to the tripartite model of anxiety and depression. Most of the BDI items (measuring positive affectivity and nonspecific symptoms of depression) were loaded on the first factor and four STAI-T items that measure positive affectivity. The remaining STAI-T items, all of them measuring negative affect, remained in the second factor. Thus, factor 1 represents a depression dimension and factor 2 measures a mood-worrying dimension. The findings of this study suggest that, although widely used as an anxiety scale, the STAI-T in fact measures mainly a general negative affect. (+info)
Extroversion and neuroticism and the associated risk of cancer: A Danish cohort study.
(21/1417)
The authors have investigated the effect of personality, as measured with the Eysenck Personality Inventory, on the incidence of cancer among 1,031 persons participating in a Danish health survey in 1976-1977 and followed up for 20 years. They thereby accrued a total of 19,993 person-years. The expected number of cancer cases was estimated on the basis of age-, sex-, and site-specific incidence rates in Copenhagen County, DENMARK: Overall, 113 malignancies were observed among the cohort members between the date of interview and December 31, 1996. Since 114.3 were expected from county incidence rates, the standardized incidence ratio was 0.99 (95% confidence interval: 0.81, 1.19). No statistically significant deviation of the relative risk from unity was seen for any measure of personality, and no excess risk was seen for any particular type of cancer. A regression model, in which adjustment was made for age, sex, calendar period, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, psychiatric illness as rated by the interviewing doctor, marital status, and social class, showed no excess risk of cancer among persons considered to be in medium- or high-risk groups according to the Eysenck Personality INVENTORY: The authors' data provide no support for the hypothesis of an association between personality and the risk of cancer. (+info)
Simulated microgravity, psychic stress, and immune cells in men: observations during 120-day 6 degrees HDT.
(22/1417)
Because 6 degrees head-down tilt (HDT) is an established method to mimic low gravity on earth, the aim of the present study was to determine the effects of 120-day HDT on psychic stress and peripheral blood immune cells in six healthy male volunteers. Psychological state was assessed by a current stress test, and cortisol was measured in saliva. During HDT, all volunteers developed psychic stress, and the diurnal rhythm of cortisol secretion was significantly altered. In addition, urine excretion of dopamine and norepinephrine increased. The innate part of the immune response was activated, as evidenced by the increase in the expression of beta(2)-integrins on polymorphonuclear leukocytes and a rise in the number of circulating natural killer (NK) cell lymphocytes. The ratio of T-helper to T-cytotoxic and T-suppressor cells decreased, whereas no changes in T and B lymphocytes were observed. Plasma levels of interleukin-6 increased significantly and returned to basal levels after the end of the HDT period. Thus 6 degrees HDT appears to be a valid model to induce psychic stress and neuroendocrine-related changes in the immune system, changes that might also be encountered by astronauts and cosmonauts during long-duration spaceflights. (+info)
Risk and resistance factors in the adaptation in mothers of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
(23/1417)
OBJECTIVE: To examine the importance of illness severity, child functional status, psychosocial stress, intrapersonal factors, stress processing, and social-ecological factors in predicting psychological symptoms among mothers of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). METHODS: Mothers of 92 children with JRA completed surveys while waiting with their children for physician appointments or during JRA meeting breaks. RESULTS: Mothers reported higher mean levels of psychological symptoms than a normative group. Higher levels of psychosocial stress predicted increased psychological symptoms after accounting for disease severity and functional status. Maternal appraisal of the illness tended to moderate the relationship between illness stress and psychological symptoms, and maternal education moderated the relationship between daily hassles stress and psychological symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that mothers of children with JRA are at risk for psychological distress. Inteventions that take into account the buffering effects of maternal education and appraisal may serve to decrease the effects of maternal stress. (+info)
Brief report: perceptions of young adolescents about a hypothetical new peer with cancer: an analog study.
(24/1417)
OBJECTIVE: To assess attitudes and behavioral intentions (desire to engage a peer in academic, social, and general activities) of young adolescents toward a hypothetical new peer with cancer and to assess the relationship between attitudes and empathy. METHODS: Two hundred fifty middle school students viewed videotapes of a hypothetical peer (i.e., actor) with or without cancer. Participants completed a measure of empathy and a measure of social desirability before viewing the videotape. Participants completed a measure of attitudes and a measure of behavioral intentions after viewing the videotape. RESULTS: Participants gave significantly higher ratings of behavioral intention (e.g., were more accepting) to the peer with cancer than to the healthy peer. Also, participants with high empathy reported more favorable impressions toward the hypothetical new peer than did participants with low or moderate empathy. Female participants had more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the hypothetical new peer than did male participants. CONCLUSIONS: The social perceptions of young adolescents about peers with cancer may be less negative than previously hypothesized. (+info)