Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Anger Awareness And Expression Training Versus Relaxation Training On Headaches: A Randomized Trial, Olga Slavin-Spenny, Mark A. Lumley, Elyse R. Thakur, Dana C. Nevedal, Alaa M Hijazi

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Background and purpose: Stress contributes to headaches, and effective interventions for headaches routinely include relaxation training (RT) to directly reduce negative emotions and arousal. Yet, suppressing negative emotions, particularly anger, appears to augment pain, and experimental studies suggest that expressing anger may reduce pain. Therefore, we developed and tested anger awareness and expression training (AAET) on people with headaches.

Methods: Young adults with headaches (N = 147) were randomized to AAET, RT, or a wait-list control. We assessed affect during sessions, and process and outcome variables at baseline and 4 weeks after treatment.

Results: On process measures, …

Parenting And Attachment Among Low-Income African-American And Caucasian Preschoolers, Casey A. Dexter, Kristyn Wong, Ann M. Stacks, Marjorie Beeghly, Douglas Barnett

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Despite a plethora of research on parenting and infant attachment, much less is known about the contributions of parenting to preschool attachment, particularly within different racial groups. This study seeks to build on the extant literature by evaluating whether similar associations between parenting and attachment can be observed in African American and Caucasian families, and whether race moderates them. Seventy-four primary caregivers and their preschool children (51% African American, 49% Caucasian, 46% male) from similar urban, low income backgrounds participated in two visits four weeks apart when children were between four and five years of age. Attachment was scored from …

Duel Or Diversion? Conscientiousness And Executive Function In The Prediction Of Health And Longevity, Tim Bogg, Brent W. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Response to Hall and Fong Letter to the Editor in Annals of Behavioral Medicine 45(3).

The Case For Conscientiousness: Evidence And Implications For A Personality Trait Marker Of Health And Longevity, Tim Bogg, Brent W. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Purpose Recent initiatives by major funding agencies have emphasized translational and personalized approaches (e.g., genetic testing) to health research and health management. While such directives are appropriate, and will likely produce tangible health benefits, we seek to highlight a confluence of several lines of research showing relations between the personality dimension of conscientiousness and a variety of health-related outcomes.

Methods Using a modified health process model, we review the compelling evidence linking conscientiousness to health and disease processes, including longevity, diseases, morbidity-related risk factors, health-related psycho-physiological mechanisms, health-related behaviors, and social environmental factors related to health.

Conclusion We argue the …

Vascular Depression: An Early Warning Sign Of Frailty, Daniel Paulson, Peter A. Lichtenberg

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Objectives: Frailty is a common geriatric disorder associated with ADL impairment, hospitalization, and death. Phenomenological evidence suggests that late-life depression (Katz, 2004), particularly vascular depression, may be a risk factor for frailty. This study tests that hypothesis.

Methods: We identified a sample of stroke-free women over the age of 80 from the Health and Retirement Survey. The sample included 984 respondents in 2000 (incidence sample). Of these, 459 were non-frail at baseline and still alive in 2004 (prevalence sample). Frail respondents experienced at least three of the following: wasting, exhaustion, weakness, slowness, and falls. Vascular depression was represented using two …

Cardiovascular Fitness Associated With Cognitive Performance In Heart Failure Patients Enrolled In Cardiac Rehabilitation, Sarah Garcia, Michael L. Alosco, Mary Beth Spitznagel, Ronald Cohen, Naftali Raz, Lawrence Sweet, Richard Josephson, Joel Hughes, Jim Rosneck, Morgan L. Oberle, John Gunstad

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Reduced cognitive function is common in persons with heart failure (HF). Cardiovascular fitness is a known contributor to cognitive function in many patient populations, but has only been linked to cognition based on estimates of fitness in HF. The current study examined the relationship between fitness as measured by metabolic equivalents (METs) from a standardized stress test and cognition in persons with HF, as well as the validity of office-based predictors of fitness in this population.

Methods

Forty-one HF patients enrolled in cardiac rehabilitation completed a standardized exercise stress test protocol, a brief neuropsychological battery, the 2-minute step …

Partner Support In A Cohort Of African American Families And Its Influence On Pregnancy Outcomes And Prenatal Health Behaviors, Jennifer K. Straughen, Cleopatra H. Caldwell, Alford A. Young Jr, Dawn P. Misra

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

We examined how two indicators of partner involvement, relationship type and paternal support, influenced the risk of pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight) and health behaviors (prenatal care, drug use, and smoking) among African American women.

Methods

Interview and medical record data were obtained from a study of 713 adult African American women delivering singletons between March 2001 and July 2004. Women were enrolled prenatally if they received care at one of three Johns Hopkins Medical Institution (JHMI) prenatal clinics or post-partum if they delivered at JHMI with late, no or intermittent prenatal care. Relationship type was …