Health Psychology

Toshima, Michelle T.; Kaplan, Robert M.; Ries, Andrew L.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.237pmid: N/A

Randomlyassigned 119 adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to an 8-weekcomprehensive rehabilitation program or to an 8-week education control program.Comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation included education, physical andrespiratory therapy instruction, psychosocial support, and supervised exercisetraining; education control included biweekly classroom instruction anddiscussions on respiratory therapy, medical aspects of lung disease, clinicalpharmacology, and diet, but no exercise training. Both groups received extensivephysiological and psychosocial evaluation before and after the intervention. Sixmonths after enrollment, patients randomly assigned to the rehabilitationprogram showed significant increases in exercise endurance, whereas patientsrandomly assigned to control program showed nonsignificant increases.Improvement in self-efficacy was correlated with improvements in exerciseendurance.Key words:rehabilitation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),exercise, qualityof life

Doll, Lynda S.; O’Malley, Paul M.; Pershing, Alan L.; Darrow, William W.; Hessol, Nancy A.; Lifson, Alan R.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.253pmid: N/A

To evaluatethe effectiveness of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and counselingamong homosexual and bisexual men participating in the San Francisco City ClinicCohort, compared behavioral data from 181 men who learned their HIV antibodystatus between 1985 and 1987 with data from 128 men who were tested but declinedto receive their results. Overall, significant declines in risk indices forunprotected receptive and insertive anal intercourse occurred between1983–1984 and 1986–1987, but these declines were independentof both knowledge of HIV status and actual serostatus. Those who chose to learntheir HIV status were also no more likely to report depression or anxietysubsequent to testing. Regression analyses showed no relationship between lengthof time since learning one’s HIV status, mental health symptoms, andthe persistence of high-risk behavior in 1986–1987. Although theseresults do not negate the value of HIV testing and counseling, they suggest thatother motivating factors such as frequent access to risk-reduction informationmay provide sufficient impetus for behavioral change.Key words:AIDS, HIV testing, HIV counseling, mental health, sexual behavior

Goodenow, Carol; Reisine, Susan T.; Grady, Kathleen E.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.266pmid: N/A

Using a cross-sectionalinterview study of 194 women with rheumatoid arthritis, investigated the relationship betweenhealth status, social integration, qualitative aspects of social support, and social andpsychological functioning in the presence of a chronic, disabling disease. Even aftercontrolling for the influences of current physical limitations and social integration,qualitative dimensions of social support as measured by the Quality of Social Support Scale, ascale developed for this study, explained a significant proportion of the variance in home andfamily functioning and in depression.Key words: social support,rheumatoid arthritis (RA), depression, social functioning

Engle, Patricia L.; Scrimshaw, Susan C. M.; Zambrana, Ruth Enid; Dunkel-Schetter, Christine

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.285pmid: N/A

Examined psychosocialfactors related to prenatal and postnatal anxiety in 291 primiparous Mexican women giving birthin Los Angeles. Characteristics of health care providers preferred by more anxious and lessanxious women were also assessed. Higher prenatal anxiety was associated with less desire foran active role during labor, lower assertiveness, higher pain expectation at delivery, lack ofsupport from family members other than the husband, and preferences for health care providerswho are female and Latino. All groups of women preferred health care providers who providedgood medical explanations and who were knowledgeable, friendly, and sympathetic. Postnatalanxiety was significantly lower than prenatal anxiety. Negative attitudes toward the baby andnumber of complications during labor and delivery, however, were related to postnatal anxietyadjusted for prenatal anxiety.Key words: prenatalanxiety, Mexican women, childbirth attitudes, longitudinal study

Ingram, Rick E.; Atkinson, Joseph H.; Slater, Mark A.; Saccuzzo, Dennis P.; Garfin, Steven R.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.300pmid: N/A

Several studies havesuggested that depressed pain patients evidence more cognitive distortion than nondepressedpain patients and healthy controls. Although these studies have generally supported notionsrelating cognitive distortion to depressive functioning, other aspects of dysfunctionalcognition have not been assessed in the chronic-pain population. The present study examinednegative and positive automatic thoughts and attributional style in depressed pain patients,nondepressed pain patients, and healthy controls. Depressed chronic-pain patients were found toexhibit significantly more negative automatic thoughts than nondepressed pain patients andhealthy controls. Conversely, nondepressed chronic-pain patients reported significantly morepositive automatic thoughts than did depressed patients and healthy controls. No significantdifferences were found for attributional style. These results suggest that differentcognitive-behavioral interventions might be considered for depressed compared to nondepressedchronic-pain patients.Key words: pain,depression, cognition, automatic thinking

Jeffery, Robert W.; French, Simone A.; Schmid, Thomas L.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.315pmid: N/A

Assignedparticipants in the Hypertension Prevention Trial to one of four diets for aperiod of 3 years: (a) weight loss, (b) reduced sodium, (c) weight loss plusreduced sodium, and (d) reduced sodium plus increased potassium. At 6-monthintervals, they reported problems they were having adhering to their diets.Problem attributions were coded along the dimensions of internality, stability,and controllability and were categorized as intrapersonal or extrapersonal.Attributions were found to differ by type of diet and sex of participant.Participants assigned to weight-loss groups were significantly more likely thanthose assigned to non-weight-loss groups to blame themselves for their problemswith adherence, making characterological as opposed to external or situationalattributions. Men perceived problems to be more controllable than women.Attributions did not predict weight loss, change in urinary sodium, or chance inpotassium excretion.Key words:diet, adherence, attributions, hypertension

Black, David R.; Gleser, Leon J.; Kooyers, Kimberly J.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.330pmid: N/A

Applied Hedges and Olkin’s (1985) statistical meta-analytic procedures to summary data from all published studies that compared behavioral weightcontrol programs that formally involved partners in treatment (couples programs) to similar programs in which subjects participated alone (subjectalone programs). Based on tests of effect sizes, couples programs are significantly superior to subject-alone programs at posttreatment (p < .05). A nearly significant (p = .06) statistical superiority for couples programs versus subject-alone programs is also found at 2- to 3-month follow-up, but not thereafter. The couples programs differed in the kinds of social support provided by partners, and the most productive kinds of partner support remain to be identified. In particular, the use of partners in providing social support to subjects after formal therapy has ended is still an area of largely unexplored potential.Key words: weight loss, social support, couples programs, partner involvement, meta-analysis, effect size

Vitaliano, Peter P.; Maiuro, Roland D.; Russo, Joan; Katon, Wayne; DeWolfe, Deborah; Hall, Gordon

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.9.3.348pmid: N/A

Compares the copingprofiles of 11 samples (total N = 1,298) of individuals experiencing psychiatric, physicalhealth, work, or family problems. Comparisons are made in individuals with and without anxietyand depression to control for the effects of distress. Coping was similar for samples insimilar problem categories but different for samples in different categories. Psychiatricpatients made more use of avoidance and less use of social supports than individuals in theother categories. Samples with physical health problems were among the most frequent users ofsocial supports. Individuals with a family problem were among the most frequent users ofproblem-focused coping and the least frequent users of self-blame. Groups with work stress werethe most frequent users of self-blame. These results suggest that coping profiles may be usefulin describing and differentiating groups of stressed individuals.Key words: coping, stress,psychiatric, medical