Maternal depressed mood and stress as related to vigilance,self-efficacy and mother-child interactions

Parenting self-efficacy, maternal vigilance, competence and child behaviour were studied in a community sample of mothers of 18-36-month-old children. Thirty dysphoric mothers had elevated Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores (12–16) and 30 nondysphoric mothers had BDIs <5. Dysphoric mothers were more stressed, less happily married, less effective as parents and described their children as less competent and responsive than did non-dysphoric mothers. When completing a distracting questionnaire task, all mothers were less vigilant and their children less well behaved than during free play. Stressed, dysphoric mothers were observed to be less sensitive, responsive, warm, vigilant and effective in controlling their children, and their children were more destructive, and less happy, responsive and compliant. Combined maternal stress and dysphoria were associated with generally negative perceptions of self and child, and negative mother-child interactions.     

Negative affectivity,perceived occupational stress,and health during organisational restructuring: A follow-up study

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of the relationships among multiple indicators of perceived occupational stress, trait negative affectivity, and later mental and physical health symptoms, among 157 Australian public servants during organisational restructuring. It was hypothesised that individual differences in negative affectivity would inflate the relationships between perceived stress and later strain as assessed by health symptoms in the follow-up phase. The possible role of negative affectivity in moderating the stress-strain relationships was also investigated. Multiple regression analyses conducted with depressive and physical health outcomes separately indicate that the only significant predictors of depressive symptoms were negative affectivity and role insufficiency, whereas the significant predictors of physical health symptoms were role ambiguity, physical environment, and negative affectivity. None of the interaction terms involving occupational stress and negative affectivity was found to be significant Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of the research literature on work stress, particularly the role of negative affectivity in inflating the stress-strain relationship and indications for future research.     

Social support,occupational stress and anxiety

When occupational stressors, that is stress-producing environmental circumstances (SPECs) in the workplace, lead to anxiety, this anxiety is considered work-related strain. Social support is frequently recommended as a treatment of such strain, because it is expected to help in one of three ways: by directly reducing the anxiety, by interacting with SPECs to reduce the strength of their effects on anxiety, and by weakening the strength of the SPECs themselves. Future research on anxiety and social support in conjunction with work-related SPECs could shed new light on the relations among these three, variables by employing one or more of three approaches: designing investigations that allow stronger causal inference, testing hypotheses derived from theory, and examining potential cross-cultural differences in the nature of and reactions to social support.     

Examination stress and changes in mood and health related behaviours

Abstract

The present exploratory study evaluated the effect of stress (an examination period) on changes in mood and health related behaviours. 83 medical students completed measures of mood and health related bchaviours at baseline and four weeks later either during their examinations period (the stress condition) or after a comparative control period (the control condition). All subjects also completed ratings of stress mediating variables: social support, perceived control and coping style at baseline. The results showed deterioration in mood in terms of increases in depression and anxiety and changes in health related behaviours in terms of increased numbers of subjects who identified thcmsehes as smokers, and dcmascs in alcohol consumption, exercise and food intake in subjects in the stress condition. The results also suggest that social support moderated the effects of the examination stress and was related to greater decreases in smoking, decrcases in alcohol craving and increases in eating behaviour. In addition, an avoidance coping style (problem avoidance, wishful thinking) was related to greater decreases in eating behaviour. 'Ihe nsults an discussed in the context of the stress/illness link and the role of behavioural change.     

The total workload of male and female white collar workers as related to age, occupational level, and number of children

A questionnaire assessing various aspects of paid as well as unpaid forms of productive activity was mailed to stratified samples of male and female white collar workers, approximately matched for educational and occupational level. Data from 501 men and 679 women employed full time revealed traditional gender differences in terms of main responsibility for household duties, child care etc. In keeping with this, women reported higher levels of work overload, stress and conflict than men, which increased significantly with the number of children at home. The various stress indices reached a peak between the ages of 35 and 39. Men reported more autonomy in their paid work whereas women reported more control at home. Men and women at the upper managerial levels reported more control over their total work situation and less conflict between demands.     

Early environment, emotions, responses to stress, and health

A harsh early family environment is related to mental and physical health in adulthood. An important question is why family environment in childhood is associated with these outcomes so long after its initial occurrence. We describe a program of research that evaluates a model linking these variables to each other. Specifically, we hypothesize that low social competence and negative emotional states may mediate relations between a harsh early family environment and physiological/neuroendocrine responses to stress, as well as long-term health outcomes. We report evidence that the model characterizes self-rated health, cortisol responses to stress, and, in males only, elevated cardiovascular responses to stress. We discuss how the social context of early life (such as SES) may affect the family environment in ways that precipitate adverse health consequences. Perspectives on comorbidities in physical and mental health are discussed.     

Gender, stress, and health

Studying men and women and differences between them has long been a goal for researchers in health psychology. Recent advances in this endeavor, reflected in this special issue on the topic, have led to important information about the relationships between health and behavior. Of particular interest are possible differences in psychophysiological response, stress, and immune function. Clearly, more inclusive research strategies hold great promise for future scientific discoveries.     

Sex-role orientation as related to psychological and physiological responses during achievement and orthostatic stress

The Bem sex-role inventory was used to select, from an Irish student population, females and males who differed with regard to feminine and masculine personality characteristics. Four groups were established for each sex: (1) subjects with low scores in both femininity and masculinity, i.e., undifferentiated subjects; (2) subjects with high scores in both femininity and masculinity, i.e., androgynous subjects; (3) subjects with high scores in femininity and low scores in masculinity; (4) subjects with high scores in masculinity and low scores in femininity. The Cattell 16 PF scale showed that the undifferentiated groups were more reserved and detached and more cautious and taciturn than the androgynous groups. Each subject was exposed to mental stress in one session and orthostatic stress in another session. Mental stress was induced by five different intellectual performance tests. Males and females differed significantly only on a test of perceptual speed, with females performing better than males, as expected. The group of androgynous females was superior to all other groups on four of the five performance tasks. The group of androgynous males was not superior in terms of objective performance but reported feeling more confident andThis collaboration was made possible by a twinning grant to Dr. John Cullen and Professor Marianne Frankenhaeuser from the European Training Programme in Brain and Behaviour Research, European Science Foundation. Financial support was also obtained by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (Project No. 997) and the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. satisfied with their performance than most other groups, particularly the undifferentiated males. Blood pressure and heart rate were significantly elevated in all groups during both stress conditions. Heart rate was significantly higher in the high-femininity and androgynous females than in the other female groups.     

Meditation,personality and arousal

A questionnaire survey of people who had learned a technique of meditation was carried out to assess persistence with practice, perceived effects of meditation practice and subjective experiences during meditation. The results suggested that a significant proportion give up meditating (42.9%) and that the subjective experience of meditation was similar to that of the hypnagogic state. Reported effects of meditation were generally physiological and psychological benefits related to relaxation.A personality questionnaire was also distributed and the results suggested that those attracted to meditation are significantly more neurotic and introverted than the general population but that those who continue with meditation are significantly less neurotic than those who give up their practice.These findings are discussed in terms of regression effects and in relation to a theory of personality and arousal.     

Health locus of control and self-esteem as related to adolescent health behavior and intentions

A health behavior and attitudes questionnaire was administered to 246 fifth-grade and 265 sixth-grade students during class time. The questions included 20 children's health locus of control (CHLC) items reported by Parcel and Meyer (1978), 17 children's self-esteem (CSE) items modified from those reported by Coopersmith (1967), and questions concerning past and current behavior and future intentions with respect to cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana use. The results indicate that the relationships between dimensions of children's health locus of control and self-esteem and their behaviors and intentions are not large enough to suggest that intervention programs directed at the prevention of detrimental health behaviors focus on the enhancement of self-esteem or the internal locus of control. An appropriate test of the efficacy of such an approach requires a longitudinal rather than a cross-sectional study, monitoring changes in the levels of self-esteem and health locus of control and associated changes in health behavior.     

Effects of occupational stress, job characteristics, coping, and attributional style on the mental health and job satisfaction of university employees

Well-being at work has been shown to be influenced by job characteristics and individual differences in coping styles. This study investigated the relationships between job demands, control, social support, efforts, rewards, coping, and attributional style in predicting anxiety, depression, and job satisfaction in a sample of 307 university employees from the UK. Results were compared to those from a sample of 120 members of the general population. Workplace demands, intrinsic and extrinsic effort, and negative coping and attributional behaviors were associated with high levels of depression and anxiety and low job satisfaction in university employees. Rewards, social support, job control, and positive coping and attributional behaviors were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety and high job satisfaction. The study adds to the growing research on university samples by showing that a transactional approach should be adopted. This has implications for interventions and suggests that rather than just trying to change job characteristics one should identify at-risk individuals in this population and help them adopt appropriate positive coping styles.     

Effects of occupational stress,job characteristics,coping, and attributional style on the mental health and job satisfaction of university employees

Well-being at work has been shown to be influenced by job characteristics and individual differences in coping styles. This study investigated the relationships between job demands, control, social support, efforts, rewards, coping, and attributional style in predicting anxiety, depression, and job satisfaction in a sample of 307 university employees from the UK. Results were compared to those from a sample of 120 members of the general population. Workplace demands, intrinsic and extrinsic effort, and negative coping and attributional behaviors were associated with high levels of depression and anxiety and low job satisfaction in university employees. Rewards, social support, job control, and positive coping and attributional behaviors were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety and high job satisfaction. The study adds to the growing research on university samples by showing that a transactional approach should be adopted. This has implications for interventions and suggests that rather than just trying to change job characteristics one should identify at-risk individuals in this population and help them adopt appropriate positive coping styles.     

Thai Women: Meditation as a Way to Cope with AIDS

Mental-health professionals often ignore the spirituality and religious beliefs that can aid a person's ability to cope with a life-threatening illness such as HIV/AIDS. As the physical body succumbs to the disease, people with HIV/AIDS search for ways to lower their stress, regain control of their health, attain some peace of mind, and hope to prolong their survival. This sense of personal control is important when dealing with chronic or terminal illness. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of meditation in Thai Buddhist women who are infected with HIV/AIDS. Interviews were conducted with 26 Thai women living in the northern part of Thailand known as Chiang Mai, where the incidence of AIDS is the highest in Southeast Asia. Although the scope of this study is limited and not generalizable, it supports the idea that a spiritual approach to healing, in conjunction with conventional medical treatment, is a source of great comfort to persons living with HIV/AIDS and may influence immune functioning.