A biopsychosocial therapeutic approach in a private outpatient clinic in Portugal

Patients with chronic stress and ambiguous symptoms are likely to be more frequent in primary care. Somatizers represent 75.8% of the patients in this study and executives 56% of the sample. Job stressors were present in 78.3% of executive men. This scenario suggests that the primary care physician has to be academically better prepared to fully understand and deal with stress problems in daily clinical practice. The physician must have skills to deal with stress at a curative and preventive level, extending those skills to the workplace.     

Childhood stress: Perceptions of children and professionals

An assessment instrument was developed to measure children's perceptions of stressors in their lives, as well as their experiences and emotional reactions to these stressors. Two approaches from the adult literature, major life events and daily hassles, were compared for children. In addition, a comparison between children's and professionals' ratings of the severity of various stressors was made, as well as an examination of the relationship of experience and self-reported reaction to children's ratings. Results indicate that children's ratings of the severity of stressors do differ from adults', particularly when children have experienced the stressor. Further investigation in the study of childhood stress incorporating children's perceptions is proposed.     

Effects of stress and retesting on role play tests of social skill

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of stress in performance on role play tests of social skill. Chronic psychiatric patients were tested in a formal videotape studio or in an informal consulting room setting. Motoric and physiological measures were secured. In addition, one-half of the subjects were retested one week later. In contrast to previous studies, results indicated that the assessment was not stressful. The two groups were not different on any measure, and the mean heart rates ranged from only 80 to 84 b.p.m. The effects of retesting were difficult to interpret. There were reductions in motoric indices of anxiety (speech disruptions) but not on physiological indices. Overall, testretest reliability was quite high. The results raise several questions which affect interpretation of many social skills studies in the literature.     

Behavioral assessment of imipramine effects in a depressed child

A 7-year-old boy was diagnosed as suffering from childhood depression by two independent psychiatric evaluators who employed the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Multifaceted behavioral observations were performed on target behaviors which were identified as major problematic areas of functioning related to the child's depression. The behavioral assessment strategy included daily monitoring of on-task and disruptive behavior in the classroom, enuresis, and overall hygienic, social, and compliance behaviors as a means of identifying the specific drug-induced effects of an anti-depressant, imipramine. The assimilation and application of behavioral assessment strategies within child psychiatry have been slow and tenuous. Reasons for the resistance include theoretical differences and misconceptions among psychiatric personnel, who, although open to objective evaluations, may wish to employ nonbehavioral treatments such as pharmacologic agents. The primary purpose of this study was to demonstrate the viability of behavioral assessment as an integral adjunct to pharmacologic treatment in a psychiatric setting as a means of gauging the efficacy of a psychiatric intervention. Issues regarding the role of behavioral assessment in psychiatry and, in particular, pharmacologic interventions with depressed children are examined and discussed.This study was supported, in part, by NIMH Grant MH 30915.     

急性应激损伤错误监控与错误后调整

生活中,个体会时时关注自己的行为结果并及时做出调整以适应环境的变化。但在应激下个体能否有效地监控行为并做出适应性调整依然未知。本研究招募了52名男性大学生被试,将其随机分入应激组与控制组,采用特里尔社会应激测试(Trier Social Stress Test, TSST)诱发个体的应激反应,并结合错误意识任务(Error Awareness Task,EAT)探索个体急性应激下的错误监控与错误后调整过程。应激指标的结果显示应激组个体在应激任务后唾液皮质醇、心率、应激感知自我报告和负性情绪均显著高于控制组,表明急性应激的诱发是成功的。行为结果显示应激组的错误意识正确率显著低于控制组,错误意识反应时显著短于控制组;进一步地,应激组个体在意识到错误之后的试次上正确率显著低于未意识到错误之后的试次,并且应激组个体在意识到错误之后的试次上正确率低于控制组。结果表明急性应激降低了个体对错误反应的监控水平,即便在辨别出错误反应的情况下,个体的行为监控与调节也更差。本研究说明急性应激会损伤行为监控系统,导致个体的行为适应性下降。     

回避与趋近性负性人格特质对应激心血管反应模式的不同影响

本研究考察了回避与趋近性负性特质对不同强度心理社会应激刺激重复暴露的心血管反应、应激后心血管反应恢复、重复应激心血管反应的影响,并探讨了应激认知评价在其中的作用。167名大学生被试被随机分配到中/高强度应激条件中,连续采集其在基线期、首次应激期、恢复期、重复应激期四个阶段的心血管反应数据。结果发现:(1)无论应激强度如何,回避性负性特质预测首次和重复应激中较低(钝化)的心血管反应和应激后较差的恢复,而趋近性负性特质预测较大的心血管反应和应激后较差的恢复。(2)重复应激个人资源感知在回避性负性特质与重复应激心率反应之间起中介作用。因此,回避性负性特质与持续较低(钝化)的应激心血管反应和应激后较差的恢复相联系,而趋近性负性特质与较大的应激心血管反应和应激后较差的恢复相联系,即两类负性特质均表现出不适应的固化的应激心血管反应模式,这可能构成了两类不同负性特质增加罹患心血管疾病风险的生理机制。     

理工科大学生心理压力的调查研究

本研究探讨理工科大学生心理压力的大小.研究包括两个实验.实验1探讨理工科大学生心理压力源、压力影响因素的构成.实验2进一步探讨了理工科大学生心理压力源、压力影响因素的权重大小,得到了不同样本理工科大学生心理压力的大小.     

资源保存理论在组织行为学中的应用：演变与挑战

资源保存理论(conservation of resources theory, COR)是组织行为学研究近30年中被引最高的理论之一。COR的提出源自Hobfoll对临床应激障碍的观察与思考,历经了多次修订后该理论逐步由一个压力–反应模型发展成了一个以个体资源存量及其动态变化解释行为动因的动机理论,形成了一个具有较广泛外延的理论体系。组织行为学是资源保存理论标志性文献的施引文献的核心来源。大量组织行为学研究对COR中的资源损失漩涡、获得螺旋等核心过程进行了实证检验,涉及广泛的研究议题,使COR成为了理解员工心理与行为动因的最具影响力的理论之一。COR在组织行为学中的应用面临一定的挑战,其中有来自认知评价理论、适应理论的观点挑战,也有其作为一个"跨界理论"带来的挑战。组织行为学研究在应用COR时应充分尊重其理论要义,避免削足适履。     

The role of anxiety sensitivity in the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and negative outcomes in trauma-exposed adults

Background: The development of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSs) following a trauma is related to impairment, diminished quality of life, and physical health issues. Yet it is not clear why some trauma-exposed individuals experience negative outcomes while others do not. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of several influential factors related to PTS severity and negative outcomes. Methods: One hundred and twenty-two trauma-exposed adults were administered the following self-report measures: the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian, the Trauma History Questionnaire-Short, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale 21, Sheehan Disability Scale, World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF, and an abbreviated Patient Health Questionnaire. Primary Results: PTS severity was positively correlated with depressive symptom severity (r = 0.54, p < 0.001), chronicity of the most distressing trauma (r = 0.21, p = 0.017), and number of traumas (r = 0.22, p = 0.012). Main effects were found for PTS severity (β = ?0.38, p < 0.01) and anxiety sensitivity (AS; β = ?0.39, p < 0.01) on quality of life. No interaction was found between PTS severity and AS with any negative outcome. PTS severity mediated the relationship between AS and physical health issues (0.05; 95% CI: 0.02–0.08). Conclusion: This study helps clarify the role of various factors in the relationship between trauma and negative outcomes. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

Predicting traumatic stress using emotional intelligence

The study investigated whether emotional intelligence (EI) can predict how individuals respond to traumatic experiences. A random sample of 414 participants (181 male, 233 female) were administered a measure of EI along with the Impact of Event Scale--revised [IES-R; Weiss, D. S. & Marmar, C. R. (1997). The Impact of Events Scale--revised. In J.P. Wilson & T.M. Keane (Eds.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 399-411). New York: Guilford Press], and the monitoring and blunting questionnaire [MBQ, Anxiety Stress Coping 7 (1994) 53]. The results showed that participants with higher NEIS scores report fewer psychological symptoms relating to their traumatic experiences, that monitors are more likely to have higher NEIS scores than blunters. Traumatic events had a greater impact on females than males, and males had higher EI than females. The implications of these findings for using EI as a predictor for individuals who may experience traumatic stress are discussed.