Personality as Risk and Resilience in Physical Health

ABSTRACT— Research on the association between personality characteristics and subsequent physical health has produced several consistent findings and identified other tentative relationships. Chronic anger/hostility and neuroticism/negative affectivity are the best established personality risk factors for poor health. Optimism, social dominance, and other traits also appear to influence risk. Several mechanisms have been identified as possibly underlying these effects, but few have been evaluated definitively. Future research may be well served by incorporation of concepts and methods from current personality research.     

Gender Group Differences in Coping with Chronic Terror: The Israeli Scene

Gender group differences in terror–stress, cognitive appraisals, ways of coping with terror, and stress reactions were explored in a sample of Israeli adults following prolonged exposure to political violence. Data were gathered at the height of the Al-Aqsa Intifada uprising (May/July 2002) from a sample of 707 adult participants (60% women and 40% men) residing in Haifa and northern Israel. Israeli women reported that they were more distressed by political violence than the men did, and they also appraised the crisis situation as more threatening and less manageable. Women reported using more problem-focused as well as emotion-focused coping than men did; both men and women used a mixture of coping strategies. Compared to men, women reported that they experienced more somatic symptoms and more frequent posttraumatic stress symptoms than men did. Negative affectivity was found to mediate gender differences in appraisals, coping, and outcomes. Overall, the nexus of relations among key variables was found to be highly similar for men and women. These data suggest that women may be more reactive to chronic political violence situations than men are. The data are discussed and explicated in the context of stress and coping theory and prior research on political violence and community disasters.     

压力与画对儿童错误记忆影响的实验研究

该研究主要探讨了有无压力和画与不画对儿童虚构生活事件记忆的影响。压力用该类研究中常用的医疗模式来进行诱导,结果表明可以使儿童易受暗示性提高,降低“是”反应的标准,增加对虚构生活事件的肯定反应,但可能存在年龄的差异;而画的方式,可能会使儿童混淆所画与所经历事件,儿童通过画使更多的线索被引导出来,导致把虚构的生活事件作为发生过而给予肯定的反应。     

Sexual well-being and perceived stress in couples transitioning to parenthood: A dyadic analysis

Background/ObjectiveThe transition to parenthood encompasses several psychological and relational changes that might contribute to couples’ high levels of stress postpartum. Although common across the postpartum, couples’ sexual changes are frequently overlooked.MethodWe surveyed 255 mixed-sex new parent couples to examine the associations between sexual well-being—sexual satisfaction, desire, and postpartum sexual concerns—and perceived stress postpartum. Couples completed self-report questionnaires assessing perceived stress and sexual well-being.ResultsFor both mothers and fathers, greater sexual satisfaction was associated with their partners’ lower perceived stress and, for fathers, this was also associated with their own lower perceived stress. For mothers, greater partner-focused sexual desire was associated with their own lower perceived stress whereas, for fathers, greater partner-focused sexual desire was associated with their partners’ higher perceived stress. In addition, greater solitary sexual desire and postpartum sexual concerns were associated with both parents’ own higher perceived stress.ConclusionsThis study highlights the association between sexual well-being and couples’ postpartum stress, suggesting that more positive sexual experiences are linked to lower perceptions of stress across this vulnerable period. Couples’ sexual well-being may be an important target for interventions aimed at helping postpartum couples cope with stress.     

Parents and carers of young people with mental ill-health: What factors mediate the effect of burden on stress?

A substantial body of research has reported negative outcomes due to caregiving, however, little is known about how caring for a young person with mental ill-health impacts on parents and carers. This study aims to examine whether, like carers of older people, they experience elevated levels of caregiver burden and stress. It expands on earlier studies by examining potential mediators of burden and stress, with a specific focus on how activity restriction affects this association. There were 226 Australian parents and carers of young people (12–25 years) experiencing mental ill-health who voluntarily completed a self-report questionnaire reflecting how their young person’s ill-health had affected them over the past month. Hierarchical regression and multiple mediation analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between caregiver burden and stress, and whether adaptive coping, self-efficacy and activity restriction mediated this relationship. Caregiver burden and stress were strongly related, and both activity restriction and self-efficacy mediated their association, with activity restriction having the stronger effect. Strategies aimed at increasing awareness of the impact of activity restriction and encouraging parents and carers to find ways to maintain essential activity may reduce stress, improving mental health and well-being in parents and carers.     

An Intensive Outpatient Program for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Post-9/11 service members may return from military service with a complicated set of symptoms and conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance misuse, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), that interfere with reintegration and impair functioning. Although evidence-based treatments that facilitate recovery exist, their successful delivery at a sufficient dose is limited. Barriers to accessing treatment combined with challenges compiling a comprehensive treatment team further delay delivery of effective evidence-based care for PTSD, TBI, and co-occurring mental health conditions. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, 2-week intensive day program for post-9/11 veterans with complex mental health concerns. The treatment program combines skill building groups, family education, and integrative health approaches with evidence-based individual PTSD or TBI care. Initial results from the first 132 participants were notable for a 97% completion rate, as well as statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in PTSD, neurobehavioral, and depression symptom severity for the 107 veterans who completed the PTSD track and the 21 who completed the TBI track. These data suggest the intensive program approach is an effective, well-tolerated model of treatment for post-9/11 veterans with PTSD and/or TBI. Future controlled studies should examine the effectiveness of this intensive model compared to standard evidence-based therapy delivery, as well as longitudinal outcomes.     

Bringing life history theory into relationship science

In this article, I review three longitudinal studies that have investigated how exposure to more versus less predictable environments shunt individuals down different developmental pathways. After describing key principles of life history theory and how stress can shape social development over time, I discuss an interrelated set of findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation. Collectively, these studies reveal the pathways through which exposure to more unpredictable, chaotic early‐life environments prospectively forecast engaging in riskier behaviors and shorter‐term, more opportunistic, and less investing orientations to mating and parenting in one or both genders. I conclude by discussing the broader goals underlying this program of research.     

Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on prenatal stress,anxiety and depression

Low well-being is common among Chinese pregnant women but few effective interventions currently exist to improve prenatal stress and negative emotions. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been proved to be effective in reducing stress and rarely studies were focused on Chinese pregnant women. The aim of the current paper is to investigate the effects of 8-week MBSR on prenatal stress, anxiety and depression among Chinese pregnant women. A sample of 66 pregnant women randomly allocated into either the MBSR group (n=34) or the control group (n=32). Participants in the MBSR group received a group 8-week, 90-min each time intervention. The results found a significant interaction between time and condition for prenatal stress (F=45.51, p<0.001, η ²=0.427), anxiety (F=19.30, p<0.001, η ²=0.240), while depression showed no time-by-group interaction (F=0.29, p=0.589, η ²=0.005). As for the sub-scale of state anxiety, while there was only no time effect (F=3.68, p=0.060, η ²=0.057). The findings of this study preliminary indicated effects of the MBSR intervention on self-reported prenatal stress and anxiety in comparison to a treatment-as-usual control. Effect on depression was not observed may due to the low level of depression of participants. This study provides preliminary evidence that MBSR is suitable for Chinese pregnant women and be effective in decreasing prenatal stress, anxiety.     

Relationship between types of humour and stress response and well‐being among children in Japan

This study examined the relationship between three types of children's humour (aggressive, self‐defeating, and playful) and the children's stress response and well‐being in the Japanese context, where a collectivistic culture is prevalent. To do so, 500 study participants (250 elementary and 250 junior high school students) were recruited. The participants reported the types of humour, stress responses, and level of well‐being that they experienced. After correlation analysis, aggressive humour and playful humour showed a positive correlation with stress responses; in addition, aggressive humour showed a negative correlation with well‐being. Self‐defeating humour showed a negative correlation with stress responses and a positive correlation with well‐being. We also conducted a cluster analysis using the scores for the three types of humour, analysing four groups: “aggressive humourists” (respondents who demonstrated above‐average aggressive humour and scored average for all other humours), “nonhumourists” (below‐average humour in all areas), “self‐deprecating humourists” (above‐average self‐defeating humour, below‐average aggressive humour, and average playful humour), and “multiple humourists” (above‐average humour in all areas). Upon comparing the results of stress responses and well‐being scores among the four groups, we found that self‐deprecating humourists reported the highest level of well‐being. These results show that in collectivistic cultures, self‐defeating humour may be adaptive.     

Stress and inflammation among older adults: The moderating role of religiosity

Chronic stress weakens the immune system and leads to heightened bodily inflammation, which in turn is linked with serious health conditions. This study examined whether religiosity moderates the relationship between stress and inflammation (measured by C-reactive Protein (CRP)). A sample of 4,734 community-dwelling older adults was drawn from the 2006 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between chronic stress (8-item index), inflammation (high CRP level), and religiosity (organizational, nonorganizational, and intrinsic), controlling for other factors. Higher levels of stress were significantly associated with high inflammation/CRP (p = .039). Further, intrinsic religiosity acted as a moderator of this relationship (p = .024), such that the relationship between stress and inflammation is lessened for persons with higher levels of intrinsic religiosity. Higher intrinsic religiosity attenuated the effects of stress on inflammation, suggesting that individuals with stronger religious commitment/motivation may better cope with stress.