Managing stress and managing illness: Survival and quality of life in chronic disease

Interest has been steadily building in the impact of stress on psychological and physiological functioning, in particular on immune system responses, furthering the concept of a strong connection between the mind and the body. Implications for prevention of disease onset or treatment of stress-induced illness or immunocompromised conditions have been explored through the implementation of stress management techniques. Cognitive behavioral stress management interventions, biofeedback, relaxation, guided imagery, hypnosis, individual and group psychotherapy, aerobic exercise, and guided self-efficacy treatment are briefly reviewed to identify possible treatment mechanisms that may affect immune function and promote quality of life. The application of behavioral techniques to reduce distress and sharpen coping skills has great promise in reducing the costs associated with chronic disease and in enhancing quality of life among those afflicted.Presented at the APA Presidential Miniconvention, To Your Health: Psychology Through the Life Span, Session VIII, Assuring a Healthy Lifestyle: Psychology Delivers. Chair: Diane J. Willis, Ph.D. The third author received partial funding through the Terry Fox Research Fellowship 5257, National Cancer Institute of Canada.     

The interface between physical and mental disorders: The need to dismantle the biopsychosocialneuroimmunological model of disease

This article argues for the necessity of cognitive-behavioral assessment for a thorough understanding of how psychological factors mediate disease process across a wide range of diseases including coronary artery disease, breast cancer, and human immunodeficiency disease. Based on empirical data presented as part of the APA Presidential miniconvention, “To Your Health: Psychology through the Life Span,” the conclusion is that psychological treatment can help extend life. Stress management programs can positively influence adherence to treatment regimens and positively influence the human immune system response during the course of treatment and recovery from illness. Even in the face of life-threatening circumstances such as liver transplantation, Stage II and III breast cancer, and after HIV infection has been diagnosed, the quality of life can be remarkably improved. Physicians and psychologists must work together to produce the beneficial effects of the synergy between mind-body processes.     

教师解决结构不良问题策略的发展研究

以成人期个体解决结构不良问题的有关认知加工理论为框架,运用多因素设计的方法,对９０名不同年龄的教师在解决教育和教学实践中常见的三种冲突情景下使用策略的情况进行了探讨。结果发现,教师在解决结构不良问题时,从总体上说不存在年龄差异,但在处理教师与教师、教师与家长等较为复杂的冲突问题时,随着年龄的增长,更趋向于使用元认知和认识论认知策略。该研究对教师培训中如何根据不同年龄特点来进行教育机智训练有一定的理论意义和应用价值。     

The effect of prompting and reinforcement of activity in elderly demented inpatients

On a ward for 24 psychogeriatric patients, 18 were randomly assigned to three groups with different experimental conditions. The first group was prompted and reinforced for different activities; the second was only prompted; and the third served as a control group. Activities, both the trained ones and others, were continuously monitored throughout the five week study. The results showed a clear increase in the trained activities after training. The prompting condition was effective, and the addition of reinforcement did not add any to the effects. There was no generalization to untrained activities, and the effects did not last at the 1 hr or 21 hr assessments, but was clearly visible at 5 min after training. Time seemed to be more important than place, i.e. the effect ceased with elapsed time, not because of changes in the situation.     

DISCRIMINATIVE CONTROL OF THERAPISTS' PERFORMANCE1

In order to examine therapists' discriminative responding to normal and idiosyncratic patient responses, naive subjects were presented with a simulated “patient” for treatment. The subjects were made to believe they were reinforcing normal verbalizations emitted by this patient In fact, they were listening to a tape on which normal and idiosyncratic verbalizations had been recorded. Different probabilities of normal and idiosyncratic “patient” verbalizations could be presented to the subjects by means of a digital programming unit. In one of a number of conditions, the subjects' accurate reinforcing responses were followed by an increased probability of the patient's normal verbalizations. Accurate reinforcing responses emitted by the subjects were brought under the control of normal and idiosyncratic patient responses, by use of contingent feedback, change in patient responding, and monetary reinforcers. When the patient's normal verbalizations increased in probability, so did the subjects' accurate reinforcing responses following the patient's normal verbalizations, and to a lesser degree, the subjects' inaccurate reinforcing responses following the patient's idiosyncratic verbalizations. When the patient's idiosyncratic verbalizations increased in probability, the subjects' accurate and inaccurate reinforcing responses decreased in probability. The clinical implications of these tendencies are discussed.     

Test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of the Morrow Assessment of Nausea and Emesis (MANE) for the assessment of cancer chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting

The present study evaluated the concurrent validity of two assessment approaches for the measurement of cancer chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting. The results indicated that the concurrent validity between the Morrow Assessment of Nausea and Emesis (MANE; Morrow, 1984b) and continuous self-monitoring and the reliability on the MANE were moderate. The heterotrait-monomethod and heterotrait-heteromethod matrices demonstrated moderate correlations among the frequency, severity, and duration of anticipatory nausea and vomiting as well as high correlations among the frequency, severity, and duration of posttreatment nausea and vomiting. Additionally, the heterotrait-monomethod matrices show a number of correlations above chance between anticipatory and posttreatment symptoms. The results are discussed in light of future research endeavors.This research was supported in part by Research Grant IN-150 from the American Cancer Society.     

早期乳腺癌患者术后心理状况研究

早期乳腺癌的检出率越来越高,关注治愈率同时,人们越来越关心患者术后的心理状态及生活质量.本文对保乳术及根治术后5年患者进行心理调查.保乳组患者术后心理障碍发生率明显低于根治组.保乳组患者术后心理状况影响因素主要为术后美容效果,而根治组患者心理障碍发生率与年龄、职业、家庭收入相关.两种手术方式对患者5年生存率及无病生存率的影响无明显差异,所以对于早期乳腺癌患者,在符合保乳原则的前提下,保乳手术是一种既安全又能提高生活质量的手术方式.     

医疗政策中的性别权力不平等:农村宫颈癌筛查的建制民族志分析

用建制民族志方法,访谈甘肃武都地区6位参与过宫颈癌筛查的农村妇女,3位未参与过宫颈癌筛查的农村妇女,1位宫颈癌筛查项目负责人以及2位参与筛查工作的医师,分析了中国农村宫颈癌筛查政策的不足。研究结果显示,现有的政策只针对女性身体,没有涉及男性,忽略了对女性心理层面的关怀,且缺乏对过度医疗化的有效规定。因此,建议政策制定应该纳入女性的声音,突显心理关怀和性别平等,并且探索解决过度医疗化的有效方式。     

诊断技术增强与癌症恐慌考量

癌症危及生命,人们寄希望于“三早”战略能带来福音。随着诊断技术增强,癌症发病率急剧飙升,但人群中癌症死亡率却没有明显降低,而由此引发的癌症恐慌趋势日益加剧。当今对癌症二级预防战略仍存在很多争议,尤其是引发的过度诊断和过度治疗更是备受关注。“三早”问题的关键并非是其本身问题,而是在于如何解释和应用“三早”原则。肿瘤可以早发现,但绝不能早恐慌;癌症应该早治疗,但权衡利弊很重要。人们应该以自然的心态应对恐慌,以整合的理念解决现代肿瘤问题。