Pain coping and social support as predictors of long-term functional disability and pain in early rheumatoid arthritis

Pain-related avoidance factors and social resources, as assessed by pain coping and social support, are supposed to have lasting effects on functional disability and pain in chronic pain disorders. As a follow-up to a prospective study demonstrating short-term effects after one year (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 179-193, 1998), the role of pain coping and social support at the time of diagnosis was investigated in relationship to the long-term course of functional disability and pain after three and five years in 78 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), taking into account personality characteristics of neuroticism and extraversion, clinical status and use of medication. In line with findings at the one-year follow-up, results showed that more passive pain coping predicted functional disability at the three-year, but not the five-year follow-up. In addition, low levels of social support at the time of diagnosis consistently predicted both functional disability and pain at the three and five-year follow-ups. Results indicate that pain coping and social support, assessed very early in the disease process, can affect long-term functional disability and pain in RA, and suggest that early interventions focusing on pain-related avoidance factors and social resources for patients at risk may beneficially influence long-term outcomes in RA.     

Development and Validation of a Dutch Translation of the Big Five Inventory (BFI)

The MMPI profiles of 74 low back pain patients who had previously been classified as "functional," "organic," or "mixed" were sorted into six profile groups. The six profile groups were those used by Pichot, Perse, Lekeous, Dureau, Perez, and Rychewaert (1972); denial, "conversion V" without defensiveness, "conversion V" with defensiveness, depressed/anxious, psychotic and normal. Results indicate that all six profile types are welt represented in the low back pain group. Evidence is also presented which shows that each of the pathological MMPI profile types examined across "functional," "organic," and "mixed" classification is significantly more elevated than a normal profile group on two scales (Lb, DOR) designed to measure functional aspects of pain. Pathological MMPI profile groups did not differ significantly from each other on the "functional," pain scales. The data presented in this study point to the relationship of various forms of psychopathology with "functional pain." The findings of this stud v would not support a homogeneous "pain personality" for low back pain patients. However, combined "conversion V" profiles accounted for 58% of the "functional" group, 45% of the "mixed" group and 35% of the "organic" group.     

Emotion processing and regulation in women with morbid obesity who apply for bariatric surgery

Emotional eating, the tendency to eat when experiencing negative affect, is prevalent in morbid obesity and may indicate that ways to deal with emotions are disturbed. Our aim was to compare emotion processing and regulation between 102 women with morbid obesity who apply for bariatric surgery and 102 women from the general population (control group) and to examine in the group with morbid obesity the association of emotion processing and regulation with emotional eating. The group with morbid obesity reported higher scores on difficulty identifying feelings (alexithymia, p?=?0.002) and suppression of emotions (p?=?0.003) than the control group. In the women with morbid obesity, more negative affect and a higher difficulty identifying feelings were correlated with more emotional eating (r?=?0.36 and r?=?0.35, p?相似文献   

Single‐item big five ratings in a social network design

To develop and validate an ultra‐short measure to assess the Big Five in social network designs, the unipolar items of the Ten‐Item Personality Inventory were adapted to create a bipolar single‐item scale (TIPI‐r), including a new Openness item. Reliability was examined in terms of the internal consistency and test–retest stability of self‐ratings and peer‐rating composites (trait reputations). Validity was examined by means of convergence between TIPI‐r and Big Five Inventory (BFI) scores, self‐peer agreement and projection (intra‐ individual correlation between self‐ and peer‐ratings). The psychometric quality of the TIPI‐r differed somewhat between scales and the different reliability and validity criteria. The high reliability of the peer‐rating composites motivates to use the TIPI‐r in future studies employing social network designs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of a Dutch translation of the Big Five Inventory (BFI)

In this article, we describe the translation and validation of the Dutch Big Five Inventory (BFI; John & Srivastava, 1999), a short instrument designed to measure the Big Five factors of personality. We obtained evidence of the instrument's good psychometric properties in terms of factorial equivalence to the English original and other BFI translations and the relative independence and internal consistency of the five scales. The findings suggest that the instrument can be used in diverse age groups without substantial changes in factor structure. The Dutch BFI scales showed similar demographic correlates as the English original, with higher Agreeableness and Conscientiousness and lower Neuroticism values in older participants, higher Neuroticism values in women, and higher Openness and Conscientiousness values in better educated participants. Use of the Dutch BFI will allow researchers to integrate their findings with the extant Big Five research literature. The brevity of the instrument will be appealing to researchers who are concerned about taxing the time and motivation of their participants.     

Dimensions of information processing: physiological reactions to motion pictures

Information processing is studied using physiological reactions to motion pictures as a major tool. In study I (N=44) physiological reactions are subjected to multivariate analysis revealing three major dimensions: familiarization, effort, and readiness (cf. Pribram and McGuinness, 1992). Each dimension contrasts controlled processing with automatic processing. In study II (N=72) and study III (N=96) the dimensions are tested. In those studies specific information is provided prior to film onset and the effects on the physiological reactions are studied. The results generally confirm the model. Study IV (N=44) is concerned with individual differences in information processing. Reactions to seven films are analysed with generalizability for each dimension separately. The results show that individual dimension scores are highly consistent across different situations. In the discussion it is argued that the three information processing dimensions identified here can be conceived as stable personality dispositions, underlying individual differences in learning and overt behaviour. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Affect in the Relationship Between Distributive Justice Expectations and Applicants' Recommendation and Litigation Intentions

This paper examined the moderating role of positive and negative affect in the relationship between distributive justice expectations and applicants' intentions to recommend the organization or to litigate. Specifically, it was suggested and supported in two samples of, respectively, 1,409 and 486 applicants, that the positive relationship between distributive justice expectations and recommendation intentions was stronger for applicants high in positive affect. In the second sample, it was further found that the negative relationship between distributive justice expectations and litigation intentions was stronger among applicants high in negative affect. This research is the first to identify the distinct roles of positive and negative affect in shaping responses to expectations of (un)fairness in the personnel selection literature. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The beneficial effects of prosocial spending on happiness: work hard,make money,and spend it on others?

Previous research has shown that the way people spend their money is as important to happiness as how much money people earn. Specifically, it has been shown that spending money on others contributes more to an individual’s happiness than spending money on oneself. In the present study, we investigated this effect and examined the role of the money’s origin. Students were randomly assigned either to spend a small amount of money on themselves or to spend the money on others. Moreover, half of the participants received the money as a wage, whereas the other half received the money as a windfall. The results replicated previous research indicating that prosocial spenders report greater happiness than do selfish spenders. However, the happiness effect was unaffected by the source of the money (i.e. wage vs. windfall). Implications for well-being and happiness are discussed.     

Crying Without Tears: Dimensions of Crying and Relations With Ocular Dryness and Mental Well-Being in Patients With Sjögren’s Syndrome

This study examined dimensions of crying and its relations with ocular dryness and mental well-being in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, a systemic autoimmune disease with dryness as primary symptom. Three-hundred patients with Sjögren’s syndrome completed questionnaires on crying, dryness, and well-being. The crying questionnaire revealed four dimensions: “Cryability” (comprising both crying sensibility and ability to cry), Somatic consequences, Frustration, and Suppression. Compared to 100 demographically-matched control participants from the general population, patients scored low on Cryability and high on Somatic consequences and Frustration. The crying dimensions generally showed significant but weak associations with ocular dryness and mental well-being in patients. This is the first quantitative study indicating that crying problems are more common in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome than in the general population. Perhaps, patients who experience problems with crying could be helped to rely on other ways of expressing emotions than crying in tear-inducing situations.