Objective and subjective socioeconomic status and susceptibility to the common cold.

Objective: We ask whether subjective socioeconomic status (SES) predicts who develops a common cold when exposed to a cold virus. Design: 193 healthy men and women ages 21-55 years were assessed for subjective (perceived rank) and objective SES, cognitive, affective and social dispositions, and health practices. Subsequently, they were exposed by nasal drops to a rhinovirus or influenza virus and monitored in quarantine for objective signs of illness and self-reported symptoms. Main Outcome Measures: Infection, signs and symptoms of the common cold, and clinical illness (infection and significant objective signs of illness). Results: Increased subjective SES was associated with decreased risk for developing a cold for both viruses. This association was independent of objective SES and of cognitive, affective and social disposition that might provide alternative spurious (third factor) explanations for the association. Poorer sleep among those with lesser subjective SES may partly mediate the association between subjective SES and colds. Conclusions: Increased Subjective SES is associated with less susceptibility to upper respiratory infection, and this association is independent of objective SES, suggesting the importance of perceived relative rank to health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big Five dimensions and ADHD symptoms: Links between personality traits and clinical symptoms.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adulthood is conceptualized as originating in childhood. Despite considerable theoretical interest, little is known about how ADHD symptoms relate to normal personality traits in adults. In 6 studies, the Big Five personality dimensions were related to ADHD symptoms that adults both recalled from childhood and reported concurrently (total N=1,620). Substantial effects emerged that were replicated across samples. First, the ADHD symptom cluster of inattention-disorganization was substantially related to low Conscientiousness and, to a lesser extent, Neuroticism. Second, ADHD symptom clusters of hyperactivity-impulsivity and oppositional childhood and adult behaviors were associated with low Agreeableness. Results were replicated with self-reports and observer reports of personality in community and clinical samples. Findings support theoretical connections between personality traits and ADHD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Squamous cell carcinoma markers in neoplasms of the uterine cervix

In an extremely well-controlled study, Cohen et al. (1998) add to prior knowledge of stress-illness relationships by showing that self-reports of stress occurrence and duration of 1 month or more, rather than estimates of stressor severity, predict susceptibility to experimentally induced colds (i.e., viral replication and cold symptoms). Although ruling out obvious behavioral and personality factors as causes of the association of stressors to colds, they were unable to identify mediational immune factors, a deficit attributable to the difficulty of assessing the multi-layered, dynamic physiological processes within the bidirectional connections of the nervous (stress) and immune systems. The findings provide an interesting complement to data, showing that people use stressor duration in evaluating the illness implications of somatic symptoms (Cameron et al., 1995), and suggest caution with regard to overestimating the prevalence of stress-induced colds in natural settings.     

Social ties and susceptibility to the common cold

OBJECTIVE: To examine the hypothesis that diverse ties to friends, family, work, and community are associated with increased host resistance to infection. DESIGN: After reporting the extent of participation in 12 types of social ties (eg, spouse, parent, friend, workmate, member of social group), subjects were given nasal drops containing 1 of 2 rhinoviruses and monitored for the development of a common cold. SETTING: Quarantine. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 276 healthy volunteers, aged 18 to 55 years, neither seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus nor pregnant. OUTCOME MEASURES: Colds (illness in the presence of a verified infection), mucus production, mucociliary clearance function, and amount of viral replication. RESULTS: In response to both viruses, those with more types of social ties were less susceptible to common colds, produced less mucus, were more effective in ciliary clearance of their nasal passages, and shed less virus. These relationships were unaltered by statistical controls for prechallenge virus-specific antibody, virus type, age, sex, season, body mass index, education, and race. Susceptibility to colds decreased in a dose-response manner with increased diversity of the social network. There was an adjusted relative risk of 4.2 comparing persons with fewest (1 to 3) to those with most (6 or more) types of social ties. Although smoking, poor sleep quality, alcohol abstinence, low dietary intake of vitamin C, elevated catecholamine levels, and being introverted were all associated with greater susceptibility to colds, they could only partially account for the relation between social network diversity and incidence of colds. CONCLUSIONS: More diverse social networks were associated with greater resistance to upper respiratory illness.     

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in adult Still''s disease

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is often preceded by a viral illness and has recurrent "flu-like" symptoms. We compared demographic, clinical, and laboratory features (markers of inflammation and viral infection) among 717 patients with chronic fatigue (CF) with and without a self-reported postinfectious onset to identify associated clinical and biologic findings and to examine the subset of patients with CFS. Only subjective fever, chills, sore throat, lymphadenopathy, poorer functional status, and attribution of illness to a physical condition were significantly associated with a postinfectious onset. The features of patients with CFS were virtually identical to those of the broader category of patients with CF. We conclude that a postinfectious onset was not associated with a pattern of abnormalities across multiple psychosocial and biologic parameters.     

It's long-term stressors that take a toll: Comment on Cohen et al. (1998).

In an extremely well-controlled study, Cohen et al. (1998) add to prior knowledge of stress-illness relationships by showing that self-reports of stress occurrence and duration of one month or more, rather than estimates of stressor severity, predict susceptibility to experimentally induced colds (i.e., viral replication and cold symptoms). Although ruling out obvious behavioral and personality factors as causes of the association of stressors to colds, they were unable to identify mediational immune factors, a deficit attributable to the difficulty of assessing the multi-layered, dynamic physiological processes within the bidirectional connections of the nervous (stress) and immune systems. The findings provide an interesting complement to data, showing that people use stressor duration in evaluating the illness implications of somatic symptoms (L. C. Cameron et al, see record 1995-30591-001), and suggest caution with regard to overestimating the prevalence of stress-induced colds in natural settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between personality and coping: A meta-analysis.

Personality may directly facilitate or constrain coping, but relations of personality to coping have been inconsistent across studies, suggesting a need for greater attention to methods and samples. This meta-analysis tested moderators of relations between Big Five personality traits and coping using 2,653 effect sizes drawn from 165 samples and 33,094 participants. Personality was weakly related to broad coping (e.g., Engagement or Disengagement), but all 5 traits predicted specific strategies. Extraversion and Conscientiousness predicted more problem-solving and cognitive restructuring, Neuroticism less. Neuroticism predicted problematic strategies like wishful thinking, withdrawal, and emotion-focused coping but, like Extraversion, also predicted support seeking. Personality more strongly predicted coping in young samples, stressed samples, and samples reporting dispositional rather than situation-specific coping. Daily versus retrospective coping reports and self-selected versus researcher-selected stressors also moderated relations between personality and coping. Cross-cultural differences were present, and ethnically diverse samples showed more protective effects of personality. Richer understanding of the role of personality in the coping process requires assessment of personality facets and specific coping strategies, use of laboratory and daily report studies, and multivariate analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, temperament, and character dimensions and the DSM-IV personality disorders in substance abusers.

The authors evaluated the relationship between P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae's (1992) NEO 5-factor model, C. R. Cloninger's (1993) 7-factor Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the American Psychiatric Association's (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., personality disorders in 370 inpatient and outpatient alcohol, cocaine, and opiate abusers. NEO Neuroticism was associated with many disorders, and different patterns for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion emerged for the different disorders. Several TCI scales were associated with different personality disorders, although not as strongly as the NEO dimensions. Results did not support most predictions made for the TCI. Normal personality dimensions contributed significantly to the prediction of personality disorder severity above and beyond substance abuse and depression symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality Factors and Injury Severity in the Prediction of Early and Late Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes.

Objective: To identify personality features predicting early and late outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design: Multiple regression analyses of data from an inception cohort. Participants: Sixty-nine persons with moderate to severe TBI and significant others (SOs). Outcome Measures: Rasch measure of supervision, independent living, and work (Participation and Independence Measure) at hospital discharge and at 1-year follow-up. Predictor Variables: Duration of posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) and NEO Personality Inventory-Revised completed by participants and SOs to describe participant's preinjury personality. Results: Overall personality variables were within normal limits. Only self-reported Neuroticism, specifically Depression, added significantly to PTA in predicting early outcome. Conclusions: Although self-reported depression negatively affects TBI outcome, other personality features reported by people with TBI and SOs during early recovery are normal and do not affect outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative affect and self-report of physical symptoms: Two longitudinal studies of older adults.

The ability of negative affect (NA) to predict somatic complaints 6 months later was examined. State NA, including anxious affect (AA) and depressive affect (DA), was measured in 2 separate samples of older adults averaging 62 and 73 years of age. In the first study, DA reliably predicted later complaints, and a corresponding trend was noted for NA. The second study showed that state NA and its 2 constituent variables predicted somatic complaints associated with acute illness (e.g., colds) 6 months later. The second study also examined trait measures of the 3 predictor variables and found that NA and AA, but not DA, were associated with subsequent somatic complaints. However, these trait effects were less robust than those attributable to their state counterparts. The authors conclude that negative mood states are the more consistent predictors of later physical symptom reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuroticism and selective encoding and recall of symptoms: Evidence from a combined concurrent-retrospective study.

The association between neuroticism (N) and elevated symptom reporting has been attributed to differences in the encoding, but not in the recall, of illness episodes. If high-N persons are selective only at the encoding of illness information, then retrospective reports should be no more exaggerated than concurrent reports. This study uses a concurrent–retrospective design to examine selectivity in concurrent and retrospective reports of symptoms. Concurrent daily reports gathered over 2 mo were only moderately correlated with retrospective symptom reports covering the same time period. The direct path from N to recalled symptoms was larger than the indirect path from N through concurrent to recalled symptoms for 3 out of 4 symptoms. Discussion concerns implications of using recollection-based measures, suggestions for reducing selective memory effects, and explanations regarding how and why N relates to selective information processing about the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abstract versus concrete goals: Personal striving level, physical illness, and psychological well-being.

Examined the relation between personal striving level and psychological and physical well-being. Level refers to the degree of generality vs specificity of one's goal strivings. In 3 studies, 188 Ss generated lists of their personal strivings, which were then rated on specificity level. High-level striving was associated with more psychological distress, particularly depression. Low-level striving was related to higher levels of physical illness. Correlations between striving level and self-reported symptoms were generally not as strong as those between level and the more objective illness indicators. High-level strivings were seen as more difficult and requiring more effort than low-level strivings. Results are interpreted in terms of control theory, goal-setting theory, and the repressive personality style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pigmentary glaucoma? Relations to megalocornea

The student population at Edinburgh University was surveyed in 1974 to collect data on women's menstrual cycles and to examine sources of individual differences in reporting symptoms associated with the cycle. 2542 non-oral contraceptive (OC) users and 756 OC users provided data. Both sets of respondents were questioned about the occurrence, both premenstrually and during menstruation, of 9 symptoms. The "physical" symptoms (stomachache, backache, nausea, fainting) were more often reported during menstruation, whereas the so-called "emotional" symptoms (lethargy, irritability, depression, tension, headache) had a greater prevalence premenstrually. When the 9 menstrual symptoms were broken down by students' fields of concentration, arts students were found to report more "emotional" symptoms than those in the sciences and professions (medicine and law). Further analysis showed that only and 1st born children were slightly less likely to report symptoms than those whose nearest sibling is 7 or more years older or younger or later born children. A similar trend was found for the reporting of illness in an earlier analysis of data from this sample. When cycle length and reqularity were analyzed together, women with long and regular cycles were found to have the lowest proportion reporting symptoms during menstruating with the exception of tension, nausea, and fainting, and women with short and irregular cycles had a correspondingly high incidence of all symptoms. In addition, women with more regular cycles were more likely to report infrequent recall of dreams than those with irregular cycles. Overall, the women who are most likely to report menstrual symptoms, especially those of an "emotional" character, are more likely to report other illnesses with emotional connotations, recall their dreams more frequently, show a preference for the arts, and tend to have been brought up with older siblings. This cluster of personality attributes defines an "expressive" personaltiy in contrast to the more "controlled" style of women at the other extreme.     

Good health according to the residents of the community

Although a role for family and parent factors in the development of behavioral problems in childhood is often acknowledged, the roles of specific parental characteristics in relation to specific child actions need further elucidation. We studied parental "Big Five" personality traits and psychiatric diagnoses in relation to their children's antisocial diagnoses and naturalistically observed antisocial behaviors, in boys with and without the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). First, regardless of comorbid antisocial diagnosis, boys with ADHD, more often than comparison boys, had mothers with a major depressive episode and/or marked anxiety symptoms in the past year, and fathers with a childhood history of ADHD. Second, compared to the nondiagnosed group, boys with comorbid ADHD + Oppositional Defiant or Conduct Disorder (ODD/CD) had fathers with lower Agreeableness, higher Neuroticism, and more likelihood of having Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Third, regarding linkages between parental characteristics and child externalizing behaviors, higher rates of child overt antisocial behaviors observed in a naturalistic summer program were associated primarily with maternal characteristics, including higher Neuroticism, lower Conscientiousness, presence of Major Depression, and absence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The association of maternal Neuroticism with child aggression was larger in the ADHD than in the comparison group. In contrast, higher rates of observed child covert antisocial behaviors were associated solely with paternal characteristics, including history of substance abuse and higher Openness. Results provide external validation in parent data for a distinction between overt and covert antisocial behaviors and support inclusion of parent personality traits in family studies. The interaction of maternal Neuroticism and child ADHD in predicting child aggression is interpreted in regard to a conceptualization of child by parent "fit."     

Awareness of illness in schizophrenia and outpatient treatment adherence

We present a brief measure of awareness of illness in schizophrenia and test whether awareness is related to perceived need for and adherence to outpatient psychiatric treatment. A prospective design assessed treatment adherence, awareness of the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia, symptoms, neurocognitive status, and substance abuse at baseline and 6-month follow-up in 89 persons with schizophrenia. Results indicate that persons with greater awareness perceived greater need for outpatient treatment and evidenced better adherence to outpatient treatment when adherence and awareness were measured concurrently. Awareness was not related to adherence at 6-month follow-up. In addition, neurocognitive impairment was associated with lower overall adherence to treatment when reported by collaterals at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Neurocognitive impairment was, however, associated with higher self-reported adherence to medication, which suggests that neurocognitive status may bias adherence reporting in persons with schizophrenia.     

Predictors of relationship functioning for patients with bipolar disorder and their partners.

Previous investigations have examined family functioning, including marital functioning, as an important predictor of the course of bipolar disorder, but limited research exists identifying the factors that influence relationship functioning in patients with bipolar disorder. In the current study, 56 patients with bipolar disorder and their partners were assessed for Axis II pathology, general family functioning, and relationship distress. Patient mood symptoms and Axis II pathology variables were examined as predictors of general relationship functioning (Family Assessment Device, McMaster Clinical Rating Scale, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale) in regression models. Analyses indicated that patients' depressive symptomatology was associated with patient ratings of general family functioning and couple functioning, while patients' manic symptoms were associated with partners' ratings of the romantic relationship. Partners' total Axis II pathology, but not patients' Axis II pathology, was associated with patient and partner perception of the couple's relationship. These findings highlight the importance of mood and personality pathology to relationship functioning, and represent one of the first investigations to verify the impact of personality pathology on patients' and partners' perceptions of relationship functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Types of stressors that increase susceptibility to the common cold in healthy adults.

Two-hundred seventy-six volunteers completed a life stressor interview and psychological questionnaires and provided blood and urine samples. They were then inoculated with common cold viruses and monitored for the onset of disease. Although severe acute stressful life events (less than 1 month long) were not associated with developing colds, severe chronic stressors (1 month or longer) were associated with a substantial increase in risk of disease. This relation was attributable primarily to under- or unemployment and to enduring interpersonal difficulties with family or friends. The association between chronic stressors and susceptibility to colds could not be fully explained by differences among stressed and nonstressed persons in social network characteristics, personality, health practices, or prechallenge endocrine or immune measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why do people with an anxiety disorder utilize more nonmental health care than those without?

Objective: It is unclear why nonmental healthcare utilization is greater among those with psychological problems. The authors examined healthcare utilization in HMO patients to determine whether greater utilization in anxiety disorder (AD) patients was explained by anxiety symptoms (increasing sensitivity to physical symptoms) or comorbid illness (causing greater need for services). Design: Patients were randomly selected from the database of a multi-specialty practice and 1,041 completed a survey assessing psychological symptoms, health behaviors, and demographics. Anxiety symptoms were assessed by questionnaire and the presence of an AD was determined from the medical chart. Healthcare encounters and medication use were abstracted from medical charts and HMO claims data. Main Outcome Measures: Healthcare utilization. Results: Both AD and anxiety symptoms predicted utilization, but symptoms were not associated with utilization in a model that also included AD. Comorbid illness was significantly associated with utilization independent of AD and somewhat reduced the strength of the AD-utilization association. The results were replicated in comparison of those with any psychiatric disorder to those without. Conclusion: Among those with AD, greater utilization is not explained by anxiety symptoms but is partly explained by greater comorbid illness. Further study is needed to understand excess healthcare utilization among AD patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

NEO PI-R personality characteristics of high-performing entry-level police officers.

The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R; P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McRae, 1992) measures the 5-factor model of personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) and 30 specific personality facets within these domains. Researchers in personnel selection are beginning to use the NEO PI-R to describe the personality characteristics of high-functioning employees, including police officers. Here, 100 field training officers (FTOs) described the "best" entry-level police officers they had supervised, using the NEO PI-R Form R (Observer form). The resulting profile was notable for low Neuroticism, high Extraversion, and high Conscientiousness. NEO PI-R profiles of very high- and very low-performing entry-level officers were then compared. The low-performing group had higher Neuroticism and lower Conscientiousness scores than the high-performing group. The latter group was notable for low Neuroticism and high Conscientiousness scores that were similar to those obtained from the FTO sample. Results are relevant to identifying personality characteristics of high-performing entry-level police officers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)