Sexuality and intimacy following radical prostatectomy: Patient and partner perspectives.

Most research on adjustment following radical prostatectomy has focused on limited assessments of urinary and erectile functioning. In this study, the authors provided a more comprehensive assessment of sexuality from 134 radical prostatectomy patients and their partners and determined the extent to which various components of sexuality are associated with psychosocial adjustment. Measures of sexuality and intimacy modestly predicted patients' emotional distress and quality of life (QoL), with body image and dyadic adjustment playing the most important roles after controlling for medical variables, general physical functioning, and optimistic outlook. Urinary incontinence and other sexuality variables were not unique predictors. In contrast, partner ratings of sexual satisfaction played a more important role in predicting their QoL. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between voluntary employer changes and perceived job stress in Taiwan.

Although the career strategy of voluntary employer changes has been recognized, it remains unclear whether those adopting such a strategy pay a price of higher job stress or experience a benefit of lower job stress. Two competing hypotheses of the relationship between voluntary employer changes and perceived job stress were proposed. Data from a survey of master's of business administration degree holders in Taiwan supported the hypothesis of a negative relationship. Those with more voluntary employer changes perceive lower job stress. This finding expands the knowledge of the link between behavioral characteristics and job stress. The situations for this finding are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between child sleep disturbances and maternal sleep, mood, and parenting stress: A pilot study.

Although sleep disturbances in children are common, little is known about the relationship between children's sleep disruptions and maternal sleep and daytime functioning. Forty-seven mothers completed measures of sleep, depression, parenting stress, fatigue, and sleepiness. Significant differences in maternal mood and parenting stress were found between mothers of children with and without significant sleep disturbances. Regression analyses showed that the quality of the children's sleep significantly predicted the quality of maternal sleep. In addition, maternal sleep quality was a significant predictor of maternal mood, stress, and fatigue. Results from this pilot study support the need for future research examining the relationship between child sleep disturbances and maternal daytime functioning, and they highlight the importance of screening for and treating pediatric sleep disruptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The yellow brick road and the emerald city: Benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping and posttraumatic growth in women with early-stage breast cancer.

Predictors and outcomes of benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping, and posttraumatic growth were examined using interviews and questionnaires from a longitudinal study of women with early-stage breast cancer followed from primary medical treatment completion to 3 (n=92) and 12 months (n=60) later. Most women (83%) reported at least 1 benefit of their breast cancer experience. Benefit finding (i.e., identification of benefits, number of benefits), positive reappraisal coping, and posttraumatic growth had distinct significant predictors. Positive reappraisal coping at study entry predicted positive mood and perceived health at 3 and 12 months and posttraumatic growth at 12 months, whereas benefit finding did not predict any outcome. Findings suggest that benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping, and posttraumatic growth are related, but distinct, constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and sexual risk: Examining potential mechanisms.

Little is known about behavioral and psychological mechanisms that may explain relationships between posttraumatic stress and sexual risks. As rates of HIV infection among African American women remain significantly higher than for other female subgroups, research on sexual risk among African American women is needed. The present study examines the relationships of posttraumatic stress symptoms as measured by the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version with sexual risk behaviors, sexual sensation-seeking, and sexual compulsivity in 30 undergraduate African American women with any reported history of sexual intercourse. Higher posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with more sexual partners, greater frequency of vaginal sex without a condom, and endorsement of sex while under the influence of a substance. Posttraumatic stress symptoms were negatively correlated with perceived sexual control, but were not significantly correlated with sexual compulsivity or sensation-seeking. Perceived sexual control was negatively associated with frequency of unprotected sex and sex under the influence. The preliminary evidence from this small sample suggests sexual control may mediate the relationship of the posttraumatic stress symptoms with unprotected sex. These results are generally consistent with previous findings suggesting posttraumatic stress is associated with sexual risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily and momentary mood and stress are associated with binge eating and vomiting in bulimia nervosa patients in the natural environment.

The relation of mood and stress to binge eating and vomiting in the natural environments of patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) was examined using real-time data collection. Women (n = 131; mean age = 25.3 years) with BN carried a palmtop computer for 2 weeks and completed ratings of positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), anger/hostility (AH), and stress (STRS); they also indicated binge or vomit episodes (BN-events) 6 times each day. Mixed models were used to compare mood and STRS between and within days when BN-events occurred. Between-days analyses indicated that binge and vomit days both showed less PA, higher NA, higher AH, and greater STRS than days with no BN-events. Within-day, decreasing PA, and increasing NA and AH, reliably preceded BN-events. Conversely, PA increased, and NA and AH decreased following BN-events. Demonstration of the temporal sequencing of affect, STRS, and BN-events with a large BN sample may help advance theory and clinical practice, and supports the view that binge and purge events hold negatively reinforcing properties for women with BN. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention decreases the prevalence of depression and enhances benefit finding among women under treatment for early-stage breast cancer": Reply.

Replies to comments offered by J. C. Coyne and A. Kagee (see record 2001-05135-009) on the M. H. Antoni et al (see record 2000-14051-003) study on cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention's role in decreasing the prevalence of depression among women being treated for breast cancer. The authors of this article dispute the claim that patients in need cannot access interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social interaction moderates the relationship between depressive mood and heart rate variability: Evidence from an ambulatory monitoring study.

Objective: There is considerable evidence that depressive mood is related to lower parasympathetic control of the heart, thus increasing cardiovascular risk. However, little is known about social factors (e.g., social affiliation) that might moderate this relationship. Design: The authors examined whether cardiac autonomic control in healthy individuals with depressive symptoms could be altered by social interaction. Therefore, the authors conducted a 22-hr ambulatory monitoring study with a sample of 63 adults. Main Outcome Measures: Depression was assessed by questionnaire. Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), physical activity, and negative affect were recorded throughout one day via portable monitoring devices. Results and Conclusion: Multilevel analyses revealed that depression was related to elevated negative affect and higher heart rate throughout the day. Moreover, there was a tendency toward lower HRV in individuals with higher depression scores. This association, however, was moderated by social context. When depressive participants were alone they evidenced lower HRV and higher negative affect, but not when they were engaged in social interactions with a partner, family members, or friends. These findings suggest that the relation between depression and cardiac autonomic control could be altered by social interaction, thus possibly buffering adverse health effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderating effects of a craving intervention on the relation between negative mood and heavy drinking following treatment for alcohol dependence.

Objective: Negative affect is a significant predictor of alcohol relapse, and the relation between negative affect and drinking has been shown to be strongly mediated by alcohol craving. Thus, targeting craving during treatment could potentially attenuate the relation between negative affect and drinking. Method: The current study is a secondary analysis of data from the COMBINE study, a randomized clinical trial that combined pharmacotherapy with behavioral intervention in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Our goal in the current study was to examine whether a treatment module that targeted craving would predict changes in negative mood during the 16-week combined behavioral intervention (n = 776) and the relation among changes in mood, craving, and changes in heavy drinking during treatment and 1 year posttreatment. Results: Changes in negative mood were significantly associated with changes in heavy drinking during treatment (f2 = 0.78). Participants (n = 432) who received the craving module had significantly fewer heavy drinking days during treatment (d = 0.31), and receiving the module moderated the relation between negative mood and heavy drinking during treatment (f2 = 0.92) and 1 year posttreatment (f2 = 0.03). Moderating effects of the craving module were mediated by changes in craving during treatment. Within-subject analyses indicated significant pre- to postmodule reductions in negative mood. Additionally, postmodule craving significantly mediated the association between negative mood and heavy drinking during treatment and at posttreatment. Conclusions: The craving module of the combined behavioral intervention may weaken the relation between negative affect and heavy drinking by fostering greater decreases in craving during treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Benefit finding, affective reactions to diabetes stress, and diabetes management among early adolescents.

Objective: To examine whether benefit finding was associated with better adjustment among adolescents with diabetes by buffering negative affective reactions to diabetes stress and by promoting positive affective reactions. Design: Early adolescents aged 10–14 with Type 1 diabetes (n = 252) described recent diabetes stressors, affective reactions, and perceived coping effectiveness. They also completed measures of benefit finding, depressive symptoms, and adherence. Metabolic control (i.e., HbA1c) was obtained from medical records. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were perceived coping effectiveness, depressive symptoms, adherence, and HbA1c. Results: Benefit finding was associated with lower depressive symptoms, higher perceived coping effectiveness and better adherence, and with higher positive as well as negative affective reactions to diabetes stress. Benefit finding interacted with negative affective reactions to predict depressive symptoms and HbA1c. Negative affective reactions to stress were associated with poorer adjustment among those with low benefit finding, but were unrelated or more weakly related to poor adjustment among those with high benefit finding. Positive affective reactions did not mediate associations between benefit finding and any outcome. Conclusions: Consistent with a stress-buffering process, benefit finding may be a resource that buffers the disruptive aspects of negative affective reactions to stress for adolescents' diabetes management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seeing the silver lining: Cognitive reappraisal ability moderates the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms.

Individuals differ in their adjustment to stressful life events, with some exhibiting impaired functioning, including depression, while others exhibit impressive resilience. The present study examined the hypothesis that the ability to deploy a particularly adaptive type of emotion regulation—cognitive reappraisal—may be a protective factor. It expands upon existing research in three ways. First, participants' ability to use reappraisal (cognitive reappraisal ability: CRA) was measured by using a behavioral challenge that assessed changes in experiential and physiological domains, rather than questionnaires. Second, all participants had been exposed to one or more recent stressful life events, a context in which emotion regulation may be particularly important. Third, a community sample of 78 women aged 20 to 60 was recruited, as opposed to undergraduates. Results indicate that, at low levels of stress, participants' CRA was not associated with depressive symptoms. However, at high levels of stress, women with high CRA exhibited less depressive symptoms than those with low CRA, suggesting that CRA may be an important moderator of the link between stress and depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol use disorder history moderates the relationship between avoidance coping and posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Avoidance coping (AVC) is common in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Given that PTSD and AUD commonly co-occur, AVC may represent a risk factor for the development of comorbid posttraumatic stress and alcohol use. In this study, the relationship between AVC and PTSD symptoms (PTSS) was examined in individuals with versus without AUDs. Motor vehicle accident (MVA) victims were assessed 6 weeks postaccident for AUD history (i.e. diagnoses of current or past alcohol abuse or dependence) and AVC. PTSS were assessed 6 weeks and 6 months post-MVA. All analyses were conducted on the full sample of MVA victims as well as on the subset of participants who were legally intoxicated (blood alcohol concentration ≥ 0.08) during the accident. It was hypothesized that the relationship between AVC and PTSS would be stronger in those individuals with an AUD history and especially strong in the subset of individuals who were legally intoxicated during the MVA. Results were largely supportive of this hypothesis, even after controlling for in-hospital PTSS, gender, and current major depression. Early assessment of AUD history and avoidance coping may aid in detecting those at elevated risk for PTSD, and intervening to reduce AVC soon after trauma may help buffer the development of PTSD + AUD comorbidity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

An examination of the relationship between general life stress, racism-related stress, and psychological health among black men.

This study explored the relationship among general life stress, racism-related stress, and psychological health in a sample of 220 Black men. Participants completed a personal data form, the Perceived Stress Scale (S. Cohen, T. Kamarck, & R. Mermelstein, 1983), a modified version of the Schedule of Racist Events (H. Landrine & E. A. Klonoff, 1996), and the Mental Health Inventory (C. T. Veit & J. E. Ware, 1983). Results of hierarchical regressions indicated that when general stress was controlled, racism-related stress predicted an additional 4% of variance in psychological distress for working class men and an additional 7% for middle-upper class men. Racism-related stress also predicted an additional 5% of variance in psychological well-being for middle-upper class men; however, it was not predictive of psychological well-being for working class men. Implications for counseling practice and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal analysis of the relationship between symptoms and quality of life in veterans treated for posttraumatic stress disorder.

This study examined how change in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms relates to change in quality of life. The sample consisted of 325 male Vietnam veterans with chronic PTSD who participated in a randomized trial of group psychotherapy. Latent growth modeling was used to test for synchronous effects of PTSD symptom change on psychosocial and physical health-related quality of life within the same time period and lagged effects of initial PTSD symptom change on later change in quality of life. PTSD symptoms were associated with reduced quality of life before treatment. There were synchronous effects of symptom change on change in quality of life but no significant lagged effects. Results indicate the importance of measuring quality of life in future investigations of PTSD treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of coping in the relationship between perceived racism and racism-related stress for Asian Americans: Gender differences.

On the basis of stress and coping theory, the authors examined coping as a mediator of the relationship between perceptions of racism and racism-related stress with a sample of Asian American college students (N = 336). Results indicated that coping mediated the relationship between racism and racism-related stress differentially by gender. The more that men perceived racism, the more likely they were to use support-seeking coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The more that women perceived racism, the more they used active coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The findings demonstrate how coping with racism differs for Asian Americans on the basis of gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping mediates the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol use in homeless, ethnically diverse women: A preliminary study.

Homeless women are at increased risk for problematic alcohol use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While coping motives have been shown to mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms and alcohol problems in victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, it is unknown whether this relationship is evident in other trauma-exposed populations. The focus of this study was to examine whether drinking to cope mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and current alcohol use in a group of homeless, ethnically diverse women. Twenty-three women were recruited from local shelters in a southwestern community and asked to complete measures assessing their current alcohol use, drinking motives, and PTSD symptoms. Results revealed that drinking to cope mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and current alcohol use. This finding supports the theory that homeless women may benefit from treatment interventions that address both their substance use and trauma issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An extension of uncertainty management theory to the self: The relationship between justice, social comparison orientation, and antisocial work behaviors.

A multisource field study of 103 employees and their supervisors tested an extension of uncertainty management theory (E. A. Lind & K. Van den Bos, 2002; K. Van den Bos & E. A. Lind, 2002). According to this theory, persons high in social comparison orientation (F. X. Gibbons & B. P. Buunk, 1999) experience chronic uncertainty about the self. It was hypothesized that this should strengthen the effects of interactional and procedural justice perceptions on antisocial work behaviors. As predicted, the negative relationship between employee perceptions of interactional justice and supervisory ratings of antisocial work behaviors was stronger for people who are high as compared with low in social comparison orientation. Results provide evidence for an extension of uncertainty management theory to the self-domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)