Marital interaction of agoraphobic women: A controlled, behavioral observation study.

Married couples with a female agoraphobic spouse (n = 22) were compared with demographically similar community control couples (n = 21) on self-report and observational measures of marital interaction. Consistent with hypotheses, husbands of agoraphobic women were more critical of their wives than were control husbands, and clinical couples were less likely to engage in positive problem solution than control couples. Contrary to hypothesis, clinical husbands were not less supportive than control husbands. Where general measures of marital distress were concerned, clinical couples, relative to control couples, evinced more distress by self-report, by their higher rate of negative nonverbal behavior, and by their longer sequences of negative exchanges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of ambivalent coping to depression symptoms and adjustment.

Objective: To assess the influence of mental distancing and venting emotions on depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Participants: Seventy-six individuals hospitalized with acute burn injuries. Design: Prospective longitudinal study. Measures: Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, E. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. Mock, & J. Erbaugh, 1961), COPE (C. S. Carver, M. F. Scheier, & J. K. Weintraub, 1989), and Short Form--36 Health Survey (J. E. Ware, K. K. Snow, M. Kosinski, & B. Gandek, 1993). Results: Ambivalent coping at baseline (i.e., using both mental distancing and venting emotions, relative to using only 1 or neither) led to more symptoms of depression at follow-up, even when baseline symptoms were controlled. Ambivalent coping was related to postburn psychosocial HRQOL, and baseline symptoms of depression only slightly attenuated this relationship. Conclusions: Ambivalent coping appears to result from vacillation between motives. Decreasing inconsistent coping or reducing antithetical motivation may reduce depression and improve adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APIC position paper: hepatitis C exposure in the health care setting. Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc (APIC), is a multidisciplinary, voluntary, international organization of professionals who practice infection control and the application of epidemiology in all health settings. APIC is an international leader in prevention and control of infection transmission.     

Coping with body image changes following a disfiguring burn injury.

The influence of emotion-focused coping on distress following disfiguring injury was examined. Two types of emotion-focused coping (i.e., venting emotions vs. mental disengagement) were assessed in 78 patients with burn injury at baseline during acute hospitalization. Body image dissatisfaction (BID) was assessed 1 week and 2 months following discharge. Use at baseline of both venting emotions and mental disengagement, compared with use of only one or neither of these coping methods, was associated at the 2-month postdischarge follow-up with significantly higher BID related to nonfacial aspects of appearance and with a greater negative social impact of disfigurement. D. M. Wegner's (1994) theoretical model of mental control and a proposed motivational analysis are used to interpret these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of the Satisfaction With Appearance Scale: Assessing body image among burn-injured patients.

The Satisfaction With Appearance Scale (SWAP) is a 14-item questionnaire, assessing both the subjective appraisal and social-behavioral components of body image among burn survivors. Burn survivors requiring hospitalization (n?=?165) completed a packet of psychometric instruments, including the SWAP at 1-week postdischarge. The SWAP demonstrated a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha, ra ?=?.87; the mean interitem correlation, rii ?=?.32, the mean item-total correlation, rit ?=?.53). Eighty-four participants were retested approximately 2 months after the initial assessment to evaluate test-retest reliability ( rtt ?=?.59). A principal-components analysis with a varimax rotation yielded 4 easily interpretable factors accounting for 66% of the total variance. The correlations of the SWAP total score with other selected psychometric measures provided evidence for both convergent and discriminant validity. This initial evaluation of the SWAP suggests that it is both a reliable and valid measure of body image for a burn-injured population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reliability and validity of the Perceived Stigmatization Questionnaire (PSQ) and the Social Comfort Questionnaire (SCQ) among an adult burn survivor sample.

In this study, 361 adult burn survivors completed the Perceived Stigmatization Questionnaire (PSQ), the Social Comfort Questionnaire (SCQ), and other measures. Both the PSQ and SCQ had good internal consistency indices. Factor analysis of the PSQ yielded 3 factors (absence of friendly behavior, confused/staring behavior, and hostile behavior). The SCQ had 1 factor. Conjoint factor analysis with measures of related constructs (body esteem, body-esteem importance, depression, social support) suggested that PSQ and SCQ measure distinct constructs. Correlations with the related psychosocial constructs and burn characteristics suggested the PSQ and SCQ have good convergent and discriminant validity. Limitations of the study are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency and correlates of depression symptoms among long-term adult burn survivors.

Objective: To determine the frequency and correlates of symptoms of depression experienced by long-term burn survivors. Design: An exploratory study of a cross-sectional, self-selected sample. Participants: 311 burn survivors who were at least 3 years postburn (M = 20, SD = 15). Main Outcome Measure: The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, which is a self-report measure of symptoms of depression. Results: Depending on the cutoff score used, 20%-30% of the sample reported clinically significant symptoms of depression. A hierarchical multiple regression model accounted for 59% of the variance in symptoms of depression. Variables were entered in 3 blocks--burn characteristics, demographic characteristics, and psychosocial characteristics. Psychosocial characteristics such as social support and social comfort accounted for a majority of the variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)