Simple versus complex feedback displays in the training of digital temperature.

Trained 15 male volunteers for 2 days to increase their hand temperature; 8 Ss received analog meter feedback and 7 received analog meter feedback plus binary feedback by both lights and tones. All Ss were paid $.25/.1Deg.C change from baseline on each day. As previously reported, it appeared difficult to train digital temperature increases above baseline using feedback and reward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in response to the behavioral treatment of Raynaud's disease.

30 23–54 yr old female patients with idiopathic Raynaud's disease were subjected to 1 of 4 behavioral treatments designed to facilitate digital vasodilation. The Ss were administered the Psychological Screening Inventory prior to treatment. All treatment conditions demonstrated significant improvement in digital skin temperature assessed during a cold stress test administered both before and after treatment. Ss with low scores on the Alienation scale of the Psychological Screening Inventory demonstrated significantly more improvement than Ss with high scores. In addition, older Ss responded better than younger Ss to these behavioral treatments. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative exposure ratios: a non-parametric, multifactor technique for case-control studies

The odds ratio in a two-by-two table is widely used in case-control studies to measure association between disease and a binary risk factor. In this article we propose a more general measure of association, the comparative exposure ratio (CER), which is the ratio of the number of case-control pairs where the case has greater exposure divided by the number where the control has greater exposure. In simple cases, the CER is an odds ratio or a weighted combination of odds ratios. In more general cases, a CER continues to measure association even when an odds ratio computation is not feasible. Moreover, CERs improve on odds ratios in several ways: they do not require binary risk factors, or a choice of the scale of measurement of continuous risk factors; they make it possible to investigate multiple risk factors simultaneously, without multivariate parametric assumptions; they also can be used to detect patterns that might indicate possible causal pathways. We illustrate how various choices of the definition of 'greater exposure' make the CER a powerful and flexible tool. We give expressions for confidence intervals for CERs, and verify in a pilot simulation that they are valid. Finally, we illustrate with a case-control study of cervical dysplasia how exploratory inference using CERs can be carried out.     

Diabetes and behavior: A paradigm for health psychology.

Asserts that the problem of effective diabetes care presents opportunities for the emerging field of health psychology. Diabetes mellitus affects nearly 10 million Americans and is one of the most common chronic health problems. The authors discuss the relevance of behavioral variables to the understanding of this disease and suggest that behavioral interventions might contribute to the treatment of diabetes by reducing energy-mobilizing effects of the autonomic nervous system as well as by facilitating development and maintenance of patient self-care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral treatment of Raynaud's syndrome in peripheral vascular disease.

Raynaud's syndrome is a vasospastic phenomenon that occurs in numerous peripheral vascular diseases. Because these vasospasms are sympathetically mediated, they are, according to theory, behaviorally treatable. Research has demonstrated that biofeedback, autogenic training, and progressive relaxation can all be used to treat even severe Raynaud's syndrome. However, there is no distinct advantage of one technique over the other. These techniques can be combined with sympathetic blocking agents to produce an additive effect. It is concluded that behavioral procedures have much to add to the treatment of Raynaud's syndrome. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent inhibition in the conditioned electrodermal response.

Measured the effects of preexposure to the CS, amount of pre-exposure, and delay between pre-exposure and conditioning in a classical electrodermal conditioning experiment with 139 female nursing students. 3 conditions were investigated: no delay, 1-hr delay, and 24-hr delay. In each of these delay conditions Ss were pre-exposed to either 100 or 50 presentations of the to-be-conditioned stimulus or 100 or 50 presentations of an irrelevant stimulus. Results were analyzed separately for long and short latency responses in terms of amplitude, magnitude, latency, recruitment, and frequency. It was found that CS pre-exposure reduced the frequency of responding regardless of delay or number of pre-exposures. There was a significant CS Pre-exposure main effect for short latency responses and a significant Trial Blocks * CS Pre-exposure interaction effect for long latency responses. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of cardiovascular biofeedback, neuromuscular biofeedback, and meditation in the treatment of borderline essential hypertension.

Compared the separate effects of 3 procedures for the reduction of high blood pressure (BP) in 3 treatment groups of 8 patients each (27–59 yrs old) with medically verified borderline hypertension: (a) Biofeedback for simultaneous reductions in systolic BP and heart rate was aimed directly at reductions in BP. (b) Biofeedback for reductions in integrated forearm and frontalis muscle EMG activity was aimed at general muscular relaxation. (c) Meditation relaxation based on the "relaxation response" procedure developed by H. Benson was aimed at total bodily and "mental" relaxation. Each S was studied in 2 baseline sessions, 8 training sessions, and a 6-wk follow-up. Half of the sample returned for a 1-yr follow-up. ANOVA of the 3 treatment groups over 8 training sessions, 20 trials per session, revealed significant effects for trials within sessions. However, there were no significant main effects or interactions related to differences between the treatment conditions or to changes in BP over the course of training sessions. Although all groups showed moderate reductions in BP as compared to initial values, no technique could be seen to produce a reduction in pressure greater than that observed in the baseline sessions. BPs of patients reporting for the 1-yr follow-up were not different from pretreatment baseline levels. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Symptoms of depression and changes in body weight from adolescence to mid-life

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of symptoms of depression to weight changes in healthy individuals of normal weight across a follow-up of over 20 y. PARTICIPANTS AND DESIGN: College students (3885 men and 841 women) were administered a self-report depression measure in the mid-1960s. Their baseline body mass index (BMI) was calculated from their college medical records. Participants were contacted by mail in the late 1980s and asked to report their current height and weight as well as their smoking and exercise habits. Another measure of depressive symptoms was obtained from 3560 individuals at follow-up. Multiple regression models were used to relate changes in weight to depression scores while controlling for background (gender, baseline BMI and the gender by BMI interaction) and behavioral (exercise and smoking) predictors. RESULTS: The relationship between depressive symptoms and body weight change took the form of an interaction with baseline BMI (P < 0.001). Those with high baseline depression scores gained less weight than their nondepressed counterparts if they were initially lean, but more if they were initially heavy. This trend was especially strong in those with high depression scores at both baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the hypothesis that depression exaggerates pre-existing weight change tendencies. This pattern would not have been detected by an examination of main effects alone, illustrating the need to move toward more complicated interactive models in the study of psychological factors and weight.     

Personality predictors of mood related to dieting

The clinical utility of a model of normal emotional functioning (vs. psychopathology) and the moderating effects of neuroticism (N) and extraversion (E) on mood were examined during a 6-week weight-loss trial. Participants were 40 obese women who completed measures of negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) weekly during the diet and measures of anxiety and depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]) at pre-, mid-, and postdiet. Results indicated that (a) average NA and PA were each uniquely related to postdiet BDI scores, (b) N was significantly related to NA during the diet and postdiet BDI scores, and (c) N and E interacted to predict PA during the diet. The results suggest that assessment of personality and normal mood variation may be useful additions to weight-loss intervention and research.     

Differential effects of fat and sucrose on body composition in A/J and C57BL/6 mice

The C57BL/6 (B6) mouse is more sensitive to the effects of a high-fat diet than the A/J strain. The B6 mouse develops severe obesity, hyperglycemia, and hyperinsulinemia when fed this dietary regimen. This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary fat and sucrose concentrations on body composition and intestinal sucrase (EC 3.2.1.48) and maltase (EC 3.2.1.20) activity in these two mouse strains. High-fat diets, regardless of sucrose content, resulted in significant weight gain, higher body fat, and lower body protein and water content in both strains of mice. The shift toward higher body fat and lower protein and water content was far greater in the B6 strain. Low-fat, high-sucrose diets resulted in lower body weight in both strains, as well as significantly greater body protein content in B6 mice. Analysis of intestinal sucrase showed that the enzyme was less active in B6 mice when the diet was high in sucrose. Both sucrase and maltase had lower activity in the presence of high dietary fat in both mouse strains. The percent reduction of intestinal enzyme activity due to dietary fat was similar in both strains. The B6 mouse exhibits disproportionate weight gain and altered body composition on a high-fat diet. This coupled with the reduced body weight and increased body protein on a low-fat, high-sucrose diet suggests that factors-relative to fat metabolism rather than sucrose metabolism are responsible for obesity.