The relationship between spirituality and burnout among medical students

Medical student burnout has been associated with depression, loss of empathy, and suicidal ideation. Spirituality has been identified in previous studies as a protective factor in coping with the stress but has not been examined as a factor in medical student burnout. An internet link to an anonymous survey was sent via email to medical students at a public northeastern medical school; 259/469 (55.2%) completed it. The survey included measures of spirituality, burnout, psychological distress, coping, and general happiness. A Pearson-r correlation showed significant inverse correlations between measures of spirituality and measures of psychological distress/burnout (r\u27s ranging from -.62 to -.14; p\u27s \u3c .01). In contrast, a positive correlation was found between life satisfaction and spirituality (r\u27s .53 to .12; p \u3c .05). Using hierarchical multiple regression with demographics (Step 1), mental health variables (Step 2), and satisfaction and Adaptive coping (Step 3), burnout remained significantly related to lower scores on both spirituality measures (FACIT-SP p \u3c .00 and DSE p \u3c .05). Students having higher levels of spiritual well being and daily spiritual experiences described themselves as more satisfied with their life in general, while students with low scores on spiritual well being and daily spiritual experiences had higher levels of psychological distress and burnout. Spirituality may therefore be a protective factor against burnout in medical students and future studies should explore potential causal relationships

Lifetime Alcohol Abuse Prevalence: Role of Childhood and Adult Religion

Findings presented regarding childhood and adult religiosity/spirituality as protective factors against Lifetime Alcohol Abuse

Distal and Proximal Religiosity as Protective Factors for Adolescent and Emerging Adult Alcohol Use

Data from emerging adults (ages 18-29, N = 900) in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Study was used to examine the influence of childhood and emerging adult religiosity and religious-based decision-making, and childhood adversity, on alcohol use. Childhood religiosity was protective against early alcohol use and progression to later abuse or dependence, but did not significantly offset the influence of childhood adversity on early patterns of heavy drinking in adjusted logistic regression models. Religiosity in emerging adulthood was negatively associated with alcohol use disorders. Protective associations for religiosity varied by gender, ethnicity and childhood adversity histories. Higher religiosity may be protective against early onset alcohol use and later development of alcohol problems, thus, should be considered in prevention programming for youth, particularly in faith-based settings. Mental health providers should allow for integration of clients\u27 religiosity and spirituality beliefs and practices in treatment settings if clients indicate such interest

The grinch who stole wisdom

Dr. Seuss is wise. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss, 1957) could serve as a parable for our time. It can also be seen as a roadmap for the development of contemplative wisdom. The abiding popularity of How the Grinch Stole Christmas additionally suggests that contemplative wisdom is more readily available to ordinary people, even children, than is normally thought. This matters because from the point of view of contemplatives in any of the world's philosophies or religions, people are confused about wisdom. The content of the nascent field of wisdom studies, they might say, is largely not wisdom at all but rather what it's like to live in a particular kind of prison cell, a well appointed cell perhaps, but not a place that makes possible either personal satisfaction or deep problem solving. I believe that what the contemplative traditions have to say is important; they offer a different orientation to what personal wisdom is, how to develop it, and how to use it in the world than is presently contained in either our popular culture or our sciences. In order to illustrate this I will examine, in some detail, one contemplative path within Buddhism. Buddhism is particularly useful in this respect because its practices are nontheistic and thus avoid many of the cultural landmines associated with the contemplative aspects of Western religions

The association between baseline persistent pain and weight change in patients attending a specialist weight management service

To quantify the influence of baseline pain levels on weight change at one-year follow-up in patients attending a National Health Service specialist weight management programme.We compared one-year follow-up weight (body mass) change between patient sub-groups of none-to-mild, moderate, and severe pain at baseline. A mean sub-group difference in weight change of ≥5kg was considered clinically relevant.Of the 141 complete cases, n = 43 (30.5%) reported none-to-mild pain, n = 44 (31.2%) reported moderate pain, and n = 54 (38.3%) reported severe pain. Covariate-adjusted mean weight loss (95%CI) was similar for those with none-to-mild (8.1kg (4.2 to 12.0kg)) and moderate pain (8.3kg (4.9 to 11.7kg). The mean weight loss of 3.0kg (-0.4 to 6.4kg) for the severe pain group was 5.1kg (-0.6 to 10.7, p = 0.08) lower than the none-to-mild pain group and 5.3kg (0.4 to 10.2kg, p = 0.03) lower than the moderate pain group.Patients with severe pain upon entry to a specialist weight management service in England achieve a smaller mean weight loss at one-year follow-up than those with none-to-moderate pain. The magnitude of the difference in mean weight loss was clinically relevant, highlighting the importance of addressing severe persistent pain in obese patients undertaking weight management programmes

Migraine: treatments, comorbidities, and quality of life, in the USA

Christopher D Malone,1 Amrita Bhowmick,2 Amy B Wachholtz,11Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 2Health Union, Philadelphia, PA, USAAbstract: This study sought to characterize the experience of stress, treatment patterns, and medical and disability profile in the migraineur population to better understand how the experience of migraines impacts the social and psychological functioning of this group. A 30-minute self-report survey was presented via a migraine-specific website with data collection occurring between May 15 and June 15, 2012. Recruitment for the study was done through online advertisements. In total, 2,907 individuals began the survey and 2,735 met the inclusion criteria for the study. The sample was predominantly female (92.8%). Migraine-associated stress was correlated with length of time since first onset of symptoms (P<0.01) and number of symptoms per month (P<0.01). Disorders related to stress, such as depression (P<0.01) and anxiety (P<0.01), were also positively correlated with the measured stress resulting from migraines. Migraine-associated stress must be understood as a multidimensional experience with broader impacts of stress on an individual correlating much more highly with negative mental and physical health profiles. Stress resulting from frequent migraine headaches may contribute to the development of medical and psychological comorbidities and may be a part of a cyclical relationship wherein stress is both a cause and effect of the social and medical impairments brought about by migraine.Keywords: characteristics, migraine, headache, stress, treatment satisfactio

Cambios en la ocupación de los adultos mayores recientemente jubilados

The objective of the present study is to understand how the retirement process influences the occupational performance of the recently retired elders. To achieve this, retirement related concepts are studied and analyzed from the point of view of different disciplines. The comprehension of the “occupation” concept is also needed, to be able to associate the occupational performance that retired elders adopt in different areas (Activities of Daily Living, Productivity and Play Activities) with the approach given by the Model of Human Occupation. To be able to identify this relation, several interviews were done to participants of both sexes and that were retired for no more than three years. The interviews were designed using an evaluation instrument created from the OPHI-II. The results of this study show that the retirement process does not cause an occupational unbalance, and that these individuals are able to adapt to the process, creating a new structure in their lives and allowing them to reach a competent level in the different occupations in which they are involved.El presente estudio tiene como objetivo comprender cómo el proceso de jubilación influye en el desempeño ocupacional de los adultos mayores recientemente jubilados. Para ello, se indaga sobre conceptos relacionados con la jubilación y cómo se entiende ésta desde las distintas disciplinas. A su vez, es necesario comprender el concepto de ocupación para poder asociar el desempeño ocupacional que adoptan los jubilados en las diversas áreas de desempeño (Actividades de la Vida Diaria, Productividad y Esparcimiento) desde el enfoque del Modelo de Ocupación Humana. Para identificar esta correlación fueron efectuadas entrevistas en profundidad a participantes de ambos sexos, que tuvieran como máximo tres años de retiro laboral. Las entrevistas fueron diseñadas utilizando un instrumento de evaluación creado a partir del OPHI-II. Los resultados obtenidos permiten observar que el proceso de jubilación no provocaría un desequilibrio ocupacional y que estos individuos lograrían adaptarse a dicho proceso, creando una nueva estructura en sus vidas y permitiéndoles alcanzar el nivel de competencia en las distintas ocupaciones en las que se involucran