231 research outputs found
Cardiovascular reactivity in a simulated job interview: the role of gender role self-concept
This study investigated the relation of gender role self-concept (G-SC) to cardiovascular
and emotional reactions to an ecologically relevant stressor in a sample of
graduating male and female university students. Thirty-seven men and 37 women
completed the Personal Attribute Questionnaire and worked on four tasks designed to
reflect common features of a job interview. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured
at baseline, during, and after each task; subjective stress was measured at baseline
and after each task. Subjective and objective stress scores were averaged across
tasks and analyzed by sex and G-SC (i.e., instrumentality, expressiveness). Results indicated
that women as a group demonstrated greater emotional reactivity, but did not
differ in their physiological reactions when compared to men. Regardless of sex, participants’
instrumentality scores contributed significantly to the variation in subjective
stress response: those scoring high on instrumentality reported less stress, but evidenced
greater blood pressure reactivity than those scoring low on instrumentality.
These results suggest that gender roles, particularly an instrumental self-concept,
may play an important role in both subjective and objective reactions to an ecologically
relevant stressor
Serotonergic Contribution to Boys' Behavioral Regulation
Animal and human adult studies reveal a contribution of serotonin to behavior regulation. Whether these findings apply to children is unclear. The present study investigated serotonergic functioning in boys with a history of behavior regulation difficulties through a double-blind, acute tryptophan supplementation procedure.Participants were 23 boys (age 10 years) with a history of elevated physical aggression, recruited from a community sample. Eleven were given a chocolate milkshake supplemented with 500 mg tryptophan, and 12 received a chocolate milkshake without tryptophan. Boys engaged in a competitive reaction time game against a fictitious opponent, which assessed response to provocation, impulsivity, perspective taking, and sharing. Impulsivity was further assessed through a Go/No-Go paradigm. A computerized emotion recognition task and a staged instrumental help incident were also administered.Boys, regardless of group, responded similarly to high provocation by the fictitious opponent. However, boys in the tryptophan group adjusted their level of responding optimally as a function of the level of provocation, whereas boys in the control group significantly decreased their level of responding towards the end of the competition. Boys in the tryptophan group tended to show greater perspective taking, tended to better distinguish facial expressions of fear and happiness, and tended to provide greater instrumental help to the experimenter.The present study provides initial evidence for the feasibility of acute tryptophan supplementation in children and some effect of tryptophan supplementation on children's behaviors. Further studies are warranted to explore the potential impact of increased serotonergic functioning on boys' dominant and affiliative behaviors
A Role for Behavior in the Relationships Between Depression and Hostility and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence, Mortality, and All-Cause Mortality: the Prime Study.
BACKGROUND: Behavioral factors are important in disease incidence and mortality and may explain associations between mortality and various psychological traits. PURPOSE: These analyses investigated the impact of behavioral factors on the associations between depression, hostility and cardiovascular disease(CVD) incidence, CVD mortality, and all-cause mortality. METHODS: Data from the PRIME Study (N = 6953 men) were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, following adjustment for demographic and biological CVD risk factors, and other psychological traits, including social support. RESULTS: Following initial adjustment, both depression and hostility were significantly associated with both mortality outcomes (smallest SHR = 1.24, p < 0.001). Following adjustment for behavioral factors, all relationships were attenuated both when accounting for and not accounting for other psychological variables. Associations with all-cause mortality remained significant (smallest SHR = 1.14, p = 0.04). Of the behaviors included, the most significant contribution to outcomes was found for smoking, but a role was also found for fruit and vegetable intakes and high alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate well-known associations between depression, hostility, and mortality and suggest the potential importance of behaviors in explaining these relationships
Information, Institutions and Governance: Advancing a Basic Social Science Research Program for Digital Government
Application of ecological momentary assessment in stress-related diseases
Many physical diseases have been reported to be associated with psychosocial factors. In these diseases, assessment relies mainly on subjective symptoms in natural settings. Therefore, it is important to assess symptoms and/or relationships between psychosocial factors and symptoms in natural settings. Symptoms are usually assessed by self-report when patients visit their doctors. However, self-report by recall has an intrinsic problem; "recall bias". Recently, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has been proposed as a reliable method to assess and record events and subjective symptoms as well as physiological and behavioral variables in natural settings. Although EMA is a useful method to assess stress-related diseases, it has not been fully acknowledged, especially by clinicians. Therefore, the present brief review introduces the application and future direction of EMA for the assessment and intervention for stress-related diseases
Ideas, interests and practical authority in reform politics: Decentralization reform in South Korea in the 2000s
Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier
Differential heart rate reactivity and recovery after psychosocial stress (TSST) in healthy children, younger adults, and elderly adults: The impact of age and gender
Representative Communication: Web Site Interactivity and Distributional Path Dependence in the U.S. Congress
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