Employer's management of employees affected by cancer

Return to work (RTW) following treatment can be problematic for cancer survivors. Although some people affected by cancer are able to continue working, a greater proportion of these survivors end up unemployed, retire early or change jobs than those without a diagnosis of cancer. One of the reasons for not returning to work is the lack of understanding and support from employers and supervisors. Currently, it is not clear what factors are likely to influence the employer’s management of employees recovering from cancer. This article reports the outcome from a review of the published literature on factors related to the current employer management of employed cancer survivors

Neuroanatomical Differences between Men and Women in Help-Seeking Coping Strategy

Help seeking (HS) is a core coping strategy that is directed towards obtaining support, advice, or assistance as means of managing stress. Women have been found to use more HS than men. Neural correlates of sex differences have also been reported in prefrontal-limbic system (PLS) regions that are linked to stress and coping, yet structural differences between men and women relating to HS in the PLS are still unknown. Thus, the association between gray matter volume (GMV) and HS was investigated using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in a large healthy sample (126 men and 156 women). Results indicated women reported more HS than men did. VBM results showed that the relation between HS scores and GMV differed between men and women in regions of the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex extending to the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex(OFC/sgACC). Among women, higher HS scores were associated with smaller GMV in these areas while a positive correlation between GMV and HS scores was observed among men. These results remained significant after controlling for general intelligence, stress, anxiety and depression. Thus, this study suggested that structural differences between men and women are correlated to characteristic brain regions known to be involved in the PLS which is considered critical in stress regulation

Gray matter reduction associated with emotion regulation in female outpatients with major depressive disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study

Objective: Though emotion dysregulation is the key feature in major depressive disorder, and structural changes in brain areas of depressed patients have been found, it is unknown how these regional volume alterations correlate with the ability to regulate emotion in the depressed population. Method: We examined the gray matter concentration (GMC) and volume (GMV) in 17 depressed patients and 17 healthy volunteers using a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study. Images were acquired using a 1.5 T MRI scanner, and were spatially normalized and segmented. Statistical comparisons were performed using the general linear model. The identified volumetric alterations in the depressed participants were correlated with their performance on an emotion regulation task that involved reduction of positive or negative emotions to emotional pictures that were selected according to their individual ratings. Results: The depressed participants showed specific difficulty in regulating negative emotion, though not positive emotion, which was associated with reduced GMV and concentration in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the inferior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Decreased GMC in the superior temporal cortex was also found in people with major depressive disorder. Conclusions: Abnormal structures in the ACC and OFC and the dysregulation of negative emotion may relate to the pathology of major depressive disorder. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Sex-related differences in neural activity during emotion regulation

The sex disparity in the development of depression has long been an important research topic, but the sex-related differences in neural activity during emotion regulation have been less thoroughly studied. It was hypothesized that, during the regulation of emotion, there would be more activation in the prefrontal regions implicated in cognitive processing for males, while there would be more activation in the prefrontal regions implicated in affective processing for females. This fMRI study recruited 12 females and 12 males who were required to view or to regulate the negative and positive emotion induced by some emotion-arousing pictures. During the regulation of negative emotion, both males and females had stronger activation in the left anterior cingulate gyrus, but males showed more activation in the prefrontal regions in general, including the left dorsolateral and lateral orbitofrontal gyrus as well as the right anterior cingulate gyrus, while females only showed stronger activation in the left medial orbitofrontal gyrus. For the regulation of positive emotion, both males and females showed stronger activation in the left dorsomedial prefrontal gyrus, but males were found to also have stronger activity in the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus. It was concluded that there are common as well as sex-specific sets of brain regions involved in regulating negative and positive emotion, and the findings may have significant implications for females' vulnerability to developing depression. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Neural correlates of regulation of positive and negative emotions: An fMRI study

Regulation of emotion is important for adaptive social functioning and mental well-being. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study identified neural correlates of regulation of positive or negative emotion. Twelve healthy female Chinese participants performed the experimental task that required them to simply view emotional pictures or to regulate their emotions induced by these pictures while their brain activities were monitored by a 1.5 T MRI scanner. The neuroimaging findings indicate that the left superior and lateral frontal regions (BA8/9) are common neural correlates of regulation of both emotions. For regulation of positive or negative emotion, changes of BOLD responses in the prefrontal regions and the left insula are associated with regulation of positive emotion; whereas activity of the left orbitofrontal gyrus, the left superior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate gyrus appears to be involved in regulation of negative emotion. According to the participants' self-report, they appeared to be more effective in regulating positive than negative emotions, which may relate to the distinct patterns of neural activity associated with regulation of the specific emotion. As a conclusion, our findings suggest that there are shared as well as valence-specific neurocognitive mechanisms underlying regulation of positive and negative emotions. Enhanced knowledge about the neural mechanisms of emotion regulation helps improve understanding of the complex interplay of emotion and cognition underlying human behaviors. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Functional gain in hemorrhagic stroke patients is predicted by functional level and cognitive abilities measured at hospital admission

Background and purpose: Few studies have addressed factors that contribute to functional recovery in people with hemorrhagic stroke. We assessed the value of using pre-training functional level and cognitive abilities measured at admission in order to predict functional gain in a sample of stroke patients. Methods: The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was administered to 85 hemorrhagic stroke patients. Three multiple regression models were constructed using total gain in FIM scores, gain in scores in the cognitive domain of FIM, and gain in scores in the motor domain of FIM as outcome variables. Predictor variables were age; scores on the Digit Span Forward Test (DSF), Digit Span Backward Test (DSB), and Chinese Auditory Verbal Learning Test (CAVLT); and the FIM scores measured at admission. Results: All regression models were significant, Ps < 0.001, and each explained over 73% of the variance in the FIM gains. Age and admission FIM scores were both significant predictors in each of the three models. The DSB span score was a significant predictor of the total FIM and the cognitive FIM gains. The CAVLT recognition score was also a significant predictor of the cognitive FIM gain. Conclusions: Functional improvement in patients with hemorrhagic stroke after in-patient rehabilitation was predicted by age, pre-training functional level, and cognitive abilities measured at admission. © 2010 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Effectiveness of a play-integrated primary one preparatory programme to enhance a smooth transition for children

This study tested the effectiveness of a play-integrated preparatory programme to enhance a smooth transition for children from kindergarten to primary one. A randomized controlled trial was employed and 142 families were recruited. Children in the experimental group experienced greater happiness, fewer worries and lesser difficulty in psychological adjustment than children in the control group, providing evidence that the play-integrated preparatory programme is effective in enhancing a smooth transition for children. Findings from this study promote the awareness in parents and teachers that play is an important part of children's lives, which is essential for their normal growth and development

Dual impacts of coronavirus anxiety on mental health in 35 societies

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