The association between neuroticism and self-reported common somatic symptoms in a population cohort

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypotheses that (1) neuroticism is associated with self-reported somatic symptoms; (2) this association is especially found with regard to psychosomatic symptoms; and (3) it is not solemnly explained by somatic reflections of psychological distress. METHODS: We studied the cross-sectional association between neuroticism (as measured by EPQ-RSS-N), psychological distress (as measured by GHQ-12 sum score), and the occurrence of 22 common somatic symptoms by linear and logistic regression analyses in a population cohort of 6894 participants. RESULTS: Neuroticism is more strongly associated with the total number of somatic symptoms reported (beta=.32) than GHQ-12 sum score (beta=.15) and well-established risk markers such as gender (beta=.11) and age (beta=.04). Neuroticism was associated with all symptoms in individual logistic regressions controlled for age, gender, and psychological distress. Neuroticism is significantly more strongly related to psychosomatic symptoms (beta=.36) than to infectious/allergic symptoms (beta=.28). CONCLUSION: In a large, population-based cohort, we confirmed that neuroticism is associated with self-reported somatic symptoms. The associations were not attributable to somatic reflections of psychological distress associated with neuroticism and were relatively strong with respect to psychosomatic symptoms. Future studies should include both objective and subjective measures of health to study the mechanisms that connect neuroticism and ill health

Prediction of depression in European general practice attendees: the PREDICT study

Background Prevention of depression must address multiple risk factors. Estimating overall risk across a range of putative risk factors is fundamental to prevention of depression. However, we lack reliable and valid methods of risk estimation. This protocol paper introduces PREDICT, an international research study to address this risk estimation. Methods/design This is a prospective study in which consecutive general practice attendees in six European countries are recruited and followed up after six and 12 months. Prevalence of depression is assessed at baseline and each follow-up point. Consecutive attendees between April 2003 and September 2004 who were aged 18 to 75 were asked to take part. The possibility of a depressive episode was assessed using the Depression Section of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. A selection of presumed risk factors was based on our previous work and a systematic review of the literature. It was necessary to evaluate the test-retest reliability of a number of risk factor questions that were developed specifically, or adapted, for the PREDICT study. In a separate reliability study conducted between January and November 2003, consecutive general practice attendees in the six participating European countries completed the risk factor items on two occasions, two weeks apart. The overall response rate at entry to the study was 69%. We exceeded our expected recruitment rate, achieving a total of 10,048 people in all. Reliability coefficients were generally good to excellent. Discussion Response rate to follow-up in all countries was uniformly high, which suggests that prediction will be based on almost a full cohort. The results of our reliability analysis are encouraging and suggest that data collected during the course of PREDICT will have a satisfactory level of stability. The development of a multi-factor risk score for depression will lay the foundation for future research on risk reduction in primary care. Our data will also provide the necessary evidence base on which to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce the prevalence of depression

Probing the Nature of High Redshift Weak Emission Line Quasars: A Young Quasar with a Starburst Host Galaxy

We present the discovery of PSO J083.8371+11.8482, a weak emission line quasar with extreme star formation rate at $z=6.3401$. This quasar was selected from Pan-STARRS1, UHS, and unWISE photometric data. Gemini/GNIRS spectroscopy follow-up indicates a MgII-based black hole mass of $M_\mathrm{BH}=\left(2.0^{+0.7}_{-0.4}\right)\times10^9~M_\odot$ and an Eddington ratio of $L_\mathrm{bol}/L_\mathrm{Edd}=0.5^{+0.1}_{-0.2}$, in line with actively accreting supermassive black hole (SMBH) at $z\gtrsim6$. HST imaging sets strong constraint on lens-boosting, showing no relevant effect on the apparent emission. The quasar is also observed as a pure point-source with no additional emission component. The broad line region (BLR) emission is intrinsically weak and not likely caused by an intervening absorber. We found rest-frame equivalent widths of EW(Ly$\alpha$+NV) $=5.7\pm0.7$ Angstrom, EW(CIV) $\leq5.8$ Angstrom (3-sigma upper limit), and EW(MgII) $=8.7\pm0.7$ Angstrom. A small proximity zone size ($R_\mathrm{p}=1.2\pm0.4$ pMpc) indicates a lifetime of only $t_\mathrm{Q}=10^{3.4\pm0.7}$ years from the last quasar phase ignition. ALMA shows extended [CII] emission with a mild velocity gradient. The inferred far-infrared luminosity ($L_\mathrm{FIR}=(1.2\pm0.1)\times10^{13}\,L_\odot$) is one of the highest among all known quasar hosts at $z\gtrsim6$. Dust and [CII] emissions put a constraint on the star formation rate of SFR $=900-4900~M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr^{-1}}$, similar to that of hyper-luminous infrared galaxy. Considering the observed quasar lifetime and BLR formation timescale, the weak-line profile in the quasar spectrum is most likely caused by a BLR which is not yet fully formed rather than continuum boosting by gravitational lensing or a soft continuum due to super-Eddington accretion.Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

The REQUIEM Survey. I. A Search for Extended Lyα Nebular Emission Around 31 z > 5.7 Quasars

The discovery of quasars a few hundred megayears after the Big Bang represents a major challenge to our understanding of black holes as well as galaxy formation and evolution. Quasars' luminosity is produced by extreme gas accretion onto black holes, which have already reached masses of M-BH > 10(9) M-circle dot by z similar to 6. Simultaneously, their host galaxies form hundreds of stars per year, using up gas in the process. To understand which environments are able to sustain the rapid formation of these extreme sources, we started a Very Large Telescope/Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) effort aimed at characterizing the surroundings of a sample of 5.7 < z < 6.6 quasars, which we have dubbed the Reionization Epoch QUasar InvEstigation with MUSE (REQUIEM) survey. We here present results of our searches for extended Ly alpha halos around the first 31 targets observed as part of this program. Reaching 5 sigma surface brightness limits of 0.1-1.1 x 10(-17) erg s(-1) cm(-2) arcsec(-2) over a 1 arcsec(2) aperture, we were able to unveil the presence of 12 Ly alpha nebulae, eight of which are newly discovered. The detected nebulae show a variety of emission properties and morphologies with luminosities ranging from 8 x 10(42) to 2 x 10(44) erg s(-1), FWHMs between 300 and 1700 km s(-1), sizes <30 pkpc, and redshifts consistent with those of the quasar host galaxies. As the first statistical and homogeneous investigation of the circumgalactic medium of massive galaxies at the end of the reionization epoch, the REQUIEM survey enables the study of the evolution of the cool gas surrounding quasars in the first 3 Gyr of the universe. A comparison with the extended Ly alpha emission observed around bright (M-1450 less than or similar to -25 mag) quasars at intermediate redshift indicates little variations on the properties of the cool gas from z similar to 6 to z similar to 3, followed by a decline in the average surface brightness down to z similar to 2.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]