A qualitative study exploring the perinatal experiences of social stress among first- and second-generation immigrant parents in Quebec, Canada.

Background: Perinatal psychological distress adversely impacts the well-being and social adjustment of parents and their children. Expectant parents who have migrated may be at higher risk for perinatal psychological distress due to various migration-specific stressors and healthcare service barriers. Limited studies have examined the perceived determinants of perinatal distress in immigrant parents, particularly men.

Parity and Psychosocial Risk Factors Increase the Risk of Depression During Pregnancy Among Recent Immigrant Women in Canada.

Prior investigations have examined risk factors associated to postpartum depression in immigrant women, but depression during pregnancy has received less attention. This study describes the prevalence and early determinants of antenatal depression among recent (≤ 5 years) and long-term immigrants (> 5 years), compared to Canadian-born women. 503 women completed standardized self-report questionnaires measuring sociodemographics and psychosocial factors.

Social Contagion of Vasovagal Symptoms in Blood Donors: Interactions With Empathy.

Background: Vasovagal reactions (VVRs) are commonly experienced in medical situations such as blood donation. Many believe that psychosocial contagion can contribute to the development of VVRs, but this is largely clinical lore.

Purpose: The goal of the present investigation was to examine the physiological effects of observing another experience a reaction, focusing on the potential moderating effects of empathy.

Maternal blood pressure trajectories and associations with gestational age at birth: a functional data analytic approach.

Background: Research has revealed group-level differences in maternal blood pressure trajectories across pregnancy. These trajectories are typically constructed using clinical blood pressure data and multivariate statistical methods that are prone to bias and ignore the functional, dynamic process underlying a single blood pressure observation. The aim of this study was to use functional data analysis to explore blood pressure variation across pregnancy, and multivariate methods to examine whether trajectories are related to gestational age at birth.

The relationship of trait mindfulness to physical and psychological health during pregnancy.

Introduction: Research on mindfulness has extended to the prevention of psychopathology and physical conditions during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between trait mindfulness assessed in the first or early second trimester to health outcomes throughout pregnancy.

Methods: A total of 510 women were recruited at McGill University-affiliated obstetrics clinics (average gestational age: 13.

Hyperventilation as a Predictor of Blood Donation-Related Vasovagal Symptoms.

Objective: Most of the research on vasovagal reactions has focused on the contributions of cardiovascular activity to the development of symptoms. However, other research suggests that additional mechanisms like hyperventilation may contribute to the process. The goal of the present investigation was to examine the influences of cardiovascular and respiratory variables on vasovagal symptoms.

Predicting blood donation intention: the importance of fear.

Background: Blood donor recruitment remains an important worldwide challenge due to changes in population demographics and shifts in the demand for blood. Various cognitive models help predict donation intention, although the importance of affective deterrents has become increasingly evident. This study aimed to identify fears that predict donation intention, to explore their relative importance, and to determine if self-efficacy and attitude mediate this relationship, thus providing possible targets for intervention.

The Association Between Pregnancy-Specific Anxiety and Exclusive Breastfeeding Status Early in the Postpartum Period.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months of life and has significant benefits for both mother and child. Pregnancy-specific anxiety is a distinct and definable syndrome that has been identified as a robust predictor of pregnancy outcomes, but whether it is associated with exclusive breastfeeding status has not been determined.

Research Aims: To examine the association between pregnancy-specific anxiety in each trimester of pregnancy and exclusive breastfeeding status early in the postpartum period.

Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety as Related to Gestational Age at Birth: Findings From the All Our Families Study.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate whether symptoms of depression or state anxiety changed the strength or nature of the association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and gestational age at birth.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the All Our Families Cohort, a prospective pregnancy cohort study based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Self-reported depressive symptoms and state anxiety were assessed between 3 and 5 months of gestation, and obstetrical information, including diagnosis of HDP, parity, type of delivery, and gestational age at birth, was retrieved from the maternal discharge abstract.

Association Between Depression, Lung Function, and Inflammatory Markers in Patients with Asthma and Occupational Asthma.

Objective: Depression is associated with autonomic and immune dysregulation, yet this remains poorly explored in asthma. We assessed associations between depressive disorder, lung function, and inflammatory markers in patients under investigation for occupational asthma (OA).

Methods: One hundred twelve patients under investigation for OA (60% men) underwent a psychiatric interview to assess depressive disorder, and spirometry, a methacholine test, sputum induction, and specific inhalation challenge (SIC) to assess OA.

Respiration and applied tension strategies to reduce vasovagal reactions to blood donation: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Whether produced by breathing too fast or too deeply, hyperventilation is common in stressful situations and may contribute to blood donation-related vasovagal symptoms. The effects of some previously tested interventions for vasovagal symptoms, for example, applied tension (AT), may be related to reduction of hyperventilation. More targeted breathing techniques might be useful.

Parasympathetic Response Patterns are Associated with Metabolic Syndrome Among Older Women but Not Men.

Background: Little is known about the role of physiological stress responses in metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Purpose: To examine whether patterns of autonomic response to psychological stress are associated with MetS and whether this association is moderated by sex.

Methods: 1121 men and women (Mage = 65.

Health Locus of Control Is Associated With Physical Activity and Other Health Behaviors in Cardiac Patients.

Purpose: Physical inactivity, smoking, and excessive alcohol use are well-recognized modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet uptake of strategies to mitigate these poor health behaviors varies widely among patients with cardiovascular disease. Part of this variation may be explained by health locus of control (HLOC), defined as the extent to which individuals believe their health is a consequence of their own actions, chance, or the influence of others (eg, physicians).

Methods: A total of 599 cardiac outpatients (30% female, 61.

Respiratory and hemodynamic contributions to emotion-related pre-syncopal vasovagal symptoms.

Vasovagal reactions are conventionally understood as resulting from systemic changes in cardiovascular activity; however, there exists a complementary perspective focused on specific changes in cerebral vasoconstriction associated with hyperventilation-induced hypocapnia. The present study investigated the role of cardiovascular and respiratory activity in self-reported pre-syncopal vasovagal reactions to a surgery video in a sample of 49 healthy women. Participants who indicated more previous real-life episodes of dizziness reported experiencing significantly more symptoms in the laboratory consistent with a vasovagal response.

Disgust stimuli reduce heart rate but do not contribute to vasovagal symptoms.

Background And Objectives: The vasovagal response demonstrates a unique form of stress response, common in medical settings yet provoked by a variety of blood-injury-injection stimuli. This study aimed to better understand the psychophysiological mechanisms of the vasovagal response..

Increasing nondonors' intention to give blood: addressing common barriers.

Background: Recruiting new donors is a challenging experience for most blood collection agencies. A modest proportion of the population is eligible to give blood and few of these individuals volunteer. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of brief behavioral interventions on nondonors' intention to give blood, by addressing some commonly reported obstacles.

A composite measure of gender and its association with risk factors in patients with premature acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: To create a gender index by using principal component analyses (PCA) and logistic regression, and to determine the association between gender, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors among patients with premature acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: GENESIS-PRAXY is a cohort study including ACS patients aged 55 years or below, and with ACS recruited between 2009 and 2013 from 26 centres across Canada, the United States, and Switzerland. A sample of 1075 patients was used for this study.

The vasovagal response during confrontation with blood-injury-injection stimuli: the role of perceived control.

The vasovagal response (VVR) is a common medical problem, complicating and deterring people from various procedures. It is an unusual stress response given the widespread decreases in physiological activity. Nevertheless, VVR involves processes similar to those observed during episodes of strong emotions and pain.

Sense of impending doom: inhibitory activity in waiting blood donors who subsequently experience vasovagal symptoms.

This study examined autonomic and hemodynamic processes associated with the development of naturally occurring vasovagal responses. Data from a study assessing the physiological correlates of an intervention to reduce vasovagal responses in blood donors were examined (Ditto et al., 2009).

The interaction between anxiety and depressive symptoms on brachial artery reactivity in cardiac patients.

The association between anxiety, depression, and endothelial function (EF) was assessed in a sample of 295 cardiac outpatients (n=222 men; mean age=59). Patients were administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, trait scale. EF was assessed through forearm hyperemic reactivity, a nuclear medicine variation of the flow-mediated dilatation technique, which calculates the rate of uptake ratio (RUR) between hyperaemic and non-hyperaemic arms.

A methodological comparison of the Porges algorithm, fast Fourier transform, and autoregressive spectral analysis for the estimation of heart rate variability in 5-month-old infants.

Little empirical evidence exists on the comparability of heart rate variability (HRV) quantification methods commonly used in infants. The aim was to compare three methods of HRV estimation: (1) fast Fourier transform (FFT), (2) autoregressive (AR), and (3) the Porges methods. HRV was estimated in 63 healthy 5-month-old infants.

Social contagion of vasovagal reactions in the blood collection clinic: a possible example of mass psychogenic illness.

Objective: Observing or hearing about illness in another person can lead to reports of similar symptoms. Reports can occasionally be widespread. However, it has been difficult to document whether this is the result of genuine illness or the expression of anxiety with physical terminology.

Childhood socioeconomic position and blood pressure dipping in early adulthood: a longitudinal study.

Background: The experience of low socioeconomic position in childhood may increase risk for adult cardiovascular disease above and beyond the effects of current socioeconomic position. One limitation of most previous research is that childhood socioeconomic position was assessed retrospectively.

Methods: Measures of ambulatory blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability were obtained from 110 young men (22 years) who were enrolled in a long-term study of child development at age 6.