Depression and Obesity.

To summarize the recent literature regarding the interaction between the public health concerns of obesity and depression and provide preliminary recommendations for assessment and management of patients with co-occurring obesity and depression. RECENT FINDINGS : Recent studies have reinforced that while there is a bi-directional link between obesity and depression, there is stronger evidence that obesity contributes to the development of depression. Recent research has also elucidated potential mediating factors in the association between depression and obesity (e.

Resting Heart Rate Variability, Perceived Emotion Regulation, and Low-Risk Drug Use in College-Aged Adults: Gender as a Moderator.

Identification of individual differences in drug use is warranted, as a history of use is associated with future drug problems. Such drug use is thought to disrupt inhibitory and motivation networks involved in emotion regulation (ER). Higher resting heart rate variability (HRV), a biomarker of effective inhibitory abilities, is associated with less substance (e.

Gender Differences in Cardiac Chronotropic Control: Implications for Heart Rate Variability Research.

There is a continuing debate concerning "adjustments" to heart period variability [i.e., heart rate variability (HRV)] for the heart period [i.

Body mass index and parasympathetic nervous system reactivity and recovery following graded exercise.

Objectives: The present study sought to expand upon prior investigations examining patterns of vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) and perceived exertion as a function of body mass index (BMI) in response to and recovery from exercise.

Methods: Participants underwent a resting (baseline) period, followed by a graded exercise protocol on an ergometer with ascending difficulty stages, and finally another resting (recovery) period. Individuals were stratified into three BMI groups: low, moderate, and high.

Sex moderates the relationship between resting heart rate variability and self-reported difficulties in emotion regulation.

Lower resting vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV) is thought to reflect poorer function of the neurophysiological pathways underlying emotion regulation (ER) and thus, poorer ER abilities. Sex differences in resting HRV exists such that women typically exhibit higher resting HRV than men. It is proposed that greater HRV in women reflects compensation for greater negative affect such as anxiety and depression.

Executive Function and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents and Young Adults With Congenital Heart Disease: The Role of Coping.

Objective: Executive functioning deficits have been documented among congenital heart disease (CHD) survivors and may contribute to emotional distress. Little research has investigated the role of coping in this association. This study examined the role of coping in accounting for the association between self-reported executive function problems and internalizing symptoms among adolescents and emerging adults (AEAs), as well as young adults (YAs) with CHD.

Perceptions of Disease-Related Stress: A Key to Better Understanding Patient-Reported Outcomes Among Survivors of Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: Disease-related stressors for survivors of congenital heart disease (CHD) have been qualitatively described but not quantified nor examined in relationship to important patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Objective: The aims of this study are to (1) identify the types and degree of disease-related stress experienced by CHD survivors based on age, functional status, and sex, (2) examine differences in stress and PROs by age, functional status, and sex, and (3) determine the unique contribution of perceived stress to variability in PROs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 173 adolescents and emerging and young adults who were recruited from both pediatric and adult CHD clinics was conducted.

Medical factors that predict quality of life for young adults with congenital heart disease: What matters most?

Background: Identify demographic and medical status indicators that account for variability in physical and emotional health-related quality of life (QoL) among young adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) as compared to traditional lesion severity categories.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of 218 young adult survivors of CHD (mean=25.7, SD=7.