Optimism versus pessimism as predictors of physical health: A comprehensive reanalysis of dispositional optimism research.

Prior research has related dispositional optimism to physical health. Traditionally, dispositional optimism is treated as a bipolar construct, anchored at one end by optimism and the other by pessimism. Optimism and pessimism, however, may not be diametrically opposed, but rather may reflect 2 independent, but related dimensions.

Data and methods for studying commercial motor vehicle driver fatigue, highway safety and long-term driver health.

This article summarizes the recommendations on data and methodology issues for studying commercial motor vehicle driver fatigue of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study. A framework is provided that identifies the various factors affecting driver fatigue and relating driver fatigue to crash risk and long-term driver health. The relevant factors include characteristics of the driver, vehicle, carrier and environment.

Depression and Anxiety as Risk Factors for Morbidity and Mortality After Organ Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Depression and anxiety are common mental health problems in transplant populations. There is mixed evidence concerning whether they increase morbidity and mortality risks after transplantation. If such associations exist, additional risk reduction strategies may be needed.

On becoming a Bayesian: early correspondences between J. Cornfield and L. J. Savage.

Jerome Cornfield was arguably the leading proponent for the use of Bayesian methods in biostatistics during the 1960s. Prior to 1963, however, Cornfield had no publications in the area of Bayesian statistics. At a time when frequentist methods were the dominant influence on statistical practice, Cornfield went against the mainstream and embraced Bayes.

Treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: patterns of evolving care during the first treatment episode.

Objective: This study sought to better understand factors associated with different patterns of treatment among children starting treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: Factors associated with service utilization and pharmacy claims data for 2,077 Medicaid-enrolled children aged six to 12 who started treatment for ADHD between October 2006 and December 2007 in a large mid-Atlantic state were investigated by using logistic regressions and Cox proportional hazard models.

Results: A total of 45% of children started ADHD treatment with a psychosocial intervention alone, 41% of children started treatment with medication alone, and 14% of children started treatment with a combination of both treatments.

Meta-analysis of medical regimen adherence outcomes in pediatric solid organ transplantation.

Background: Adherence to the medical regimen after pediatric organ transplantation is important for maximizing good clinical outcomes. However, the literature provides inconsistent evidence regarding prevalence and risk factors for nonadherence posttransplant.

Methods: A total of 61 studies (30 kidney, 18 liver, 8 heart, 2 lung/heart-lung, and 3 with mixed recipient samples) were included in a meta-analysis.

Optimism and physical health: a meta-analytic review.

Background: Prior research links optimism to physical health, but the strength of the association has not been systematically evaluated.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to conduct a meta-analytic review to determine the strength of the association between optimism and physical health.

Methods: The findings from 83 studies, with 108 effect sizes (ESs), were included in the analyses, using random-effects models.

Rate and predictors of divorce among parents of youths with ADHD.

Numerous studies have asserted the prevalence of marital conflict among families of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but evidence is surprisingly less convincing regarding whether parents of youths with ADHD are more at risk for divorce than are parents of children without ADHD. Using survival analyses, the authors compared the rate of marital dissolution between parents of adolescents and young adults with and without ADHD. Results indicated that parents of youths diagnosed with ADHD in childhood (n = 282) were more likely to divorce and had a shorter latency to divorce compared with parents of children without ADHD (n = 206).

Rates and risk factors for nonadherence to the medical regimen after adult solid organ transplantation.

Background: Despite the impact of medical regimen nonadherence on health outcomes after organ transplantation, there is mixed and conflicting evidence regarding the prevalence and predictors of posttransplant nonadherence. Clinicians require precise information on nonadherence rates in order to evaluate patients' risks for this problem.

Methods: A total of 147 studies of kidney, heart, liver, pancreas/kidney-pancreas, or lung/heart-lung recipients published between 1981 and 2005 were included in a meta-analysis.

Using prior distributions to synthesize historical evidence: comments on the Goodman-Sladky case study of IVIg in Guillain-Barré syndrome.

One feature of the Bayesian approach is that it provides methods for synthesizing what is known about a question of interest and provides a formalism based on the laws of probability for incorporating this auxiliary knowledge into the planning and the analysis of the next study. In this comment, we use elements of the Goodman-Sladky case study to illustrate (1) the use of Bayesian methods to quantify historical information about an intervention through the specification of a prior distribution, (2) an approach to the analysis of the sensitivity of the conclusions of a Bayesian analysis to the specification of the prior distribution, and (3) we comment on the role of research synthesis for combining information about an intervention from different data sources as a tool to help summarize evidence about the intervention.