Adiposity, Depression Symptoms and Inflammation in Hispanic/Latino Youth: Results From HCHS/SOL Youth.

Background: Inflammation is implicated as one of many factors related to the development of chronic disease; thus, identifying its modifiable risk factors offers potential intervention targets to reduce risk.

Purpose: To investigate whether depression and anxiety symptoms may indirectly affect high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) through sleep duration and adiposity (i.e.

Effects of Social Exclusion on Cardiovascular and Affective Reactivity to a Socially Evaluative Stressor.

Purpose: Socially disconnected individuals have worse health than those who feel socially connected. The mechanisms through which social disconnection influences physiological and psychological outcomes warrant study. The current study tested whether experimental manipulations of social exclusion, relative to inclusion, influenced subsequent cardiovascular (CV) and affective reactivity to socially evaluative stress.

Approach and avoidance coping: diurnal cortisol rhythm in prostate cancer survivors.

Psychological coping responses likely modulate the negative physiological consequences of cancer-related demands. This longitudinal, observational study examined how approach- and avoidance-oriented strategies for coping with cancer are associated with diurnal cortisol rhythm in prostate cancer (PC) survivors. Sixty-six men (M age=65.

Inflammatory biomarkers and emotional approach coping in men with prostate cancer.

Objective: Emotion-regulating coping is associated with improvements in psychological and physical health outcomes. Yet in the context of prostate cancer-related stressors, limited research has characterized associations of emotion-regulating coping processes (emotional expression, emotional processing) and inflammatory processes that are related to disease risk. This investigation examined the relation of Emotional Approach Coping (EAC) with markers of inflammation to test the hypothesis that higher EAC scores at study entry (T1) would be associated with lower proinflammatory markers four months later (T2), specifically sTNF-RII, CRP, and IL-6.

Cancer-related masculine threat, emotional approach coping, and physical functioning following treatment for prostate cancer.

Objective: Aspects of masculinity and gender role, particularly those that are traditional and restrictive, are related to poorer physical and psychological outcomes in men with cancer. This longitudinal study uses a cancer-specific assessment to determine whether cancer-related masculine threat (CMT) predicts prostate-related (i.e.

Post-traumatic disorder symptoms and blunted diurnal cortisol production in partners of prostate cancer patients.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common cancer diagnosed in men, and research suggests that coping with this illness can cause significant distress in patients as well as their partners. This study examined the relationship of caregiving for a partner with PC with diurnal cortisol output in women between the ages of 42 and 75 years old. Participants were women whose partners had PC (n = 19) and women who were in relationships with men with no diagnosed medical illness (n = 26).

Sleep depth and fatigue: role of cellular inflammatory activation.

Individuals with underlying inflammation present with a high prevalence of non-specific co-morbid symptoms including sleep disturbance and fatigue. However, the association between cellular expression of proinflammatory cytokines, alterations of sleep depth and daytime fatigue has not been concurrently examined. In healthy adults (24-61 years old), evening levels of monocyte intracellular proinflammatory cytokine production were assessed prior to evaluation of polysomnographic sleep and measures of fatigue the following day.

Disrupted sleep in breast and prostate cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy: the role of coping processes.

Background: Sleep problems are a common complaint in cancer patients that have been understudied.

Methods: This study examined changes in sleep in 33 breast cancer (BC) patients and 23 prostate cancer (PC) patients during radiation therapy and over a 6-month followup. Coping processes were examined as predictors of sleep.

Influence of education and neighborhood poverty on pressor responses to phenylephrine in African-Americans and Caucasian-Americans.

Although neighborhood disadvantage has been linked to the development of cardiovascular disease, the mechanism through which living in impoverished neighborhoods is associated with poor cardiovascular health is not well understood. Additionally, it is not clear whether individual socioeconomic status (SES) interacts with neighborhood factors to influence cardiovascular outcomes. Using multilevel modeling, we examined the interaction between neighborhood poverty and individual SES on pressor responses to an alpha agonist, phenylephrine (PE), in an adult sample of 105 African-Americans and 106 Caucasian-Americans.

To assess, to control, to exclude: effects of biobehavioral factors on circulating inflammatory markers.

Behavioral scientists have increasingly included inflammatory biology as mechanisms in their investigation of psychosocial dynamics on the pathobiology of disease. However, a lack of standardization of inclusion and exclusion criteria and assessment of relevant control variables impacts the interpretation of these studies. The present paper reviews and discusses human biobehavioral factors that can affect the measurement of circulating markers of inflammation.

Coping style and sleep quality in men with cancer.

Background: Few studies have characterized the effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment on sleep quality in men with cancer, and even fewer have identified mediators between psychosocial factors and physical symptoms. It has been debated whether active, approach-oriented, coping behaviors or more passive, avoidance-oriented, coping behaviors are more important to the preservation of sleep quality.

Purpose: This study tested the impact of coping style (i.

Which measures of obesity are related to depressive symptoms and in whom?

The authors asked which obesity measurements were associated with depressive symptoms, whether this relationship differed by gender, and whether controlling for fatigue and response bias affected the relationship. A sample of 129 subjects (66 men, 63 women), with a mean age of 36.9 years and a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 26.

Fatigue varies by social class in African Americans but not Caucasian Americans.

Socioeconomic status explains many ethnic disparities in health; however, mechanisms are hard to identify. Fatigue-a frequent complaint in patients and normals-is associated with poorer quality of life. We wondered if ethnicity and social class interact to explain fatigue.

The toll of ethnic discrimination on sleep architecture and fatigue.

Most work on ethnicity tends to focus on daytime health rather than how aspects of ethnicity affect nighttime functioning. The current study examined how discrimination and ethnic identity relate to sleep architecture and fatigue in 37 African Americans and 56 Caucasian Americans. The authors conducted sleep monitoring with standard polysomnography.

Ethnicity, perceived discrimination, and vascular reactivity to phenylephrine.

Objectives: This study examined relationships among ethnicity, perceived discrimination, and vascular reactivity to phenylephrine (PE).

Methods: Seventy-six white patients and 46 black patients were studied at an inpatient clinical research center in response to a bolus intravenous injection of 100 microg PE. Self-report questionnaires assessed perceived discrimination.

Job strain, ethnicity, and sympathetic nervous system activity.

Several studies have demonstrated that blacks have heightened pressor sensitivity in response to the alpha-agonist, phenylephrine. However, studies examining whether psychosocial factors contribute to this difference are scarce. We examined the effects of job strain on pressor sensitivity in 76 whites and 46 blacks who were enrolled in a study of stress, sleep, and blood pressure.

Relationships between hostility, anger expression, and blood pressure dipping in an ethnically diverse sample.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between hostility, anger expression, and blood pressure (BP) dipping.

Methods: A 24-hour ambulatory BP was obtained from 34 African Americans and 52 white Americans who were enrolled in a study of sleep, stress, and BP. Self-report measures were used to assess anger expression and hostility.