Evaluation and acceptance of mobile-electrocardiogram use in implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients - Can I see my ECG?

Background: Medical technologies for consumers aim to help prevent, manage, and even forecast cardiovascular events, but their emotional impact is not fully known. The value of mobile-electrocardiogram (mECG) technology to an existing group of cardiac patients is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of readily available mECG capability for a sample of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients.

Exploring the relationship between frontal asymmetry and emotional dampening.

Cardiovascular emotional dampening is the term used to describe the inverse relationship between resting blood pressure and emotional responsivity which extends from normotensive to hypertensive ranges. Little is known about its underlying physiological mechanisms, but it is thought to involve some disruption in emotion processing. One area that has yet to be explored in the literature is the relationship between emotional dampening and frontal asymmetry, a psychophysiological indicator for motivational direction and emotional valence bias.

Depression and health behaviors in women with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Depression and health behavior engagement are a critical issue for recovery and secondary prevention in heart failure patients. No prior studies have examined these important clinical outcomes in young women diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM). We sought to characterize the prevalence of depression and health behaviors in PPCM patients and examine whether depression is associated with reduced engagement in health behaviors.

Contraception and reproductive counseling in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: Pregnancies following a diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are associated with increased risk for maternal morbidity and mortality. Yet patterns of contraceptive use and reproductive counseling have received little attention. This nationwide registry-based study sought to evaluate patterns and clinical characteristics associated with contraceptive use, and examine the prevalence of contraceptive counseling in women with PPCM.

eMindLog: Self-Measurement of Anxiety and Depression Using Mobile Technology.

Background: Quantifying anxiety and depressive experiences permits individuals to calibrate where they are and monitor intervention-associated changes. eMindLog is a novel self-report measure for anxiety and depression that is grounded in psychology with an organizing structure based on neuroscience.

Objective: Our aim was to explore the psychometric properties of eMindLog in a nonclinical sample of subjects.

College students' stigmatization of people with mental illness: familiarity, implicit person theory, and attribution.

Background: Stigma associated with mental illness (MI) results in underutilization of mental health care. We must understand factors contributing to stigma to shape anti-stigma campaigns.

Aims: To investigate the factors influencing stigma in university students.

It's not what you expect: feedback negativity is independent of reward expectation and affective responsivity in a non-probabilistic task.

ERP studies commonly utilize gambling-based reinforcement tasks to elicit feedback negativity (FN) responses. This study used a pattern learning task in order to limit gambling-related fallacious reasoning and possible affective responses to gambling, while investigating relationships between the FN components between high and low reward expectation conditions. Eighteen undergraduates completed measures of reinforcement sensitivity, trait and state affect, and psychophysiological recording.

The role of self-compassion in physical and psychological well-being.

The relation of self-compassion to physical and psychological well-being was investigated among 182 college students. The self-compassion scale was delineated into three composites, following the proposition by Neff that self-compassion consists of three main components: self-judgment versus self-kindness (SJ-SK), a sense of isolation versus common humanity (I-CH), and over-identification versus mindfulness (OI-M). Findings support the association between self-compassion and psychological and physical well-being, but the composites demonstrate different influences.

SPSS and SAS programs for comparing Pearson correlations and OLS regression coefficients.

Several procedures that use summary data to test hypotheses about Pearson correlations and ordinary least squares regression coefficients have been described in various books and articles. To our knowledge, however, no single resource describes all of the most common tests. Furthermore, many of these tests have not yet been implemented in popular statistical software packages such as SPSS and SAS.

Personality correlates of adherence with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Introduction: Adherence with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been problematic. Understanding the factors associated with nonadherence may assist with psychosocial interventions.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between adherence and three measures of personality and coping strategies.

Workaholism and work-life imbalance: does cultural origin influence the relationship?

In recent years, workaholism has become prevalent throughout organizations and has captured the attention of organizational leaders as well as the academic and scientific communities. Most research in this area has focused on the negative consequences of workaholism, specifically work-life imbalance. One area of research that has largely been ignored is the potential influence of demographic variables on the relationship between workaholism and work-life imbalance.

Enrichment, stress, and growth from parenting an individual with an autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Past researchers have focused primarily on the associated negative impact of caring for a child with special needs. In this study, caregivers report the enrichment and stress of caring for a child with an autism spectrum disorder.

Method: Eighty caregivers completed the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), Effects of the Situation Questionnaire (ESQ), and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI).

Comparison of rural and urban residents' implicit and explicit attitudes related to seeking medical care.

Context: The decision whether or not to consult a physician draws from a variety of attitudes within an individual's health schema. While rural Americans are in greater need of health care, many of them have fewer external resources than urbanites available to them.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to elicit implicit and explicit attitudes related to seeking medical treatment for a condition described as fairly serious.

Effects of physical attractiveness on evaluations of a male employee's allegation of sexual harassment by his female employer.

College students (N = 324) served as mock jurors in a simulated civil case in which a male plaintiff accused a female defendant of sexual harassment. The authors experimentally manipulated the physical attractiveness of the litigants. The authors asked mock jurors to decide whether the defendant was guilty and to rate their certainty of belief in the defendant's guilt (or lack of guilt).

Healthy high-hostiles evidence low-alpha power (7.5-9.5Hz) changes during negative affective learning.

The present experiment was designed to better understand the impact of positive and negative emotional processing among low- and high-hostile individuals. Based on previous research which found increased sympathovagal balance among low-hostiles to the negative version of the Affective Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AAVL), it was hypothesized that low-hostiles would experience increased cortical arousal to this stimulus whereas their high-hostile counterparts would not. As expected, low-hostiles experienced significantly reduced low-alpha power (7.

Racial bias in decisions made by mock jurors evaluating a case of sexual harassment.

White (N = 161) and Black (N = 152) college students served as mock jurors in a simulated civil case in which a female plaintiff accused a male defendant of sexual harassment. The authors experimentally manipulated the race (Black or White) of the litigants and asked the mock jurors to decide whether the defendant was guilty; to rate the certainty of their belief in the defendant's guilt; and, when they judged the defendant guilty, to recommend an award to the plaintiff. Mock jurors of both races tended to favor litigants of their own race and their own gender.

Grip-strength, fatigue, and motor perseveration in anxious men without depression.

Objective: To investigate the influence of anxiety without depression on functional motor asymmetry in adult men. Thus, left-and right-hand grip strength, fatigue across trials, and motor perseveration was examined among 60 right-handed men, half of whom had been classified as anxious without depression (HI, n = 30) and the other half as nonanxious without depression (LO, n = 30).

Background: There is substantial empirical support for the notion that individuals with negative affect experience relative right anterior activity.

Former Latchkey Children: Personality and Academic Correlates.

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and correlates (demographic, personality, and academic) of former latchkey status (children unsupervised by an adult after school during their elementary or middle school years) in a college student sample (N = 188). A clear operational definition of latchkey status was provided. Students were surveyed and administered a personality questionnaire, and their academic aptitude test scores were verified through university records.