Yo-yo dieting in African American women: weight cycling and health.

Objective: Research on the effects of weight cycling on health is mixed, strife with inconsistent definitions and the exclusion of African Americans. This study examined weight cycling prevalence among African American women prior to enrolling in a weight management program. Associations of weight cycling with physical and psychological health were conducted.

Integration of the biopsychosocial model: perspectives of medical students and residents.

Purpose: To examine residents' and medical students' attitudes toward the incorporation of psychosocial factors in diagnosis and treatment and to identify barriers to the integration of evidence-based, mind-body methods.

Method: A random sample of third- and fourth-year medical students and residents was drawn from the Masterfiles of the American Medical Association. A total of 661 medical students and 550 residents completed a survey, assessing attitudes toward the role of psychosocial factors and the clinical application of behavioral/mind-body methods.

The influence of preferred coping style and cognitive strategy on laboratory-induced pain.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of matching an individual's coping style (low, mixed, or high monitoring) to an appropriate cognitive strategy (distraction or sensation monitoring) to improve pain management.

Design: This study used a split-plot factorial design in a laboratory setting.

Main Outcome Measures: Main outcomes were pain threshold, pain tolerance, pain intensity, pain affect, and anxiety.

Participation in specific treatment components predicts alcohol-specific and general coping skills.

This study identified which aspects of substance abuse treatment in community residential facilities (CRFs) were correlated with patients' post-treatment coping. A total of 2376 patients supplied demographic information and completed measures at baseline (coping and abstinence self-efficacy) and one year after treatment (coping, level of drug and alcohol use, and substance-related problems). Staff provided information about treatment orientation and patients' participation in treatment (e.

Barriers to the integration of mind-body medicine: perceptions of physicians, residents, and medical students.

Objective: This study of medical students, residents, and physicians examined their responses to focus group questions in an effort to understand barriers to discussing psychosocial issues and using mind-body interventions to address health issues.

Methods: Four focus groups were conducted: two with medical students and residents, one with primary care doctors, and one with physicians representing different specialties. Responses were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Meta-analysis: acupuncture for low back pain.

Background: Low back pain limits activity and is the second most frequent reason for physician visits. Previous research shows widespread use of acupuncture for low back pain.

Purpose: To assess acupuncture's effectiveness for treating low back pain.

Psychosocial determinants of health and illness: integrating mind, body, and spirit.

Presented in this paper is a review of some of the evidence linking psychosocial factors to a variety of health outcomes. Drawing upon the work of the philosopher Ken Wilber, we begin with a consideration of some of the historic roots of the mind-body split. As will be seen, Wilber argues that in the premodern era, "mind" and "body" were essentially fused (ie, thought of as not separate); with the dawn in the West of the Enlightenment and the emergence and subsequent dominance of the empiric-scientific mode of inquiry, the mind and body became separate; and in the postmodern world, the task now is one of reintegrating mind and body, an undertaking with obvious implications for the field of medicine.

The efficacy of mindfulness meditation plus Qigong movement therapy in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To test the short and longterm benefits of an 8 week mind-body intervention that combined training in mindfulness meditation with Qigong movement therapy for individuals with fibromyalgia syndrome (FM).

Methods: A total of 128 individuals with FM were randomly assigned to the mind-body training program or an education support group that served as the control. Outcome measures were pain, disability (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire), depression, myalgic score (number and severity of tender points), 6 minute walk time, and coping strategies, which were assessed at baseline and at 8, 16, and 24 weeks.

Mind-body medicine: state of the science, implications for practice.

Background: Although emerging evidence during the past several decades suggests that psychosocial factors can directly influence both physiologic function and health outcomes, medicine had failed to move beyond the biomedical model, in part because of lack of exposure to the evidence base supporting the biopsychosocial model. The literature was reviewed to examine the efficacy of representative psychosocial-mind-body interventions, including relaxation, (cognitive) behavioral therapies, meditation, imagery, biofeedback, and hypnosis for several common clinical conditions.

Methods: An electronic search was undertaken of the MEDLINE, PsycLIT, and the Cochrane Library databases and a manual search of the reference sections of relevant articles for related clinical trials and reviews of the literature.