Repressive coping and cardiovascular reactivity to novel and recurrent stress.

Background And Objectives: Repressors tend to report less negative emotion and to describe challenges as less stressful, yet tend to exhibit higher rates of cardiovascular disease. While repressive coping has been shown to be associated with exaggerated physiological reactivity to novel stress, we sought to establish if elevated responses persisted across repeated exposure.

Design And Methods: In a sample of 86 healthy female adults, a verbal-autonomic response dissociation index of repressive coping was computed.

The relationship between two types of impaired emotion processing: repressive coping and alexithymia.

The constructs of repressive coping and alexithymia are both related to impaired emotion processing, yet individuals with a repressive coping style (repressors) score lower than controls on standard self-report measures of alexithymia. A large body of evidence indicates that repressors avoid negative affect. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between repressive coping and alexithymia by using independently-rated interviews with the aim of bypassing repressors' tendency of avoiding negative affect.

Changing smokers' risk perceptions--for better or worse?

This study investigated the effect of a smoking health message on smokers' comparative optimism. Two groups watched an anti-smoking scenario, with one group imagining being part of the scenario. Participants, including controls, completed comparative optimism ratings for four smoking-related illnesses.

Do media messages change people's risk perceptions for binge drinking?

Aims: The current study investigated the effect of a media health message for drinking on risk perception estimates (comparative optimism).

Methods: Sixty-five young adults who regularly drink alcohol watched an anti-drinking scenario (having an accident due to drinking). There were two intervention conditions: 30 participants 'imagined' they were part of the scenario, and 35 'watched' the scenario.

Determinants of adults' intention to vaccinate against pandemic swine flu.

Background: Vaccination is one of the cornerstones of controlling an influenza pandemic. To optimise vaccination rates in the general population, ways of identifying determinants that influence decisions to have or not to have a vaccination need to be understood. Therefore, this study aimed to predict intention to have a swine influenza vaccination in an adult population in the UK.

Understanding of stroke and coronary heart disease in the UK: an exploratory study.

It has been suggested by the UK's 2007 National Stroke strategy for England (NSSFE) that general population awareness is high for coronary heart disease (CHD) but low for stroke. This was investigated in the present study. One hundred eighty-two members of the general public completed a questionnaire about understanding of stroke/CHD.

The importance of the repressive coping style: findings from 30 years of research.

During the last three decades there has been substantial research exploring the repressive coping style as defined by Weinberger, Schwartz, and Davidson. As "repressors," who score low on trait anxiety and high on defensiveness, account for up to 50% of certain populations, they are an essential group for psychologists to study. However, there are methodological issues in identifying repressors as well as considerable evidence that repressors avoid negative self-relevant information.

Initial psychological responses to Influenza A, H1N1 ("Swine flu").

Background: The outbreak of the pandemic flu, Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) in early 2009, provided a major challenge to health services around the world. Previous pandemics have led to stockpiling of goods, the victimisation of particular population groups, and the cancellation of travel and the boycotting of particular foods (e.g.

An exploratory study investigating factors associated with adherence to chest physiotherapy and exercise in adults with cystic fibrosis.

This study explored the relationship between psychological and demographic variables relating to chest physiotherapy (CP) and exercise in adults with cystic fibrosis. The main results were that adherence to both treatments was low and analysis of variance indicated that severity and gender were associated with exercise adherence, importance and burden. These results suggest potential areas for interventions to improve exercise adherence.

Adherence to chest physiotherapy in adults with cystic fibrosis.

Chest physiotherapy (CP) is seen as a cornerstone of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) treatment. However, previous studies have suggested that adherence to CP is low. This study of adults with CF (N = 563) investigated CP adherence and associated factors.

Social cognitive predictors of sun protection intention and behavior.

The authors investigated sunbathing behavior and intention prospectively using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Before summer, 85 young adults who intended to sunbathe completed a TPB questionnaire. After summer; 46 of them completed a second questionnaire about their summertime sunbathing behavior The proposed model was successful in predicting both behavior and intention to use sun protection, with 45% of the variance of self-reported sunscreen use and 32% of the variance in intention explained by the TPB.

The role of illness beliefs, treatment beliefs, and perceived severity of symptoms in explaining distress in cancer patients during chemotherapy treatment.

The authors investigated cancer patients' interpretations of their physical symptoms and their illness beliefs with the objective of establishing the importance of these variables in predicting distress during chemotherapy treatment. Past researchers have suggested that causal attributions of physical symptoms and beliefs about illness progression and its consequences may serve as important mediators between number and perceived severity of symptoms and psychological adjustment in cancer patients during the treatment phase. Our aim in this study was to further these findings using the Self-Regulation Model as a theoretical framework.