Screening for Comorbidity of Sleep Disorders in Career Firefighters.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and sequelae of insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and comorbid OSA and insomnia (COMISA).

Method: In the morning, after a shift end, Midwest career firefighters ( N = 89) in a midsized city completed an electronic battery of questionnaire to screen for OSA, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, presleep arousal, nightmares, mental and physical health symptoms, and a one-night sleep diary.

Results: Prevalence of firefighters exceeding screening thresholds: OSA: 54%; insomnia: 30%; COMISA: 17%; four or more nightmares per month: 15%.

Testing the nightmare cognitive arousal processing model.

Objective: Posttrauma nightmares are recurring nightmares that begin after a traumatic experience. Research has only recently begun to identify variables that predict posttrauma nightmare occurrences. Research has identified presleep arousal-cognitive (PSA-C) and presleep arousal physiological (PSA-PHYS), sleep onset latency (SOL), and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) as potential predictors of posttrauma nightmares.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia treatment attrition in patients with weekly nightmares.

Study Objectives: This study's objective was to evaluate the effect of nightmares (NMs) on attrition and symptom change following cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) treatment using data from a successful CBT-I randomized controlled trial delivered to participants with recent interpersonal violence exposure.

Methods: The study randomized 110 participants (107 women; mean age: 35.5 years) to CBT-I or to an attention-control group.

Assessing Triggers of Posttrauma Nightmares.

Posttrauma nightmares are recurring nightmares that begin after a traumatic experience and can occur as often as multiple times per week, often in a seemingly random pattern. Although these nightmares are prevalent in trauma survivors, little is known about the mechanisms underlying their sporadic occurrence. The present study aimed to investigate predictors of posttrauma nightmares.

Factors associated with women's desire for control of healthcare during childbirth: Psychometric analysis and construct validation.

The desire for control of healthcare is a significant moderator of outcomes related to childbirth. Researchers have shown that a sense of control of healthcare during childbirth is strongly correlated with postpartum maternal well-being. The aims of this study were to examine (a) the psychometric characteristics of an instrument to assess women's desire for control of healthcare during childbirth, and (b) examine desire for control in relation to parity, medical complications of pregnancy, and women's choices of childbirth providers and setting.

Sleep quality buffers the effects of negative social interactions on maternal mood in the 3-6 month postpartum period: a daily diary study.

Sleep and social relationships are two key determinants of psychosocial health that undergo considerable change across the transition to motherhood. The current study investigated the bidirectional relationship between daytime Positive and Negative Social Interactions (PSIs & NSIs) and nighttime sleep quality on maternal mood across 1 week in the 3-6 month postpartum period. Sixty healthy, non-depressed first-time mothers completed 7-consecutive days of daily social interaction and sleep diaries.

The Association of Daytime Maternal Napping and Exercise With Nighttime Sleep in First-Time Mothers Between 3 and 6 Months Postpartum.

Objective: This study investigated the relationship of daytime maternal napping, exercise, caffeine, and alcohol intake to objective and subjective sleep indices.

Participants: Sixty healthy, nondepressed, first-time mothers between 3 and 6 months postpartum.

Methods: Seven consecutive days of online behavior diaries, sleep diaries, and wrist actigraphy, collecting Total Sleep Time (TST), Sleep Onset Latency (SOL), and Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO).

Percentage of REM sleep is associated with overnight change in leptin.

Sleep contributes importantly to energy homeostasis, and may impact hormones regulating appetite, such as leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone. There is increasing evidence that sleep duration, and reduced rapid eye movement sleep, are linked to obesity. Leptin has central neural effects beyond modulation of appetite alone.

Massage on experimental pain in healthy females: a randomized controlled trial.

This randomized controlled study evaluated the effect of massage on affect, relaxation, and experimental pain induced by electrical stimulation. Participants were 96 healthy women (M age = 20.13 ± 5.

Evaluating Evidence for the Role of Sleep in Fibromyalgia: A Test of the Sleep and Pain Diathesis Model.

The Sleep and Pain Diathesis (SAPD) Model predicts that sleep quality is related to Fibromylagia (FM) outcomes such as disability and depression and that these relationships are mediated by both pain and impaired emotional dysregulation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary test of this model using cross-sectional data. 35 adult women, who had been living with FM for an average of 13 years, completed a battery of questionnaires that included reports of pain, sleep, affect, and disability.

Insomnia symptoms and well-being: Longitudinal follow-up.

Objective: Most Americans have occasional problems with symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia symptoms have been linked to psychological distress, but few studies have examined the relationship between insomnia symptoms and well-being. The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between insomnia symptoms reported in a 10-year longitudinal study and the dimensions of subjective well-being and eudaimonic well-being, adjusting for the potential confounds of age, gender, and comorbid physical illness.

Perceived control and maternal satisfaction with childbirth: a measure development study.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate two instruments: one to assess patient perceptions of control of the childbirth environment and the other, global satisfaction with the childbirth experience. Participants were 187 women recruited from obstetric clinics, breast-feeding support groups and online who had given birth in the past 4 months. Scale development involved item construction, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the Perceived Control in Childbirth Scale (PCCh), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the Satisfaction with Childbirth Scale (SWCh), reliability analysis and construct validity analyses.

Validation of the multidimensional health locus of control scales for labor and delivery.

No current instrument assesses women's health locus of control beliefs in relation to childbirth. Form C of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales was used to develop items for a new instrument specific to labor and delivery (MHLC-LD). Psychometric analyses conducted with two independent samples of pregnant women supported a three-factor model of the new instrument, consisting of Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance subscales.

Fibromyalgia: the role of sleep in affect and in negative event reactivity and recovery.

Objective: Fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome is a chronic pain condition characterized by diffuse muscle pain, increased negative mood, and sleep disturbance. Until recently, sleep disturbance in persons with FM has been modeled as the result of the disease process or its associated pain. The current study examined sleep disturbance (i.

Insomnia and well-being.

Most Americans have occasional problems with insomnia. The relationship of insomnia to illness is well known. However, insomnia may also relate to lower levels of well-being.

Sleep and the affective response to stress and pain.

Objective: The current study examined sleep disturbance (i.e., sleep duration, sleep quality) as a correlate of stress reactivity and pain reactivity.

Individual differences in emotional processing and reactivity to pain among older women with rheumatoid arthritis.

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the relationship between pain and emotion may be better understood by identifying people who are more vulnerable to emotional dysregulation and those who are able to regulate emotion. Data were collected from 81 women diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. We assessed affect intensity, emotion regulation, active coping, neuroticism as well as weekly reports of pain, positive affect, and negative affect.

Health goal cognition and adjustment in women with fibromyalgia.

The purpose of this study was to identify individual differences in symptom-specific goal for persons diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and to determine whether those differences are related to adjustment outcomes. Women with FMS (N=71) rank ordered 12 FMS-specific goals and completed a packet of psychosocial outcome measures. Cluster analysis suggested that there were three relatively homogeneous subgroups defined.

Affect and pain in rheumatoid arthritis: do individual differences in affective regulation and affective intensity predict emotional recovery from pain?

Background: Individual differences in adaptation to rheumatoid arthritis are not fully accounted for by illness severity or duration of symptoms.

Purpose: In this study, we assessed differences in affect regulation and affect intensity as variables that might be important for identifying women with rheumatoid arthritis who are resilient versus those who have disrupted moods following pain exacerbations.

Method: Specifically, affective regulation, affect intensity, active coping, neuroticism and weekly reports of pain, positive affect, and negative affect were assessed in a sample of 81 women diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Impact of two types of expectancy on recovery from total knee replacement surgery (TKR) in adults with osteoarthritis.

This study examines the impact of 2 classes of psychological variables--expectancies for the future and self-efficacy--on recovery of function and reduction in symptomatology among individuals seeking total knee replacement surgery (TKR). The authors collected outcome measures (SF-36, WOMAC, Clinician assessments) prior to surgery, 4-6 weeks after surgery, and 6 months postsurgery for surgery patients and controls. Linear trend analyses by group gauged the impact of the surgical intervention on recovery, revealing significant improvements over time on physical health outcomes for the surgery patients not attained by controls.