Quick screening tool for patients with severe negative emotional reactions to chronic illness: psychometric study of the negative emotions due to chronic illness screening test (NECIS).

Background: Severe negative emotional reactions to chronic illness are maladaptive to patients and they need to be addressed in a primary care setting.

Objective: The psychometric properties of a quick screening tool-the Negative Emotions due to Chronic Illness Screening Test (NECIS)-for general emotional problems among patients with chronic illness being treated in a primary care setting was investigated.

Method: Three studies including 375 of patients with chronic illness were used to assess and analyze internal consistency, test-retest reliability, criterion-related validity, a cut-off point for distinguishing maladaptive emotions and clinical application validity of NECIS.

Diabetes mellitus and functional impairment in Taiwanese older men and women.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is strongly related to many kinds of functional impairment, even after adjusting for demographic and comorbid conditions. The current study examined sex differences in the relationships between Type 2 diabetes mellitus and functional impairment in an Asian population sample. Data were obtained from a national survey, the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS) in Taiwan.

Unintentional memory inhibition is weakened in non-clinical dissociators.

Although participants with dissociation proneness showed inefficient cognitive inhibition, whether and under what stimulus-task contexts dissociators show inefficient memory inhibition remains inconclusive. This study investigated the relationship between trait dissociation and basic operation of memory control using a non-clinical sample. To reduce the involvement of strategic control and the influence of emotionality, the retrieval-practice paradigm was adopted to examine unintentional memory inhibition of neutral materials.

Social relations and PTSD symptoms: a prospective study on earthquake-impacted adolescents in Taiwan.

This prospective longitudinal study examined two competing models, a traditional social support model and a supportive and detrimental social relations model, to clarify the association of PTSD symptoms with supportive and detrimental social relations. Seven-hundred five adolescents living near the epicenter of the Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake participated in the study. The models were evaluated and cross-validated using structural equation modeling.

The set switching function of nonclinical dissociators under negative emotion.

Rapid switching may underlie the disruption of some integrated thought processes that characterize dissociation in both nonclinical and clinical populations. We investigated the set switching function under negative emotion with three groups of nonclinical participants that had different degrees of dissociation proneness. In the experiment, participants judged whether the digit in a predefined target color was odd or even on the preswitch trials.

Comparative analysis of full genomic sequences among different genotypes of dengue virus type 3.

Background: Although the previous study demonstrated the envelope protein of dengue viruses is under purifying selection pressure, little is known about the genetic differences of full-length viral genomes of DENV-3. In our study, complete genomic sequencing of DENV-3 strains collected from different geographical locations and isolation years were determined and the sequence diversity as well as selection pressure sites in the DENV genome other than within the E gene were also analyzed.

Results: Using maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches, our phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Taiwan's indigenous DENV-3 isolated from 1994 and 1998 dengue/DHF epidemics and one 1999 sporadic case were of the three different genotypes - I, II, and III, each associated with DENV-3 circulating in Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, respectively.

Stress, insomnia, and chronic idiopathic urticaria--a case-control study.

Background And Purpose: There is growing evidence that stress might play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of urticaria. This study examined the association between chronic idiopathic urticaria and stress from major life events and explored the validity of the biopsychosocial model of stress as it relates to urticaria.

Methods: A total of 75 consecutive cases with chronic idiopathic urticaria and 133 controls with tinea pedis who visited a dermatologic clinic for treatment were recruited for participation in this study.

Psychosocial adjustment among pediatric cancer patients and their parents.

Children with cancer face both physical and psychosocial challenges. However, there is not enough empirical evidence in Taiwan regarding how they and their families cope with their illness. The purpose of the present study was to explore the psychosocial impact of cancer on target children and their families as well as the degree of depression experienced by these children.