Sharing Positive Experiences Boosts Resilient Thinking: Everyday Benefits of Social Connection and Positive Emotion in a Community Sample.

The influence of shared enjoyment and positive affect (PA) on resilient thinking was examined in 191 middle-aged adults (40-65 years), participating in a study of resilience. Participants completed diaries assessing positive events, shared enjoyment, PA, and resilient cognitions (RC). Multilevel structural equation modeling was utilized to examine when and who engages in RC.

Interleukin-6 and Depressive Mood Symptoms: Mediators of the Association Between Childhood Abuse and Cognitive Performance in Middle-Aged Adults.

Background: Childhood abuse is a risk factor for the development of cognitive deficits in adulthood, a relation that is likely mediated by stress-sensitive psychological and physiological indicators.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the link between exposure to childhood abuse and cognitive function in middle adulthood is mediated by interleukin-6 (IL-6), metabolic risk, and depressive mood symptoms.

Methods: Participants were 770 adults aged 40-65 recruited from the community, who completed the following: (i) a questionnaire assessing exposure to abuse prior to age 18, (ii) a phone interview assessing current depressive mood symptoms, and (iii) a home visit that included blood sampling for evaluation of IL-6 and assessment of metabolic risk indices.

Inter- and Intra-Individual Variation in Emotional Complexity: Methodological Considerations and Theoretical Implications.

The degree of relationship between positive and negative emotional states or is a topic of ongoing methodological and theoretical debate. At issue is whether positive and negative emotions are opposite ends of a bipolar continuum or independent dimensions in a bivariate distribution with little degree of overlap. In this review, we summarize a body of work suggesting that the distinction between positive and negative emotions varies both between and within individuals over time as a function of cognition and changes in informational demands, a perspective called the Dynamic Model of Affect (DMA).

Emodiversity and biomarkers of inflammation.

There is growing evidence that inflammatory responses may help to explain how emotions get "under the skin" to influence disease susceptibility. Moving beyond examination of individuals' average level of emotion, this study examined how the breadth and relative abundance of emotions that individuals experience-emodiversity-is related to systemic inflammation. Using diary data from 175 adults aged 40 to 65 who provided end-of-day reports of their positive and negative emotions over 30 days, we found that greater diversity in day-to-day positive emotions was associated with lower circulating levels of inflammation (indicated by IL-6, CRP, fibrinogen), independent of mean levels of positive and negative emotions, body mass index, anti-inflammatory medications, medical conditions, personality, and demographics.

Fusing Biodiversity Metrics into Investigations of Daily Life: Illustrations and Recommendations With Emodiversity.

Objectives: Functionalist emotion and ecological systems theories suggest emodiversity-the variety and relative abundance of individuals' emotion experiences-is beneficial for psychological and physical health and may change with age. This paper examines and provides recommendations for operationalization of diversity-type intraindividual variability (IIV) constructs using intensive longitudinal data, and demonstrates the utility of emodiversity by examining its links to physical health moderated by mean levels of emotion and age.

Method: Using data from a daily diary study of 138 adults (age 40 to 65 years), we consider how item selection, response scale, choice of diversity index, and number of occasions enable/constrain mapping to theory, measurement reliability, and empirical inquiry.

Predictors and social consequences of daily pain expectancy among adults with chronic pain.

Previous research suggests that for people living with chronic pain, pain expectancy can undermine access to adaptive resources and functioning. We tested and replicated the unique effect of pain expectancy on subsequent pain through 2 daily diary studies. We also extended previous findings by examining cognitive and affective antecedents of pain expectancy and the consequences of pain expectancy for daily social enjoyment and stress.

Relations between adaptive and maladaptive pain cognitions and within-day pain exacerbations in individuals with fibromyalgia.

The objectives of this study were to assess within-person hypotheses regarding temporal cognition-pain associations: (1) do morning pain flares predict changes in two afternoon adaptive and maladaptive pain-related cognitions, and (2) do these changes in afternoon cognitions predict changes in end-of-day pain reports, which in turn, carry over to predict next morning pain in individuals with fibromyalgia. Two hundred twenty individuals with fibromyalgia completed electronic assessments of pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, and pain coping efficacy three times a day for three weeks. Multilevel structural equation modeling established that afternoon catastrophizing and coping efficacy were parallel mediators linking late morning with end-of-day pain reports (controlling for afternoon pain), in line with prediction.

Affective disturbance in rheumatoid arthritis: psychological and disease-related pathways.

In addition to recurrent pain, fatigue, and increased rates of physical disability, individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have an increased prevalence of some mental health disorders, particularly those involving affective or mood disturbances. This narrative Review provides an overview of mental health comorbidities in RA, and discusses how these comorbidities interact with disease processes, including dysregulation of inflammatory responses, prolonged difficulties with pain and fatigue, and the development of cognitive and behavioural responses that could exacerbate the physical and psychological difficulties associated with RA. This article describes how the social context of individuals with RA affects both their coping strategies and their psychological responses to the disease, and can also impair responses to treatment through disruption of patient-physician relationships and treatment adherence.

Exploring the relationship between disease-related pain and cortisol levels in women with osteoarthritis.

Objectives: To determine if (1) Osteoarthritis (OA)-related pain is associated with the diurnal cortisol pattern and cortisol levels; (2) the diurnal pattern of cortisol varies with severity of OA pain and (3) the association between OA pain and cortisol is mediated by daily experience variables (DEV).

Design: In a community-based study of changes in regional and widespread pain among women with OA, participants (n = 31) completed daily diaries and collected three saliva samples daily for 7 days. Severity of OA-related pain was assessed by the validated Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale.

Linking childhood abuse and hypertension: sleep disturbance and inflammation as mediators.

The indirect association of childhood abuse with prevalent hypertension in adulthood through sleep disturbance and pro-inflammatory biomarkers was investigated in 589 community-dwelling, middle-aged adults. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and self-reported current sleep disturbance and medical diagnoses including hypertension. Blood pressure was taken and blood samples were analyzed for C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and fibrinogen.

REMAP-a Resilience Resources Measure for Prediction and Management of Somatic Symptoms.

Purpose: Patients with symptoms but without an identified disease are a challenge to primary care providers. A 22-item measure is introduced and evaluated to offer medical care providers with an instrument to assess and discuss possible deficiencies in resilience resources that may contribute to symptoms without identifiable pathology. This instrument highlights psychosocial and lifestyle resources that serve as buffers to life's stressors rather than focusing on stress and its related symptoms.

Social pain and physical pain: shared paths to resilience.

Although clinical models have traditionally defined pain by its consequences for the behavior and internal states of the sufferer, recent evidence has highlighted the importance of examining pain in the context of the broader social environment. Neuroscience research has highlighted commonalities of neural pathways connecting the experience of physical and social pain, suggesting a substantial overlap between these phenomena. Further, interpersonal ties, support and aspects of the social environment can impair or promote effective adaptation to chronic pain through changes in pain perception, coping and emotional states.

The Psychosocial Context of Financial Stress: Implications for Inflammation and Psychological Health.

Objective: Psychological distress may contribute to chronic activation of acute-phase inflammation. The current study investigated how financial stressors influence psychosocial functioning and inflammation. This study examined a) the direct relations between financial stress and inflammation; b) whether the relationships between financial stress and inflammation are mediated in part by negative interpersonal events, psychological distress, and psychological well-being; and c) whether social standing in one's community moderates the relations between financial stress and psychological distress, psychological well-being, and markers of inflammation (interleukin-6 [IL-6] and C-reactive protein).

Can We Learn to Treat One Another Better? A Test of a Social Intelligence Curriculum.

This paper reports on the first test of the value of an online curriculum in social intelligence (SI). Built from current social and cognitive neuroscience research findings, the 50 session SI program was administered, with facilitation in Spanish by classroom instructors, to 207 students from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid as part of their undergraduate classes. All materials were translated into Castilian Spanish, including outcome measures of SI that have been used in prior studies to provide valid estimates of two key components of social intelligence: 1) Sensitivity to others and 2) confidence in one's capacity to manage social situations.

Childhood trauma and personal mastery: their influence on emotional reactivity to everyday events in a community sample of middle-aged adults.

Childhood trauma is associated with premature declines in health in midlife and old age. Pathways that have been implicated, but less studied include social-emotional regulation, biological programming, and habitual patterns of thought and action. In this study we focused on childhood trauma's influence via alterations in social-emotional regulation to everyday life events, a pathway that has been linked to subsequent health effects.

Chronic pain and the adaptive significance of positive emotions.

The February-March 2014 special issue of the American Psychologist featured articles summarizing select contributions from the field of psychology to the assessment and treatment of chronic pain. The articles examined a range of psychosocial and family factors that influence individual adjustment and contribute to disparities in pain care. The reviews also considered the psychological correlates and neurophysiological mechanisms of specific pain treatments, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, hypnosis, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness, and meditation.

Comparison of an Online Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy Intervention With Online Pain Management Psychoeducation: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Background: This study tested the effectiveness of a computerized mindfulness-based cognitive therapy intervention compared with computerized pain management psychoeducation in a randomized study.

Methods: Using an intention-to-treat approach, 124 adult participants who reported experiencing pain that was unrelated to cancer and of at least 6 months duration were randomly assigned to computerized mindfulness-based cognitive therapy ("Mindfulness in Action" [MIA]) or pain management psychoeducation programs. Data were collected before and after the intervention and at 6-month follow-up.

Mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral interventions for chronic pain: differential effects on daily pain reactivity and stress reactivity.

Objective: This study compared the impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy for pain (CBT-P), mindful awareness and acceptance treatment (M), and arthritis education (E) on day-to-day pain- and stress-related changes in cognitions, symptoms, and affect among adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Method: One hundred forty-three RA patients were randomized to 1 of the 3 treatment conditions. CBT-P targeted pain-coping skills; M targeted awareness and acceptance of current experience to enhance coping with a range of aversive experiences; E provided information regarding RA pain and its management.

Associations between financial stress and interpersonal events: a daily diary study of middle-aged adults and their life circumstances.

This study examined the relationships between daily negative financial events and positive and negative interpersonal events, as well as the moderating effects of life circumstances, for a sample of 182 adults between the age of 40 and 65 providing 30 days of diary data collected between 2008 and 2011. There was a significant and positive relationship between daily negative interpersonal events and daily levels of both negative interpersonal events and positive interpersonal events; these relationships varied by income, employment status, parenting roles, and the experience of major financial challenges over the previous year. The moderating effect of income was nonlinear but its effect disappeared when the interaction between major financial challenges over the previous year and daily negative financial events was entered into the model.

Stress-related clinical pain and mood in women with chronic pain: moderating effects of depression and positive mood induction.

Background: Chronic pain with comorbid depression is characterized by poor mood regulation and stress-related pain.

Purpose: This study aims to compare depressed and non-depressed pain patients in mood and pain stress reactivity and recovery, and test whether a post-stress positive mood induction moderates pain recovery.

Methods: Women with fibromyalgia and/or osteoarthritis (N = 110) underwent interpersonal stress and were then randomly assigned by pain condition and depression status, assessed via the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale, to positive versus neutral mood induction.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: a marker of resilience to pain induction.

Background: There may be significant individual differences in physiological regulatory responses to the experience of pain and stress. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia is a physiological indicator that may have implications for efficient physiological responses to pain and stress.

Purpose: Fatigue is an indicator of inefficient self-regulation under stressful conditions.

A multilevel structural equation modeling analysis of vulnerabilities and resilience resources influencing affective adaptation to chronic pain.

The processes of individual adaptation to chronic pain are complex and occur across multiple domains. We examined the social, cognitive, and affective context of daily pain adaptation in individuals with fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. By using a sample of 260 women with fibromyalgia or osteoarthritis, we examined the contributions of pain catastrophizing, negative interpersonal events, and positive interpersonal events to daily negative and positive affect across 30days of daily diary data.

Rheumatoid arthritis: stress affects rheumatoid arthritis, but via what mechanisms?

The mind and body are thought to interact in a manner that influences health, but modelling the right aspects of each so as to best inform treatment is a tricky proposition. A new study discusses how stress can affect rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.