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Biomedical subjects

A B Zonderman

Publications and source records attributed to A B Zonderman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Adult life span changes in immediate visual memory and verbal intelligence.

A sample of 558 women and 1,163 men 17 to 102 years old, screened for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease, was administered tests of immediate visual memory (Benton Visual Retention Test) and crystallized intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Vocabulary subtest) from 1 to 5 times over 27.7 years. Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence led to the conclusion that the 65-74-year decade was a watershed for decremental changes in immediate visual memory and verbal intelligence. Age accounted for considerably less variance in vocabulary than in immediate memory. The proportion of individuals whose longitudinal trajectories were contrary to group trends decreased substantially with increased age; observed age changes remained when analyses were restricted to individuals who had perfect or near-perfect mental status scores. Selected neuronal loss and slower reproduction times were considered as possible causes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Age-associated changes in specific errors on the Benton Visual Retention Test.

While total errors on the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) are known to increase in normal aging, there is little information on changes for specific error types. We examined the differential increase in seven specific error categories for 2,000 participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Cross-sectional analyses indicated that all errors increased with age, but differences between age groups in error profiles suggested relatively greater age effects for distortions, omissions, and rotations. There were also significant gender differences in error profiles, reflecting increased rotation and omission errors in females. Longitudinal analyses of age changes for a subset of 673 participants with three BVRT assessments were consistent with the cross-sectional data and indicated intra-individual increases with age in distortions, omissions, and rotations. While women made more omission errors, men showed steeper increases in omission errors with age. These findings suggest that cerebral aging impacts all categories of BVRT errors but has differential effects on particular error types.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Depressive symptoms as a nonspecific, graded risk for psychiatric diagnoses.

Using data from a 16-year follow-up of a nationally representative sample of 6,913 adults, measures of depressive symptoms were used to predict psychiatric diagnoses taken from hospitalization records. In proportional hazards analyses, two measures of depression were significantly associated with subsequent diagnoses of depression and other psychiatric disorders after statistical control for demographic variables and previous history of psychological problems. Depressive symptoms predicted late as well as early occurrence of psychiatric diagnoses and showed a pattern of increasing risk with increasing scores, even below clinical cutoffs. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that depressive symptoms predict future psychiatric disorders largely because they serve as proxy measures of some chronic vulnerability, such as the normal personality dimension of neuroticism.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Prevalence and prognostic significance of exercise-induced silent myocardial ischemia detected by thallium scintigraphy and electrocardiography in asymptomatic volunteers.

Although a silent ischemic electrocardiographic response to treadmill exercise in clinically healthy populations is associated with an increased likelihood of future coronary events (i.e., angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, or cardiac death), such a response has a low predictive value for future events because of the low prevalence of disease in asymptomatic populations. To examine whether detection of reduced regional perfusion by thallium scintigraphy improved the predictive value of exercise-induced ST segment depression, we performed maximal treadmill exercise electrocardiography (ECG) and thallium scintigraphy (201Tl) in 407 asymptomatic volunteers 40-96 years of age (mean = 60) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. The prevalence of exercise-induced silent ischemia, defined by concordant ST segment depression and a thallium perfusion defect, increased more than sevenfold from 2% in the fifth and sixth decades to 15% in the ninth decade. Over a mean follow-up period of 4.6 years, cardiac events developed in 9.8% of subjects and consisted of 20 cases of new angina pectoris, 13 myocardial infarctions, and seven deaths. Events occurred in 7% of individuals with both negative 201Tl and ECG, 8% of those with either test positive, and 48% of those in whom both tests were positive (p less than 0.001). By proportional hazards analysis, age, hypertension, exercise duration, and a concordant positive ECG and 201Tl result were independent predictors of coronary events. Furthermore, those with positive ECG and 201Tl had a 3.6-fold relative risk for subsequent coronary events, independent of conventional risk factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Depression as a risk for cancer morbidity and mortality in a nationally representative sample.

The relative risks for cancer morbidity and mortality associated with depressive symptoms were examined using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and the depression subscale from the General Well-being Schedule were used as predictors in this 10-year follow-up study of a nationally representative sample. No significant risk for cancer morbidity or mortality was associated with depressive symptoms with or without adjustment for age, sex, marital status, smoking, family history of cancer, hypertension, and serum cholesterol level. These data were also reanalyzed for subjects aged 55 years or older who were retraced by a second follow-up. Neither measure of depressive symptoms was a significant risk for cancer death during the 15-year follow-up interval. These results call into question the causal connection between depressive symptoms and cancer morbidity and mortality.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Symptoms of psychologic distress associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Comparison of community and medical clinic samples.

Women with symptoms indicative of irritable bowel syndrome who had not consulted a physician were compared with female patients at a gastroenterology clinic to investigate whether self-selection for treatment accounts for psychologic abnormalities in clinic patients' with irritable bowel syndrome. Two sets of diagnostic criteria were compared: restrictive criteria based on the work of Manning and conventional criteria (abdominal pain plus altered bowel habits). Lactose malabsorbers were included as a control group because they have medically explained bowel symptoms similar to those that define irritable bowel syndrome. Thus they control for the causative effects of chronic bowel symptoms on psychologic distress. Women who met restrictive criteria for irritable bowel syndrome but had not consulted a physician had no more symptoms of psychologic distress on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist than asymptomatic controls. However, medical clinic patients with both irritable bowel syndrome and lactose malabsorption had significantly more psychologic symptoms than asymptomatic controls or nonconsulters with the same diagnoses. Individuals who met only the conventional criteria for irritable bowel syndrome reported more psychologic distress than controls, whether or not they consulted a physician. These results suggest that (a) symptoms of psychologic distress are unrelated to irritable bowel syndrome but influence which patients consult a doctor and (b) conventional diagnostic criteria identify more psychologically distressed individuals than do restrictive criteria.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

A comparison of the symptoms of medical and psychiatric patients matched on the Beck Depression Inventory.

The goals of this study were to examine, in greater detail, the experience of depression in the medically ill, and to compare their experience with that of depressed psychiatric patients. Medical and psychiatric inpatients were matched in terms of total scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). In addition to the BDI, all patients completed a self-report symptom battery. No difference was found between the two groups in terms of total BDI scores, but psychiatric patients scored significantly higher on the affective BDI items, and medical patients scored significantly higher on the somatic BDI items. Discriminant analysis was used to compare their responses to the symptom battery. Depression in the psychiatric patients was characterized primarily by suicidal ideation and loss of interest, whereas in medical patients a lack of energy and worry were the predominant symptoms. The implications of these findings for assessing depression in the medically ill are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Longitudinal analyses of psychological well-being in a national sample: stability of mean levels.

Maturational changes, cohort differences, and time of measurement effects on psychological well-being were examined in data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) I Epidemiologic Followup Study. A 9-year longitudinal study of 4,942 men and women initially aged 25 to 74 was supplemented by cross- and time-sequential analyses using an independent sample of 4,986 participants who were first administered the well-being measures at the time of the follow-up. Older participants in the study tended to be lower in both Positive and Negative Affect, but longitudinal changes in these two subscales were not found, and Total Well-Being showed no significant age, birth cohort, or time effects in any of the analyses. Given the size and representativeness of the sample, this is strong evidence of the stability of mean levels of psychological well-being in adulthood, and points to the importance of enduring personality dispositions and processes of adaptation in determining levels of well-being.

Affect↗
PubMed1987

Environmental and dispositional influences on well-being: longitudinal follow-up of an American national sample.

Both laypersons and social scientists typically assume that psychological well-being or happiness is a response to objective circumstances or events. The present study contributes to recent literature showing that stable individual differences are more useful than life circumstances in predicting well-being. Responses to items from the General Well-being Schedule were examined for 4942 men and women surveyed in a follow-up of a national sample. Results showed substantial stability for well-being scales for total group and demographically defined subgroups, and stability coefficients were as high for those who had experienced changes in marital or employment status or state of residence as for those who had not. These findings point out the need for caution in interpreting well-being scores as indices of the quality of life, because well-being is strongly influenced by enduring characteristics of the individual.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Effects of age, hypertension history, and neuroticism on health perceptions.

The effects of measured blood pressure, history of hypertension diagnosis, age, and neuroticism on number of somatic complaints and self-rated health were examined in a sample of 970 non-health-care-seeking adult men and women. Significant differences in number of somatic complaints and self-rated health were found due to age, neuroticism, and history of hypertension diagnosis. Measured blood pressure, however, was unrelated to both measures of health perception. With the exception of the effect of neuroticism on somatic complaints, the effects of the independent variables on health perceptions were rather small in magnitude and explained only small proportions of the variance. Age differences had a particularly weak effect on health perceptions, accounting for less variance than either neuroticism or history of hypertension diagnosis. A significant interaction of neuroticism with awareness of hypertension was found, but only for number of somatic complaints. These results suggest that health perception is a complex, multidimensional construct. The relatively weak influence of hypertension diagnosis on health perception may account for the difficulties in maintaining patient compliance with antihypertensive treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Correlations of MMPI factor scales with measures of the five factor model of personality.

Two recent item factor analyses of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) classified the resulting factors according to a conceptual scheme offered by Norman's (1963) five factor model. The present article empirically evaluates those classifications by correlating MMPI factor scales with self-report and peer rating measures of the five factor model in a sample of 153 adult men and women. Both sets of predictions were generally supported, although MMPI factors derived in a normal sample showed closer correspondences with the five normal personality dimensions. MMPI factor scales were also correlated with 18 scales measuring specific traits within the broader domains of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness. The nine Costa, Zonderman, McCrae, and Williams (1985) MMPI factor scales appear to give useful global assessments of four of the five factors; other instruments are needed to provide detailed information on more specific aspects of normal personality. The use of the five factor model in routine clinical assessment is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Cross-sectional studies of personality in a national sample: 2. Stability in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Followup Study were used to examine age differences in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience. Cross-sectional analyses of data from 10,063 respondents showed that older subjects were slightly lower in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness; that age trends were not curvilinear; and that there were no differences in personality scores that might be attributable to a mild-life crisis or transition. Comparison with data from 654 participants in the Augmented Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (ABLSA) showed that the ABLSA sample was lower in extraversion and higher in openness than the national sample, although the differences were small in magnitude. Results were interpreted to mean that sampling and attrition in this longitudinal sample did not seriously bias results on these personality variables, and that cross-sectional findings from a large probability sample support the conclusion that personality is predominantly stable in adulthood.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Does the Illness Behavior Questionnaire measure abnormal illness behavior?

Abnormal illness behavior (AIB) has been proposed as a construct measuring the inappropriate or maladaptive modes of responding to one's state of health, and the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (BQ; Pilowsky, 1975) was designed to measure this construct. Previous studies using small samples have failed to agree on the factor structure of this questionnaire. The present paper examines the factor structure of the Illness Behavior Questionnaire and critically evaluates the interpretation of its dimensions as well as the construct of AIB. A factor analysis of responses from 1,061 health care and nonhealth care seeking subjects yielded six interpretable factors which substantially replicated Pilowsky's previous results. Six scales were calculated and correlated with several personality measures. The results indicated that the Illness Behavior Questionnaire is saturated with neuroticism, a dimension known to be related to excessive medical complaints. But excessive medical complaints cannot be equated with hypochondriasis or AIB in the absence of objective medical information. In the absence of evidence for the discriminant validity of the IBQ, its use as a diagnostic device is unwarranted. Treating elevated IBQ scores as indicators of abnormal illness behavior without corroborating medical information may be more misleading than accepting patients' symptom reports at face value.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Assortative marriage for cognitive abilities.

One hundred and twenty-three spouse pairs gathered as part of a family study of the genetics of special abilities were examined on a battery of ability tests. Four principal components were interpreted after rotation: Spatial, Verbal, Perceptual Speed, and Memory. In addition, the first factor from a common factor analysis (unrotated) was taken as an estimate of g. Assortive marriage was measured by the spouse correlations on the test and factor scores. Three multiple regression models were designed to determine whether phenotypic convergence during marriage occurs and whether resemblance between spouses in cognitive ability is related to fertility. The following independent variables were partialed out in the models: (1) sex and age; (2) sex, age, and length of marriage; and (3) sex, age, and number of children. Model 1 (age and sex) accounted for part of the correlation between spouses on the spatial tests, the verbal tests and the spatial and general factors. The perceptual speed and memory tests and factors were largely unaffected by partialing out the independent variables. No evidence of phenotypic convergence over years of marriage or of a relationship between fertility and resemblance in abilities was found.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Age and gender differences in the content scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

We examined time of measurement, gender, and age differences on the nine content scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory using data collected by three separate studies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s. No evidence was found for differences in the content scales due to time of measurement that also could not have been explained by demographic differences. Differences due to gender were found on only one of the nine scales, Masculinity-Femininity, and age differences were found on the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness scales. Younger men and women had significantly higher scores on the Neuroticism and Extraversion scales, and these differences were consistent in both magnitude and direction across sample and gender. Our results suggest that it is likely that openness reaches its lifetime stable level by the time typical adolescents enter college, because we found no significant age differences in intellectual interests. Neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness on the other hand, are likely to show instability throughout, and probably after, adolescence and early adulthood, because we found significant age differences in the content dimensions associated with these factors in separate analyses of three samples.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The relation of chest pain symptoms to angiographic findings of coronary artery stenosis and neuroticism.

The present article examines the relations among self-reported and physician-estimated chest pain variables to angiographically determined coronary stenosis (CAD) and neuroticism scores. Six of the 48 chest pain variables were significantly related to coronary stenosis, but only one variable, chest pain elicited by walking, was positively related to stenosis. Chest pain during sleep, sighing and dizziness accompanying chest pain, right lower chest pain radiation, and infrequent rest to cope with the chest pain were significantly negatively related to stenosis. Neuroticism scores (N) were not significantly related to CAD but were significantly correlated with 13 of the 48 chest pain variables. In addition to correlating positively with the chest pain variables that were negatively correlated with CAD, N scores were significantly related to higher pain severity ratings, being angry, annoyed, tense, afraid, worried, and upset before the chest pain, breathlessness during the pain episode, and pain sensations described as stabbing. The six chest pain variables significantly correlated with CAD yielded a multiple correlation of 0.58, accounting for 34% of the variance, whereas N scores accounted for only 5% of the variance; however, N contributed less than 1% unique variation to stenosis in combination with the six chest-pain variables. That N influences chest pain reports more than actual stenosis is further confirmed by the results of physicians' ratings of their patients' typical chest pain episodes. Recognition of patients' characteristic levels of distress or neuroticism may aid physicians in evaluating symptoms more accurately and in treating their chest pains more appropriately.

Age Factors↗