Biomedical subjects

J Lee Westmaas

Publications and source records attributed to J Lee Westmaas.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Autonomy (vs. sociotropy) and depressive symptoms in quitting smoking: evidence for trait-congruence and the role of gender.

According to Beck's cognitive theory of depression, autonomy (high achievement concerns) and sociotropy (high interpersonal concerns) are vulnerability factors for depression when achievement or interpersonal stressors, respectively, are experienced. This hypothesis was tested among men and women attempting to quit smoking, an achievement stressor that can provoke depressive symptoms. Smokers recruited from the community (N=210) provided information about their quit attempt through mailed questionnaires. For the 48-h period following the quit, relationships among autonomy, sociotropy, coping, depressive symptoms and lapsing were assessed. Structural equation models supported the trait-congruence hypothesis because greater autonomy, but not sociotropy, was associated with elevated depressive symptoms among both men and women smokers. However, results were stronger for men (beta=.47, p=.0001) than for women (beta=.20, p=.05). After accounting for autonomy's relationship with depressive symptoms, greater autonomy was inversely associated with lapsing among men (beta=-.35, p=.01), but not women. Results point to the potential usefulness of a theoretical approach to understanding relationships between depressive symptoms and smoking cessation, and indicate that autonomous personality may be an important factor in smoking cessation in men.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

The role of perceived similarity in supportive responses to victims of negative life events.

The authors examined whether participants' perceived similarity to an ostensible victim of a negative life event influenced their supportiveness during a live interaction. Two competing models were considered: (a) increased similarity would be associated with increased supportiveness through attraction to the target and (b) increased similarity would be associated with decreased supportiveness through anxiety (due to heightened vulnerability). Participants (N = 241) met individually with a confederate posing as a cancer patient. Reactions were assessed, including verbal and nonverbal behaviors, both before and after the interaction, by participants themselves and by observers of the interaction. Results supported a model based on the classic similarity/attraction paradigm: Perceived similarity indirectly predicted participant-reported supportiveness/warmth and smiling through its relationship to attraction. Results extend the literature on similarity and attraction to the stress and coping arena and suggest that emphasizing perceived similarities to victims would be beneficial.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Paradoxical effects of social support on blood pressure reactivity among defensive individuals.

BACKGROUND: Social support can reduce cardiovascular responses to an acute stressor. However, prior clinical research suggests that defensive individuals may react negatively to social support. PURPOSE: This experiment examined whether emotional support provided during a speech stressor would escalate rather than decrease blood pressure (BP) reactivity among defensive individuals. METHODS: After completing personality measures, 176 female undergraduates were randomly assigned to give a speech in 1 of 3 social conditions: alone, or with a neutral or supportive confederate present. Mean arterial BP was assessed at baseline, immediately before, and during and after the stressor. RESULTS: In the supportive condition, defensiveness predicted higher BP reactivity during anticipation (beta = .35, p = .04) and delivery of the speech (beta = .32, p = .03), and longer recovery to baseline BP levels (beta = .35, p = .01). In the absence of support (i.e., alone and neutral conditions), defensiveness was not associated with BP reactivity. Defensiveness also predicted greater dissociation between subjective stress and BP responses (beta = .35, p = .05), but only in the supportive condition. CONCLUSIONS: According to results, the provision of social support during stressors does not benefit defensive individuals' BP reactivity but has the opposite effect.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Unaided smoking cessation and predictors of failure to quit in a community sample: effects of gender.

The majority of smokers who eventually quit do so without formal treatment, but few studies have examined a range of predictors of cessation among self-quitters and whether they differ depending on smokers' gender. The present study examined predictors of quitting in a community sample of 93 men and 117 women smokers attempting to quit on their own. Smokers were mailed a baseline questionnaire battery, and instructed to complete other measures the first and second day of their quit attempt. No gender difference in quit rates was observed, but predictors of smoking differed between men and women. Among men, alcohol use, caffeine consumption, and negative affect predicted smoking on quit day. Among women, nicotine dependence, age, ethnicity, weight control smoking, and not eating during urges predicted smoking on quit day. Social support seeking was negatively associated with smoking on the quit day among women, but the opposite relationship was obtained for men. Men's smoking 4 months later was predicted by baseline social pressures to quit and use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). For women, weight control smoking and trait anxiety predicted smoking at the 4-month follow-up.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Dispositional motivations and genetic risk feedback.

This study examined interest in genetic testing for lung cancer susceptibility among college students, a group whose smoking rates have increased significantly in the last decade. Sixteen smokers who participated in focus group discussions indicated a generally high level of interest in testing. They also indicated that knowledge of genetic susceptibility would make them feel anxious and motivate them to quit smoking. The study also examined, in a separate sample of undergraduate smokers (n=186), whether these outcomes depend on personality differences in threat sensitivity-responsiveness of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS)--and reward sensitivity--responsiveness of the behavioral activation system (BAS). Smokers completed measures of personality and risk perceptions at baseline and rated risk perceptions, affect, and likelihood of changing smoking behavior in response to 2 hypothetical risk feedback scenarios (high vs. low risk). Smokers higher in reward sensitivity (reward responsiveness) evidenced greater interest in taking genetic tests. If a test indicated elevated risk smokers higher in reward responsiveness would perceive themselves at increased risk and attempt to quit smoking. Threat sensitive smokers would react with greater negative affect. Overall, results indicate that genetic biomarker feedback is a motivator for college student smokers to quit and would be more effective among smokers high in reward sensitivity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Reducing risk in smokers.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. For smokers who want to quit, nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion are frequently recommended. Currently, disagreement surrounds the extent of risk reduction from quitting, the consequences of the change of nicotine replacement therapy to over-the-counter status, and the safety and efficacy of new tobacco products being marketed by tobacco companies. This article reviews the current evidence relevant to these and other developments in smoking interventions and describes the most effective strategies that smokers can use to reduce their risk. RECENT FINDINGS: Although it may take approximately 10 to 30 years of abstinence for former smokers' risk of lung cancer to reach that of never smokers, quitting at any time is substantially less risky than continuing to smoke. Quitting after diagnosis also prolongs survival. Bupropion and nicotine replacement therapy are effective pharmacotherapies, doubling quit rates compared with self-quitting. However, many users of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy are using it inappropriately. More research is needed to determine the long-term health effects of modified tobacco products and their efficacy in helping smokers quit. Switching to "low tar" filter cigarettes to reduce lung cancer risk, however, is clearly ineffective. The most effective interventions for quitting continue to be a combination of behavioral and pharmacologic approaches. SUMMARY: Health care practitioners should encourage all smokers to attempt cessation and emphasize pharmacotherapy as an important aid to quitting. Professionals who educate patients on the appropriate use of pharmacotherapy and follow-up on smokers' attempts to quit will help reduce the societal burden and personal risks of smoking.

Bupropion↗

PubMed2003

Altering risk in patients who smoke.

Because of the inherent difficulty of quitting smoking and the enormous health and societal burden of smoking, a multitude of interventions have been developed and tested for their efficacy in sustaining abstinence in smokers. Although most smokers' attempts to quit on their own end in failure, with 12-month abstinence rates as low as 5.7%, several psychosocial and pharmacological interventions have been noted for substantially increasing, even doubling or tripling abstinence rates. Given the substantial costs of treating illnesses caused by smoking, even a 1% increase in abstinence rates is notable for its public health benefit. Moreover, research has indicated that it may take the majority of smokers several attempts at quitting before total continuous abstinence is achieved. Thus any quit attempt should be construed as a step forward in the direction of sustained abstinence. The relative ease with which clinician-initiated effective treatments can be implemented. and evidence that many smokers would like to stop smoking and look to health-care practitioners for guidance and motivation, suggest that pulmonary medicine specialists can have a substantial impact on morbidity and mortality associated with smoking.

Behavior Therapy↗

PubMed2002

Effects of gender in social control of smoking cessation.

This study of 93 men and 117 women smokers during an ongoing quit attempt examined the roles of gender and social network influences on quitting. For men, social influences appeared to positively affect their ability to reduce their smoking but were less effective for women. Specifically, increased reports of a spouse or partner's influence, and family and friends' influence, were associated with greater reductions in men's smoking 2 days and 4 months post quit date, respectively. In contrast, for women, greater reports of spouse or partner influence and of family and friends' influence were associated with smaller reductions in smoking. Sex differences in social control strategies and perceived autonomy supportiveness of those strategies are discussed as possible explanations for these results.

Adult↗