PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J R Eagleston

Publications and source records attributed to J R Eagleston.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Developing measures of type A behavior in children and adolescents.

Development of measures of Type A behavior in children and adolescents is described and the results of two studies to validate these measures are given. Children in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grades (n = 120 in Study I; n = 652 in Study II) were given five measures of the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP): the Student Type A Behavior Scale (STABS); Student Structured Interviews (SSI), scored separately for content and behavior; Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH); and Parent Observation Checklist, as well as measures of state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression. Descriptive statistics from the two samples were very similar and indicated that boys scored significantly higher than girls on the MYTH, while seventh and ninth grade girls scored significantly higher than fifth grade girls or boys of any grade on Structured Interview Behavior (SSI-Behavior). Correlations suggested separate self-reported perceptual and behavioral components of Type A behavior in children. In both studies, STABS and SSI-Content correlated moderately well (.48 to .49) but had little relationship with SI-Behavior and the MYTH. Measures of anxiety and depression included to assess discriminant validity were correlated with the self-report measures of TABP (.22 to .56), but showed little relationship with the behavioral measures, especially in the larger cross-validation study. Parallels between these results and those of adult studies are discussed, and the use of multiple measures in classifying subjects is suggested.

Adolescent↗

Physical health correlates of type A behavior in children and adolescents.

A physical examination including resting blood pressure, heart rate, Tanner scales, height, and weight was administered to 184 students in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. They completed the Physical Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Health Habits Inventory, and two self-monitoring logs of physical symptoms. School absenteeism, medical records, physician ratings, and family health history data were collected. No significant differences between high- and low-Type A behavior pattern (TABP) subjects were found on any of the physical measurements. However, retrospective and prospective reports of physical symptoms revealed a consistent pattern: high TABP subjects reported significantly more physical symptoms than low-TABP subjects. Self-ratings of stress and tension were significantly higher for high-TABP subjects. High-TABP subjects, however, neither missed more school because of illness nor used physician services more often than low subjects. Further, expected relationships between physical symptoms and illness behavior, including school absence, were evident only for low subjects.

Absenteeism↗

Brief consultation and stress management treatments for drug-dependent insomnia: effects on sleep quality, self-efficacy, and daytime stress.

Brief consultation and stress management treatments to help insomniacs withdraw from sleep medication were evaluated with 12 drug-dependent women. The effects of treatment were assessed by all-night home polysomnographic recordings and questionnaires. All 12 subjects succeeded in withdrawing from sleep medication and showed a number of improvements independent of the treatment received: (a) decreased latency to sleep onset, (b) increased minutes of Stage 3 sleep and total slow-wave sleep, (c) increased self-efficacy, and (d) reductions in some types of daytime stress. Subjects in the stress management treatment compared to those in the brief consultation program showed (a) significantly greater improvement on latency to sleep onset, total wake time, total dark time, and sleep efficiency, (b) less of an increase in minutes awake after sleep onset, and (c) greater reductions in anger and depression. Results of 6- and 12-month follow-up and partial replication of the brief consultation program are reported.

Adult↗