PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Joshua M Smyth

Publications and source records attributed to Joshua M Smyth.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Stress-related cognitive interference predicts cognitive function in old age.

Both subjective distress and cognitive interference have been proposed as mechanisms underlying the negative effects of stress on cognition. Studies of aging have shown that distress is associated with lower cognitive performance, but none have examined the effects of cognitive interference. One hundred eleven older adults (M-sub(age)=80) completed measures of working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory as well as self-report measures of subjective distress and cognitive interference. Cognitive interference was strongly associated with poorer performance on all 3 cognitive constructs, whereas distress was only modestly associated with lower working memory. The results suggest that cognitive process related to stress is an important predictor of cognitive function in advanced age.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Intraindividual coupling of daily stress and cognition.

Most psychological theories predict associations among processes that transpire within individuals. However, these theories are often tested by examining relationships at the between-persons (BP) rather than the within-persons (WP) level. The authors examined the WP and BP relationships between daily stress and daily variability in cognitive performance. Daily stress and cognitive performance were assessed on 6 occasions in 108 older adults and 68 young adults. WP variability in stress predicted WP variability in response times (RTs) on a 2-back working memory task in both younger and older adults. That is, RTs were slower on high-stress days compared with low-stress days. There was evidence of an amplified WP stress effect in the older adults on a serial attention task. There was no evidence of stress effects on simple versions of these tasks that placed minimal demands on working memory. These results are consistent with theories that postulate that stress-related cognitive interference competes for attentional resources.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

A naturalistic study of ambulatory asthma severity and reported avoidant coping styles.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how the use of dispositional avoidant coping traits prospectively predicts ambulatory asthma severity in daily life. METHODS: An ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design enabled examination of stable coping styles across dynamic daily changes of ambulatory peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), asthma symptoms and stress in the natural environment of patients with asthma. A community sample of 61 adults with asthma reported their typical use of avoidant coping styles and carried palmtop computers that alerted them to record their stress and symptoms five times per day for 1 week. RESULTS: Some aspects of dispositional avoidant coping predicted more asthma symptoms and worse PEFR. Denial and behavioural disengagement as typical coping styles predicted more symptoms and worse PEFR. Mental disengagement was unrelated to symptoms and PEFR. DISCUSSION: These data suggest that individuals with asthma who report typically utilizing avoidant coping may have worse health parameters in momentary reports when examined in their natural environments. Differences between avoidant coping styles emerged, suggesting the existence of moderating factors of coping effectiveness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

The feasibility and effectiveness of an expressive writing intervention for rheumatoid arthritis via home-based videotaped instructions.

BACKGROUND: Expressive emotional writing has demonstrated efficacy for improving health status in a wide variety of healthy persons and recently in patients with chronic disease. PURPOSE: This study was a randomized, controlled effectiveness trial with 4 arms: 2 active treatment writing groups, 1 inactive writing group, and 1 attention control group. It represents the first attempt to translate the expressive writing intervention into a low-cost, community-based intervention in the form of a videotaped program. METHODS: Feasibility of the approach and patient adherence were examined in a community rheumatology practice with rheumatoid arthritis patients (N = 373). RESULTS: The videotape format was able to convey the intervention instructions accurately and produced the expected and differential ratings of stressfulness and emotional provocation across the 3 writing programs. Seventy-nine percent of eligible patients agreed to take the program home; 49% of these patients reported that they followed the protocol. Physician Disease Activity Rating and the Physical Component Summary of the SF36v2 Health Survey were assessed pre and post program. CONCLUSIONS: Intent-to-treat analyses found no effect of the treatment. Pretreatment differences among the protocol-adherent patients complicated treatment outcome interpretation. The standard writing instructions did not yield an effect; a modified set of instructions to extract meaning from the traumatic event yielded equivocal results. Contrasts between efficacy and effectiveness trials and the challenge of achieving significant outcomes in effectiveness trials are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

An evaluation of the relationship between mood and binge eating in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment.

OBJECTIVE: Although many current theories of disordered eating focus on affective mechanisms, relatively little is known about the covariation of mood and eating in peoples' natural environments. This study examined the relationship between mood and binge eating behavior in the natural environment. METHOD: Twenty-seven college students with subclinical binge eating behavior self-monitored their mood on a handheld computer seven times daily for 2 weeks. RESULTS: On binge days, participants reported having significantly worse mood than on nonbinge days. When the trajectory of mood around the time of a binge was examined, no significant differences between prebinge and postbinge time were found when the entire binge day was examined. No mood differences were found between just prior to the binge (30-60 min prior to binge) compared with just after the binge (also within 30-60 min). A postbinge report indicated that reported mood immediately after a binge was worse than mood just prior to the binge. DISCUSSION: This study provides evidence that the affective experience of binge eating, when assessed in the natural environment, is negative. Furthermore, there was no evidence that binge eating was a response to an immediate or transient negative mood state or that binge eating provided relief from negative mood.

Bulimia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immigrant suicide rates as a function of ethnophaulisms: hate speech predicts death.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether suicide rates among ethnic immigrant groups were predicted by the ethnophaulisms, or the hate speech, used to refer to those ethnic immigrant groups. METHODS: Data were obtained for 10 European ethnic immigrant groups during the 1950s. These 10 European ethnic immigrant groups accounted for approximately 40% of all immigration into the United States during this time period. Both the suicide rates for these ethnic immigrant groups in the United States and suicide rates for those ethnic immigrant groups in their countries of origin were derived. The complexity and valence of ethnophaulisms used to refer to these ethnic immigrant groups were derived from the historical record of hate speech in the United States. RESULTS: Consistent with previous research, immigrant suicide rates were strongly correlated with origin suicide rates. As expected, the suicide rates for ethnic immigrant groups in the United States were significantly predicted by the negativity of the ethnophaulisms used to refer to those ethnic immigrant groups. This pattern was obtained even after taking into account the suicide rates for those ethnic immigrant groups in their countries of origin, and even after taking into account the size of those ethnic immigrant groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study found support for the expectation that suicide rates among ethnic immigrant groups would be predicted by the hate speech directed toward those ethnic immigrant groups.

Cause of Death↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Partner communication skills and condom use among college couples.

The authors examined the effects of (1) communication-skills training, (2) relationship-specific education, or (3) risk information on the condom use of 106 heterosexual college students who were in sexually active relationships. Postintervention assessments of in vivo communication-skills demonstrated that participants in the communication-skills group acquired the skills to use direct requests for condom use and to counter partner refusal statements more effectively than participants in the other conditions (ps < .01). Despite successful skill acquisition, however, students failed to change their subsequent communication or condom-use behavior. This pattern of findings is considered in terms of how the development of sexual partnership in this cohort affects the interplay of motivation and skills for condom use.

Communication↗