Biomedical subjects

L S Ruehlman

Publications and source records attributed to L S Ruehlman.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Development and validation of the multidimensional health profile, part I: Psychosocial functioning.

This article describes the development and preliminary validation of the Multidimensional Health Profile, Part I: Psychosocial Functioning (MHP-P), a self-report screening instrument for use in mental health and primary care settings. The MHP-P assesses mental health, life stress, coping skills, and social resources. In Study 1, retest reliability, validity, social desirability response bias, and factor structure were examined in a national sample of men and women (N = 673). In Study 2, the effect of time frame on the retest reliability of the mental health scales was examined in a sample of male and female college students (N = 147). A national sample of men and women (N = 2,411) provided data for additional confirmatory factor analyses and norm development in Study 3.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1999

A comparison of the influence of conflictual and supportive social interactions on psychological distress.

Following a quantitative review examining the relative influence of positive and negative social exchanges on emotional health, a second-order factor model of negative social exchange was tested and supported in a sample of 906 college students. Structural equation analysis exploring the unique effects of negative social exchange and perceived support satisfaction on depression revealed both variables to predict this outcome, over and above the contribution of personality and coping variables. In addition to the direct effects of the Big Five personality dimensions on depression, indirect effects of the Big Five via negative social exchange, support satisfaction, and avoidant coping also were observed. Although the prevailing belief among support researchers is that the negative effects of conflictual social interactions outweigh the positive effects of social support, the results of the quantitative review suggest boundary conditions that qualify this conclusion. In addition to corroborating a hierarchical measurement model of negative social exchange, the results of the present investigation suggest that how social support and social negativity are measured substantially influences conclusions concerning their relative impact on psychological distress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Goal-relevant dimensions of hypochondriacal tendencies and their relation to symptom manifestation and psychological distress.

A national sample of 60 male and 61 female adults completed a telephone interview that included measures of hypochondriacal tendencies, psychological distress, and symptom manifestation. They also provided cognitive evaluations for their most important health goal on scales measuring self-efficacy, value, planning, self-reward, self-criticism, self-monitoring, social comparison, and positive and negative goal-based arousal. Health goal cognition significantly predicted hypochondriacal tendencies measured 15 to 30 days after the goal assessment, even after controlling for chronic illness diagnosis. Correlations between goal cognition and hypochondriacal tendencies differed from those observed for psychological distress, and no significant correlations emerged with symptom manifestation. Results support a motivational account of hypochondriacal tendencies and extend previous goals research.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Motivational implications of pain: chronicity, psychological distress, and work goal construal in a national sample of adults.

A heterogeneous national sample of adults (mean age = 40 years) employed in management positions was contacted by random digit dialing procedures and interviewed about current pain experience, work-goal cognitions, and psychological status (depression and anxiety). In accord with predictions, persistent pain experience was differentially related to the construal of work-related goals. Specifically, individuals with both persistent and episodic pain (relative to those with no pain) reported lower levels of goal-centered value, self-efficacy, and positive arousal and heightened perceptions of goal-based self-criticism, negative arousal, and conflict between work and nonwork goals. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that goal cognition accounted for unique variance in depression and anxiety over and above the contribution of pain chronicity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1989

Social support of children of divorce: direct and stress buffering effects.

This study examined the direct and stress-buffering effects of support from family adults, nonfamily adults, family children, and nonfamily children on the adjustment of 104 children of divorce. For children's reports of adjustment, significant stress-buffering (i.e., Stress x Support) interactions for support from family adults and support from nonfamily adults occurred. The lower the level of social support, the stronger the positive relation between stress and adjustment problems. In addition, at high levels of stress, children with high support from nonfamily and family adults reported fewer adjustment problems than did children with low support. However, at the lowest level of stress, children with high support from nonfamily adults were significantly more poorly adjusted than were children with low support. For parental reports of children's adjustment, support from family adults was marginally positively related to adjustment whereas support from nonfamily adults was inversely related to adjustment. Implications for intervention programs for children of divorce are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1988

Personal goals and interpersonal support and hindrance as factors in psychological distress and well-being.

This study examined psychological distress and well-being as a function of the characteristics of personal projects and project-relevant social support and social hindrance provided by the three most important people in subjects' lives. Three project factors (Project Mastery, Strain, and Self-Involvement) were found to account for significant variation in both psychological distress and well-being. Project support was generally found to be significantly related to well-being, but not to distress. However, project hindrance was found to be significantly related to both distress and well-being. Additional analyses revealed that the behavior of the most important person in a subject's life is of special significance in accounting for variations in psychological distress and well-being. Finally, evidence of the independence of support and hindrance was observed.

Achievement↗

PubMed1985

Depression and evaluative schemata.

The evaluative tendencies of nondepressed, mildly depressed, and severely depressed individuals are examined in the areas of judgments of contingency, attributions of causality, expectancy estimates, and self-schemata/self-reference. The available empirical literature in these four areas indicates that nondepressed people tend to exhibit positivistic evaluative responses, whereas mildly depressed persons tend to display unbiased (neither positivistic nor negativistic) evaluative response patterns. The available evidence is suggestive of negativistic evaluative tendencies in severely depressed individuals, with this bias being most clearly manifested in the area of self-schemata/self-reference. These results are interpreted in terms of contemporary explanations of depression and recent advances in models of cognitive processing.

Affect↗