Biomedical subjects

Paul Bennett

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Bennett.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Health psychology and public health: theoretical possibilities.

Public health has either implicitly or explicitly drawn upon a range of psychological theories. This paper identifies four areas where the application of such theory could be developed, health communication, environmental initiatives, the negotiation of behaviour and participation and empowerment. Recommendations are made regarding content, sources and recipient characteristics that can be used to develop targeted health communication campaigns. Psychology also has a role to play in informing structural approaches to prevention. To facilitate this, a framework which focuses on cues, reinforcer and barriers and an understanding of how behaviour is achieved through negotiation and interaction is outlined. Finally we highlight a role for psychology in approaches that focus on participation and empowerment in relation to health.

Behavioral Medicine↗

PubMed2003

Predicting postnatal depression.

BACKGROUND: The contribution that recently identified risk factors for Postnatal Depression (PND) made to an existing prenatal screening tool ('Predictive Index' of PND; Cooper et al., 1996) was assessed in an attempt to improve the performance of this measure. METHOD: The Predictive Index and measures of appraisal and coping were administered during the final trimester of pregnancy (n=306). The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Childcare Stress Inventory were completed at 6-weeks postpartum (n=223). RESULTS: The predictive index identified 23% of PND cases. The addition of specific appraisal and coping factors increased predictive performance by 26%. Inclusion of maternal reports of childcare stress in the early postpartum period resulted in a further 15% of PND cases being identified. LIMITATIONS: Diagnostic criteria were not used to assess the incidence of PND; instead PND case status was assessed using an established cut-off criterion on the EPDS. In addition, the contribution that women's prenatal appraisal and coping processes made to improving the predictive index was not assessed on a second independent sample. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of prenatal appraisal, coping and maternal reports of childcare stress in a screening tool for PND substantially increased predictive performance, resulting in 64% of PND cases being identified. These findings highlight the importance of negative prenatal appraisal and coping processes in the development of PND and have important implications for the prevention and treatment of this disorder.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

An investigation into the relationship between salivary cortisol, stress, anxiety and depression.

This study examined the relationship between indices of self-reported emotional distress and absolute versus change in cortisol levels. Fifty-four women attending a diagnostic breast clinic completed scales measuring stress, anxiety and depression and provided five saliva samples over the course of a single day for the measurement of cortisol. No significant relationships were evident between absolute cortisol levels and the distress measures. Analysis of the change in cortisol levels revealed a non-linear interaction effect between stress and anxiety and time of day. There was a non-linear relation between time of day and cortisol levels, but the extent of the non-linearity was dependent upon levels of stress and anxiety, not depression. A relationship was apparent between indices of distress and change in cortisol levels, but not absolute levels of the hormone.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

A connectionist implementation of the theory of planned behavior: association of beliefs with exercise intention.

The theory of planned behavior suggests attitudes are a product of salient beliefs. This study examined whether aggregating salient beliefs was plausible within a more biologically centered information-processing environment. A neural network was used to examine associations among beliefs relating to exercise intention. Data on intentions and behavioral, normative, and control beliefs from 114 respondents were used to train (by error backpropagation) a neural network to associate beliefs with intention. The R-sup-2 between the network's estimated and self-reported intention was.66. The network's representation comprised 6 belief profiles associated with high, moderate, or low behavioral intention. The neural network accommodated complex relationships among beliefs and belief-intention associations and indicated how high-level constructs such as attitudes may be viewed as the best fit (compromise state) between aroused beliefs.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Hospital attendance prediction tool also identifies impaired quality of life in adults with asthma in general practice.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the ability of an adult risk screening questionnaire (RSQ), previously shown to predict attendance at hospital emergency departments, to identify impaired quality of life in adult patients with asthma in general practice. DESIGN: Baseline data from an RCT of asthma clinics in general practice, using the St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) to measure quality of life. SETTING: Twelve general practices in Adelaide, Australia. RESULTS: A total of 184 adult asthmatics were recruited, with a mean (standard deviation) age of 50.3 years (16.6 years). Age, gender, weight, number of comorbidities, smoking status, FEV1 and percent predicted FEV1 (pre-and post-bronchodilator), peak flow (pre and post), and RSQ were independently related to SGRQ scores. After adjusting for potential confounders, an RSQ score predictive of hospital attendance was also associated with an average increase (worsening) in SGRQ total score of 11.9 (95% CI: 7.6, 16.3), an average increase in activity score of 9.0 (2.5, 15.5), symptom score of 14.8 (8.6, 21.0), and impact score of 13.1 (8.6, 17.6). These represent clinically significant differences. CONCLUSION: An RSQ score predictive of hospital attendance should alert the general practitioner to explore and address symptom, activity, and impact domains associated with impaired quality of life in adult asthma.

Asthma↗

PubMed2003

Emotion-related primary and secondary appraisals, adjustment and coping: associations in women awaiting breast disease diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: Different emotions are to some extent associated with different ways of coping. Cognitive processes involved in determining emotional reactions may influence coping (perhaps through directing attention or generating salient information). This study explored possible appraisal-coping associations by examining whether a set of appraisal components identified in emotion theory were also associated with coping. DESIGN: The study examined concurrent associations between appraisal components, emotional adjustment, and coping in 148 women with suspected breast disease. METHOD: Questionnaire measures of primary and secondary appraisal components identified in emotion theory, anxiety, depression, and coping were sent to women during the waiting period between GP referral and attendance at a 'one-stop' breast-disease diagnosis clinic. RESULTS: Consistent with expectations, appraisal components were associated with both emotions and coping. Elevated anxiety was associated with appraisals of low emotion-focused coping potential; avoidance coping was associated with motivational incongruence, self-accountability, and pessimistic appraisal of emotion-focused coping potential; acceptance/resignation coping was associated with self-accountability and pessimistic appraisals of both future expectancy and emotion-focused coping potential. CONCLUSION: This study presents a theoretically driven approach to exploring associations between emotions and adjustment efforts. In keeping with expectations, a number of appraisal components identified in emotion theory were found to be associated with both emotion and coping.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

A brief psycho-educational group intervention for postnatal depression.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of a controlled psycho-educational group (PEG) intervention for postnatal depression, compared with Routine Primary Care (RPC). DESIGN AND METHOD: The participants were 45 women scoring above 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale who were allocated to the study conditions using block randomization procedures. Short- and long-term changes in mood and psychosocial measures were assessed. RESULTS: Compared with RPC, the PEG significantly reduced the level of depressive symptoms, but had no impact on psychosocial outcome. CONCLUSION: A brief PEG is an effective form of treatment for women with low post-partum mood.

Adult↗