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Biomedical subjects

R Moss-Morris

Publications and source records attributed to R Moss-Morris.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Thoroughly modern worries: the relationship of worries about modernity to reported symptoms, health and medical care utilization.

OBJECTIVE: There is now greater public concern about how features of modern life pose threats to personal health. In two studies, we investigated the relationship between individuals' worries about modernity affecting health to symptom reports, perceptions of health and health care utilization. METHODS: In the first study, 526 University students completed a questionnaire measuring modern health worries (MHW), symptom reports and health perceptions. A second study utilized an existing national survey database of 7869 New Zealanders. Part of the survey examined people's concerns of modernity affecting their health in the past 12 months, as well as the use of conventional medical and alternative health care. RESULTS: We found concerns about modernity affecting health were made up of four major components: environmental pollution, toxic interventions, tainted food and radiation. MHW were significantly associated with somatic complaints and ratings of the importance of health to the individual. We also found individuals with high levels of MHW had a higher rate of food intolerance and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In the second study, we found MHW to be associated with medical care utilization, particularly of alternative health practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: The results of these studies suggest concerns about modernity do cause changes in the way individuals interpret somatic information and may play a role in undermining perceptions of health. The area of MHW is worthy of study and may hold importance for understanding aspects of functional disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Discriminating between chronic fatigue syndrome and depression: a cognitive analysis.

BACKGROUND: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and depression share a number of common symptoms and the majority of CFS patients meet lifetime criteria for depression. While cognitive factors seem key to the maintenance of CFS and depression, little is known about how the cognitive characteristics differ in the two conditions. METHODS: Fifty-three CFS patients were compared with 20 depressed patients and 38 healthy controls on perceptions of their health, illness attributions, self-esteem, cognitive distortions of general and somatic events, symptoms of distress and coping. A 6 month follow-up was also conducted to determine the stability of these factors and to investigate whether CFS-related cognitions predict ongoing disability and fatigue in this disorder. RESULTS: Between-group analyses confirmed that the depressed group was distinguished by low self-esteem, the propensity to make cognitive distortions across all situations, and to attribute their illness to psychological factors. In contrast, the CFS patients were characterized by low ratings of their current health status, a strong illness identity, external attributions for their illness, and distortions in thinking that were specific to somatic experiences. They were also more likely than depressed patients to cope with their illness by limiting stress and activity levels. These CFS-related cognitions and behaviours were associated with disability and fatigue 6 months later. CONCLUSIONS: CFS and depression can be distinguished by unique cognitive styles characteristic of each condition. The documented cognitive profile of the CFS patients provides support for the current cognitive behavioural models of the illness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

Redefining medical students' disease to reduce morbidity.

OBJECTIVES: To gain a clearer conceptual understanding of medical students' disease and its impact on students, by separating the process of thinking that one may have a particular illness under study from the emotional distress that may accompany these thoughts. METHOD: In a questionnaire survey, the responses of 92 first-year and 85 third-year medical students were compared with those of 82 law students, with regard to medical students' disease perception, medical students' disease distress, hypochondriacal beliefs, concerns about health, the value placed on health, and recent visits to doctors in the past 12 months. SETTING: The University of Auckland, New Zealand. RESULTS: Both groups of medical students scored higher on medical students' disease perception than law students. First-year students scored higher on medical students' disease distress and hypochondriacal concerns than both law and third-year medical students. While medical students place a higher value on health, there were no differences with regard to health visits in the past year. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the separation of medical students' disease into perceptual and emotional components. This conceptualization of medical students' disease as a normal process rather than a form of hypochondriasis may be used to brief medical students when they enter medical school, in order to reduce the distress associated with the condition. Medical students' disease can also be used as a personally relevant example in teaching about how patients make sense of symptoms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Cognitive distortions of somatic experiences: revision and validation of a measure.

The article reports on the revision of the Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CEQ). The CEQ which was originally developed to measure cognitive distortions specific to chronic pain, has been significantly shortened and made applicable to a wider range of somatic problems. The Cognitive Errors Questionnaire-Revised (CEQ-R) contains two subscales: Somatic--distortions specific to somatic experiences; and General--distortions to everyday life events. Validation of the scale with CFS, depressed, and chronic pain groups and healthy controls confirms the CEQ-R loads onto general and somatic factors. Both subscales have high internal consistency and good test-retest reliability. The pattern of subjects' responses to the CEQ-R scores showed that the depressed group scored significantly higher on the General CEQ-R scale than the other groups, whereas the CFS and chronic pain groups scored higher than healthy controls on the Somatic CEQ-R. Somatic CEQ-R scores showed a significant decrease over the course of a pain management program, with a concomitant decrease in disability and depression scores. Further analyses showed the Somatic CEQ-R to be significantly related to self and symptom focusing, whereas the General CEQ-R was found to be significantly correlated with higher depression, lower self-esteem, and self focusing. The CEQ-R may be a useful instrument to examine the relationship between cognitive distortions and disability in a variety of illnesses, and to differentiate primary depression from overlapping somatic disorders.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

The impact of catastrophic beliefs on functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome.

This study investigated the association between catastrophic beliefs and disability in the context of Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). A sample of 282 CFS sufferers were asked about the consequences of pushing themselves beyond their present physical state. Responses were coded into catastrophic or non-catastrophic categories. While not differing on the length of illness or psychological adjustment, subjects demonstrating catastrophic responses evidenced significantly higher levels of fatigue and were more disabled in terms of their ability to work both in their normal occupation and around the house. Catastrophizers also showed greater disability in terms of their sleep and rest, social communication, and recreational activities. The role of catastrophic beliefs and personal perceptions of CFS in maintaining the illness is discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗