Biomedical subjects

S C Roesch

Publications and source records attributed to S C Roesch.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

A meta-analytic review of coping with illness: do causal attributions matter?

OBJECTIVE: The present meta-analytic review assessed the relations between causal attributions, coping, and psychological adjustment in individuals with physical illnesses or undergoing medical procedures. A theoretical model predicting psychological adjustment was proposed. It was hypothesized that causal attributions would be both directly related to psychological adjustment and indirectly related to psychology adjustment via coping strategies. METHODS: Relevant methodological and statistical information was extracted from 27 target studies. Weighted correlations from 27 studies were used as the unit of analysis to test the theoretical model. RESULTS: Overall, internal, unstable, and controllable attributions were indirectly associated with positive psychological adjustment through the use of Approach and Emotion-Focused coping (P<.01). In addition, stable and uncontrollable attributions were indirectly associated with negative psychological adjustment through the use of Avoidance coping (P<.01). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that attributions guide some motivated cognitions and behaviors within the context of illness, and are related to specific coping strategies. The discussion focuses on the predictive validity of these findings using the proposed theoretical model.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1999

Maternal plasma corticotropin-releasing hormone associated with stress at 20 weeks' gestation in pregnancies ending in preterm delivery.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that maternal stress is associated with elevated maternal levels of corticotropin releasing hormone and activation of the placental-adrenal axis before preterm birth. STUDY DESIGN: In a behavior in pregnancy study, 524 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse women were followed up prospectively and evaluated at 3 gestational ages: 18 to 20 weeks, 28 to 30 weeks, and 35 to 36 weeks. Maternal variables included demographic data, medical conditions, perceived stress level, and state anxiety. Maternal plasma samples were collected at each gestational age. Eighteen case patients with spontaneous onset of preterm labor were matched against 18 control subjects who were delivered at term, and their samples were assayed for corticotropin-releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and cortisol by means of radioimmunoassay. Statistical tests were used to examine mean differences in these hormones. In addition, the relationship between stress level and each hormone was tested with a Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchic multiple regressions in each group. RESULTS: Patients who had preterm delivery had significantly higher plasma corticotropin-releasing hormone levels than did control subjects at all 3 gestational ages (P <.0001). Analyses did not find any differences in reported levels of stress between 18 to 20 weeks' gestation and 28 to 30 weeks' gestation. A hierarchic multiple regression indicated that maternal stress level at 18 to 20 weeks' gestation and maternal age accounted for a significant amount of variance in corticotropin-releasing hormone at 28 to 30 weeks' gestation, after controlling for corticotropin-releasing hormone at 18 to 20 weeks' gestation (P <. 001). In addition, patients who were delivered preterm had significantly elevated plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone at all 3 gestational ages (P <.001) and significantly elevated cortisol levels at 18 to 20 weeks' gestation and 28 to 30 weeks' gestation (P <.001). CONCLUSION: Maternal plasma levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone are significantly elevated at as early as 18 to 20 weeks' gestation in women who are subsequently delivered preterm. Changes in corticotropin-releasing hormone between 18 to 20 weeks' gestation and 28 to 30 weeks' gestation are associated with maternal age and stress level at 18 to 20 weeks' gestation. Maternal stress and corticotropin-releasing hormone levels may be potential markers for the patient at risk for preterm birth. Activation of the placental maternal pituitary-adrenal axis is consistent with the classic endocrine response to stress.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Modeling stress: a methodological review.

Covariance structure modeling (CSM) is increasingly being utilized in stress research. For this reason, a methodological review was undertaken to assess how well applied researchers have recognized the shortcomings and recommendations commonly espoused in the mathematical and statistical CSM literature. In reviewing a broad cross section of research (n = 50), many problems were noted. For example, data sets were rarely checked for nonnormality even though conventional CSM estimation procedures (e.g., maximum likelihood) are based on the assumption that the data come from a multivariate normal distribution, equivalent models were neither evaluated nor even acknowledged, and the majority of favored models were modified based on empirical rather than theoretical considerations. The results suggest that applied stress researchers have inadequate knowledge of the technical CSM literature, which has potential ramifications for theory development.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed1997

A comparison of the factor structure of processing speed for younger and older adults: testing the assumption of measurement equivalence across age groups.

The purpose of this study was to investigate measurement equivalence of processing speed measures for different age groups. A structural equation modeling approach was used to investigate a measurement model and the factorial invariance between younger and older adults on speed measures. The analyses concurrently examined whether speed-related abilities dedifferentiate with increasing age. One hundred and forty-four younger and 105 older adults completed 9 measures designed to assess motor speed, alphanumeric speed, and geometric speed. Results indicated that although the number of factors and the factor loadings were invariant across age groups, the interfactor correlations, the variance-covariance matrices, and the unique variances differed across groups. Furthermore, a second-order speed factor seemed to explain much of the variance in the 3 first-order factors, although this higher order factor accounted for slightly more variance among the older group than among the younger group. The results suggest that there is sufficient evidence of measurement equivalence on the current speed measures across the 2 adult age groups and, in addition, provide evidence of dedifferentiation.

Adolescent↗