PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Biobehaviors”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Biobehavioral mechanisms of work-related upper extremity disorders: a new agenda for research and practice.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies provide support for the role of organizational and individual psychosocial stressors in work-related upper extremity disorders (WRUEDs). Despite this evidence, the biological plausibility of a relationship between exposure to various psychosocial and work organizational stressors and WRUEDs remains unclear METHODS: The Georgetown Symposium on Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Work-Related Upper Extremity Disorders was held in Washington D.C. on November 6-7, 2000 to improve the understanding of potential biobehavioral mechanisms, identify future areas for research and discuss the implications of this body of knowledge for intervention. This meeting involved presentations and discussions by researchers and clinicians from a number of disciplines (epidemiology, occupational medicine, rheumatology, orthopedics, surgery, internal medicine, psychoneuroimmunology, occupational health psychology, behavioral medicine, psychophysiology and experimental and organizational psychology). RESULTS: The symposium generated several papers addressing the following topics: definitions and job stress models; epidemiological foundations; musculoskeletal and biomechanical models; central nervous system models of recurrent and persistent clinical pain; psychophysiology of work; and implications for intervention. These papers comprise this special issue. DISCUSSION: The present paper summarizes the various contributions to this special issue and provides direction for future research on potential biobehavioral pathways.

Arm↗

The efficacy of biobehavioral and compliance interventions in the adjunctive treatment of mild pregnancy-induced hypertension.

This investigation assessed the efficacy of a biobehavioral intervention in the adjunctive treatment of mild pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), a potentially serious complication of pregnancy in which normotensive women develop hypertension, proteinuria, and edema of unknown etiology late in gestation. Forty-five women with symptoms of PIH were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: bed rest alone (the most common obstetrical treatment), bed rest with individualized compliance enhancement training, or a four-session biobehavioral treatment consisting of bed rest, compliance enhancement training, and individualized thermal biofeedback-assisted relaxation training. Results indicated that while blood pressure for the bed rest and compliance enhancement groups continued to rise and pose an increasing health risk to maternal and fetal well-being, subjects in the biobehavioral group maintained their blood pressure at a significantly lower, and presumably safer, level. The biobehavioral treatment is hypothesized to affect blood pressure levels in subjects with mild PIH through the mediation of the sympathetic nervous system, decreasing peripheral vascular resistance and cardiac output. The results of this investigation suggest that the biobehavioral intervention may be an effective adjunct to bed rest in the treatment of mild PIH remote from term.

Adult↗

Biobehavioral factors in cancer pain.

Despite the presence of pathology in cancer pain, the pain experience in adult cancer patients cannot be totally explained by the extent of such pathology. Unlike chronic benign pain very little research on the role of biobehavioral factors has been conducted to help explain this paradox. The literature on the role of biobehavioral factors in the cancer pain experience is reviewed. A brief review of epidemiology and pathophysiology is presented. Following this, the biobehavioral literature was organized according to research on psychological characteristics and environmental factors. Research addressing affective, cognitive, behavioral and physiological reactions to pain was also discussed. Despite the paucity of studies, the review suggested the following: (1) personality factors do not appear to play a consistent role in the modulation of pain in cancer patients; (2) the work on environmental influences on cancer pain indicate a weak association between such factors as social network and pain intensity; (3) studies on affective state indicate minimal relationships to pain, and lastly, (4) studies on cognitive responses to pain in cancer patients and their influence on the pain experience have not been conducted. To date, in the areas where biobehavioral factors have been investigated, the findings appear modest. However, many potential variables, e.g., self-esteem, the role of family, the role of models, past or current work environments, social learning factors and responses to pain such as fear, somatization and reattribution have not been explored with cancer patients. While the influence of biobehavioral factors in adult cancer pain appear to be relatively modest, the literature is not extensive. Increased efforts at more precisely determining the input of such factors in cancer pain are warranted, particularly given the role of such variables in other recurrent and chronic pain states.

Behavior↗

Biobehavioral factors affecting pain and disability in low back pain: mechanisms and assessment.

Patients with recurrent or persistent low back pain (LBP) and disability represent a formidable challenge to physical therapists. Classic models of disease and pain mechanisms do not adequately explain the commonly observed discrepancies between the extent of pathology and reported pain, or the level of pain and disability. Research over the past decade that considers the interactive role of biological, environmental, and psychological processes in pain and disability has supported the involvement of a number of biobehavioral factors in these conditions. Physical therapists and other health care providers have become more aware of these factors and their impact on the evaluation, treatment, and management of LBP. Despite this recognition, little information is available that translates the implications of this research to direct care within physical therapy practice. The purposes of this article are (1) to provide an operational definition of biobehavioral factors; (2) to review the role of these factors in the clinical presentation of LBP, functional limitation, and disability; (3) to identify commonly used approaches for their recognition and quantification; (4) to illustrate how an understanding of biobehavioral factors can assist the physical therapist in evaluation and treatment of patients with LBP; and (5) to identify certain gaps in current knowledge of the role of biobehavioral factors and their application in physical therapy. Given the central role assumed by many physical therapists in the management of LBP, acknowledging and addressing these factors in clinical practice should assist in the prevention of chronic LBP and disability, as well as potentially improve physical therapy interventions and management.

Attitude to Health↗

Early father involvement moderates biobehavioral susceptibility to mental health problems in middle childhood.

OBJECTIVE: To study how early father involvement and children's biobehavioral sensitivity to social contexts interactively predict mental health symptoms in middle childhood. METHOD: Fathers' involvement in infant care and maternal symptoms of depression were prospectively ascertained in a community-based study of child health and development in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. In a subsample of 120 children, behavioral, autonomic, and adrenocortical reactivity to standardized challenges were measured as indicators of biobehavioral sensitivity to social context during a 4-hour home assessment in 1998, when the children were 7 years of age. Mental health symptoms were evaluated at age 9 years using parent, child, and teacher reports. RESULTS: Early father involvement and children's biobehavioral sensitivity to context significantly and interactively predicted symptom severity. Among children experiencing low father involvement in infancy, behavioral, autonomic, and adrenocortical reactivity became risk factors for later mental health symptoms. The highest symptom severity scores were found for children with high autonomic reactivity that, as infants, had experienced low father involvement and mothers with symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Among children experiencing minimal paternal caretaking in infancy, heightened biobehavioral sensitivity to social contexts may be an important predisposing factor for the emergence of mental health symptoms in middle childhood. Such predispositions may be exacerbated by the presence of maternal depression.

Child↗

Biobehavioral treatment and rehabilitation of schizophrenia.

The psychopathology and associated disabilities experienced by persons with schizophrenia have only partially responded to conventional pharmacological and psychosocial treatment approaches. Biobehavioral treatment and rehabilitation employs behavioral assessment, social learning principles, skills training, and a focus on the recovery process to amplify the effects of pharmacotherapy. Utilizing the Medline database, we review a selection of English-language studies published from 1970 to 1994 that support the effectiveness of each of the components of biobehavioral therapy, such as case management, psychopharmacology with behavioral assessment, psychoeducation, family involvement, and social skills training. An integrated biobehavioral therapy directed toward early detection and treatment of schizophrenic symptoms, collaboration between consumers and caregivers in managing treatment, family and social skills training, and teaching coping skills and self-help techniques has been documented to improve the course and outcome of schizophrenia, as measured by symptom recurrence, social functioning, and quality of life. A case vignette is presented to illustrate the successful integration of biobehavioral therapies into a treatment system that focuses on consumers' attempts to become increasingly responsible for recovering from illness.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Heart rate and blood pressure responses to mental stress and clinical cardiovascular events in men and women after coronary artery bypass grafting: the Post Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (Post-CABG) biobehavioral study.

BACKGROUND: The Post-Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) biobehavioral study measured the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) responses to mental stress testing (MST) after surgery and prospectively observed the clinical events in patients who had undergone recent CABG surgery. To the extent that CABG surgery restores myocardial blood flow and prevents myocardial ischemia, patients who have recently recovered from CABG surgery may have nearly normal HR and BP responses to MST. METHODS: A study population of 521 patients (351 men,170 women) from the cohort of 759 patients in the Post-CABG biobehavioral Study was monitored during a mirror tracing test (MTT) and a speech test task (STT) at the 6-month post-CABG surgery follow-up. Medical status for as long as 3 years after CABG surgery was ascertained from questionnaires and medical records. RESULTS: The HR and BP responses during MTT and STT were similar to those reported in other studies of healthy individuals and patients without myocardial ischemia during MST. In contrast to results from other studies of patients with coronary artery disease, the quartile of Post-CABG biobehavioral study patients with the greatest responses in HR, systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) during MST had half the rate of clinical events (10% in 3 years) as the quartile (20%) with the lowest changes in HR and BP (HR, P =.01; SBP, P =.07; DBP, P =.01). CONCLUSIONS: Vigorous HR and BP responses to MST may be markers for a lower risk of incidence of clinical cardiovascular events among patients who have undergone recent CABG surgery.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

Comparison of preoperative characteristics of men and women undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (the Post Coronary Artery Bypass Graft [CABG] Biobehavioral Study).

A cohort of 759 coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients (269 women and 490 men) was enrolled in the prospective POST CABG Biobehavioral Study at 5 clinical centers in the United States and Canada. Sociodemographic and medical data were obtained by interview and from medical charts. Health-related quality of life and psychosocial data were ascertained preoperatively by interview and questionnaire for those patients whose condition allowed preoperative assessment and was compared among patients from hospitals enrolling both male and female patients (143 women and 267 men). Women enrolled in the Biobehavioral Study were older than men (65.4 +/- 9.0 vs 61.8 +/- 9.7 years, p < 0.001) and more likely to have a preoperative medical condition which precluded biobehavioral evaluation (47% vs 34%, p < 0.001). Women were less likely to be high school graduates (59% vs 74%, p < 0.001), were less likely to be earning > or = $25,000 per year (39% vs 69%, p < 0.001), and were married less often at the time of surgery (59% vs 85%, p < 0.001). Fewer women than men were able to perform basic self-care activities (p < 0.001) and social activities (p < 0.001). Women were also less able to perform the more demanding activities required for independent living, recreation, and maintaining a household (p < 0.001). Women were also more anxious (p = 0.01) and reported more depressive symptoms (p < 0.001) than men. These data suggest that plans for perioperative and convalescent care for women undergoing CABG should take into account their less favorable medical and psychosocial status relative to men.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Biobehavioral intervention for older adults coping with essential tremor.

Four questions were addressed: (a) does biobehavioral intervention result in within-session reduction of tremor severity; (b) do relaxation and electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback training produce differential effects; (c) do within-session treatment effects generalize to daily performance; and (d) are reductions in tremor severity maintained at follow-up assessment? Three adults, ages 51, 77, and 83, each with a diagnosis of essential tremor (ET), and a long standing history of tremor of the hands uncontrolled by medication, took part. A repeated pre-post-training single-case experimental design embedded within a sequential A--B--C--D design was used; in addition, 1 participant received a return to the B phase. Outcome measures included within-session clinical and self-ratings of tremor severity, surface electromyography (sEMG) of forearm muscles, and daily self-ratings of tremor at home. Tremor was measured while participants engaged in eating or drinking tasks. The Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS) served as a process measure to assess relaxation proficiency. Clinical ratings of tremor and the BRS had high interobserver agreement. Visual inspection and statistical tests of single-case data were used to evaluate outcomes. Each participant showed significant within-session improvements on various measures of tremor and improvement during intervention as compared to baseline phases. There were no clear-cut differences between relaxation and biofeedback phases. Improvements declined somewhat at a 12-week follow-up. Relationships among measures of tremor are discussed. Biobehavioral interventions hold promise for older adults coping with ET. Further research is needed using an array of biobehavioral measures to assess intervention outcome.

Aged↗

What does sexual orientation orient? A biobehavioral model distinguishing romantic love and sexual desire.

Although it is typically presumed that heterosexual individuals only fall in love with other-gender partners and gay-lesbian individuals only fall in love with same-gender partners, this is not always so. The author develops a biobehavioral model of love and desire to explain why. The model specifies that (a) the evolved processes underlying sexual desire and affectional bonding are functionally independent; (b) the processes underlying affectional bonding are not intrinsically oriented toward other-gender or same-gender partners: (c) the biobehavioral links between love and desire are bidirectional, particularly among women. These claims are supported by social-psychological, historical, and cross-cultural research on human love and sexuality as well as by evidence regarding the evolved biobehavioral mechanisms underlying mammalian mating and social bonding.

Affect↗

Basic elements in biobehavioral treatment and rehabilitation of schizophrenia.

The psychopathology and associated disabilities experienced by persons with schizophrenia have only partially responded to conventional pharmacological and psychosocial treatment approaches. Biobehavioral therapy employs behavioral and symptomatic assessment, social learning principles, and skills training, to amplify the effects of pharmacotherapy. Comprehensive, continuous, and integrated biobehavioral therapy--aiming at early detection and treatment of schizophrenic symptoms, family and social skills training, and teaching coping and illness self-management skills--has been documented to improve the course and outcome of schizophrenia as measured by symptom recurrence, social functioning, and quality of life. Biobehavioral therapies must be delivered in the context of a collaborative relationship among patients, families and clinicians that together can optimize outcomes. Services need to be provided by assertive, outreach, community-based teams that tailor the type, frequency and scope of services to the phase of the individual's illness.

Adult↗

Beyond the "psychosomatic family": a biobehavioral family model of pediatric illness.

This article proposes a multilevel systems model of the interactive biological, psychological, and social processes in childhood illness. This heuristic model can organize the investigation of pathways and mechanisms by which these levels influence one another. A pivotal feature of this biobehavioral family model is the construct of responsivity, which is conceptualized at both family (interpersonal responsivity) and individual (biobehavioral reactivity) levels. Individual biobehavioral reactivity is proposed as a bidirectional pathway by which family patterns and disease processes influence one another. Illustrative clinical material and relevant research are presented with recommendations for future study. This model integrates individual and family-level theory and thus has the capacity to bridge the fields of psychosomatics, pediatrics, behavioral medicine, and family systems medicine.

Adult↗

Advancing biobehavioral research in childhood cancer.

Research on individual and family responses to a child's or adolescent's cancer diagnosis and treatment is important because of significant advances in the field of pediatric oncology. To date, the majority of research has been behavioral or psychosocial in nature. It could be argued that a more holistic perspective that includes psychological, sociocultural, and biological dimensions would advance knowledge about individual and family responses to the experience of childhood cancer. Biobehavioral research refers to investigations that link behavioral and biological underpinnings in specific areas of science. The purpose of this article is to review research in two broad areas that could benefit from a biobehavioral perspective-psychosocial functioning/behavioral adjustment, and CNS treatment outcomes. Studies that include biological measures are highlighted. Advantages, challenges, and strategies for advancing biobehavioral research in childhood cancer are proposed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Biobehavioral pain responses in former extremely low birth weight infants at four months' corrected age.

OBJECTIVE: To compare biobehavioral responses to acute pain at 4 months' corrected age between former extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants and term-born controls. METHODOLOGY: Measures of facial behavioral and cardiac autonomic reactivity in 21 former ELBW infants (mean birth weight = 763 g) were compared with term-born infants (n = 24) during baseline, lance, and recovery periods of a finger-lance blood collection. Further, painful procedures experienced during neonatal care were quantified in both groups. RESULTS: Overall, behavioral and cardiac autonomic responses to the lance were similar between groups. However, the ELBW group seemed to have a less intense parasympathetic withdrawal in the lance period and a more sustained sympathetic response during recovery than the control group. Further, in the recovery period, two behavioral patterns (early recovery and a late recovery) were apparent among the ELBW group. CONCLUSIONS: Biobehavioral pain responses were similar overall between both groups of infants. Subtle differences were observed in cardiac autonomic responses during the lance period and in behavioral recovery among ELBW infants. Whether these findings represent a long-term effect of early pain experience or a developmental lag in pain response remains unclear. The lack of an overall difference runs counter to previously reported findings of reduced behavioral response in former ELBW infants. biobehavioral pain response, premature infants, repetitive pain, heart rate variability.

Blood Specimen Collection↗

Biobehavioral treatment, disability, and psychological effects of pediatric headache.

Headache is a common condition among children and adolescents, and it can result in considerable pain, distress, and functional disability. Lacking proper care, many children will continue to experience headaches into adulthood. These considerations point to the importance of prompt, effective, and early intervention for pediatric headache. Biobehavioral treatments are central to such intervention. From promotion of adherence to optimal use of abortive and prophylactic medications to health behaviors that reduce headache activity to biofeedback-assisted relaxation training, the addition of biobehavioral treatment components to a comprehensive pediatric headache care plan can lead to better initial clinical outcomes, may lessen the need for medication, and may help maintain effects over the long term. Attention to the effects of headache and the accompanying psychological distress is an equally important part of treatment. Indeed, outcomes should be measured in terms of pain parameters (headache frequency, duration, severity) and effect on functional disability and quality of life (school absences, mood, satisfaction with pain relief). Optimal care for children and adolescents with headache can be realized with collaboration among primary care practitioners and headache specialists such as child neurologists and pediatric behavioral medicine experts. Biobehavioral treatment is a foundation for provision of such care.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗

Biobehavioral factors in Cardiac Arrhythmia Pilot Study (CAPS). Review and examination.

The behavioral studies component of the multicenter Cardiac Arrhythmia Pilot Study (CAPS) was designed to examine the relation of biobehavioral factors and frequency of ventricular premature complexes (VPCs), efficacy of antiarrhythmic therapy, and disease end points in a study population that had experienced recent myocardial infarction and significant ventricular ectopy. Biobehavioral factors included both psychosocial (depression, anxiety, social support, type A behavior, mood, defensiveness, and anger expressiveness) and psychophysiological (heart rate and blood pressure reactivity to a videogame stressor) variables. Data were collected at baseline and at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups. Of the 502 patients enrolled in CAPS, 353 participated in the behavioral studies component. At baseline, assessments of psychosocial variables revealed the CAPS study population to be generally similar to other heart disease populations, and no relation between these variables and psychophysiological reactivity or arrhythmias was found. At follow-up among patients assigned to the placebo condition, biobehavioral variables were not related to levels of VPCs or VPC suppression. Cox regression analyses revealed that type B behavior, depression, and reduced heart rate reactivity were associated with increased clinical events, even after controlling for baseline left ventricular ejection fraction, myocardial infarction before the qualifying event, use of beta-blockers, use of digitalis, Q wave of qualifying myocardial infarction, and presence of unsustained ventricular tachycardia on baseline electrocardiogram. It is hypothesized that the relation among reduced heart rate reactivity, depression, and clinical events is mediated by diminished cardiac vagal tone.

Anti-Arrhythmia Agents↗

Biobehavioral risk factors in children of schizophrenic parents.

Research on risk factors for schizophrenia is reviewed with emphasis on children of schizophrenic parents. As children of schizophrenic parents are not representative of the majority of individuals who become schizophrenic, examination of variables such as those relating to home environment or parental characteristics in these children is not expected to contribute greatly to an understanding of risk for schizophrenia or to the search for early indicators of a genetic liability, whereas study of selected biobehavioral variables may do so. Four areas of biobehavioral functioning that have been examined in high-risk research are discussed. Three of these are considered to be compatible with the hypothesis of a neurointegrative defect underlying schizophrenia-proneness and to be promising for further research.

Adolescent↗

Nausea and emesis: evidence for a biobehavioral perspective.

Abstract. For most people, nausea and vomiting (NV) are simply unfortunate consequences of overindulgent college days or overenthusiastic amusement rides. Yet for most cancer patients, nausea and vomiting (also referred to as emesis) remain among the most frequent side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Patients typically view control of nausea as more important than control of emesis, while physicians and nurses judge emesis control to be more important to antiemetic efficacy than nausea control. The 5-HT3 receptor antagonists have been shown to be clinically more effective in controlling emesis, particularly that caused by regimens containing high-dose cisplatin, than previously available agents. Disappointingly, however, these drugs do not appear to be more effective than previous antiemetics in reducing nausea. In addition, the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists may become less effective over repeated chemotherapy administrations, and they remain expensive. An impediment to research progress has been an insularity that has prompted two parallel research efforts: one searching for biological understanding to enhance pharmacological intervention(s) and the other searching for psychological understanding to aid in developing more effective behavioral intervention(s). While both approaches have been successful, it is time to have the two views merge into a biobehavioral framework that combines them both. This paper draws on both physiological and psychological origins of NV to begin the development of a biobehavioral model of development that integrates features of both approaches.

Antiemetics↗