International Journal of Behavioral Medicine

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of health and work-related factors as predictors of subsequent sickness absence when experiencing common infections (common cold, flu-like illness, and gastroenteritis). Self-administered questionnaire data were used (baseline n = 12,140). To perform the analysis, employees reporting common infections in the final questionnaire were selected. Employees reporting sickness absence due to common infections were compared with a group who stayed at work during an infection. Multivariate survival analysis revealed no significant effects of job demands, decision latitude, or job strain on absence in workers experiencing common infections. Low levels of commitment (risk [RR] 1.22; confidence interval [CI] 1.03—1.44) and low job satisfaction (RR 1.36; CI 1.13—1.164) increased the chance of being absent during a common cold. Also, having a long-standing disease (RR 1.22; CI 1.05—1.41) and fatigue (RR 1.20; CI 1.05—1.37) increased the chance of being absent during a common infection. Having an executive function decreased the chance of being absent. We conclude that absence during a common cold is partly influenced by motivational factors in work, in contrast to more severe common infections which are more health related. Insight in factors related to absenteeism are important as a start for preventive measures to reduce sickness absence.

Research has identified that living with the chronic inflammatory disease endometriosis adversely impacts social functioning and interpersonal relationships, specifically, feelings of loneliness and a lack of perceived social support. Commonly experienced body image disturbance (BID), combined with the anticipation of endometriosis-related stigma from others, may result in further social withdrawal. This study aimed to quantitatively investigate the association between BID and social functioning (loneliness and diminished perceived social support), and the potential moderating effect of anticipated stigma on these associations. Participants (N = 212) with a self-reported endometriosis diagnosis completed an online questionnaire measuring social and emotional loneliness, perceived social support, BID, anticipated stigma and demographic and medical characteristics. Mean scores indicated high levels of BID, emotional loneliness and diminished perceived social support. Bootstrapped multivariable regression analyses indicated that BID was significantly associated with greater emotional loneliness and lower perceived social support. BID was also associated bivariately with greater social loneliness. Anticipated stigma from healthcare workers moderated the association of BID with perceived social support, such that poorer perceived support was reported when anticipated stigma was high, despite the presence of minimal BID. These findings highlight the psychological challenges of living with endometriosis in terms of highly prevalent BID, in the context of feeling lonely and poorly supported. The further negative impact of anticipated stigma suggests that psychosocial interventions may benefit from additionally targeting these perceptions of stigma.

Although HIV-I infection rates peaked in the 1980s in the United States, advanced stage HIV disease will grow by about 40% in the next 40 years. This fact has signaled the need for intervention strategies that go beyond primary prevention and into treatment of the complications associated with this chronic disease. Recently, the role of exercise in reversing the wasting process experienced by individuals with HIV-1 has received much needed attention. The purpose of this study was to examine the independent contributions of a 12-week aerobic or resistance weight training exercise regimen in improving body composition, muscle strength, and cardiovascular fitness in an HT V-l population. Participants for this study (N = 33) were randomly assigned to an aerobic exercise training group, a resistance weight training group, or a stretching/flexibility control group. Measures of body composition, muscular strength, and cardiovascular fitness were assessed both prior to and following completion of the intervention. In general, the results revealed significant improvements in the amount of lean muscle tissue, upper and lower body muscular strength, and predicted V02max for exercise participants, whereas control participants experienced declines in all physiological measures. Based on these findings, it is suggested that exercise may be one complimentary therapeutic modality capable of combating the wasting process associated with advanced HIV-1 infection.

Social connections moderate the effects of high negative affect on health. Affective states (anger, fear, and anxiety) predict interleukin-6 (IL-6) reactivity to acute stress; in turn, this reactivity predicts risk of cardiovascular disease progression. Here, we examined whether perceived social support mitigates the relationship between negative affect and IL-6 stress reactivity. Forty-eight postmenopausal women completed a standardized mental lab stressor with four blood draws at baseline and 30, 50, and 90 min after the onset of the stressor and anger, anxiety, and fear were assessed 10 min after task completion. Participants self-rated levels of social support within a week prior to the stressor. Only anger was related to IL-6 stress reactivity—those experiencing high anger after the stressor had significant increases in IL-6. IL-6 reactivity was marginally associated with perceived support, but more strikingly, perceived support mitigated anger associations with IL-6 stress reactivity. Supportive ties can dampen the relationship of anger to pro-inflammatory reactivity to acute stress. Implications to cardiovascular disease are discussed.

Background: Sleep disturbances are common among the general population, and hostile persons have been proposed to be at greater risk of several serious health problems and diseases. Purpose: This study examined the relationships between hostility, sleep disturbances, and sleep duration in a large non-clinical sample of 5,433 employees working in 12 Finnish hospitals. Method: Data were collected by questionnaire surveys in 1998 and 2000. Results: Higher hostility was cross-sectionally associated with increased sleep disturbances but not with sleep duration after adjustment for gender, age, marital status, education, shift work, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, body mass index, psychiatric morbidity, and somatic disease. A stratified analysis distinguishing individuals with stable hostility across the two measurements and those with transient hostility (>0.5 SD difference between measurements) replicated the association with increased sleep disturbance in both groups, but among those with transient hostility, there additionally was a cross-sectional association between higher hostility and shorter sleep duration. Conclusion: Our evidence suggests that hostility is an independent risk factor for sleep disturbances and that transient hostility may also predispose shorter sleep duration. However, the effect sizes for all these associations were small, suggesting limited clinical significance for our findings.

Improving quality of life (QOL) in advanced and metastatic cancer is a priority with increasing survivorship. This systematic review synthesizes psychosocial and behavioral interventions incorporating culture with the goal of examining their benefit for understudied and medically underserved populations with advanced and metastatic cancer. Reports were systematically screened for (1) a focus on advanced and metastatic cancer survivors, (2) psychosocial or behavioral intervention intended to improve QOL, (3) evidence of incorporating the culture(s) of understudied/underserved populations, and (4) availability in English. Bias was evaluated using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist and the Methodological index for non‐randomized studies. Qualitative synthesis and quantitative meta-analyses were completed. Eighty-six reports containing 5981 participants’ data were examined. Qualitative synthesis of 23 studies identified four overarching themes relevant for incorporating culture in interventions. Meta-analysis of 19 RCTs and 4 quasi-experimental studies containing considerable heterogeneity indicated greater improvements in QOL (g = 0.84), eudaimonic well-being (g = 0.53), distress (g = −0.49), and anxiety (g = −0.37) for main intervention conditions compared to controls. Meta-analysis of 10 single-arm trials containing minimal to moderate heterogeneity found benefit for anxiety (g = −0.54), physical symptoms (g = −0.39), and depression (g = −0.38). Psychosocial and behavioral interventions with cultural incorporation appear beneficial for improving QOL-related outcomes in advanced and metastatic cancer. Studies incorporating culture in psychosocial or behavioral interventions offer noteworthy insight and suggestions for future efforts such as attending to deep cultural structure.