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Based on the vulnerability-stress model and coping theory, this study of 1920 people in Scotland investigated how sex, age, occupational factors, anxiety, depression and maladaptive coping behaviours are associated with cardiovascular health. Structural equation modelling and serial Sobel mediation tests were conducted. Anxiety was associated with past arrhythmia, whereas depression was associated with past heart attacks, stroke and angina. Females reported more anxiety, past arrhythmia, confectionary and alcohol consumption, whereas males had more heart attacks. Confectionary consumption was associated with past arrhythmia, and alcohol consumption was associated with past heart attacks. Being older was associated with depression, past stroke, arrhythmia and alcohol consumption. Being younger was associated with anxiety and smoking. Depression and smoking mediated the relationship between type of working and cardiovascular health history, potentially because of socioeconomic factors. Clinicians can use these results to advise clients about cardiovascular risks associated with anxiety, depression, demographics and health-related coping behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of JBES: Brazilian Journal of Health Economics / Jornal Brasileiro de Economia da Saúde is the property of JBES: Brazilian Journal of Health Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Simple Summary: Changes in the heart activity of bees have been correlated with several stressors. However, this has been studied in just a few species within Apoidea. The purpose of our study was to evaluate several parameters of heart activity in a stingless bee species from the Amazon region, Melipona flavolineata, during a 30 min stress period. Workers of the species were restrained and anesthetized using isoflurane. The basal heartbeat at the first five minutes of the records was about 600 beats per minute, which generally increased over the restraining period. The contention stress also changed other parameters of heart activity in the species. Our study was the first to evaluate the cardiac activity in a stingless bee, an important group of tropical pollinators, and showed that heart activity was altered by stress. Thus, heart monitoring using ECG is a feasible technique to show some of the effects of different stressors, such as pesticides, in the physiology of worker bees. We also showed that isoflurane can be used as an anesthetic, an alternative to narcosis induced by CO2 and cold, although its effects must still be studied. The hemodynamic activity of Melipona flavolineata workers was evaluated during restraint stress for a period of 30 min. The observed parameters were power variation in the elapsed time, and subsequently, six periods of one second were divided and called A, B, C, D, E and F; in each period, the electrocardiographic parameters were evaluated: spike frequency, amplitude, spike intervals and spike duration. The experiment was carried out with eight worker bees of M. flavolineata, for which electrodes of a nickel–chromium alloy were made. The bees were previously anesthetized with isoflurane and properly contained and fixed in a base for stereotaxis in which the electrode was implanted. All these procedures were performed inside a Faraday cage. The results showed power oscillations during the recording, with the highest energy level being between 300 and 600 s. Spike frequency, spike amplitude, interval between spikes and spike duration parameters underwent changes during the restraint stress period. Thus, the cardiac activity of M. flavolineata can be used as a biomarker and can be used to clarify physiological issues or alterations caused by toxic agents and indicate risk factors for these animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: to estimate the prevalence of perceived stress and verify the associated factors in pregnant women assisted by Family Health teams in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais - Brazil. Methods: epidemiological, cross-sectional, and analytical study, nested in a population-based cohort. Sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics and physical and mental health conditions were assessed. The stress level was estimated by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14). Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted, followed by the Poisson Regression model with robust variance. Results: a total of 1,279 pregnant women participated. The prevalence of high-stress levels was 23.5% (CI95%=20.8%-26.2%). The outcome was more prevalent among pregnant women aged above 35 years (PR=1.38; CI95%=1.09-1.74) and less than or equal to 19 (PR=1.41; CI95%=1.13-1.77); without a partner (PR=1.33; CI95%=1.09-1.62); with low social support (PR=1.42; CI95%=1.18-1.70); multiparous (PR=1.30; CI95%=1.02-1.66); with current unplanned pregnancy (PR=1.23; CI95%=1.00-1.52); urinary tract infection (PR=1.35; CI95%=1.12-1.62); high level of anxiety symptoms (PR=1.42; CI95%=1.18-1.71); severe (PR=4.74; CI95%=3.60-6.26) and moderate (PR=3.19; CI95%=2.31-4.39) symptoms of depression; and neurological complaints (PR=1.77; CI95%=1.27-2.47). Conclusion: there was a significant prevalence of high perceived stress among pregnant women, an outcome associated with sociodemographic, clinical, obstetric, and emotional factors, which demonstrates the need for comprehensive care of pregnant women's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the effect of a long-term educational intervention by telephone on breastfeeding duration rates. Methods: This is a controlled randomized clinical trial conducted at a maternity hospital in the city of Fortaleza. A.so-called 240 women were answers in the immediate puerperium. An educational intervention was used by telephone centered on the principles of self-efficacy and with motivational interview approach at 7, 30, 90 and 150 days postpartum for the intervention group. The control group received the standard guidelines from the health service. Breastfeeding duration rates were verified using a questionnaire elaborated by the researcher applied to the intervention group and control group at 60, 120 and 180 days. To verify the effect of the intervention on the variables studied, the chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used. Brazilian Clinical Trial Registry: RBR-7m7vc8. Results: There was a difference between the groups regarding non-exclusive and exclusive breastfeeding duration and rates. The intervention group had higher breastfeeding rates at 60 (p<0.001), 120 (p=0.001) and 180 days (p=0.001), and exclusive breastfeeding, at 180 days (p=0.005), as well as non-exclusive (p<0.001) and exclusive (p<0.001) breastfeeding longer duration. Conclusion: the educational intervention by telephone has the potential to increase breastfeeding rates, duration and exclusivity, and can be used as an alternative to improve breastfeeding rates in the country. Brazilian Clinical Trial Registry (ReBEC): RBR-7m7vc8 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Paulista de Enfermagem is the property of Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista de Enfermagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examined the impact of being in lockdown, perceived COVID-19 symptomatology and exposure to COVID-19 risk representations on state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology in a UK sample based on data from 348 participants. In this between-subjects experiment, individuals were randomly assigned to view either a video focusing on the high mortality rate during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK (COVID-19 risk news) or a news video about the Eden reforestation project focusing on planting trees to address the impact of climate change (control condition). Results showed no effect of being in lockdown on depressive symptomatology but did show an effect of the video condition on depression. Moreover, those with perceived COVID-19 symptomatology exhibited higher levels of state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology. Overall, results suggest that, while accurate risk appraisal is important, health communication concerning COVID-19 must inform, reassure and empower people to take effective action against the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University students are at risk of poor sexual health outcomes. The aim of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Sexual Risk Behaviors Scale (SRBS), a novel short tool for measuring engagement in sexual risk behaviors in university students. We developed a pool of six items based on a review of recent literature and tested its properties in 547 undergraduate students in the United Kingdom. We used Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis to explore and determine the factor structure and dimensionality of the SRBS. We used Item Response Theory and specifically the Graded Response Model to investigate items' discrimination, information, and differential functioning, respectively, and logistic regression to test whether higher SRBS scores predicted a diagnosis of any sexually transmitted infections in the past 12 months. Results showed that a unidimensional, five-item model fitted the data well, showing satisfactory fit indices and reliability, with all items providing adequate discrimination and information, and no differential item functioning by gender nor by sexual orientation. SRBS total scores significantly predicted the odds of being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections in the past 12 months. Implications for public health prevention and intervention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive models of psychopathology were applied to inform the relationships between paranoid cognitions, perceptions of workplace bullying, and intentions of workplace deviance in UK and French teachers. Sixty-six UK teachers and 50 French teachers were asked to fill in an online survey comprised of the Green Paranoia Thought Scales, Negative Acts Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety and Stress scales, and Workplace Deviance Scale. The variables in this study were conceptualized as cognitions and not as facts because the study used self-report questionnaires of paranoid ideation, workplace bullying, and workplace deviance. Mann-Whitney tests showed that UK teachers report significantly more perceptions of work-related bullying and intentions of workplace deviance than French teachers. However, there was no statistically significant difference between UK and French teachers for the report of paranoid ideation. Mediation analyses showed that paranoia impacted on intentions of workplace deviance but perceptions of workplace bullying and negative affect did not mediate this association in UK and French teachers. Culturally tailored psycho-social interventions should be implemented targeting teachers' paranoid thinking and workplace bullying in order to deter teachers from engaging in workplace deviance and to promote their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Paulista de Enfermagem is the property of Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista de Enfermagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Paulista de Enfermagem is the property of Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista de Enfermagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a novel, clinically effective biomedical HIV prevention tool but it has not met with widespread public acceptance. In this article, the results of a study designed to develop a scale for measuring attitudes toward PrEP is presented. The psychometric properties of the scale are described for use in both the general population and in-patient samples. Two hundred twenty-two university students completed the Attitudes toward PrEP Scale (APS) and additional measures of attitudes toward gay men, Black Africans, and condom use. The APS comprised three factors (Attitudes toward the Science of PrEP, Perception of Sexual Health Risks of PrEP, and Perception of Dangerous Effects of PrEP), which explained 49.31% of the variance. The 14-item APS had a good internal consistency, α =.72, and satisfactory concurrent validity with measures of condom use, and attitudes toward social groups associated with PrEP. Additional studies in other nonstudent samples are required to assess the external validity of the scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rev Rene is the property of Rev Rene and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background Bullying has been considered as a traumatic experience that can lead to paranoid ideation in students (Campbell and Morrison, 2007). This study aimed to explore differences concerning experiences of childhood trauma, the display of social anxiety behaviours, paranoid ideation, and aggressive traits and behaviour in a mixed clinical population with and without persecutory delusions, between individuals who reported being victims of bullying versus those who did not. Method A total of 61 individuals with diagnoses of paranoid schizophrenia and social anxiety disorder were given a battery of questionnaires that measured bullying experiences, childhood abuse and experiences of threat and subordination, paranoid ideation, social anxiety behaviours, shame, and aggressive traits and behaviours. Results Data on the differences between the victims of bullying and non-victims, in terms of recalling being bullied, showed higher scores on childhood abuse, experiences of threat and subordination within the family, aggressive traits and higher display of persecutory symptoms and less social anxiety behaviours. Conclusion Bullying is a traumatic phenomenon that is reported by people who suffer from persecutory delusions to a higher degree than those who do not. This study, thus, gives support to the idea that childhood abuse within the family is associated with bullying experiences and that a traumatic infancy may lead to the use of aggressive traits and behaviours to deal with a threatening environment (Bentall and Fernyhough, ). This argument raises clinical issues regarding anger management and addressing bullying experiences in individuals with persecutory ideation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message The importance of bullying experiences in clinical practice: anger management and the relationship between aggressive temperaments and persecutory ideation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research suggested that negative affective-laden sounds act as environmental stressors that elicit negative affect (Bradley and Lang, 2000a). Aims: We tried to test for the role of an interaction between predisposition to hallucinatory experiences and exposure to negative affective laden sounds for the presence of paranoid ideation. Method: We used an experimental design that followed the vulnerability × stress model. We defined three groups from a sample of students: paranoia group vs. social anxiety group vs. control group. Their psychological characteristics were measured through self-reports of paranoia, anxiety, predisposition to hallucinations and depressive symptoms at Time 1 (before the experiment). Participants had to listen to either negative affective laden sounds (e.g. screaming) or positive affective laden sounds (e.g. sound of ocean waves). Their paranoid ideation and positive vs. negative emotional reactions to sounds were measured through self-reports at Time 2 (after the experiment). Results: Data showed that the paranoia group presented more serious psychological vulnerabilities than the social anxiety group. A MANCOVA also showed that the independent variables (“group” and “experimental sound conditions”) had statistically significant main effects on general paranoia ideation at Time 2. Furthermore, there was a significant three-way interaction between group x predisposition to hallucinatory experiences × experimental condition of sounds for the presence of general paranoid ideation at Time 2. Limitations included the small sample size and the effects of parasite variables, e.g. noise. Conclusions: Individuals’ predisposition for hallucinatory experiences increases the probability of possessing paranoid ideation. This tendency is a characteristic of paranoid non-clinical individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: to evaluate the impact of voice disorders on quality of life of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and with adductor spasmodic dysphonia. Method: the study consisted of 56 females, 28 in the control group; 14, the adductor spasmodic dysphonia group in the period prior to treatment with botulinum toxin; and 14, the group of idiopathic Parkinson's disease. The participants filled in the Voice-Related Quality of life (V-RQOL) questionnaire validated for Brazilian Portuguese. To check the difference between averages of the groups it was used the method of analysis of variance by Kruskal-Wallis and Tamhane test for multiple comparisons, with significance <0.05. Results: the average age of the groups were 66.18 for the control group, 67.21 for the Parkinson's disease group and 59.7 for the adductor spasmodic dysphonia group, with no statistical difference between the groups. In the V-RQOL protocol the mean domain social-emotional, physical functioning and total score were higher in the control group, followed by group of Parkinson's disease and, finally, the group of adductor spasmodic dysphonia with statistically significant difference between them. In addition, there was statistical difference for each pair of groups, concerning the areas V-RQOL protocol, except as regards the pair control and Parkinson's disease group in the social-emotional domain (p= 0,076) Conclusion: the negative impact of voice on quality of life is greatest in the adductor spasmodic dysphonia group, followed by Parkinson's disease group and at last, the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 48,XXYY syndrome is a distinct clinical and genetic entity, with an incidence of 1:17,000 to 1:50,000 newborns. Patients often access mental healthcare services due to behavior problems, such as aggressiveness and impulsiveness, and are frequently intellectually disabled. We report a case of a patient with 48,XXYY syndrome treated in a general adult psychiatry department. A 23-year-old man was frequently admitted to our inpatient psychiatric unit (14 admissions in five years) due to disruptive behavior, including self harm, aggression to objects and animals, and fire-setting behavior, in a context of dysphoric mood and marked impulsivity. Upon observation, the patient had mild intellectual disability, with prominent impulsive and aggressive features and very low tolerance to frustration. His physical examination revealed hypertelorism, increased thickness of neck, acne, sparse body hair, triangular pubic hair distribution, fifth digit clinodactyly, small testicles and penis, and gynecoid pelvis. Laboratory analysis revealed endocrine abnormalities (low plasma testosterone and subclinical hypothyroidism). Cardiac Doppler sonogram was normal. Electroencephalogram revealed only a diffuse slowing electrogenesis, with no etiological specificity. Clinical suspicion of a chromosomal disorder was confirmed by a 48,XXYY karyotype. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging detected discrete bilateral reduction of the hippocampal formations, possibly related to temporal dysgenesia. Psychopharmacological treatment options met moderate success, with lack of adherence. Other psychosocial treatment interventions ensued, including family therapy and psychoeducation. We underscore the need to be alert for chromosomal disorders, even in a general adult psychiatry department, as a minority of patients may reach adult care without proper diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]