Family therapy and upset tummies

Functional abdominal pain - which has no physical cause - is a common problem in children. Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle looked into the effectiveness of family therapy in treating unexplained stomach pain in a study of 200 pairs of parents and children. The children's ages ranged from seven to 17 and half were assigned to a social learning/cognitive behaviour therapy group while the other half were given educational materials. Both groups showed improvement but the family therapy group showed a greater reduction in pain severity. The children in the therapy group also showed greater increases in their ability to distract themselves and ignore their pain and their parents also responded in a more appropriate manner. Previous research has shown that responding in a concerned and fearful way to a child's stomach pains can actually make the problem worse.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE62N40920100324?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Anxiety, stress and allergy

There has long been known to be a link between stress and the immune system. Allergies occur when the immune system goes into overdrive and a study of 28 people by researchers at Ohio State University looked into the links between stress and allergies. The participants' anxiety levels were measured at the start of the study using a standardised questionnaire and they underwent pinprick tests to measure their reactions to allergens. The participants were also placed under stress by being asked to deliver a ten-minute talk and do maths questions without using a pen and paper (the stress condition). The researchers then measured the size of the weals on the participants' arms before and after they experienced the stress condition. Participants who had only moderate levels of 'background' anxiety had weals 75% larger after the stress experiment but for people who were already highly anxious at the start of the study their weals were more than twice as large after the stress test. Anxious people were four times more likely to have a stronger reaction to the skin test one day later after the stressful condition.

You can read more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/08/15/anxiety-and-stress-accentuate-allergies/2762.html

Mental health and ME

A study of 3,035 people in the UK followed them for 43 years of their life and assessed them for chronic fatigue syndrome/ME (CFS/ME) at 53 years of age. 34 (1.1%) of the participants reported a diagnosis of CFS/ME at 53. CFS/ME was more common among women and those who had had mental-health problems between the ages of 15 and 36 were 2.65 times more likely to develop CFS/ME later. Increased levels of psychiatric illness - in particular depression and anxiety - were present prior to the occurence of fatigue symptoms. The more severe people's mental health problems were the more likely they were to develop CFS/ME.

Harvey, S.B. ... [et al] - The relationship between prior psychiatric disorder and chronic fatigue: evidence from a national birth cohort study Psychological Medicine July 2008, 38(7), 933-940

Inflammation and depression

There are clinical parallels between depressive symptoms and the symptoms of certain inflammatory disorders. Now researchers from the University of Miami have found genetic differences in inflammation-related genes that are associated with susceptibility to major depression. The researchers found the differences in a study of 615 Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles by comparing those with and without depression. The genes involved are also linked to psoriasis and asthma both of which are known to co-exist with depression and be brought on by psychosocial stressors.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/05/30/blood-test-may-identify-risk-for-depression/2380.html

Maternal stress and babies' immune systems

Mothers' levels of stress during pregnancy may effect the immune system of their babies according to a study carried out by researchers at Harvard Medical School. The study of 387 mothers and their babies in Boston looked at levels of maternal stress, exposure to dust-mite allergens and levels of a substance called IgE in umbilical-cord blood. The researchers found increased levels of IgE expression - indicating immune-system problems - among infants whose mothers had experienced higher levels of stress. This link held true even when the women had been exposed to relatively low levels of dust-mite allergens during their pregnancy and regardless of the mother's race, class, education or smoking history.

You can read more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/05/19/stress-during-pregnancy-can-predispose-infant-to-allergies/2310.html

Physical symptoms in disaster survivors

People who have survived disasters often suffer from psychosomatic symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and pains in their bones and muscles. However, little is known about the risk factors for these symptoms among disaster survivors. A study of 1,567 survivors of an explosion at a fireworks depot in Holland, which killed 23 people in May 2000, found that women, immigrants and people with pre-existing psychological problems were more likely to suffer from psychosomatic symptoms. Intrusive thoughts, avoidance, depression, anxiety and sleeping problems all played a part in perpetuating physical symptoms.

Berg, B. van den ... [et al] - Risk factors for physical symptoms after a disaster: a longitudinal study Psychological Medicine April 2008, 38(4), 499-510

CBT and headaches

A study into the use of psychological therapies to relieve headaches compared the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy to that of temporal pulse amplitude (TPA) biofeedback training. In biofeedback training people are shown a visual representation of a physiological process e.g. heartbeat, blood pressure, brainwaves etc and asked to make a conscious effort to manipulate it in the right direction. The study found that CBT was highly effective with an average reduction of headaches from pre- to post- treatment of 68%, compared to 56% for biofeedback and 20% for a control group. Headaches continued to decrease up to a 12 month follow-up period for the CBT group. Improvement with CBT was associated with people's level of coping skills at the start of the study, their social support and physiological measures at rest and in response to stress.

Martin, Paul R., Forsyth, Michael R. and Reece, John - Cognitive-behavioural therapy versus temporal pulse amplitude biofeedback training for recurrent headache. Behavior Therapy December 2007, 38(4), 350-363

9/11, stress and heart problems

Studies in the U.S. have documented a substantial short-term psychological response to the 9/11 attacks but their effect on physical health has received little attention. Extremely stressful events can increase people's risk of cardiovascular problems and in the weeks following 9/11 rates of heart problems increased significantly in New York City and the surrounding areas and comparable findings were reported in Florida suggesting that direct exposure to the attacks wasn't necessary to precipitate health problems. A U.S. study of people who had completed a health survey before 9/11, a web-based assessment of their stress levels 9-14 days after the attacks and follow-up surveys 1, 2 and 3 years later found that acute stress responses to the attacks were associated with a 53% increased incidence of cardiovascular problems over the following three years even allowing for other factors such as smoking, body mass index and diabetes. Individuals reporting high levels of acute stress immediately following the attacks reported an increased incidence of heart problems and high blood pressure. Among people reporting ongoing worry about terrorism after 9/11 high 9/11 related acute stress symptoms predicted an increased risk of heart problems 2-3 years after the attacks.

Holman, E. Alison ... [et al] - Terrorism, acute stress, and cardiovascular health : a 3-year national study following the September 11th attacks Archives of General Psychiatry January 2008, 65(1), 73-80

Negative affectivity and stress

Failure to cope with stress at work has been linked with a range of physical health problems such as gastrointestinal malfunction, musculo-skeletal problems and cardiovascular diseases as well as psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and burn out. Stress is a function of the relationship between an individual and his/her environment and individual differences can play an important part in this. One factor that is thought to be important in this is negative affectivity. People high in negative affectivity are more likely to report negative mood and emotional reactivity, have a negative view of themselves, have higher levels of emotionality and focus more on the negative aspects of situations. A study of 256 students in Australia measured their levels of negative affectivity and gave them tasks to do to see how well they coped with stress. They were given different amounts of time to do the task (high and low demand) and different amounts of freedom in the way they approached it (high and low control). Those participants with higher levels of negative affectivity had higher levels of post-task negative mood in response to high-demand conditions and had lower task satisfaction in response to high demand/low control situations. Participants with high levels of negative affectivity were more likely to use emotion-focused coping strategies such as minimizing the emotional threat posed by the stressor, wishful thinking and self-blame rather than problem-focused coping strategies.

O'Brien, Anne, Terry, Deborah J. and Jimmieson, Nerina L. - Negative affectivity and responses to work stressors: an experimental study Anxiety, stress and coping January 2008, 21(1), 55-83

Anxiety and heart attack risk

A study of 735 men by researchers at the University of Southern California has found that anxiety can increase people's risk of a heart attack by 30-40%. Each of the 735 participants in the study completed psychological tests in 1986 and was in good cardiovascular health at the time. The men completed tests for psychaesthenia (excessive doubts, obsessive thoughts and irrational compulsions), social anxiety, phobias and their tendency to experience tension and physical arousal in stressful situations. They also completed psychological tests about their hostility, anger, type A behaviour, depression and negative emotions and their smoking, alcohol consumption, daily diets and general physical health was also assessed. Regardless of all other factors those men who came in the top 15% of any of the anxiety scales faced an increase in their heart attack risk of 30-40%.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/01/08/long-term-anxiety-ups-heart-attack-risk/1754.html

Asthma and PTSD

Several studies have linked asthma to anxiety disorders and depression. Now a U.S. study of 3,065 pairs of twins who both served in the Vietnam war has suggested that asthma could be linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well. The study found that among all twins those who suffered from the most PTSD symptoms were 2.3 times as likely to have asthma compared to those who suffered from the least PTSD symptoms. The scientists found the association between asthma and PTSD existed even after they took into account factors such as cigarette smoking, obesity and socioeconomic status, all of which are associated with both anxiety disorders and asthma.

You can find out more about the research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/11/15/link-between-asthma-and-ptsd/1539.html

Asthma and depression in teenagers

A study of 1,300 children between the ages of 11 and 17 in the U.S. has found that those who had asthma were nearly twice as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. Previous studies have suggested a link between asthma and other mental-health problems such as panic disorder. After controlling for other variables children with asthma were found to be 1.9 times as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. Children with asthma and a mental-health problem are more likely to smoke making it harder to treat their asthma. Girls and children living in a single-parent household were more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression as were those who had recently been diagnosed with asthma and those who had higher levels of physical impairment because of the condition.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/11/07/link-between-asthma-and-depression/1501.html