Elizabeth J. Vella

Hostility moderates the effects of social support and intimacy on blood pressure in daily social interactions

OBJECTIVE This study sought to determine the role of hostility in moderating the effects of positive social interactions on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP). DESIGN Participants (341 adults) completed the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale and underwent ABP monitoring, assessed every 45 min during waking hours across 6 days. An electronic diary measuring mood and social interactions was completed at each ABP assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The dependent variables from the ABP monitor included systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate. RESULTS Different patterns of ambulatory diastolic blood pressure (ADBP) responding to social interactions perceived as intimate or supportive among high- versus low-hostile individuals were observed. Higher intimacy ratings were linked to reductions in ADBP among low-hostile but not high-hostile individuals. Conversely, high-hostile, but not low-hostile, individuals showed increases in ADBP to situations rated high in social support. Although findings for ambulatory systolic blood pressure were nonsignificant, the pattern of results was similar to ADBP. CONCLUSION Hostile individuals may find offers of support stressful and may fail to benefit from intimacy during daily life. The pathogenic effects of hostility may be mediated in part by responses to social interactions, both positive and negative.

Hostility and anger-in: Cardiovascular reactivity and recovery to mental arithmetic stress

BACKGROUND Hostility and anger have been attributed as psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease. Heightened cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), and poor recovery, to provocative stressors are thought to hasten this risk. PURPOSE To examine the relationship between hostility and anger inhibition (AI), and the moderating situational influences of harassment and evaluation, in predicting CVR and recovery to mental arithmetic (MA) stress using a multiple regression approach. METHODS 48 male undergraduate students engaged in the following 3 minute tasks during recording of the electrocardiogram, impedance cardiography, and blood pressure: baseline, MA, and evaluation. Hostility and AI were assessed with the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale and the Speilberger Anger In subscale, respectively. RESULTS An interaction between hostility and AI showed high diastolic blood pressure reactivity to the MA task among hostile anger inhibitors. Harassment did not modify this effect. However, harasser evaluation predicted prolonged systolic blood pressure (SBP) responding among men scoring high in AI, and facilitated SBP recovery among those scoring low on AI. CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the interactive influences of AI and hostility in predicting CVR to stress and underscore the importance of recovery assessments in understanding the potentially pathogenic associations of these constructs.

Participation in Outdoor Recreation Program Predicts Improved Psychosocial Well-Being Among Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study

PURPOSE Evaluate the effectiveness of a 2-day, 3-night outdoor recreation intervention involving fly-fishing in reducing the psychological concomitants of stress among 74 veterans (M = 47.27, SD = 14.55 years) with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS Participants completed repeated assessments of attentiveness, mood, depression, anxiety, and somatic stress across 3 time periods, corresponding to 2 weeks before the trip (baseline), the last day of the trip, and a 6-week follow-up. Assessments of perceptual stress, PTSD symptoms, and sleep quality were also administered during the baseline and follow-up periods. RESULTS Acute effects were observed for improvements in attentiveness and positive mood states, coupled with significant and sustained reductions in negative mood states, anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms of stress. Comparisons between the baseline and follow-up periods revealed significant improvements in sleep quality and reductions in perceptual stress and PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS The current findings suggest that combat veterans with PTSD may benefit from participation in group-based outdoor recreation as a means to improve psychosocial well-being.

Pilot study: Retreat intervention predicts improved quality of life and reduced psychological distress among breast cancer patients

PURPOSE Evaluate the effectiveness of a week-long residential retreat intervention incorporating photographic art therapy in concert with psychoanalytically oriented group therapy and mind-body practices in reducing psychological distress and improving quality of life (QoL) and spiritual well-being for breast cancer patients. METHODS 28 female breast cancer patients completed self report assessments of psychological distress, QoL, and spiritual well-being on the first day of the retreat, the last day of the retreat, and a 6 week follow up assessment. RESULTS Repeated measures MANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons revealed the retreat experience to predict significant and sustained reductions in depression, anxiety, and somatic stress, coupled with sustained improvements in QoL and spiritual well-being. CONCLUSIONS The current findings suggest that breast cancer patients may benefit from participation in a week-long multi-modal retreat center experience involving photographic art therapy and structured group therapy as a means to explore personal strain.

Personality, uses of music, and music preference: The influence of openness to experience and extraversion

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether uses of music partially mediate the link between personality and music preference. Undergraduate students (N = 122) completed the following scales: The Brief Big Five Inventory, The Uses of Music Inventory, The Short Test of Music Preference, The Life Orientation Test Revised, The Beck Depression Inventory, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Openness to experience positively predicted preferences for reflective-complex (RC; e.g., jazz/blues) and intense-rebellious (IR; e.g., rock/metal) music and was inversely related to upbeat-conventional (UC; e.g., country/pop) music, whereas extraversion was positively related to preferences for energetic-rhythmic (ER; e.g., rap/soul) and UC genres. A link between trait optimism and ER music preference was fully mediated by the more prominent extraversion trait. The relationship between openness to experience and RC music preference was partially mediated by cognitive uses of music, with a marginally significant analysis indicating partial mediation of emotional uses of music for openness to experience and IR music preference. Trait neuroticism, perceived stress, and depression scores all correlated positively with emotional uses of music. The current findings support studying personality contextually alongside uses of music when investigating music preference and shed light on how negative affect may inform emotional uses of music.

Citalopram Improves Metabolic Risk Factors Among High Hostile Adults: Results of a Placebo-Controlled Intervention

Hostility is associated with a number of metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including waist-hip ratio, glucose, and triglycerides. Along with hostility, many of these measures have also been shown to be associated with reduced central serotonergic function. We have previously reported that a citalopram intervention was successful in reducing hostility by self-report assessment (Kamarck et al., 2009). Here we examine the effects of this serotonergic intervention on metabolic risk factors in the same sample. 159 healthy adults with elevated hostility scores were randomized to citalopram or placebo for a 2-month period. Citalopram favorably changed metabolic risk factors, including waist circumference (p=.003), glucose (p=.02), HDL cholesterol (p=.04), triglycerides (p=.03), insulin sensitivity (p=.045) and diastolic blood pressure by automated assessment (p=.0021). All of these metabolic changes were significantly mediated by treatment-related changes in body mass index (in most cases, p<.01). In addition, the changes in blood glucose were significantly mediated by treatment-related changes in hostility (p<.05). Mechanisms accounting for these associations remain to be explored.

Predictors of academic success in web-based courses: age, GPA, and instruction mode

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use a heutagogical approach to determine whether students enrolled in blended courses achieve higher grades relative to those enrolled in completely online courses, in addition to identifying demographic predictors of academic success in college courses involving Web-based modes of instruction. Design/methodology/approach Mixed models regression evaluated predictors of grade in terms of age, gender, instruction mode, graduate vs undergraduate status and full-time vs part-time load across 2,174 students (M = 27.6, SD = 9.54 years) enrolled in Web-based courses for a single term at a mid-sized public university in the northeastern USA. Findings In accordance with expectations, a significant main effect indicated higher grades among students enrolled in blended relative to completely online courses. Other predictors of academic success in Web-based courses included older age, female gender, graduate student status and part-time academic load. An interaction between age and gender on grade indicated the difference in performance between men and women diminished among older compared to younger students. Another interaction between age and instruction mode on successful course completion indicated a higher probability of success in blended courses among older students relative to their younger counterparts. Research limitations/implications This study is limited by its cross-sectional design of large scope, which is incapable of addressing differences in online instructional styles and student motivation factors. Originality/value The current study offers newfound evidence that students enrolled in Web-based college courses may benefit from a blended instructional format, a finding that may be particularly evident among older students.