Randall S. Jorgensen

Depression, anxiety, and resting frontal EEG asymmetry: A meta-analytic review.

Emotion-related disturbances, such as depression and anxiety, have been linked to relative right-sided resting frontal electroencephalograph (EEG) asymmetry among adults and infants of afflicted mothers. However, a somewhat inconsistent pattern of findings has emerged. A meta-analysis was undertaken to (a) evaluate the magnitude of effects across EEG studies of resting frontal asymmetry and depression, anxiety, and comorbid depression and anxiety and (b) determine whether certain moderator variables could help reconcile inconsistent findings. Moderate effects of similar magnitude were obtained for the depression and anxiety studies, whereas a smaller effect emerged for comorbid studies. Three moderating variables predicted effect sizes: (a) Shorter EEG recording periods were associated with larger effects among adults, (b) different operationalizations of depression yielded effects of marginally different magnitudes, and (c) younger infant samples showed larger effects than older ones. The current data support a link between resting frontal EEG asymmetry and depression and anxiety and provide a partial account of inconsistent findings across studies.

Elevated blood pressure and personality: a meta-analytic review

A meta-analysis of 295 relevant effect sizes obtained from 25,469 participants confirmed expectations that elevated blood pressure (BP) and essential hypertension (EH) would be associated with lower affect expression but with more negative affectivity and defensiveness. The strongest associations occurred for defensiveness and measures of anger and affect expression linked to an interpersonal context(s). However, a number of other factors also were found to moderate associations of BP with personality measures, including awareness of BP status, gender, occupation, and diastolic versus systolic BP assessment. Given these moderators, the authors conclude that a traditional view of personality causing EH is untenable and that, not incorporating multifactorial, synergistic approaches is likely to obscure associations of personality-behavior with EH.

Psychometric evaluation of Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale.

The psychometric properties of Antonovskys Sense of Coherence (SOC) Scale were examined. Subjects (N = 374) completed the SOC scale and a battery of theoretically relevant questionnaires. Principal-components analysis with a Varimax-Promax rotation produced a solution with 5 factors, which were further reduced to 1 factor, suggesting that the SOC scale is a unidimensional instrument. Additional analyses indicated satisfactory internal consistency as well as test-retest reliability at 1 and 2 weeks. Evidence for the validity of the SOC scale was obtained in that nonclinical subjects obtained higher SOC scores than did clinical subjects. Additional validity evidence was provided by negative correlations between SOC scores and self-reports of (a) perceived stress, (b) trait anxiety, and (c) current depression; Discriminant evidence for the validity of the SOC scale was mixed

Stress, Glucocorticoids, and Memory: A Meta-analytic Review

Although a strong psychoneuroendocrine linkage exists between stress, glucocorticoids and memory, the relationship is not always straightforward. Eighty-eight effect sizes and 1642 participants from 28 studies were meta-analyzed for the effects of stress on memory performance and glucocorticoid activation. Analyses showed that stress was associated with glucocorticoid activation and declarative memory decline. In animal studies, predator stress affected memory performance more than physical stress. In human studies, males showed higher cortisol levels than females in response to stress. Further, the correlation between cortisol levels and memory deficits was stronger in studies using laboratory stressors than those examining long term effects of chronic exposure to rising basal levels of glucocorticoids and chronic life stressors. It was concluded that, although the relationship between stress, glucocorticoids, and memory loss was empirically supported, there were other factors, such as stress condition and gender, as well as individual differences within groups, that influenced the association between these variables, and warrant further examination.

Reliability and validity of the Appraisal of Diabetes Scale

The present research evaluated the psychometric properties of a brief self-report instrument designed to assess appraisal of diabetes. Two hundred male subjects completed the Appraisal of Diabetes Scale (ADS) and provided blood samples that were subsequently assayed to provide an index of glycemic control (i.e., glycosylated hemoglobin). Subjects also completed either (a) additional measures of diabetes-related health beliefs, diabetic daily hassles, perceived stress, diabetic adherence, and psychiatric symptoms or (b) the ADS on two additional occasions. Results indicated that the ADS is an internally consistent and stable measure of diabetes-related appraisal. The validity of the measure was supported by correlational analyses which documented the relationship between the ADS and several related self-report measures.

Family history of hypertension, personality patterns, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress.

&NA; The study was conducted to assess whether certain personality characteristics in combination with a positive family history for essential hypertension (EH) are associated with excessive cardiovascular reactivity. Subgroups who differed in the patterns of their personality characteristics were identified within normotensives with a positive family history (FH+) of EH and within normotensives with a negative family history (FH‐) of EH via cluster analytic techniques. A subgroup of FH+ subjects who were characterized by denial and unwilling to admit to neurotic feelings or aggressiveness exhibited exaggerated blood pressure reactivity to two experimental tasks. Moreover, relative to their level of heightened physiologic arousal, subjects in this subgroup reported little negative affect in response to the tasks, which further suggests that they deny or suppress their feelings. The similarity of the personality pattern of these cardiovascularly reactive FH+ individuals to that sometimes found among individuals with EH is discussed.

Trait anger, anger expression, and ambulatory blood pressure: A meta-analytic review

A meta-analysis of 15 studies was conducted to investigate the relationship between trait anger and ambulatory blood pressure. Overall, the experience of anger was significantly and positively associated with systolic blood pressure (r+ = 0.049), but not reliably associated with diastolic blood pressure (r+ = 0.028). After removing an outlier, the expression of anger was found to have a reliable inverse relationship with diastolic blood pressure (r+ = −0.072). No reliable relationship between expression of anger and systolic blood pressure (r+ = −0.041) was found. These results continue to support the modest role of self-reported trait anger and anger expression in blood pressure levels. Several suggestions for future research are discussed, including increasing the focus on the complexity and synergism of these effects.

Measuring Stress Resilience and Coping in Vulnerable Youth: The Social Competence Interview

A brief interview to measure stress coping capabilities was developed and tested in 4 samples of African American and White adolescents in low-income neighborhoods of 2 large U.S. cities. The Social Competence Interview (SCI) is a 10-min social stressor that assesses physiological and social-emotional responses to a recurring real-life problem. A new behavioral coding system using audiotapes permits reliable and valid assessment of components of social competence, including Interpersonal Skills (expressiveness, empathy), Goal-Oriented Strivings in coping (self defense, social acceptance, competitiveness, stimulation-pleasure, approval, self improvement), and Social Impact (high vs. low affiliation/control). High SCI expressiveness and self-defensive striving create a critical-aggressive social impact, which is correlated with increased hostility and anger.

Family history of hypertension, gender, and cardiovascular reactivity and stereotypy during stress

Thirty subjects with a family history of hypertension and 28 subjects without such a history performed a Stroop Color-Word Interference task, a mental arithmetic task (serial subtraction of sevens), and a shock avoidance task (repeating digits backward while expecting to be shocked for mistakes). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate were recorded while subjects anticipated, undertook, and recovered from the shock avoidance task and undertook and recovered from the Stroop and mental arithmetic tasks. It was found that compared to nonfamily history subjects, family history subjects manifested reliably greater cardiovascular reactivity during each task and in anticipation of the shock avoidance task. These results are congruent with the notion that excessive sympathetic nervous system reactivity—possibly genetically determined—is involved in the development of some form(s) of essential hypertension. Further, the results indicated that family history subjects manifested greater consistency, or stereotypy, of cardiovascular response across the experimental tasks than nonfamily history subjects. The possible role of cardiovascular stereotypy in the development of essential hypertension is also discussed.

The type a behavior pattern, sex differences, and cardiovascular response to and recovery from stress

Sixty-one subjects performed a Stroop Color-Word Interference task, a mental arithmetic task (serial subtraction of 7s), and a shock avoidance task (repeating digits backward while expecting to be shocked for mistakes). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate were recorded while subjects anticipated, undertook, and recovered from the shock avoidance task, and undertook and recovered from the Stroop and mental arithmetic tasks. The results revealed that, compared to Type B subjects, Type A subjects manifested higher diastolic blood pressure during the Stroop and shock avoidance tasks and higher pulse rate following the mental arithmetic and shock avoidance tasks. No significant interactions were found between sex and A/B Type. The results are congruent with the notion that greater sympathetic nervous system activity among Type A individuals, both men and women, contributes to greater coronary atherosclerosis and heart disease in this group.