Shoshana Shiloh

REDUCTION OF STATE-ANXIETY BY PETTING ANIMALS IN A CONTROLLED LABORATORY EXPERIMENT

The effect on anxiety of petting an animal and the underlying mechanisms of such an effect were examined by a repeated-measures, within-session experiment with 58 non-clinical participants. Participants were exposed to a stressful situation in the laboratory – the presence of a Tarantula spider, which they were told they might be asked to hold – and then randomly assigned to one of five groups: petting a rabbit, a turtle, a toy rabbit, a toy turtle or to a control group. Participants’ attitudes towards animals were measured as potential moderators. State-anxiety was assessed at baseline, after the stress manipulation, and after the experimental manipulation. The main findings showed that petting an animal reduced state-anxiety. This effect could not be attributed to the petting per se, since it was observed only with animals and not with matched toys. The anxiety-reducing effect of petting an animal applied to both the soft cuddly animals and the hard-shelled ones. The anxiety-reducing effect applied to people with different attitudes towards animals and was not restricted to animal lovers. The discussion addresses possible emotional and cognitive foundations of the observed effects and their implications.

The Genetic Counseling Outcome Scale: a new patient‐reported outcome measure for clinical genetics services

McAllister M, Wood AM, Dunn G, Shiloh S, Todd C. The Genetic Counseling Outcome Scale: a new patient‐reported outcome measure for clinical genetics services.

Illness Causal Attributions: An Exploratory Study of Their Structure and Associations with Other Illness Cognitions and Perceptions of Control

Two studies were conducted to investigate the cognitive organization and psychological meaning of illness causes. Using a direct similarity judgment method (Study 1), illness causes were found cognitively organized in a hierarchical configuration that could meaningfully be represented as a tree with three main branches—environmental, behavioral, and hidden causes—that further divided into subcategories. This classification of illness causes was associated with other components of the illness schema, namely, the consequences and control/cure dimensions, but not with timeline perceptions (Study 2). Perceptions of control were significantly associated with the cognitive organization of illness causal attributions. Personal relevancy was found as a moderator of illness causal attributions, influencing the relationships between attributions and other illness cognitions.

Individual differences in compensatory decision-making style and need for closure as correlates of subjective decision complexity and difficulty

Abstract In natural decision situations, the decision space and structure are based on the decision maker’s subjective perceptions. Individual differences in compensatory decision-making style and need for closure were hypothesized to associate with the subjective complexity of a natural decision-making structure and with its perceived difficulty. These associations were investigated among 120 high school students choosing a major. In a standard educational decision situation, we found that compensatory decision-making style and need for closure influenced the subjective complexity of the decision task defined by the numbers of alternatives and dimensions in the decision space considered by decision makers. Subjective decision complexity was related to perceived decision difficulty. Subjective complexity was revealed to be multi-dimensional, with differential associations between its two components (alternatives and dimensions) and the other investigated variables. The findings were interpreted as indicating the complex person-situation links operating during the decision making process.

Monitoring coping style moderates emotional reactions to genetic testing for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer: a longitudinal study†

Objectives: The emotional effects of genetic testing for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) provided within a counseling program were assessed among 253 individuals.

Correlates of health screening utilization: The roles of health beliefs and self-regulation motivation

Abstract Health screening for early detection of illness is a central issue in health promotion, but adherence to health screening recommendations falls far short of optium levels. The present research sought to identify individual difference factors that are associated with health screening behavior. A total of 252 asymptomatic individuals were invited to participate in one of four screening programs: a dental checkup, blood pressure measurement and cholesterol testing, pap smear, or mammography, and to participate in a study requiring the completion of questionnaires. 137 (54%) of those invited attended a screening session and 115 (46%) did not attend. Factors to explain health screening behavior were derived from the health belief model (Becker, 1974) and included susceptibility, seventy, benefits, and barriers beliefs, and from. self-regulation theory (Leventhal, 1970), including danger control and fear control motivation. Both cognitive (e.g. health beliefs) and emotional (e.g. reassurance) factors w...

Motivations, perceptions and interpersonal differences associated with interest in genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility among women at high and average risk

Abstract Womens intentions regarding genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility were the focus of the present research. We explored motives behind intentions to be tested for genetic susceptibility to breast cancer; the relationships between risk status and risk perceptions and intentions to be tested; and individual differences in coping styles associated with intentions to be tested. Results on 150 women (54 at risk and 96 average risk) showed that: most women would consider being tested; different factors count for reasons for and against testing; motivations to be tested differ between the two risk groups; “unrealistic optimism” was observed only among women at average-risk; intentions to be tested were related to risk perceptions and to individual differences (in desire for control, external health locus of control, preferences for self-treatment, preferences for medical information, and need for closure) only among women at average-risk. Practical and theoretical implications of these finding...

Coping specificity: the case of women coping with infertility treatments.

Customizing the measurement of coping to a specific situation can answer some of the concerns regarding its measurement by checklist. A context-specific measure of coping with infertility was developed on the basis of theoretical principles of coping, interviews with women and providers, and existing findings. Data on the resulting Coping with Infertility questionnaire was collected from 652 Israeli women undergoing treatment and meta-strategies of coping were identified on the basis of a hierarchical structure of the coping subscales. About half of the women also filled in adjustment measures and findings showed differential associations of coping strategies to negative and positive indicators of psychological adjustment. Taking into account coping specificity can highlight strategies that function in ways that are unique to the context. This approach could be useful as a step in the assessment and understanding of coping with a specific health threat, which can guide further research and interventions designed to improve coping effectiveness.

Patients' information needs and decision-making processes: what can be learned from genetic counselees?

This field study investigated the information needs and decision-making strategies of 161 genetic counselees interviewed just prior to counseling. Patients were interested mostly in information about the outcomes and consequences of the alternative options at their disposal and about measures to defuse the risks. They wanted mainly information stated with certainty and were less interested in probability information. There was no difference in the search for information between the alternative eventually chosen and the one not chosen. There was a difference, however, among types of decisions and the interest in the various categories of information. These findings were interpreted within the theoretical model of decision making in natural risky situations (O. Huber, 1997). Practical implications for shared medical decision making are presented.

To Test or Not To Test? Moderators of the Relationship Between Risk Perceptions and Interest in Predictive Genetic Testing

The moderating effects of motivational factors (illness prevention vs. emotional reassurance), regulatory focus (health vs. illness orientations), and cancer anxiety on the relationship between risk perceptions and womens interest in predictive genetic testing for breast cancer were studied among 102 women with no history of breast cancer. Risk perceptions per se were unrelated to testing interests. Perceptions of higher personal risk for developing breast cancer were positively related to womens interest in testing only among women whose dominant motivation was not emotional reassurance, who were not oriented towards ruling-out disease, and who were not highly anxious about breast cancer. These findings pointed to conditions under which risk perceptions may enhance screening behaviors, and other conditions under which they may not.