Perception Of Physical Symptoms Research Articles

Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Employees General Health

Emotional intelligence: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the theoretical development of the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) in an attempt to identify whether or not this newly introduced concept accounts for variance not already accounted for by intelligence and/or personality in various areas of human transactions. Although the construct of El is not a new concept (see Gardner, 1983; Thorndike, 1920) it was Goleman's (1995) influential book Emotional Intelligence, which made the concept widely popular. The differing names given to emotional intelligence are part of the reason that it has been difficult for researchers to agree on an all-encompassing definition. Emotional intelligence has also been referred to as emotional literacy, the emotional quotient, personal intelligence, social intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence (Dulewicz & Higgs, 2000). The definitions are so varied, and the field is growing so rapidly, that researchers are constantly amending even their own definitions of the construct. Nonetheless, although the definitions of El vary, they tend to be complementary rather than contradictory (Ciarrochi, Chan, & Caputi, 2000). Based on the many definitions that have already been proffered, this article conceptualizes El as the set of abilities (verbal & nonverbal) that enable a person to generate, recognize, express, understand, and evaluate their own, and others, emotions in order to guide thinking and action that successfully cope with environmental demands and pressures.The emotional intelligence concept is generally divided into four dimensions (Salovey & Mayer, 1990) although other models such as a five-component model (Bar-On, 1997) are also widely accepted. George (2000) and others (e.g., Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 1999) summarize the four dimensions of emotional intelligence postulated by Salovey and Mayer: the perception of emotion, the integration and assimilation of emotion, knowledge about emotions, and management of emotions. The four dimensions of emotional intelligence have been proposed as a sequential set of steps with the perception of emotion occurring at the first step and the other three then following in the order they are listed above (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, & Sitaremos, 2001).The first dimension can be thought of as the ability to perceive emotion. This involves the accuracy with which a person can identify emotions in themselves and others. The next dimension consists of the ability to use or assimilate emotions to facilitate thought. This allows people to use emotions to guide their thinking, and new emotions can also be generated during this stage. The third dimension involves how people understand their emotions. Knowledge of emotions allows a person to understand how emotions change and the relationship between these states. The final dimension involves the management of not only ones own mood and emotions, but also the emotions of others.In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in how emotional reactions and experiences affect both physical as well as psychological health. For example, it has been claimed that negative emotional states are associated with unhealthy patterns of physiological functioning, whereas positive emotional states are associated with healthier patterns of responding in both cardiovascular activity and immune system (Booth-Kewley & Friedman, 1987; Herbert & Choen,1993).Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, and Steward (2000) discussed extensively the importance of emotional states on physical health suggesting that an individual's emotional status influence their perception of physical symptoms. Furthermore, extended research in the field of health psychology has demonstrated the effect of negative mood or unpleasant emotional experiences on a number of habits or behaviours that have been accused for unhealthy conditions, such as smoking (e.g., Brandon, 1994) and drinking (e. …

Symptom perception in healthy menopausal women: Can we predict concordance between subjective and physiological measures of vasomotor symptoms?

Perception of physical symptoms is an important factor in medical help-seeking. We aimed to examine both physiological and subjective measures of a commonly reported physical symptom-vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats; HF/NS), and to investigate factors that might influence symptom perception, that is, concordance, over-reporting, and under-reporting of symptoms in healthy menopausal women. One hundred and forty women completed questionnaires assessing depressed mood, anxiety, stress, somatic symptoms, beliefs about HF/NS, and somatic amplification. Subjective and objective (24-h sternal skin conductance) measurements of HF/NS were obtained to assess concordance. Thirty-seven percent of HF/NS were concordant while 47 and 16 % were under-reported and over-reported, respectively. Depressed mood, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and negative beliefs about HF/NS were associated with (higher) concordance, (less) under-, or (more) over-reporting. Negative beliefs about night sweats and sleep were the strongest predictors of concordance, whereas additional somatic symptoms and smoking predicted over-reporting. Just over one third of physiologically recorded HF/NS were perceived as hot flushes; under-reporting of symptoms was more common than over-reporting. Interestingly, women who were more accurate in detecting physiological HF/NS tended to report more psychological and somatic symptoms and negative beliefs about HF/NS. Both measures should be included as outcomes of clinical trials.

Major Stress Symptoms in Dentists at a Social Security Institution in Guadalajara, Mexico

During dental practice, the professional finds him or herself exposed to stress and to diverse conditions posing a mental or physical health risk. The purpose of this study was to identify the most frequent symptoms of chronic stress in dentists. All dentists (87) that worked during the year 2011 at a Social Security institution were surveyed using the Stress Symptom Inventory (SSI) to record both physical and psychological symptoms. The results showed that the perception of physical symptoms, such as strong heartbeats, dry mouth, fatigue, headaches, frequent urge to urinate, neck and shoulder pain as well as the psychological symptomatology of anxiety, urge to eat at all times, rage attacks, insomnia, accident proneness and impaired concentration were factors of high-level chronic stress in dentists working at the Social Security institution. Timely identification of chronic stress in dentists may favor the implementation of timely prevention programs for their healthcare and work security.

Dispute Resolution as a Creator of Needless Disability

Abstract When injured persons feel pain and a physician tells them that they have a permanent condition, the feeling of pain can become associated over time with the diagnosis, the emotional response to the diagnosis, and factors associated with the diagnosis (including helplessness, fear, anger and overwhelming stress). Even the language associated with the process can be misleading: To some, the phrase “maximum medical improvement” may have the ominous ring of a life sentence with a judgment that they have reached the highest potential for recovery, even if this is not the case. The US legal system often contributes to needless disabling, to the extent that the author coins the term “attorneyogenic disability.” Delaying dispute resolution following disputes in the case causes harm by creating a period when injured workers may obsess about their condition, the people who have wronged them, and the unfairness of the system in failing to compensate them. As delays stretch on, the individual's perception of physical symptoms may become habitual in a complex association of thoughts, feelings, and emotions that affect the worker's neural network. Finally, the legal system stops when the claim is resolved, and the patient's advocate has no systemic motivation to assist after the claim is completed. Planning for functional adaptation and treatment after the dispute resolution often is lacking, especially after the individual has been exposed both to catastrophic thinking in the courtroom and multiple medical evaluations and treatment protocols.

Impact of depression on drug intake in hypertensive patients

Impact of depression on drug intake in hypertensive patients

Die Lebenssituationen Parkinsonbetroffener und deren Angehörigen im Spiegel der Literatur – ein Überblick

Despite of new therapy methods there currently is no perspective for healing or stopping the course of Parkinson's disease. Because of this and the predicted increase of the number of people suffering from parkinsonian syndromes, not only medical care but also nursing care of these syndromes will be of high importance in the future. The main objective of the conducted review was to study professional literature describing the situation of affected people and their relatives allowing to derive the appropriate requirements for a suitable care environment. This systematic review was conducted in the databases PubMed, CINAHL, Embase and Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews. The results were considered with the focus of two main issues of a social situation (Dreitzel, 1972), the themes and the partners of interaction. The themes were assigned according to the coping needs of Corbin and Strauss (2004). Those needs can be observed during the progression of a chronic disease. Given the basic coping needs of affected people in different life situations, the results of 41 surveys and articles demonstrate the need for a continuous support of people suffering from parkinsonian syndromes and their relatives. Described are central issues such as financial coverage, maintenance of the individual role, getting support in dealing with the diagnosis and experiencing acceptance of one's perception of physical symptoms by health professionals. The professional life, family life, personal relationships, physician-patient and nurse-patient relationships, parent-child relationships as well as being part of society are described to be particularly challenging. The importance of support by a specialised nurse within the meaning of a Parkinson's Disease Nurse Specialist is being discussed.

Hearts in the fire, heads in the fridge: A qualitative investigation into the temporal patterning of the precompetitive psychological response in elite performers

Retrospective perceptions and causal beliefs regarding the temporal patterning of precompetitive psychological responses were examined in 12 elite rugby union players. Composite sequence analysis resulted in a series of temporal networks to describe participants’ cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses in a time-to-event paradigm. Match-related cognitions remained stable in the lead up to competition, while perceptions of physical symptoms peaked at the onset of performance. Affective responses were associated with feelings of anxiety and tension in the early temporal phases but excitement, confidence, and efficacy in team-mates directly before competition. Behavioural themes described activities associated with technical and physical preparation, familiarization with environmental conditions, and strategies to control activation states early on or directly before competition. The findings highlight the idiosyncratic and dynamic nature of the temporal patterning of precompetitive responses and the influence that perceptions of the team have upon individual preparation for performance. Implications are discussed in the context of the type and timing of intervention for developing individual and team preparatory routines.

Psychiatric disorders in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Objective Depression is undertreated in cardiac disease. Our aim was to evaluate frequency and risk factors of psychiatric disorders in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Methods This was a two-phase epidemiological approach, using screening questionnaire then gold standard structured clinical interview. A cohort of 148 patients aged ≥18 (78% response rate) attending a dedicated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy clinic (1996–1998) were screened for psychiatric morbidity using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Social Adjustment Scale. Likely cases and noncases were evaluated by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. The main outcome measure was prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses, with descriptive comparison against population statistics. Results Thirty-seven percent of cardiomyopathy patients fulfilled criteria for anxiety disorder and 21% for mood disorder. Presence of mood disorder was associated with chest pain [relative risk (RR) 4.5, 95% CI 2.8–17.5], older age (2.8, 1.4–5.6), higher perceived risk of death (5.4, 2.3–13.0), poorer social adjustment (2.1, 1.1–4.2) and problems with sexual relations (1.5, 1.2–3.6). Presence of anxiety disorders was associated with chest pain (RR 3.5, 95% CI 2.1–26.0), higher perceived risk of death (2.0, 1.2–3.4), perception of physical symptoms as ‘severe’ (2.2, 1.2–4.2) and more recent diagnosis (1.7, 1.0–2.7). Conclusions Patients with cardiomyopathy have an elevated risk of mood disorders and anxiety disorders. Several demographic and clinical factors were found to be associated with these psychiatric conditions. Proper treatment intervention is likely to improve quality of life.

The role of self-assessed health in the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms among adolescents.

To examine the concurrent and longitudinal relations between gender, self-assessed health (SAH), and depressive symptoms among adolescents. Two measures of SAH (physical symptom reports and global health ratings) and a measure of depression were completed on two occasions over two years by 232 adolescent boys and girls. Physical symptom reports were related to depressive symptoms both concurrently and longitudinally. Longitudinal path analysis revealed a significant path from gender to physical symptom reports (Wave 1) to depressive symptoms (Wave 2). Although global health ratings were related to depressive symptoms concurrently, the prospective relation was not significant in the cross-lagged path model. These findings suggest that the development of poorer SAH, particularly the perception of physical symptoms, may place adolescent girls at risk for subsequent depressive symptoms. Potential mechanisms for the SAH-depression relationship are discussed.

Cognition and the Perception of Physical Symptoms in the Community-dwelling Elderly

Elderly people frequently complain of somatic (physical) symptoms that prompt them to seek medical intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cognitive impairment on somatic symptom complaints by the elderly. Symptoms (spontaneously reported and reported after explicit inquiry) pertaining to 15 organ systems were assessed in a random sample of 462 community-dwelling individuals over the age of 75 years. The symptoms increased with decreasing cognitive performance with no, very mild, and mild cognitive impairments as indicated on the Mini-Mental State Examination. The trend of increasing reports of symptom with decreasing cognitive performance was significant (p = .0001);the association remained significant after controlling for potential confounders in multivariate analysis (p < .05). The authors, who found that mild cognitive impairment was associated with perception of poorer body functioning, suggest that the clinical interpretation of somatic symptoms in the elderly should take cognitive impairment into account.

A facilitator in self-reported perception of physical symptoms: the role of contingency between physical symptom and aversive event.

Perceptions of physical symptoms are influenced not only by the passive process of physiological stimuli but also by psychological factors such as the contingency between a physical symptom and an aversive event which we examined here in two experiments. 18 subjects in Exp. 1 and 14 subjects in Exp. 2 performed motor tasks. In the Physical condition, an aversive event was contingent on the physical symptom of 'racing heart' in Exp. 1, and on the symptom of 'overstraining shoulder muscles' in Exp. 2. In the Motor condition, an aversive event was contingent on the response of the 'disordered pace of motor tasks' in both experiments. Self-reported scores on attention to and perception of the physical symptoms under the Physical condition were higher than those under the Motor condition. However, there were no differences in the actual physical responses between the two conditions. These results suggest that a contingency between a physical symptom and an aversive event facilitates attention to and perception of the physical symptom.

Casual dimensions of college students' perceptions of physical symptoms.

According to attribution theory, controllability, locus, and stability are important dimensions underlying causal explanations. The extent to which these theoretical dimensions underlie lay explanations for physical symptoms is unclear. Accordingly, in this study, attributes relevant to the lay public were empirically derived using a multidimensional scaling (MDS) procedure. Undergraduates (N = 194) provided similarity judgments for 18 potential causes of physical discomfort. The MDS analysis yielded a three-dimensional solution. The first dimension captured the distinction between "physical" and "nonphysical" causes. The second dimension distinguished either "variable" versus "stable" causes or those that are "controllable" versus "uncontrollable" by health care professionals. The third dimension differentiated causes under "low" versus "high" personal control. These findings empirically confirm the theoretically proposed dimensions of "personal control" and "stability" and suggest the utility of considering the "physical/nonphysical" and "controllability by health care professional" distinctions in future work on attributions in the health domain.

Family clusters of pulmonary tuberculosis in a suburban area of Japan

A survey was conducted in a metropolitan suburb to examine family clusters of pulmonary tuberculosis patients and related factors. Firstly, a descriptive study was done based on the review of tuberculosis registration cards over a 11-yr period. Of 1106 cases, 109 (9·9%) were found to occur in households which had already had one or more pulmonary tuberculosis patient during the period. The most affected were four- and eight-member families with infants and adolescents accounting for most of the second or later patients. Secondly, a home visit survey was performed to investigate factors associated with family clusters of phthisis. Results showed that significant variables were the length of patient's delay (interval between perception of physical symptoms and visit to the physician), the number of rooms, and lack of self-motivation to seek treatment. Log-linear analyses revealed interaction among these variables.

Symptom perception during treatment of preterm labor: an experimental approach to measure the benefits of psychological intervention

Tocolytic treatment with β-sympathicomimetics is known to cause many side-effects in women. A pilot-study was carried out to determine whether psychological intervention could reduce the reporting of physical and emotional symptoms associated with this treatment. The experimental intervention was chosen on the basis of Pennebaker's (1982) cognitive psychological theory on the perception of physical symptoms. Thirty women, admitted to hospital with signs of preterm labor and subsequently treated with β-sympathicomimetic drugs, were randomly assigned to three conditions. The two experimental groups were offered either distracting visual information (an animation film) or a video film containing information on preterm labor. The control group received no special treatment. Emotional and physical symptoms were measured before and directly after experimental intervention by means of an adapted version of Pennebaker's Emotion Symptom Checklist (ESC). The results showed post-test symptom scores to be significant...

Competition of internal and external information in an exercise setting.

During physical exercise, individuals have access to internal sensory and external environmental cues that compete for attentional focus. Two experiments examined when attention to external cues attenuates the perception of physical symptoms and fatigue. In Experiment 1, subjects' physical performance was held constant during exercise on a treadmill. Subjects hearing distracting sounds reported less fatigue and fewer symptoms than subjects hearing an amplification of their own breathing. In Experiment 2, subjects jogging equal length cross-country and lap courses evinced faster times on the former, where increased external attention was necessary. Self-reports of symptoms and fatigue, however, were comparable on the two courses. The results are interpreted in terms of attentional focus shifting from one information source to another as needed, with attention to any one source diminishing attention to others.