This study examined whether patients attending cardiac rehabilitation (CR) based on the pedagogical strategy learning and coping (LC) led to improved health-related quality of life (HRQL), reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression and improved self-management 6 and 12 months after the completion of CR compared with patients attending CR based on…

Objective: Racial/ethnic minorities experience disproportionately greater risk to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This study examined racial/ethnic discrimination--as a psychosocial stressor--in a path model and its associations with CVD health risk factors among undergraduate students of color (SoC). Participants: The sample included 404 SoC…

Parent-child synchrony of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) varies by risk, but novel approaches are needed to capture individual contributions to synchrony. Multilevel state-trait modeling was applied to examine how parental psychological distress and parent and child average RSA during challenge (reflecting individual regulatory capacities)…

Postmenopausal women are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease as well as a reduction in psychosocial well-being. The objective of this study was to create and implement an innovative intervention that would address the health needs of overweight postmenopausal women. In this virtual pilot project, named Integrative Intervention with…

Objective: Biological and psychological factors contribute to coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual well-being and CAD severity and determine the mediating effects of anger rumination and worry on this relationship. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional survey. Setting: Afshar…

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in paediatric patients following cardiac surgery has been well reported. Patients with Williams syndrome often require surgical intervention to correct congenital cardiovascular abnormalities and typically present with pre-existing interfering symptoms of anxiety. These patients may be at an…

Introduction: Children and young adults with Down syndrome can demonstrate increased behavior problems compared to their typically developing peers through childhood and adolescence. This study aims to: (1) identify common patterns of behaviors in children and young adults with Down syndrome and (2) assess potential medical comorbidities that…

Background: Depression, anxiety, diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors are frequent health problems among older people with intellectual disability (ID). These conditions may be bidirectionally related. Depression and anxiety may have biological effects causing glucose intolerance, fat accumulation and also lifestyle changes causing metabolic…

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) measures anxiety and depressive symptoms and is widely used in clinical and nonclinical populations. However, there is some debate about the number of dimensions represented by the HADS. In a sample of 534 Dutch cardiac patients, this study examined (a) the dimensionality of the HADS using Mokken…

Medically ill patients face unique physical and emotional challenges that place them at increased risk for symptoms of depression and anxiety. Despite high prevalence and significant impact, depression and anxiety are infrequently treated in the medically ill because of a variety of patient, provider, and system factors. The current article…

This meta-analysis included 729 studies from 161 articles investigating how acute stress responsivity (including stress reactivity and recovery of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis, autonomic, and cardiovascular systems) changes with various chronic psychosocial exposures (job stress; general life stress; depression or hopelessness;…

Supports the discriminant validity of the Coronary-Prone Behavior Pattern, as assessed by the Jenkins Activity Survey, in relation to trait anxiety. Future research should include measures of trait anxiety to collaborate findings in a laboratory setting. (Author/JAC)

Drawing on 5 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the influence of the marital life course on the prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular disease among 9,434 middle-aged individuals. Results show that compared to continuously married persons, both men and women with a marital loss have significantly higher prevalence of…

Several recent reviews (e.g., L. C. Gallo & K. Matthews, 2003; A. Rozanski, J. A. Blumenthal, & J. Kaplan, 1999; R. Rugulies, 2002) have identified 3 affective dispositions--depression, anxiety, and anger-hostility--as putative risk factors for coronary heart disease. There are, however, mixed and negative results. Following a critical summary of…

Cardiac surgery patients were assigned to information-only, information-plus-coping, or control preoperative preparation groups. Preoperatively, both experimental groups were significantly less anxious than were controls. Both experimental groups increased patients' belief in control over recovery. Postoperatively, experimental patients were less…