Psychological Features (psychological + feature)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Psychological features of androgenetic alopecia,

JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
FM Camacho
Abstract Objective To evaluate the psychological features of subjects with male (MAGA) and female androgenetic alopecia (FAGA). Methods We performed a retrospective study of 100 patients with FAGA and the same number of patients with MAGA based on the features registered in the personal history of individuals who attended our Trichology Unit (Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain) from January 1993 to January 1995. Results Depression was more frequent in FAGA than in MAGA (55:3), but anxiety (78:41) and aggressiveness or hostility were more frequent in MAGA than in FAGA (22:3), and three men were considered anxious and depressive. Treatment resulted in improvement in 89% of FAGA and 76% of MAGA, and the subjects continued attending with periodic check-ups. There were requests for surgical treatment by 3% of FAGA and 12% of MAGA, and 6% of FAGA and 12% of MAGA did not return for follow-up consultation. All of the MAGA showed aggressiveness and lack of willingness to follow the correct treatment. Conclusions In general, AGA patients tend to have elusive personalities and, although the individuals may go to the trichology centre accompanied they preferred to present alone to the desk or at least to the trichological examination room, except for subjects with depression who would often not agree to the physician removing hairs for the trichogram. Most subjects accepted the prescribed medical or surgical treatment, but several phoned before the second treatment session because the results of the first session were not as good as they had expected. The drop-out rate was higher in men (1 in 2), who were probably subjects showing aggressiveness. [source]


Psychological features and coping styles in patients with chronic pain

PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 2 2009
Jingai Cui ms
Aims:, It is said that psychological factors play a crucial role in the development, continuation or amplification of chronic pain. The purpose of the present study was to examine psychological features and coping styles related to chronic pain. Methods:, Sixty-three patients with persistent pain over 3 months (average age of 59.3 years; 22 men and 41 women) were recruited as subjects from December 2005 to March 2007. As for chronic pain, the duration of pain and the intensity of pain, applied using the Visual Analogue Scale, were evaluated in each patient. In addition, their psychological features were examined with the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and their coping styles were examined using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Results:, The duration of pain was not significantly correlated with values of the POMS or CISS. The intensity of pain according to the Visual Analogue Scale was significantly correlated with the tension,anxiety, anger,hostility and fatigue scales of the POMS. Also, the intensity of pain showed negative correlations with the avoidance-oriented coping scale of the CISS. Conclusions:, Understanding psychological features and coping styles are critical when we determine the proper treatment for chronic pain. [source]


A comparison of clinical and psychological features in subgroups of patients with anorexia nervosa

EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW, Issue 4 2003
Manuela Oliosi
Abstract Background: In DSM-IV anorexics who purge without binging (AN-P) are considered together with the binge eating purging subgroup (AN-B). Few studies have investigated whether it is binge eating per se or the compensatory behaviours that provide the most relevant marker for subclassifying anorexia nervosa. Methods: We compared 40 restricting-type anorexics (AN-R), 40 AN-B and 38 AN-P subjects consecutively admitted to our inpatient treatment. We excluded patients who had not had a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa for at least 1.5 years duration. Results: AN-B patients showed a slightly more severe eating disorder symptomatology, while in terms of body weight AN-R and AN-P present a higher degree of weight loss. Psychiatric symptoms were similar in the three groups. Sexual abuse, suicide attempts and dissociative symptoms were higher in AN-P and AN-B patients compared to AN-R. Discussion: Our results together with the fact that it is difficult to define binge eating in anorexic subjects and that purging behaviours are often associated with severe medical complications, support the subtyping system of anorexia nervosa based on the presence/absence of purging behaviours rather than of binge eating. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. [source]


Psychological and psychophysiological considerations regarding the maternal,fetal relationship

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2010
Janet A. DiPietro
Abstract The earliest relationship does not begin with birth. Pregnant women construct mental representations of the fetus, and the feelings of affiliation or ,maternal,fetal attachment' generally increase over the course of gestation. While there is a fairly substantial literature on the development and moderation of psychological features of the maternal,fetal relationship, including the role of ultrasound imaging, relatively little is known about the manner in which maternal psychological functioning influences the fetus. Dispositional levels of maternal stress and anxiety are modestly associated with aspects of fetal heart rate and motor activity. Both induced maternal arousal and relaxation generate fairly immediate alterations to fetal neurobehaviors; the most consistently observed fetal response to changes in maternal psychological state involves suppression of motor activity. These effects may be mediated, in part, by an orienting response of the fetus to changes in the intrauterine environment. Conversely, there is evidence that fetal behaviors elicit maternal physiological responses. Integration of this finding into a more dynamic model of the maternal,fetal dyad, and implications for the postnatal relationship are discussed. Research on the period before birth affords tremendous opportunity for developmental scientists to advance understanding of the origins of the human attachment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Challenges and Opportunities for Developing and Implementing Incentives to Improve Health-Related Behaviors in Older Adults

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 9 2010
Eran Klein MD
There is growing interest in using patient-directed incentives to change health-related behaviors. Advocates of incentive programs have proposed an ambitious research agenda for moving patient incentive programs forward. The unique cognitive and psychological features of older adults, however, present a challenge to this agenda. In particular, age-related changes in emotional regulation, executive function, and cognitive capacities, and a preference for collaborative decision-making raise questions about the suitability of these programs, particularly the structure of current financial incentives, for older adults. Differences in decision-making in older adults need to be accounted for in the design and implementation of financial incentive programs. Financial incentive programs adjusted to characteristics of older adult populations may be more likely to improve the lives of older persons and the economic success of programs that serve them. [source]


Psychological features of androgenetic alopecia,

JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
FM Camacho
Abstract Objective To evaluate the psychological features of subjects with male (MAGA) and female androgenetic alopecia (FAGA). Methods We performed a retrospective study of 100 patients with FAGA and the same number of patients with MAGA based on the features registered in the personal history of individuals who attended our Trichology Unit (Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain) from January 1993 to January 1995. Results Depression was more frequent in FAGA than in MAGA (55:3), but anxiety (78:41) and aggressiveness or hostility were more frequent in MAGA than in FAGA (22:3), and three men were considered anxious and depressive. Treatment resulted in improvement in 89% of FAGA and 76% of MAGA, and the subjects continued attending with periodic check-ups. There were requests for surgical treatment by 3% of FAGA and 12% of MAGA, and 6% of FAGA and 12% of MAGA did not return for follow-up consultation. All of the MAGA showed aggressiveness and lack of willingness to follow the correct treatment. Conclusions In general, AGA patients tend to have elusive personalities and, although the individuals may go to the trichology centre accompanied they preferred to present alone to the desk or at least to the trichological examination room, except for subjects with depression who would often not agree to the physician removing hairs for the trichogram. Most subjects accepted the prescribed medical or surgical treatment, but several phoned before the second treatment session because the results of the first session were not as good as they had expected. The drop-out rate was higher in men (1 in 2), who were probably subjects showing aggressiveness. [source]


Psychological features and coping styles in patients with chronic pain

PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 2 2009
Jingai Cui ms
Aims:, It is said that psychological factors play a crucial role in the development, continuation or amplification of chronic pain. The purpose of the present study was to examine psychological features and coping styles related to chronic pain. Methods:, Sixty-three patients with persistent pain over 3 months (average age of 59.3 years; 22 men and 41 women) were recruited as subjects from December 2005 to March 2007. As for chronic pain, the duration of pain and the intensity of pain, applied using the Visual Analogue Scale, were evaluated in each patient. In addition, their psychological features were examined with the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and their coping styles were examined using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Results:, The duration of pain was not significantly correlated with values of the POMS or CISS. The intensity of pain according to the Visual Analogue Scale was significantly correlated with the tension,anxiety, anger,hostility and fatigue scales of the POMS. Also, the intensity of pain showed negative correlations with the avoidance-oriented coping scale of the CISS. Conclusions:, Understanding psychological features and coping styles are critical when we determine the proper treatment for chronic pain. [source]


The Logic of Good Social Relations

ANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2000
Serge-Christophe Kolm
Good social relations have more or less an aspect of gift-giving which, by nature, can be neither bought nor imposed. Interaction in this respect will lead purely selfish people to an irremediably inferior state, while pure altruism and unconditional morality are very demanding on the ground of motivation. However, a satisfactory solution solely requires that an actor reciprocates the others' attitude, a much less demanding behaviour. Such reciprocity also fosters standard economic efficiency, and can be elicited by a number of widespread psychological features. [source]


Systemic lupus erythematosus in a multiethnic US cohort: Clinical features, course, and outcome in patients with late-onset disease

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 5 2006
Ana M. Bertoli
Objective To examine the clinical differences and the type and extent of organ damage in late- versus early-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods A nested case,control study was performed in the context of LUMINA (LUpus in MInorities, NAture versus nurture), a large, longitudinal, multiethnic cohort. Patients who developed SLE at or after the age of 50 years were considered cases. Two controls (patients who developed SLE at age ,49 years) per case, matched for sex and disease duration, were randomly chosen. Selected baseline socioeconomic/demographic, behavioral, and psychological features, self-reported quality of life, and cumulative clinical data (clinical manifestations, laboratory data, disease activity, damage, and mortality) were compared between cases and controls. Multivariable analyses with late-onset lupus, damage accrual, and mortality as dependent variables were then performed. Results Two hundred seventeen patients were studied. Of them, 73 were cases. Cases were more likely to have neurologic involvement, arterial thrombotic events, osteoporosis, and hypertriglyceridemia, while renal involvement and anti-Sm antibodies were less frequent. Disease activity at baseline was lower among cases. Cases also exhibited more cardiovascular and ocular damage. Late-onset lupus was an independent predictor of damage accrual (t -test = 2.23, P = 0.028), any damage at last visit (odds ratio [OR] 23.32, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 3.98,141.56) (P < 0.001), and mortality (OR 10.74, 95% CI 3.07,37.56) (P < 0.001). Conclusion Patients with late-onset lupus exhibit distinct clinical features. Although disease activity tends to be lower in these patients, they tend to accrue more damage and experience higher mortality than patients with early-onset lupus. These findings probably reflect the contribution exerted by other comorbid conditions in the overall impact of lupus in these patients. [source]