Effect of Pet Dogs on Children's Perceived Stress and Cortisol Stress Response

The present study tested whether pet dogs have stress‐buffering effects for children during a validated laboratory‐based protocol, the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST‐C). Participants were 101 children aged 7–12 years with their primary caregivers and pet dogs. Children were randomly assigned in the TSST‐C to a pet present condition or one of two comparison conditions: parent present or no support figure present. Baseline, response, and recovery indices of perceived stress and cortisol levels were computed based on children's self‐reported feelings of stress and salivary cortisol. Results indicated that in the alone (no social support) condition, children showed the expected rise for both perceived stress and cortisol response to stress. Pet dog presence significantly buffered the perceived stress response in comparison to children in the alone and parent present conditions. No main condition effect was observed for cortisol; however, for children experiencing the stressor with their pet present, lower cortisol response to stress was associated with more child‐initiated petting and less dog proximity‐seeking behavior. The results support the notion that pet dogs can provide socio‐emotional benefits for children via stress buffering.     

Different strategies for managing the work non-work interface: a test for unique pathways to work outcomes

Scientific evidence linking employers' efforts to help workers to manage the work non-work interface to actual outcomes at work remains scarce. In this study of 200 women employed in a Canadian school district, a research model was devised to explain how two strategies for managing the interface may affect stress symptoms, absenteeism and turnover intention. Several features distinguish this model from earlier models of the work non-work interface. That is, two directions of work non-work conflict, a mediator between the strategies and work outcomes, are specified, each strategy is set to relate directly to only one direction of conflict, and each direction is set to relate directly to stress symptoms and either absenteeism or turnover intention. LISREL analysis supported the superiority of the research model to a general model incorporating more common conceptualizations of the work non-work interface.     

多巴酚丁胺超声心动图试验评价心肌活性

冠心病患者超声心动图检查发现心室室壁节段运动异常,可能是坏死心肌、存活的冬眠和顿抑心肌,以及缺血心肌所致,因此不能确定心肌的活性－ 小剂量多巴酚丁胺能改善存活心肌的收缩功能,在超声心动图上表现为心室室壁节段运动改善－ 故小剂量多巴酚丁胺超声心动图负荷试验可以帮助我们鉴别心肌活性     

Inference on the Kumaraswamy distribution

Many lifetime distribution models have successfully served as population models for risk analysis and reliability mechanisms. The Kumaraswamy distribution is one of these distributions which is particularly useful to many natural phenomena whose outcomes have lower and upper bounds or bounded outcomes in the biomedical and epidemiological research. This article studies point estimation and interval estimation for the Kumaraswamy distribution. The inverse estimators (IEs) for the parameters of the Kumaraswamy distribution are derived. Numerical comparisons with maximum likelihood estimation and biased-corrected methods clearly indicate the proposed IEs are promising. Confidence intervals for the parameters and reliability characteristics of interest are constructed using pivotal or generalized pivotal quantities. Then, the results are extended to the stress–strength model involving two Kumaraswamy populations with different parameter values. Construction of confidence intervals for the stress–strength reliability is derived. Extensive simulations are used to demonstrate the performance of confidence intervals constructed using generalized pivotal quantities.     

Mindfully Increasing Quality of Life: A Promising Curriculum for MSW Students

MSW students may experience considerable stress during graduate school due to multiple life demands and the challenges of social work curricula, which often involves exposure to distressing client situations. Students' quality of life may be negatively impacted without sufficient tools to manage these stressful experiences. This paper presents evaluative findings of a course/module designed to enable MSW students in a university in the Southwestern United States to increase their quality of life and build stress coping abilities by incorporating mindfulness into their daily self care routines. Findings reveal that after completing the course/module, students reported increased quality of life even though perceived stress levels did not improve. Accordingly, mindfulness holds significant promise for bolstering students' ability to cope with the challenges of graduate school and preparing for professional practice.     

青年白领移民社会适应实证研究

青年白领移民的社会适应状态是该群体能否在所居城市永久居留的重要表征。城市外来移民居留意愿的选择,历来存在客观因素决定论和主观因素决定论两种研究取向。调查发现,青年白领移民生活压力对社会适应具有显著性影响,青年白领移民的平均社会适应水平对青年白领的呈偏低态势,多数的青年白领移民有居留趋向。虽然研究数据一定程度上支持客观因素决定论的研究取向,但决定白领移民是否居留应是主客观因素共同作用的结果,对所在城市的主观认同和归属是青年白领移民真正植根的根本标志。     

Social support,stress, and maternal postpartum depression: A comparison of supportive relationships

A large body of literature documents the link between social support, stress, and women’s mental health during pregnancy and the postpartum period; however, uncertainty remains as to whether a direct effect or stress mediating pathway best describes the relationship between these factors. Moreover, specific dimensions of social support that may be influential (family type, sources of support) have largely been neglected. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (N = 4150), we examine the pathway between social support, stress exposure, and postpartum depression in greater detail. Findings reveal that social support is a significant, protective factor for postpartum depression, and the variety of support providers in a woman’s social network is important, especially in the context of family type. Findings also reveal the importance of considering social support and stress exposure as part of a larger causal pathway to postpartum mental health.     

Spiritual needs of mothers with sick new born or premature infants—A cross sectional survey among German mothers

Background

Spirituality is part of the basic needs of all humans, yet often undervalued by health professionals. Less is known about the spiritual needs of mothers of preterm or sick new born children.

Psychological distress in pregnancy and postpartum

PurposeDepression, stress, and anxiety, termed ‘psychological distress,’ are common in pregnancy and postpartum periods. However, it is unclear whether prenatal psychological distress predicts postpartum psychological distress. We studied the prevalence, comorbidity and associations of maternal depression, stress, and anxiety in the prenatal period in relation to the occurrence of these same measures in the postpartum period.MethodsData originated from the MotherToBaby study of pregnant women residing in the U.S or Canada (2016–2018). Risk ratios and 95% Confidence Intervals using modified-Poisson regression models were used to investigate associations between prenatal psychological distress and postpartum psychological distress.ResultsOf the 288 women in the analysis, 21.2% and 26.7% of women had evidence of prenatal and postnatal psychological distress, respectively. Among those with prenatal psychological distress, 43 (70.5%) also had postpartum psychological distress. Twenty-five (41%) of those with prenatal and 46 (60%) of those with postpartum psychological distress had comorbidity of at least two of the measures. Prenatal measures independently predicted the same postnatal measures; prenatal anxiety also independently predicted postpartum stress. Participants who experienced more types of prenatal psychological distress were at higher risk for postpartum depression, stress, and anxiety.ConclusionDepression, stress, and anxiety are common in pregnant women and often occur together. Prenatal psychological distress measures are associated with postnatal psychological distress measures, with stronger associations among women with more than one type of psychological distress in pregnancy. Interventions during pregnancy may reduce the risk of postpartum psychological distress.     

Life events,genetic susceptibility,and smoking among adolescents

Although stressful life events during adolescence are associated with the adoption of unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, both social circumstances and physical traits can moderate the relationship. This study builds on the stress paradigm and gene–environment approach to social behavior by examining how a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR moderates the effect of life events on adolescent smoking. Tests of interaction hypotheses use data from the Family Transitions Project, a longitudinal study of 7th graders followed for 5 years. A sibling-pair design with separate models for the gender composition of pairs (brothers, sisters, or brother/sister) controls for unmeasured family background. The results show that negative life events are significantly and positively associated with smoking. Among brother pairs but not other pairs, the results provide evidence of gene–environment interaction by showing that life events more strongly influence smoking behavior for those with more copies of the 5-HTTLPR S allele.