The Simple Aphasia Stress Scale

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 2855-2859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Laures-Gore ◽  
Kenneth G. Rice

Purpose Clinically accessible and concise measures of acute stress in adults with aphasia are lacking. The current article evaluated some psychometric features of a single-item self-report measure of acute stress in adults with aphasia, the Simple Aphasia Stress Scale. Method Three archival data sets utilizing varying iterations of a stress scale developed for studies of stress in adults with aphasia were included in the present analysis. Results The single-item stress scale had good levels of absolute and relative stability. Scores were generally unaffected by aphasia severity, age, or sex. The scale was strongly correlated with emotional arousal. Conclusion The single-item scale performed reasonably well across different studies and psychometric indicators. A 7-point rather than a 5-point response version of the scale was recommended as a clinically accessible and concise measure of acute stress in adults with aphasia. Future research should examine whether the tendency for adults with aphasia to use a restricted range of lower stress responses was due to underreporting, not perceiving acute stress, or some other factor. The high correlation between stress and arousal in women suggests that there needs to be further investigation of discriminant validity. Future work should also expand the scope of variables to evaluate further evidence of convergent and criterion-related validity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 508
Author(s):  
Michael Schaefer ◽  
Julian Hellmann-Regen ◽  
Sören Enge

Stress belongs to the most frequent negative feelings people are confronted with in daily life. Strategies against acute stress include, e.g., relaxation techniques or medications, but it is also known that placebos can successfully reduce negative emotional stress. While it is widely held that placebos require deception to provoke a response, recent studies demonstrate intriguing evidence that placebos may work even without concealment (e.g., against anxiety or pain). Most of these studies are based on self-report questionnaires and do not include physiological measures. Here we report results of a study examining whether placebos without deception reduce acute stress. A total of 53 healthy individuals received either placebos without deception or no pills before participating in a laboratory stress test (Maastricht Acute Stress Test, MAST). We recorded self-report stress measures and cortisol responses before and after the MAST. Results showed no significant differences between the placebo and the control group, but when comparing participants with high relative to low beliefs in the power of placebos we found significant lower anxiety and cortisol responses for the placebo believers. These results show that non-deceptive placebos may successfully reduce acute anxiety and stress, but only in participants who had a strong belief in placebos. We discuss the results by suggesting that open-label placebos might be a possible treatment to reduce stress at least for some individuals.


2011 ◽  
pp. 3987-4012
Author(s):  
Jeff Baker ◽  
Jaeki Song

Internet auctions have received a considerable amount of attention from researchers. We review recent empirical literature pertaining to single-item Internet auctions and observe that existing work has examined the roles of the auctioneer, bidder, and seller in Internet auctions. As this stream of research matures, research will necessarily move from concept discovery and process explanation to theory deepening. As a first step towards synthesis of findings in Internet auctions, we compile a comprehensive list of the various factors that have been examined in empirical studies and note their general impact upon auction outcome. Based upon this extant research, we propose a conceptual model of Internet auctions as a framework for structuring future work into Internet auctions. We then note the existing economic, psychological, sociological, and cognitive theoretical bases for work on Internet auctions. We conclude by highlighting the potential for behavioral economics to bring unity to Internet auction research and by calling researchers to engage in the work of forging a comprehensive theory of Internet auctions.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-S8
Author(s):  
John F. Edens ◽  
Shannon Toney Smith ◽  
Karolina Sörman ◽  
Shannon E. Kelley ◽  
Allison Rulseh ◽  
...  

Can the components of the triarchic model of psychopathy (i.e., boldness, meanness, disinhibition) be operationalized using the item pool comprising the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) model? To address this question, the authors first derived CAPP-based triarchic scales using standard item-selection procedures and then examined the external correlates of these provisional scales in three archival data sets: (a) U.S. jail inmates administered the institutional rating scale version of the CAPP and (b and c) prototypicality ratings of the CAPP traits provided by Swedish forensic mental health professionals and U.S. probation officers. Although most research on triarchic constructs has relied exclusively on self-report inventories, the results suggest that the CAPP model can be reorganized to reflect boldness, meanness, and disinhibition and that its institutional rating scale items can effectively quantify these constructs using interview and file review data. Implications for future research on the measurement and assessment of psychopathic traits are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Graham Clayton ◽  
Olivia Pollak ◽  
Sarah A. Owens ◽  
Adam Bryant Miller ◽  
Mitch Prinstein

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the U.S., yet remarkably little is known regarding risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), relatively few federal grants and scientific publications focus on STBs, and few evidence-based approaches to prevent or treat STBs are available. This “decade in review” article discusses five domains of recent empirical findings that span biological, environmental, and contextual systems and can guide future research in this high priority area: 1) the role of the central nervous system; 2) physiological risk factors, including the peripheral nervous system; 3) proximal acute stress-responses; 4) novel behavioral and psychological risk factors; 5) broader societal factors impacting diverse populations; and several additional nascent areas worthy of further investigation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Liu

Our society is preoccupied with stress. Previous research demonstrates that the majority of the sampled population perceives the consequences of stress to be primarily negative. By reframing the consequences of stress to highlight both positive and negative effects of stress, individuals may experience more efficient and adaptive stress responses (Liu et al., 2017). The extent to which we can reframe the consequences of stress to elicit more adaptive responses thus merits further investigation. This dissertation investigated the effects of reframing (positive, negative, balanced, and control) on stress responsivity, while also priming individuals on personal strengths (resilient strengths or non-resilient/control strength) to further enhance coping. Through two studies, the current dissertation examined whether different information presented on the consequences of stress via reframing contributes to improved responsivity to stressors, and whether priming an individual to believe in select strengths further enhances receptivity to reframing and reactivity to stressors. Outcome measures included both objective, physiological indexes of stress (heart rate, blood pressure, and electrodermal activity), test performance on stressor-task, and subjective ratings of stress (self-report responses via visual analogue scales). Mixed-ANOVA, linear regression, and exploratory hierarchical modelling were used to analyze the data. Results via visual analogue scales support the efficacy of balanced reframing in reducing self-reported stress, and provide some evidence for its efficacy across physiological parameters of stress via electrodermal activity. Across measures, results provide little support for the efficacy of strength priming in eliciting more adaptive responsivity to stressors. However, balanced framing and resilient strength priming may interact to reduce perceptions of stress as threatening and uncontrollable. Taken together, findings across two studies suggest that reframing stress by presenting both positive and negative information on the outcomes of stress may be an important step in the education of stress to better manage everyday stressors. Further, efforts to personalize this intervention approach by tailoring it to individual may be an area worthy of future research. Key Words: Beliefs; Coping; Personal Strengths; Reframing; Responsivity; Stress


Author(s):  
Wilco Sliedrecht ◽  
Hendrik G Roozen ◽  
Katie Witkiewitz ◽  
Ranne de Waart ◽  
Geert Dom

Abstract Aim Impulsivity has been identified as a key relapse risk factor in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD); however, the inherent characteristics of this relationship have been largely understudied. The heterogeneity of AUD and variation in impulsivity constructs require careful consideration to inform future work examining the relationship. This study sought to review empirical findings examining facets of impulsivity and AUD relapse. Methods A systematic search strategy was employed to capture studies on impulsivity measures related to AUD relapse. Impulsivity measures were qualitatively organized in terms of ‘trait impulsivity’—typically measured by self-report questionnaires—and ‘behavioural impulsivity’, i.e. ‘motor impulsivity’, ‘impulsive choice’ and ‘reflection impulsivity, assessed with cognitive–behavioural tasks. Results Seventeen peer-reviewed papers were identified. Relapse outcomes varied substantially in relation to impulsivity measures. Twelve papers included aspects of ‘trait impulsivity’, and nine studies included ‘behavioural impulsivity’ measures, from which five studies dealt with the ‘impulsive choice’ subcategory. The Barratt Impulsivity Scale was the self-report questionnaire that was most frequently used. Conclusions All three included facets of impulsivity (‘trait-, motor- and impulsive choice impulsivity’) were associated with AUD relapse, but none seemed to be superior to another. This study confirmed that research on the relation between impulsivity and AUD relapse is relatively scarce. Future research and treatment options are proposed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 147470492096045
Author(s):  
Tara DeLecce ◽  
Bernhard Fink ◽  
Todd Shackelford ◽  
Mohaned G. Abed

Genetic quality may be expressed through many traits simultaneously, and this would suggest a phenotype-wide fitness factor. In humans, intelligence has been positively associated with several potential indicators of genetic quality, including ejaculate quality. We conducted a conceptual replication of one such study by investigating the relationship between intelligence (assessed by the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test–Short Form) and ejaculate quality (indexed by sperm count, sperm concentration, and sperm motility) in a sample of 41 men (ages ranging 18 to 33 years; M = 23.33; SD = 3.60). By self-report, participants had not had a vasectomy, and had never sought infertility treatment. We controlled for several covariates known to affect ejaculate quality (e.g., abstinence duration before providing an ejaculate) and found no statistically significant relationship between intelligence and ejaculate quality; our findings, therefore, do not match those of Arden, Gottfredson, Miller et al. or those of previous studies. We discuss limitations of this study and the general research area and highlight the need for future research in this area, especially the need for larger data sets to address questions around phenotypic quality and ejaculate quality.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 515-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela M. Costa ◽  
Brittany Canady ◽  
Julia C. Babcock

The current study investigated the reliability of a new self-report questionnaire assessing accountability for the perpetration of intimate partner violence. The Accountability Scale (AS) is a brief, Likert-type measure designed to assess the degree to which perpetrators acknowledge and accept responsibility for their violent actions. In Study #1, an exploratory factor analysis on a clinical sample revealed two factors: Acknowledging Harm and Internalizing Responsibility. In Study #2, the factor structure was replicated on a community sample using confirmatory factor analysis, revealing an 11-item solution. Factor 1 was related to readiness to change but negatively related to social desirability, suggesting convergent and discriminant validity of that subscale. Factor 2 was negatively related to Factor 1 in the community sample, calling into question the construct of accountability. Preliminary evidence suggests that the AS shows promise as a brief and reliable tool to assess forms of accountability. Future research will examine if the two factors of accountability function as mechanisms of change and outcome measures in intimate partner violence intervention research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Zhang ◽  
Rongjian Ji ◽  
Yanbo Ji ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
Renxiu Wang ◽  
...  

This study aimed to determine the relationship between acute stress and quality of life and explore their influencing factors on health care workers. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, and a sample of 525 health care workers was recruited from 15 hospitals through a convenient sampling method. Participants completed an online self-report questionnaire to assess their acute stress and quality of life. Descriptive and multiple linear regression statistics were used for this analysis. The results regarding acute stress responses varied significantly among the differences in marital status, physical activity, work status, perceived risk of contracting COVID-19, and the expected duration of the pandemic. Moreover, a younger age, lack of physical activity, being a front-line medical staff, and higher acute stress scores indicated a worse quality of life. Healthcare workers’ acute stress was negatively correlated with their quality of life. Therefore, the authorities should pay special attention to health care workers’ mental health and provide them with timely protection during the pandemic.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kapritsou ◽  
Elizabeth D. Papathanassoglou ◽  
Evangelos Bozas ◽  
Dimitrios P. Korkolis ◽  
Evangelos A. Konstantinou ◽  
...  

Background:Fast-track (FT) postoperative protocol in oncological patients after major abdominal surgery reduces complications and length of postoperative stay compared to the conventional (CON) protocol. However, stress and pain responses have not been compared between the two protocols.Objectives:To compare stress, pain, and related neuropeptidic responses (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH], cortisol, and neuropeptide Y [NPY]) between FT and CON protocols.Method:A clinical trial with repeated measurements was conducted (May 2012 to May 2014) with a sample of 63 hepatectomized or pancreatectomized patients randomized into two groups: FT ( n = 29) or CON ( n = 34). Demographic and clinical data were collected, and pain (Visual Analog Scale [VAS] and Behavioral Pain Scale [BPS]) and stress responses (3 self-report questions) assessed. NPY, ACTH, and cortisol plasma levels were measured at T1 = day of admission, T2 = day of surgery, and T3 = prior to discharge.Results:ACTHT1and ACTHT2levels were positively correlated with self-reported stress levels (ρ = .43 and ρ = .45, respectively, p < .05) in the FT group. NPY levels in the FT group were higher than those in the CON group at all time points ( p ≤ .004); this difference remained significant after adjusting for T1 levels through analysis of covariance for age, gender, and body mass index ( F = .003, F = .149, F = .015, respectively, p > .05).Conclusions:Neuropeptidic levels were higher in the FT group. Future research should evaluate this association further, as these biomarkers might serve as objective indicators of postoperative pain and stress.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document