Individuals react in a variety of ways when experiencing environmental challenges exceeding their capacity to cope adaptively. Some researchers have suggested that Asian populations tend to react to excessive stress with somatic symptoms, whereas Western populations tend to respond more with affective or depressive symptoms. Other researchers,…

Assessed the performance of hypertensive patients in increasingly demanding interpersonal interactions. Twelve extended role-played scenes were employed. Results indicated that the hypertensive patients responded less assertively than the nonpatient comparison group. However, the performance of the normotensive patient group was similar to that of…

Results of this study emphasized the importance of considering psychological disturbance in assessing functional components of low back pain. Psychologically disturbed patients had higher life-event scores regardless of organic pathology. (Author/BEF)

Assigned 50 healthy undergraduates the task of writing about either traumatic experiences or superficial topics for four consecutive days. Examination of cellular-immune system function and health center visits suggests that confronting traumatic experiences was physically beneficial. Discusses implications of such active confrontation of…

Participants responded to a series of psychological, exposure and health questionnaires. Results suggest that effects of traumatic exposure on perceived health are partially mediated by increases in PTSD after exposure, supporting studies on the effects of stress on health. (BF)