Considers families of people suffering from psychosomatic disorders from perspective of second-order cybernetics in which emphasis is on autonomy of various levels of system. Describes psychosomatic symptoms and illustrates symptoms as expression of ideas aimed at conservation of autonomy, both at individual and family level. Highlights…

The purpose of this article is to provide an empirically informed but clinically oriented overview of behavioral treatment of recurrent abdominal pain. The epidemiology and scope of recurrent abdominal pain are presented. Referral process and procedures are discussed, and standardized approaches to assessment are summarized. Treatment protocols…

Uses three national surveys to document a decline in the relationship between sex and distress. Demonstrates that increased labor force participation by women is partially responsible. Finds no relationship between the decline of psychophysiological symptoms and changes in educational attainment, rates of marriage, marriage dissolution, or…

The author reviews some of the social and behavioral factors acting on the brain that influence health, illness, and death. Supported with data from several areas of research, his proposal for understanding health and illness provides both the concepts and the mechanisms for studying and explaining mind-body relationships. The brain is the body's…

The author discusses 3 variables that assess different aspects of social relationships-social support, social integration, and negative interaction. The author argues that all 3 are associated with health outcomes, that these variables each influence health through different mechanisms, and that associations between these variables and health are…

Violence among students at school is an ever-growing problem. Bullying can be defined as all forms of repeated physical or mental violence performed by an individual on another person who is not capable of defending him/herself (Roland & Idsoe, 2001). The three studies conducted here reveal some of the characteristics and implications of this type…

A modified version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association (Washington, D.C., September 1967).

Presents two studies designed to examine the self-report of depressive symptoms in low back pain patients (N=134). Both studies found that patients were more likely to report somatic than cognitive symptoms of depression. Patients with multiple physical findings were not more likely to report somatic symptoms than patients with few physical…

Administered the Low Back Pain Scale (LB) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and other measures to 123 college freshmen. Subjects with a psychosomatic disorder scored higher on LB. Females who reported problems with their mothers were more likely to have a psychosomatic disorder, suggesting different etiology between males and…

Examined the emotional strategies people use and their psychological consequences. Adults (N=270 and 329) were classified into emotional strategy groups. Suppressed emotives had a significantly higher score on the Complaint Questionnaire than emotive and nonemotive groups, suggesting neurotic tendencies. (JAC)

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…

This study investigated the anorectic's experience in daily living using the Experience Sampling Method. Results suggest that anorectics spend more time alone and experience lower average affect than other young single women. (Author/GK)

Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by chronic gastrointestinal symptoms without a demonstrable physical cause. In a subgroup of patients, irritable bowel syndrome may be part of a cluster of psychosomatic symptoms related to childhood sexual abuse. To investigate this possibility, the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS), the…

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has been widely used as an objective personality test, in addition to being used in forensic assessments, especially involving claims of physical or emotional damage. It now appears that questions must be raised concerning the MMPI's forensic implications given the advent of new disease…