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Biomedical subjects

J Passchier

Publications and source records attributed to J Passchier.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Shortening the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Questionnaires that are used in studies with severely patients should be as short as possible. Abridged versions of existing inventories are very practical in these instances. The answers of 444 subjects in three samples (cancer patients, medical students, surgical patients) were used to investigate the possibility of constructing short and reliable versions of the scales of the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. A stepwise regression procedure showed the possibility to reliably predict the total score of the unabridged versions by means of weighted sums of eight items for each scale. Omission of weights did not lead to substantial loss of information. Cronbach's alpha of the State-scale decreased from 0.93 to about 0.85 for different combinations of items and from 0.91 to about 0.82 for combinations of eight items of the Trait-scale. The relationship between both scales was only slightly modified by the shortening procedure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Influence of quality of life and stress coping behaviour on headaches in adolescent male students: an explorative study.

Quality of life (QL) and stress coping behaviour were evaluated in 194 adolescent male students, and related to their headache complaints. Negative correlations were found between headache duration and intensity versus satisfaction with autonomy, and between headache intensity versus satisfaction with the home situation. Both headache duration and intensity were found to correlate positively with depressive stress coping behaviour. Further, positive correlations were found between palliative and avoidant stress coping strategies versus headache intensity. Our findings suggest that active rather than passive stress coping strategies are effective in reducing headache intensity. In addition, this study indicates the relevance of focussing future research into headaches in adolescents on the home situation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Migraine patients cognitively impaired?

In order to investigate the hypothesis that migraine has a detrimental effect on cognitive functioning, 37 female migraine patients and 34 nonheadache female controls underwent a battery of neuropsychologic tests. No significant difference in test performance between groups was found. There was no relation between the length of migraine history or medication use and the level of impairment of cognitive abilities. The patient and control groups differed significantly on several self-report measures known to interfere with performance. Patients reported higher trait and state anxiety levels, higher debilitating anxiety and state depression, and less vigor. Statistical correction for these variables, however, did not result in significant group differences of cognitive performance. The results suggest that the general population of female migraine patients show no indication of cognitive impairment.

Affect↗
PubMed1990

Prediction of migraine using psychophysiological and personality measures.

The topics of interest in this study are whether migraine patients exhibit a stereotypic reaction to a stressful stimulus which is different from the reaction of nonheadache controls and whether it is possible to predict headache activity within the migraine population. Our study population comprised 37 female migraine patients and 34 matched controls. Heart rate, skin conductance, pulse amplitude of the temporal artery and an EMG of the temporal muscle were registered during a baseline situation and during a mental stressor. In addition, state anxiety, trait anxiety, facilitating anxiety and stress tolerance were assessed. Migraine patients reported higher levels of trait anxiety, greater fear of failure, lower stress tolerance and higher levels of state anxiety than nonheadache controls. Physiological baseline levels and stress reactions did not differ between migraine patients and controls. Linear combinations of psychological and psychophysiological data sets did not show an acceptable degree of accuracy in the classification of individual response profiles into groups. Within the migraine group, 54% of the average duration of migraine attacks and 33% of the variation in average maximum headache intensity could be explained by a combination of psychological, psychophysiological and socio-demographic variables. It is concluded that measures from both the psychological and the physiological domain should be included when studying the effects of stress in migraine.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Relaxation training in school classes does not reduce headache complaints.

The effect of teacher-presented Progressive Relaxation Training (PRT) on headaches, fear of failure and school problems was studied in school students. During ten physical education lessons, students received either PRT (n = 110) or placebo training (n = 92). The effect of the training was investigated in students who indicated the presence of headaches in a pre-training diary. No significant differences were found between both training groups regarding headache frequency, duration and intensity and the psychological variables. On the basis of these and previous findings, it is recommended to present PRT to fairly small groups of self-selected subjects instead of complete classes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Psychological problems with hair loss in general practice and the treatment policies of general practitioners.

Scalp hair loss problems and the policies of general practitioners were studied by sending questionnaires to 374 physicians, of whom 21% responded. About 50% of the patients, according to their physicians, had psychological problems which predominantly comprised low self-esteem in the male patients and fear and anxiety in the female patients. The general practitioners followed the same policy for patients with psychological problems and for those without. The findings suggest that many alopecia patients need more psychological support from their physicians.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

Development of a short instrument for the measurement of self-aggression. Preliminary results in female migraine patients.

The development of a short, 15-item inventory for the measurement of self-aggression (SAL) is described. The reliability and validity of the SAL were evaluated in 31 female migraine patients and 31 matched control subjects. The findings indicate that the SAL is a promising instrument for future research into migraine patients, which might also be extended to other study groups.

Aggression↗
PubMed1989

Why men with hair loss go to the doctor.

Consultations, motives, experience, and attitudes were explored in 201 men with alopecia androgenetica who had two years before shown interest in hair treatment using minoxidil. During the past two years, one-third consulted a professional on account of hair loss. General practitioners were consulted by 60% and other professionals by about 75%. The main motive for the consultation was hair treatment, which was offered to half of the consulting subjects. Medical professionals were generally considered to be more suitable than other professionals for consultation on minoxidil treatment. The perceived chance of the treatment being successful and the amount of hair problems experienced seemed more important factors for consulting than the views on the suitability of a professional or the extent of baldness. There were indications that subjects who consulted both general practitioners and other professionals had also more general problems.

Alopecia↗
PubMed1988

Migraine and defense mechanisms: psychophysiological relationships in young females.

Two psychological defense mechanisms, repression and self aggression, were studied in 23 young female migraine patients who had not been receiving treatment for their complaints and in 23 relatively headache free matched controls. All subjects were psychology students. Each subject was classified as high or low on repression and self aggression using the defense mechanism inventory. During three separate sessions: adaptation, intelligence test and real-life stress (an examination which was part of the psychology curriculum) pulse amplitudes of the temporal and digital arteries, frontal, temporal and corrugator EMGs, forehead temperature, skin conductance, and heart and respiration rate were measured. The migraine patients showed a trend towards more repression of their emotions and significantly more self aggression than the controls. Self aggression appeared to be positively associated with the headache frequency in the migraine group. With regard to the physiological measurements, in both groups repressors showed a modest tendency to enhanced sympathetic activity. Self aggression was not found to be related to any physiological measure of sympathetic activity, but, instead, related to less temporal blood flow. In general, associations were found between psychological defense mechanisms and physiological activity, which is suggestive of the existence of physiological pathways along which emotional inhibition might contribute to an attack of migraine after a stressful situation.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

EMG in common migraine: changes in absolute and proportional EMG levels during real-life stress.

The absolute and proportional EMG levels of the frontal, temporal, and corrugator muscles of 37 migraine patients and 37 matched controls were recorded during three experimental sessions: adaptation and real-life and experimental stress, both of long duration. Migraine patients did not show significantly different absolute EMG levels but had higher proportional EMG levels of the corrugator muscle than controls in each session. Migraine patients did not have different facial muscle responses to stress, and the two experimental groups reacted similarly to real-life and experimental stress. No relation was found between muscle activity and reported headache within 24 h after real-life stress. Increased EMG activity due to stress does not seem to be a significant cause of headache in common migraine as defined in this study, but rather a response to pain. Migraine patients with headache during stress showed lower muscle tension than patients without headache.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Headaches and stress in schoolchildren: an epidemiological study.

Headache parameters, personality variables and stress factors were assessed in a sample of about 2,300 school pupils between 10 and 17 years of age in Amsterdam. More than 15% of the subjects reported headaches occurring weekly. Fear of failure and school problems, but not achievement motivation, had significant positive correlations with headache complaints after correction for differences in sex and age. Menarche and social class had little bearing in relation to the headache variables. From all reported causes of headache, stress was mentioned most frequently in both elementary and secondary schools.

Adolescent↗