Etiology and onset of agoraphobia: a critical review.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
M J Telch
Publications and source records attributed to M J Telch.
Ambulatory heart rate changes during panic attacks.
Ten patients suffering from panic attacks were studied in an effort to test the feasibility of measuring panic attacks via 24-h ambulatory heart rate monitoring. Subjects were also asked to record their activity level, anxiety level, and level of panic at 15-min intervals. Seven of the 10 patients reported panic attacks during the 24-h recording period; one patient reported two panic attacks. Three of the eight panic episodes demonstrated significant heart rate increases relative to activity level. Results suggest that ambulatory monitoring of panic attacks may be most useful with patients who suffer from more frequent and severe panic attacks and who have high heart rates (greater than 110) during these attacks.
Adult↗
Factors influencing health perceptions in patients with panic disorder.
Subjective perceptions of health have been found to be related to a variety of consequential variables including health care utilization and mortality. A number of studies have found that patients with panic disorders generally perceive themselves as having poor health. However, factors underlying self-perceptions of health are largely unexplored in this population. The present study examined three factors believed to contribute to health perceptions: (1) presence of comorbid medical conditions, (2) tendency to somaticize or worry about health, and (3) level of co-occurring depression. The sample consisted of 81 patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder. An assessment battery that determined self-perceptions of health, level of depression, and the major clinical dimensions of panic disorder (i.e., panic attacks, anxiety, and phobic avoidance) was administered to all participants. As predicted, analyses indicated that each of the hypothesized factors was significantly related to poorer perceived health. Setwise hierarchical multiple regression analyses controlling for demographic variables indicated that health perceptions are strongly and independently associated with depression and the presence of a medical condition. Subjective health perceptions in panic disorder are multifactorial and are related to both realistic appraisals of health and distorted perceptions caused by depressed mood.
Comorbidity↗
Social anxiety and history of behavioral inhibition in young adults.
To evaluate the relationship between the childhood temperament behavioral inhibition (BI) and anxiety symptomology, we investigated differences in retrospective reports of childhood BI among undergraduates reporting one of the following: (a) Social anxiety (n = 10), (b) generalized anxiety (n = 13), (c) both social and generalized anxiety (n = 15), and (d) minimal social and generalized anxiety (n = 38). Contrary to the hypothesis that BI acts as a nonspecific risk factor for anxiety symptoms, our findings revealed that a history of childhood BI was associated with symptoms of social phobia but not generalized anxiety disorder. Moreover, participants displaying symptoms of both generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia were no more likely to show a childhood history of BI than participants displaying social phobia symptoms alone. These data suggest that a childhood history of BI may be more strongly associated with adult social anxiety than some other types of anxiety pathology.
Adolescent↗
Promoting dietary change in adolescents: a school-based approach for modifying and maintaining healthful behavior.
We examined the immediate and long-term effects of a school-based, behaviorally focused dietary change program for tenth-graders. Our behavioral change objectives included increased consumption of complex carbohydrates and decreased intake of saturated fats, sugar, and salt, particularly in the form of snack foods. We randomly assigned tenth-grade classes in two northern California high schools to either a five-session dietary change program or an assessment-only control group. We collected pre- and postprogram self-report data on 218 students in areas of dietary knowledge, behavior, attitudes, food availability in the home, and intentions and self-efficacy concerning eating in specific ways. We also observed school snack choices both directly and indirectly. Our results indicated significant changes in reported behavior, knowledge, and food availability at home, as well as changes in snack choices at school. We found these changes to be durable at one-year follow-up. Our findings suggest ways in which school-based programs focused on behavioral and environmental changes may be effective in promoting dietary changes at school and at home.
Adolescent↗
Cardiovascular disease risk reduction for tenth graders. A multiple-factor school-based approach.
All tenth graders in four senior high schools (N = 1447) from two school districts participated in a cardiovascular disease risk-reduction trial. Within each district, one school was assigned at random to receive a special 20-session risk-reduction intervention and one school served as a control. At a two-month follow-up, risk factor knowledge scores were significantly greater for students in the treatment group. Compared with controls, a higher proportion of those in the treatment group who were not exercising regularly at baseline reported regular exercise at follow-up. Almost twice as many baseline experimental smokers in the treatment group reported quitting at follow-up, while only 5.6% of baseline experimental smokers in the treatment group graduated to regular smoking compared with 10.3% in the control group. Students in the treatment group were more likely to report that they would choose "heart-healthy" snack items. Beneficial treatment effects were observed for resting heart rate, body mass index, triceps skin fold thickness, and subscapular skin fold thickness. The results suggest that it is feasible to provide cardiovascular disease risk-reduction training to a large segment of the population through school-based primary prevention approaches.
Adolescent↗
Efficacy of self-help behavior modification materials in smoking cessation.
We evaluated the efficacy of the Stanford Quit Kit, an eight-page self-administered smoking cessation program. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive the Quit Kit (n = 142) or a delayed intervention (n = 65). Confirmed abstinence (p less than .05) and reduced smoking among continuing smokers (p less than .002) were greater in the Quit Kit group than in the control group at the two-month follow-up. At the six-month follow-up 10.6 percent of the Quit Kit subjects were confirmed as abstinent. From these results we conclude that well-designed, self-administered behavior change materials can assist chronic smokers in quitting.
Adult↗