Sidney Cobb

Bio: Sidney Cobb is an academic researcher from Brown University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Rural area & Cross-sectional study. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 9 publications receiving 6307 citations.

Social support as a moderator of life stress

Abstract: Social support is defined as information leading the subject to believe that he is cared for and loved, esteemed, and a member of a network of mutual obligations. The evidence that supportive interactions among people are protective against the health consequences of life stress is reviewed. It appears that social support can protect people in crisis from a wide variety of pathological states: from low birth weight to death, from arthritis through tuberculosis to depression, alcoholism, and the social breakdown syndrome. Furthermore, social support may reduce the amount of medication required, accelerate recovery, and facilitate compliance with prescribed medical regimens.

Electrical wiring configurations and childhood leukemia in rhode island

Abstract: The study of the relationship between childhood leukemia and electric power line configurations in the greater Denver, Colorado, area by Wertheimer and Leeper (Am J Epidemiol 109:273-284, 1979) was repeated in Rhode Island, focusing on leukemia (age at onset, 0-20 years; year of onset, 1964-1978). The addresses of 119 leukemia patients and 240 controls were studied by mapping power lines within 50 yards (45.72 m) of each residence. The shortest distance between each power line and the point of the residence closest to it was found; the number and types of wires in each power line were noted. Exposure weights were assigned each type of wire using Wertheimer and Leeper's median field strength reading for each. Assuming that the strength of the field decreases with the square of the distance from its source, and that fields generated by different wires grouped in the same power line are simply additive, a summary value of relative exposure was calculated for each address. Quartile exposure values for controls were used to group patient exposures. Contrary to Wertheimer and Leeper's results, no relationship was found between leukemia and electric power line configurations.

High incidence and prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in pima indians

Abstract: A longitudinal epidemiologic study has been conducted to estimate the incidence and prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in an American Indian population, the Pima and Papago Indians of Arizona. Clinical, serologic, and radiologic data were collected during biennial examinations of subjects aged 20 years or more during the period 1967-1986. Rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed by criteria for the active and the inactive disease. Age-adjusted to the 1980 US population at least 20 years of age, the prevalence of classical and definite rheumatoid arthritis in 1984 was 5.3% (3.23% in males and 6.95% in females), a rate appreciably higher than that reported in studies in Rochester, Minnesota, and in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Among Pimas, during the study period, 70 incident cases of rheumatoid arthritis occurred. The age-adjusted incidence rate was 42.2 cases per 10,000 person-years (29.7 in males and 51.8 in females), 10.3 times as high as the age-adjusted rate in Rochester (4.1/10,000 person-years), and 5.7 times as high as in Japan (7.4/10,000 person-years). Rates generally increased with age. No secular trend was found. On the basis of both prevalence and incidence data, this study confirms that rheumatoid arthritis does not have uniform occurrence in different populations. This has to be taken into account in the search for the factors related to the differences in risk of disease.

A general model for preventive intervention in clinical practice.

Abstract: A five-stage collaborative project to develop curriculum and associated instructional materials in preventive medicine has been initiated by the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine in cooperation with the Center for Educational Development in Health at Boston University. As part of the first stage, a general model delineating physician responsibilities in the preventive dimension of clinical practice was developed and analyzed in terms of requisite attitudes, knowledge, and skills. The model is based on a theoretical matrix modified by consideration of optimal physician performance in three tracer conditions (lung cancer, gonorrhea, and hypertension) and the results of a Delphi survey among a sample of 50 primary care practitioners. Competency in planning a practice-based program of prevention and the ability to assist patients in modifying patterns of behavior emerged as significant determinants of physician effectiveness in preventive intervention.

Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis.

Abstract: Examines whether the positive association between social support and well-being is attributable more to an overall beneficial effect of support (main- or direct-effect model) or to a process of support protecting persons from potentially adverse effects of stressful events (buffering model). The review of studies is organized according to (1) whether a measure assesses support structure (the existence of relationships) or function (the extent to which one's interpersonal relationships provide particular resources) and (2) the degree of specificity (vs globality) of the scale. Special attention is given to methodological characteristics that are requisite for a fair comparison of the models. It is concluded that there is evidence consistent with both models. Evidence for the buffering model is found when the social support measure assesses the perceived availability of interpersonal resources that are responsive to the needs elicited by stressful events. Evidence for a main effect model is found when the support measure assesses a person's degree of integration in a large social network. Both conceptualizations of social support are correct in some respects, but each represents a different process through which social support may affect well-being. Implications for theories of social support processes and for the design of preventive interventions are discussed.

Social relationships and health.

Abstract: Recent scientific work has established both a theoretical basis and strong empirical evidence for a causal impact of social relationships on health. Prospective studies, which control for baseline health status, consistently show increased risk of death among persons with a low quantity, and sometimes low quality, of social relationships. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies of humans and animals also suggest that social isolation is a major risk factor for mortality from widely varying causes. The mechanisms through which social relationships affect health and the factors that promote or inhibit the development and maintenance of social relationships remain to be explored.

Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health

Abstract: Many prominent theorists have argued that accurate perceptions of the self, the world, and the future are essential for mental health. Yet considerable research evidence suggests that overly positive selfevaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism are characteristic of normal human thought. Moreover, these illusions appear to promote other criteria of mental health, including the ability to care about others, the ability to be happy or contented, and the ability to engage in productive and creative work. These strategies may succeed, in large part, because both the social world and cognitive-processing mechanisms impose niters on incoming information that distort it in a positive direction; negative information may be isolated and represented in as unthreatening a manner as possible. These positive illusions may be especially useful when an individual receives negative feedback or is otherwise threatened and may be especially adaptive under these circumstances. Decades of psychological wisdom have established contact with reality as a hallmark of mental health. In this view, the well-adjusted person is thought to engage in accurate reality testing, whereas the individual whose vision is clouded by illusion is regarded as vulnerable to, if not already a victim of, mental illness. Despite its plausibility, this viewpoint is increasingly difficult to maintain (cf. Lazarus, 1983). A substantial amount of research testifies to the prevalence of illusion in normal human cognition (see Fiske& Taylor, 1984;Greenwald, 1980; Nisbett & Ross, 1980; Sackeim, 1983; Taylor, 1983). Moreover, these illusions often involve central aspects of the self and the environment and, therefore, cannot be dismissed as inconsequential. In this article, we review research suggesting that certain illusions may be adaptive for mental health and well-being. In particular, we examine evidence that a set of interrelated positive illusions—namely, unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism—can serve a wide variety of cognitive, affective, and social functions. We also attempt to resolve the following para

Social support as a moderator of life stress

Abstract: Social support is defined as information leading the subject to believe that he is cared for and loved, esteemed, and a member of a network of mutual obligations. The evidence that supportive interactions among people are protective against the health consequences of life stress is reviewed. It appears that social support can protect people in crisis from a wide variety of pathological states: from low birth weight to death, from arthritis through tuberculosis to depression, alcoholism, and the social breakdown syndrome. Furthermore, social support may reduce the amount of medication required, accelerate recovery, and facilitate compliance with prescribed medical regimens.

Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature.

Abstract: The authors reviewed more than 70 studies concerning employees' general belief that their work organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being (perceived organizational support; POS). A meta-analysis indicated that 3 major categories of beneficial treatment received by employees (i.e., fairness, supervisor support, and organizational rewards and favorable job conditions) were associated with POS. POS, in turn, was related to outcomes favorable to employees (e.g., job satisfaction, positive mood) and the organization (e.g., affective commitment, performance, and lessened withdrawal behavior). These relationships depended on processes assumed by organizational support theory: employees' belief that the organization's actions were discretionary, feeling of obligation to aid the organization, fulfillment of socioemotional needs, and performance-reward expectancies.