Journal of Behavioral Medicine 

About: Journal of Behavioral Medicine is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Health psychology & Medicine. It has an ISSN identifier of 0160-7715. Over the lifetime, 2384 publications have been published receiving 144403 citations. The journal is also known as: Behavioral medicine.

Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events

Abstract: The standard life events methodology for the prediction of psychological symptoms was compared with one focusing on relatively minor events, namely, the hassles and uplifts of everyday life Hassles and Uplifts Scales were constructed and administered once a month for 10 consecutive months to a community sample of middle-aged adults It was found that the Hassles Scale was a better predictor of concurrent and subsequent psychological symptoms than were the life events scores, and that the scale shared most of the variance in symptoms accounted for by life events When the effects of life events scores were removed, hassles and symptoms remained significantly correlated Uplifts were positively related to symptoms for women but not for men Hassles and uplifts were also shown to be related, although only modestly so, to positive and negative affect, thus providing discriminate validation for hassles and uplifts in comparison to measures of emotion It was concluded that the assessment of daily hassles and uplifts may be a better approach to the prediction of adaptational outcomes than the usual life events approach

Discrimination and racial disparities in health: evidence and needed research

Abstract: This paper provides a review and critique of empirical research on perceived discrimination and health. The patterns of racial disparities in health suggest that there are multiple ways by which racism can affect health. Perceived discrimination is one such pathway and the paper reviews the published research on discrimination and health that appeared in PubMed between 2005 and 2007. This recent research continues to document an inverse association between discrimination and health. This pattern is now evident in a wider range of contexts and for a broader array of outcomes. Advancing our understanding of the relationship between perceived discrimination and health will require more attention to situating discrimination within the context of other health-relevant aspects of racism, measuring it comprehensively and accurately, assessing its stressful dimensions, and identifying the mechanisms that link discrimination to health.

Social Support and Health: A Review of Physiological Processes Potentially Underlying Links to Disease Outcomes

Abstract: Social support has been reliably related to lower rates of morbidity and mortality. An important issue concerns the physiological mechanisms by which support influences such health endpoints. In this review, I examine evidence linking social support to changes in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune function. Consistent with epidemiological evidence, social support appears to be related to more positive “biological profiles” across these disease-relevant systems. Recent research on immune-mediated inflammatory processes is also starting to provide data on more integrative physiological mechanisms potentially linking social support to health. The implications of these links, along with future research directions are discussed.

The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events

Abstract: The nature of individual coping responses to stressful life events was explored in a representative adult community sample. Two approaches to the classification of coping strategies were operationalized. Using these measures, small but significant gender and contextual differences in coping were identified. Mood and symptom levels were related to coping responses and to quantitative and qualitative measures of social resources. Measures of coping and social resources attenuated the relationship between undesirable life events and personal functioning.

The fear-avoidance model of musculoskeletal pain: current state of scientific evidence.

Abstract: Research studies focusing on the fear-avoidance model have expanded considerably since the review by Vlaeyen and Linton (Vlaeyen J. W. S. & Linton, S. J. (2000). Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art. Pain, 85(3), 317--332). The fear-avoidance model is a cognitive-behavioral account that explains why a minority of acute low back pain sufferers develop a chronic pain problem. This paper reviews the current state of scientific evidence for the individual components of the model: pain severity, pain catastrophizing, attention to pain, escape/avoidance behavior, disability, disuse, and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, support for the contribution of pain-related fear in the inception of low back pain, the development of chronic low back pain from an acute episode, and the maintenance of enduring pain, will be highlighted. Finally, available evidence on recent clinical applications is provided, and unresolved issues that need further exploration are discussed.