Showing papers on "Somatic anxiety published in 1993"

Intensity and direction dimensions of competitive state anxiety and relationships with performance

Abstract: This study examined relationships between intensity and direction dimensions of competitive state anxiety, and also relationships with beam performance in a sample of female gymnasts. The 48 gymnasts, whose ages ranged from 14 to 16 years, competed in a beam competition and were divided, via the median split technique, into poor performance and good performance groups. All the subjects completed a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory‐2 (CSAI‐2) 10 min prior to performance. This inventory included the original intensity scale plus a direction scale in which subjects rated the degree to which the experienced intensity of each symptom was either facilitative of debilitative to subsequent beam performance. Analyses of variance showed no significant group differences on any of the CSAI‐2 sub‐component intensity scores, or on somatic anxiety and self‐confidence direction scores. However, the good performance group reported their cognitive anxiety intensity as being more facilitating and l...

Profile of Depressive Symptoms in Younger and Older Medical Inpatients with Major Depression

Abstract: Objective: To examine and compare the profile of cognitive symptoms, somatic symptoms, and somatic complaints in younger and older medical inpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) Design: Cross-sectional cohort. Patients and Setting: Male patients aged 20–39 years (n = 116) and aged 70–102 years (n = 332), consecutively admitted to the medical and neurological services of a VA medical center, underwent psychiatric evaluations for depression. Measurements: Depressive symptoms were measured using the observer-rated Hamilton Depression Scale and the self-rated Geriatric Depression Scale using an “inclusive” approach (symptoms rated regardless of etiology). Data on 12 common somatic complaints were also collected. Clinical diagnoses of MDD were made by a psychiatrist based on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and other psychiatric and physical health data. Results: After controlling for severity of medical illness, functional status, and alcohol use, symptoms that discriminated MDD best among younger men were loss of interest, feelings of guilt or of being a burden, suicidal thoughts, and depressed mood (primarily cognitive and affective symptoms). Among older men, loss of interest, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, and hypochondriasis most strongly differentiated depressed from non-depressed patients (mixture of cognitive and somatic symptoms); fatigue, weight loss, genital symptoms, and somatic anxiety were weakly related or unrelated to MDD. Number of somatic complaints (headache, dizziness, palpitations, etc.) helped differentiate patients with MDD; although equally common among depressed young and older patients, a distinct pattern of complaints emerged in each age group. Conclusions: Cognitive symptoms of depression can help to distinguish medical inpatients with and without MDD. In older adults, however, somatic symptoms cannot be ignored and may be more important for diagnosing MDD than previously realized. These findings will help clinicians identify patients with MDD and differentiate them from non-depressed patients with medical illness.

An Investigation of Two Stress-Management Techniques in a Field Setting

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, and Smith’s (1990) contention that stress-management techniques should be matched to the symptoms manifested by performers. Subjects, 20 male collegiate field hockey players, responded to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) on four occasions prior to an important hockey match. Subjects were then placed in two intervention groups: applied relaxation (somatic anxiety; n = 6) and positive thought control (cognitive anxiety; n = 8). Six additional subjects formed the control group. Subjects completed a 12-week intervention in a field setting. Results suggested that reducing anxiety with a method directed at the performer’s dominant anxiety type is more efficacious. A secondary aim was to further investigate the anxiety-performance relationship using an intraindividual performance measure. Somatic anxiety was found to account for 22% of the variance in field hockey performance. Polynomial trend analyses failed to produce sig...

A Practical Application of the Anxiety–Athletic Performance Relationship: The Zone of Optimal Functioning Hypothesis

Abstract: Hanin (1980) proposed the zone of optimal functioning hypothesis (ZOF), suggesting that each athlete has a specific band width, or zone, of anxiety in which best performances will most likely be observed. The present study combined the ZOF hypothesis with the multidimensional anxiety theory (Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990). Unique cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety zones were identified, and it was hypothesized that athletes whose anxiety levels fell within these zones would be more successful than athletes whose anxiety levels were outside these zones. Results of separate cognitive and somatic anxiety ANOVAs indicated that poorest performances were observed when athletes’ cognitive and somatic anxiety were above their zones; performances when anxiety was within or below cognitive and somatic anxiety zones did not differ.

Psychosocial aspects of chronic pelvic pain, with special reference to sexual abuse. A study of 164 women.

Abstract: Patients with chronic pelvic pain attending a tertiary referral centre show certain social, developmental and psychological characteristics. Specifically, they appear to have fewer children and to report more paternal overprotection, and a trend towards low maternal care compared to normals. They also show more depression, free-floating anxiety and somatic anxiety than such populations. The levels are similar to those found in other outpatient populations presenting with migraine or irritable bowel syndrome. Hostility levels are greater than those in normal subjects. Overall the present patient population reports the same degree of childhood sexual abuse as do many other female clinic and community sample populations. Sexual abuse is unlikely to be a specific aetiological factor in the development of chronic pelvic pain though it may yet be found to be important in subsets of the population.

The effects of competitive anxiety on memory span and rebound shooting tasks in basketball players

Abstract: Two theoretical models were used to investigate aspects of basketball performance: Eysenck's (1979, 1984) compensatory arousal model and Humphreys and Revelle's (1984) twin resources model. Cognitive and somatic anxiety were manipulated using a ‘time to event’ paradigm. The aspects of performance were a short‐term memory task (letter span) and a low memory demand, motoric‐sustained information transfer task (rebound shooting). Hypotheses based on the different models were formulated and subsequently tested using analysis of variance and polynomial regression analysis. The results indicated significant (P < 0.01) linear relationships with negative slopes between cognitive anxiety and letter span, and between somatic anxiety and letter span; while significant (P < 0.01) linear relationships with positive slopes were recorded between cognitive anxiety and rebound shooting, and between somatic anxiety and rebound shooting. The analysis of variance results were in agreement with a positive effect (P < 0.05) fo...

Cue-controlled relaxation and 'aromatherapy' in the treatment of speech anxiety

Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the separate and combined effects of cue-controlled relaxation training and “aromatherapy” as treatments for reducing speech anxiety. Thirty-six speech anxious subjects were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: cue-controlled relaxation with a word cue, cue-controlled relaxation with an aroma cue, “aromatherapy” alone, and a wait list (i.e., control) group. Prior to treatment, subjects completed the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker, Fear of Negative Evaluation questionnaire, S-R Inventory of Anxiousness-Speech Form, Cognitive Somatic Anxiety Questionnaire, and Multiple Affect Adjective Check List; subjects also performed a speech which was rated for behavioral signs of anxiety. The assessment protocol was repeated following treatment, and at a two-month follow-up. Thirty-two of 36 subjects (89%) provided complete data at post-treatment, and 23 of 28 treated subjects (82%) provided complete data at follow-up. Results indicated that subjects in both cue-controlled relaxation conditions decreased their speech anxiety more than did the subjects in the aromatherapy or control conditions.

Buspirone in the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorders

Abstract: A group of 86 patients, diagnosed with GAD, were treated with doses of 25 mg of Buspirone or 20 mg of Diazepam in a blind study. Comparative efficacy of both drugs and placebo was conducted on 40 patients (archival data). Greater efficacy of Diazepam and Buspirone in states of chronic anxiety was indicated. There were no differences in the intensity of efficacy of both drugs. The effects of Buspirone were equally strong but more general on psychic and somatic anxiety, with the exception of sleep disturbance, in comparison with Diazepam. The efficacy of Buspirone increased after 2 weeks of application. No serious or intensified adverse effects were observed. The incidence of adverse effects was slightly higher in the Buspirone group, and included dizziness, weakness and disturbance of sleep. There were no significant changes in physical examination or laboratory measures.