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Endothelial function, assessed by flow-mediated dilation (FMD), may be transiently attenuated in healthy adults following acute mental stress. However, the impact of acute mental stress on endothelial function in the context of clinical depression is unknown. This study examined the impact of acute mental stress on FMD in women with a diagnosis of a depressive disorder. Forty-three otherwise healthy women (33 ± 14 years) participated. Brachial artery diameter and blood velocity were assessed with ultrasound. FMD was assessed immediately prior to and 15 min following the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). The FMD protocol included 5 min of forearm cuff occlusion (pressure = 250 mm Hg), followed by release. Shear stress was estimated by calculating shear rate (SR = brachial artery blood velocity/diameter). Stress reactivity was assessed via changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and salivary cortisol. Results are mean ± SD. A significant stress response was elicited by the TSST [MAP, HR and salivary cortisol increased (p 0.05)]. Neither the SR stimulus nor FMD response differed pre-versus post-stress (p = 0.124 and p = 0.641, respectively). There was a modest negative correlation between cortisol reactivity and change in FMD from pre- to post-stress (R = -0.392, p = 0.011). To conclude, acute mental stress did not consistently impair endothelial function in women diagnosed with a depressive disorder; however, higher cortisol reactivity may increase the likelihood of post-stress endothelial dysfunction. Further research is required to better understand the factors influencing the relationship between acute mental stress, cortisol and endothelial function in women with depression.

Background The current study presents a randomized controlled 8-week trial of Bikram yoga, aerobic exercise, and waitlist for depression. Bikram yoga was chosen specifically for its standardized nature. Further, we examined changes in three stress-related constructs—perceived stress, rumination, and mindfulness—as mediators of antidepressant effects. Method Fifty-three women (age 18–65; 74% White) with a unipolar depressive disorder were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. Response was defined as >50% reduction on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Remission was defined as no longer meeting criteria for depression and a HAM-D ≤ 7. Self-reported perceived stress, rumination, and mindfulness were assessed weekly. Results In the intention-to-treat sample (n = 53), response rates were significantly higher in the Bikram yoga (61.1%; χ2 = 10.48, p = .001) and aerobic exercise (60.0%; χ2 = 10.44, p = .001) conditions relative to waitlist (6.7%). In the completer sample (n = 42), 73.3% (χ2 = 11.41, p = .001) of women in yoga and 80.0% (χ2 = 13.72, p Limitations The sample was small in size, consisted of women only, and was ethnically homogenous. Inter-rater reliability was not assessed, aerobic exercise was not standardized, and mediators were assessed by self-report. Conclusions Bikram yoga showed descriptively similar efficacy to aerobic exercise and both may work, in part, by helping individuals interrupt negative thinking.

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct that has been associated with more negative appraisals of stress and the generation of stressful life events. However, an understanding of the role of current depression symptoms on the relation of perfectionism dimensions to stress processes is lacking. In a 4-month prospective study with 503 first-year university students, we examined the moderating role of depression symptoms on the relation of two widely studied dimensions of perfectionism (i.e., self-oriented perfectionism, socially-prescribed perfectionism) to both stress enhancement and stress generation. Further, we tested Hewitt and Flett's (1993) specific vulnerability hypothesis, which suggests that particular dimensions of perfectionism should be theoretically matched to particular types of stressors. Self-oriented perfectionism was associated with more negative appraisals of, and the generation of, achievement-related stressors. Further, these relations were specific to participants with elevated ...

Childhood maltreatment has been shown to have a stronger etiological relation to depression onset in adolescence than in adulthood. We propose that a maltreatment history may more strongly sensitize individuals to the depressogenic effects of proximal stressful life events in adolescence compared to adulthood. In an amalgamated sample of 176 unipolar depressed adolescents (age 12-17) and emerging adults (age 18-29), we examined the moderating role of age group on the relation of childhood maltreatment to sensitization to stressors that occurred just prior to episode onset. Among adolescents, but not among adults, those with a maltreatment history reported a lower severity level of life events prior to episode onset than reported by those without such a history. Further, this relation was specific to emotional abuse, and not physical or sexual abuse. We suggest that the pathological mechanisms associated with translating childhood maltreatment to depression may differ across developmental periods.

This study examined the relationship between body image and sexual avoidance. Of particular interest was whether this relationship was mediated by other variables. Participants were 362 undergraduate students who responded to a battery of questionnaires pertaining to three aspects of body image, sexually avoidant behavior, and three mediator variables, which included sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction, and sexual desire. Consistent with previous studies, a relationship between body image and sexual avoidance was found, indicating that those with a more negative body image displayed a greater tendency to avoid sexual activity. Furthermore, sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction, and sexual desire appeared to mediate this relationship. Implications of these results suggest that these mediator variables are important in the relationship between body image and sexual avoidance, and may be useful targets for those seeking treatment for sexual avoidance issues. Limitations of the study and avenues for future research are discussed.

Rapid assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) may be critical among emergency department (ED) patients. This study examined the predictive relationship between ED physician performed bedside mitral-valve E-point septal separation (EPSS) measurements to the quantitative, calculated LVEF. We further evaluated the relationship between ED physician visual estimates of global cardiac function (GCF) and calculated LVEF values.A prospective observational study was conducted on a sequential convenience sample of patients receiving comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Three ED ultrasound fellows performed bedside ultrasound examinations to obtain both EPSS measurements and subjective visual GCF estimates. A linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relation of EPSS to the calculated LVEF from the comprehensive TTE. Agreement (modified Cohen κ) between ED ultrasound fellow GCF estimates and the calculated LVEF was also assessed.Linear regression analyses revealed a significant correlation (r=0.73, P.001) between bedside EPSS and the calculated LVEF. The sensitivity and specificity of an EPSS measurement of greater than 7 mm for severe systolic dysfunction (LVEF≤30%) were 100.0% (95% confidence interval, 62.9-100.0) and 51.6% (95% confidence interval, 38.6-64.5), respectively. Subjective estimates of GCF were moderately correlated with calculated LVEF (Cohen κ=0.58).Measurements of EPSS by ED physicians were significantly associated with the calculated measurements of LVEF from comprehensive TTE. Subjective visual estimates of GCF, however, demonstrated only moderate agreement with the calculated LVEF. An EPSS measurement greater than 7 mm was uniformly sensitive at identifying patients with severely reduced LVEF.

The present work examined the relationship between sequential object recognition and variations in normal reading ability. A group of normal readers completed a battery of tests examining nonverbal intelligence, rapid-automatized naming, reading ability, and an attentional blink (AB) task in which they were asked to identify two sequential targets embedded amongst distractors. Consistent with previous studies, all participants showed a significant AB, with second-target identification improving as inter-target interval increased. More critically, low-normal readers showed a larger AB than high-normal readers. Considered in context with earlier work, these results imply that the ability to allocate capacity-limited processing resources to sequential visual inputs is linked to reading proficiency across the range of both disabled and normal readers.