Australian Psychology Society This browser is not supported. Please upgrade your browser.

InPsych 2020 | Vol 42

Aug/Sept | Issue 4

InPsych 2020 | Vol 42

Education and research : Research snapshot

Analyse this

Analyse this

Embracing complexity

Simplified models of mental health are useful, but professionals need to embrace complexity.

Simplified models (schematics) of mental health and its treatment are often used to convey scientific content to the general public. These can increase the health literacy of the population, but at the same time run the risk of oversimplifying complex research findings. Australian researchers reviewed the application of a number of popular models of mental health in order to highlight how this oversimplification may impede health professionals, policymakers and researchers from accurately translating and advancing the ideas within. An example given was Huppert’s (2005) schematic of the mental health spectrum, which has been inappropriately applied at the individual level, ignoring the complicated relationship between mental illness and positive mental health outcomes and symptoms within individuals. In addition, neither single-factor nor dual-factor models of mental illness manage to capture the interrelations between positive and negative factors on one another and on overall mental health status. It was suggested that we use simple models and schematics only as a starting point for opening up conversations between professionals and those who are not familiar with the characteristics of mental wellbeing.

doi.org/10.1111/ap.12440

Happiness and health

Subjective wellbeing enhances self-reported physical health, but what does the body say?

A team of American and Canadian researchers set out to examine the effects of long-term increases in subjective wellbeing on physical health in a sample of 155 healthy adults. Two versions of a 12-week positive psychological intervention (Enduring Happiness and Continued Self-Enhancement) were evaluated; an online self-directed version and a clinician directed group program. For both versions participants were randomly allocated to receive the program or to act as a waitlist control. Participants completed assessments at the start and end of the program and three months after completion, as well as weekly surveys around their health and wellbeing. Treatment participants reported higher levels of subjective wellbeing and reported fewer days during which they felt sick compared with participants in the waitlist control group. However, the intervention did not have any effects on objective measures of health including BMI and blood pressure. The researchers suggested that future longitudinal studies need to extend the period of assessment from months to years to measure the full impact of happiness on physical health.

doi.org/10.1177/0956797620919673

Memory and physical stress

Occupational stress is associated with poorer memory and smaller hippocampal volume.

Jobs can provide crucial support for cognitive functioning through intellectual and social enrichment. They are also associated with poorer cognitive ability in midlife and retirement through physical and psychological stress. This study used the Brain Aging: Occupational Stimulation and Stress (BOSS) model in a randomised controlled exercise trial in order to relate occupational characteristics to hippocampal volume and cognitive function in healthy aging. Participants (N = 247) aged between 60 and 80 years completed a series of demographic, health, neuroimaging, cognitive and cardiorespiratory assessments. Physical stress – operationalised as physical demands and work conditions – was associated with smaller hippocampal volume and poorer memory performance. These results were found to be independent of socioeconomic factors, early-life education, job title and income. The researchers recommended considering occupational experiences in order to understand individual trajectories of cognitive and brain ageing.

doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00266

Pain attenuation through touch

Social support plays a role in pain reduction.

Social support has been found to reduce self-reported pain intensity and unpleasantness. These effects are likely reinforced by touch, however, the mechanisms by which this occurs is not well understood. Researchers hoping to shed light on this effect of social support on touch recruited 51 romantic couples into a study. Couples had been together 4.84 years on average and self-reported high relationship satisfaction (M = 92.45 on a scale from 0–100). Participants were subject to heat stimulation to different areas of their lower leg, while their romantic partner was directed to provide varying levels of social support (gentle stroking of the forearm, hand-holding and being present without touch, combined with pre- and post-manipulation measurements). Participants’ physiological activity (as measured by conductance response) and moment-by-moment pain intensity ratings were recorded. An analysis found that interpersonal support decreased perceived pain intensity, unpleasantness and perceived pain-related physiological responses overall. Relative to the other interventions, hand-holding had a particularly calming effect and couple’s physiological responses were found to be similar while hand-holding.

https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa048

References

Disclaimer: Published in InPsych on September 2020. The APS aims to ensure that information published in InPsych is current and accurate at the time of publication. Changes after publication may affect the accuracy of this information. Readers are responsible for ascertaining the currency and completeness of information they rely on, which is particularly important for government initiatives, legislation or best-practice principles which are open to amendment. The information provided in InPsych does not replace obtaining appropriate professional and/or legal advice.

Search

Submit