Matching Items (7)
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- All Subjects: Fibromyalgia
- Creators: Davis, Mary
Description
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, and a variety of other comorbid physiological and psychological characteristics, including a deficit of positive affect. Recently, the focus of research on the pathophysiology of FM has considered the role of a number of genomic variants. In the current manuscript, case-control analyses did not support the hypothesis that FM patients would differ from other chronic pain groups in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) genotype. However, evidence is provided in support of the hypothesis that functional single nucleotide polymorphisms on the COMT and OPRM1 genes would be associated with risk and resilience, respectively, in a dual processing model of pain-related positive affective regulation in FM. Forty-six female patients with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of FM completed an electronic diary that included once-daily assessments of positive affect and soft tissue pain. Multilevel modeling yielded a significant gene X environment interaction, such that individuals with met/met genotype on COMT experienced a greater decline in positive affect as daily pain increased than did either val/met or val/val individuals. A gene X environment interaction for OPRM1 also emerged, indicating that individuals with at least one asp allele were more resilient to elevations in daily pain than those homozygous for the asn allele. In sum, the findings offer researchers ample reason to further investigate the contribution of the catecholamine and opioid systems, and their associated genomic variants, to the still poorly understood experience of FM.
ContributorsFinan, Patrick Hamilton (Author) / Zautra, Alex (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Childhood trauma has been linked to an increased risk of chronic pain in adulthood. One potential mechanism is via childhood trauma's impact on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) response to stress, reflected in changes in salivary cortisol levels (Nicolson et al., 2010). This study sought to determine the relations between childhood trauma, increases in cortisol levels following induced pain, and pain perceptions in adults with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition. It drew on data collected from participants enrolled in an investigation comparing the effectiveness of behavioral treatments for chronic pain. Before receiving treatment, participants attended a laboratory session during which they first rested, and then were exposed to heat stimuli to assess pain threshold and tolerance. Saliva samples were collected from each participant immediately following the rest, and twice during pain induction. Fibromyalgia participants with a history of childhood trauma were expected: 1) to report lower pain threshold and tolerance levels (i.e., have higher pain sensitivity), 2) to exhibit a higher resting cortisol level, and 3) to have greater increases in cortisol in response to acute pain induction than fibromyalgia participants without a history of childhood trauma. Findings showed that childhood trauma scores were: 1) related to lower pain tolerance (but not pain threshold), 2) unrelated to resting cortisol levels, and 3) unrelated to changes in cortisol in response to pain induction and pain tolerance, contrary to prediction. However, a subtype of childhood trauma, i.e., emotional maltreatment: 1) predicted lower pain tolerance, and 2) moderated the cortisol changes over time in response to pain induction during the laboratory session in the expected direction. That is, individuals who reported higher levels of childhood emotional maltreatment showed greater cortisol responses to the pain induction than individuals who reported lower levels of exposure to emotional maltreatment. Cortisol responses did not relate to pain perception. Thus, childhood emotional trauma predicted greater pain sensitivity and cortisol reactivity, but cortisol did not relate to pain perception. The findings suggest that early childhood trauma predicts cortisol reactivity and pain sensitivity, but that cortisol reactivity is not a mediator in the trauma-pain relation.
ContributorsCiaramitaro, Marissa Catherine (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis director) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Yeung, Wan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing data from the Arizona Youth Survey (AYS) to give policymakers and representatives from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission some insight into the high rates of youth prescription drug abuse. This study examined trends in prescription drug consumption among Pima County, Arizona adolescents, as well as the contexts in which these drugs were used and the numerous consequences resulting from such actions. The results of this research will allow professionals at the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission to inform state officials on the most cost-effective methods of prescription drug abuse prevention and intervention.
ContributorsLewis, Melissa (Author) / Roosa, Mark (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Malone, Shane (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Being able to self-regulate has been found to be an important part of a person’s physiological and psychological health. It allows someone to regulate their emotions well in trying to obtain a goal, or in realizing a goal is unobtainable and re-evaluating the situation to form an obtainable goal (Rasmussen, Wrosch, Scheier & Carver, 2006). Self-regulation can be measured in many ways, but a physiological measure of self-regulation is heart rate variability (HRV). HRV monitors the body’s response to emotional stressors through measuring how variable a person’s heartbeat is (Appelhans & Luecken, 2006). A second potential factor contributing to self-regulation is social closeness. Research has also shown that the more social closeness a person experiences, the better able they are to regulate their emotions (Kok & Fredrickson, 2010; Kok et al., 2013). Social closeness is assessed via self-reports. There is a difference between partners’ and self-reports, such that the partners tend to be more positive when asked about the participants through questionnaires (Vuorisalmi, Sarkeala, Hervonen & Jylhä, 2012). When examining the relationship between reports of spouses, research has shown that the husbands are worse at reliably reporting their wives’ behaviors, but are more reliable when reporting on personal situations between the couple than is the wife (Khawaja & Tewtel-Salem, 2004). To date we know that a higher HRV is associated with better self-regulation and that social closeness leads to better emotional regulation; however, we do not know if HRV and social closeness combine to predict better functionality or if it matters if the husbands or wives are filling out the self-reports on social closeness. This study investigated four hypotheses regarding the relations between HRV and social relations between partners and how the social or emotional functioning of female fibromyalgia (FM) patients. The first hypothesis is that when the FM patient feels disregard from her partner, she is more likely to exhibit a decline in her social functioning, and that this decline is less pronounced in high HRV. The second hypothesis is that if a FM patient feels disregarded by her partner, her emotional functioning will become inhibited; furthermore, that this relationship is moderated by her HRV. The third hypothesis is that when her partner feels he disregards her, her social functioning is impaired, and that this relationship is moderated by her HRV. The last hypothesis is that when her partner feels he disregards her, her emotional functioning declines, and that this relationship is moderated by HRV. The FM patient’s HRV was measured in a laboratory setting, and the partner disregard was measured by a partner survey that was administered to both the FM patient and her partner. Through the analysis of all of the results, none of the four hypotheses had significant results showing that none of them were supported by this experiment.
ContributorsKillion, Jordan Ann (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis director) / Yeung, Wan (Committee member) / Zautra, Alex (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Accruing evidence suggests that the neural underpinnings of the social and physical pain systems overlap. The preponderance of the data are based on experimental manipulations of healthy individuals. Those data suggest that the experience of social pain, in the form of rejection, influences the experience of physical pain. The current study sought to extend this literature in four ways: first it examined whether the relation between social pain and physical pain holds in individuals with chronic pain. Second, it evaluated the rejection-pain relation in everyday life though use of daily diary repots. Third, it evaluated whether aversive social events other than rejection (i.e., conflict) are also related to daily pain, to determine, if the relation to pain is specific to rejection. Finally, it tested whether the relational context (i.e., chronic level of rejection or conflict) predicted pain levels. The sample for the current study is comprised of 123 partnered individuals with fibromyalgia (FM) who completed 21 daily diaries that assessed their experience of spousal rejection, spousal conflict, and daily physical pain. Multilevel modeling was used to examine 1) the within person relations between daily increases in negative spousal events, and reports of chronic physical pain; and 2) The moderating effect of chronic spousal discord on the daily negative event pain relations. Results showed a marginally significant relation between daily rejection events and increased levels of pain, and a significant relation between daily conflict events and increased levels of pain. Keywords: chronic pain, social pain, rejection, conflict, Fibromyalgia
ContributorsBernal, Josi Ann (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis director) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The present study utilized longitudinal data from a high-risk community sample (n= 377; 166 trauma-exposed; 54% males; 52% children of alcoholics; 73% non-Hispanic/Latino Caucasian; 22% Hispanic/Latino; 5% other ethnicity) to test a series of hypotheses that may help explain the risk pathways that link traumatic stress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, and problematic alcohol and drug use. Specifically, this study examined whether pre-trauma substance use problems increase risk for trauma exposure (the high-risk hypothesis) or PTSD symptoms (the susceptibility hypothesis), whether PTSD symptoms increase risk for later alcohol/drug problems (the self-medication hypothesis), and whether the association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol/drug problems is due to shared risk factors (the shared vulnerability hypothesis). This study also examined the roles of gender and ethnicity in these pathways. A series of logistic and negative binomial regressions were performed in a path analysis framework. A composite pre-trauma family adversity variable was formed from measures of family conflict, family life stress, parental alcoholism, and other parent psychopathology. Results provided the strongest support for the self-medication hypothesis, such that PTSD symptoms predicted higher levels of later alcohol and drug problems among non-Hispanic/Latino Caucasian participants, over and above the influences of pre-trauma family adversity, pre-trauma substance use problems, trauma exposure, and demographic variables. Results partially supported the high-risk hypothesis, such that adolescent substance use problems had a marginally significant unique effect on risk for assaultive violence exposure but not on overall risk for trauma exposure. There was no support for the susceptibility hypothesis, as pre-trauma adolescent substance use problems did not significantly influence risk for PTSD diagnosis/symptoms over and above the influence of pre-trauma family adversity. Finally, there was little support for the shared vulnerability hypothesis. Neither trauma exposure nor preexisting family adversity accounted for the link between PTSD symptoms and later substance use problems. These results add to a growing body of literature in support of the self-medication hypothesis. Findings extend previous research by showing that PTSD symptoms may influence the development of alcohol and drug problems over and above the influence of trauma exposure itself, preexisting family risk factors, and baseline levels of substance use.
ContributorsHaller, Moira (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Pina, Armando (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Experiencing poor, unrefreshing sleep is a common occurrence for individuals with chronic pain. Sleep disturbance predicts not only greater pain and disability, but also heightened negative affect and reduced positive affect in individuals with chronic pain. Such fluctuations in affect have been linked with more negative and fewer positive social events. For those with chronic pain, negative social relations can exacerbate pain, whereas positive social interactions can help decrease disability. Thus, exploring the sleep‒social functioning process in chronic pain may be one way to improve daily functioning and quality of life. The current study examined positive and negative affect as two parallel mediators of the within-day relations between sleep quality and positive and negative social events in individuals with chronic pain. For 21 days, electronic daily diary reports were collected from 220 individuals with fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by widespread chronic pain. Within-person relations among reports of last night’s sleep quality, afternoon affects and pain, and evening social events were estimated via multilevel structural equation modeling. Findings showed that positive affect mediated both the sleep quality‒positive social events and sleep quality‒negative social events relations. That is, greater than usual sleep disturbance last night predicted afternoon reports of lower than usual positive affect. Low positive affect, in turn, predicted evening reports of fewer than usual positive social events and more than usual negative social events that day, controlling for the effects of afternoon pain. In addition, negative affect mediated the sleep quality‒negative social events link. That is, greater than usual sleep disturbance last night predicted afternoon reports of higher than usual negative affect, which, in turn, predicted evening reports of more than usual negative social events that day, controlling for the effects of afternoon pain. Of the three significant mediated paths, the sleep quality‒positive affect‒positive social events path was the strongest in magnitude. Thus, a night of poor sleep can have an impact on social events the next day in those with chronic pain by dysregulating affect. Further, findings highlight the key role of positive affect in the sleep‒social functioning process and potential socio-affective benefits of sleep interventions in chronic pain.
ContributorsKothari, Dhwani J. (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019