Arranz,Lorena/ Guayerbas, Noelia/ De la Fuente, Mónica. Impairment of Several Immune Functions in Anxious Women. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2007, 62, 1– 88.
Abstract
Objective: Controversial results concerning immune function changes taking place in anxious subjects have been obtained. The aim of the present work was to study immune function in a group of anxious women.
Methods: Thirty-three anxious and 33 nonanxious age-matched women were included. Anxiety levels were determined by the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Peripheral blood samples were collected, and several leukocyte functions, as well as cytokine release, were studied. Plasma cortisol levels and total antioxidant capacity were also evaluated.
Results: The results showed diminished chemotaxis, phagocytosis, lymphoproliferation in response to phytohemagglutinin mitogen, natural killer activity, and interleukin-2 release, and augmented superoxide anion levels and tumor necrosis factor-A release in anxious women. Plasma cortisol was increased, while total antioxidant capacity was lowered in those subjects.
Conclusions: The findings suggest impaired immune function and cytokine release in anxious women. This might be related to increased cortisol secretion, which would lead to oxidative stress reflected in lowered plasma total antioxidant capacity.

Bogels, Susan M./ Sijbers, G. F. V. M./ Voncken, Marisol . Mindfulness and Task Concentration Training for Social Phobia: A Pilot Study. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly 2006, 20(1), 33- 44.
A new treatment for social phobia is evaluated: mindfulness training and task concentration training. The treatment consisted of nine sessions of 45-60 minutes and was administered individually. Nine severely socially phobic patients participated. No changes in complaints were observed during the waiting-list period. One patient withdrew during the treatment. Results show that treatment was well accepted and highly effective in reducing social phobia, and results were maintained at a 2-month follow-up. Effects of the treatment were most pronounced on Fear of Negative Evaluation and on the self-ideal discrepancy. Attention as well as cognitive changes may be responsible for the effectiveness. Explanations for the effects and clinical implications are discussed.

Bormann, Jill E./ Becker, Sheryl/ Gershwin, Madeline/ Kelly, Ann/ Pada, Laureen/ Smith, Tom L./ Gifford, Allen L. Relationship of Frequent Mantram Repetition to Emotional and Spiritual Well-Being in Healthcare Workers. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing September/October 2006, 37( 5).
Abstract
Background: Healthcare workers report high levels of stress in the workplace. To determine how to reduce stress, the authors examined the effectiveness of frequently repeating a mantram (a word with spiritual meaning) on emotional and spiritual well-being.
Methods: A pretest–posttest design was used to measure stress, state/trait anxiety and anger, quality of life, and spiritual well-being in a convenience sample (N = 42) of hospital workers completing a mantram intervention program.
Results: Significant improvements were found in stress (p < .001), trait-anxiety (p = .002), trait-anger (p = .02), quality of life (p = .001), and spiritual well-being (p = .003). When examining the effects of mantram practice, trait-anxiety and religious and spiritual well-being were significant (p < .05).
Conclusion: Improvements in emotional and spiritual wellbeing may be mediated by frequent mantram repetition.

Bringager, C.B./ Arnesen, H./ Friis, S./ Dammen, Ta. Panic Disorder and the Outcome of Chest Pain Patients With and Without Coronary Artery Disease, A Nine-Year Follow-Up Study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2006, 60, 655– 664.
Aims: To assess the association between panic disorder (PD) and the outcome of chest pain patients with and without cardiac disease after nine years regarding (1) mortality and risk of cardiac events, (2) chest pain symptoms, (3) psychological distress, (4) health care utilization, and (5) work disability.
Methods: One hundred ninety-nine patients referred for cardiological outpatient investigation because of chest pain of unknown origin were followed up after nine years. At baseline, 76 patients (38%) suffered from panic disorder and 32 patients (16%) suffered from coronary artery disease. One hundred fifty patients completed the follow-up assessments comprising a second cardiological and psychiatric evaluation. For the 14 patients who had died during the follow-up period, the death register was searched for causes of death. The psychiatric evaluation included a diagnostic interview (SCID I) as well as self-report questionnaires covering chest pain (SFMPQ), psychological distress (SCL-90), hypochondrial features (IAS), and registration of health care utilization, medication, and work disability.
Results: There was no association between PD and risk of death or cardiac events. Although only 20 % of the PD patients at baseline still fulfilled the criteria for current PD at follow-up, the PD patients reported significantly higher symptoms of anxiety, depression, somatization and hypochondriasis compared to patients without PD. There was no association between PD at baseline and persistence of chest pain, health care utilization, or work disability.
Conclusion: Presence of panic disorder is associated with long-term psychological distress in chest pain patients with and without coronary disease.

Ishida, Riichiro/ Okada, Masahiko. Effects of a Firm Purpose in Life on Anxiety and Sympathetic Nervous Activity Caused by Emotional Stress: Assessment by Psycho - Physiological Method. Stress and Health 2006, 22, 275–281.
Summary
Purpose: The concept of purpose in life (PIL) has been explained using such words as ‘existentialism’ or ‘meaning in life’. Crumbaugh and Maholic devised a method to quantitatively measure the meaning in life called the PIL test. To clarify the effect of emotional stress on health, the effects of PIL on anxiety and sympathetic nervous activity caused by emotional stress were assessed. Also the relationship between experiences in life and PIL in adults were examined.
Methods: Thirty-two healthy male and female adult volunteers were recruited for this study. The subjects were required to fill out the PIL test, the manifest anxiety scale (MAS) test, the Cornell Medical Index (CMI) test for psychiatric/somatic symptoms, and the Youth and Adulthood Experiences Inventory (YAEI). Autonomic nervous activity was assessed by measuring heart rate variability before and while watching a video of a roller coaster.
Results: Scores on the PIL test were negatively correlated with scores on the MAS and CMI test for psychiatric/somatic symptoms. PIL scores were positively correlated with the positive experiences of the YAEI. Heart rate measurements of those classed in the infirm purpose in life (IFPIL) group, taken before and while watching the video, showed significant increases in the coefficient of variance (CV), low frequency power (LF), and the difference between low frequency power and high frequency power (LF-HF). The IFPIL heart rate measurements taken while watching the video also showed decreases in high frequency power (HF).
Conclusion: Firm purpose in life (FPIL), which develops by positive experiences in youth and adulthood, contributes to reducing the development of anxiety and relieving the excessive response of the autonomic nervous system to emotional stress. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Matheis, Elizabeth N./ Tulsky, David S./ Matheis, Robert J. The Relation Between Spirituality and Quality of Life Among Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury. Rehabilitation Psychology 2006, 51(3), 265–271.
Objective: To determine how spiritual-based coping relates to quality of life in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design, Setting, & Participants: A telephone interview of 75 participants, primarily Caucasian single men aged 19 to 71 (enrolled in the Northern New Jersey Spinal Cord Injury Model System). Measures: Ellison’s Spiritual Well-Being Scale, Duke Health Profile, Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique, Diener’s Satisfaction With Life Survey. Results: Virtually all participants (98.7%) reported using some form of spiritual-based coping. Quality of life was highest among participants who use existential spiritual as opposed to religious spiritual coping. In particular, existential spirituality shared 27% variance with overall perceived life quality. Conclusions: Spiritual-based coping might be encouraged as a possible strategy to improve life quality. Clinicians should be cognizant of ongoing spiritual practices among persons with SCI.

Maunder,Robert G./ Lancee, William J. Nolan,  Robert P./ Hunter, Jonathan J./ Tannenbaum, David W.  The Relationship of Attachment Insecurity to Subjective Stress and Autonomic Function during Standardized Acute Stress in Healthy Adults. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2006, 60, 283– 290.
Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to test predicted relationships between adult attachment and stress using subjective and physiological measures. Methods: Sixty-seven healthy adults completed measures of adult attachment and perceived chronic stress. Subjective stress and the high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) spectral bandwidths of heart rate variability (HRV) were measured during a standardized stress protocol.
Results: Attachment anxiety is associated with between-subject differences in chronic perceived stress ( P=.001) and subjective acute stress ( P=.01). There is a main effect of attachment avoidance on between-subject differences in HF HRV ( P=.004). Attachment avoidance is inversely associated with HF HRV, independent of age and variability in respiration.
Conclusion: Attachment anxiety is associated with self-reported distress. Attachment avoidance is inversely associated with HF HRV, a marker of vagal influence on cardiac activity, but is not associated with subjective stress.

Smith, Robert C./ Gardiner, Joseph C. Administrative Database Screening to Identify Somatizing Patients. Medical Care September 2006, 44(9), 799-807.

Sunter, Ahmet Tevfik/ Guz, Hatice/ Ozkan, Aysen/ Peksen, Yildiz.
The Search for Non-Medical Treatment by Patients with Psychiatric Disorders. Journal of Religion and Health Fall 2006, 45(3), 396-404.
Abstract
Patients in Turkey frequently seek help from non-physicians such as hodjas and fortune-tellers. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence, reasons for and results of the search for non-medical help by patients with psychiatric disorders. It was determined that 42.2% of patients consulted a hodja or a fortune-teller, and many (23.1%) were either the subject of prayers or else were advised to pray themselves as treatment. Considering that a significant number of patients seek non-medical treatment, it is thought that people should be informed about psychiatric disorders, therapies, and how to obtain them.

Vujanovic, Anka A., et al. A test of the interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity and mindfulness in the prediction of anxious arousal,..., Behaviour Research and Therapy 2006.
Abstract
The present investigation sought to examine the interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity [AS; Reiss, S., & McNally, R. J. (1985). Expectancy model of fear In S. Reiss, & R. R. Bootzin (Eds.), Theoretical issues in behavior therapy (pp. 107–121). San Diego: Academic Press] and mindfulness [Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefit of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848] in predicting panic-relevant processes. A community sample of 248 individuals participated in the study by completing a battery of self-report instruments. Consistent with prediction, the interaction between AS and mindfulness significantly predicted anxious arousal symptoms and agoraphobic cognitions, above and beyond the individual main effects, and did not significantly predict anhedonic depression symptoms. Contrary to prediction, the AS by mindfulness interaction did not significantly predict body vigilance. Theoretical implications are discussed and future directions are delineated.

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