2007 Final Program - Society of Behavioral Medicine

SOCIETY of BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE
Rapid Communications Posters Thursday, March 22, 2007 • 6:30 PM-8:00 PM • Poster Session B
areas of conflict. If clinicians can anticipate possible problem areas
a couple may experience, preventive measures may be taken to
avoid subsequent negative changes in conflict patterns. This study
attempts to identify differences in perceived severity of conflict
regarding several common topics in both breast cancer survivors and
cancer-free controls. Data were collected as part of a larger study
involving 206 breast cancer survivors and 206 age and ethnicitymatched
women who had never received a cancer diagnosis. Profile
analysis will be used determine differences in these two groups in
reported severity of conflict in several different areas, including
money, friendships, and alcohol and drug use, as measured by the
Knox Problem Inventory. Implications for health service providers
working with breast cancer patients and survivors will be discussed.
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Brittany E. Canady, MA,
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX,
77204-5022; bcanady@uh.edu
2478
LIFETIME HISTORY OF DEPRESSION PREDICTS
INCREASED ODDS OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME IN
MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN
Edie Goldbacher, MS, 1 , 2 Karen Matthews, PhD 1 and Joyce
Bromberger, PhD 1
1
U of Pittsburgh, Pgh, PA and 2 VA Pittsburgh, PA.
Emerging evidence suggests that the etiology of the metabolic
syndrome (MS), a cluster of risk factors for coronary heart disease
(CHD) and Type 2 diabetes, may be related to psychological
characteristics. Despite substantial evidence for a role of depression
in the pathogenesis of CHD and Type 2 diabetes, only one study has
examined the relationship between clinical depression and the MS,
and no study has used a longitudinal design. Our objective was to
investigate the cross-sectional and prospective associations of a lifetime
history of major depression with the MS in a sample of middleaged
women. Participants consisted of women (1/3 Black) from the
Pittsburgh cohort of the Mental Health Study ancillary investigation
of The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a study
of the menopausal transition. Logistic regression, controlling for
baseline age and race, was used to evaluate the association between
lifetime history of depression, measured at baseline by the SCID,
and the MS (ATP-III criteria) across baseline and three bi-annual
visits. Results showed that depression was associated with 1.62 greater
odds (CI = 1.01, 2.59; p < .05) of having the MS during the study
(123 with MS out of a total of 324 with no missing data). Similarly,
Cox modeling, controlling for baseline age and race, revealed a trend
for lifetime history of depression predicting 1.66 times greater odds
(CI = 0.87, 3.15; p = .12) of developing the MS during the followup
period (38 with MS out of a total of 336 women free of MS at
baseline). This study is the first to demonstrate that a lifetime history
of major depression is associated with increased odds of having the
MS in women undergoing the menopausal transition, and it the first
to indicate that a lifetime history of depression may contribute to
the etiology of the metabolic syndrome in middle-age. SWAN was
funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of
Nursing Research, the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health,
and the National Institute of Mental Health (Grants AG012546,
MH059689).
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Edie M. Goldbacher, MS,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213; goldbacherem@
upmc.edu
~ 90 ~
2479
PREVALENCE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL PARAMETERS OF
SMOKING IN CYPRIOT MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS
Maria Karekla, PhD and Anastasia Symeou, MD
Psychology, Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Smoking has been internationally recognized as an epidemic
contributing to major health problems (WHO, 2004). Research has
shown that smoking contributes to most of the preventable deaths,
a number that reaches approximately 1 million deaths per year
(ENSP, 2004). Although Cyprus is considered among the developed
countries worldwide with a high prevalence of smoking (estimates
of approximately 25-35% of the population, ENSP, 2004), not
much has been done for the systematic scientific study of this
problem. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of
smoking and the psychosocial parameters associated with initiation
and continuation of smoking (e.g. knowledge, beliefs, attitudes,
exposure to tobacco products and smoke, degree of nicotine
dependence etc.) among Cypriot middle and high school students.
Participants were 1628 (788 females; Mage = 16.53) middle and
high school students. Thirty-two percent of participants reported
that they have tried smoking whereas another 4.2% stated that
they would like to try. As expected there is a progressive increase
in those who smoke with age. Only 7% of those in the first grade
of middle school smoke and the number increases to 34% by the
third grade of middle school, whereas by the third grade of highschool
66% of students report that they smoke. Interestingly, the
number of smokers is similar across the sexes with females smoking
at similar rates to males. These percentages are alarming, especially
when coupled with the limited knowledge that Cypriot students
have about the effects of smoking. Results will be further discussed
in terms of the beliefs and attitudes students have about smoking.
Also psychosocial parameters that lead to student’s initiating and
continuing to smoke are explored
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Maria Karekla, PhD, Psychology,
Intercollege, Nicosia, 1700; karekla.m@intercollege.ac.cy
2480
THE EFFECTS OF AN OSTEOPOROSIS EXERCISE
PROGRAM ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF
LIFE IN OLDER ADULTS
Joseph Nimon, BS anticipated and Cay Anderson-Hanley, PhD
Psychology, Union College, Schenectady, NY.
Prior research has demonstrated the beneficial role that aerobic
exercise can have on the well-being and cognitive function of
older adults (Emery & Blumenthal, 1991; Etnier et al., 1997; Hall
et al., 2001; Heyn et al., 2004). In this study we are attempting
to replicate and extend work from a small randomized study in
which osteoporosis exercisers were found to improve significantly
on a measure of executive function as well as mood (Kazmerski &
Anderson-Hanley, 2005). Here we have hypothesized that a nonaerobic
osteoporosis exercise program can have a positive effect on
executive function in older adults across a broader array of measures
than in our original pilot, which utilized only a screening tool. The
present study consisted of assessments of Executive function (Digit
Span, COWA, Trails A&B, Stroop, and WCST), mood (GDS),