Change in airflow among patients with asthma discussing relationship problems with their partners.
This study examined the covariation of negative emotions with airflow among 48 persons with asthma and their partners as they discussed relationship problems. Measures included self-reported questionnaires, airflow and behavior coded from videotaped discussions. Significantly increased self-reported hostility and statistically but not clinically significant declines in airflow were found post- versus pre-discussion. Self-reported responses to asthma symptoms of more anger and less loneliness predicted lower post-discussion airflow after accounting for pre-discussion airflow. The use of effort-independent measures of airflow and autonomic nervous system monitoring may inform future research regarding the physiological mechanisms through which mood and behavior affect airflow.
Schmaling
Karen B
KB
College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. kbschmal@uncc.edu
Afari
Niloofar
N
Hops
Hyman
H
Barnhart
Scott
S
Buchwald
Dedra
D
D000328:Adult; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation / Q000502:physiology*; D013224:Status Asthmaticus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology