title: Change in airflow among patients with asthma discussing relationship problems with their partners.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. kbschmal@uncc.edu
authors.forename: Karen B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Schmaling
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Afari
authors.forename: Hyman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hops
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barnhart
authors.forename: Dedra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buchwald
mesh_terms: 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