Cognitive appraisal theories of stress and emotion propose that cognitive appraisals precede physiological responses, whereas peripheralist theories propose that physiological arousal precedes cognitive processes. Three studies examined this issue regarding threat and challenge responses to potential stress. Study 1 supported cognitive appraisal theory by demonstrating that threat and challenge cognitive appraisals and physiological responses could be elicited experimentally by manipulating instructional set. Studies 2 and 3, in contrast, found that manipulations of physiological response patterns consistent with challenge and threat did not result in corresponding changes in cognitive appraisal. Appraisals in Study 3, however, were related to subjective pain independent of the physiological manipulation. These studies suggest a central role for cognitive appraisal processes in elicitation of threat and challenge responses to potentially stressful situations.

This study sought to establish the psychometric properties of a Coping Strategies Inventory Short Form (CSI-SF) by examining coping skills in the Jackson Heart Study cohort. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson’s correlation, and Cronbach Alpha to examine reliability and validity in the CSI-SF that solicited responses from 5302 African American men and women between the ages of 35 and 84. One item was dropped from the 16-item CSI-SF, making it a 15-item survey. No significant effects were found for age and gender, strengthening the generalizability of the CSI-SF. The internal consistency reliability analysis revealed reliability between alpha = 0.58–0.72 for all of the scales, and all of the fit indices used to examine the CSI-SF provided support for its use as an adequate measure of coping. This study provides empirical support for utilizing this instrument in future efforts to understand the role of coping in moderating health outcomes.

Social identity theory predicts that perceivers strongly identified with an in-group will maximize the distinction and maintain a clear boundary between their own and other groups by categorizing others' membership accurately. Two experiments tested the prediction that racially prejudiced individuals, who presumably identify highly with their racial in-group, are more motivated to make accurate racial categorizations than nonprejudiced individuals. Results indicated that prejudiced participants not only took longer to categorize race-ambiguous targets (Experiments 1 and 2), but also made more nonverbal vocalizations when presented with them (Experiment 1), suggesting response hesitation. The results support the hypothesis that, compared to nonprejudiced individuals, prejudiced individuals concern themselves with accurate identification of in-group and out-group members and use caution when making racial categorizations. The basic hypothesis, then, is that pressures to evaluate one's own group positively through in-group/out-group comparisons lead social groups to attempt to differentiate themselves from each other. Tajfel & Turner (1986, p. 16) Individuals claim membership in numerous social groups. Indeed, the particular groups to which one belongs influence selfperceptions, including self-evaluation. Individuals often identify and define themselves in terms of their group memberships; for example, one identifies oneself as a college professor, a woman, or a Catholic. Membership in positively valued social groups generally enhances self-esteem (Tajfel & Turner, 1979, 1986). Groups may be positively valued in either an absolute or a relative sense. Positive value in an absolute sense occurs when the group achieves something culturally valued or at least valued by group members. Members share in the in-group's positive value in terms of their perceptions of both themselves and others. Supporting research has demonstrated that individuals are more likely to identify themselves verbally and nonverbally as a group member after a positive group experience (e.g., identifying oneself as a New Yorker after a Yankees World Series victory; Cialdini et al., 1976). Groups may also take on positive value in a relative sense,

The clinical literature increasingly indicates that cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are more common among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Depression also poses a risk for CVD and is often comorbid with PTSD. Research to date has not established whether PTSD is associated with additional CVD risk beyond the risks associated with comorbid depression. The authors examined relationships of lifetime PTSD and depression with high blood pressure in data from the US National Comorbidity Survey. They divided participants into 4 mutually exclusive diagnostic groups: (1) PTSD history and no depression history, (2) PTSD and depression history, (3) depression history and no PTSD history, and (4) no history of mental disorder. Hypertension prevalence was higher for the PTSD, no depression and PTSD plus depression groups compared with the depression only and no mental disorder groups. PTSD appears to be related to hypertension independent of depression. This may partially explain elevated rates of CVD in PTSD patients.

Exposure to psychological trauma (for example, childhood/early life adversity, exposure to violence or assault, combat exposure, accidents or natural disasters) is known to increase one's risk of developing certain chronic medical conditions. Clinical and population studies provide evidence of systemic inflammatory activity in trauma survivors with various psychiatric and nonpsychiatric conditions. This transdiagnostic meta-analysis quantitatively integrates the literature on the relationship of inflammatory biomarkers to trauma exposure and related symptomatology. We conducted random effects meta-analyses relating trauma exposure to log-transformed inflammatory biomarker concentrations, using meta-regression models to test the effects of study quality and psychiatric symptomatology on the inflammatory outcomes. Across k=36 independent samples and n=14 991 participants, trauma exposure was positively associated with C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (mean rs =0.2455, 0.3067, 0.2890, and 0.2998, respectively). No significant relationships were noted with fibrinogen, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, or IL-10. In meta-regression models, the presence of psychiatric symptoms was a significant predictor of increased effect sizes for IL-1β and IL-6 (β=1.0175 and 0.3568, respectively), whereas study quality assessment scores were associated with increased effect sizes for IL-6 (β=0.3812). Positive correlations between inflammation and trauma exposure across a range of sample types and diagnoses were found. Although reviewed studies spanned an array of populations, research on any one specific psychiatric diagnosis was generally limited to one or two studies. The results suggest that chronic inflammation likely represents one potential mechanism underlying risk of health problems in trauma survivors.