Psychological stress is thought to undermine host resistance to infection through neuroendocrine-mediated changes in immune competence. Associations between stress and infection have been modest in magnitude, however, suggesting individual variability in stress response. We therefore studied environmental stressors, psychobiologic reactivity to stress, and respiratory illness incidence in two studies of 236 preschool children. In Study 1, 137 3- to 5-year-old children from four childcare centers underwent a laboratory-based assessment of cardiovascular reactivity (changes in heart rate and mean arterial pressure) during a series of developmentally challenging tasks. Environmental stress was evaluated with two measures of stressors in the childcare setting. The incidence of respiratory illnesses was ascertained over 6 months using weekly respiratory tract examinations by a nurse. In Study 2, 99 5-year-old children were assessed for immune reactivity (changes in CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ cell numbers, lymphocyte mitogenesis, and antibody response to pneumococcal vaccine) during the normative stressor of entering school. Blood for immune measures was sampled 1 week before and after kindergarten entry. Environmental stress was indexed with parent reports of family stressors, and a 12-week respiratory illness incidence was measured with biweekly, parent-completed symptom checklists. The two studies produced remarkably similar findings. Although environmental stress was not independently associated with respiratory illnesses in either study, the incidence of illness was related to an interaction between child care stress and mean arterial pressure reactivity (beta = .35, p < .05) in Study 1 and to an interaction between stressful life events and CD19+ reactivity (beta = .51, p < .05) in Study 2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Nearly half of police with probable PTSD had comorbid depression and anxiety. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:425-436, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Findings indicate that self-efficacy may be more important to the severity and chronicity of PTSD symptoms than social support. Multivariate comparisons suggest that PTSD with comorbid depression is a presentation of trauma-dependent psychopathologies, as opposed to depression alone following trauma, which was independent of trauma exposure and may be secondary to the traumatic event and posttraumatic response. Implications for assessment and treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Manganese (Mn), an essential element, can be neurotoxic in high doses. This cross-sectional study explored the cognitive function of adults residing in two towns (Marietta and East Liverpool, Ohio, USA) identified as having high levels of environmental airborne Mn from industrial sources. Air-Mn site surface emissions method modeling for total suspended particulate (TSP) ranged from 0.03 to 1.61 μg/m3 in Marietta and 0.01–6.32 μg/m3 in East Liverpool. A comprehensive screening test battery of cognitive function, including the domains of abstract thinking, attention/concentration, executive function and memory was administered. The mean age of the participants was 56 years (±10.8 years). Participants were mostly female (59.1) and primarily white (94.6%). Significant relationships (p < 0.05) were found between Mn exposure and performance on working and visuospatial memory (e.g., Rey-O Immediate β = −0.19, Rey-O Delayed β = −0.16) and verbal skills (e.g., Similarities β = −0.19). Using extensive cognitive testing and computer modeling of 10-plus years of measured air monitoring data, this study suggests that long-term environmental exposure to high levels of air-Mn, the exposure metric of this paper, may result in mild deficits of cognitive function in adult populations.

There is a paucity of knowledge concerning the underlying symptomatology of heterogeneous posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) trajectories following mass trauma, such as a terrorist attack. This study examined longitudinal PTSS trajectories using latent growth mixture modeling in 2,355 World Trade Center (WTC) tower survivors surveyed by the WTC Health Registry an average of 2.5, 5.5, and 10.5 years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Covariates included sociodemographic characteristics, WTC‐related exposure, and other traumas/stressors. Four curvilinear PTSS trajectories were identified: low symptom (74.9%), recovering (8.0%), worsening (6.7%), and chronic (10.4%). The majority of WTC survivors (85.3%) maintained stable symptom trajectories over time, with PTSS changes occurring less often. Although WTC‐related exposure was associated with initial PTSS severity, exposure was not associated with chronicity or change of PTSS over time. Male gender and a higher number of post‐WTC disaster life‐stressors were associated with worsening symptom severity over time. Individuals with more severe hyperarousal symptoms at Wave 1, particularly of anxious arousal, were more likely to have PTSS that worsened over time, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.55. Less severe emotional numbing symptoms, particularly of dysphoria, at Wave 1, were marginally significantly associated with subsequent PTSS recovery, aOR = 0.75. Interventions that target hyperarousal and emotional numbing symptoms may mitigate a worsening of symptoms and facilitate posttraumatic recovery following future mass traumas, such as terrorist attacks. Further clinical implications are discussed.