Psychological stress has been linked empirically with dysregulation of facets of the human immune system, yet these effects are not the same in every situation or population. Recent research has made strides towards understanding risk factors for immune dysregulation as well as why these risks occur. This review discusses mechanisms and mediators underlying the stress-immune relation, the role of context in determining whether an immunologic responses to stress is adaptive versus maladaptive, and the stress-immune relation in populations including children exposed to early adversity, older adults, and individuals with clinical diagnoses. The reviewed work holds great promise for further elucidating the circumstances under which psychological stress has immunological consequences, and provides new directions for work in this field.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with positive physiological and psychological effects. HRV is affected by breathing parameters, yet, debate remains regarding the best breathing interventions for strengthening HRV. The objective of the current study was to test whether the inclusion of a post-exhalation rest period was effective at increasing HRV, while controlling for breathing rate. A within-subjects crossover design was used with 40 participants who were assigned randomly to a breathing pattern including a post-exhalation rest period or a breathing pattern that omitted the post exhalation rest period. Participants completed training on each breathing pattern, practiced for six minutes, and sat quietly during a five-minute washout period between practices. Participants were given instructions for diaphragmatic breathing (DB) at a pace of six breaths/minute with or without a post-exhalation rest period. Recordings of heart rate, breathing rate, HF-HRV, RMSSD, LF-HRV, SDNN were collected before and during each of the breathing trials. HRV indices were derived from Lead one ECG recordings. Pairwise contrasts showed inclusion of a post-exhalation rest period significantly decreased heart rate (p < .001) and increased HF-HRV (p < .05). No differences were found for breathing rates (p > .05), RMSSD (p > .05), and SDNN (p > .05). Results indicted omission of the post-exhalation rest period resulted in higher LF-HRV (p < .05). A post-exhalation rest period improves HF-HRV, commonly associated with self-regulatory control, yet a post-exhalation rest period’s importance requires further exploration.

College students without ADHD may feign symptoms of ADHD to gain access to stimulant medications and academic accommodations. Unfortunately, research has shown that it can be difficult to discriminate malingered from genuine ADHD symptomatology, especially when evaluations are based only on self-report questionnaires. The present study investigated whether nonclinical college students given no additional information could feign ADHD as successfully as those who were coached on symptoms of the disorder. Similar to Jasinski et al. (2011) and other research on feigned ADHD, a battery of neuropsychological, performance validity, and self-report tests was administered. Undergraduates with no history of ADHD or other psychiatric disorders were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 simulator groups: a coached group that was given information about ADHD symptoms, or a noncoached group that was given no such information. Both simulator groups were asked to feign ADHD. Their performance was compared to a genuine ADHD group and a nonclinical group asked to respond honestly. Self-report, neuropsychological, and performance validity test data are discussed in the context of the effect of coaching and its implications for ADHD evaluations. Symptom coaching did not have a significant effect on feigning success. Performance validity tests were moderately effective at detecting feigned ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record

Independent of current SES, childhood and adulthood SEC predicted later-life cognition, which may be sensitive to effects of social institutions and environmental health. SEC assessed across the lifespan, and related residential mobility information, may be important complements to SES in predicting later-life cognitive health.

Physical pain is more prevalent with older age and female gender, and pain can interfere with goal pursuit and its psychological benefit. In particular, insofar as pain is associated with fatigue, it may limit resources for goal pursuit and increase goal resource conflict: the competition between goals for time and energy. Therefore, the pursuit of goals with high value and low resource conflict should provide the most psychological benefit, particularly for women who experience physical pain. Women in middle and older age (N = 200) completed up to 7 daily diaries (n = 1,380), in which they reported and rated their daily goals and assessed their daily pain, distress, fatigue, and cognitive function. Raters also assessed goal conflict. Multilevel models tested the within- and between-person relationships of goal value and goal conflict with daily distress, fatigue, and cognitive function, as well as moderation by pain. Higher goal value was associated with less distress and fatigue and better cognitive function within and between women. Depending on whether or not a woman had physical pain, goal conflict had different relationships with fatigue and cognitive function: for women with no pain, there was a modest positive relationship between goal conflict and both cognitive difficulties and subjective fatigue; for women with pain, there was a negative relationship between goal conflict and both cognitive difficulties and subjective fatigue. Results suggest women without pain may be taxed by their goal conflict, whereas women with pain may regulate their goal conflict in response to their available resources.