Microgenetic Patterns of Adaptation on the Stroop Task by Patients with Bronchial Asthma and Duodenal Peptic Ulcer

Abstract

Microgenetic patterns of adaptation on the Stroop task were assessed by means of the Serial Color-Word Test given 21 patients with bronchial asthma and 20 with duodenal peptic ulcer, who were compared with 41 normal controls matched for sex, age, and education. Two measures were calculated on each of the five trials of the test, one of linear change and one of nonlinear change in reading times. As predicted, patients presented more frequently patterns characterized by high nonlinear change and less frequently stabilized patterns (low linear and nonlinear change of reading speed). Linear and nonlinear change were then calculated on the five linear change scores and the five nonlinear change scores; again patients presented more frequently patterns characterized by high nonlinear change on both the linear change scores and nonlinear change scores and less frequently stabilized patterns. These findings indicate strong similarities between the adaptation patterns of patients with ulcer and asthma and the microgenetic patterns previously known to characterize neurotic and psychotic patients. Furthermore, scores on the Serial Color-Word Test also differentiated between ulcer and asthma groups.

Prognostic significance of ventricular arrhythmia modified by ability to adapt to stressful situations

“…Its prognostic value in 'Men born in 1914' has, however, been shown in previous studies where the dimension Variability was associated with the incidence of a future cardiac event in hypertensive men [13] and the Regression with stroke incidence, also in hypertensive men [14]. In addition, the serial CWT has been validated against psychiatric syndromes and diagnoses in clinical settings [15], and it has discriminated between different psychosomatic disorders [22,40] and between various groups with and without clinical symptoms [41]. The most consistent observation where the test has been used is that control individuals more often have been categorized as Stabilized of either dimension whereas more severe disturbances have been associated with Dissociative and Cumulative-dissociative patterns, likewise of either dimension.…”

“…It is reasonable to believe that the maladaptive pattern, as defined in this study, is related to cardiovascular reactivity and that men with this behaviour are more prone to sudden elevations of blood pressure. The two adaptive patterns which make up the maladaptive behaviour, the Dissociative and the Cumulative-dissociative of the Variability dimension of the serial CWT, are also more frequent among psychosomatic patients than in healthy individuals [22]. In addition, the Cumulative-dissociative pattern of the Variability dimension has been related to high levels of tension [37].…”

“…The fourth pattern, the Cumulativedissociative, shows increasing time consumption from the first subtest until the last, combined with intermittently increasing and decreasing time consumption in each subtest. More information on, and graphic illustrations of, the adaptive patterns have been given in detail [8,13,22].…”

Differentiating Clinical Groups Using the Serial Color-Word Test (S–Cwt)

“…S-CWT scores have been used previously to differentiate psychosomatic pafients, mostly in bivariate comparisons. Rubino and coworkers and Theander have published studies on asthma patients, patients suffering from psoriasis, patients suffering from temporo-mandibular joint pain dysfunetion syndrome, and anorexia patients (Theander, 1970;Rubino, Grasso, & Pezzarossa, 1990;Baggi, Rubino, Zanna, & Marfignoni, 1995;Rubino, Tozzi, Pischeda, & Ciani, 2001). Psyehosomatic disturbanees have repeatedly been related to stress suseeptibility (Weiner, 1979;Hentsehel & Bekker, 2004), and here eould be a eentral link beyond the aftenfion-regulafion meehanisms involved in the performanee of the psyehosomatic groups in this study.…”

The impact of personality factors on delay in seeking treatment of acute myocardial infarction

“…It is a version of the Stroop test that was originally designed to study interference and has been described in several earlier studies [12,23,24]. Words are printed in an incongruent color and the subject is asked to name the color of the print while disregarding the written word.…”