Effects of childhood experiences of parental attitude, depressive rumination, and sleep disturbances on adulthood depressive symptoms.

Aim: Various factors are thought to be involved in the development of depression, but the mechanisms are not yet clear. Although several reports have demonstrated that parental attitude experienced in childhood, depressive rumination, and sleep disturbances each influence depressive symptoms, and the association between two of these four variables, to our knowledge, no reports to date have investigated the association among the four variables. Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to 576 adults who agreed to participate in this study between April 2017 and April 2018. Questionnaires assessed parental attitudes experienced in childhood, depressive rumination, sleep disturbances, and depressive symptoms in adulthood. The associations among the four variables were tested by structural equation modeling. Results: Regarding the direct effects, the parental attitude of "care" had a negative influence on depressive rumination and depressive symptoms, whereas "overprotection" had a positive influence on depressive rumination. Depressive rumination had a positive influence on sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms, whereas sleep disturbances had a positive influence on depressive symptoms. Regarding indirect effects, depressive rumination mediated the association between parental attitudes and sleep disturbances or depressive symptoms. Furthermore, sleep disturbances mediated the association between depressive rumination and depressive symptoms. Care and overprotection showed opposite effects. The goodness of fit of this model was high. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that there were associations among the four variables. Clinical assessment and intervention of depressive rumination and sleep disturbances that are closely associated with previous parental attitudes may lead to an improvement of depressive symptoms.

Effects of Peer Victimization in Childhood and Trait Anxiety on Job Stress in Adulthood.

Background: The experience of peer victimization in childhood increases the risk of developing anxiety disorders and depression, risk of suicide, as well as sensitivity to stress, in adulthood. Various personality traits are known to be associated with these effects. However, the influence of trait anxiety on job stress has not yet been reported. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the experience of peer victimization in childhood and trait anxiety influence job stress in adulthood. Methods: A questionnaire survey, including State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Childhood Victimization Rating Scale, and Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, was administered to 566 adult workers. The interrelationship between multiple variables was analyzed by multiple regression analysis and path analysis. Results: In the path model, childhood peer victimization had a positive direct effect on trait anxiety and the psychological and physical stress response (PPSR). Trait anxiety had a positive direct effect on job stressors and PPSR, and job stressors had a positive direct effect on PPSR. Regarding indirect effects, childhood peer victimization had a significant adverse effect on job stressors and PPSR via trait anxiety. Conclusion: Our results showed that childhood peer victimization has a negative impact on job stress in adulthood, which is influenced by trait anxiety. Interventions to address peer victimization in childhood and trait anxiety may reduce job stress in adulthood, and thus contribute to improved occupational mental health and productivity in the workplace.

Optimal Physical Activity Is Associated with the Reduction of Depressive Symptoms via Neuroticism and Resilience.

BACKGROUND: Personality traits, such as neuroticism, that results in vulnerability to stress, and resilience, a measure of stress coping, are closely associated with the onset of depressive symptoms, whereas regular physical activity habits have been shown to reduce depressive symptoms. In this study, the mediating effects of neuroticism and resilience between physical activity duration and depressive symptoms were investigated by a covariance structure analysis. METHODS: Between April 2017 and April 2018, 526 adult volunteers were surveyed using self-administered questionnaires. Demographic information, habitual physical activity duration (PAD), neuroticism, and resilience were investigated. The effects of these factors on depressive symptoms were analyzed by a covariance structure analysis. This study was conducted with the approval of the Medical Ethics Committee of Tokyo Medical University. RESULTS: The dose-response curves of physical activity duration and depression scores were U-shaped: the optimal physical activity duration for the lowest depression score was 25.7 h/week. We found that the greater the difference from the optimal PAD, the higher the neuroticism and the lower the resilience, and the more severe the depressive symptoms. Covariance structure analysis demonstrated that neuroticism and resilience significantly and completely mediated the effects of the difference from the optimal PAD on depressive symptoms (coefficient of determination R2 = 0.349). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that there is an optimal PAD that reduces depressive symptoms, and that a greater difference from the optimal PAD increases depressive symptoms through neuroticism and resilience.

Mediating Effects of Trait Anxiety and State Anxiety on the Effects of Physical Activity on Depressive Symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that physical activity can prevent the onset of depression and reduces anxiety. In the present study, the hypothesis that total physical activity time influences depressive symptoms via state and trait anxiety was tested by a path analysis. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were used to survey 526 general adult volunteers from April 2017 to April 2018. Demographic information, physical activity, and state and trait anxiety were investigated. RESULTS: The association between physical activity time and depressive symptoms was expressed as a U-shape curve. The results of the covariance structure analysis showed that differences from the optimal physical activity time (DOT) had direct positive effects on state and trait anxiety. DOT affected depressive symptoms only via trait anxiety, and this was a complete mediation model. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that an optimal physical activity time exists for depressive symptoms. The path model demonstrated an association between the three factors of optimal physical activity time, trait anxiety, and depressive symptoms, and the effect was fully mediated by trait anxiety.

Too much is too little: Estimating the optimal physical activity level for a healthy mental state.

Introduction: Although physical activity and exercise are generally thought to have favorable effects on mental health, excessive physical activity may have unfavorable effects. In this study, the associations between physical activity and the states of mental health with U-shaped dose-response curves were hypothesized, and the ranges of physical activity resulting in optimal effects on mental health were investigated. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1,237 adult volunteers in 2017 and 2018. Of these volunteers, 526 participants validly answered the self-administered questionnaires asking about physical activity, depression, anxiety, resilience, insomnia vulnerability, and life events. A comparison of mental health measures by physical activity levels and quadratic equation model regressions were performed. Results: No significant linear associations between physical activity levels and mental health measurements were observed; however, the U-shaped, quadratic equation models indicated a significance. The following levels of physical activity per week optimized the mental health measurements values of the participants: 6,953 MET-minutes and 25.70 h for depression, 5,277 MET-minutes and 21.60 h for state anxiety, 5,678 MET-minutes and 22.58 h for trait anxiety, 25.41 h for resilience, and 9,152 MET-minutes and 31.17 h for insomnia vulnerability. Conclusion: Physical activities in the optimal range were associated with more favorable mental health measurements. Physical activities that were too much or too long and outside of the optimal range were associated with less favorable mental health measurements.

Increased plasma brain natriuretic peptide level as a guide for silent myocardial ischemia in patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVES: We measured plasma atrial/brain natriuretic peptide (ANP/BNP) levels at rest and during exercise and correlated the results with various clinical findings, particularly with myocardial ischemia, in asymptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). BACKGROUND: In patients with HCM, ANP and BNP levels are elevated and exercise-induced myocardial ischemia is common. However, it has not yet been elucidated how these levels at rest and their change with dynamic exercise are related to ischemia. METHODS: Levels of ANP and BNP were measured at rest and at peak exercise during (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin scintigraphy in 31 asymptomatic patients with non-obstructive HCM and in 10 control subjects. RESULTS: Levels of ANP and BNP at rest and the change of ANP and BNP levels (PG/ML) from rest to exercise were significantly greater in HCM than in control subjects (ANP: rest, 53.2 +/- 31.8 vs. 11.6 +/- 6.1; exercise, 114.5 +/- 74.8 vs. 28.3 +/- 23.4. BNP: rest, 156.7 +/- 104.1 vs. 9.8 +/- 9.6; exercise, 201.6 +/- 131.5 vs. 13.2 +/- 14.5). Septal perforator compression (SPC) and exercise-induced ischemia were observed, respectively, in 20 (64.5%) and in 19 (61.3%) patients with HCM. The increment of ANP during exercise was similar between HCM subgroups with or without inducible ischemia. However, BNP levels at rest and BNP increments during exercise were significantly greater in the HCM subgroup with inducible ischemia than in the subgroup without (rest, 190.5 +/- 116.2 vs. 103.1 +/- 48.3; exercise, 250.5 +/- 142.2 vs. 124.2 +/- 58.6). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that SPC and BNP levels at rest were independently associated with exercise-induced ischemia. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of plasma BNP levels at rest may be useful in predicting silent myocardial ischemia in HCM.