People with chronic pain who stay active may have one key advantage: Resilience. A new study from the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. found that one’s ability to cope with pain, also known as pain resilience, plays a bigger role in maintaining physical activity than the amount of pain they experience. “What we found is that it’s not how much pain you’re in that determines whether you stay physically active — it’s how you think about and respond to that pain,” lead author Nils Niederstrasser, a lecturer in the university’s school of psychology, sport and health sciences, said in a news release. The findings were published Oct. 22 in the journal PLOS One. Researchers analyzed data from 172 adults with chronic pain to better understand what factors influence activity levels.  They looked at pain intensity, the number of painful areas, pain duration, frailty and fear of movement, and found that resilience was the only consistent predictor of higher activity levels. Even after accounting for how severe the pain was, those with higher resilience were more likely to keep moving. In contrast, fear of movement (known as kinesiophobia) did not significantly impact physical activity. The study suggests that building psychological resilience could be just as important as pain management for improving long-term health. “People with greater resilience can maintain a positive attitude and push through…  read on >  read on >

People with chronic pain who stay active may have one key advantage: Resilience. A new study from the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. found that one’s ability to cope with pain, also known as pain resilience, plays a bigger role in maintaining physical activity than the amount of pain they experience. “What we found is that it’s not how much pain you’re in that determines whether you stay physically active — it’s how you think about and respond to that pain,” lead author Nils Niederstrasser, a lecturer in the university’s school of psychology, sport and health sciences, said in a news release. The findings were published Oct. 22 in the journal PLOS One. Researchers analyzed data from 172 adults with chronic pain to better understand what factors influence activity levels.  They looked at pain intensity, the number of painful areas, pain duration, frailty and fear of movement, and found that resilience was the only consistent predictor of higher activity levels. Even after accounting for how severe the pain was, those with higher resilience were more likely to keep moving. In contrast, fear of movement (known as kinesiophobia) did not significantly impact physical activity. The study suggests that building psychological resilience could be just as important as pain management for improving long-term health. “People with greater resilience can maintain a positive attitude and push through…  read on >  read on >

Lousy sleep might be an early warning sign for suicide risk among teenagers, a new study says. Teenagers who didn’t get enough sleep on school nights or suffered from interrupted sleep had a significantly higher risk of suicide, researchers reported Oct. 23 in the journal Sleep Advances. “Adolescents who experience difficulties maintaining and obtaining sufficient sleep are more likely to report a suicide attempt several years later,” said lead researcher Michaela Pawley, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Warwick in the U.K. “Poor sleep is not just a symptom of wider difficulties, but a significant risk factor in its own right,” Pawley said in a news release. “Addressing sleep problems could form a vital part of suicide prevention strategies.” For the study, researchers tracked data on more than 8,500 young people participating in a long-term study of kids born between 2000 and 2002. Results showed that sleep problems at age 14 were linked to an increased likelihood of a suicide attempt at age 17, even after accounting for other suicide risk factors. In fact, poor sleep amounted to a stronger risk factor than depressive symptoms or other known risk factors, researchers said. Sleep might increase a teenager’s impulsivity, researchers theorized. Teens with stronger decision-making skills appeared protected against the impact of poor sleep on suicide risk, at least at first, the team…  read on >  read on >

Lousy sleep might be an early warning sign for suicide risk among teenagers, a new study says. Teenagers who didn’t get enough sleep on school nights or suffered from interrupted sleep had a significantly higher risk of suicide, researchers reported Oct. 23 in the journal Sleep Advances. “Adolescents who experience difficulties maintaining and obtaining sufficient sleep are more likely to report a suicide attempt several years later,” said lead researcher Michaela Pawley, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Warwick in the U.K. “Poor sleep is not just a symptom of wider difficulties, but a significant risk factor in its own right,” Pawley said in a news release. “Addressing sleep problems could form a vital part of suicide prevention strategies.” For the study, researchers tracked data on more than 8,500 young people participating in a long-term study of kids born between 2000 and 2002. Results showed that sleep problems at age 14 were linked to an increased likelihood of a suicide attempt at age 17, even after accounting for other suicide risk factors. In fact, poor sleep amounted to a stronger risk factor than depressive symptoms or other known risk factors, researchers said. Sleep might increase a teenager’s impulsivity, researchers theorized. Teens with stronger decision-making skills appeared protected against the impact of poor sleep on suicide risk, at least at first, the team…  read on >  read on >

A family riven by divorce or separation could triple the risk of a child developing psoriasis later in life, a new study says. The severe stress caused by such family upheaval might tax a child’s immune system in ways that increase their chances of this autoimmune skin disease marked by rapid cell growth that causes scaly, itchy rashes, researchers said. “Our results show — to our knowledge — a previously unreported fact that very stressful life factors early in life influence the immune system and increase the risk for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis,” said lead researcher Johnny Ludvigsson, a professor at Linkoping University in Sweden. “There is no simple advice to avoid these factors, but everything that can be done should be done to protect young children from stressful life factors that threaten their security and emotional well-being,” Ludvigsson said in a news release. For the new study, researchers tracked data on more than 16,000 children participating in a Swedish health study, noting their stressful life factors at ages 1, 3, 5 and 8. Of the children, 121 were later diagnosed with psoriasis. Kids had a tripled risk of psoriasis if they’d experienced a significant change in family structure within their first year of life, researchers found. Divorce, separation or the death of a parent could cause insecurity and fear in a young child,…  read on >  read on >

A family riven by divorce or separation could triple the risk of a child developing psoriasis later in life, a new study says. The severe stress caused by such family upheaval might tax a child’s immune system in ways that increase their chances of this autoimmune skin disease marked by rapid cell growth that causes scaly, itchy rashes, researchers said. “Our results show — to our knowledge — a previously unreported fact that very stressful life factors early in life influence the immune system and increase the risk for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis,” said lead researcher Johnny Ludvigsson, a professor at Linkoping University in Sweden. “There is no simple advice to avoid these factors, but everything that can be done should be done to protect young children from stressful life factors that threaten their security and emotional well-being,” Ludvigsson said in a news release. For the new study, researchers tracked data on more than 16,000 children participating in a Swedish health study, noting their stressful life factors at ages 1, 3, 5 and 8. Of the children, 121 were later diagnosed with psoriasis. Kids had a tripled risk of psoriasis if they’d experienced a significant change in family structure within their first year of life, researchers found. Divorce, separation or the death of a parent could cause insecurity and fear in a young child,…  read on >  read on >