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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UCLA Previously Published Works (2011)

Rumination has been suggested to mediate the physiological consequences of stress on health. We studied the effects of rumination evoked in the laboratory and subsequent changes over 24 h. Heart rate (HR) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) were monitored in 27 male and 33 female participants during baseline, reading, an anger recall interview, and recovery. Half of the sample was assigned to a distraction condition. The lab session was followed by a 24-hour ambulatory (A)HR and BP recording and self-reports of moods and rumination. Rumination was associated with higher SBP, DBP, and HR and increased negative mood compared to distraction. Rumination during the day was a strong predictor of AHR, ABP, and mood. BP reactivity in the laboratory and increases in ABP during rumination were related. The effects of negative cognition on health go far beyond the recovery periods usually measured in the laboratory, thus playing a pathogenic role.

    Cover page: Rumination in the laboratory: what happens when you go back to everyday life?
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UCLA Previously Published Works (2012)
    Physical activity (PA) is beneficial to overall health, in part due to physiological changes that lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including reduced inflammation. However, the mechanism by which PA reduces inflammation is unclear. One possible pathway is that PA improves body composition which in turn reduces inflammation. To test this hypothesis, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess PA-body composition -inflammation pathways, as well as influences of age. In a sample of 72 healthy males with a range of PA profiles (age 18-65, mean ± sd = ), we measured PA as metabolic equivalent tasks (as per the International PA Questionnaire), body composition as percent body fat, lean mass, and fat mass, and inflammation as plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6). We treated body composition in the SEM analysis as a latent variable indicated by the three measures. We performed statistical corrections for missing values and one outlier. The model demonstrated significant effects of PA on IL-6 both directly and through body composition. Percent body fat, fat mass, and lean mass were significant indicators of the body composition latent variable. Additionally, age showed an indirect effect on IL-6 through body composition, but no direct effect. The findings suggest that PA does improve inflammatory profile through improving body composition, but that other pathways also exist.
      Cover page: Pathways to Interleukin-6 in Healthy Males and Serious Leisure Male Athletes: Physical Activity, Body Composition and Age
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