Stress, headache, and physiological disregulation: a time-series analysis of stress in the laboratory.

This study examined the stress-headache relationship from a disregulation framework by monitoring both physiological responses (e.g., pulse, blood volume, skin resistance, and EMG) and self-reported responses to a stressful event in tension and migraine headache sufferers, as well as in headache-free controls. Responses were analyzed via time-series analyses to determine whether self-reports of stress were correlated with physiological measures of stress. It was hypothesized that tension and migraine headache sufferers would show fewer significant correlations than control participants between their self-reports of stress and physiological activity. Data analyses supported this hypothesis for tension headache sufferers, but generally not for migraine headache sufferers. The most compelling support for the hypothesis in tension headache sufferers came from the cross-correlations between self-reported stress and pulse rate.

The relationship between stress, headache, and the menstrual cycle in young female migraineurs.

This study examined the relationship between the menstrual cycle, the stress process, and migraines. Women migraineurs (N = 12) and a matched control sample (N = 12) completed a set of questionnaires assessing stress, appraisal, and coping at premenses, menses, and ovulation. In addition, migraineurs completed a month of daily headache recording. Analyses revealed that the menstrual cycle affected subjects' use of coping strategies and migraineurs' headache activity. Analyses also showed that the covariation between stress and migraine varied across the menstrual cycle. These results support the hypothesis of a three-way relationship between menstrual cycle, stress, and migraine. We suggest that physiological and/or psychological changes associated with premenses may enhance or strengthen the relationship between stress and migraine.

Assessing the acceptability of behavioral treatments to persons with mental retardation.

Individuals with mild to moderate mental retardation living in community residential settings (Experiment 1) or an institutional setting (Experiment 2) rated the acceptability of differential reinforcement and time-out applied to a mild and a severe behavior problem. Using analogue methodology similar to previous treatment acceptability studies (e.g., Miltenberger, Lennox, & Erfanian, 1989; Tarnowski, Rasnake, Mulicke, & Kelly, 1989), and a simplified rating scale developed for persons with mental retardation, community-based subjects rated differential reinforcement as more acceptable than time-out for the mild problem, whereas institutionalized subjects rated time-out as more acceptable than differential reinforcement when applied to the severe problem. These results were discussed and future research suggested.