Introducing the System for Observing Medical Alliances (SOMA): A Tool for Studying Concordance in Patient-Physician Relationships

We developed the System for Observing Medical Alliances (SOMA) to study relationships between medical providers and patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Based on literature in health psychology, medicine, and the psychotherapeutic alliance, the SOMA operationalizes three medical alliance dimensions: Engagement in the Consultation Process, Trust in the Provider, and Concordance of Illness Beliefs and Treatment Recommendations. Specific behavioral indicators, tallied as observed by trained judges, are used as the basis for rating each dimension. In a sample of 33 medical consultations with veterans who had MUS, interrater reliabilities ranged from .79 to .94. Notably, the other dimension ratings accounted for 40% of the variability in Concordance, with Trust in the Provider contributing unique variance. In addition to research, psychologists in integrated health settings can use the SOMA to consult and train medical providers on communication skills that enhance concordance.

Cultural incongruity predicts adjustment to college for student veterans

Little is known about what predicts student service members' and veterans' (SSM/V) adjustment to college. In qualitative research, SSM/V report feeling they do not belong and are misunderstood by college communities, a phenomenon that counseling psychologists call cultural incongruity. The goal of the current study was to quantitatively examine the relationship between cultural incongruity and adjustment to college. We surveyed 814 SSM/V about their adjustment to college using the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire. Cultural incongruity was operationalized in two ways: feelings of not belonging were measured via direct report and the association with adjustment to college assessed with regression. Feelings of being misunderstood about academic barriers were assessed by comparing SSM/V's perceptions of academic barriers and SSM/V's perceptions of how others view the SSM/V's academic barriers and the association with adjustment was assessed using polynomial regression and response surface analysis. Cultural incongruity predicted adjustment to college. After controlling for other known predictors, feelings of not belonging accounted for 18% of the variance in adjustment to college. Polynomial regression showed that feeling understood about academic barriers protected against the negative impact of the barrier on adjustment to college. Cultural incongruity predicts adjustment to college for SSM/V. Helping SSM/V feel their unique barriers to college adjustment are understood may blunt the impact of these barriers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Mutual maintenance of PTSD and physical symptoms for Veterans returning from deployment

Background: The mutual maintenance model proposes that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and chronic physical symptoms have a bi-directional temporal relationship. Despite widespread support for this model, there are relatively few empirical tests of the model and these have primarily examined patients with a traumatic physical injury. Objective: To extend the assessment of this model, we examined the temporal relationship between PTSD and physical symptoms for military personnel deployed to combat (i.e., facing the risk of death) who were not evacuated for traumatic injury. Methods: The current study used a prospective, longitudinal design to understand the cross-lagged relationships between PTSD and physical symptoms before, immediately after, 3 months after, and 1 year after combat deployment. Results: The cross-lagged results showed physical symptoms at every time point were consistently related to greater PTSD symptoms at the subsequent time point. PTSD symptoms were related to subsequent physical symptoms, but only at one time-point with immediate post-deployment PTSD symptoms related to physical symptoms at three months after deployment. Conclusion: The findings extend prior work by providing evidence that PTSD and physical symptoms may be mutually maintaining even when there is not a severe traumatic physical injury.

Using the common-sense model to understand health outcomes for medically unexplained symptoms: a meta-analysis

Consistent with the common-sense model of self-regulation, illness representations are considered the key to improving health outcomes for medically unexplained symptoms and illnesses (MUS). Which illness representations are related to outcomes and how they are related is not well understood. In response, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relationship between illness representations, self-management/coping, and health outcomes (perceived disease state, psychological distress, and quality of life) for patients with MUS. We reviewed 23 studies and found that threat-related illness representations and emotional representations were related to worse health outcomes and more negative coping (moderate to large effect). Generally, increases in negative coping mediated (with a moderate to large effect) the relationship of threat/emotional illness representations and health outcomes. Protective illness representations were related to better health outcomes, less use of negative coping and greater use of positive coping (small to moderate effect). The relationship of protective illness representations to better health outcomes was mediated by decreases in negative coping (moderate to large effect) and increases in positive coping (moderate effect). Perceiving a psychological cause to the MUS was related to more negative health outcomes (moderate to large effect) and more negative emotional coping (small effect). The relationship of perceiving a psychological cause and more negative health outcomes was mediated by increases in negative emotional coping. Improving our understanding of how illness representations impact health outcomes can inform efforts to improve treatments for MUS. Our results suggest behavioural treatments should focus on reducing threat-related illness representations and negative coping.

High healthcare utilization near the onset of medically unexplained symptoms

OBJECTIVE

Patients with medically unexplained syndromes (MUS) often do not receive appropriate healthcare. A critical time for effective healthcare is the inception of MUS. The current study examined data from a prospective longitudinal study of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) soldiers to understand the relationship of increasing physical symptom burden to healthcare utilization.

METHODS

Data was examined from a prospective study of OEF/OIF soldiers assessed before and one year after deployment (n=336). Physical symptom burden was measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15). Analyses were conducted with polynomial regression and response surface analysis (RSA).

RESULTS

Increases in physical symptom burden predicted greater healthcare utilization one year after deployment: primary care practitioner (slope=-0.26, F=4.07, p=0.04), specialist (slope=-0.43, F=8.67, p=0.003), allied health therapy (e.g., physical therapy) (slope=-0.41, F=5.71, p=0.02) and mental health (slope=-0.32, F=4.04, p=0.05). There were no significant difference in utilization between those with consistently high levels and those with increases in physical symptom burden.

CONCLUSION

This is the first prospective study to examine, and show, a relationship between onset of clinically significant physical symptoms and greater healthcare utilization. Our data suggest that patients with increasing physical symptom burden have the same level of healthcare as patients with chronic physical symptom burden. Needed next steps are to better understand the quality of care at inception and determine how to intervene so that recommended approaches to care are provided from the onset.