Psychosocial Factors in the Etiology of Somatic Disease
Authors: SANFORD MEYEROWITZ
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1970)

Editorial Notes1 May 1970Psychosocial Factors in the Etiology of Somatic DiseaseSANFORD MEYEROWITZ, M.D.SANFORD MEYEROWITZ, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-72-5-753 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptA series of papers by one group of investigators, Sidney Cobb and his associates ( 1 ), composes the entire contents of an unusual issue of theJournal of Chronic Diseases, that for September 1969. These workers have developed questionnaires that when applied to selected populations are said to detect patients with rheumatoid arthritis with reasonable reliability. The survey questions are also designed to identify psychosocial variables among respondents with and without the illness. The work of this group is epitomized by the current series of papers which is devoted to a study of 49 family clusters, each consisting of...References1. COBB S, SCHULL W, and KASL S: The intrafamilial transmission of rheumatoid arthritis. I-VIII. J Chronic Dis 22:193-295, 1969 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. MEYEROWITZ S, JACOX R, and HESS D: Monozygotic twins discordant for rheumatoid arthritis: a genetic, clinical and psychological study of 8 sets. Arthritis Rheum 11:1-21, 1968 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. MASI A and SHULMAN L: Familial aggregation and rheumatoid disease. Arthritis Rheum 8:418-425, 1965 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. O'BRIEN W: The genetics of rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Exp Immun 2(suppl) :785-802, 1967 Google Scholar5. KING S and COBB S: Psychosocial studies of rheumatoid arthritis: parental factors compared in cases and controls. Arthritis Rheum 2:322-331, 1959 CrossrefGoogle Scholar6. COBB S and KASL S: The epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis. Amer J Public Health 56:1657-1663, 1966 CrossrefGoogle Scholar7. JOHNSON A, SHAPIRO L, and ALEXANDER F: Preliminary report on a psychosomatic study of rheumatoid arthritis. Psychosom Med 9:295-300, 1947 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. CLEVELAND S and FISHER S: Behavior and unconscious fantasies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Psychosom Med 16: 327-333, 1954 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. CLEVELAND S and FISHER S: A comparison of psychological characteristics and physiological reactivity in ulcer and rheumatoid arthritic groups. I. Psychological measures. Psychosom Med 22:283-289, 1960 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. MOOS R and SOLOMON G: Psychologic comparisons between women with rheumatoid arthritis and their non-arthritic sisters. I. Personality test and interview rating data. II. Content analysis of interviews. Psychosom Med 27:135-164, 1965 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. ALEXANDER F, FRENCH T, and POLLOCK G: Psychosomatic Specificity. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968 Google Scholar12. WEINER H, THALER M, and REISER M: Etiology of duodenal ulcer. I. Relation of specific psychological characteristics to rate of gastric secretion. Psychosom Med 19:1-10, 1957 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar13. FEINGOLD B, GORMAN F, and SINGER M: Psychological studies of allergic women. The relation between skin reactivity and personality. Psychosom Med 24:195-202, 1962 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar14. BLOCK J, JENNINGS P, and HARVEY E: Interaction between allergic potential and psychopathology in childhood asthma. Psychosom Med 26:307-320, 1964 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar15. PURCELL K, BRADY K, and CHAI H: The effect on asthma in children of experimental separation from the family. Psychosom Med 31:144-164, 1969 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar16. RIMON R: A psychosomatic approach to rheumatoid arthritis (a clinical study of 100 female patients). Acta Rheum Scand Suppl 13:1-154, 1969 Google Scholar17. LAWRENCE J: Genetics of rheumatoid factor and rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Exp Immun 2(suppl) :769-783, 1967 Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: SANFORD MEYEROWITZ, M.D.Affiliations: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, N.Y. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 1 May 1970Volume 72, Issue 5Page: 753-754KeywordsEtiologyPopulation statisticsPsychologyQuestionnairesRheumatoid arthritis ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 May 1970 PDF downloadLoading ...