Psychological and physiological markers of presurgical stress in women INDICADORES PSICOLOGICOS Y FISIOLOGICOS DE ESTRES PREQUIRURGICO EN MUJERES

Abstract

Psychological and physiological indicators of presurgical stress are investigated in an unselected group of women without history of mental pathology. Among the instruments employed are the content analysis of verbal behavior according to Gottschalk et al., the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, plasma cortisol and free fatty acids. The hypothesis that high Restraint scores in the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire, previously demonstrated to be basal factors of stress which interact with situational stress was not substantiated by present data. However, the relevance of the methods employed as noninvasive procedures for the analysis of predisposing factors is emphasized in its transcultural applications.