Stress and dietary practices in adolescents.

Baseline data from the Health and Behavior in Teenagers Study (HABITS) were used to investigate associations between stress and dietary practices in a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 4,320 schoolchildren (mean age=11.83 years). Male (n=2,578) and female (n=1,742) pupils completed questionnaire measures of stress and 4 aspects of dietary practice (fatty food intake, fruit and vegetable intake, snacking, and breakfast consumption) and also provided demographic and anthropometric data. Multivariate analyses revealed that greater stress was associated with more fatty food intake, less fruit and vegetable intake, more snacking, and a reduced likelihood of daily breakfast consumption. These effects were independent of individual (gender, weight) and social (socioeconomic status, ethnicity) factors. Stress may contribute to long-term disease risk by steering the diet in a more unhealthy direction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pattern of dietary intake and consumption of street foods among Nigerian students

We have previously shown that the level of nerve growth factor (NGF) undergoes significant changes in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Multiple Sclerosis and in the brain of rats affected by Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis (EAE). The functional significance of the endogenous disregulation of NGF is not known, though recent studies seem to suggest that NGF might be associated with the ability of oligodendrocytes (OLs) to produce and/or utilise NGF. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate whether NGF is involved in the development and differentiation of cells of the subventricular zone (SVz) which arbors undifferentiated cells that can give rise to OLs. The results show that NGF injected into the brain of developing rats and of rats affected by EAE is retrogradely transported from the SVz to the brain parenchyma. These findings suggest that during the early phase of brain development and during EAE, NGF, along with other growth factors, is implicated in growth and/or differentiation of OLs and in protecting neuronal injury. The possible functional role of NGF in these events has been discussed.     

Health behavior, knowledge and attitudes among Swedish university students

A range of health behaviors was related to beliefs concerning health practices and health knowledge. A questionnaire dealing with health-related practices, health beliefs and knowledge of health risk factors was answered by 166 male and 179 female students aged 18-30 years at Stockholm University. Female students reported engaging in better health behavior than males. Beliefs about the importance of health behaviors were closely related to their frequency of occurrence. There was only a weak relationship between health behaviors and knowledge of specific health matters. It is concluded that health attitudes rather than health knowledge determine health behavior.     

Suicide and depression among college students.

We surveyed 962 college students from three institutions in regard to their experiences with depression and suicide. Results indicate that incidents of depression and suicide are prevalent on college campuses and that there are a number of specific causes of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior. Suicide attempters are compared with nonattempters, institutions are compared, and institutional implications for colleges and universities are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Value differences among South African students.

"Groups of white and nonwhite South African students were required to choose features that they considered to be characteristic of 'White Civilization' in South Africa. Great differences in their definition of the social situation in the country were indicated by the fact that the nonwhite students attributed mainly negative features to the stimulus term while the white students responded to it much more favorably… . This difference in attitude to the dominant pattern of social relationships in the country appeared to be linked to a difference of personal values." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

National survey of ethical practices among Chinese psychotherapists.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 42(5) of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (see record 2011-23526-002). The following sentence is incorrect: “The APA has long recognized that harm and exploitation could result from dual relationships between patient and therapist (Staykova, 2010).” The correct citation for this statement should be: (APA, 1981, 1990, 1992, 2010; Sturm, 1998). Additionally, the following entry should not be listed in the References: Staykova, J. D. (2010). “On wings as swift as meditation”: A devotional allusion in Hamlet. Notes and Queries, 57, 380–384. doi:10.1093/notesj/gjq109. The correct references are included in the erratum. The authors regret these errors. All versions of this article have been corrected.] The present study is a cross-sectional national survey that investigated the ethical practices in a large representative sample of Chinese psychotherapists (N = 690). The results revealed that 76.4% of therapists had experienced feelings of incompetence, more than 80% of therapists had performed the basic principles of informed consent and confidentiality, 1.9% of the sample had engaged in sexual contact with a client, 1.8% had engaged in dual business relationships with their clients, and 34.2% had provided therapy for acquaintances in their practice. The role of the principles of Confucianism as a major influence on the ethical practices in Chinese psychotherapists is discussed. The results suggested that the Chinese Psychological Society should concentrate efforts on educating trainees on how best to maintain therapeutic boundaries when there was a preexisting relationship between therapist and client. The current Chinese Code of Ethics for Clinical and Counseling Practice (Chinese Psychological Society, 2007) could be modified to better incorporate the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture, for example, considering the value of “face” when stipulating the guidelines of dual relationships. Cross-cultural psychotherapy could benefit the clients by examining the influence of traditional Chinese culture, for example, by paying more attention to the important others of the clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal predictors of dieting practices among married couples.

The relations between couples' marital quality and dieting behavior were examined. One-hundred eighty-seven married couples' dieting behaviors, marital quality, body mass index, weight concerns, depression, and self-esteem were assessed. Results indicate that the relation between healthy dieting behaviors and marital quality is similar for both husbands and wives. However, among wives, marital discord predicted unhealthy dieting behaviors, even after wives' body mass index, weight concerns, self-esteem, and depression were controlled for. Furthermore, wives' self-esteem interacted with marital quality when predicting unhealthy dieting. These findings suggest gender differences in the relations between marital quality and dieting behaviors and are consistent with previous research suggesting that men and women have differential response patterns to marital disharmony, with women tending to internalize negative affect experienced in their marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Progression of consequences among heavy-drinking college students.

Among a sample of 180 male and 226 female undergraduates, 84.2% reported a heavy drinking episode (5+ drinks for men, 4+ for women) within the previous 90 days. Principal-components analysis revealed 3 alcohol-related problem factors among the heavy drinkers (Careless Behavior, Risky/Reckless Behavior, and Authority Problems). Nearly all heavy drinkers experienced a careless behavior that was due to drinking (92.7%), and many reported a risky/reckless behavior (60.2%), yet only one third (33.9%) experienced an authority problem. Guttman scaling procedures revealed a progression from Careless Behavior to Reckless/Risky Behavior to an Authority Problem. Heavy drinkers with an authority problem drank more frequently, consumed more when drinking, endorsed more alcohol expectancies, and reported earlier ages of initial and regular drinking than other groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitored motives for smoking among college students.

College student smokers (N = 50) were asked to carry electronic diaries for 14 days and record smoking events (n = 1,139). They indicated why they were smoking each cigarette on a checklist of potential motives. Results suggest that a desire to reduce craving (62.8% of occasions) and habit/automatic processes (42.8%) were the most frequent motives. More dependent and daily smokers were especially likely to endorse smoking to reduce craving and for habit/automatic reasons and were less likely to cite coping with negative emotion as a reason for smoking. Dependent and daily smokers were more likely to endorse at least 1 dependence-like motive and were less likely to exclusively attribute smoking to nondependence motives. Self-monitored motives appeared valid, according with conceptually related states, activities, and events in the diary records. Diary-recorded motives were compared with smokers' responses to a retrospective motives questionnaire administered at baseline. The 2 assessment modes produced discrepant estimates of the most influential motivational processes. Questionnaire responses incompletely forecast conceptually similar diary-reported motives. Dependence and daily smoking showed a different pattern of associations with diary-based versus retrospective motives measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust and self-disclosure among black college students.

Investigated 2 models of counseling to determine which best facilitated self-disclosure and trust in 18 black undergraduates. One model involved professional counselors; the other consisted of minimally trained peer counselors. Ss were systematically assigned to 1 of the 2 models and exposed to 5 60-min counseling sessions with either a professional or a peer counselor. It was hypothesized that persons participating in a peer counseling experience will trust and self-disclose at a higher level than persons participating in a professional counseling experience. Data from the Self-Disclosure Questionnaire and J. B. Rotter's 1967 Interpersonal Trust Scale did not support the hypothesis. Both groups disclosed and trusted at a significantly higher level after treatment. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of job incentives among college students.

Job goals at graduation were described, and 8 selected job incentive statements were ranked by college Ss. Factor analysis of intercorrelations among the ranked incentives yielded 3 factors tentatively identified as: need achievement vs. fear of failure, interest in the job vs. the job as an opportunity for acquiring status, and job autonomy of supervision vs. supervisor dependency. "A content analysis of incentive statements contributed by 29% of the ranking Ss (N = 267) gave three major categories: opportunity to help others, job satisfaction, and job interest and variety." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The prevalence of addiction among university students.

Compares demographic and methodological differences between 2 self-report studies on the prevalence of drug addiction among North American University students. A far higher prevalence of addiction was reported among students at a university in Wisconsin (D. R. Cook; see record 1988-26796-001) than among students at a university in British Columbia, Canada (B. K. Alexander, 1985; B. K. Alexander and A. R. Schweighofer, 1988). It is concluded that the Wisconsin procedure inflated the prevalence data by not ensuring that the Ss defined addiction consistently and by imposing a dichotomous choice on the continuous dimension of addictive involvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal child-rearing practices and social problem-solving strategies among preschoolers.

Examined the relation of nurturant and restrictive maternal childrearing practices and maternal education to the types of social problem-solving strategies used by 72 preschoolers (mean age 4 yrs 7 mo). Children were administered the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving Test, and mothers completed the Child Rearing Practices Report. Maternal variables successfully predicted 5 out of 9 strategies identified. Restrictiveness was positively associated with the use of evasion and negatively with personal appeal and negotiation strategies. Maternal nurturance was the best discriminator for reliance on authority. An S's use of delay of gratification strategy was significantly predicted by the level of the mother's education. Education was also positively related to maternal nurturance and negatively to maternal restrictiveness. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health promotion practices of the old-old

Normal pregnancy is characterized by increased in vivo thrombin generation. A greater proportion of endogenously generated thrombin is complexed to heparin cofactor II in plasma from pregnant women compared to plasma from nonpregnant ones. The increase in thrombin-heparin cofactor II complexes suggests that the site of the additional thrombin generation is relatively rich in dermatan sulfate. We postulated that the site of thrombin generation may be the placenta since endogenous thrombin generation returns rapidly to normal after delivery. This report describes the isolation and characterization of placental dermatan sulfate proteoglycan from villous tissue of the term human placenta. Placental dermatan sulfate was isolated by guanidine HCI extraction and anion exchange chromatography. The isolated material was found to have anticoagulant activity with a relative activity of approximately 40% of that of a porcine mucosal dermatan sulfate which is undergoing clinical trial as an antithrombotic agent. The dermatan sulfate was present as a proteoglycan with a molecular mass of 90-150 kD. Upon degradation with chondroitin ABC lyase, the core protein was demonstrated to be a doublet with molecular masses of 42 and 44 kD. This core protein reacted with antiserum against the core protein of decorin on Western analysis. The role of this placental dermatan sulfate in local regulation of thrombin in the placenta warrants further study.     

Health practices and hardiness as mediators in the stress-illness relationship.

Two stress and illness models that included the joint mediating effects of health practices and hardiness were tested prospectively over a 2-mo period. 86 undergraduates completed 5 subscales indexing hardiness. Stress, health practices, and illness for the prior month were assessed at this time as well as 1 and 2 mo later. In the 1st model, illness was measured by the severity of physical symptoms. In the 2nd model, it was measured by the number of symptoms reported. In both models, path analyses revealed that stress acted directly to affect illness as well as indirectly by changing health practices. Hardiness also had a direct effect on illness as well as an indirect effect through health practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adherence to Asian and European American cultural values and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Asian American college students.

Possible relations among enculturation and acculturation to cultural values and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help were examined among 146 Asian American college students. In addition, possible relations between various dimensions of Asian values and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help were examined. As hypothesized, the results indicated a significant inverse relation between enculturation to Asian values and professional help-seeking attitudes, above and beyond that of the association with having previous counseling experience. Although bivariate correlational results suggested possible inverse relations between the Asian values dimensions of collectivism, emotional self-control, and humility and professional help-seeking attitudes, these associations were not confirmed with a hierarchical multiple regression model. Contrary to expectation, a significant relation was not observed between values acculturation and professional help-seeking attitudes. Also, the interaction between enculturation and acculturation to cultural values was not significantly predictive of professional help-seeking attitudes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social influences in motivated drinking among college students.

This study tested whether drinking motives mediate the relation between personality and alcohol use and whether these predictors affected drinking in these individuals' friends. College students and their friends participated in the study as dyads (n=43 dyads, 86 participants). Each person completed surveys and a 28-day experience sampling protocol. Structural equation analyses found that (a) social motives mediated the relation between extraversion and alcohol outcomes, (b) coping motives mediated the relation between neuroticism and alcohol outcomes, and (c) enhancement motives mediated the relation between extraversion and alcohol outcomes. Moreover, young adults' alcohol use, but not their problem use, was influenced by their own drinking motives as well as the drinking motives of their best friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drinking patterns and dating violence among college students.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 8(2) of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (see record 2008-09988-001). The first author's name in the second entry of the References on page 53 was misspelled. The correct reference is appears in the erratum. Likewise, the citation on page 52 in the first paragraph in the Materials and Procedure section should read "Cahalan, Cisin, & Crossley, 1985."] Investigated the relationships between 221 college students' (1) alcohol use, (2) perceived antecedents and consequences of alcohol use, and (3) experience with dating violence. It was hypothesized that the highest level of dating violence would occur in those Ss who reported drinking moderate amounts of alcohol and having the expectation that drinking would have negative effects on their behavior. Ss completed a questionnaire measuring the 3 factors being studied. Results of a multiple regression analysis supported the hypothesis: Higher dating violence was predicted by lower use of alcohol and by stronger expectancies of negative effects of alcohol. [A correction concerning this article appears in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 1994(Jun), Vol 8(2), 115. A correction is made on pages 52 and 53.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Handwashing practices among occupational therapy personnel

Ultrasound examination at 12 weeks' gestation revealed severe generalised subcutaneous oedema in a pregnancy at risk for achondrogenesis type II. Transvaginal scanning confirmed the oedema and suggested abnormal limb development. The prenatal diagnosis was confirmed by X-ray examination after transvaginal termination.     

Exploring the Mozart effect among high school students.

Much past work on the Mozart effect--the temporary increase in performance on spatial relations tasks following listening to Mozart--tried determining if the cause is due to neurological priming or changes in general arousal. Results have been mixed, and no work to date has attempted to examine this phenomenon in high school students. The present study sought to address these gaps in the extant literature by examining the neurological and arousal hypotheses in this previously unstudied population of adolescents. Toward this end, 86 high school students were randomly assigned to Mozart or control (silence) conditions, then assessed on arousal levels and spatial reasoning. Results indicated that those in the Mozart condition had higher spatial reasoning scores, but were not systematically more or less aroused. Decreased arousal, regardless of listening conditioning, was related to lower spatial reasoning. While arousal and listening condition were not related to each other, inclusion of both in a single model negated these direct effects. Implications for future work on these phenomena are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)