Associations Between Romantic Relationship Factors and Body Mass Index Among Weight Loss Surgery Patients

The current study utilized a sample of 183 patients, in romantic relationships, who were either pre‐ or post‐weight loss surgery (WLS), to assess (a) associations between romantic relationship factors and pre‐ and post‐surgery body mass index (BMI), (b) the positive and negative influences of obesity in romantic relationships, and (c) the influence of romantic relationship factors on BMI and the reciprocal. Correlations, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple linear regression were conducted. Patients endorsed greater negative influence of obesity in their romantic relationships compared to positive influences, and their romantic relationship quality was predicted by several variables, including BMI, in pre‐ and post‐surgery patient groups.     

Intervening with At-risk Mothers: Supporting Infant Language Development

At-risk young mothers and their infants (4–7 months of age) participated in an evaluation of a parenting intervention that focused largely on language stimulation. Participants assigned to the intervention group were matched with a volunteer mentor and were encouraged to attend eleven parenting sessions (five to seven participants per group) across approximately 8 months. Participants in the control group received referrals as needed and were followed across time. Results indicated that babies of the participants in the intervention group experienced more improvement in expressive language from pretest to posttest than did babies of the mothers in the control group.