Change in behavioral exercise program-associated self-regulation enhances self-regulation-induced eating improvements across levels of obesity severity

Architects of behavioral weight-loss programs require improved understandings of psychosocial correlates of healthy eating behaviors to improve overwhelmingly poor outcomes. Exercise might benefit eating changes through a transfer of self-regulatory skill improvements. However, related research is minimal, and degrees of obesity might influence the utilization and efficacy of self-regulatory processes. Women of Class 1 obesity (body mass index [BMI] = 30–34.9 kg/m²; n = 53), Class 2 obesity (BMI = 35–39.9 kg/m²; n = 41), and Class 3 obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m²; n = 53) enrolled in a community-based cognitive-behavioral weight-management program were assessed over 6 months on changes in exercise, self-regulation for both exercise and eating, and the consumption of fruits/vegetables and sweets. Within-group improvements were all significant, with the greater self-regulation changes consistent with lower degrees of obesity. Within serial multiple mediation analyses, the hypothesized path from exercise change→self-regulation for exercise change→self-regulation for eating change→eating behavior change was supported in both the prediction of changes in fruit/vegetable intake and sweets consumption. However, the direct effect of increased exercise on improved eating was not significant. BMI score or obesity class did not significantly moderate embedded relationships among variables. Findings suggested weight-loss programs incorporate supported exercise, and dedicate high proportions of their curricula to the development of self-regulatory skills.     

How Ego Depletion Affects Sexual Self-Regulation: Is It More Than Resource Depletion?

Rational thinking and decision making are impacted when in a state of sexual arousal. The inability to self-regulate arousal can be linked to numerous problems, like sexual risk taking, infidelity, and sexual coercion. Studies have shown that most men are able to exert voluntary control over their sexual excitation with various levels of success. Both situational and dispositional factors can influence self-regulation achievement. The goal of this research was to investigate how ego depletion, a state of low self-control capacity, interacts with personality traits—propensities for sexual excitation and inhibition—and cognitive absorption, to cause sexual self-regulation failure. The sexual responses of 36 heterosexual males were assessed using penile plethysmography. They were asked to control their sexual arousal in two conditions, with and without ego depletion. Results suggest that ego depletion has opposite effects based on the trait sexual inhibition, as individuals moderately inhibited showed an increase in performance while highly inhibited ones showed a decrease. These results challenge the limited resource model of self-regulation and point to the importance of considering how people adapt to acute and high challenging conditions.     

Mechanisms Linking Self-Regulation and Sexual Behaviors in Never-Married Young Adults

Little is known about specific mechanisms linking self-regulation to sexual risk taking. The present study considered four possibilities in emerging adulthood: sexual self-restraint, consideration of future consequences, substance use, and romantic competence. Never-married young adults (N = 274), ages 18 to 24, responded to anonymous Internet surveys (60.2% female, 78.8% European American, 66.3% university students). The effects of self-regulation were primarily indirect but varied by sexual behavior, suggesting that high self-regulation limits sexual risk via high sexual self-restraint and low substance use. High regulation was linked to multiple sexual partners and high-risk practices risk via high romantic competence, high self-regulation was linked to multiple sexual partners and high risk practices.     

Parent training to reduce problem behaviors over the transition to high school: Tests of indirect effects through improved emotion regulation skills

Adolescent problem behaviors are costly for individuals and society. Promoting the self-regulatory functioning of youth may help prevent the development of such behaviors. Parent-training and family intervention programs have been shown to improve child and adolescent self-regulation. This study helps fill gaps in knowledge by testing for indirect effects of the Common Sense Parenting® (CSP) program on reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions through previously identified short-term improvements in parents' reports of their children's emotion regulation skills. Over two cohorts, 321 low income families of 8th graders were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the standard CSP program, an adapted CSP Plus program, or a minimal-contact control condition. Pretest, posttest, 1-year follow-up, and 2-year follow-up survey assessments were completed by parents and students with 94% retention. Intent-to-treat multivariate path analyses were conducted. Neither intervention had statistically significant total effects on the three targeted adolescent outcomes. CSP, but not CSP Plus, had statistically significant indirect effects on reduced substance use and school suspensions at the 1-year follow-up as well as conduct problems and school suspensions at the 2-year follow-up through increased child emotion regulation skills at posttest. Findings provide some support for emotion regulation as one pathway through which the intervention was associated, indirectly, with reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions among at-risk students over the high school transition.     

Problematic Online Pornography Use: A Media Attendance Perspective

Since the rise of the popularity of the Internet, the accessibility of pornography has been a growing concern. One particular concern is the potential risk for addictive behaviors to occur as a result of the ease of viewing online pornographic material. The research presented herein explored online pornography addiction using a media attendance perspective, which allows media critics to examine the needs that people seek to fulfill from engaging with various media. Past studies that have used a media attendance perspective to explore media addiction, rephrased here as problematic media use, have done so using social cognitive theory and the concept of deficient self-regulation. Deficient self-regulation may be experienced by all media consumers and can range from normally impulsive media choices to pathological media choices which may result in detrimental life consequences. Borrowing from this, the current study reevaluated online pornography addiction using deficient self-regulation within a sociocognitive framework of media attendance. Results of our model show deficient self-regulation influences habitual online pornography consumption. Moreover, online pornography use motivated by social needs is perpetuated by deficient self-regulation and may lead to negative life consequences in some individuals. These findings contribute a new perspective and framework for understanding problematic online pornography use.     

Bystander Attitudes to Prevent Sexual Assault: A Study of College Students in the United States,Japan, India,Vietnam, and China

College women are at a high risk of sexual assault. Although programs that aim to change bystander behaviors have been shown to be potentially effective in preventing sexual assault on campuses in the United States, little is known about bystander behaviors outside of the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore and compare factors affecting bystander behaviors regarding sexual assault intervention and prevention among undergraduate students in the United States, Japan, India, Vietnam, and China. A total of 1,136 students participated in a self-reported survey. Results demonstrate substantial variations across countries. Bystander behaviors are associated with multilevel factors, including gender, knowledge of individuals who have experienced a sexual assault, and knowledge about campus or community organizations.     

Sex Differences and HIV Risk Behaviors: The Interaction between the Experience of Multiple Types of Abuse and Self-Restraint on HIV Risk Behaviors

Adolescents with abuse histories have been shown to be at increased risk to acquire human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, teens with lower levels of self-restraint or higher levels of distress, such as those with psychiatric concerns, have also demonstrated increased sexual risk behaviors. This study explored sex differences in sexual risk behaviors among a sample of adolescents in a therapeutic/alternative high school setting. Moderated regression analysis showed that a lower level of self-restraint was associated with sexual risk behaviors in boys but not in girls. Rather, the interaction of self-restraint and multiple types of abuse was associated with greater sex risk within girls in this sample. Results suggest that girls and boys with abuse histories and low levels of self-restraint may have different intervention needs related to sexual risk behaviors.     

Sexual compulsivity among heterosexual college students

A growing body of literature suggests that an association exists between sexual compulsivity and participation in sexual behaviors that are high risk in terms of HIV/STD infection. In most of these studies, sexual compulsivity has been measured using the Sexual Compulsivity Scale. As yet, sexual compulsivity has only been assessed with this scale among individuals who are members of high risk groups for HIV infection or who are HIV-positive. In this study, we found support for reliability and construct validity of the SCS in a sample of 876 heterosexual college students, a group not yet examined in the sexual addiction and compulsivity literature. Construct validity was substantiated by the presence of significant relationships of sexual compulsivity with frequencies of sexual behaviors and numbers of sexual partners. The scale was also related to gender and age. Sexual compulsivity scores were associated with frequency of risky sexual behaviors. The relationships between sexual compulsivity and solo, partner, public, and risky sexual behaviors remained significant when we controlled for demographic variables. Although we found support for construct validity of the SCS in our sample, it is not clear whether the scale distinctly measures sexual compulsivity or taps into other constructs, such as sexual desire and sexual exploration.     

Game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (GB-CBT) group program for children who have experienced sexual abuse: a preliminary investigation

This preliminary investigation examined the efficacy of a game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy group program for elementary school-aged children who have experienced sexual abuse. Treatment aimed to improve: (a) internalizing symptoms, (b) externalizing behaviors, (c) sexually inappropriate behaviors, (d) social skills deficits, (e) self-esteem problems, and (f) knowledge of healthy sexuality and self-protection skills. Results indicate that game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was effective for improving internalizing and externalizing symptoms, reducing sexually inappropriate behaviors, and improving children's knowledge of abuse and self-protection skills. Although results pointed in a positive direction for social skills and self-perception, these findings were not statistically significant. Clinical significance was also evaluated to assess the clinical utility of treatment effects. Treatment implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

Sexual compulsivity among heterosexual college students

A growing body of literature suggests that an association exists between sexual compulsivity and participation in sexual behaviors that are high risk in terms of HIV/STD infection. In most of these studies, sexual compulsivity has been measured using the Sexual Compulsivity Scale (SCS; Kalichman & Rompa, 1995). As yet, sexual compulsivity has only been assessed with this scale among individuals who are members of “high risk” groups for HIV infection or who are HIV‐positive. In this study, we found support for reliability and construct validity of the SCS in a sample of 876 heterosexual college students, a group not yet examined in the sexual addiction and compulsivity literature. Construct validity was substantiated by the presence of significant relationships of sexual compulsivity with frequencies of sexual behaviors and numbers of sexual partners. The scale was also related to gender and age. Sexual compulsivity scores were associated with frequency of risky sexual behaviors. The relationships between sexual compulsivity and solo, partner, public, and risky sexual behaviors remained significant when we controlled for demographic variables. Although we found support for construct validity of the SCS in our sample, it is not clear whether the scale distinctly measures sexual compulsivity or taps into other constructs, such as sexual desire and sexual exploration.     

More Than Just Sex

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify behaviors in addition to those of an explicitly sexual or romantic nature that men and women define as unfaithful acts in the context of committed dating relationships. We also sought to identify possible gender differences in the proportions of men and women who have engaged in these unfaithful behaviors while in dating relationships. We examined 219 college men's and women's reported involvement in sexual behaviors, romantic attachments, sexual and nonsexual fantasies, sexual attraction, romantic attraction, flirting, and social participation in dyads and groups with someone other than their current or past dating partner. A sizable proportion of both men and women reported engaging in one or more of the behaviors at some point in their dating history. Proportionately more men than women indicated having engaged in sexual fantasies of various types about someone other than their primary partner and reported “hitting on” someone else while in a dating relationship. No other gender differences emerged. A unique aspect of this study is that we asked young men and women to determine what kinds of behaviors they considered to be unfaithful rather than only examining sexual and emotional behaviors as has been the case in past research. Further, the few significant gender differences we found indicates that the convergence of men's and women's attitudes about sexuality may now be show in their behavior.     

Game-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (GB-CBT) Group Program for Children Who Have Experienced Sexual Abuse: A Preliminary Investigation

This preliminary investigation examined the efficacy of a game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy group program for elementary school-aged children who have experienced sexual abuse. Treatment aimed to improve: (a) internalizing symptoms, (b) externalizing behaviors, (c) sexually inappropriate behaviors, (d) social skills deficits, (e) self-esteem problems, and (f) knowledge of healthy sexuality and self-protection skills. Results indicate that game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was effective for improving internalizing and externalizing symptoms, reducing sexually inappropriate behaviors, and improving children's knowledge of abuse and self-protection skills. Although results pointed in a positive direction for social skills and self-perception, these findings were not statistically significant. Clinical significance was also evaluated to assess the clinical utility of treatment effects. Treatment implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

Sexual at-risk behaviors of sexually abused adolescent girls

The present study investigated sexual at-risk behaviors of sexually abused adolescent girls. Variables of interest were presence of consensual sexual activity, age at first consensual intercourse, number of sexual partners, condom use, and pregnancies. Participants were 125 sexually abused adolescent girls aged 12 to 17 years. Results showed that severity of sexual abuse (e.g., penetration, multiple perpetrators, physical coercion, multiple incidents of abuse) was related to a greater number of sexual at-risk behaviors. For instance, adolescents with a history of sexual abuse involving penetration were 13 times as likely to have been pregnant. Although family characteristics were significantly associated with being sexually active, their effect proved non-significant in the final hierarchical regression. Regression analyses clearly showed that the likelihood of engaging in sexual at-risk behaviors increased as a function of the number of severity factors.     

Bestiality: An Overview and Analytic Discussion

Individuals who experience sexual and emotional attractions to animals are widely considered deviant in American society. Such a condition is frequently referred to as bestiality and zoophilia, which in fact describe two separate types of sexual behaviors. A multitude of studies have uncovered a range of prevalence rates across different demographic groups, which may vary due to the terminology and the type of data collection methods utilized. Dogs and horses are consistently chosen as the preferred animal to engage in sexual activities by humans, while male animals have been presented as the heavily favored sex of animal. It is questionable whether one's sexual orientation corresponds with the preference of the sex of the animal. Those engaged in human–animal sexual contacts vary in their reasoning behind their sexual behavior with animals, which are generally environmentally or belief based, and reinforce certain myths. Since the development of the Internet not only has it promoted an enhanced research perspective of the sexual behaviors of bestialists and zoophiles, but they have also found an environment populated by like‐minded individuals with similar sexual behaviors/interests.     

Institutional,Subcultural, and Individual Determinants of Same-Sex Sexual Contact Among College Women

While the collegiate hookup literature identifies the prevalence and conditions under which women engage in same-sex sexual behaviors, less is understood about the macro- and mesolevel features of universities predictive of women’s engagement in these behaviors. How do predictors of same-sex contact differ for women who report engagement in nongenital versus genital sexual acts? Using the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS), this study examined 5,069 women from 21 U.S. colleges and universities who reported at least one same-sex encounter in their lifetime to empirically evaluate how same-sex sexual histories are predicted by university structure and membership in student subcultures. Results find subcultural participation to have a regulative effect on what types of sexual behaviors women engaged in with other women. While Greek-affiliated women were significantly more likely to have engaged in solely nongenital sexual behavior, women in team-based athletics were more likely to report a genital sexual history with women. This study’s focus on women’s sexual behaviors as opposed to sexual identity affirms the influence of institutional contexts, subcultural dynamics, and their variability across U.S. campuses in producing the conditions and opportunities for varied forms of sexual interactions among college women.     

The relationship between indicators of sexual compulsivity and high risk sexual practices among men and women receiving services from a sexually transmitted infection clinic

Sexual compulsivity, defined by sexual preoccupation and lack of sexual impulse control, is related to high-risk sexual behaviors. However, little is known about the prevalence and predictors of sexual compulsivity in people at high risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In the current study, patients receiving diagnostic and treatment services (85% African American) at an urban STI clinic completed measures of demographic characteristics, sexual compulsivity, substance use, and sexual behaviors. Measures were administered to 492 men and 193 women using confidential procedures and audio computer-assisted interviewing technology. Results showed that men and women receiving STI clinic services frequently endorsed multiple indicators of sexual compulsivity. In this mostly African American sample, individuals with scores above the 80th percentile on the sexual compulsivity scale (translating to over one standard deviation above the mean) had more sex partners, engaged in higher rates of sexual risk behaviors with casual or one-time sex partners, and were nearly four times as likely to have been recently diagnosed with multiple STIs than were individuals who scored below the 80th percentile. Although sexual compulsivity scores were associated with alcohol and other drug use, associations between sexual compulsivity and sexual risks were not accounted for by substance abuse. Findings suggest an urgent need for interventions to help men and women with sexual preoccupations and poor sexual impulse control to reduce their risks for sexually transmitted infections.     

The relationship between indicators of sexual compulsivity and high risk sexual practices among men and women receiving services from a sexually transmitted infection clinic

Sexual compulsivity, defined by sexual preoccupation and lack of sexual impulse control, is related to high‐risk sexual behaviors. However, little is known about the prevalence and predictors of sexual compulsivity in people at high risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In the current study, patients receiving diagnostic and treatment services (85% African American) at an urban STI clinic completed measures of demographic characteristics, sexual compulsivity, substance use, and sexual behaviors. Measures were administered to 492 men and 193 women using confidential procedures and audio computer‐assisted interviewing technology. Results showed that men and women receiving STI clinic services frequently endorsed multiple indicators of sexual compulsivity. In this mostly African American sample, individuals with scores above the 80th percentile on the sexual compulsivity scale (translating to over one standard deviation above the mean) had more sex partners, engaged in higher rates of sexual risk behaviors with casual or one‐time sex partners, and were nearly four times as likely to have been recently diagnosed with multiple STIs than were individuals who scored below the 80th percentile. Although sexual compulsivity scores were associated with alcohol and other drug use, associations between sexual compulsivity and sexual risks were not accounted for by substance abuse. Findings suggest an urgent need for interventions to help men and women with sexual preoccupations and poor sexual impulse control to reduce their risks for sexually transmitted infections.     

The role of family interactions in HIV risk for gay and bisexual male youth: A pilot study

Despite ongoing prevention efforts, young gay and bisexual males continue to engage in sexual behaviors that place them at disproportionately high risk for HIV infection. Parental monitoring and parent–child communication have been found to be associated with low-risk sexual behavior among heterosexual youth, but the role of family interactions for gay and bisexual male youth remains largely unexplored. To help address this gap, an exploratory study of recorded and coded interactions among 35 gay and bisexual youth and their parents was done to begin to identify which types of family interactions were associated with youth high-risk sexual behavior. Parent–son communication that was mutual and low in conflict was found to be most prevalent among youth with the fewest reported high-risk sexual behaviors. These preliminary findings, along with a case example, demonstrate how social workers can coach families to engage in productive and potentially influential interactions that reduce HIV-related sexual behaviors among young gay and bisexual males.     

Mental illness and problematic sexual behaviors. A review of the recent literature

Advanced practice nurses and other health care professionals have increasingly been working with individuals with mental illnesses who also have a history of sexual misconduct. Unfortunately, due partly to minimal research on the subject--especially in the nursing field--these professionals are addressing the needs of this population without adequate preparation. This article provides an overview of mental illness and problematic sexual behaviors (MI/PSB) and highlights the importance of additional research for the MI/PSB population as a subgroup of sex offenders.     

Short- and Long-Term Self-Regulation and Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors in Unmarried Heterosexual Young Adults

The goal of this study was to explore associations between short- and long-term self-regulation and dimensions of oral and coital sexual risk-taking in emerging adulthood. A total of 287 unmarried heterosexual young adults ages 18 to 26 years (62% female; 87% European American; 81% enrolled in college) provided study data via Internet surveys. High levels of long-term self-regulation predicted later initiation of oral sex and coitus, fewer lifetime coital partners, increased likelihood of condom and other contraceptive use at last intercourse, and low composite levels of coital risk. High levels of short-term self-regulation predicted reduced likelihood of condom use and high overall coital risk. The discussion focuses on the interpretation of these effects and potential directions for future research.