Classroom approach for managing dietary restraint, negative eating styles, and body image concerns among college women

OBJECTIVE: In this exploratory study, the authors evaluated the impact of an elective college course on dieting levels, eating styles, and body image among college women. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were a convenience sample of 29 self-selected female students at a western university who were mostly white, normal-weight seniors with significant dieting experience. METHODS: The authors used valid and reliable instruments to collect data both before and after testing. An instructor conducted the program in an undergraduate course that met twice weekly for 15 weeks. Theory-based lessons focused on resisting media pressure, modifying dietary restraint, eating in response to hunger (intrinsic eating), and achieving healthy body image. Dependent variables included intrinsic eating, dieting involvement, emotional eating, body image, and self-esteem. RESULTS: A comparison of pretest and posttest scores identified significant improvements for most measures. CONCLUSIONS: A theory-driven elective course implemented within a college setting may improve women's eating styles and body image.     

Barriers and facilitators for walking in individuals with intermittent claudication

This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators associated with walking for exercise among people who experience intermittent claudication. Fifteen individuals (7 men and 8 women) participated in 3 focus groups that were tape-recorded and content analyzed. A social-cognitive framework was used to categorize barriers and facilitators as those related to the person, to the activity, or to the environment. Variables identified included those specific to intermittent claudication and those common among the general population. Barriers to walking included irregular or graded walking surfaces, uncertainty about the outcome of walking, ambiguity regarding pain, the need to take rest breaks, and the presence of leg pain. Facilitating factors included availability of a resting place, use of cognitive coping strategies, companionship support, and availability of a treadmill-walking program. Findings are interpreted in light of current research on exercise determinants and encourage prospective examinations of the predictive validity of these factors for walking.     

Bayesian variable selection for proportional hazards models

The authors consider the problem of Bayesian variable selection for proportional hazards regression models with right censored data. They propose a semi-parametric approach in which a nonparametric prior is specified for the baseline hazard rate and a fully parametric prior is specified for the regression coefficients. For the baseline hazard, they use a discrete gamma process prior, and for the regression coefficients and the model space, they propose a semi-automatic parametric informative prior specification that focuses on the observables rather than the parameters. To implement the methodology, they propose a Markov chain Monte Carlo method to compute the posterior model probabilities. Examples using simulated and real data are given to demonstrate the methodology.     

Child-Focused Family Therapy: Behavioural Family Therapy Versus Brief Family Therapy

We examined the effectiveness of behavioural family therapy (following the treatment agenda outlined in Fleischman, Horne and Arthur, 1983) and brief family therapy (following the procedures outlined in Fisch, Weakland and Segal, 1985), in the treatment of child psychological disorders. The parents of the 49 children referred to the outpatient unit of a children's hospital completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1983). Three scales of the CBCL were examined to assess the effectiveness of the two therapeutic approaches pre- to post-treatment. Significant pre- and post-treatment differences were found for behavioural family therapy on the Internalizing, Externalizing, and Sum T scales and for brief family therapy on the Internalizing and Sum T scales. Sum T scales represent the sum of scores across all sub-scales of the CBCL. Neither treatment was found to be more effective than the other.     

Civilizing Northumberland: Representations of Englishness in the Tudor State

Taking Northumberland as a case study, this paper explores the wider implications of the Tudor strategy of reform by centralization, uniformity, and cultural imperialism. It reappraises the notion that the growth of centralized government at the expense of regional magnates was unambiguously a form of modernization; and argues that the essential character of the Tudor state and the radical nature of Tudor reform have been obscured by the historians' practice of viewing developments in terms of the rise of the nation.     

Issues with using baseline in last observation carried forward analysis

The topic of this paper was prompted by a study for which one of us was the statistician. It was submitted to Annals of Internal Medicine. The paper had positive reviewer comment; however, the statistical reviewer stated that for the analysis to be acceptable for publication, the missing data had to be accounted for in the analysis through the use of baseline in a last observation carried forward imputation. We discuss the issues associated with this form of imputation and recommend that it should not be undertaken as a primary analysis.     

An Observational Investigation of Poker Style and the Five-Factor Personality Model

Little empirical investigation has been made of the relationship between personality and gambling play style. In an observation of on-table poker behavior, this study classified 44 players competing in an amateur league (43 male; mean age 32) according to two main dimensions of play style; tight or loose and aggressive or passive. Superstitious beliefs towards the game were additionally measured. The NEO-PI-R questionnaire (Costa and McCrae, Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO-five factor inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual, 1992) was used to measure personality according to the five-factor model. Results showed players with superstitious beliefs to be significantly higher in neuroticism and lower in conscientiousness and than those with no superstitious beliefs. Results approaching significance showed players adopting an aggressive style to be higher in extraversion than passive players and superstitious players to be lower in extraversion than non-superstitious players. Analysis of play style according to age of player revealed a significantly higher mean age among loose compared to tight players. Implications of results concerning validity of these style classifications and potential development in future work are discussed.     

Pond age and riparian zone proximity influence anuran occupancy of urban retention ponds

Urbanization is widespread throughout the United States and negatively affects many wildlife populations. However, certain urban features, such as retention ponds, may provide habitat for some species, such as amphibians. This study examines the influence of riparian zone proximity and pond age on retention pond occupancy by anurans. We identified and estimated the age of 25 retention ponds near Charlotte, North Carolina, USA and used a geographic information system to determine the distance to the nearest riparian zone. Occupancy modeling indicated that anuran presence decreased with increasing distance to riparian zone. Pond age also appeared to be an important factor, but the effect varied among species. Although the results of this study demonstrate the potential value of retention ponds to anurans, it is important to be conservative in estimating the ability of these ponds to sustain amphibian populations in urbanized regions.