Comparing measures of general and abdominal adiposity as predictors of blood pressure in college students

Objective: To compare anthropometric measures of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) as predictors of blood pressure in college students. Participants: Students (N = 116) were recruited from November 2012 to May 2014 at an urban university and rural community colleges. Methods: Students underwent a brief physical examination during which anthropometric measures were obtained and blood pressure was measured. Covariates were measured using self-reported questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple linear regressions were used for the data analysis. Results: All anthropometric measures were predictive of systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). WC was the strongest predictor of SBP (β = .582, p < .01) explaining an additional 3–4% of the variance than BMI, WHtR, or SAD. The measures were similar in predicting DBP. WC predicted SBP independent of BMI. Conclusions: Clinicians should consider using WC to assess the risk for hypertension in college students.     

Predicting Follow‐up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: The Role of Change in Trust,Relationship‐Specific Attachment,and Emotional Engagement

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT), an evidence‐based couple therapy (Johnson, Hunsley, Greenberg, & Schindler, 1999), strives to foster lasting change through the creation of secure attachment bonds in distressed couples. Although studies have demonstrated lasting change in follow‐up (Wiebe et al., in press), research is needed to investigate predictors of long‐term outcomes. Our goal was to investigate predictors of long‐term outcomes in relationship satisfaction. Relationship satisfaction was assessed across 24 months in a sample of 32 couples who received an average of 21 EFT sessions. Decreases in attachment avoidance were most predictive of higher relationship satisfaction across follow‐up. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples foster lasting change in relationship satisfaction through the facilitation of secure attachment bonds.     

How People Perceive and Will Cope with Risks from the Diffusion of Ubiquitous Information and Communication Technologies

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly pervasive and continue to reshape our environment. This trend carries different risks. Therefore, the early sensitization of people to these risks, as well as improving their capacity for protective coping behavior, is essential. Based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), we examined with structural equation modeling the relationships between different components of threat and coping appraisal to explain protective and nonprotective responses. Calculations were performed with data from a representative survey on perception and use of ICT among German residents (N= 5,030). Our findings largely supported the proposed model: an increased perceived threat was positively related to the intentions to react protectively and nonprotectively. Perceived coping efficacy increased the protective and decreased the nonprotective responses. Negative affect enhanced the perceived threat and the nonprotective response, but inhibited protective intentions. The implications of these findings on how to sensitize people to the risks of these new technologies are outlined.     

Endocrine markers during a job intervention

An intervention consisting of a thorough examination of the psychological worksite problems and a follow-up with feedback and recommendations was made in four different office worksites. One of the sites («active» group) was more organizational change-oriented than the others («passive» group). The course was followed before, three times during the 3 months of the intervention, and 4 months after the end of it, by means of three endocrine plasma markers: cortisol, prolactin and testosterone. In both study groups the prolactin levels increased in women during the starting phase of the intervention, whereas in men prolactin levels remained stable with a tendency (p=0.06) towards lowered prolactin levels during the end phase of the intervention in the active group. Cortisol levels increased markedly in the passive group and tended to decrease in the active group during the intervention (two-way interaction p=0.003), particularly in men. These findings may be indicative of feelings of uneasiness. Testosterone increased in the active group only, particularly at the beginning of the intervention and particularly in women, and also increased in a non-intervention control group. Testosterone levels are associated with anabolic activity. An increase may be indicative of a «placebo effect» of the intervention. Testosterone changes were still clearly observable after 4 months.     

The two-sample t test versus satterthwaite's approximate f test

A comparison between the two-sample t test and Satterthwaite's approximate F test is made, assuming the choice between these two tests is based on a preliminary test on the variances. Exact formulas for the sizes and powers of the tests are derived. Sizes and powers are then calculated and compared for several situations.     

Expertentum und eskalierendes Commitment

The present study examines the role of expertise for the escalation of commitment. Subjects were 56 apprentices of the financial services sector and 46 subjects working as first-aid persons. Subjects were confronted with scenarios stemming from both areas of work and they had to decide about the allocation of further financial resources after a failing investment. Commitment was measured through the amount of additional investments. The independent variable ?expertise“ was manipulated by the combination of sample and job-context: Those, who had to decide about further investments in the condition with the scenario stemming from their own area of work, were considered to be experts whereas those who were confronted with the scenario of the unfamiliar work-setting were rated as novices. Results show that escalating commitment was significantly higher for novices than for experts.