Identifying subgroups that succeed or fail with three levels of physical activity intervention: the Activity Counseling Trial.

The authors used recursive partitioning methods to identify combinations of baseline characteristics that predict 2-year physical activity success in each of 3 physical activity interventions delivered in the multisite Activity Counseling Trial. The sample consisted of 874 initially sedentary primary care patients, ages 35-75 years, who were at risk for cardiovascular disease. Predictors of 2-year success were specific to each intervention and represented a range of domains, including physiological, demographic, psychosocial, health-related, and environmental variables. The results indicate how specific patient subgroups (e.g., obese, unfit individuals; high-income individuals in stable health) may respond differently to varying levels and amounts of professional assistance and support. The methods used provide a practical first step toward identifying clinically meaningful patient subgroups for further systematic investigation.     

A quantitative analysis of the relationship between the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale and traditional coronary artery disease risk factors.

One possible explanation for the association between Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (Ho Scale; W. W. Cook & D. M. Medley, 1954) scores and premature coronary artery disease (CAD) morbidity and mortality is that hostile persons also have elevations on CAD risk factors. Meta-analyses with fixed and random-effects models were used to evaluate the relationship between Ho Scale scores and CAD risk factors in the empirical literature. Ho Scale scores were significantly related to body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, insulin resistance, lipid ratio, triglycerides, glucose, socioeconomic status (SES), alcohol consumption, and smoking. Although there was also heterogeneity among study outcomes, the results of conservative random effects models provide confidence in the obtained relationships. On the basis of available evidence, researchers might give attention to obesity, insulin resistance, damaging health behaviors, and SES as potential contributing factors in understanding the association between Ho Scale scores and CAD.     

A measurement model of women's behavioral risk taking.

The current study was designed to gain a better understanding of the nature of the relationship between substance use and sexual risk taking within a community sample of women (N = 1,004). Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors examined the factor structure of sexual risk behaviors and substance use to determine whether they are best conceptualized as domains underlying a single, higher order, risk-taking propensity. A 2 higher order factor model (sexual risk behavior and substance use) provided the best fit to the data, suggesting that these 2 general risk domains are correlated but independent factors. Sensation seeking had large general direct effects on the 2 risk domains and large indirect effects on the 4 first-order factors and the individual indicators. Negative affect had smaller, yet still significant, effects. Impulsivity and anxiety were unrelated to sexual health risk domains.     

II—Jason Stanley

ABSTRACT The central claim is that Hornsby's argument that semantic knowledge is practical knowledge is based upon a false premise. I argue, contra Hornsby, that speakers do not voice their thoughts directly. Rather, our actions of voicing our thoughts are justified by decisions we make (albeit rapidly) about what words to use. Along the way, I raise doubts about other aspects of the thesis that semantic knowledge is practical knowledge.