Antidipsogenic role of the E-prostaglandins

Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) is antidipsogenic when administered into the lateral cerebral ventricle of the rat. In these experiments PGE1, at a dose of 1 microgram, suppressed water intake induced by centrally administered angiotensin II (AII) or carbachol, subcutaneously administered polyethylene glycol, and water deprivation. Even at this high dose, PGE1 did not reduce water intake due to cellular dehydration. As the dose of PGE1 was reduced, its suppressant effects became more specific to AII-induced drinking, with a dose of 10 ng yielding a significant suppression only in the case of AII-induced drinking. Even at a high dose (1 microgram), the PGE1 suppression of ingestion was specific to water intake. Although PGE1-treated rats reduced food intake if they were not hydrated prior to access to food, no reduction in food intake was seen when they received water by gavage before food presentation. Since PGE-like substances are synthesized in the brain, these data suggest the possibility that the prostaglandin may be involved in the regulation of water balance as a component of a reciprocal system in which water intake initiated by the activation of the renin-angiotensin system is halted by the synthesis and release of PGE.     

Accuracy of parents' reports of height and weight

The accuracy of parents' reports of their own height and weight and the height and weight of their obese children, who were about to enter a weight control program, was assessed. Measured height and weights of 146 mothers, 55 fathers, and 150 children who attended a screening session were compared to the heights and weights they had previously reported on a demographic questionnaire. Eighty-four percent of the reported weights were accurate within ±5 lbs.; 71% of the reported heights were accurate within ±1 in. Parents' reports of weight tended to underestimate actual weights, with the magnitude of underestimation greater for mothers than for fathers, while reported heights overestimated actual height, with the magnitude of overestimation greatest for fathers. Errors in the parents' reports of children's weight were related to the child's actual weight and body mass index (BMI), with substantial underestimation of actual weight in the heaviest decile of children in the sample.Preparation of this paper was supported in part by Grant HDMH12520-01 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Mental Health. Reprints can be obtained from Rena R. Wing, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261.     

Sex role conformity in homosexual and heterosexual males

Nine principal components were extracted from the scores of 26 homosexual and 26 heterosexual males matched on age, education, occupation status, and sampling frame on Adjective Check List, Bem Sex Role Inventory, Chapin Social Insight Test, Experience Inventory, and Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire scales selected to represent a variety of "masculine" and "feminine" sex role attributes. The four most general varimax factors, accounting for 48% of the total variance, were: I) "Feminine Openness," II) "Masculine Boldness," III) "Reflection," and IV) "Novelty Seeking." Factor scores were constructed and indicated that the homosexual sample was significantly more identified with Factor I (p < .00l; 17% of total variance). There was no significant difference between the samples on Factor II, nor on the remaining two general factors which were not sex typed.     

Assessment of the relationship of cerebral hemisphere arousal asymmetry to perceptual asymmetry.

This study examined the hypothesis that characteristic individual differences in cerebral hemisphere arousal asymmetry are related to individual differences in perceptual asymmetry observed in verbally based visual half-field tasks. The study used electrophysiological measures of arousal asymmetry rather than behaviorally derived measures (Levy, Heller, Banich, & Burton, 1983). Measures of alpha asymmetry were obtained from 20 right-handed males during a baseline relaxation condition and during a visual half-field version of the lexical decision task. Reaction time measures of perceptual asymmetry were obtained during this task. The results indicated that a basal arousal asymmetry measured at the temporal recording location during the baseline condition was significantly related to individual perceptual asymmetry during the subsequent lexical decision task. This basal arousal asymmetry was relatively stable across different task conditions. A task-related arousal asymmetry measured at the parietal location during the lexical decision task also made a significant contribution in predicting individual perceptual asymmetry. These two measures of individual arousal asymmetry were able to predict 50% of the variance in perceptual asymmetry. The implications of the results for explaining more wide-ranging individual differences in behavioral style and personality are discussed.     

Reinforcing value of physical activity as a determinant of child activity level.

This study examined whether the relative reinforcing value of physical activity (RRVPA) measured in the laboratory predicted physical activity measured in the natural environment in 32 6-11-year-old children. RRVPA correlated with physical activity level (r = .42, p < .05), and contributed to the prediction of physical activity level along with child obesity. RRVPA was related to the number of moderate to vigorous physical activity exercise bouts (r = .35, p < .05), not to the duration of those bouts. These results suggest that RRVPA is a determinant of child physical activity level, and that it may be naturally more reinforcing for children to engage in multiple, short exercise bouts than fewer, more extended bouts.     

Inexpert calibration of comprehension

Students with a wide range of course work in physics or music theory read expositions in both domains. After reading 16 texts, each student provided a judgment of confidence in his/her ability to verify inferences based on the central principles of the texts. The primary dependent variable was calibration of comprehension, the degree of association between confidence and performance on the inference test. Two results of most interest were that (1) expertise in a domain was inversely related to calibration and (2) subjects were well calibrated across domains. Both of these results can be accommodated by a self-classification strategy: Confidence judgments are based on self-classification as expert or nonexpert in the domain of the text, rather than on an assessment of the degree to which the text was comprehended. Because self-classifications are not well differentiated within a domain, application of the strategy by experts produces poor calibration within a domain. Nonetheless, because self-classification is generally consistent with performance across domains, application of the strategy produces calibration across domains.     

Structure and ideology of shelters for battered women

Recent literature concerning battered women's shelters includes untested suggestions that shelters can be categorized by their ideological differences and that their ideologies predict their organizational structures. However, widely accepted principles of organizational theory predict that older shelters would have a different structure than newer shelters. Some of the presumed consequences of organizational age conflict with the structural characteristics presumably demanded by certain shelter ideologies. In the present study both ideology and organizational age were studied as predictors of shelter organization's structure. A nationwide survey of 111 shelters provided the data. Feminist versus other ideologies were associated with a distinctive pattern of priorities for the shelters. However, organizational age was found to be more important than ideology in predicting structural variables.     

Family-based obesity treatment, then and now: twenty-five years of pediatric obesity treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Family-based treatments for pediatric obesity were developed over 25 years ago. Over that time, youth have become more obese and the environment more obesiogenic, which may influence efficacy of pediatric weight control. Mixed-effects regression models were used to compare the efficacy of programs initiated 20 to 25 years ago to current programs through 24-month follow-up, as well as to reanalyze 10-year outcomes of previous research using contemporary measures and analytic strategies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: z-BMI and percent overweight. RESULTS: Results showed significant reductions over time, with no differences in z-BMI change for older versus contemporary studies. Age was a predictor of z-BMI up to 24 months, with younger children showing larger change. Mixed-effects regression models replicated previous long-term effects of family-based interventions. Gender was a predictor of long-term z-BMI change, with girls benefiting more over time than did boys. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of the family-based behavioral approach to treating pediatric obesity replicates over a 25-year period. Challenges in evaluating treatment effects over time are discussed. Ideas for studying choice of treatments that vary in effect size and for strengthening family-based behavioral treatments are noted.