Perceived variety,psychological needs satisfaction and exercise-related well-being

Objective: Perceived variety represents a psychosocial experience that gives rise to, and supports the maintenance of, an individual’s well-being. In this study, we developed an instrument to measure perceived variety in exercise (PVE), and examined whether ratings of PVE predict unique variance in indices of exercise-related well-being in addition to that explained by satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs (for competence, relatedness and autonomy) embedded within self-determination theory (SDT). We also examined the extent to which variance in perceived variety is empirically distinct from (or subsumed by) competence, relatedness and autonomy in the context of exercise.

Methods: A convenience sample of community adults (N?=?507) completed online surveys twice over a six-week period (n?=?367).

Results: PVE was found to prospectively predict unique variance in indices of exercise-related well-being, in addition to that explained by perceived competence, relatedness and autonomy. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic procedures, perceived variety was found to be empirically distinct from perceived competence, relatedness and autonomy.

Conclusion: Results from this work suggest that perceived variety holds potential for theoretical and applied advancements in understanding and predicting well-being in exercise settings.     

Coping with "bad body image days": strategies from first-year young adult college women

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how college women cope with body image concerns, a topic which has rarely been studied. Semi-structured interviews with first-year female college students (N = 30) revealed common strategies used for body image coping as well as their perceived effectiveness. While exercise was most frequently cited, other coping strategies included healthy eating, appearance changing, talking to friends or family, religion/spirituality, spending time alone, getting out and doing something, and self-acceptance. One of the emerging themes was participation in a cycle of eating as a result of body image concerns, and then feeling bad about themselves for eating. Participants identified that women in this cycle either adopt a self-defeatist attitude, believing they can do nothing about their appearance, or engage in self-improvement strategies, including goal setting. Far more women reported coping strategies that reflected avoidance or appearance fixing motives rather than acceptance.     

Friendship trumps ethnicity (but not sexual orientation): comfort and discomfort in inter-group interactions

An experience sampling study tested the degree to which interactions with out-group members evoked negative affect and behavioural inhibition after controlling for level of friendship between partners. When friendship level was statistically controlled, neither White nor Black participants reported feeling more discomfort interacting with ethnic out-group members compared to ethnic in-group members. When partners differed in sexual orientation, friendship level had a less palliating effect. Controlling for friendship, both gay and straight men - but not women - felt more behaviourally inhibited when interacting with someone who differed in sexual orientation, and heterosexual participants of both genders continued to report more negative affect with gay and lesbian interaction partners. However, gay and lesbian participants reported similar levels of negative affect interacting with in-group (homosexual) and out-group (heterosexual) members after friendship level was controlled. Results suggest that much of the discomfort observed in inter-ethnic interactions may be attributable to lower levels of friendship with out-group partners. The discomfort generated by differences in sexual orientation, however, remains a more stubborn barrier to comfortable inter-group interactions.     

ONGOING WORK WITH SARAH: A 13‐YEAR‐OLD GIRL SUFFERING FROM ANOREXIA NERVOSA

The following is a reflection upon the challenges presented to an in‐patient nursing team in their care of Sarah. The intention is to illustrate the value of application of psychoanalytic theory to this case in order to increase nurses' understanding of the internal world of our young patient, thereby improving nursing care, supervision and minimizing potential adverse impact of such a damaged young person upon the quality of care on the unit as a whole. All names have been changed and some background details have been altered or omitted to protect identities.     

Putting the Burden of Proof in Its Place: When Are Differential Allocations Legitimate?

It is widely assumed that legitimate differential allocations of the burden of proof are ubiquitous: that in all cases in which opposing views are being debated, one side has the responsibility of proving their claim and if they fail, the opposing view wins by default. We argue that the cases in which one party has the burden of proof are exceptions. In general, participants in reasoned discourse are all required to provide reasons for the claims they make. We distinguish between truth‐directed and non‐truth‐directed discourse, argue that the paradigm contexts in which there are legitimate differential allocations of the burden of proof (law and formal debate) are non‐truth‐directed, and suggest that in truth‐directed contexts, except in certain special cases, differential allocation of the burden of proof is not warranted.     

A Study of the Use and Interpretation of Standardized Suicide Risk Assessment: Measures within a Psychiatrically Hospitalized Correctional Population

The reliability, validity, and utility of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS), and Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire (RASQ) with correctional mental health populations was evaluated. Evidence was found indicating good to excellent reliability for all measures. Each of the measures significantly differentiated multiple attempters from single attempters and nonattempters, providing evidence of convergent and divergent validity. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed strong associations between multiple attempts and the ASIQ, BSS, and RASQ, but not the BHS. Implications for suicide risk assessment processes in correctional settings are discussed.     

Parental desire and fertility preservation in assigned male at birth transgender people living in Belgium

Abstract

Introduction: Transgender people who chose to proceed with gender affirming hormonal and/or surgical therapy, may face reduced options for fulfilling their parental desire in the future. The ideas and concerns of adult transgender people regarding fertility preservation and parental desire have never been reported in a large, non-clinical sample of assigned male at birth (AMAB) transgender people.

Methods: A web-based survey on fertility and parenthood in (binary and non-binary) transgender people was conducted in Belgium. AMAB people were selected for this analysis.

Results: We included 254 AMAB persons, of which 196 (77.2%) self-identified as transgender women (TW), 14 (5.5%) as cross-dressers and 44 (17.3%) as gender non-binary (GNB) people. Fifty-five (21.6%) respondents had a current/future parental desire, parental desire was already fulfilled in 81 (31.9%) and not present in 57 people (22.4%) (other: 19.2%). TW were more likely to express a parental desire, compared to GNB people and cross-dressers (P?=?0.004). In total, 196 AMAB people previously sought medical assistance, of which 30 (15.3%) considered the loss of fertility due to the transitioning process undesirable. The majority (68.2%) did not want fertility preservation (FP). Fourteen people (9.8%) had proceeded with FP. The main reasons not to proceed with FP included not feeling the need (70; 68.0%), not desiring a genetic link with (future) child(ren) (20; 19.4%) and having to postpone hormone treatment (15; 14.6%). TW were more likely to have a parental desire and to have cryopreserved or to consider cryopreserving gametes, compared to GNB people.

Conclusion: Parental desire and FP use were lower in the current non-clinical sample than in previous research on clinical samples. This can possibly be explained by the barriers transgender people face when considering fertility options, including postponing hormone therapy. Also, GNB persons have different needs for gender affirming treatment and FP.     

Organizing the voice questionnaire for transgender persons

Abstract

Background: The validated Transsexual Voice Questionnaire Male to Female (TVQ^MtF) and the adapted TVQ Female to Male (FtM) (TVQ^FtM) are both 30-item-long questionnaires used to evaluate self-perception of voice in transgender persons. They are part of a series of questionnaires completed by transgender persons during follow-up of cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT).

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine if these questionnaires can be organized.

Methods: The TVQ^MtF or the TVQ^FtM was filled out at the start of CSHT, by 145 trans women and 83 trans men. Data were analyzed by factor analyses on both the questionnaires.

Results: The factor analyses resulted in a three-factor solution for both the TVQ^MtF and the TVQ^FtM. The three factors were labeled as anxiety and avoidance, vocal identity, and vocal function.

Conclusion: Both the questionnaires can be organized into three factors. This could contribute to making shorter versions of the questionnaires. Shorter versions would be useful to hormone prescribing physicians to track down more quickly voice problems in trans people undergoing virilizing or feminizing hormone treatment.     

Beyond Single-Mindedness: A Figure-Ground Reversal for the Cognitive Sciences

A fundamental fact about human minds is that they are never truly alone: all minds are steeped in situated interaction. That social interaction matters is recognized by any experimentalist who seeks to exclude its influence by studying individuals in isolation. On this view, interaction complicates cognition. Here, we explore the more radical stance that interaction co-constitutes cognition: that we benefit from looking beyond single minds toward cognition as a process involving interacting minds. All around the cognitive sciences, there are approaches that put interaction center stage. Their diverse and pluralistic origins may obscure the fact that collectively, they harbor insights and methods that can respecify foundational assumptions and fuel novel interdisciplinary work. What might the cognitive sciences gain from stronger interactional foundations? This represents, we believe, one of the key questions for the future. Writing as a transdisciplinary collective assembled from across the classic cognitive science hexagon and beyond, we highlight the opportunity for a figure-ground reversal that puts interaction at the heart of cognition. The interactive stance is a way of seeing that deserves to be a key part of the conceptual toolkit of cognitive scientists.     

Vaginal bleeding and spotting in transgender men after initiation of testosterone therapy: A prospective cohort study (ENIGI)

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have cross-sectionally described amenorrhea in cohorts of transgender men on intramuscular or subcutaneous testosterone injections. It remains uncertain which testosterone preparations most effectively suppress vaginal bleeding and when amenorrhea occurs after testosterone initiation.

Aim:To investigate the clinical effects of various testosterone preparations on vaginal bleeding and spotting in transgender men.

Methods: This prospective cohort study was part of the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI). Data on the persistence and intensity of vaginal bleeding and spotting, serum sex steroid levels and body composition were prospectively and cross-sectionally assessed in 267 transgender men during a three-year follow-up period, starting at the initiation of various testosterone preparations.

Results: After three months of testosterone, 17.9% of transgender men reported persistent vaginal bleeding and 26.8% reported spotting. The percentages reporting vaginal bleeding and spotting decreased over the first year of testosterone (bleeding 4.7% and spotting 6.9% at 12?months, respectively), with no participants reporting vaginal bleeding or spotting after 18?months of testosterone. Factors associated with vaginal bleeding or spotting included lower serum testosterone levels and being on testosterone gel as compared to injections (e.g., esters or undecanoate preparations). If vaginal bleeding persisted, starting progestogens at three months resulted in a decrease in the intensity of vaginal bleeding and spotting.

Discussion: Transgender men and hormone-prescribing providers can be reassured that vaginal bleeding and spotting usually stop within three months after testosterone initiation. If not, serum testosterone levels should be measured and testosterone dose adjusted to achieve serum testosterone levels in the physiologic male range. Adding a progestin can be considered after three to six months if bleeding persists. Providers should be aware that cessation of bleeding can be more difficult to achieve in transgender men with lower serum testosterone levels or those on testosterone gel.