Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and childhood obesity: a review of cross-sectional studies

This systematic review examined the associations of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior to childhood overweight and obesity in cross-sectional studies from the last 10 years. Cross-sectional approaches are cost-effective methods for identifying relationships that can then be followed by longitudinal studies to establish temporality and create targeted interventions. The 17 selected studies contained a variety of measures of PA and sedentary behavior. PA was related negatively to child weight status in some studies; however, it was not associated in others. In general, sedentary behaviors were positively associated with weight status. However, gender differences appeared in some studies for each variable. Limitations of cross-sectional approaches were discussed, as was the need for more accurate measures of PA, sedentary behavior, and body composition.     

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: A pluralogue part 2: Issues of conservatism and pragmatism in psychiatric diagnosis

In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1) the nature of a mental disorder; 2) the definition of mental disorder; 3) the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4) the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5) the issue of utility of the DSM ?C whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6) the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part I of this article took up the first two questions. Part II will take up the second two questions. Question 3 deals with the question as to whether DSM-V should assume a conservative or assertive posture in making changes from DSM-IV. That question in turn breaks down into discussion of diagnoses that depend on, and aim toward, empirical, scientific validation, and diagnoses that are more value-laden and less amenable to scientific validation. Question 4 takes up the role of pragmatic consideration in a psychiatric nosology, whether the purely empirical considerations need to be tempered by considerations of practical consequence. As in Part 1 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances.     

Instrumentality Gives Girls the Edge: Gender-Differential Relations Between Instrumentality,Achievement Motivation,and Self-Esteem

Sex Roles - Gender differences in school are often discussed in reference to a particular type of masculinity, negative masculinity, which is often conceptualized as detrimental to success. Another...     

Pro-environmental attitudes,pro-environmental behaviours and nature-relatedness: Differences based on place preference

IntroductionThis study explored whether place preference, an individual's relationship with place, differentiated people on pro-environmental attitudes, nature-relatedness and pro-environmental behavior.ObjectiveThe aim was to provide a way to segment people and potentially inform behavior change messaging strategies targeting pro-environmental action.MethodOnline participants reported an urban/nature place preference, completed a sense of place measure in reference to this categorisation, followed by counter-balanced nature-relatedness, pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour measures.ResultsParticipants reported moderate-to-high levels of sense of place generally and place attachment specifically. Positive associations between sense of place, nature relatedness, pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours existed; but differed by place preference. Correlations were positive in the nature preference group but negative or non-significant in the urban preference group. Individuals with a nature preference reported higher nature-relatedness, pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior.ConclusionThe results suggest place preference can discriminate individuals on a range of pro-environmental concepts and may have potential for behavior change strategies targeting these outcomes.     

Markers of Topical Discourse in Child‐Directed Speech

Although the language we encounter is typically embedded in rich discourse contexts, many existing models of processing focus largely on phenomena that occur sentence‐internally. Similarly, most work on children's language learning does not consider how information can accumulate as a discourse progresses. Research in pragmatics, however, points to ways in which each subsequent utterance provides new opportunities for listeners to infer speaker meaning. Such inferences allow the listener to build up a representation of the speakers' intended topic and more generally to identify relationships, structures, and messages that extend across multiple utterances. We address this issue by analyzing a video corpus of child–caregiver interactions. We use topic continuity as an index of discourse structure, examining how caregivers introduce and discuss objects across utterances. For the analysis, utterances are grouped into topical discourse sequences using three annotation strategies: raw annotations of speakers' referents, the output of a model that groups utterances based on those annotations, and the judgments of human coders. We analyze how the lexical, syntactic, and social properties of caregiver–child interaction change over the course of a sequence of topically related utterances. Our findings suggest that many cues used to signal topicality in adult discourse are also available in child‐directed speech.     

You,me, and meaning: an integrative review of connections between relationships and meaning in life

Social relationships are seen to be vital to human functioning, both in terms of psychological functioning and physical health. Relationships are a cornerstone of well-being. For instance, having positive relationships has been linked to greater happiness, life satisfaction and physical health outcomes. Meaning in life, or the perception that one's life is significant and has a purpose, is another prominent cornerstone of well-being. As such, social relationships and meaning in life should have reciprocal associations. In this paper, cross-cultural theory and empirical research will be reviewed to explore the role of family, romantic and friendship relationships in supporting meaning in life. Further, we will discuss the implications of the current research and propose new directions for future research.     

An investigation into the psychometric properties of the CORE‐OM in patients with eating disorders

Aim: The current study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the CORE‐OM (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure) when used in an eating disorder sample. Method: The CORE‐OM was administered at assessment to 360 individuals referred to an eating disorders service. Principal component analysis was conducted to look at the psychometric structure of the CORE‐OM, and psychometric properties were investigated using analyses of reliability and validity. Results: Analyses of the psychometric structure suggested a three‐component solution reflecting negatively worded, positively worded and risk items. The CORE‐OM showed good acceptability, acceptable internal and test‐retest reliabilities, as well as good convergent and known groups validity. Conclusions: The results of the current study support the CORE‐OM as a reliable and valid measure for assessing psychological distress in eating disorders.     

Attitudes towards psychotherapy manuals among clinicians treating eating disorders

Clinicians have relatively low uptake and implementation of evidence-based psychotherapies for the eating disorders, and this problem appears to be associated with low use of manualized approaches. This study examines clinicians' positive and negative attitudes to manuals, and possible beliefs and emotional factors that might drive those attitudes. The participants were 125 psychological therapists working with eating-disordered patients. Each completed standardised measures of attitudes to manuals and emotional states. A number of beliefs about the content of manuals were associated with both positive attitudes to the outcome of treatment and negative attitudes to their impact on the treatment process. In addition, a more positive mood was associated with more positive attitudes. Suggestions are made regarding how attitudes might be made more positive, in order to facilitate the use of evidence-based therapies for eating disorders.     

Reflections on the Theory-Practice Gap in Cognitive Behavior Therapy

The papers in this special series, edited by Pilecki and McKay (2013--this issue), are devoted to examining the theory-practice gap in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). A gap between theory and practice can occur at more than one level. First, there exists a substantial and concerning gap between the theories and interventions supported by research and those being offered to patients in the community (i.e., research-practice gap). There is also a growing concern in the field that the techniques and procedures that characterize cognitive-behavioral therapies are becoming increasingly divorced from underlying theories (i.e., theory-procedure gap). In the present commentary we hope to summarize and comment on some of the themes, issues, and future directions raised by our contributors.