Restrained eating: an experimental disentanglement of the disinhibiting variables of perceived calories and food type

The influence of food type on the restrained eating pattern was examined. In Study 1, subjects rated the degree to which each of 149 foods were dietary permissable or dietary forbidden. The number of avoided foods correlated positively with restraint score. Study 2 compared Herman and Mack's (1975) 1- and 2-milk shake preloads to two nonforbidden preloads of equivalent calories. Food type, and not perceived calories, was found to be the element of the preload required to cause disinhibition among restrained eaters, both within the experiment and outside the experimental setting. Study 3 examined the effects of anticipated consumption (varying food type and calories) on the restrained eating pattern. Only restrained eaters anticipating a forbidden food (whether high or low in calories) were disinhibited. The restrained literature was reconsidered in light of the forbidden food hypothesis.     

Models of Clergy Spouse Involvement in Protestant Christian Congregations

While all adults in the paid labor force face the difficult task of managing the competing pressures of work and family life, clergy families encounter an added dynamic in the way spouses are integrated into the church. Yet spouses approach involvement in unique and varied ways, making intentional choices over how much or little to participate in the congregations their husbands and wives pastor. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 46 pastors and clergy spouses in five Protestant Christian denominations, this study describes three models of clergy spouse participation showing the diverse ways women and men interpret and enact their role through the ongoing management of boundaries. I consider several social factors informing the model a clergy spouse embraces—pressure from congregants or one’s own ideas, congregational precedent, gender and stage in the life cycle—shedding light on the interaction between individual preferences and contextual factors. In doing so, I argue that although the women and men in this study are continually recreating what it means to be a clergy spouse, they remain heavily rooted in a traditional expectation that pastors’ wives and husbands provide support to their spouse’s church and calling to pastoral ministry.     

Sleep-wake state tradeoffs, impulsivity and life history theory

Evolutionary ecological theory predicts that sleep-wake state tradeoffs may be related to local environmental conditions and should therefore correlate to alterations in behavioral life history strategies. It was predicted that firefighters who slept more and reported better quality sleep on average would exhibit lower impulsivity inclinations related to slower life history trajectories. UPPS impulsivity scores and self-reported sleep averages were analyzed and indicated a negative association between sleep variables and urgency and a positive association with premeditation. Perseverance, and in some cases premeditation, however, disclosed an unpredicted marginally significant positive association between increased and emergency nighttime waking-related sleep deprivation. Sensation seeking was not associated with sleep variables, but was strongly associated with number of biological children. This research contributes to understanding the implications of human sleep across ecological and behavioral contexts and implies further research is necessary for constructing evolutionarily oriented measures of impulsivity inclination and its meaning in the context of life history strategies.     

Illness perception ratings of high-risk newborns by mothers and clinicians: Relationship to illness severity and maternal stress

Objective: Patients' views of illness are often thought to differ from those of medical staff, although this is rarely assessed. This study examined the correspondence between mothers' and clinicians' perceptions of the same high-risk newborns, as well as with an objective measure of illness severity. We also investigated how mothers' perceptions were related to reported stress. Methods: Mothers of 99 high-risk infants admitted to either a neonatal intensive care or neonatal high dependency unit, which offers specialized but not intensive care, completed illness perception ratings of their baby's condition as well as perceived stress 3 to 5 days following admission. At the same time, a standardized measure of neonatal illness severity was calculated and the baby's primary neonatologist completed illness perceptions ratings. Results: Unlike clinician ratings, mothers' illness perceptions were not significantly correlated with illness severity. Mothers generally rated babies in both units as sicker and having a more serious illness than did neonatologists. Whereas clinicians, compared with mothers, rated babies in intensive care as having an illness that would affect their life more and last for a longer time. Mothers rated medical treatment to be significantly more helpful than did clinicians, particularly for babies admitted to the high dependency unit. Mothers' stress was significantly associated with illness perceptions but unrelated to illness severity. Conclusions: Significant differences exist in the perceptions of illness severity, helpfulness of treatment, and the long-term effects of the baby's illness between parents and clinicians and this may lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations in communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Medical Family Therapy: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) is a relatively young sub-specialty founded initially at the intersection of Family Therapy and Family Medicine. The purpose of this article is to synthesize and review scholarly literature covering almost 30?years of history, growth, and available research on MedFT. Eighty-two articles that met specific inclusion criteria were reviewed and the literature was categorized into four distinct themes: (a) Emergence of MedFT in the literature; (b) Contemporary MedFT skills and applications; (c) Punctuating the ??family therapy?? in MedFT; and (d) MedFT effectiveness and efficacy research. What was learned was that MedFT is growing so rapidly there is now a need for a current definition, identification of core curriculum standards and competencies for training, as well as a commitment to produce rigorous research on its effectiveness and efficacy. Recommendations to advance efforts across the foci are provided.