Executive Cognitive Function as a Correlate and Predictor of Child Food Intake and Physical Activity

Investigated were relations among executive cognitive function (ECF), food intake, and physical activity in 184, fourth grade children. It was hypothesized that self-reported ECF proficiency would predict greater self-reported fruit/vegetable intake and physical activity, but less “snack food” intake. Structural models demonstrated that ECF was significantly correlated with less concurrent snack food intake and greater concurrent fruit/vegetable intake, but not physical activity. Baseline ECF also significantly predicted greater fruit/vegetable intake and physical activity four months later, but not snack food intake. One implication is to promote ECF as a correlate and predictor of food intake and physical activity in children by providing opportunities for youth to practice newly developing ECF capacities.     

Cross-ethnic assessment of body weight and height on the basis of faces

Previous research has revealed a strong relationship between mere visual facial cues and body weight. They can be exploited to validly judge the weight of the human body. We tested to what extent observers are able to judge body weight and height on the basis of same-ethnicity and different-ethnicity faces. Caucasian and Asian observers saw Caucasian and Asian faces and estimated the person’s weight and height – merely on the basis of greyscale photographs of the face. These height and weight estimates were influenced by ethnocentric specifics of familiar face proportion and face–body relationship. Own-ethnicity weight estimations showed higher accuracy than foreign-ethnicity estimations. Observers ignored the changed base-rate for weight of other-culture faces in a culture-egocentric fashion. Height judgments, in contrast, reflect a higher degree of sophistication. A bias toward the own, familiar body proportion was visible here, especially for Japanese observers—however, the height judgments showed that observers were able to incorporate the other-ethnicity height proportion to some extent.     

Adaptive midlife defense mechanisms and late-life health

A growing body of research suggests that personality characteristics relate to physical health; however, this relationship has primarily been tested in cross-sectional studies that have not followed the participants into old age. The present study utilizes data from a 70-year longitudinal study to prospectively examine the relationship between the adaptive defense mechanisms in midlife and objectively assessed physical health in late life. In addition to examining the direct effect, we test whether social support mediates this relationship. The sample consisted of 90 men who were followed for over seven decades beginning in late adolescence. Health ratings from medical records were made at three time points (ages 70, 75, and 80). Defense mechanisms were coded from narratives by trained independent raters (Vaillant, Bond, & Vaillant, 1986). Independent raters assessed social supports between ages 50 and 70. More adaptive defenses in midlife were associated with better physical health at all three time points in late life. These relationships were partially mediated by social support. Findings are consistent with the theory that defense maturity is important for building social relationships, which in turn contribute to better late-life physical health. Psychological interventions aimed at improving these domains may be beneficial for physical health.     

Sex in the City: The ambiguity of female mating strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the limitations of evolutionary explanations of female mating strategies, and to present an alternative theory that accounts for the ambiguity of mating strategies throughout a woman's life. While mating strategies are considered to be discrete entities, it is clear that women's decision making in everyday life is based on mutually fused, ambiguous courses of actions. The current perspective addresses the commonality of female mating experiences while highlighting the uniqueness of each woman's mating strategy and outlines a multi-level perspective on strategies of women's reproductive decision making.     

Psychological need satisfaction,intrinsic motivation and affective response to exercise in adolescents

ObjectivesTo further understanding of the factors influencing adolescents' motivations for physical activity, the relationship of variables derived from Self-Determination Theory to adolescents' affective response to exercise was examined.DesignCorrelational.MethodAdolescents (N = 182) self-reported psychological needs satisfaction (perceived competence, relatedness, and autonomy) and intrinsic motivation related to exercise. In two clinic visits, adolescents reported their affect before, during, and after a moderate-intensity and a hard-intensity exercise task.ResultsAffective response to exercise and psychological needs satisfaction independently contributed to the prediction of intrinsic motivation in hierarchical linear regression models. The association between affective response to exercise and intrinsic motivation was partially mediated by psychological needs satisfaction.ConclusionsIntrinsic motivation for exercise among adolescents may be enhanced when the environment supports perceived competence, relatedness, and autonomy, and when adolescents participate in activities that they find enjoyable.     

Postural Balance Following Aerobic Fatigue Tests: A Longitudinal Study Among Young Athletes

General fatigue can cause aggravation of postural balance, with increased risk for injuries. The present longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the postural balance of young athletes following field aerobic tests throughout 1 year of training. Thirty children from a sports center in Nazareth, participating in a 3 times/week training program (specific to basketball, soccer, or athletic training), were assessed. Postural balance parameters were taken before, immediately after, and 10 min after a 20 m shuttle-run aerobic test, at 3 time points during 1 training year (Start/Y, Mid/Y, and End/Y). Fitness improved at the Mid/Y and End/Y compared to Start/Y. Postural balance significantly deteriorated immediately after the aerobic test and improved significantly in the 10-min testing in all 3 time points, with significant deterioration in the End/Y compared with the Start/Y. In conclusions, postural balance deteriorates immediately after aerobic exercises, and at the end of the year. To better practice drills related to postural balance and possibly to prevent injuries, it is best for young athletes to properly rest immediately following aerobic exercises and to practice postural balance mainly at the beginning and at the middle of the training year.     

The rehabilitation of primary object relations in the first year of intensive therapy with a severely deprived child

The following is an account of the first year of a therapy carried out in the public sector of a child born at the beginning of 1990 in an eastern European country and brought up in a home for abandoned children until he was placed with Italian parents at the end of 1995. I shall describe the child's initial psychological state, vigorous, but desperate, and then go on to describe the course of the first year of therapy, focusing in particular on the sessions of the from period, in which, apart from the quality and intensity of his anxiety, his need to fie this anxiety by retracing the stages of his first object experiences is clear.     

Re-thinking necessity (al-Darūra) in al-Ghazālī's understanding of physical causation

The present article analyzes al-Ghazālī's (1058 – 1111) effort to reconcile the theological concept of a causally efficacious Creator with the idea of regularity, and thus, predictability, in physical nature. Al-Ghazālī reframed the necessity (al-darūra) of causal relationships in nature in order to achieve two goals: one, theological and the other, epistemological. His intellectual solution ultimately preserved both the human ability to know material causal relations as well as divine creative omnipotence, in particular, God's ability to perform miracles. The Muslim discussion thus indirectly contributed to Western speculative thinking on this problem. The balanced approach that al-Ghazālī took, nevertheless, fell by the wayside within the Islamic environment where it was either ignored, or only partially understood, or narrowly and imperfectly interpreted. In the purely Muslim context, it also is essential to underscore the importance of al-Ghazālī's epistemological discoveries in laying the groundwork for the establishment of a paradigm of natural scientific speculation in the medieval Islamic world.     

Relative effects of reduced weight and increased physical activity on hemoglobin A1c: Suggestions for behavioral treatments

Behavioral treatments for diabetes have often been unsuccessful and may benefit from a better understanding of the relative effects of two common treatment foci – decreased weight and increased volume of physical activity – on blood glucose. Overweight and obese adults (N = 59; M_age = 60 years) with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values consistent with diabetes participated in a 6-month community-based behavioral treatment based on tenets of self-efficacy theory and social cognitive theory. The treatment was associated with significantly increased physical activity, reduced body mass index (BMI), and reduced HbA1c levels (ps < .001). Changes in BMI and physical activity accounted for a significant portion of the variance in change in HbA1c, R² = .13, p = .023. Change in volume of physical activity, β = ?.36, p = .007, but not change in BMI, β = ?.03, p = .792, significantly contributed to the variance in HbA1c change that was accounted for. There was no effect based on the sex of participants. Discussion focused on how findings might impact the efficacy, efficiency, and application of behavioral treatments for diabetes management.