<p> Obesity has been identified as a public health crisis across demographics; as such, it is especially a risk factor for disease in African American women. However, the factors that contribute to this risk continue to elude researchers. While obesity shares a relationship with depression&mdash;as depressive symptoms influence eating behaviors in some demographics&mdash;the pathways of influence between depression and eating behaviors on obesity are not as clear with regard to African American women. This study took a closer look at those pathways and examined the relationship between obesity, emotional eating, and depression in women. Race was examined as a moderator in the relationship between emotional eating and depressive symptoms predicting obesity. Emotional eating is defined as &ldquo;overeating in response to negative emotional states&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;poor food choices in response to stress and negative mood.&rdquo; To assess these goals, 345 women completed an online survey that included: demographic questions; 25 questions from the Emotional Eating Scale; 10 questions from the Perceived Stress Scale; 20 questions from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised; and height and weight to assess body mass index (BMI). Race was a significant predictor of obesity as African American women had greater BMI when compared to White women. In addition, women who engaged in more emotional eating were more likely to have higher BMI. The relationship between emotional eating and obesity was moderated by race; emotional eating was a strong predictor of obesity in White women but not African American women. Further research is warranted to identify factors related to obesity that include other measures for weight beyond BMI as well as the eating behaviors of African American women.</p><p>

<p> Despite the trends showing a reduction in the use and abuse of drugs among American adolescents, the prevalence rates remain high. There is also comorbidity of mental illnesses among the adolescents using drugs. The aim of this study was to determine the presence and nature of the association between the use and abuse of marijuana and alcohol and mental illnesses among the American adolescent population. The noted comorbidities and the hypothesized association between the substance abuse and mental illnesses were explained using the expectancy theory. Using a quantitative research methodology, secondary data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2014 and 2015 were analyzed. Data analysis yielded a positive but weak association between use and abuse of alcohol and marijuana through proxies such as marijuana use in the past month (<i>p</i> = 0.01), first use of marijuana (<i> p</i> = 0.016), alcohol use disorder in the past year (<i>p</i> = 0.002), alcohol dependence in the past year (<i>p</i> = 0.001), and the occurrence of mental illnesses. The association was statistically significant in all proxies except alcohol use in the past month. <i> F</i>-test results were also statistically significant (<i>p</i> = 0.022, <i>R</i>² = 0.242). The findings showed that adolescents who used marijuana and alcohol were more likely to develop mental illnesses. It is recommended for relevant federal and state governments and public health agencies to develop social programs to address the two issues inclusively rather than exclusively.</p><p>

<p> Every year approximately 17,000 adolescents ages 15-19 become pregnant in New York City. Most of these pregnancies are unintended and only a small percent of adolescents use effective contraception, with wide disparities by race/ethnicity and poverty level. While many studies have identified factors associated with contraceptive use, most research has focused on individual level factors, with little attention to the contribution of the school environment to sexual risk behavior and contraceptive use. This study investigates the effect of school-level factors on contraceptive use among adolescents in NYC public high schools before and after controlling for individual-level factors, and whether this effect varies with race/ethnicity. Using a cross-sectional design, the NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) individual-level datasets for 2007, 2009 and 2011 were linked to a school-level dataset. Variables were selected based on empirical findings on factors associated with sexual behaviors, including contraceptive use, by adolescents. The analytic sample included all YRBS respondents aged 14 or older who reported having sexual intercourse in the past three months and had complete responses to the YRBS questions on contraceptive use at last sex (N=8,054). The chi square test of significance was used to evaluate significant associations between independent variables and contraceptive use in bivariate analyses; variables with a p value &lt; 0.1 were included in the multivariable analyses. Binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the strength of the associations of school-level factors with contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents. Findings included that use of any contraception and/or hormonal contraception at last sexual intercourse was associated with attending schools with a higher six-year graduation rate, higher percent of students strongly agreeing they were safe in their classrooms, higher percent of teachers at the school for over two years, and having a School-Based Health Center (SBHC) in the building. No known study has examined the contribution of school-level effects to contraceptive use in a dataset linking YRBS and school-level datasets. Implications of research findings are that schools providing a supportive, engaging and safe environment can protect students from sexual risk behaviors and increase contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents. &#8195; </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify potential predictors of alcohol screening and brief intervention outcomes for severe-risk drinkers. Specifically, age, gender, race, blood alcohol level, counseling intervention type, type of injury, hazardous alcohol use, symptoms of alcohol dependence and harmful alcohol use were examined to see whether the variables were able to predict reduction to low-risk levels among severe-risk participants. A total of 101 participants were included in this research study. The variables were collected at baseline via the screening process of the alcohol screening and brief intervention (ASBI) procedures. The AUDIT (Babor et al., 2001) instrument was utilized to gather the hazardous alcohol use, symptoms of alcohol dependence, and harmful alcohol use variables. The other variables were gathered from participant self report. </p><p> Two logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data in SPSS. The analysis indicated that one variable was statistically significant, blood alcohol level. The odds ratio of .993 suggested that for every one unit increase in blood alcohol level, a severe-risk participant was .993 times as likely to reduce their drinking to low-risk at six month follow-up. These findings show little support for the individual predictors examined within this analysis, which were all completed during the screening phase of the ASBI process. This lack of significance for individual predictors emphasizes the need for future research to examine the components of a successful brief counseling intervention.</p>

<p> The present investigation was developed with the purpose of identifying how the social determinants of health impact individuals' ability to cope with Chagas disease. Identifying coping methods was also a goal of this investigation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 Latino patients between the ages of 30 and 65 who were being treated for Chagas disease at a university affiliated medical center.</p><p> The results of this investigation revealed that individuals infected with Chagas disease are impacted by structural, intermediary, and sociopolitical aspects that affect their living, and working conditions, and make more difficult for them to cope with their illness. Although, concerned professionals are addressing some of these social barriers, there are still many difficulties faced by the population due to lack of attention to the illness and the conditions that cause inequalities in society. Despite the social barriers that individuals with Chagas face, they still thrive by finding ways to cope with their particular situations.</p><p> Findings from the study revealed coping strategies used by the participants, some of these include relying on family for support, staying active, believing in God, remaining optimistic, and minimizing or using denial.</p><p> From the investigation, several recommendations for practitioners, advocates, and policy makers were developed, as well as recommendations for future studies. Some of the major recommendations are increasing awareness about the illness among policy makers and advocates in order to fully attend to the needs of the population. This would lead to doing more research, investing in the development of better drugs, and providing support to address some of the social needs of the people infected so they can cope better with the illness. Some of the recommendations for future research include increasing the sample size in order to investigate the impact of demographic variables as well as their particular stage of the illness in their ability to cope, and assessing the impact of social determinants using quantitative research methods.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Health Behaviour and the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-06, Section: B, page: 3090. Chair: Mohammad R. Torabi. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Dec. 4, 2006)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Applied Health Science, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: B, page: 1953. Advisers: Michael Reece; Stephanie Sanders. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 19, 2007)."

<p> Arabic-speaking populations suffer from unique stressors including but not limited to acculturation, making it more crucial than ever to have a validated tool to measure stress in this population. The Stress Overload Scale (SOS), which measures stress perceived as overwhelming relative to one&rsquo;s resources, has proven effective in predicting illness in English-speaking populations; but no Arabic version of the 30-item SOS yet exists. The current study aimed to construct an Arabic SOS, and determine if it maintains its validity in native Arabic speakers in the United States. The 30-item SOS was translated into Arabic using the Cross-Cultural Adaptation method, including back translation. The sample consisted of 90 native Arabic speakers, aged 18 years and over from a large public university, who completed the measures online. The study demonstrated that the Arabic SOS generally paralleled the original version in terms of a two-factor structure (Personal Vulnerability and Event Load) and reliability. The Arabic SOS also demonstrated construct and criterion validity by showing significant positive correlations with the Arabic Perceived Stress Scale and the Patient-Health Questionnaire-15, respectively. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future validation in different Arabic-speaking samples and settings are discussed. It is concluded that the Arabic SOS may offer a better tool for evaluating pathogenic stress in Arabic-speaking populations than current existing measures.</p><p>

<p> Researchers have identified inadequate sleep duration as one of the factors contributing to global obesity. The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis deduced from a new sleep-duration-based evolutionary theory claiming that sleep extension in response to lengthening night duration in early fall evolved into a behavioral marker of an approaching winter; this adaptive trait was theorized to produce adiposity gain in White men in response to sleep extension. The hypothesis was that White Americans would show a greater increase in the age-adjusted fat mass index per unit of sleep duration compared to that of Black Americans. Data were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study between 2005 and 2010. The multiple regression analysis did not support the study hypothesis. The results indicated that habitual sleep duration had no effect on the annual rate of adiposity gain in White men, while in Black men, longer sleep was associated with significantly higher annual rates of adiposity gain. Implications for social change include the case for population-specific antiobesity interventions in Black men, including closer monitoring of sleep duration in order to prevent adverse habitual sleep extension and to improve time budgeting for physical exercise.</p>

<p> Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Trainings such as Question Persuade and Refer (QPR) are used to increase suicide awareness and teach participants basic suicide intervention skills. Previous researchers showed that QPR training increases knowledge of suicide risk factors and increases participants' willingness to intervene with individuals at risk of suicide. It was hypothesized that completion of QPR would also increase positive attitudes toward the utilization of mental health services and that this outcome would be more pronounced among male participants. The examination of attitudes was rooted in the theoretical framework of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior. The Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS) was the instrument used for the study. The study occurred in a rural community college in southern Oregon. Student attitudes were assessed prior to completion of a 1-hour QPR presentation followed by a 3-week post assessment. Analysis of Variance revealed significant effects of QPR training. IASMHS scores were significantly higher at post QPR training. A significant interaction between gender and QPR training showed that women scored significantly higher than men only at pre QPR training. There was no statistical gender difference in attitudes measured by the IASMHS at post QPR training. QPR increased help seeking attitudes in both men and women with the increase being more pronounced in men. Increasing positive attitudes toward help seeking can contribute to positive social change. Practitioners in the field of men's health should consider using gatekeeper suicide prevention training such as QPR as a means of increasing male help seeking.</p>