Parent Readiness to Change Differs for Overweight Child Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors

Parent involvement is important to help overweight children lose weight. However, parent readiness to make changes around child eating and physical activity (PA) behaviors can differ across domains. Using a cross-sectional design, our aim was to examine which factors were associated with parents being in the Action/Maintenance stage of change in each domain. From November 2008 to August 2009, parents of overweight/obese children (n=202) attending a tertiary care obesity clinic in Providence, RI, answered questions assessing their stage of change, beliefs about child health and weight, and provider behaviors. Separate multivariate logistic regression models were created to determine which factors were associated with parent readiness to make changes for child dietary and PA behaviors. Almost 62% of parents were in the Action stage of change for child dietary behaviors, but only 41% were in the Action stage of change for PA behaviors. Parents who believed their own weight was a health problem were less likely to be ready to make changes to their child's dietary behaviors. Physician discussion of strategies was related to readiness to make changes for child dietary behaviors, but not PA behaviors. In the PA domain, parents of younger children were more likely to be ready to make changes. Training health care providers to address PA readiness and be aware of factors influencing dietary and PA readiness may result in more effective conversations with parents and improve behavior change efforts for pediatric weight loss.     

The Importance of Voluntary Behavior in Rehabilitation Treatment and Outcomes

Most rehabilitation treatments are volitional in nature, meaning that they require the patient’s active engagement and effort. Volitional treatments are particularly challenging to define in a standardized fashion, because the clinician is not in complete control of the patient’s role in enacting these treatments. Current recommendations for describing treatments in research reports fail to distinguish between 2 fundamentally different aspects of treatment design: the selection of treatment ingredients to produce the desired functional change and the selection of ingredients that will ensure the patient’s volitional performance. The Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS) is a conceptual scheme for standardizing the way that rehabilitation treatments are defined by all disciplines across all areas of rehabilitation. The RTSS highlights the importance of volitional behavior in many treatment areas and provides specific guidance for how volitional treatments should be specified. In doing so, it suggests important crosscutting research questions about the nature of volitional behavior, factors that make it more or less likely to occur, and ingredients that are most effective in ensuring that patients perform desired treatment activities.     

我国与欧美国家医院志愿服务机制的比较研究

目的 通过对中外医院开展志愿服务的原因、服务机制等内容的比较,找出我国目前医院志愿者服务中存在的不足,并探索适合我国医院志愿服务的运行机制.方法 以文献研究为主要研究方法,辅以小组讨论等其他方法,对中外医院志愿服务运行机制进行深层次的剖析.结果 医院发展的需要促进了欧美发达国家医院开展志愿服务,其志愿服务内容广泛、管理规范,并依据志愿者动机制定了相应的激励措施.结论 我国医院志愿者服务尚处于初级阶段,国内学者亟需在医院志愿者岗位设置、实践规范等方面提供更多的科学证据.     

高职生一般自我效能感与成就动机的关系

目的了解高职生一般自我效能感的现状,并进一步探讨其与成就动机的关系。方法采用一般自我效能感量表(GSES)和《成就动机量表》(AMS),对280名高职生随机调查。结果 1高职生一般自我效能感(t=2.869,P0.05)在是否班干部上存在显著差异;2一般自我效能感与成就动机各维度(P0.01)都呈显著正相关;3多元回归分析表明,追求成功(β=0.432,P0.01)对一般自我效能感有显著的预测作用。结论高职生一般自我效能感和成就动机呈显著正相关,追求成功动机可以有效预测一般自我效能感。     

Experiences of graduates in Massachusetts of the United States from a RN-to-BSN program

ObjectiveTo generate an understanding of the lived experiences of a shared central phenomenon of RN-to-BSN graduates and determine their perceptions of the value of their BSN degree.MethodsThe data collection procedure was open-ended, semi-structured, which was consisted of one-on-one interviews with 12 nurses who are licensed in Massachusetts and who are graduates of RN-to-BSN programs.ResultsThe findings identified seven major emerging themes, a) job requirement, b) promotion, c) professional growth, d) personal growth, e) family obligations, f) time and energy, and h) compensation. The themes were incomparable through all emerging themes.ConclusionsThe research data analysis supports the need for the non-BSN RNs to continue their education to the BSN level should be central for nurse executives in hiring positions to help non-BSN staff RNs interested in these positions to meet the BSN requirement for applying for jobs that they may qualify for, but do not possess the BSN degree. There was a definite connection between job requirement and promotion from all the research study participants.     

An fMRI investigation of the impact of withdrawal on regional brain activity during nicotine anticipation

Previous research indicates that drug motivational systems are instantiated in structures that process information related to incentive, motivational drive, memorial, motor/habit, craving, and cognitive control processing. The present research tests the hypothesis that activity in such systems will be powerfully affected by the combination of drug anticipation and drug withdrawal. Event-related fMRI was used to examine activation in response to a preinfusion warning cue in two experimental sessions that manipulated withdrawal status. Significant cue-induced effects were seen in the caudate, ventral anterior nucleus of the thalamus, the insula, subcallosal gyrus, nucleus accumbens, and anterior cingulate. These results suggest that withdrawal and nicotine anticipation produce (1) different motor preparatory and inhibitory response processing and (2) different craving related processing.     

From liability to challenge: Complex environments are associated with favorable psychosocial outcomes in adolescent sport participants

This study aimed to identify different groups of adolescents who have distinct profiles based upon their perceptions of interpersonal and activity-based dimensions of the sport environment. A sample of 310 adolescents from Eastern Canada (M_age = 14.69 ± 1.60 years; 54.8% girls) completed questionnaires assessing selected interpersonal, activity-based, demographic and sport-specific variables. Using TwoStep Cluster Analysis, we identified three groupings of adolescent sport participants. Consistent with the literature, we labeled these groups ‘negative context,’ ‘positive context,’ and ‘complex context,’ respectively. As expected, participants in the last two groups reported greater enjoyment, perceived competence, and commitment to sport. Further, participants in the ‘complex context’ group showed the highest levels of sport commitment. We draw on insights from Csikszentmihalyi's theory of complexity and relational conceptions of compensation and resilience to interpret the findings, and offer an alternative account of contextual conditions suitable for adolescents involved in competitive sport.     

Predictors of retention among undergraduate students attending associate-degree nursing programs in Illinois

The purpose of the study was to determine what the relationship is between emotional intelligence, motivation, demographic variables, and retention. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and the Assessing Emotions Scale garnered data submitted from 390 first-year students attending nine associate-degree nursing schools in Illinois. Statistically significant differences in the mean scores for several motivation subscales were noted. Age, race/ethnic background, and school were predictors with retention. Emotional intelligence was not predictive with retention.