Changes in Nursing Students' Attitudes and Perceptions After Receipt of Enhanced Substance Use-Related Curricular Content.

BACKGROUND: Negative attitudes toward persons who use alcohol and other drugs contribute to suboptimal care. Nurses are in key roles to address the needs of this population, yet they lack the education needed to identify persons who may be at risk because of substance use and intervene accordingly. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a substance-use-related curriculum on nursing students' attitudes and therapeutic commitment for working with patients with alcohol- and drug-use-related problems. METHODS: Data were collected for four cohorts of 169 nursing students enrolled in a Master's Entry into Nursing program. Questionnaires included the Person-Centered Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire and the Drug and Drug Problems Perception Questionnaire, completed before and after completing the curriculum. Paired samples t test were used to examine pre/post differences for each measure's subscale. RESULTS: Four of the seven Person-Centered Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire subscales showing significant increases were role adequacy, role support, role legitimacy, and general perceptions. Four of the five Drug and Drug Problems Perception Questionnaire subscales showing significant increases were role adequacy, role support, job satisfaction, and role legitimacy; there was a significant change in role-related self-esteem, however, in a negative direction. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the growing evidence of the positive impact of providing evidence-based information and skill development, which enhance alcohol- and drug-related knowledge and competence for nurses entering professional practice.

Associations between body composition and fundamental motor skill competency in children.

BACKGROUND: Evidence supports an inverse relationship between weight status and motor competence, but most work utilizes body mass index as the proxy for weight status. Body mass index fails to account for essential components of body composition, which may be critical for motor performance. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between fundamental motor skills competency and body composition (i.e., fat mass, fat percentage, and fatfree mass) as measured by bio-electrical impedance analysis and body mass index in children. METHODS: Two hundred forty-four children from the Southeastern portion of the United States participated in this project (6.05 ± 2.01 years, 53.3% male). Fundamental motor skills were measured using the Test of Gross Motor Development - 2nd edition and body composition was assessed with the Tanita SC-331S Body Composition Analyzer (bio-electrical impedance analysis). Body mass index was calculated using CDC normative growth charts. RESULTS: Bio-electrical impedance analysis measures accounted for 23.1%, F(3, 241) = 24.10, p < .001 and 2.7%, F(3, 241) = 2.22, p = .086 variance in locomotor and object control subscales, respectively; body mass index accounted for 8.4% (locomotor) and 0.1% (object control) variance. For the Test of Gross Motor Development -2nd edition total score, bio-electrical impedance analysis measures accounted for 24.4% F(3, 241) = 25.90, p < .001 compared to body mass index which accounted for 7.9% F(1, 244) = 20.86, p < .001 of the variance. Only fat free mass (p < .001) was a significant predictor for locomotor skills and total models for the Test of Gross Motor Development - 2nd edition; BMI was also a significant predictor (p < .001) in both the locomotor and total models. CONCLUSIONS: Different components of body composition (i.e., fat free mass) were associated with different aspects of fundamental motor skills competency. Excess body fat may be a morphological constraint to proficient locomotor performance when transporting the body through space. In contrast, body composition did not significantly predict object manipulation performance. More work is needed to understand the causality and directionality of this relationship; however, bio-electrical impedance analysis accounts for more variance in fundamental motor skills performance than body mass index in a field-based setting.

Body Positivity (#BoPo) in everyday life: An ecological momentary assessment study showing potential benefits to individuals' body image and emotional wellbeing.

Experimental studies of Body Positivity (BoPo), referring to social media content that challenges status-quo beauty ideals by portraying and promoting diverse physical appearances, are suggestive of mental health benefits. To date, no research has examined BoPo using naturalistic study designs that maximise ecological validity. Undergraduate students (N = 113, 83.2 % female, 26.6 % White) completed a 1-week, smartphone-facilitated ecological momentary assessment protocol containing self-report measures of state body satisfaction, state affective functioning, and BoPo exposure. Students also reported the social media platforms where their BoPo exposures occurred. Our main finding was that students exposed to BoPo subsequently reported higher levels of body satisfaction (Cohen's d = 0.05, small) and positive affect (d = 0.06, small), together with lower negative affect (d = -0.03, small). Instagram accounted for half of all BoPo exposures (46.1 %), followed by Facebook (17.4 %), Youtube (8.9 %), and Snapchat (8.9 %). Conclusions were three-fold: (i) viewing BoPo may lead people to experience higher body satisfaction and improved emotional wellbeing, (ii) Instagram is a particularly important social media platform for BoPo exposures, and (iii) encouraging social media users to follow BoPo social media accounts may be a useful way to protect and enhance users' body image and emotional wellbeing, pending further research.