RESUMEN
Obesity and mental health disorders are rising simultaneously with shifting dietary behavior away from home cooking, toward typically nutrition-poor and energy-dense convenience meals. Food literacy strongly influences nutrition choices. Community-based cooking interventions target barriers to healthy eating and facilitate development of food literacy skills, thereby potentially increasing preparation of home-cooked meals and positively influencing health. This study of 657 healthy Australian adults explored the efficacy of a 7-week cooking program in improving cooking confidence, whether this transferred to behavior surrounding food, and/or affected mental health. Significant post-program improvements in cooking confidence and satisfaction (all p < 0.001, η p 2 1.12 large), ability to change eating habits (p < 0.001) and overcome lifestyle barriers (p = 0.005) were observed for the intervention group but not control. Participation also improved mental and general health (all p < 0.05, η p 2 0.02 small). No changes were observed for acquisition and consumption of food, or nutrition knowledge in either group. This 7-week cooking program built cooking confidence and improved general and mental health but did not change dietary behavior. To further improve nutrition related behaviors associated with better mental health, more effort is needed to recruit those with below-average nutrition knowledge and interest in cooking.
RESUMEN
Objective of this study is to investigate the impact of perceived social support on the self-esteem, mental wellbeing, and school readiness of left-behind (LB) children. It further aims at understanding the mediating role of psychological resilience between the relationships of perceived social support and self-esteem, mental wellbeing, and school readiness. For this purpose, population frame of the LB children between the ages of 8-12 years in Mainland China was taken. The sample size of 335 was taken to reach the findings through partial least square (PLS) structural equation modeling. The SmartPLS has been used to analyze the data. The results obtained in this study have shown that the perceived social support plays a very significant role in enhancing the mental wellbeing, self-esteem, and school readiness of the LB children. It has also been found that the perceived social support plays a positive role in the psychological resilience. Furthermore, it has also been found that the psychological resilience is an important predictor of self-esteem and school readiness. Further, the psychological resilience has proved to be significant mediator between the relationship of the perceived social support and self-esteem; and also between the relationship of the perceived social support and school readiness.
RESUMEN
Global self-esteem represents a protective personal resource lowering the risk of psychological distress. Research conducted in the work setting has confirmed the psychosocial benefits of high self-esteem. However, research linking self-esteem to neurobiological adaptability appears quite scarce. In this study, we propose a theoretical model in which self-esteem predicts work-related exhaustion indirectly, through the mediation of heart rate variability (HRV) and negative affect at work. Moreover, we explore the relationship between self-esteem and HRV. From one side, one would expect a positive link between self-esteem and HRV, signaling higher autonomic adaptability. However, recent studies have shown that in women, such associations become more complex, with even reversed patterns as compared with that in men. Thus, we included sex as a moderator of the relationship between HRV and self-esteem. The model was tested on a sample of 110 individuals working in the relational professions (54% males; M age = 42.6, SD = 13.73), observed for an entire workday. Results confirmed the protective role of self-esteem against the experience of negative affect and (indirectly) work-related exhaustion. Symptoms of exhaustion at work were also negatively predicted by HRV, and both HRV and negative affect acted as mediators of the relationship between self-esteem and work-related exhaustion. Notably, sex differences emerged in the association between global self-esteem and cardiac vagal tone at work: in women, self-esteem was negatively related to HRV, which in turn led to higher work-related exhaustion, whereas in men, no evidence of this indirect effect appeared. Burnout prevention programs should not ignore important sex differences in how individuals respond to work-related stress.
RESUMEN
(1) Objective: To investigate the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and self-esteem (SE) of a population with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) and to compare it with a non-affected control cohort. (2) Materials and methods: This study comprised 91 CLP patients and a control group of 790 individuals, seeking orthodontic treatment. OHRQoL and SE were assessed by the Child's Perception Questionnaire (CPQ) and the Dutch adaptation of the Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Treatment need and self-perception of oral aesthetic were assessed using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and the Oral Aesthetic Subjective Impact Scale (OASIS). Patients' expectations and motivation for treatment were also scored. Linear models were used for statistical comparisons between groups. (3) Results: The cleft group scored higher in all domains of the CPQ, OASIS, IOTN and regarding SE for the domains of scholastic competence, athletic competence, physical appearance and behavioral conduct. The cleft group was not only more motivated and expected less discomfort during treatment but also had higher expectations for the treatment outcome. (4) Conclusions: The OHRQoL of CLP patients is strongly correlated with the presence of an oral cleft, while SE remains a personal resource not influenced by the malocclusion or medical condition.