Psychometric Testing of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Children.

Background and Purpose: This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Children (DEBQ-C) among 6-8-year-old Black girls. Methods: Investigators of this cross-sectional online survey of 112 Black mother-daughter dyads used principal component analysis (PCA) to assess evidence of the DEBQ-C's construct validity. Pearson's product-moment correlations were also used to compare the DEBQ-C's subscale scores to an independent measure of eating behaviors. A comparison of the subscale scores between participants with favorable and unfavorable eating behaviors was used to evaluate discriminant validity. Cronbach's alpha coefficient examined the DEBQ-C's internal consistency reliability. Results: PCA established evidence of validity with three subscales. Significant correlations were found between the independent measure of eating behavior and the emotional (r = -.25, p = .01) and external subscales (r = -.31, p = .001). Participants increased emotional (t = 2.53; df = 76; p = .007) and external (t = 3.98; df = 99; p < .001) eating scores had unfavorable eating behavior scores. Conclusions: Psychometric results demonstrate questionable support for the construct validity of two of the DEBQ-C subscales (emotional and restrained eating) and the reliability of the DEBQ-C questionnaire among 6-8-year-old Black girls. The questionnaire's three subscales, emotional, external, and restrained eating, can be used to examine eating behaviors.

Older African American women's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors about breast cancer.

Breast cancer poses a greater risk for African American than Caucasian women due to persistent health disparities. To reduce mortality risk, culturally specific knowledge is needed to support and encourage regular breast cancer screening and risk-reduction behaviors in older African American women. The specific aims of this study were to identify social, cultural, and behavioral factors associated with regular participation in breast cancer screening and risk-reduction behaviors; examine health beliefs that may influence regular participation in breast cancer screening and risk-reduction behaviors; and identify perceived facilitators and barriers to regular breast cancer screening and risk-reduction behaviors. African American women older than 65 (N = 57) participated in six focus groups. Analysis of focus group data revealed six major themes: Being Blessed, Cancer as a Death Sentence, Fear/Fear of Disfigurement, Avoiding Finding Out, Beliefs About Breast Cancer, and Tending to One's Family. These themes could be used by health care providers to develop culturally relevant educational initiatives to promote breast health practices and risk-reduction behaviors in this vulnerable population, thus helping reduce breast cancer disparities.

Nurses of African descent and career advancement.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate a leadership institute designed to promote career advancement and leadership in administration, education, and research among nurses of African descent. Government reports indicate that Black Americans receive lower quality health care than other racial groups even when insurance and income are equal. Moreover, the literature suggests that less than 10% of practicing professional nurses in America are Black-and of these, less than 1% are in senior executive leadership positions. However, the literature lacks detailed discussion of the effectiveness of leadership programs. This article provides an in-depth look at a leadership institute for Black nurses and outlines the impact of the program.

Measuring cultural awareness of nursing students: a first step toward cultural competency.

This pilot study was designed to measure nursing students' level of cultural awareness. It replicated phase II of Rew, Becker, Cookston, Khosropour, & Martinez's (2003) methodological study that developed and tested a Cultural Awareness Scale (CAS). Using a cross-sectional design, the CAS was distributed to nursing students in three nursing programs' (bachelor's, master's, doctoral) beginning and end courses. Cronbach's alpha for the CAS Total instrument was 0.869, with subscale scores ranging from 0.687 to 0.902, comparable to the findings of Rew et al. Given the limitations of this study, results must be viewed with a degree of caution. Recommendations include further educational research in the form of psychometric testing of the CAS among nursing students, including refinement of both the CAS instrument and the demographic tool. The authors also recommend that studies be conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the CAS with nurses in the health care arena.

An alternative model for postdoctoral education of nurses engaged in research with potentially vulnerable populations.

Post-doctoral education has become a necessity for new nursing doctoral graduates. However, post-doctoral positions are limited and nurse scientists may face barriers that make non-traditional programs necessary. This study describes the outcomes of the Summer Nursing Research Institute (SNRI), an alternative post-doctoral educational program, reports formative perceptions of SNRI participants, and illustrates the efficacy and limitations of the model with selected summative research related outcomes. Participants between 1997 and 2006 were asked to evaluate the experience while attending the Institute (formative evaluation) and an overall summative evaluation was also conducted. Evaluations indicate that participants gained knowledge, skills, and networking abilities in terms of conducting research with vulnerable populations. A program like the SNRI can be successful in widening the research pipeline, in imparting knowledge, and in fostering positive attitudes as well as in improving research skills.

Disordered eating and food cravings among urban obese African American women.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of night eating syndrome (NES), binge eating disorder (BED), and bulimia nervosa (BN) and the general experience of food cravings were examined in 88 obese urban African American women. METHOD: Participants were administered The Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-R, the Night Eating Syndrome Questionnaire, and the State and Trait Food Cravings Questionnaire, Trait version (FCQ-T). RESULTS: Twenty-eight percent reported symptoms of eating disorders (18.9% NES, 6.4% recurrent binge eating, 2.2% both NES and recurrent binge eating). Those reporting disordered eating had significantly higher total FCQ-T scores than those not reporting disordered eating. Persons endorsing recurrent binge eating had the highest mean score, followed by those reporting NES. Those who identified themselves as binge eaters and night eaters were not significantly different from each other, but both groups were significantly different than the no eating disorder symptoms group on various subscales of the FCQ-T. DISCUSSION: Obese African American women report significant levels of NES and binge eating which may contribute to the development and/ or maintenance of obesity.

Making decisions about sexual rights in psychiatric facilities.

Making decisions about sexual activity between residents living in psychiatric facilities is a complex issue. The objectives of this study were to determine staff perception of sexual activity within psychiatric facilities and the prevalence of facilities with sexual policies and sexual education programs in place for residents and staff. Questionnaires were mailed to psychiatric facilities nation-wide. Fifty-seven (60%) facilities had a sexual policy in place. Seventy (69%) of the facilities had sex education programs for staff, and 84 (83%) had sex education programs for residents.

Home care nurses' ratings of appropriateness of wound treatments and wound healing.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' ratings of appropriateness of wound treatments and wound healing for patients in home care in relation to patient demographic and visit variables. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Data were collected about patients with wounds by 281 nurses from 13 home care agencies located throughout lower Michigan. Patients with wounds (n = 881) ranged in age from 21 to 100 years. They included 492 women and 383 men who were white (72.4%) or African-American (26%). INSTRUMENTS: The Community Wound Assessment Tool was developed for the study and was used to obtain demographic and wound data. The demographic section contained information about the patient's age, sex, reason for the visit, length of visit, and time the case was opened. The wound section included the wound type, treatments, presence of incontinence, nutritional supplementation, and adverse home environmental factors. Nurses rated wounds as healing or not healing. Wound treatments were rated as all appropriate, some appropriate/inappropriate, and all inappropriate. METHODS: Nurses were systematically selected from each agency and collected data about each patient visited on one occasion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS The main outcome measurements were the relationship of patient demographic variables and visit variables to the appropriateness of wound treatments and wound healing. RESULTS: The nurses' rating of wound treatments as appropriate was significantly related to younger patient age and a shorter time for the case to be open. Wound healing was initially associated with younger patient age, continence of urine or stool, shorter home visits, shorter time for the case to be open, and fewer reasons for the visit. When wound healing was controlled for the type of wound in path analysis, the patient's age was no longer significant and incontinence appeared to impair healing of nonsurgical wounds. The appropriateness of the wound treatments was significantly related to wound healing. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses' ratings of appropriateness of wound treatments and healing are significantly related to factors that affect length of service and complexity of care for the home care patient with a wound. Decisions nurses make about wound treatments and healing are important for the patient as well as for the agency.