BMI and disordered eating in urban, African American, adolescent girls: The mediating role of body dissatisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the mediating role of body dissatisfaction between Body Mass Index (BMI) and subsequent disordered eating (e.g. dieting and restricting/purging) among early adolescent African American girls. STUDY DESIGN: Participants included 701 African American girls in 6th and 7th grades in urban schools serving low-income communities, mean age 12.15 (SD = 0.72) years. Participants were assessed at baseline and approximately 6 months later. Objectively measured height and weight were used to calculate BMI z-score. Participants completed questionnaires on body size dissatisfaction and recent dieting and restricting/purging behaviors. RESULTS: At baseline, 51.5% of participants were overweight/obese, and 60.4% expressed body dissatisfaction and a desire to be smaller. Path analytic analyses revealed change in body dissatisfaction significantly mediates the relation between initial BMI z-score and increases in dieting behaviors (B = 0.924, SE = 0.280, p = 0.001) but not restricting/purging behaviors (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Body dissatisfaction explains some associations between excess body weight and subsequent disordered eating symptoms among early adolescent, African American girls. Body dissatisfaction, identified by screening, may be an indicator of further negative consequences, including disordered eating behaviors.

Measurement invariance of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 across gender and racial groups.

Food addiction describes a psychological and behavioral eating pattern that is similar to the experience of those compulsively taking drugs of abuse. Recent developments related to food addiction, including the development and validation of an updated measure (Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0; Gearhardt, Corbin, & Brownell, 2016), have increased knowledge as to the prevalence and associated correlates of food addiction. However, less is known about the phenomenological experience of food addiction in diverse samples or how the existing measure of food addiction performs in heterogeneous samples. In a cross-sectional survey design, using a diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 642) tests of measurement invariance were performed. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized factor structure, indicating a single latent construct of food addiction modeled by 11 dichotomous indicators, in samples of White and Black participants as well as samples of men and women. Measurement invariance testing across the various demographic groups broadly provided good psychometric support for use of the measure. However, a single indicator related to attempts to cut down on highly palatable food varied across men and women. Thus, when using the measure in mixed gender samples researchers may consider obtaining additional information regarding gender and its relative impact on the experience of food addiction, particularly with respect to efforts to quit or cut down intake of highly palatable foods. (PsycINFO Database Record

A controlled pilot study of stress management training of elderly patients with congestive heart failure.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of stress management training on quality of life, functional capacity, and heart rate variability in elderly patients with New York Heart Association class I-III congestive heart failure (CHF). While substantial research exists on stress management training for patients with coronary heart disease, there are few data on the value of psychosocial training on patients with CHF. Thirty-three multiethnic patients (mean age, 66+/-9 years) were assigned through incomplete randomization to one of two treatment groups or a wait-listed control group. The 14 participants who completed the treatment attended eight training sessions during a 10-week period. The training consisted of 75-minute sessions adapted from the Freeze-Frame stress management program developed by the Institute of HeartMath. Subjects were assessed at baseline and again at the completion of the training. Depression, stress management, optimism, anxiety, emotional distress, and functional capacity were evaluated, as well as heart rate variability. Significant improvements (p<0.05) were noted in perceived stress, emotional distress, 6-minute walk, and depression, and positive trends were noted in each of the other psychosocial measures. The 24-hour heart rate variability showed no significant changes in autonomic tone. The authors noted that CHF patients were willing study participants and their emotional coping and functional capacity were enhanced. This program offers a simple and cost-effective way to augment medical management of CHF. Given the incompleteness of CHF medical management and the exploding interest in complementary medical intervention, it seems imperative that further work in psychosocial treatment be undertaken.