Publications by authors named "Bethany A Jones"

Background: Health-related outcomes and behaviours in university students are known to be poor relative to the general population. The substantial contextual shifts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with increased numbers of students from minoritised ethnicity backgrounds and presenting as trans and gender diverse (TGD), means that up-to-date information is unavailable. The primary aim of this study was therefore to characterise the current movement, dietary and lifestyle behaviours, mental health, and Body Mass Index (BMI) of UK university students and assess differences between genders and ethnic groups.

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Previous body image research often grouped both gay and bisexual men into a single category: sexual minoritised men, limiting our understanding of how sexual identity influences body image. However, there is strong reason to believe that bisexual and gay men experience distinct body image concerns. Here, we explored motivations to alter one's leanness and muscularity, as well as (dis)satisfaction with body fat, muscularity, height and penis size, and functionality appreciation across gay, bisexual, and straight cisgender men.

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Background: Trans and gender diverse (TGD) youth often report poor relations with their parents and perceive these to be core to the mental health difficulties they experience. One aspect of psychological wellbeing that has not been well explored in relation to parental support is Quality of Life (QoL).

Aim: To test the association between perceived parental support and QoL and, understand from the young person's perspective how parental support contributes to QoL.

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This study aimed to update the gender-based terminology of a measure used to assess attitudes toward trans and gender diverse people (the Transgender Attitudes and Beliefs Scale; TABS) in order to reflect appropriate and inclusive language standards and conventions while maintaining the psychometric integrity of the tool. The updated TABS was administered to 247 heterosexual, cisgender adults in the UK. Participants also completed the original TABS as well as measure of self-esteem and social desirability to test construct validity.

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Communities are vital sources of support during crisis, providing collective contexts for shared identity and solidarity that predict supportive, prosocial responses. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a global health crisis capable of exerting a heavy toll on the mental health of community members while inducing unwelcome levels of social disconnection. Simultaneously, lockdown restrictions have forced vulnerable community members to depend upon the support of fellow residents.

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To examine aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity disparities among college cis-gender and transgender students adjusting for other socio-demographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation). National Collegiate Health Assessment (NCHA) data collected between Fall 2015 and Fall 2018 were analyzed using chi-square tests for independence and odds ratios. Cis-gender women were significantly less likely to meet aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity recommendations compared to cisgender men.

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Background: Both anxiety and depression have been identified as negative health outcomes associated with the distressing nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially among young people. Within this age demographic, trans and gender diverse people may be particularly vulnerable to pandemic-related mental health outcomes, such as anxiety and depression, due to the social challenges, gender dissonance, and poor mental health they experience. Furthermore, the social distancing measures impose several unique social and help-seeking challenges which may further contribute to the worsening of mental health.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study designed an intervention package to help participants of charity events maintain regular exercise using the Intervention Mapping protocol.
  • A mixed-methods approach was utilized, starting with a needs assessment to identify factors influencing exercise behavior among participants.
  • Preliminary testing showed that while the intervention components were well-received, engagement levels were low, indicating the need for further refinement before full implementation.
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Background: Mental health carers contribute a unique set of perspectives and lived experiences to research; however, national research ethics guidelines do not specifically address the issues that affect informal carers as participants.

Objective: This study sought to explore Australian mental health consumer and carer views on the ethical conduct of research involving mental health carers.

Design: A public forum (n = 14; consumer = 5, carer = 9) and a subsequent series of interviews (n = 10; consumer = 5, carer = 4, both = 1) were conducted to investigate consumer and carer views on mental health research ethics.

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The social challenges that non-binary people experience, due in part to social intolerance and the lack of validation of non-binary gender identities, may affect the mental health and quality of life of this population. However, studies that have distinguished between non-binary and binary transgender identities are lacking. To compare the mental health and quality of life of a community sample of non-binary transgender adults with controls (binary transgender people and cisgender people) matched on sex assigned at birth.

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Barriers to research arise when national ethical guidelines governing the inclusion of consumers in mental health research are implemented at the local level. Equivalent guidelines for research involving carers are not available. A social science investigation of Australian mental health consumer and carer perspectives on research ethics procedures was conducted in two interlinked stages: (a) a discussion forum with consumers, carers, and lived-experience researchers and (b) in-depth interviews with consumers and carers.

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Binary transgender people access gender affirming medical interventions to alleviate gender incongruence and increase body satisfaction. Despite the increase in nonbinary transgender people, this population are less likely to access transgender health services compared to binary transgender people. No research has yet understood by exploring levels of gender congruence and body satisfaction in nonbinary transgender people.

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It is vital that the treatment offered at transgender health services can be evaluated to ensure a high quality of care. However, the tools currently used to evaluate treatment at transgender health services are limited by mainly focusing on mental health or because they have been developed for binary transgender people only. This study therefore aimed to develop and validate a tool that addresses these limitations.

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Many transgender people experience high levels of body dissatisfaction, which is one of the numerous factors known to increase vulnerability to eating disorder symptoms in the cisgender (non-trans) population. Cross-sex hormones can alleviate body dissatisfaction so might also alleviate eating disorder symptoms. This study aimed to explore risk factors for eating disorder symptoms in transgender people and the role of cross-sex hormones.

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Background: Physical activity has been found to alleviate mental health problems and could be beneficial for at-risk populations, such as transgender people. This study had 3 aims. First, to explore the amount of physical activity that treatment-seeking transgender people engage in and to compare this to matched cisgender people.

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Background There is anecdotal clinical evidence that transgender people use the online world - such as forums and online video gaming - for the purpose of experiencing their gender identity in a safe, non-threatening, non-alienating, non-stigmatizing, and non-critical environment. Aims To describe gaming behavior, degree of problematic gaming behavior and associated factors with problematic gaming in a comparatively large group of transgender people accessing transgender health services. Methods Every individual referred to a national transgender health service in the United Kingdom during a 12-month period was invited to complete a series of questionnaires to measure gaming behavior, interpersonal functioning, severity of autistic features, and anxiety and depressive symptoms.

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Introduction: There is a growing clinical recognition that a significant proportion of patients with gender dysphoria have concurrent autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Aim: The purpose of this review is to systematically appraise the current literature regarding the co-occurrence of gender dysphoria and ASD.

Methods: A systematic literature search using Medline and PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase was conducted from 1966 to July 2015.

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Background: Whether transgender people should be able to compete in sport in accordance with their gender identity is a widely contested question within the literature and among sport organisations, fellow competitors and spectators. Owing to concerns surrounding transgender people (especially transgender female individuals) having an athletic advantage, several sport organisations place restrictions on transgender competitors (e.g.

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Body dissatisfaction plays a prominent role in gender dysphoria. In some individuals body dissatisfaction appears to manifest disordered eating in order to suppress bodily features of natal gender and accentuate features of gender identity. To date, there has been no systematic review of the literature pertaining to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in trans individuals.

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Article Synopsis
  • Advances in medical treatment have led to an increase in older adults living with burn injuries, yet their experiences and support needs are under-explored.
  • A study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis interviewed 10 burn survivors aged 51-71 and found four key themes: adjusting to a changed appearance, dealing with visible differences in social contexts, personal identity struggles, and the significance of maintaining appearance.
  • Participants highlighted the lengthy adjustment process, feelings of isolation, and the necessity for information on how aging affects scars and appearance in society.
  • The study suggests important implications for care and calls for further research in this area.
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Background: Objectification Theory positions self-objectification as a cause of depression. In particular, the authors offer Objectification Theory as a partial explanation for the higher prevalence of depression among women than men. To investigate the validity of this theory, we undertook a systematic review of quantitative studies that have investigated self-objectification as a predictor of depression.

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Background: Postnatal depression (PND) is the most common disorder of the puerperium with serious consequences for both mother and child if left untreated. While there are effective treatments, there are many barriers for new mothers needing to access them. Prevention strategies may offer a more acceptable means of addressing the problem.

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