Publications by authors named "Jillon Vander Wal"

Food and Alcohol Disturbance (FAD) is the phenomenon in which individuals exhibit co-occurring hazardous alcohol and eating behaviors to either negate caloric intake associated with alcohol and/or maximize intoxication. While the Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Scale (CEBRACS) is the most widely used measure to assess FAD to date, its factor-structure has yet to be confirmed. The current study utilized confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the CEBRACS' four factor subscales as well as recently proposed alternative scoring structures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Positive body image is a multidimensional construct consisting of various facets including body appreciation, body image flexibility, and functionality appreciation measured via the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2), Body Image-Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-5 (BI-AAQ-5), and Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS), respectively. Research has supported the unidimensional factor structure of these measures; however, invariance testing based on sexual identity has yet to be conducted. The study's primary aim was to assess the measurement invariance of the BAS-2, BI-AAQ-5, and FAS between sexual minority and heterosexual women.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Implicit and explicit weight bias is prevalent among healthcare professionals and results in negative outcomes, including weak physician-patient rapport, low patient trust in physicians, and avoidance of healthcare. This study aimed to decrease weight bias in medical students via a one-session, curriculum-based intervention founded on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). First-year medical students (N = 101) were quasi-randomly assigned to a group-based experimental or education-based control intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the Clinical Impairment Assessment 3.0 (CIA) utilizing a confirmatory factor analysis in a large clinical sample of ED patients.

Methods: A total of 260 patients between the ages of 18 and 45 who completed assessments in a partial hospitalization or residential treatment program at an ED treatment facility between December 2012 and December 2016 were included in the analyses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Women with eating disorders generally perform more poorly on measures of alexithymia, defined as difficulty identifying and describing emotions, and theory of mind, or the ability to infer what others are thinking and feeling. The extent to which these abilities may be influenced by variables such as self-focused attention, or directing attention toward internally generated information, has yet to be investigated. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine differences between women high and low in disordered eating symptoms on measures of emotional awareness and facial affect recognition under conditions of high and low self-focused attention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS), a measure of the ability to identify and describe one's own and others' emotions, may complement work with women with disordered eating symptoms. The study purpose was to (a) examine differences in hand (LEAS) versus computerized (e-LEAS) scoring methods and (b) examine the e-LEAS' psychometric properties, including convergent and discriminant validity, among women endorsing eating disorder symptoms.

Methods: Forty women (ages 18-21) scoring high on a self-report measure of disordered eating symptoms completed the LEAS and measures of convergent validity including a self-report measure of alexithymia (the perceived ability to identify and describe one's own emotions) and a measure of facial affect recognition as well as discriminant validity, including affect and facial memory.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Although the study of positive body image continues to expand, researchers have predominantly focused the study of this newer construct among presumed heterosexual participants. The purpose of the present study was to examine the factor structure of a measure of positive body image, the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2), among sexual minority participants. The present study also sought to psychometrically validate the BAS-2 among sexual minorities by assessing its relationship with other facets of positive body image, including functionality appreciation and body image flexibility, as well as other related constructs, such as body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, intuitive eating behaviors, and physical and mental health.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Independent Living Scales Health and Safety (ILS HS) scale is commonly used by neuropsychologists when evaluating older adults' instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). However, there is a minimal amount of research on its use in dementia populations and, specifically, its relationship to other neuropsychological measures. The present study investigated relationships between the ILS HS scale and measures of cognition and depression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Neurocognitive deficits commonly are an accompanying feature of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). A brief, yet comprehensive neuropsychological battery is desirable for assessing the extent of these deficits. Therefore, the present study examined the validity of the Mercy Evaluation of Multiple Sclerosis (MEMS) for use with the MS population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Violations of rules and regulations in research can cause significant problems for human participants, animal subjects, data integrity, institutions, and investigators. The Professionalism and Integrity in Research Program (PI Program) provides remediation training that addresses the root causes of violations of rules and regulations in research. Through assessments, a three-day workshop, and follow-up coaching calls, the PI Program teaches evidence-based decision-making strategies designed to help researchers to compensate for bias, uncertainty, and work-related stress, and foster the skills needed to oversee research projects in today's complex regulatory environments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The dual pathway model, a theoretical model of eating disorder development, suggests that thin ideal internalization leads to body dissatisfaction which leads to disordered eating via the dual pathways of negative affect and dietary restraint. While the dual pathway model has been a valuable guide for eating disorder prevention, greater knowledge of characteristics that predict thin ideal internalization is needed.

Method: The present study replicated and extended the dual pathway model by considering the addition of fear of negative evaluation, suggestibility, rumination, and self-compassion in a sample of community women and female university students.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previous research has yielded minimal empirical support for the theoretically formulated five-factor structure of the RBANS, a brief, yet comprehensive standardized neuropsychological test battery used to assess cognitive impairment. The present study tested the theoretically formulated five-factor structure, as well as three alternative factor solutions, using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approaches. The present study utilized archival data from a clinical sample of 150 older adults who were evaluated at an outpatient neuropsychological service.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The professional decision-making in research (PDR) measure was administered to 400 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded and industry-funded investigators, along with measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, compliance disengagement, impulsivity, work stressors, knowledge of responsible conduct of research (RCR), and socially desirable response tendencies. Negative associations were found for the PDR and measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, and compliance disengagement, while positive associations were found for the PDR and RCR knowledge and positive urgency, an impulsivity subscale. PDR scores were not related to socially desirable responding, or to measures of work stressors and the remaining impulsivity subscales.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this paper, we report on the development and validity of the Professional Decision-Making in Research (PDR) measure, a vignette-based test that examines decision-making strategies used by investigators when confronted with challenging situations in the context of empirical research. The PDR was administered online with a battery of validity measures to a group of NIH-funded researchers and research trainees who were diverse in terms of age, years of experience, types of research, and race. The PDR demonstrated adequate reliability (alpha = .

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Night eating syndrome (NES) is a circadian rhythm disorder in which food intake is shifted toward the end of the day, interfering with sleep. According to the biobehavioral model of NES, the disorder is the result of a genetic predisposition that, coupled with stress, leads to enhanced reuptake of serotonin, thereby dysregulating circadian rhythms and decreasing satiety. Using the biobehavioral model as a guide, we developed a brief behavioral intervention using education, relaxation strategies, and exercise to address the core symptoms of NES.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The etiological dual pathway model of bulimia nervosa suggests that dietary restraint and negative affect are significant predictors of this disorder. Negative urgency, or the tendency to act rashly in response to negative emotionality, is also associated with bulimia nervosa; however, no study has examined the role of negative urgency within the context of the dual pathway model. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between bulimic symptomatology and negative urgency in the context of dietary restraint and depressive affect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The treatment of night eating syndrome, a disorder characterized by evening hyperphagia, morning anorexia, and insomnia, continues to gain attention with its inclusion in the DSM-V. Known treatments for NES include pharmacological, phototherapy, weight loss and dietary, and psychological interventions, which, together with the syndrome's clinical characteristics, support a treatment guiding biobehavioral model. The biobehavioral model proposes that a genetic predisposition, coupled with stress, enhances midbrain serotonin transporter (SERT) binding, which results in lower post-synaptic serotonin, dysregulating circadian rhythms and decreasing satiety.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Television viewing may contribute to obesity via promotion of sedentary behavior and exposure to food-related commercials. However, the mechanisms by which food-related commercials promote food intake are not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of television advertisements on food intake according to sex and transportability, or the tendency to become engrossed in what one is viewing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Although the human adenovirus 36 (Ad-36) is associated with obesity and relative hypolipidemia, its role in pediatric weight loss treatment response is uncertain. Therefore, the primary study objective was to determine whether Ad-36 antibody (AB) status was associated with response to a pediatric weight loss program. The secondary objective was to assess the association between Ad-36 AB status and baseline lipid values.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adolescents classified as overweight or obese are more likely to use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals or fasting than their healthy weight peers. Adolescents with low perceived social support may be at particular risk. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between adolescent overweight and obesity, indices of perceived peer and family social support, and their interaction in the use of unhealthy weight control behaviors among adolescents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The primary objective of this study was to examine the short-term effects of escitalopram on symptoms of night eating syndrome (NES) in a randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 40 patients with NES were randomly assigned to double-blind treatment with escitalopram 20 mg (n = 20) or placebo (n = 20) for 12 weeks. Escitalopram was started at 10 mg/d with a dosage increase to 20 mg/d after 4 weeks; placebo dosing was identical.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Studies examining the dimensionality of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) have yielded varying results. To date, no study has investigated the measure's factor structure in the context of DSM-defined traumatic events. The present study examined the structure in an undergraduate student sample (N = 379) reporting DSM-IV Criterion-A potentially traumatic events.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF