Stubborn Families: Logics of Care of a Family Member with Borderline Personality Disorder.

This study conducted in-depth, largely unstructured interviews with 31 involved family members in a metropolitan area of the United States (US) Midwest on their experiences of BPD in a close relative. Narrative analysis employing concepts from anthropology (the logic of care and family assemblage) was used to examine the nature and quality of care practices and identify human, environmental, and cultural supports needed for family recovery. Findings indicate that these US family caregivers provided intensive and extensive care over the long term.

Making sense of poor adherence in PTSD treatment from the perspectives of veterans and their therapists.

Objective: Dropout rates from trauma-focused PTSD treatments (TFTs) in VA clinics are particularly high. We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 29 veterans and their therapists to better understand this phenomenon.

Method: Participants were part of a multisite, mixed-methods study of TFT adherence in VA clinics.

Veterans with poor PTSD treatment adherence: Exploring their loved ones' experience of PTSD and understanding of PTSD treatment.

Trauma-focused psychotherapies such as cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE) are some of the most effective treatments available for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These treatments have been widely disseminated and promoted throughout the VA Health care System. However, adherence to and completion of these protocols among veterans is often poor, resulting in diminished impact.

Plot and irony in childbirth narratives of middle-class Brazilian women.

Brazil's rate of cesarean deliveries is among the highest in the world and constitutes the majority of childbirths in private hospitals. This study examines ways middle-class Brazilian women are exercising agency in this context. It draws from sociolinguistics to examine narrative structure and dramatic properties of 120 childbirth narratives of 68 low- to high-income women.

Young women's physical activity from one year to the next: What changes? What stays the same?

The Majority of women do not meet recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines. Assessment on changes in PA patterns among young, healthy US women was therefore performed. PA changes were assessed from self-reported PA at baseline (year 1) and follow-up (year 2).

Refugees' perspectives on barriers to communication about trauma histories in primary care.

Objective This study explores refugees' perspectives regarding the nature of communication barriers that impede the exploration of trauma histories in primary care.Method Brief interviews were conducted with 53 refugee patients in a suburban primary care clinic in the Midwest USA. Participants were asked if they or their doctors had initiated conversations about the impact of political conflict in their home countries.

Life events, perceived stress and depressive symptoms in a physical activity intervention with young adult women.

OBJECTIVE: Examine interactive effects of life events, perceived stress and depressive symptoms during a randomized controlled aerobics intervention among women (aged 18-30) in the urban U.S. Midwest, 2006-2009.

Attrition and adherence of young women to aerobic exercise: lessons from the WISER study.

The purpose of this report is to identify factors associated with attrition and adherence of young women to a 16-week randomized aerobic exercise intervention on biomarkers associated with breast cancer risk. The exercise group was prescribed a progressive weight-bearing aerobic exercise program consisting of 30 minute workouts, 5 times/wk for 16 weeks. Adherence was calculated as the average minutes of exercise per week during participation in the study.

Dual conversations: body talk among young women and their social contacts.

In this article, we explore an area little researched within the literature on body dissatisfaction: the content and functions of body talk. We interviewed 60 diverse, college-educated women aged 18 to 30 in the urban United States about how social contacts talked about their bodies. Half the women, and by their reports, half their contacts (N = 295) endorsed some ideal body, most often the thin model.

Effects of aerobic exercise on premenopausal sex hormone levels: results of the WISER study, a randomized clinical trial in healthy, sedentary, eumenorrheic women.

Background: It is hypothesized that exercise can lead to a decrease in breast cancer risk through several hormonal and nonhormonal mechanisms. The WISER (Women In Steady Exercise Research) study investigated the effects of aerobic exercise on premenopausal sex hormone levels.

Methods: Three hundred ninety-one sedentary, healthy, young eumenorrheic women were randomized either into an exercise intervention of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 times a week for approximately 16 weeks (n = 212) or into a control group (n = 179).

Adherence to a strength training intervention in adult women.

Background: The factors influencing exercise adherence are not well characterized in women in their premenopausal years.

Methods: The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of demographic factors contributing to women's adherence to a 2-year twice-weekly weight training intervention. Overweight and obese premenopausal women were randomized to a control or intervention group.

Women in Steady Exercise Research (WISER): study design and methods.

Purpose: Observational studies have shown that physical activity is inversely associated with breast cancer etiology. WISER is a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of exercise training on oxidative stress, and hormonal and metabolic factors associated with breast cancer risk.

Method: Subjects were recruited via emails, flyers, and mass media advertising.

Shifting motivations: Young women's reflections on physical activity over time and across contexts.

This research analyzes motivations expressed by young, healthy, sedentary women before and after an exercise intervention. Young women (aged 18-30, n = 39) participated in focus groups or interviews during a 4-month exercise intervention. Afterward, 22 of these women and 20 controls completed physical activity diaries for 6 months and were interviewed.

Purposeful exercise and lifestyle physical activity in the lives of young adult women: findings from a diary study.

It is important to know how physical activity is incorporated in women's lives to assess ways they can feasibly attain and maintain lifelong healthy practices. This study aimed to determine whether patterns of activity differed among young women whose physical activity met nationally recommended levels from those who did not. The sample was 42 women (aged 18-30 years) who had completed an exercise intervention (22 from the exercise group, 20 from the control group).

Communicating with local elected officials: lessons learned from clean indoor air ordinance campaigns.

This article describes a study of the effectiveness of communication strategies used to influence policy makers to support local smoke-free laws in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region. Twenty-seven of 41 members of three city councils and two county boards of commissioners were individually interviewed as were seven advocates who campaigned for the bans.

Barriers and motivators for strength training among women of color and Caucasian women.

The present study examined factors associated with adherence to a strength training (ST) intervention in a randomized controlled intervention trial testing whether twice-weekly strength training over 2 years could prevent age-associated increases in body fat in 80 overweight to mildly obese women, aged 25-44 years. Two sets of focus groups (FGs) were conducted with 25 women of color and 24 Caucasian participants, representing 60% of intervention participants. Fifty-five percent of FG participants had low adherence (defined as < or = 80% adherence to twice-weekly gym-based strength training).

Food choices of young African-American and Latino adolescents: where do parents fit in?

To gain insight into parents' perceptions of the food preferences of their young adolescents, and their negotiating and decision-making strategies around food purchasing and meals, four focus groups were held with 32 African-American parents and three focus groups with 14 Spanish-dominant, first-generation immigrant Latina mothers. Most participants were of low socioeconomic status and were single parents. Many African-American parents emphasized children's growing appetites and preferences for fast food.

Observations of parent-child co-shoppers in supermarkets: children's involvement in food selections, parental yielding, and refusal strategies.

The study aimed to collect descriptive information on the decision-making processes of adult shoppers around food purchases when young children are present. Anthropological field observations were conducted on adult-child grocery shoppers. Eleven supermarkets in the Minneapolis-St.

Nutrition labeling and value size pricing at fast-food restaurants: a consumer perspective.

Purpose: This pilot study examined nutrition-related attitudes that may affect food choices at fast-food restaurants, including consumer attitudes toward nutrition labeling of fast foods and elimination of value size pricing.

Methods: A convenience sample of 79 fast-food restaurant patrons aged 16 and above (78.5% white, 55% female, mean age 41.