Publications by authors named "Rebecca Emery Tavernier"

Pregnancy is characterized by biopsychosocial changes that impact appetite, eating and weight. Understanding pregnant individuals' attitudes toward eating and weight can provide insight into prenatal health behavior. Accordingly, we developed and performed initial psychometric testing of a self-report measure, the Pregnancy Eating Attitudes-Questionnaire (PEA-Q), among individuals with pre-pregnancy BMI≥25.

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  • * It tracked 554 participants from the LEAP study, who reported their shape and weight importance in adolescence and their body image during pregnancy and postpartum 20 years later.
  • * Results showed that greater emphasis on shape and weight in adolescence is linked to poorer body image during pregnancy and postpartum, suggesting the need for early prevention efforts and support for body image issues during the perinatal period.
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  • Childhood maltreatment is linked to higher prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) among women, but its impact on gestational weight gain is less clear.
  • The study analyzed data from 656 women over a 20-year period, using modified Poisson regression to explore the relationship between different types of maltreatment and weight measures before and during pregnancy.
  • Findings indicate that certain forms of maltreatment, especially emotional abuse, significantly increase the chance of having a prepregnancy BMI of 30 or more, suggesting the need for targeted support for women with these experiences as they approach pregnancy.
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Background: Prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) are determinants of maternal and child health. However, many studies of these factors rely on error-prone self-reported measures.

Methods: Using data from Life-course Experiences And Pregnancy (LEAP), a US-based cohort, we assessed the validity of prepregnancy BMI and GWG recalled on average 8 years postpartum against medical record data treated as alloyed gold standard ("true") values.

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Background: Life course factors may be associated with pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain; however, collecting information on pre-pregnancy exposures and pregnancy health in the same cohort is challenging.

Objectives: The Life-course Experiences And Pregnancy (LEAP) study aims to identify adolescent and young adult risk factors for pre-pregnancy weight and gestational weight gain (GWG). We built upon an existing cohort study to overcome challenges inherent to studying life course determinants of pregnancy health.

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Psychometrically sound measures of disordered eating during pregnancy are needed, particularly for pregnant individuals with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25, who are at high risk for disordered eating attitudes/behaviors. We previously adapted the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) for use among pregnant individuals with BMI ≥ 25. This study examined the factor structure of the EDE-Pregnancy Version (EDE-PV) in a community sample of pregnant individuals with BMI ≥ 25.

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Research addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial well-being and health behavior is accumulating; however, implications for emerging adult populations are underexplored. This manuscript synthesizes findings from a mixed-methods study of well-being, eating and activity behaviors, and food insecurity among a diverse, longitudinal cohort of emerging adults. The review includes findings from 11 original studies that involved collecting online surveys from 720 emerging adults and in-depth, virtual interviews with 33 respondents who were food insecure.

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Introduction: Despite research showing substantial weight disparities along the rural-urban continuum, little work has attempted to identify differences in prepregnancy weight status or gestational weight gain (GWG) outcomes between rural and urban birthing people. As such, the goals of this research were to 1) document the prevalence of prepregnancy overweight and obesity and excessive GWG in rural and urban birthing people and 2) examine changes in rural and urban prepregnancy overweight or obesity and excessive GWG over time.

Methods: Birth certificate data provided sociodemographic variables, prepregnancy body mass index, GWG, and rurality status on 465,709 respondents who gave birth in Minnesota from 2012 to 2019.

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  • Many pregnant women want to quit smoking, but most relapse within a year after giving birth, and research on preventing this relapse faces recruitment challenges.
  • Interviews with 22 pregnant women revealed that while they recognize the risks of smoking and express a desire to quit, there's low usage of proven methods and hesitance towards medications, especially among those intending to breastfeed.
  • Women identified financial incentives and flexible research structures as helpful, but overall concerns about medication safety and a belief that they would not relapse postpartum limited their willingness to participate in studies.
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Introduction: Previous work has identified predictors of relapse to smoking postpartum among parenting people who quit during pregnancy, but less is known about the time course of postpartum relapse. The study goals were to document patterns and correlates of smoking resumption among people who quit smoking during pregnancy and were motivated to remain abstinent.

Aims And Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis among participants in a randomized controlled trial of postpartum-specific smoking relapse prevention interventions who self-reported no smoking since the quit date to delivery (n = 280).

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The present study aimed to describe the personality and psychopathology dimensions reported by veterans seeking organ transplantation, as well as to identify those dimensions associated with subsequent presurgical recommendations and transplant outcomes. Data were collected from 245 veterans undergoing a pretransplant psychological evaluation that included the MMPI-2-RF. Three treatment recommendations resulting from these evaluations, three recommendation adherence variables, and two transplant outcomes were extracted from electronic medical records.

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Objective: The study aims were to (1) document the relationship between a history of childhood abuse and weight change during behavioral obesity treatment and (2) estimate the indirect effect of childhood abuse on weight change through binge eating severity.

Methods: Participants (n = 431) were enrolled in a behavioral weight-loss intervention. Childhood physical and emotional abuse history and current binge eating severity were self-reported.

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