Exploratory analysis of the variable response to an intensive lifestyle change program for metabolic syndrome.

Background: Substantial variability in response to lifestyle interventions has been recognized for many years, and researchers have begun to disentangle sources of error from inherent differences in individual responsiveness. The objective of this secondary analysis of an intensive lifestyle intervention (diet and exercise) for metabolic syndrome (MetS) was to identify potentially important differences among study completers grouped by treatment response as measured by change in a continuous metabolic syndrome score (Gurka/MetS).

Methods: All study completers from a 12-month primary care study were categorized into one of five groups according to change in the Gurka/MetS score.

Evaluation of Latent Models Assessing Physical Fitness and the Healthy Eating Index in Community Studies: Time-, Sex-, and Diabetes-Status Invariance.

Accurate measurement requires assessment of measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) to demonstrate that the tests/measurements perform equally well and measure the same underlying constructs across groups and over time. Using structural equation modeling, the measurement properties (stability and responsiveness) of intervention measures used in a study of metabolic syndrome (MetS) treatment in primary care offices, were assessed. The primary study (N = 293; mean age = 59 years) had achieved 19% reversal of MetS overall; yet neither diet quality nor aerobic capacity were correlated with declines in cardiovascular disease risk.

Nutrient intake and dietary quality changes within a personalized lifestyle intervention program for metabolic syndrome in primary care.

A team-based 12-month lifestyle program for the treatment of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (involving physicians, registered dietitians (RDs), and kinesiologists) was previously shown to reverse MetS in 19% of patients (95% confidence interval, 14% to 24%). This work evaluates changes in nutrient intake and diet quality over 12 months ( = 205). Individualized diet counselling was provided by 14 RDs at 3 centres.

Sexual Motives in Heterosexual Women With and Without Sexual Difficulties.

Previous research indicates that women with sexual problems may have different reasons for engaging in sex than women who are not experiencing sexual problems. The current study investigated whether reasons for sex differed by women reporting high versus low overall sexual functioning, as assessed by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) (Rosen et al., 2000).

Alone at the Table: Food Behavior and the Loss of Commensality in Widowhood.

Objectives: Eating alone is a known risk factor for nutritional vulnerability in later life. Widowhood often entails loss of commensality (shared meals). This article explores this experience among older widowed women in relation to food behavior.

Food behavior change in late-life widowhood: A two-stage process.

Widowhood is a common life event for married older women. Prior research has found disruptions in eating behaviors to be common among widows. Little is known about the process underlying these disruptions.

Social support and adjustment among wives of men with prostate cancer.

This study aims to understand how wives' mental health and life enjoyment are affected by their perceptions of the sufficiency of the support they render to their husbands who have prostate cancer. Its specific purpose is to determine whether these outcomes accrue more strongly to wives who perceive their husbands coping in avoidant ways. Drawing on data from an interview study of 51 wives of men diagnosed with prostate cancer, the authors employ heiarchical regression analysis to examine the wives' adjustment in relation to their provision of support to their husbands.

The Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) questionnaire; does it predict physical health?

A lack of physical activity is common in older adults. With the increasing Canadian senior population, identifying the minimum amount of physical activity required to maintain the health of older adults is essential. This study determined whether relationships existed between the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) questionnaire scores and health-related measurements in community-dwelling older adults who were meal delivery volunteers.

Validating the Functions of Identity Scale: addressing methodological and conceptual matters.

Various studies have examined the validity of the Functions of Identity Scale; the current study addressed gaps in previous works. Its three main goals were to revise the Control subscale and establish its construct validity, to assess the structural validity of a five-factor model, and to establish the external validity of the subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed with a sample of 422 female and 107 male undergraduate students from two universities in Ontario, Canada.

Adolescents' self-efficacy to overcome barriers to Physical Activity Scale.

This paper describes a revised measure of self-efficacy to overcome barriers to moderate and vigorous physical activity in a sample of 484 high school students in Toronto, Ontario. The students had a mean age of 15.3 years.

Goals and personal resources that contribute to the development and agency attachment of older adult volunteers.

We examined the volunteer service contribution of older adults (N = 100) to volunteer role development and agency attachment. Informed by a developmental regulation framework and socio-emotional selectivity theory, we tested a twofold hypothesis for the premise that greater role development and agency attachment would be experienced by (1) older adults who had multiple goals for volunteering, and (2) older adults who pursued these goals by making greater use of their social resources relative to their physical and cognitive resources. Both hypotheses were supported.

Nutrition screening index for older adults (SCREEN II) demonstrates sex and age invariance.

Testing and refining nutrition screening tools that have demonstrated validity and reliability is important to ensure that mechanisms for allocating nutrition resources to those most in need are as efficient as possible. Using structural equation modelling, a nutrition screening instrument for community-dwelling seniors (SCREEN II) was tested to determine its factor structure and to understand how it measures nutrition risk. Further, this analysis was completed to identify a model that works equivalently for men and women and older and younger seniors.

Validation of the sexual excitation/sexual inhibition inventory for women and men.

The purpose of the current investigation was to develop a scale that would assess propensity for sexual arousal in response to a broad range of stimuli and sexual situations in both men and women. In Study 1, data from a nonclinical sample of 481 male and female students (graduate and undergraduate) were submitted to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in order to develop the Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women and Men (SESII-W/M), and gender differences on the subscales were tested. In Study 2, construct validity and test-retest reliability of the SESII-W/M were assessed with a second sample of undergraduate students.

Sexual identity and sexual well-being in female heterosexual university students.

Sexual identity has generally been studied with a focus on sexual orientation and has not incorporated a general identity framework. Low levels of identity exploration and commitment have been shown to predict poor well-being in adolescents, but the relationship between sexual identity and sexual well-being has not been examined. The current cross-sectional survey was administered to 293 heterosexual female undergraduate students from a mid-sized university in Ontario, Canada.

Only the nose knows: penile hemodynamic study of the perineum-saddle interface in men with erectile dysfunction utilizing bicycle saddles and seats with and without nose extensions.

Purpose: To investigate the differential impact of straddles (A(ns) and B(ns)) and noseless two-cheek seats (A(ntcs) and B(ntcs)) on penile hemodynamics and perineal compressive forces in subjects who cycle in a stationary bicycle.

Materials And Methods: Subjects underwent cavernosal artery peak systolic velocity (CAPSV) measurements after intracavernosal injection of vasoactive agents while supine, sitting upright on an examination table, straddling a saddle, sitting on a seat, and again supine. Mean perineal compression pressures recorded while straddling the saddles were compared with those while sitting upright.

Genital duplex Doppler ultrasonography before and after sexual stimulation in women with sexual dysfunction: gray scale, volumetric, and hemodynamic findings.

Objective: To report gray scale, volumetric, and duplex ultrasound data before and after sexual stimulation in a large population of women with sexual dysfunction.

Design: Retrospective review of women with sexual dysfunction.

Setting: An academic center.

Selective sex differences in declarative memory.

Sex invariance of a six-factor, higher order model of declarative memory (two second-order factors: episodic and semantic memory; and four first-order factors: recall, recognition, fluency, and knowledge) was established for 1,796 participants (35-85 years). Metric invariance of first- and second-order factor loadings across sex was demonstrated. At the second-order level, a female advantage was observed for both episodic and semantic memory.

Episodic memory change in late adulthood: generalizability across samples and performance indices.

Younger adults recall more information from episodic memory tasks than do older adults. Because longitudinal studies are rare and often incompatible, the extent of actual late-life memory change is not well established. We assemble two different longitudinal samples of normal older adults, each of which is tested twice at a 3-year interval, using a large battery of episodic memory indicators.

Sexual consent behaviors in same-sex relationships.

Consent is a key issue in defining sexual coercion yet few researchers have analyzed sexual consent attitudes and behaviors and, to date, there has been no published research examining sexual consent within same-sex relationships. The main objective of this study was to identify which behaviors people use to ask for and to indicate sexual consent to their same-sex partner(s). A Same-Sex Sexual Consent Scale was developed to measure both initiating and responding consent behaviors in same-sex relationships.

Interrelations between subjective health and episodic memory change in Swedish and Canadian samples of older adults.

Recent research has documented associations between subjective health ratings and objective indicators of disease and death. Less is known about relations between subjective health ratings and level of cognitive performance in older adults. In this study, we explored whether subjective health ratings are related to episodic memory performance, both concurrently and across a three-year longitudinal interval.

A prospective duplex Doppler ultrasonographic study in women with sexual arousal disorder to objectively assess genital engorgement induced by EROS therapy.

The EROS therapy device is FDA-approved for the treatment of women with sexual dysfunction and has been shown to improve sexual function and satisfaction. The aim of this study was to obtain objective information regarding the ability of the EROS Therapy device to induce clitoral and corpus spongiosum volumetric and hemodynamic changes following therapeutic use in women with sexual arousal disorder. Seven patients with sexual arousal disorder formed the study population.

Selective adult age differences in an age-invariant multifactor model of declarative memory.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test competing models of declarative memory. Data from middle-aged participants provided support for a model comprised of 2 2nd-order (episodic and semantic memory) and 4 1st-order (recall, recognition, fluency, and knowledge) factors. Extending this model across young-old and old-old participants established support for age invariance.

Longitudinal invariance of adult psychometric ability factor structures across 7 years.

The hypothesis that psychometric ability tests retain equivalent factor structures across a 7-year interval was examined in a sample of 984 persons (disaggregated into 6 cohort groups: M ages at first test = 32, 46, 53, 60, 67, and 76), assessed in 1984 and 1991 as part of the Seattle Longitudinal Study. A best fitting measurement model was estimated for 20 psychometric tests marking the 6 primary abilities of Inductive Reasoning, Spatial Orientation, Perceptual Speed, Numeric Facility, Verbal Ability, and Verbal Recall. Gender was partialed out at the variable level by including a gender factor.