Complementary therapy and support services for formal and informal caregivers in Italian palliative care hospices: an exploratory and descriptive study.

Purpose: The present study is aimed to assess the availability and use of complementary medicine (CM) therapies in Italian palliative care hospices, and the support services available to caregivers and hospice staff.

Methods: A national sample of 30 hospices meeting study criteria provided data by means of telephone interviews.

Results: All hospices offered spiritual assistance and at least one other form of CM, with the most common being massage therapy (n = 24) and relaxation therapy (n = 10).

Young novice driver subtypes: relationship to driving violations, errors and lapses.

The present study aimed to identify, in a large Italian sample of young, novice drivers, specific subtypes of drivers on the basis of combinations of self-reported personality traits (i.e., driving anger, anxiety, angry hostility, excitement-seeking, altruism, normlessness and driving locus of control) and to evaluate their high-risk driving behaviors not only in terms of traffic rule violations and risk-taking behaviors, but also in terms of driving errors and lapses as measured by the Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire.

Weight-based stigmatization, psychological distress, & binge eating behavior among obese treatment-seeking adults.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between weight-based stigmatization, psychological distress, and binge eating behavior in a treatment-seeking obese sample.

Methods: Ninety-three obese adults completed three questionnaires: 1) Stigmatizing Situations Inventory, 2) Brief Symptoms Inventory, and 3) Binge Eating Questionnaire. Correlational analyses were used to evaluate the association between stigmatizing experiences, psychological distress and binge eating behavior.

Weight stigmatization and ideological beliefs: relation to psychological functioning in obese adults.

Objective: This study evaluated the relation among weight-based stigmatization, ideological beliefs about weight, and psychological functioning in an obese, treatment-seeking sample.

Research Methods And Procedure: Ninety-three obese, treatment-seeking adults (24 men and 69 women) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring psychological adjustment, attitudes about weight, belief in the controllability of weight, and the frequency of weight-based stigmatization.

Results: Weight-based stigmatization was a common experience for participants.

Changing eating behavior: a preliminary study to consider broader measures of weight control treatment success.

This study evaluated changes in the self-reported eating behaviors (snacking, binge eating, portion sizes, and meal skipping) of 52 obese adults (33 women and 19 men) attending a residential weight loss facility on two consecutive occasions. For each of the eating patterns studied, subjects reported engaging in the behavior significantly less frequently at the time of their return visit. It is proposed that changes in eating behaviors provide a useful and appropriate nonweight based outcome measure for estimating treatment success in diet-seeking clients.

Body image partially mediates the relationship between obesity and psychological distress.

Objective: Body image is considered as a potential mediator of the relationship between obesity and psychological distress.

Research Methods And Procedures: One hundred ten men and women in a residential weight control facility completed the Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Binge Eating Scale.

Results: For both men and women, body-image satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between degree of overweight and depression/self-esteem.