Emotional Outlet Malls: Exploring Retail Therapy

People turn to shopping as an emotional outlet. This article focuses on the concept of retail therapy highlighting the personal benefits, possible issues, and research development surrounding the topic. Negative connotations regarding retail therapy exist, and today, scholars are reexamining retail therapy as a distress-motivated act of consumption from a psychological and emotional perspective. A variety of perspectives can be used to analyze shopping therapy as a face-to-face transaction, an online experience, and a simulated experience in order to explain the emotional component related to shopping

Certified Professional Co-Active Coaches: Why They Enjoy Coaching

The evidence-base for the practice of coaching continues to flourish, despite the fact that very little is known about the practitioners (i.e. the coaches) themselves. It is of value to understand how coaches perceive their practice. Such information can be utilized to create a common knowledge-base about coaches that can be used, in turn, to track trends and forward research that evaluates coaching services. As the use of Co-Active coaching in facilitating behaviour change continues to rise it becomes important to learn more about Certified-Professional Co-Active Coaches (CPCC). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate what CPCCs enjoy about being coaches. These results were contained within a larger survey. A total of 390 CPCCs who were over 18 years of age, could read English, and had access to the Internet participated in the current study. Findings included: that witnessing clients change their lives; the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment from coaching; the collaborative relationship with clients; the autonomy and flexibility of the profession; and the gratification received from using their skill set were the main reasons CPCCs enjoyed coaching. This paper elaborates on these findings and makes suggestions for future research

Motivational coaching: A functional juxtaposition of three methods for health behaviour change: Motivational interviewing, coaching, and skilled helping.

Abstract The purpose of this paper was to explore the unique qualities/characteristics/components of the Co-Active coaching model compared to Motivational Interviewing and Egan's Skilled Helper Model. Six questions pertaining to the creation, purpose, and process of the therapeutic alliance; and the relationship between practitioner and client were used to guide comparisons. Given the similarities among all three methods, it cannot be said that any of them are necessarily distinctive in their core principles or tenets. Instead, their uniqueness lies in the way that they are packaged and delivered. A model of Motivational Coaching, informed by this study's comparative analysis of the three models/method analyzed in this paper, is presented. Our intent is to distil into one framework the key components of three important and overlapping methods used in working toward behavioural changes

Measuring the Effects of THC on Human Sperm Parameters Using Biomonitoring Analysis

Marijuana is one of the most common substances used in the United States with more men utilizing marijuana compared to women. The effects of marijuana on the brain are well known, however, there is limited research on its effects on human sperm parameters. We examined the association between THC and human sperm parameters in participants in the Washington D.C. area. Our preliminary results suggested that THC was associated with low sperm morphology. Background: Marijuana has a long history of human usage for medicinal, ceremonial, and religious purposes. As of January 2018, nine states including Washington D.C. have legalized it for recreational usage. Marijuana is considered one of the most commonly used illicit drugs in the United States with about 40-50% of adults having used it at least once. Estimates from 2017 suggest that 13% of men use marijuana regularly compared to 7% of women. While the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical found in marijuana, on the brain are well known; few studies have evaluated its effect on the male reproductive system. THC affects the endocannabinoid system, a biological system of endocannabinoids with receptors throughout the body responsible for maintaining homeostasis. Cannabinoids such as THC bind to cannabinoid receptors, altering their activity, and have been associated with low sperm concentration and sperm count that can ultimately lead to infertility. Objective: Examine associations between THC concentrations and semen quality including sperm motility, morphology, and concentration in the Washington D.C. area. Methods: Participants were recruited from the Men\u27s Health Study in the Washington D.C. area. Participants provided a urine and semen sample; completed a comprehensive questionnaire on lifestyle, medical history, and cannabis use. Sixty-two urine samples were sent to the laboratory at the University of Utah for analysis of the COOH-THC, the main THC metabolite. Semen analysis was completed at The Perry Laboratory at GWSPH examining sperm parameters such as morphology, concentration, and motility. Results: Our preliminary results show approximately 25% of samples had detectable levels of THC, and there is suggestive evidence that THC was associated with lower morphology

iSTART 2: Improvements for Efficiency and Effectiveness

iSTART (interactive strategy training for active reading and thinking) is a Web-based reading strategy trainer that develops students\u27 ability to self-explain difficult text as a means to improving reading comprehension. Its curriculum consists of modules presented interactively by pedagogical agents: an introduction to the basics of using reading strategies in the context of self-explanation, a demonstration of self-explanation, and a practice module in which the trainee generates self-explanations with feedback on the quality of reading strategies contained in the self-explanations. We discuss the objectives that guided the development of the second version of iSTART toward the goals of increased efficiency for the experimenters and effectiveness in the training. The more pedagogically challenging high school audience is accommodated by (1) a new introduction that increases interactivity, (2) a new demonstration with more and better focused scaffolding, and (3) a new practice module that provides improved feedback and includes a less intense but more extended regimen. Version 2 also benefits experimenters, who can set up and evaluate experiments with less time and effort, because pre- and post testing has been fully computerized and the process of preparing a text for the practice module has been reduced from more than 1 person-week to about an hour\u27s time

Non-pharmacological treatment-related changes of molecular biomarkers in major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mood disorder and leading cause of disability. Despite treatment advances, approximately 30% of individuals with MDD do not achieve adequate clinical response. Better understanding the biological mechanism(s) underlying clinical response to specific psychopharmacological interventions may help fine tune treatments in order to further modulate their underlying mechanisms of action. However, little is known regarding the effect of non-pharmacological treatments (NPTs) on candidate molecular biomarker levels in MDD. This review aims to identify molecular biomarkers that may elucidate NPT response for MDD. Methods We performed a systematic review and a multilevel linear mixed-effects meta-analyses, and a meta-regression. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO in October 2020 and July 2021. Results From 1387 retrieved articles, 17 and six studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analyses, respectively. Although there was little consensus associating molecular biomarker levels with symptomology and/or treatment response, brain metabolites accessed via molecular biomarker-focused neuroimaging techniques may provide promising information on whether an individual with MDD would respond positively to NPTs. Furthermore, non-invasive brain stimulation interventions significantly increased the expression of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) compared to sham/placebo, regardless of add-on pharmacological treatment. Conclusions NTFs are candidate biomarkers to fine-tune NIBS for MDD treatment.publishe