Getting access to the self: Effects of self-management therapy on the development of self-regulation and inhibitory control in obese adolescents

Background and aims: This study investigated the role of self-regulation competencies in general and specifically in a food-related context for the control of body weight in a three-year weight loss program. Methods: The sample consisted of 30 male and female adolescents (age range: 11–18 years) who participated in a three-year therapy program for severe obesity (mean BMI at the beginning of the intervention was 33.6). Assessment of self-regulation competencies was conducted at three different stages (1st–3rd graduation/class year). Therefore, three independent groups of adolescents (N = 10) at these different stages were tested (initial-to final-stage of therapy). At the time of testing the BMI of these groups significantly differed from 38.8 to 28.7. Analyses of covariance were performed to determine whether the adolescents also differed in self-regulation skills like “resistance to temptation” and food-related Stroop interference along with ameliorating their energy-balance regulation. Results: In addition to the main effects of age and body mass index, adolescents further displayed significant improvements of executive functions with respect to resistance to temptation and inhibition. Conclusions: Interventions aimed at enhancing energy-balance regulation in adolescents may further benefit from efforts to facilitate executive functions such as self-regulation and food-related cognitive inhibition

JOB STRESSORS AND SLOW MEDICINE IN HEALTH CARE: A SCOPING REVIEW

This paper provides a framework for addressing the stressors in modern medical health care, especially those that relate to psychology and psychiatry. Despite its advances, organized medicine is beset with inefficiencies and imperfections. The extent of burnout and stress for health professionals is documented in this scoping review. The impact on mental health is described and an approach based on a slower medicine is advocated

Using Short-Term Concentration Measures and Intelligence in Rehabilitation Settings

Psychological assessment of cognitive functioning among clinical groups that include psychiatric and geriatric patients is a difficult task. This study examines the interrelationship between intelligence and concentrative ability for a group of psychiatric patients. Intellectual and concentrative ability were assessed among a group of 85, predominantly schizophrenic, patients (mean age 32 years) from a Sheltered Workshop (GWN) and neurological-psychiatric institutionalized care units within the Neuss region of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Moderate bivariate relationships were found between all IQ subtests and the concentration performance variables (d2). A substantial overlap in variance was found between “nonverbal” intelligence and the concentration variables (using multiple regression and discrimination analysis). Error rate on the concentration task was significantly negatively correlated with the IQ variables, the magnitude of the correlation coefficient increasing as a function of the time on the task. Future studies would benefit from comparisons in factor structure similarity between abnormal and normal groups as well as between-clinical groups. At a practical level, the relatively easy use (less complex administration) and less obtrusive (hence, low level of personal threat) and inexpensive procedures of the letter cancellation task makes it a useful, albeit “approximate”, measure of cognitive functioning

Health care and subjective well-being in nations

With the ever-increasing costs incurred by medical health care in the majority of the industrialized nations of the world, attempts have been made to identify and rectify the deficiencies in the health industry and improve quality management assessment. A central question for politicians and researchers is, to what extent does a country's health care system influence the subjective well-being in its citizens

THE PERFORMING ARTS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Although psychotropic drugs have been hailed as, \u27One of the success stories of modern psychiatry\u27 the prescribing of these medicines has not been without commotion, concern and controversy. Moreover, the President of the World Psychiatry Association Professor Dinesh Bhugra and colleagues, after conducting a recent large-scale study (n=25,522) on psychiatric morbidity in the UK, collectively issued the clarion call that, \u27The mental health of the nation was unlikely to be improved by treatment with psychotropic medication alone\u27. The provision of mental healthcare services may likely benefit from a holistic approach that includes a variety of treatment options that prioritizes patient safety and preference. The performing arts is gaining popularity among service users as an adjunctive form of treatment for mental illness. There is a growing body of evidence that provisionally supports the claim that art therapy, \u27Possesses the power to heal psychological wounds\u27. The North American Drama Therapy Association defines drama therapy as, \u27The intentional use of drama and/or theatre processes to achieve therapeutic goals\u27 and that it is \u27active and experiential\u27. This review article discusses and describes the merits of dramatherapy and how this treatment modality can contribute to a patient\u27s recovery from psychological distress

Effects of Pilates-Based Exercise on Life Satisfaction, Physical Self-Concept and Health Status in Adult Women

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Pilates- based mat exercises on life satisfaction, perception of appreciation by other people, perception of physical appearance, perception of functionality, total physical self-concept, and perception of health status in healthy women. A randomized controlled trial was con- ducted in Évora, Portugal, in 2008, in which 62 healthy adult women were randomized to a Pilates-based mat (experimental group) (n D 38, mean age ̇ SD, 41.08 ̇ 6.64 years) or a control group (n D 24, mean age ̇ SD, 40.25 ̇ 7.70 years). Experimen- tal group participants performed the Initial Mat of Body Control Pilates twice per week, 60-minutes per session. Repeated measure- ments were performed at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. No significant differences between the two groups were observed in life satisfaction, perception of appreciation by other people, perception of physical appearance, perception of functionality, total physical self-concept, and perception of health status at three time point measures (baseline, after 3 months, and after 6 months). No sig- nificant differences were observed in the control group over time. The experimental group showed significant improvements between baseline and six months in life satisfaction (p D .04), perception of appreciation by other people (p D .002), perception of physical appearance (p D .001), perception of functionality (p D .01), total physical self-concept (p D .001), perception of health status (p D .013) and between three and six months in life satisfaction (p D .002), perception of appreciation by other people (p D .05), perception of physical appearance (p D .001), perception of func- tionality (p D .02), and total physical self-concept (p D .001). Life satisfaction, perception of appreciation by other people, perception of physical appearance, perception of functionality, total physical self-concept and perception of health status may improve after 6 months of Pilates-based mat exercise