A university-sport partnership : towards a sustainable knowledge-transfer model

2012-2013 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Health benefits of joint replacement surgery for patients with osteoarthritis: prospective evaluation using independent assessments in Scotland

Study objectives - To determine extent of change in psychological, functional, and social health after knee and hip joint replacement surgery using independent assessments. Design - Patients were recruited before surgery and interviewed preoperatively, three months after surgery, and nine months after surgery. Interviews were conducted in the patients' own homes. Setting - Two orthopaedic surgery units in Scotland. Participants - A consecutive sample of 107 patients with osteoarthritis having primary replacement of the knee or hip. Main outcome measures - Assessments of depression, anxiety, pain, functional activity, informal care, and formal service utilisation were made at three time points. Main results - Anxiety and pain were significantly reduced and functional activity levels significantly increased after surgery. While gains in anxiety and pain reduction occurred between the preoperative and three month assessments, gains in activity were made between the three month and nine month assessments. Although pain was reduced and activity increased, levels of depression were unchanged after surgery. Patients reported need for assistance with fewer activities after surgery, but increases in the use of formal services and increases in the number of hours per week of informal support received were observed at both three month and nine month follow up. Conclusions - The main benefit of joint replacement surgery is pain relief. Gains in functional activity, particularly mobility and leisure activities are made by many patients. Paradoxically, surgery for osteoarthritis seems to act as a 'gateway' to increases in formal and informal community support, which are maintained into the longer term

Gender nonconformity of identical twins with discordant sexual orientations: Evidence from childhood photographs

Childhood gender nonconformity (femininity in males, masculinity in females) predicts a non-straight (gay, lesbian, or bisexual) sexual orientation in adulthood. In previous work, non-straight twins reported more childhood gender nonconformity than their genetically identical, but straight, co-twins. However, self-reports could be biased. We therefore assessed gender nonconformity via ratings of photographs from childhood and adulthood. These ratings came from independent observers naïve to study hypotheses. Identical twins with discordant sexual orientations (24 male pairs, 32 female pairs) visibly differed in their gender nonconformity from mid childhood, with higher levels of gender nonconformity for the non-straight twins. This difference was smaller than the analogous difference between identical twins who were concordant straight (4 male pairs, 11 female pairs) and identical twins unrelated to them who were concordant non-straight (19 male pairs, 8 female pairs). Further, twins in discordant pairs correlated in their observer-rated gender nonconformity. Non-genetic factors likely differentiated the discordant twins’ gender-related characteristics in childhood, but shared influences made them similar in some respects. We further tested how recall of past rejection from others related to gender nonconformity. Rejection generally increased with gender nonconformity, but this effect varied by the twins’ sexual orientation

A mathematical model for the sequestering of chemical contaminants by magnetic particles

A mathematical model is developed and implemented to characterize the pickup of various liquid chemical contaminants by polyethylene-coated magnetic particles. The model and its associated experimental and analytical protocols were applied to a wide range of liquid chemicals in order to gain insights into the physical basis for the pickup phenomenon. The characteristics of the pickup isotherms range between “ideal” and “nonideal” behaviors that are reflected in the mathematical model by a single parameter, �0, where �0=1 corresponds to ideal behavior and �0�1 corresponds to a departure from idealized behavior that is directly quantified by the magnitude of �0. The parameter �0 is also related to the efficiency of pickup, and since most isotherms observed in the study deviate from ideality, the high efficiency of pickup observed in these systems has been attributed in part to this deviation. The proposed model and its associated experimental and analytical protocols demonstrate great potential for the systematic evaluation of the uptake of chemical contaminants using magnetic particle technology

Finger Length Ratios of Identical Twins with Discordant Sexual Orientations

A proposed marker of prenatal androgen exposure is the ratio of the index finger to ring finger (2D:4D). Within each sex, this ratio may be lower for those who were exposed to higher levels of androgens and become attracted to women, as compared to those who were exposed to lower levels of androgens and become attracted to men. We examined these patterns in identical twins with discordant sexual orientations. Because these twins are enetically identical, differences in prenatal androgen exposure, as reflected in their different finger length ratios, might contribute to their discordance. For 18 female twin pairs, nonstraight (bisexual or lesbian) twins had significantly lower, or more masculinized, 2D:4D ratios than their straight co-twins, but only in the left hand. For 14 male pairs, non-straight twins had, contrary to our prediction, more masculinized finger length ratios than straight cotwins, but this difference was not significant. A reanalysis of present and previous data (Hall & Love, 2003; Hiraishi, Sasaki, Shikishima, & Ando, 2012) suggested that these patterns were robust. Furthermore, males had more masculinized 2D:4D ratios than females. This sex difference did not vary by sexual orientation

South Asian Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Psychological Mediators of Faecal Occult Blood Colorectal Screening Participation: A Prospective Test of a Process Model.

Objective: Although ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) correlate with health inequality, efforts to explain variance in health behavior attributable to these factors are limited by difficulties in population sampling. We used ethnicity identification software to test effects of psychological beliefs about screening as mediators of ethnicity and SES on faecal occult blood colorectal screening behavior in a no-cost health care context. Method: Adults aged 50–67 years (N � 1,678), of whom 28% were from minority South Asian religiolinguistic ethnic groups (Hindu-Gujarati/Hindi, Muslim-Urdu and Sikh- Punjabi), participated in a prospective survey study. Subsequent screening participation was determined from medical records. Results: Screening nonparticipation in the most deprived SES quintile was 1.6 times that of the least deprived quintile. Nonparticipation was 1.6 times higher in South Asians compared with non-Asians. A process model in which psychological variables mediated effects of ethnicity and SES on uptake was tested using structural equation modeling. Self-efficacy and perceived psychological costs of screening were, respectively, positive and negative direct predictors of uptake. Paths from Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh ethnicity, and SES on uptake were fully mediated by lower self-efficacy and higher perceived psychological costs. Paths from South Asian ethnicity to participation via self-efficacy and psychological costs were direct, and indirect via SES. Conclusion: SES is implicated, but does not fully account for low colorectal screening uptake among South Asians. Targeting increased self-efficacy and reduced perceived psychological costs may minimize health inequality effects. Future research should test independent effects of SES and ethnicity on lower self-efficacy and higher psychological costs

The common sense model of illness self- regulation: a conceptual review and proposed extended model

The common sense model of illness self-regulation outlines the dynamic processes by which individuals perceive, interpret, respond, and adjust, psychologically and behaviorally, to health threats and illness-related information. An extended version of the model is proposed, which formally operationalizes existing processes in the model and specifies additional constructs and processes to explain how lay perceptions of health threats and illnesses impact coping responses and health-related outcomes. The extended model provides detail on: (a) the mediating process by which individuals’ illness representations relate to illness outcomes through adoption of coping procedures; (b) representations of health threats and illnesses as schematically organized and activated by presentation of health-threatening stimuli; (c) behavioral and treatment beliefs as determinants of coping responses and illness outcomes independent of illness representations; and (d) effects of salient moderators (e.g., optimism, perfectionism, trait negative affectivity, emotional representations) of relations between cognitive representations, coping responses, and illness outcomes. The extended model is intended to set an agenda for future research that addresses knowledge gaps regarding how individuals represent and cope with illnesses and health threats, and augments the evidence base that may inform effective and optimally-efficient illness-management interventions. We also identify the specific kinds of research required to provide robust evidence for the extended model propositions. We call for research paradigms that employ incipient illness samples, utilize designs that better capture dynamic processes in the model such as crosslagged panel and intervention designs, and adopt illness-specific measures of coping behaviors and self-management actions rather than reliance on generic instruments

Psychometric properties of the Stress Control Mindset Measure in University students from Australia and the UK.

Introduction: Beliefs about the consequences of stress, stress mindsets, are associated with health and performance outcomes under stress. This article reports the development and examination of the psychometric properties of a measure of stress mindset: The Stress Control Mindset Measure (SCMM). The measure is consistent with theory on mindsets about self-attributes and conceptualizes stress mindset as the extent to which individuals endorse beliefs that stress can be enhancing. Methods: The study adopted a correlational cross-sectional survey design in two student samples. Undergraduate students from an Australian university (Sample 1, N=218) and a UK university (Sample 2, N=214) completed the SCMM and measures of health and well being outcomes. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure and strict measurement invariance across samples(ΔCFI <.01). Reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and concurrent validity of the overall SCMM was supported in both samples. Incremental validity was supported for most outcomes, accounting for significantly more variance (between 2.2% and 5.9%) in health and wellbeing outcomes than an existing measure. Conclusions: Current data provide preliminary support for the SCMM as a reliable and valid measure with good psychometric properties and theoretically consistent relations with health outcomes under stress. Findings provide initial evidence supporting the potential utility of the SCMM in future research examining relations between stress mindsets and health and performance outcomes

Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men

Most men show genital sexual arousal to one preferred gender. Most women show genital arousal to both genders, regardless of their sexual preferences. There is limited knowledge of whether this difference is driven by biological sex or gender identity. Transgender individuals, whose birth sex and gender identity are incongruent, provide a unique opportunity to address this question. We tested whether the genital responses of 25 (female-to-male) transgender men followed their female birth sex or male gender identity. Depending on their surgical status, arousal was assessed with penile gauges or vaginal plethysmographs. Transgender men’s sexual arousal showed both male-typical and female-typical patterns. Across measures, they responded more strongly to their preferred gender than to the other gender, similar to (but not entirely like) 145 cisgender (nontransgender) men. However, they still responded to both genders, similar to 178 cisgender women. In birth-assigned women, both gender identity and biological sex may influence sexual-arousal patterns

Automatic processes and self-regulation of illness

Research on the Commonsense Self-Regulation Model has emphasised reflective/conscious perceptual processes regarding illness threat (beliefs about symptoms, consequences, timeline, and curability) in predicting and changing coping behaviours. Understanding of illness self-regulation and avenues for intervention might be enriched by consideration of automatic processes that influence the recognition and identification of illness, response to illness, and ongoing management. This article adopts an integrative approach to (1) outline the theoretical importance of implicit processes in patients’ self-regulation of illness and methods to study them; (2) review research evidence for these processes, including interventions tested to modify them; and (3) outline avenues for future research. A substantial body of research on implicit processes (cognitive bias and interpretational bias) in illness maintenance in chronic illness has recently been extended to detection and interpretation of acute illness and new perspectives relating to the self-system. There is encouraging evidence that cognitive accessibility of coping and implicit attitudes may impact upon coping behaviours. Procedures that strategically automatise coping responses and create habits have considerable promise. We outline an agenda for future research in which health psychology accepts the challenge posed by the interplay of the reflective and associative systems in promoting effective self-regulation of illness