My baby body : a qualitative insight into women\u27s body-related experiences and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum

An inductive qualitative approach was employed to explore women\u27s experiences of their body and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 perinatal women (n at late pregnancy=10; n in the early postpartum period=10). While most of the sample reported adapting positively to body changes experienced during pregnancy, the postpartum period was often associated with body dissatisfaction. Women reported several events unique to pregnancy which helped them cope positively with bodily changes (e.g. increased perceived body functionality, new sense of meaning in life thus placing well-being of developing foetus above body aesthetics, perceptual experiences such as feeling baby kick, increased sense of social connectedness due to pregnancy body shape, and positive social commentary); however, these events no longer protected against body dissatisfaction post-birth. While women reported mood lability throughout the perinatal period, the postpartum was also a time of increased positive affect for most women, and overall most women did not associate body changes with their mood. Clinical implications of these findings included the need for education about normal postpartum body changes and their timing, and the development of more accurate measures of perinatal body image.<br /

Evaluation of the intercultural understanding field trial

In 2011, the Innovation and Next Practice Division (INP) of the Department of&nbsp;Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) conducted a field trial&nbsp;on intercultural understanding in partnership with a research and evaluation&nbsp;team from the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. The field trial&nbsp;was sponsored by the Languages, English as another Language (EAL) and&nbsp;Multicultural Education Division of DEECD.The primary research question guiding the field trial was:1. What is the impact on student outcomes of teaching and learning&nbsp;practice for intercultural understanding?2. The secondary research questions were:3. What knowledge and skills do both learners and educators need for&nbsp;intercultural understanding?4. How is effective practice identified and measured?5. What intercultural understanding capabilities can be developed at&nbsp;each developmental stage of children and young people in different&nbsp;cultural contexts?In order to explore these questions, schools across Victoria were initially&nbsp;nominated by International Division, the Multicultural Education Unit and by&nbsp;regional directors and INP based on three core criteria, which included school&nbsp;culture, capability and connections within the school and the wider community.&nbsp;Following an expression of interest process, 26 schools, including one&nbsp;independent school and two catholic schools were selected. Participation in&nbsp;the field trial included the following aims:&bull; to stimulate thinking about current school policy and practice around&nbsp;intercultural understanding and interaction (ICU)&bull; to trial projects that support the field trial&rsquo;s primary research question&nbsp;&bull; to evaluate innovative &lsquo;next practice&rsquo; and consider its relevance for&nbsp;the education system&bull; to support the intercultural understanding general capability under&nbsp;consideration for inclusion in the Australian National Curriculum in&nbsp;2013.The field trial was implemented by DEECD INP from February 2011 to&nbsp;December 2011 over three stages.</div

Investigating direct links between depression, emotional control, and physical punishment with adolescent drive for thinness and bulimic behaviours, including possible moderation by the serotonin transporter 5-HTTLPR polymorphism

Objectives: To examine the relationship between psychological and social factors (depression, emotional control, sexual abuse, and parental physical punishment) and adolescent drive for Thinness and Bulimic behaviors in a large community sample, and to investigate possible genetic moderation.Method: Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project (ATP), a population-based cohort study that has followed a representative sample of 2443 participants from infancy to adulthood across 16 waves since 1983. A subsample of 650 participants (50.2% female) of Caucasian descent who provided DNA were genotyped for a serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). Adolescent disordered eating attitudes and behaviors were assessed using the Bulimia and Drive for Thinness scales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (15&ndash;16 years). Depression and emotional control were examined at the same age using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and an ATP-devised measure of emotional control. History of sexual abuse and physical punishment were assessed retrospectively (23&ndash;24 years) in a subsample of 467 of those providing DNA.Results: EDI-2 scores were associated with depression, emotional control, and retrospectively reported parental physical punishment. Although there was statistically significant moderation of the relationship between parental physical punishment and bulimic behaviors by 5-HTTLPR (p = 0.0048), genotypes in this subsample were not in Hardy&ndash;Weinberg Equilibrium. No other G&times;E interactions were significant. Conclusion: Findings from this study affirm the central importance of psychosocial processes in disordered eating patterns in adolescence. Evidence of moderation by 5-HTTLPR was not conclusive; however, genetic moderation observed in a subsample not in Hardy&ndash;Weinberg Equilibrium warrants further investigation

Investigating Direct Links between Depression, Emotional Control, and Physical Punishment with Adolescent Drive for Thinness and Bulimic Behaviors, Including Possible Moderation by the Serotonin Transporter 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism

Objectives: To examine the relationship between psychological and social factors (depression, emotional control, sexual abuse, and parental physical punishment) and adolescent drive for Thinness and Bulimic behaviors in a large community sample, and to investigate possible genetic moderation.Method: Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project (ATP), a population-based cohort study that has followed a representative sample of 2443 participants from infancy to adulthood across 16 waves since 1983. A subsample of 650 participants (50.2% female) of Caucasian descent who provided DNA were genotyped for a serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). Adolescent disordered eating attitudes and behaviors were assessed using the Bulimia and Drive for Thinness scales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (15–16 years). Depression and emotional control were examined at the same age using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and an ATP-devised measure of emotional control. History of sexual abuse and physical punishment were assessed retrospectively (23–24 years) in a subsample of 467 of those providing DNA.Results: EDI-2 scores were associated with depression, emotional control, and retrospectively reported parental physical punishment. Although there was statistically significant moderation of the relationship between parental physical punishment and bulimic behaviors by 5-HTTLPR (p = 0.0048), genotypes in this subsample were not in Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium. No other G×E interactions were significant. Conclusion: Findings from this study affirm the central importance of psychosocial processes in disordered eating patterns in adolescence. Evidence of moderation by 5-HTTLPR was not conclusive; however, genetic moderation observed in a subsample not in Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium warrants further investigation

Changes in body image satisfaction during pregnancy : a comparison of high exercising and low exercising women

Objective: This study aimed to compare ratings of body image satisfaction (BIS) from 6 months prepregnancy to 23&ndash;30 weeks&rsquo; gestation for high exercising and low exercising pregnant women. The authors also aimed to assess and compare expectations of BIS for the post-partum period in high and low exercising women.Design: A partial prospective approach was Implemented.Sample: A total of 71 healthy pregnant women (40 high exercisers and 31 low exercisers) participated.Methods: Participants completed a series of questionnaires at 15&ndash;22 weeks&rsquo; gestation and 23&ndash;30 weeks&rsquo; gestation.Main outcome measures: There were two main outcome measures. At 15&ndash;22 weeks&rsquo; gestation there was an exercise inventory and two versions of the Body Cathexis Scale (BCS) (retrospective prepregnancy BIS and current BIS). At 23&ndash;30 weeks&rsquo; gestation there was an exercise inventory and two versions of the BCS (current BIS and projected post-partum BIS).Results: At 15&ndash;22 weeks&rsquo; gestation, high exercisers demonstrated significantly higher levels of BIS compared to low exercisers. There were no other significant differences between groups. Within groups, high exercisers were significantly more satisfied with their bodies at 15&ndash;22 weeks&rsquo; gestation compared to 6 months prepregnancy, and expected to be less satisfied with their bodies at 6 weeks&rsquo; post-partum than they were during pregnancy. Low exercisers demonstrated no significant changes over time.Conclusions: The findings suggest that women are able to assimilate the bodily changes of pregnancy without a negative shift in BIS. However, women who exercise during pregnancy may respond more favourably to changes in their bodies at early pregnancy compared to women who remain sedentary.<br /

Dispositional mindfulness, rejection sensitivity, and behavioural responses to rejection: The role of emotion regulation

Objective Recent evidence suggests that individuals higher in dispositional mindfulness display less rejection sensitivity. However, less is known about the potential influence of dispositional mindfulness on behavioural responses to implied rejection, and the mechanisms underlying these associations. The present research was designed to address these questions. Method In a community sample of 219 young adults, we examined whether low dispositional mindfulness was associated with higher rejection sensitivity and maladaptive responses to implied rejection (retribution and withdrawal), and whether emotion regulation mediated these associations. Participants completed an online questionnaire battery assessing dispositional mindfulness, emotion regulation, rejection sensitivity, and behavioural responses to implied rejection. Results Results revealed that dispositional mindfulness was indirectly associated, through emotion regulation, with lower rejection sensitivity and less withdrawal following rejection. Mindfulness was also associated with less retribution following perceived rejection, although this association was not mediated by emotion regulation. Conclusions These results suggest that dispositional mindfulness may be protective against rejection sensitivity and maladaptive behavioural responses following rejection, and that capacity for regulating emotions may be implicated in the association between mindfulness and less rejection sensitivity and withdrawal following rejection