Body satisfaction and couple's daily sexual functioning

Body satisfaction has been shown to have an important effect on the nature and quality of people's sexual experiences. However, past research has focused almost exclusively on women, and indeed no study has examined the role of both partners' body satisfaction or the effects of individual's satisfaction with partner's body attractiveness on sexual functioning. Moreover, almost all past studies have relied on cross-sectional self-report data; few have examined the effects of body satisfaction on day-to-day sexual experiences. To address these shortcomings, the current study used data from two daily studies to investigate the impacts of both partners' body satisfaction and satisfaction with partner's body on daily sexual functioning. Results showed a complex picture of effects that were often dependent on multiple factors. Satisfaction with partner's body attractiveness was showed to be a stronger predictor of individual's own sexual functioning than satisfaction of one's own body. In contrast, partner's satisfaction with his or her own body had negative effect on individual's sexual quality. Furthermore, woman's sexual functioning was more likely to be impacted by partner's satisfaction with her body as expected. And finally, couples had more frequent intercourse when both partners were matched on perceived body attractiveness but only individual who was satisfied with one's own body and partner's body experienced the lowest level of negative mood during sex. Theoretical and methodological implications for future research are discussed

Positive Psychology in Context: Effects of Expressing Gratitude in Ongoing Relationships Depend on Perceptions of Enactor Responsiveness

Recent correlational evidence implicates gratitude in personal and relational growth, for both members of ongoing relationships. From these observations, it would be tempting to prescribe interpersonal gratitude exercises to improve relationships. In this experiment, couples were randomly assigned to express gratitude over a month, or to a relationally-active control condition. Results showed modest effects of condition on personal and relational well-being. However, those whose partners were perceived as being particularly responsive when expressing gratitude at the initial lab session showed greater well-being across a range of outcomes, whereas this was not so for people in the control condition. Notably, evidence raises concerns about the effectiveness of artificial injections of gratitude when the partner is perceived to be low in responsiveness. Given the importance of close relationships, this work highlights the need for more theory-driven basic research tested in context before assuming what appears to work naturally will also work artificially

The Association Between Loneliness and Inflammation: Findings From an Older Adult Sample

Loneliness has been linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes. Past research suggests that inflammation is a potential pathway linking loneliness and health, but little is known about how loneliness assessed in daily life links with inflammation, or about linkages between loneliness and inflammation among older adults specifically. As part of a larger investigation, we examined the cross-sectional associations between loneliness and a panel of both basal and LPS-stimulated inflammatory markers. Participants were 222 socioeconomically and racially diverse older adults (aged 70&ndash;90 years; 38% Black; 13% Hispanic) systematically recruited from the Bronx, NY. Loneliness was measured in two ways, with a retrospective trait measure (the UCLA Three Item Loneliness Scale) and an aggregated momentary measure assessed via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) across 14 days. Inflammatory markers included both basal levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and cytokines (IL-1&beta;, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-&alpha;) and LPS-stimulated levels of the same cytokines. Multiple regression analyses controlled for age, body-mass index, race, and depressive symptoms. Moderation by gender and race were also explored. Both higher trait loneliness and aggregated momentary measures of loneliness were associated with higher levels of CRP (&beta; = 0.16, p = 0.02; &beta; = 0.15, p = 0.03, respectively). There were no significant associations between loneliness and basal or stimulated cytokines and neither gender nor race were significant moderators. Results extend prior research linking loneliness with systemic inflammation in several ways, including by examining this connection among a sample of older adults and using a measure of aggregated momentary loneliness. &nbsp;</p

Is healthy neuroticism associated with health behaviors? A coordinated integrative data analysis

Current literature suggests that neuroticism is positively associated with maladaptive life choices, likelihood of disease, and mortality. However, recent research has identified circumstances under which neuroticism is associated with positive outcomes. The current project examined whether “healthy neuroticism”, defined as the interaction of neuroticism and conscientiousness, was associated with the following health behaviors: smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Using a pre-registered multi-study coordinated integrative data analysis (IDA) approach, we investigated whether “healthy neuroticism” predicted the odds of engaging in each of the aforementioned activities. Each study estimated identical models, using the same covariates and data transformations, enabling optimal comparability of results. These results were then meta-analyzed in order to estimate an average (N-weighted) effect and to ascertain the extent of heterogeneity in the effects. Overall, these results suggest that neuroticism alone was not related to health behaviors, while individuals higher in conscientiousness were less likely to be smokers or drinkers, and more likely to engage in physical activity. In terms of the healthy neuroticism interaction of neuroticism and conscientiousness, significant interactions for smoking and physical activity suggest that the association between neuroticism and health behaviors was smaller among those high in conscientiousness. These findings lend credence to the idea that healthy neuroticism may be linked to certain health behaviors and that these effects are generalizable across several heterogeneous samples

Is healthy neuroticism associated with longevity? A coordinated integrative data analysis

Early investigations of the neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction with regards to health have been promising, but to date, there have been no systematic investigations of this interaction that account for the various personality measurement instruments, varying populations, or aspects of health. The current study - the second of three - uses a coordinated analysis approach to test the impact of the neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction on the prevalence and incidence of chronic conditions. Using 15 pre-existing longitudinal studies (N > 49,375), we found that conscientiousness did not moderate the relationship between neuroticism and having hypertension (OR = 1.00,95%CI[0.98,1.02]), diabetes (OR = 1.02[0.99,1.04]), or heart disease (OR = 0.99[0.97,1.01]). Similarly, we found that conscientiousness did not moderate the prospective relationship between neuroticism and onset of hypertension (OR = 0.98,[0.95,1.01]), diabetes (OR = 0.99[0.94,1.05]), or heart disease (OR = 0.98[0.94,1.03]). Heterogeneity of effect sizes was largely nonsignificant, with one exception, indicating that the effects are consistent between datasets. Overall, we conclude that there is no evidence that healthy neuroticism, operationalized as the conscientiousness by neuroticism interaction, buffers against chronic conditions

The impact of sexual experience on the development of sexual self-concept and global self-esteem during adolescence and young adulthood : a prospective analysis

"July 2014."Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. M. Lynne Cooper.Includes vita.[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The development of an understanding of one's self as a sexual person is an important developmental task for adolescents and young adults. Yet little is known about how an individual's sexual self-concept (SSC) develops, or how the personal sexual experiences impact the development of SSC and the more global aspects of one's self-worth. Two studies were therefore conducted to examine these issues. The first examined the normative development of SSC from adolescence into young adulthood, and how sexual experiences (such as sexual debut, the number of sexual partners, or involvement in risky and aggressive sexual behaviors) shape the course of development. Three wave data from a longitudinal study conducted over a 11-year period was used for this purpose. Results indicated that most aspects of SSC (e.g., sexual self-esteem, sexual anxiety and sexual openness) became more positive during adolescence and emerging adulthood and then leveled off after age 25 years. In addition, a reciprocal relation was found between sexual experience and SSC over time: positive SSC predicted more sexual experience; accumulating sexual experiences (e.g., increases in sexual frequency and number of sexual partners), in turn, positively predicted subsequent SSC. The increases in risky sexual practices had negative impact on sexual self-esteem but positive impact on other dimensions of SSC. Study 2 replicated these patterns in a 3-month longitudinal study among college students and also examined the influence of personal sexual experience on global self-esteem. Results indicated that personal sexual experiences, especially sexual satisfaction, significantly influenced global self-esteem among individuals who staked their global self-worth on the sexual domain. Together, these results highlight the important role individuals' personal sexual experiences may play in the development of a health SSC and global self-worth.Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-79)

Daily social interactions related to daily performance on mobile cognitive tests among older adults.

The lack of social contact or good social relationships has been linked with cognitive decline and higher risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. One important but unexamined question is how daily social interactions relate to older adults' cognitive function in daily life. The present study examined how changes in daily social interactions related to fluctuations in older adults' performance on mobile cognitive tests from day to day. Using an ecological momentary assessments approach, 312 older adults (aged 70 to 90 years) completed surveys on social interactions and mobile cognitive tests five times a day for 16 consecutive days using smartphones. Multilevel modeling was used for analyses. Results demonstrated that having more daily social interactions, especially more pleasant social interactions, related to better cognitive performance the same day and over the subsequent two days. Cognitive performance, however, did not predict subsequent changes in social interactions across days. At the between-person level, older adults who had more (vs. less) frequent interactions with close partners on average, especially with their friends, had better cognitive performance. Finally, the average levels of social interactions also moderated the within-person associations between daily social interactions and the same-day cognitive performance. In sum, results from this study highlight the importance of having pleasant social interactions and frequent interactions with friends for older adults' cognitive function in daily life, and have important implications for future behavioral interventions targeting certain features of daily social interactions to reduce risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

A Cell-Penetrating Peptide Modified Cu2&minus;xSe/Au Nanohybrid with Enhanced Efficacy for Combined Radio-Photothermal Therapy

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the main clinical therapeutic strategies against cancer. Currently, multiple radiosensitizers aimed at enhancing X-ray absorption in cancer tissues have been developed, while limitations still exist for their further applications, such as poor cellular uptake, hypoxia-induced radioresistance, and unavoidable damage to adjacent normal body tissues. In order to address these problems, a cell-penetrating TAT peptide (YGRKKRRQRRRC)-modified nanohybrid was constructed by doping high-Z element Au in hollow semiconductor Cu2&minus;xSe nanoparticles for combined RT and photothermal therapy (PTT) against breast cancer. The obtained Cu2&minus;xSe nanoparticles possessed excellent radiosensitizing properties based on their particular band structures, and high photothermal conversion efficiency beneficial for tumor ablation and promoting RT efficacy. Further doping high-Z element Au deposited more high-energy radiation for better radiosensitizing performance. Conjugation of TAT peptides outside the constructed Cu2&minus;xSe/Au nanoparticles facilitated their cellular uptake, thus reducing overdosage-induced side effects. This prepared multifunctional nanohybrid showed powerful suppression effects towards breast cancer, both in vitro and in vivo via integrating enhanced cell penetration and uptake, and combined RT/PTT strategies

Common Genetic Risk for Melanoma Encourages Preventive Behavior Change

There is currently great interest in using genetic risk estimates for common disease in personalized healthcare. Here we assess melanoma risk-related preventive behavioral change in the context of the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC). As part of on-going reporting activities within the project, participants received a personalized risk assessment including information related to their own self-reported family history of melanoma and a genetic risk variant showing a moderate effect size (1.7, 3.0 respectively for heterozygous and homozygous individuals). Participants who opted to view their report were sent an optional outcome survey assessing risk perception and behavioral change in the months that followed. Participants that report family history risk, genetic risk, or both risk factors for melanoma were significantly more likely to increase skin cancer preventive behaviors when compared to participants with neither risk factor (ORs = 2.04, 2.79, 4.06 and p-values = 0.02, 2.86 × 10−5, 4.67 × 10−5, respectively), and we found the relationship between risk information and behavior to be partially mediated by anxiety. Genomic risk assessments appear to encourage positive behavioral change in a manner that is complementary to family history risk information and therefore may represent a useful addition to standard of care for melanoma prevention