The association between body image and psychological well-being in adult women

The findings of this thesis highlighted the role of functional aspects of body image (i.e., self-rated health/ fitness) in positively shaping the well-being of young and middle-aged women. A novel finding was the strong association found between women’s body image and how well they believed they managed their life situations.

Short-term changes in quitting-related cognitions and behaviours after the implementation of plain packaging with larger health warnings : findings from a national cohort study with Australian adult smokers

ABSTRACT
Background: Plain packaging (PP) with larger graphic health warnings (GHWs) was implemented in Australia in late 2012. This study examined effects of these packaging changes on short-term changes in quitting-related cognitions and behaviours.
Methods: We used a series of cohorts of Australian adult cigarette smokers originally sourced from a nationally representative cross-sectional tracking survey, followed up approximately 1 month after their baseline interview (n(weighted)=5441). Logistic regression analyses compared changes in seven quitting-related outcomes over this 1-month follow-up period for the cohorts surveyed before PP, over the period of transition to PP, and during the first year of PP, adjusting for baseline levels of the outcome and covariates.
Results: Compared to the referent group of smokers who completed their follow-up survey pre-PP, those who were followed-up in the early transition period showed greater increases in rates of stopping themselves from smoking (OR=1.51, 95% CI (1.08 to 2.10)) and higher quit attempt rates (OR=1.43, 95% CI (1.00 to 2.03)), those followed-up in the late transition period showed greater increases in intentions to quit (OR=1.42, 95% CI (1.06 to 1.92)) and pack concealment (OR=1.55, 95% CI (1.05 to 2.31)), and those followed- up in the first year of PP showed higher levels of pack concealment (OR=1.65, 95% CI (1.01 to 2.72)), more premature stubbing out of cigarettes (OR=1.55, 95% CI (1.01 to 2.36)), and higher quit attempt rates (OR=1.52, 95% CI (1.01 to 2.30)).
Conclusions: These findings provide some of the strongest evidence to date that implementation of PP with larger GHWs was associated with increased rates of quitting cognitions, microindicators of concern and quit attempts among adult cigarette smokers.

Are quitting-related cognitions and behaviours predicted by proximal responses to plain packaging with larger health warnings? Findings from a national cohort study with Australian adult smokers

Background: Implementation of tobacco plain packaging (PP) with larger graphic health warnings (GHWs) in Australia had positive effects on responses reflecting the specific objectives of the PP policy and on follow-up quitting-related cognitions and behaviours. The aim of this study was to examine predictive relationships bewteen these proximal and distal outcomes.
Methods: A nationally representative sample of Australian adult cigarette smokers completed a baseline survey and a 1-month follow-up survey within the first year of policy implementation (n(weighted)=3215). Logistic regression analyses tested whether baseline measures of cigarette appeal, GHW effectiveness, perceived harm and concern/enjoyment predicted each of seven follow-up measures of quitted-related cognitions and behaviours, adjusting for baseline levels of the outcome and covariates.
Results: In multivariable models, we found consistent evidence that several baseline measures of GHW effectiveness positively and significantly predicted the likelihood that smokers at follow-up reported thinking about quitting at least daily, intending to quit, having a firm date to quit, stubbing out cigarettes prematurely, stopping oneself from smoking and having attempted to quit. Two of the quitting-related outcomes were also predicted by feeling more smoking-related concern than enjoyment. A smaller number of the appeal variables were prospectively associated with quitting-related outcomes, while believing that brands do not differ in harmlessness did not positively predict any outcomes.
Conclusions: These findings provide an initial insight into the pathways through which PP with larger GHWs may lead to changes in smoking behaviour. Future research should examine whether the effects are conditional on individual demographic and smoking characteristics.

Australian adult smokers' responses to plain packaging with larger graphic health warnings 1 year after implementation: results from a national cross-sectional tracking survey

Abstract
Background We assessed whether the Australian plain packs with larger graphic health warnings (GHWs) achieved three specific objectives of reducing the appeal of tobacco, increasing health warning effectiveness and reducing the ability of packaging to mislead about smoking harms.
Methods We compared responses from continuous cross-sectional telephone surveys of n=2176 cigarette smokers during pre-plain packaging (April–September 2012, pre-PP) with n=759 surveyed in the transition period (October–November 2012) and n=4240 during the first year of implementation (December 2012–November 2013, PP year 1), using multivariate logistic regression analyses.
Results From pre-PP to PP year 1, more smokers disliked their pack (p<0.001), perceived lower pack appeal (p<0.001), lower cigarette quality (p<0.001), lower satisfaction (p<0.001) and lower value (p<0.001) and disagreed brands differed in prestige (p=0.003). There was no change in perceived differences in taste of different brands. More smokers noticed GHWs (p<0.001), attributed much motivation to quit to GHWs (p<0.001), avoided specific GHWs when purchasing (p<0.001), and covered packs (p<0.001), with no change in perceived exaggeration of harms. PP year 1 saw an increased proportion believing that brands do not differ in harmfulness (p=0.004), but no change in the belief that variants do not differ in strength or the perceived harmfulness of cigarettes compared with a year ago. Interactions signified greater change for four outcomes assessing aspects of appeal among young adults and two appeal outcomes among mid-aged adults.
Conclusions The specific objectives of plain packaging were achieved and generally sustained among adult smokers up to 12 months after implementation.

International study of perceived neighbourhood environmental attributes and Body Mass Index: IPEN Adult study in 12 countries

BACKGROUND: Ecological models of health behaviour are an important conceptual framework to address the multiple correlates of obesity. Several single-country studies previously examined the relationship between the built environment and obesity in adults, but results are very diverse. An important reason for these mixed results is the limited variability in built environments in these single-country studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine associations between perceived neighbourhood built environmental attributes and BMI/weight status in a multi-country study including 12 environmentally and culturally diverse countries. METHODS: A multi-site cross-sectional study was conducted in 17 cities (study sites) across 12 countries (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and USA). Participants (n = 14222, 18-66 years) self-reported perceived neighbourhood environmental attributes. Height and weight were self-reported in eight countries, and measured in person in four countries. RESULTS: Three environmental attributes were associated with BMI or weight status in pooled data from 12 countries. Safety from traffic was the most robust correlate, suggesting that creating safe routes for walking/cycling by reducing the speed and volume of traffic might have a positive impact upon weight status/BMI across various geographical locations. Close proximity to several local destinations was associated with BMI across all countries, suggesting compact neighbourhoods with more places to walk related to lower BMI. Safety from crime showed a curvilinear relationship with BMI, with especially poor crime safety being related to higher BMI. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental interventions involving these three attributes appear to have international relevance and focusing on these might have implications for tackling overweight/obesity.

Adult education and radical habitus in an environmental campaign: learning in the coal seam gas protests in Australia

Summary: This paper examines the adult learning dimensions of protestors as they participate in a campaign to stop coal seam gas exploration in Gippsland in Central Victoria, Australia. On a global level, the imposition of coal seam gas exploration by governments and mining companies has been the trigger for movements of resistance from environmental groups. They are concerned about the impact of mining on their land, food and water supplies. In central Gippsland a group of ‘circumstantial activists’ comprised of farmers, tree changers and other local residents are campaigning against coal seam gas exploration. This unlikely coalition of environmental action groups has made effective use of a variety of community education strategies. This paper commences by outlining some of the key literature on learning and activism drawing on the education tradition of adult learning. We then draw on key concepts from Bourdieu’s writing on ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ to analyse the data from this research. We outline some of the learning practices of activists; through their involvement in this campaign, and the knowledge and skills they gain as they develop a feel for the game of protest. We argue circumstantial activists learn both formally and informally in the social environment of campaigning. Of particular interest is the role of more experienced activists from Friends of the Earth (FOE), a non-government organisation (NGO), as they pass on knowledge, experience, tactics and strategies to the novice and less experienced activists in this community campaign. We explore some of the contradictions of the protestors’ identification as activists using Bourdieu’s concepts of ‘doxa’ and ‘Ilusio’. The paper concludes by arguing learning in activism is a rich tradition of adult education and practice. However, Bourdieu’s writing on field and habitus makes an added contribution to interpreting the learning that occurs in the social space of a campaign or social movement.

Evaluating young adult voter decision-making involvement within a compulsory political system

Purpose - This study aims to specifically focus on the lower-involvement young adult voters within the Australian compulsory voting context. It explores voters’ political decision-making by considering the influence of the consumer behaviour theory of involvement. Design/methodology/approach - A thematic analysis was conducted to analyse the interviews within the two research questions: information seeking and decision-making. Findings - Key themes within information seeking are the reach of the information available, the frequency of the information presented, the creativity of the message and one-way versus two-way communication. Key themes within evaluation are promise keeping/trust, achievements or performance and policies. Lower-involvement decision-making has the potential to be a habitual, limited evaluation decision. However, issues of trust, performance and policies may encourage evaluation, thereby reducing the chances of habitually voting for the same party as before. Practical implications - This new area of research has implications for the application of marketing for organisations and political marketing theory. Considering voting decision-making as a lower-involvement decision has implications for assisting the creation and adaptation of strategies to focus on this group of the population. Originality/value - The compulsory voting environment creates a unique situation to study lower-involvement decision-making, as these young adults are less likely to opt out of the voting process. Previous research in political marketing has not specifically explored the application of involvement to young adult voting within a compulsory voting environment.

Benefits of education at the intensive margin: childhood academic performance and adult outcomes among American immigrants

Using the Children of the Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), we examine the associationbetween education at the intensive margin and twenty pecuniary and non-pecuniary adultoutcomes among first- and second-generation American immigrant youth. Education at theintensive margin is measured by two widely used standardized math and reading test scores,national percentile rankings on these tests and cumulative grade point average (GPA) in bothmiddle and high school. Our findings provide evidence that the academic achievement ofimmigrant children in early adolescence is an accurate predictor of later life outcomes. Wealso examine a novel hypothesis that relative academic performance of immigrant children inhigh school compared to middle school, which could be an indicator of change in adolescentaspirations and motivation as well as the degree of adaptation and assimilation to the hostcountry, has an effect on their adult outcomes even after controlling for the levels ofacademic performance in middle and high school. The results suggest that an improvementin GPA from middle school to high school is associated with favorable adult outcomes.Several sensitivity tests confirm the robustness of main findings.

Prosecutors’ perceptions of the utility of video-evidence for adult complainants of sexual assault

Playing an adult sexual complainant’s video-recorded police interview as the basis for his or her evidence-in-chief is a reform Australia could adopt to help improve criminal justice responses to these cases. This article presents a qualitative evaluation of prosecutor’s support for this reform and their views about what conditions would determine its utility. Focus groups were held with 13 prosecutors from across New Zealand (which already has this reform) and Australia. Collectively, prosecutors supported the availability of video-evidence for adult complainants. They perceived the utility of this reform depends on the following conditions: (1) the quality of the police interview; (2) how credibly the complainant presents on video; (3) contextual factors that influence the complainant’s ability to give live evidence; and (4) the degree of stakeholder support. These findings suggest that Australia should extend video-evidence to adult complainants of sexual assault guided by careful planning aroundthese four areas.

Influence of intrinsic variation on foraging behaviour of adult female Australian fur seals

Phenotypic variation and individual experience can create behavioural and/or dietary variation within a population. This may reduce intra-specific competition, creating a buffer to environmental change. This study examined how intrinsic variation affects foraging behaviour of Australian fur seals. Foraging movements of 29 female Australian fur seals were recorded using FastLoc GPS and dive behaviour recorders. For each individual, body mass, flipper length and axis length were recorded, a tooth was sampled to determine age, and milk was collected for diet analysis. Clustering of fatty acid dietary analysis revealed 5 distinct groups in the population. Behaviour was described using 19 indices, which were then reduced to 7 principal components (>80% of the behavioural variation). Bayesian mixed effect models were developed to describe the relationship between these components and intrinsic variation. No association was found between diet and age or body shape; however, age had a negative relationship with component 1 (27% of variation). Older females spent less time at-sea and foraged nearer to the colony. Age had an effect on component 5 (7% of variation), which represented haul-outs and dive depth; older females made fewer visits to haul-out sites and dived deeper to the benthos. This suggests that as animals age they are able to utilise prior knowledge to exploit nearby foraging sites that younger animals are either unaware of, or have yet to gain the experience required to efficiently utilise. Mass had a negative effect on components representing the directedness of a foraging trip, suggesting heavier individuals were more likely to travel directly to a foraging site.

A systematic review of the psychosocial correlates of intuitive eating among adult women

Intuitive eating has been proposed as an eating style that fosters a positive attitude towards food, the body, and physical activity. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to examine intuitive eating in relation to disordered eating, body image, emotional functioning, and other psychosocial correlates in adult women. Articles were identified through Academic Search Complete, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Health Source (Nursing and Academic Edition), Medline Complete, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PubMed and Scopus. Eligible studies were those that examined women aged 18 years and older, measured intuitive eating, and assessed a psychosocial correlate of intuitive eating. Twenty-four cross-sectional studies, published between 2006 and September 2015, met eligibility criteria. Intuitive eating was associated with less disordered eating, a more positive body image, greater emotional functioning, and a number of other psychosocial correlates that have been examined less extensively. However, given that all studies used cross-sectional designs, no conclusions regarding the direction of the relationship between intuitive eating and psychosocial correlates can be drawn. Participants in the majority of studies were university students in the United States so findings cannot be generalised to the wider population of female adults. Prospective studies are now needed to verify these cross-sectional findings, and show if intuitive eating may reduce disordered eating and body image concerns, and promote women's psychological health and well-being.

The role of a care-orientation in the teens in young adult psychosocial wellbeing

Abstract
The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a watershed period in development that carries risk for poor psychosocial adjustment. It also carries potential for positive transitions into the caregiving roles and responsibilities of adult life. Research to date has predominantly focused on adolescent predictors of problematic rather than positive transitions; yet predictors of the latter hold equal (if not greater) promise for informing health promoting interventions. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to use Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to define patterns of psychosocial adjustment and maladjustment in young adulthood (21-years of age); (2) to examine the unique role of adolescent prosocial behaviour (e.g., volunteering and civic engagement) in promoting adjustment and reducing maladjustment in young adulthood; and, (3) to examine whether protective developmental relationships are maintained after adjustment for other covariates including socio-economic background factors and personality characteristics. Data were drawn from the Victorian cohort of the International Youth Development Study (IYDS; N = 2407), a representative sample of students in Victoria, Australia. Students were assessed in Grade 9 (Mean age = 15-years) and followed up at age 21-years. LPA identified three psychosocial adjustment classes at age 21 defined as: (1) Adjusted (24.8 %); (2) Normative (63.9 %); and, (3) Maladjusted (11.3 %). Adolescent volunteering, belief in a moral order, family opportunities for prosocial behaviour, and commitment to school were associated with enhanced adjustment and reduced maladjustment in young adulthood. Findings highlight the potential benefit of interventions designed to enhance adolescent prosocial behaviours and care orientation in promoting healthy transitions into young adult life.

The longitudinal effects of adolescent volunteering on secondary school completion and adult volunteering

 This study explores the longitudinal effect of adolescent volunteering behaviour on young adult volunteering and the completion of secondary school. Utilising data from the Australian sample of the International Youth Development Study, frequency of volunteering in Grade 9 (mean age = 15 years) and in young adulthood (mean age = 21 years), and completion of secondary school were measured. Mixed effect logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescent volunteering was associated with an increased likelihood of volunteering in young adulthood (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.29; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.20–1.39; N = 2,648) and of Grade 12 completion (OR 1.14; CI 1.03–1.28; N = 2,648), after controlling for family socioeconomic status and adolescent school adjustment. These findings suggest that adolescent volunteering may lead to further involvement in young adult volunteering and have a positive effect on school completion.

Moderating effects of age, gender and education on the associations of perceived neighborhood environment attributes with accelerometer-based physical activity: the IPEN adult study

The study's purpose was to examine age, gender, and education as potential moderators of the associations of perceived neighborhood environment variables with accelerometer-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data were from 7273 adults from 16 sites (11 countries) that were part of a coordinated multi-country cross-sectional study. Age moderated the associations of perceived crime safety, and perceiving no major physical barriers to walking, with MVPA: positive associations were only found in older adults. Perceived land use mix-access was linearly (positive) associated with MVPA in men, and curvilinearly in women. Perceived crime safety was related to MVPA only in women. No moderating relationships were found for education. Overall the associations of adults' perceptions of environmental attributes with MVPA were largely independent of the socio-demographic factors examined. These findings are encouraging, suggesting that efforts to optimize the perceived built and social environment may act in a socially-equitable manner to facilitate MVPA.

Perm1 enhances mitochondrial biogenesis, oxidative capacity, and fatigue resistance in adult skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle mitochondrial content and oxidative capacity are important determinants of muscle function and whole-body health. Mitochondrial content and function are enhanced by endurance exercise and impaired in states or diseases where muscle function is compromised, such as myopathies, muscular dystrophies, neuromuscular diseases, and age-related muscle atrophy. Hence, elucidating the mechanisms that control muscle mitochondrial content and oxidative function can provide new insights into states and diseases that affect muscle health. In past studies, we identified Perm1 (PPARGC1- and ESRR-induced regulator, muscle 1) as a gene induced by endurance exercise in skeletal muscle, and regulating mitochondrial oxidative function in cultured myotubes. The capacity of Perm1 to regulate muscle mitochondrial content and function in vivo is not yet known. In this study, we use adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors to increase Perm1 expression in skeletal muscles of 4-wk-old mice. Compared to control vector, AAV1-Perm1 leads to significant increases in mitochondrial content and oxidative capacity (by 40-80%). Moreover, AAV1-Perm1-transduced muscles show increased capillary density and resistance to fatigue (by 33 and 31%, respectively), without prominent changes in fiber-type composition. These findings suggest that Perm1 selectively regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative function, and implicate Perm1 in muscle adaptations that also occur in response to endurance exercise.-Cho, Y., Hazen, B. C., Gandra, P. G., Ward, S. R., Schenk, S., Russell, A. P., Kralli, A. Perm1 enhances mitochondrial biogenesis, oxidative capacity, and fatigue resistance in adult skeletal muscle.