Impact of a cognitive-behavioral weight control program on body weight, diet quality, and smoking cessation in weight-concerned female smokers

Many people use smoking as a weight control mechanism and do not want to quit because they fear weight gain. These weight-concerned smokers tend to be female, are significantly less likely to stop smoking, are less likely to join smoking cessation programs, and will relapse more often than smokers who are not weight-concerned. Research suggests that a woman’s confidence in her ability to control her weight after quitting relates positively with her intention to quit smoking. Likewise, success in smoking cessation has been associated with increased self-efficacy for weight control. It has been shown that success in changing one negative health behavior may trigger success in changing another, causing a synergistic effect. Recently research has focused on interventions for weight-concerned smokers who are ready to quit smoking. The present study investigated the effect of a cognitive based weight control program on self-efficacy for weight control and the effect on smoking behavior for a group of female weight concerned smokers. Two hundred and sixteen subjects who wanted to lose weight but who were not ready to quit smoking were recruited to participate in a 12-week, cognitive-behavioral weight control program consisting of twelve one-hour sessions. Subjects were randomly assigned to either (1) the weight-control program (intervention group), or (2) the control group. Results of this study demonstrated that subjects in the intervention group increased self-efficacy for weight control, which was associated with improved healthy eating index scores, weight loss, increased self-efficacy for quitting smoking, a decrease in number of cigarettes smoked and triggered positive movement in stage of change towards smoking cessation compared to the control subjects. For these subjects, positive changes in self-efficacy for one behavior (weight control) appeared to have a positive effect on their readiness to change another health behavior (smoking cessation). Further study of the psychological variables that influence weight-concerned female smokers’ decisions to initiate changes in these behaviors and their ability to maintain those changes are warranted.

A longitudinal study of Project Trio: A dropout prevention program in a large urban environment

The subject of dropout prevention/reduction is deservedly receiving attention as a problem that, if not resolved, could threaten our national future.^ This study investigates a small segment of the overall dropout problem, which has apparently unique features of program design and population selection. The evidence presented here should add to the knowledge bank of this complicated problem.^ Project Trio was one of a number of dropout prevention programs and activities which were conducted in Dade County school years 1984-85 and 1985-86, and it is here investigated longitudinally through the end of the 1987-88 school year. It involved 17 junior and senior high schools, and 27 programs, 10 the first year and 17 the second, with over 1,000 total students, who had been selected by the schools from a list of the "at risk" students provided by the district, and were divided approximately evenly into the classical research design of an experimental group and the control group, which following standard procedure was to take the regular school curriculum. No school had more than 25 students in either group.^ Each school modified the basic design of the project to accommodate the individual school characteristics and the perceived needs of their students; however all schools projects were to include some form of academic enhancement, counseling and career awareness study.^ The conclusion of this study was that the control group had a significantly lower dropout rate than the experimental group. Though impossible to make a certain determination of the reasons for this unexpected result, it appears from evidence presented that one cause may have been inadequate administration at the local level.^ This study was also a longitudinal investigation of the "at risk" population as a whole for the three and four year period, to determine if academic factors were present in records may be used to identify dropout proneness.^ A significant correlation was found between dropping out and various measures including scores on the Quality of School Life Instrument, attendance, grade point averages, mathematics grades, and overage in grade, important identifiers in selection for dropout prevention programs. ^

The use of treatment theories and procedures for postural control in adult with hemiplegia: A national survey

This study investigated the use of treatment theories and procedures for postural control training used by Occupational Therapists (OTs) when working with hemiplegic adults who have had cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or traumatic brain injury (TBI). The method of data collection was a national survey of 400 randomly selected physical disability OTs with 127 usable surveys returned. Results showed that the most common used treatment theory was neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT), followed by motor relearning program (MRP), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), Brunnstrom's approach, and the approach of Rood. The most common treatment posture used was sitting, followed by standing, mat activity, equilibrium reaction training, and walking. The factors affecting the use of various treatment theories procedures were years certified, years of clinical experience, work situation and work status. Pearson correlation coefficient analyses found significant positive relationships between treatment theories and postures. There were significant high correlations between usage of all pairs of treatment procedures. ^

The impact of parent participation in a hospital-based kangaroo care program on time spent with their preterm infant in the neonatal intensive care unit

Occupational therapists and other health professionals are faced with the challenge of helping parents cope with the birth of their preterm infant and fostering parent-infant bonding and attachment. Kangaroo care, or skin to skin contact, has the potential to minimize the delay in the parent-infant attachment process and facilitate more normal infant growth and development. The present study investigated the impact of parent participation in a hospital-based kangaroo care program on time spent with their preterm infant in the NICU. Fourteen parents with preterm infants in the NICU participated in the study. The results indicated that parents who participated in the kangaroo care program spent significantly more time with their infant than the parents who did not participate in the program (p $<$.022). In addition, parents in the kangaroo care group visited their infant more frequently than the control group (p $<$.037). However, the mean time with baby per day did not show a significant difference between the groups (p $<$.194). This information may assist occupational therapists in developing family-centered early intervention programs beginning in the NICU. ^

Making Life Choices Program: A psychoeducational intervention for promoting critical cognitive and affective competencies in adolescents at-risk for problem behaviors

The long term goal of the work described is to contribute to the emerging literature of prevention science in general, and to school-based psychoeducational interventions in particular. The psychoeducational intervention reported in this study used a main effects prevention intervention model. The current study focused on promoting optimal cognitive and affective functioning. The goal of this intervention was to increase potential protective factors such as critical cognitive and communicative competencies (e.g., critical problem solving and decision making) and affective competencies (e.g., personal control and responsibility) in middle adolescents who have been identified by the school system as being at-risk for problem behaviors. The current psychoeducational intervention draws on an ongoing program of theory and research (Berman, Berman, Cass Lorente, Ferrer Wreder, Arrufat, & Kurtines 1996; Ferrer Wreder, 1996; Kurtines, Berman, Ittel, & Williamson, 1995) and extends it to include Freire's (1970) concept of transformative pedagogy in developing school-based psychoeducational programs that target troubled adolescents. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated trends that were generally encouraging with respect to the effects of the intervention on increasing critical cognitive and affective competencies. ^

A worksite nutrition education program increased firefighters' knowledge and resulted in healthier attitudes toward fad diets

The effectiveness of a worksite nutrition education program to improve firefighters' knowledge and weight management strategies was evaluated. One hundred fifty Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers recruited for the study were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. The intervention group attended four 30-minute worksite nutrition education sessions. A nutrition knowledge test completed by both groups before and after the intervention showed no significant differences between groups for pre-intervention nutrition knowledge. The post-intervention increase in nutrition knowledge was significantly greater (p < 0.001) for the intervention group (16.8% ± 8.2) compared to the control group (4% ± 8.9). No significant pre-intervention difference was found between the groups' predilection toward a ketogenic diet. A statistically significant (p < 0.01) reduction was seen in the intervention group's willingness (0.57 ± 1.06) to use this diet compared to the control group (0.02 ± 0.99). Results indicate that worksite nutrition education can improve firefighters' knowledge and weight reduction strategies. ^

Ecological genetics of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae): Population variation in Florida and its influence on performance of the biological control agent Oxyops vitiosa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) Blake (Myrtaceae) was imported into Florida from Australia over a century ago as a landscape plant. A favorable climate and periodic wildfires helped M. quinquenervia thrive; it now occupies about 200,000 hectares in southern Florida. A biological control (i.e., biocontrol) program against M. quinquenervia has been initiated, but not all biocontrol releases are successful. Some scientists have argued that poor biocontrol agent success may relate to genetic differences among populations of invasive weeds. I tested this premise by determining (1) the number and origins of M. quinquenervia introductions into Florida, (2) whether multiple introduction events resulted in the partitioning of Florida's M. quinquenervia populations into discrete biotypes, and (3) whether Oxyops vitiosa, an Australia snout beetle imported to control this weed, might discriminate among putative M. quinquenervia biotypes. Careful scrutiny of early horticultural catalogs and USDA plant introduction records suggested at least six distinct introduction events. Allozyme analyses indicated that the pattern of these introductions, and the subsequent redistribution of progeny, has resulted in geographic structuring of the populations in southern Florida. For example, trees on Florida's Gulf Coast had a greater effective number of alleles and exhibited greater heterozygosity than trees on the Atlantic Coast. Essential oil yields from M. quinquenervia leaves followed a similar trend; Gulf Coast trees yielded nearly twice as much oil as Atlantic Coast trees when both were grown in a common garden. These differences were partially explained by the predominance of a chemical phenotype (chemotype) very rich in the sesquiterpene (E)-nerolidol in M. quinquenervia trees from the Gulf Coast, but rich in a mixture of the monoterpene 1,8-cineole and the sesquiterpene viridiflorol in trees from the Atlantic Coast. Performance of O. vitiosa differed dramatically in laboratory studies depending on the chemotype of the foliage they were fed. Larval survivorship was four-fold greater on the (E)-nerolidol chemotype. Growth was also greater, with adult O. vitiosa gaining nearly 50% more biomass on the (E)-nerolidol plants than on the second chemotype. The results of this study thus confirmed the premise that plant genotype can affect the population dynamics of insects released as weed biocontrols. ^

The impact of a family home-learning program on levels of parental/caregiver efficacy

This study sought to determine if participation in a home education learning program would impact the perceived levels of parental self-efficacy of parents/caregivers who participate in the completion of home-learning assignments and increase their levels of home-learning involvement practices. Also, the study examined the relationship between the parental involvement practice of completing interactive home-learning assignments and the reading comprehension achievement of first grade students. A total of 146 students and their parents/caregivers representing a convenience sample of eight first grade classes participated in the study. Four classes (n=74) were selected as the experimental group and four classes (n=72) served as the control group. There were 72 girls in the sample and 74 boys and the median age was 6 years 6 months. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design utilizing eight existing first grade classes. It examined the effects of a home-learning support intervention program on the perceived efficacy levels of the participating parents/caregivers, as measured by the Parent Perceptions of Parent Efficacy Scale (Hoover-Dempsey, Bassler, & Brissie, 1992) administered on a pre/post basis. The amount and type of parent involvement in the completion of home assignments was determined by means of a locally developed instrument, the H.E.L.P. Parent Involvement Home-learning Scale, administered on a pre/post basis. Student achievement in reading comprehension was measured via the reading subtest of the Brigance, CIB-S pre and post. The elementary students and their parents/caregivers participated in an interactive home-learning intervention program for 12 weeks that required parent/caregiver assistance. Results revealed the experimental group of parents/caregivers had a significant increase in their levels of perceived self-efficacy, p<.001, from the pre to post, and also had significantly increased levels of parental involvement in seven home-learning activities, p<.001, than the control group parents/caregivers. The experimental group students demonstrated significantly higher reading levels than the control group students, p<.001. This study provided evidence that interactive home-learning activities improved the levels of parental self-efficacy and parental involvement in home-learning activities, and improved the reading comprehension of the experimental group in comparison to the control.

A synthesis of long-term research by the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program

This paper synthesizes research conducted during the first 5–6 years of the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research Program (FCE LTER). My objectives are to review our research to date, and to present a new central theme and conceptual approach for future research. Our research has focused on understanding how dissolved organic matter (DOM) from upstream oligotrophic marshes interacted with a marine source of the limiting nutrient, phosphorus (P), to control productivity in the oligohaline estuarine ecotone. We have been working along freshwater to marine transects in two drainage basins located in Everglades National Park (ENP). The Shark River Slough transect (SRS) has a direct connection to the Gulf of Mexico, providing this estuarine ecotone with a source of marine P. The oligohaline ecotone along our southern Everglades transect (TS/Ph), however, is separated from this marine P source by the Florida Bay estuary. We originally hypothesized an ecosystem productivity peak in the SRS ecotone, driven by the interaction of marine P and Everglades DOM, but no such productivity peak in the TS/Ph ecotone because of this lack of marine P. Our research to date has tended to show the opposite pattern, however, with many ecosystem components showing enhanced productivity in the TS/Ph ecotone, but not in the SRS ecotone. Water column P concentrations followed a similar pattern, with unexpectedly high P in the TS/Ph ecotone during the dry season. Our organic geochemical research has shown that Everglades DOM is more refractory than originally hypothesized. We have also begun to understand the importance of detrital organic matter production and transport to ecotone dynamics and as the base of aquatic food webs. Our future research will build on this substantial body of knowledge about these oligotrophic estuaries. We will direct our efforts more strongly on biophysical dynamics in the oligohaline ecotone regions. Specifically, we will be focusing on inputs to these regions from four primary water sources: freshwater Everglades runoff, net precipitation, marine inputs, and groundwater. We are hypothesizing that dry season groundwater inputs of P will be particularly important to TS/Ph ecotone dynamics because of longer water residence times in this area. Our organic geochemical, biogeochemical, and ecosystem energetics work will focus more strongly on the importance of detrital organics and will take advantage of a key Everglades Restoration project, scheduled for 2008 or 2009, that will increase freshwater inputs to our SRS transect only. Finally, we will also begin to investigate the human dimensions of restoration, and of a growing population in south Florida that will become increasingly dependent on the Everglades for critical ecosystem services (including fresh water) even as its growth presents challenges to Everglades sustainability.

S12C water control structure near SRS-1a, Shark River Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Aerial photo of SRS-1a, the S12c water control structure, and the surrounding area, Shark River Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Aerial photo of SRS-1a, the S12c water control structure, and the surrounding area, Shark River Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Aerial photo of SRS-1a, the S12c water control structure, and the surrounding area, Shark River Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Aerial photo of SRS-1a, the S12c water control structure, and the surrounding area, Shark River Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Invasive exotic plant indicators for ecosystem restoration: An example from the Everglades restoration program

We have developed a comprehensive ecological indicator for invasive exotic plants, a human-influenced component of the Everglades that could threaten the success of the restoration initiative. Following development of a conceptual ecological model for invasive exotic species, presented as a companion paper in this special issue, we developed criteria to evaluate existing invasive exotic monitoring programs for use in developing invasive exotic performance measures. We then used data from the selected monitoring programs to define specific performance measures, using species presence and abundance as the basis of the indicator for invasive exotic plants. We then developed a series of questions used to evaluate region and/or individual species status with respect to invasion. Finally, we used an expert panel who had answered the questions for invasive exotic plants in the Everglades Lake Okeechobee model to develop a stoplight restoration report card to communicate invasive exotic plant status. The report card system provides a way to effectively evaluate and present indicator data to managers, policy makers, and the public using a uniform format among indicators. Collectively, the model, monitoring assessment, performance measures, and report card enable us to evaluate how invasive plants are impacting the restoration program and how effectively that impact is being managed. Applied through time, our approach also allows us to follow the progress of management actions to control the spread and reduce the impacts of invasive species and can be easily applied and adapted to other large-scale ecosystem projects.