The effectiveness of a health versus appearance message on pregnant women's intentions to exercise postpartum : the moderating role of self-monitoring

Despite the confimied health benefits of exercise during the postpartum period, many new mothers are not sufficiently active. The present research aimed to examine the effectiveness of 2 types of messages on intention to exercise after giving birth on 2 groups of pregnant women (low and high self-monitors) using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a theoretical basis. Participants were 2 1 8 pregnant women 1 8 years of age and older (Mean age = 27.9 years, SD = 5.47), and in their second or third trimester. Women completed a demographics questionnaire, a self-monitoring (SM) scale and the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire for current and pre-pregnancy exercise levels. They then read one of two brochures, describing either the health or appearance benefits of exercise for postpartum women. Women's attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions to exercise postpartum were then assessed to determine whether one type of message (health or appearance) was more effective for each group. A MANOVA found no significant effect (p>0.05) for message type, SM, or their interaction. Possible reasons include the fact that the two messages may have been too similar, reading any message about exercise may result in intentions to exercise, or lack of attention given to the brochure. Given the lack of research in this area, more studies are necessary to confirm the present results. Two additional exploratory analyses were conducted. Pearson correlations found higher levels of pre-pregnancy exercise and current exercise to be associated with more positive attitudes, more positive subjective norms, higher perceived behavioral control, and higher intention to exercise postpartum. A hierarchical regression was conducted to determine the predictive utility of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on intention for each self-monitoring group. Results of the analysis demonstrated the three independent variables significantly predicted intention (p < .001) in both groups, accounting for 58-62% of the variance in intention. For low self-monitors, attitude was the strongest predictor of intention, followed by perceived behavioral control and subjective norm. For high self-monitors, perceived behavioral control was the strongest predictors, followed by attitudes and subjective norm. The present study has practical and real world implications by contributing to our understanding of what types of messages, in a brochure format, are most effective in changing pregnant women's attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and intention to exercise postpartum and provides ftirther support for the use of the Theory of Planned Behavior with this population.

Exploring the impact of a hands-on intervention on grade 7 girls and their feelings about self, mathematics, science, technology and related careers

Forty-five 12- and 13-year-old females attending Grade 7 in North York, Ontario were randomly selected from a group of 100 females who had volunteered to participate in a oneday hands-on workshop called It's Your Choice at Seneca College. The goals of this intervention were to broaden the career horizons of these students and to help them realize the need to continue mathematics and science through high school in order to keep occupational options unlimited. The young women were given a pre- and post-attitude survey to provide background information. In the month following participation in the workshop the students were interviewed in small groups (S students per group) to discover their perceptions of the impact of the workshop. The interviews revealed that participants felt that after the workshop their feelings of self-confidence increased, specifically with respect to working with their hands. Participants felt more aware of the usefulness and importance of the study of mathematics, science and technology, They also felt that It's Your Choice increased their interest in careers in these domains and helped them to see that these careers are viable choices for females. The interviews also revealed that many of the participants felt that in this society their roles and their choices were influenced and probably limited by the fact that they are female.

The effect of literacy training on the self-concept of moderately mentally handicapped adults

In this single group, pretest/posttest design study the literacy level and self-concept of nine moderately mentally handicapped adults was assessed. The participants in the study were involved in reading lessons using the Ball-Stick-Bird reading system, a brainbased program. No significant differences were found in either literacy level or reading level after intervention. However, there were changes in reading behaviour. These changes occurred in the subskills ofdirectionality, letter-sound correspondence, wordreading, and use of reading materials.

The effect of schooling on student self-concept /|nRonald S. Cowley. -- 260 St. Catharines [Ont. : s. n.],

The following research paper was a study into change in student academic and general self-concept with increase in grade level and age# The majority of literature found by this researcher dealt with self-concept and its relationship to achievement and interactions with others, Review, then, was in these two areas-particularily within the academic setting, but outside of it as well. It wrs hypothesized that there would be a decrease in both academic and general student self-concept with increase in grade level and age. Self-Appraisal inventories, measuring general and academic selfconcept, and Inferential Self-Reports, measuring only academic selfconcept, were the instruments used* Subjects were students, Trade 1 to 13, and ranging in age from 5 to 21„ Although al] Self-Appraisal inventories and all Self-1?eports were very similar, they differed according to three Grade levels: Primary (Grades 1 to 3)> Intermediate (Grades L to 8), and Secondary (Grades 9 to 13) • Students in the Primary division received only their respective Self-Appraisal inventory, while others v/ere administered both inventories designed for their grade level. Scores on the inventories were computed to percents and then mean percents were arrived at for epch grade, each of the three grade levels, each age, and each of three age intervals. In all of these instances Spearman1 s rank order coefficients (!lpff) were calculated and significance, at the *05 level, was determined by referring to a table of critical values for one-tailed tests* Similarily fftff scores were computed, but only for individual grades and ages, and significance was determined at the *0b level* In only one instance, the General Dimension for individual grades, was significance of overall decrease found* Consequently the hypotheses put forth did not gain support* The fltff scores, however, revealed some isolated significant changes for the Academic Dimension, which were generally decreases in mean percents from the last grade of one level to the first grade of the next* For age mean percents, significant changes generally took place at early (5 or 6) and late (20 or 21) ages* A number of reasons for the results were presented and were generally based upon the studentfs encounters, or lack of encounters, with achievement or success* No definite conclusions, relevant to the hypotheses stated^ could be made, although a number of isolated ones were drawn on the basis of significant fltff scores* As well, mention was made of the possible trends or tendencies that were revealed by the results, but that could not, or were not, proven significant by "t's11 or "p's"* Teaching methods stressing improvement in academic, as well as socially related, situations, were recommended and a model teaching approach was presented in Appendix B#

The effect of social skills training on grade 3 students' self-esteem, moral development and perceptions of classroom environment

Two Grade 3 classes were used to study the effects of a formal social skills training program. Specifically, comparisons were made on self-esteem, classroom environment, and moral development to see whether changes occurred as a direct result of social skills training. One group participated in the social skills program, while the other group did not. It was hypothesized that formal social skills training would improve students' selfesteem, moral development, and the classroom environment. At the end of the program, however, data from class observations, teacher interviews, journal of the social skills training group teacher, and measures of self-esteem, classroom environment and moral development did not support this hypothesis. Although the social skills training group scored significantly higher in class cohesiveness, they did not show marked improvement in the other measures. In fact, in some measures (e.g., friction and competitiveness), they demonstrated greater scores at both pretest and posttests. The social skills training group was, however, able to vocalize and utilize the strategies of several skills which had been a focus of the program, suggesting that formal social skills training is a useful tool for presenting and reinforcing some specific behaviours.

The effects of cultural conditions and parasitism on the lipid composition of choanephora cucubitarum (Berk. Rav.) thaxter /|nJohn M. Deven. -- 260 St. Catharines [Ont. : s. n.],

The fatty acid composition of the total, neutral, sterol, free fatty acid and polar-lipid fractions in the mycelium of Choanephora cucurbitarum was determined. The major fatty acids in all lipid fractions were palmitic, oleic, linoleic and y-linolenic acid. Different lipid fractions did not show any particular preference for any individual fatty acid; however, the degree of unsaturation was different in various lipid fractions. Addition of glutamic acid to the malt-yeast extract medium resulted in the biosynthesis of a number of long-chain fatty acids beyond y-linolenic acid. These fatty acids, e.g. C22~1' C24:0 and C26=Q were never observed to be present in the fungus when grown on a malt-yeast extract medium without glutamic acid. Furthermore, thin-layer chromatographic analysis showed a larger and denser spot of diphosphatidyl glycerol from the mycelium grown on the glutamic acid medium than from the control mycelium. Various cultural conditions such as temperature, age, pH, light and carbon:nitrogen ratio in the growth medium used in this study did not alter the qualitative profile of fatty acids normally present in the organism. Neither did these conditions stimulate the production of further long-chain fatty acids (C20 - C26) beyond y-linolenic acid as observed in growth media containing glutamic acid. These cultural conditions influenced the degree of unsaturation, this being due mainly to changes in the concentration of y-linolenic acid. The fatty acid pattern of the lipid fractions though the same qualitatively, differed quantitatively due to the variation in the y-linolenic acid content under different cultural conditions. The degree of unsaturation of various lipid fractions decreased with increases in temperature, light intensity and pH, but within each treatment the same pattern of decreasing degree of unsaturation with increasing age was observed. The cultural conditions, used in this study, are also known to influence the degree and rate of development of the parasite, Piptocephalis virginiana. A direct correlation was observed between the levels of y-linolenic acid in C. cucurbitarum during the early stages of growth (24 h) and the degree of parasitism of P. virginiana. The amount of y-linolenic acid present in the host mycelium was found to be unrelated to either the dry weight of the mycelium or to the total lipid contents. K. virginiana is confined to host species which produce y-linolenic acid in their mycelium. The lipid profile of the host, C. cucurbitarum, did not show a significant qualitative or quantitative change in the lipid profile as a result of infection by the parasite, P. virginiana,e However, an increase in the total lipid was observed in the infected host mycelium. The significance of these results is discussed.

The impact of education on the use of breat self- examination among Canadian women

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the level of education that Canadian women have and their use of breast self-examination (BSE). The secondary objective of this study was to do some exploratory research to measure how the demographic characteristics of these women, and the behaviours that they chose to participate in, might be associated to their use of BSE. This exploratory research was done to gain a better understanding of what kinds of lifestyle and behavioural factors are associated with the use of BSE, and how these factors impact on the relationship that education has on women's use of BSE. The data for the women in the sample were taken from the 1990 Population Health Survey, conducted by Statistics Canada. This survey included questions related to both the demographic characteristics of this population, and their behavioural choices in regards to various healthy lifestyle factors. Education was found to be significantly related to the use of BSE. Many of the demographic variables (age, income, marital status and language) were also found to be significantly related to the use of BSE. The behavioural variables (tobacco use, alcohol use) did not reflect such a strong relationship.

The effects of gramicidin on the structure of phospholipid assemblies /

Gramicidin is an antibiotic peptide that can be incorporated into the monolayers of cell membranes. Dimerization through hydrogen bonding between gramicidin monomers in opposing leaflets of the membrane results in the formation of an iontophoretic channel. Surrounding phospholipids, with various associated mechanical properties, have been shown to influence the gating properties of this channel. Conversely, gramicidin incorporation has been shown to affect the structure of spontaneously formed lipid assemblies. Using small-angle x-ray diffraction and model systems composed of phospholipids and gramicidin, the physical effects incurred by gramicidin incorporation were measured. The reverse hexagonal (H^) phase composed of dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) monolayers decreased in lattice dimension with increasing incorporation of gramicidin. This indicated that gramicidin was adding negative curvature to the monolayers. In this system, gramicidin was measured to have an apparent intrinsic radius of curvature (Rop*™") of -7. 1 A. The addition of up to 4 mol% gramicidin in mixtures with DOPE did not result in the monolayers becoming stiffer, as indicated by unaltered bending moduli for each composition. Dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) alone forms the lamellar (LJ phase when hydrated, but undergoes a transition into the H^ phase when mixed with gramicidin. The lattice repeat dimension decreases systematically with increased gramicidin content. Again, this indicated that gramicidin was adding negative curvature to the monolayers. At 12 mol% gramicidin in mixtures with DOPC, the apparent radius of intrinsic curvature of gramicidin (Rop*"^) was measured to be -7.4 A. This mixture formed monolayers that were very resistant to bending under osmotic pressure, with a measured bending modulus of 1 15 kT. The measurements made in this study demonstrate that peptides are able to modulate the spontaneous curvature and other mechanical properties of phospholipid assemblies.

The effect of lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA) on α-tocopherol transfer protein (α-TTP) binding to lipid membranes

The a-tocopherol transfer protein (a-TTP) is responsible for the retention of the atocopherol form of vitamin E in living organisms. The detailed ligand transfer mechanism by a-TTP is still yet to be fully elucidated. To date, studies show that a-TTP transfers a-tocopherol from late endosomes in liver cells to the plasma membrane where it is repackaged into very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and released into the circulation. Late endosomes have been shown to contain a lipid known as lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBP A) that is unique to this cellular compartment. LBPA plays a role in intracellular trafficking and controlling membrane curvature. Taking these observations into account plus the fact that certain proteins are recruited to membranes based on membrane curvature, the specific aim of this project was to examine the effect of LBP A on a-TTP binding to lipid membranes. To achieve this objective, dual polarization interferometry (DPI) and a vesicle binding assay were employed. Whilst DPI allows protein binding affinity to be measured on a flat lipid surface, the vesicle binding assay determines protein binding affinity to lipid vesicles mimicking curved membranes. DPI analysis revealed that the amount of a-TTP bound to lipid membranes is higher when LBPA is present. Using the vesicle binding assay, a similar result was seen where a greater amount of protein is bound to large unilamellar vesicles (LUV s) containing LBP A. However, the effect of LBP A was attenuated when small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) were replaced with LUVs. The outcome of this project suggests that aTTP binding to membranes is influenced by membrane curvature, which in turn is induced by the presence of LBP A.

The effects of a general excercise program on task self-efficacy and social physique anxiety in older adults

Older adults represent the most sedentary segment of the adult population, and thus it is critical to investigate factors that influence exercise behaviour for this age group. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a general exercise program, incorporating cardiovascular, strength, flexibility, and balance components, on task selfefficacy and SPA in older adult men and women. Participants (n=114, Mage = 67 years) were recruited from the Niagara region and randomly assigned to a 12-week supervised exercise program or a wait-list control. Task self-efficacy and SPA measures were taken at baseline and program end. The present study found that task self-efficacy was a significant predictor of leisure time physical activity for older adults. In addition, change in task self-efficacy was a significant predictor of change in SPA. The findings of this study suggest that sources of task self-efficacy should be considered for exercise interventions targeting older adults.

The Effect of Trainer Muscularity and Expertise on Self-Presentational Concerns, Body Image, and Performance in College Men during One-Repetition Maximum Testing

This study attempted to manipulate self-presentational efficacy to examine the effect on social anxiety, social physique anxiety, drive for muscularity, and maximal strength performance during a one-repetition maximum (1-RM) chest press and leg press test. Ninety-nine college men with a minimum of six months of previous weight training experience were randomly assigned to complete a 1-RM protocol with either a muscular male trainer described as an expert or a lean male trainer described as a novice. Participants completed measures of self-presentation and body image prior to meeting their respective trainer, and following the completion of the 1-RM tests. Although the self-presentational efficacy manipulation was not successful, the trainers were perceived significantly differently on musculature and expertise. The group with the muscular, expert trainer reported higher social anxiety and attained higher 1-RM scores for the chest and leg press. Thus, trainer characteristics can affect strength performance and self-presentational concerns in this population.

Exploring the Influence of Female Friendships on Decisions to Discuss the Breast Self-Exam in Young Adult Women

The breast self-exam (BSE) has been an important method for detection of breast cancer, especially in women under the age of 40. This study used grounded theory to explore the possible influence of female friendships on young women’s decisions regarding BSE. Conversations with six women in their 20s and 30s revealed that discussion of BSE is an exceptional conversation facilitated by the female friendship “safe zone” and a germinal event. Without being prompted by a germinal event, such as a health scare, it is generally considered to be an unnecessary conversation about private matters and viewed as out of the ordinary, especially for low-risk women. This conversation most easily occurs within the female friendship “safe zone” that develops through the body in common, a sense of trust, and private information sharing. Implications include peer mentoring for sharing and educating women and healthcare professionals on conditions that facilitate the exceptional conversation.

Can a Manipulated Mind Alter Matter? : The Effects of Verbal Feedback on Self-Efficacy, Exercise Intention, and Exercise Behaviour among Low-Active College-Aged Women

Self-efficacy (SE), a person’s confidence in the ability to perform a task, is an important predictor of the adoption and maintenance of physical activity. The present study examined the effects of SE manipulated through verbal persuasion on exercise intentions and behaviour during a 4-week follow-up period and investigated the role of social physique anxiety (SPA) as a moderator. Female college infrequent exercisers (n = 66) were randomly assigned into one of three groups (high-efficacy [HE], low-efficacy [LE], or control) and asked to complete several questionnaires at baseline. The HE and LE groups were provided with positive and negative exercise adherence feedback, respectively. The HE group reported higher SE from pre- to post-feedback. Both the HE and LE groups reported increases in exercise behaviour at the 4-week follow-up. Pre- to post-feedback changes in SE, exercise intention, and exercise behaviour did not depend on level of SPA reported.

The Hidden Truths of Self-Presentation, Self-Disclosure, and Deception on Online Dating Profiles: A Call for Change

The way in which individuals seek romantic partners has changed considerably in the past decades, most notably through online dating sites (ODSs). Despite the possibility of misrepresentation amongst client users, such sites continue to grow in popularity because ODSs provide a large pool from which individuals can select and attract potential partners. While much research has been undertaken on ODSs, little empirical research has examined postsecondary students’ use of ODSs. Therefore, this study sought to investigate why postsecondary students have become involved with and how they present themselves on ODSs. The researcher surveyed 20 postsecondary students and conducted in-depth interviews with 2 participants who use ODSs. Although the limited sample prevented results from being generalized, quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest that participants became involved with ODSs for various purposes, such as seeking long-term relationships and/or marriage partners, or simply exploring or visiting ODSs out of curiosity. Findings indicate that ODS users’ physical appearance and/or “attractiveness” is considered the strongest predictor of relationship success. The study discusses how participants’ self-presentation affects outcomes of ODS usage, particularly when negative self-identification and presentation corresponding to factors such as individuals’ weight and age are taken into account.