Carol Koprowski

Perceived stress, depression and food consumption frequency in the college students of China seven cities

The aim of the study was to explore the association between perceived stress, depression and food consumption frequency. A self-administered questionnaire that included the perceived stress scale, the depression scale and dietary intake was used in the baseline survey of a cohort study of 2579 local college students over 7 cities in China. Gender and city differences were found in perceived stress scores and depression scores. There were also significant differences among diverse smoking levels and among perceived weight categories in perceived stress and depression scores. Stepwise logistic regression models found that frequency of consumption of fresh fruit, ready-to-eat food and snack food had apparently independent effects on perceived stress, whereas the intake level of fresh fruit, ready-to-eat food and fast food was significantly associated with depression. The link between food consumption frequency, perceived stress and depression suggests that diet intervention may be considered a mediate strategy integrated in psychology prevention program among normal population of the college.

Sweetened Drink and Snacking Cues in Adolescents: A Study Using Ecological Momentary Assessment

The objective of this study was to identify physical, social, and intrapersonal cues that were associated with the consumption of sweetened beverages and sweet and salty snacks among adolescents from lower SES neighborhoods. Students were recruited from high schools with a minimum level of 25% free or reduced cost lunches. Using ecological momentary assessment, participants (N=158) were trained to answer brief questionnaires on handheld PDA devices: (a) each time they ate or drank, (b) when prompted randomly, and (c) once each evening. Data were collected over 7days for each participant. Participants reported their location (e.g., school grounds, home), mood, social environment, activities (e.g., watching TV, texting), cravings, food cues (e.g., saw a snack), and food choices. Results showed that having unhealthy snacks or sweet drinks among adolescents was associated with being at school, being with friends, feeling lonely or bored, craving a drink or snack, and being exposed to food cues. Surprisingly, sweet drink consumption was associated with exercising. Watching TV was associated with consuming sweet snacks but not with salty snacks or sweet drinks. These findings identify important environmental and intrapersonal cues to poor snacking choices that may be applied to interventions designed to disrupt these food-related, cue-behavior linked habits.

Investigating within-day and longitudinal effects of maternal stress on children's physical activity, dietary intake, and body composition: Protocol for the MATCH study

Parental stress is an understudied factor that may compromise parenting practices related to childrens dietary intake, physical activity, and obesity. However, studies examining these associations have been subject to methodological limitations, including cross-sectional designs, retrospective measures, a lack of stress biomarkers, and the tendency to overlook momentary etiologic processes occurring within each day. This paper describes the recruitment, data collection, and data analytic protocols for the MATCH (Mothers And Their Childrens Health) study, a longitudinal investigation using novel real-time data capture strategies to examine within-day associations of maternal stress with childrens physical activity and dietary intake, and how these effects contribute to childrens obesity risk. In the MATCH study, 200 mothers and their 8 to 12 year-old children are participating in 6 semi-annual assessment waves across 3 years. At each wave, measures for mother-child dyads include: (a) real-time Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) of self-reported daily psychosocial stressors (e.g., work at a job, family demands), feeling stressed, perceived stress, parenting practices, dietary intake, and physical activity with time and location stamps; (b) diurnal salivary cortisol patterns, accelerometer-monitored physical activity, and 24-hour dietary recalls; (c) retrospective questionnaires of sociodemographic, cultural, family, and neighborhood covariates; and (d) height, weight, and waist circumference. Putative within-day and longitudinal effects of maternal stress on childrens dietary intake, physical activity, and body composition will be tested through multilevel modeling and latent growth curve models, respectively. The results will inform interventions that help mothers reduce the negative effects of stress on weight-related parenting practices and childrens obesity risk.

Psychological distress and treatment adherence among children on dialysis

Abstract. Among 23 pediatric renal dialysis patients, we obtained self-reported assessments of psychological adjustment and biochemical and subjective ratings of adherence. Findings indicate elevated levels of depressive symptoms and substantial nonadherence. Depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of hopelessness, more negative self-perceptions, and more depressogenic attributional style. The psychological adjustment measures did not significantly correlate with adherence. Nonsignificant associations among different measures of adherence underscore its multifaceted nature. Implications for monitoring the adjustment of children on dialysis, assessing adherence, and future research are discussed.

Association between Alcohol Intake and Serum Sex Hormones and Peptides Differs by Tamoxifen Use in Breast Cancer Survivors

Objective: To measure the association between alcohol intake and 11 hormones and peptides in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors and to evaluate whether this association differs by tamoxifen use. Methods: Self-reported alcohol intake was assessed via food frequency questionnaire on average 30 months post-breast cancer diagnosis in 490 postmenopausal women from three western states. Concurrently, a fasting blood sample was obtained for assay of estrone, estradiol, free estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), leptin, C-peptide, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and IGF-binding protein-3. Adjusted means of these hormones and peptides were calculated for categories of alcohol intake, overall and stratified by tamoxifen use. Results: The association between alcohol intake and serum hormone and peptide levels differed by tamoxifen use. We found statistically significant inverse associations between alcohol intake and both leptin and SHBG values but only among tamoxifen users. In women not using tamoxifen, we found a positive association between alcohol intake and DHEAS but no association in tamoxifen users. Conclusion: Tamoxifen may modify the association between alcohol intake and serum hormones and peptides. The significant associations found for DHEAS and SHBG are in a direction considered unfavorable for breast cancer prognosis. Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors may benefit from decreasing their alcohol intake. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(11):3224–32)

Perceived change in food frequency among women at elevated risk of breast cancer.

Survey reports indicate that women perceive that their diets have changed in ways consistent with dietary guidelines recommended by national agencies. We have attempted to determine whether perceived change in food intake is a useful tool for estimation of either past intake or pattern of change in food consumption. Twin sisters of breast cancer patients, at obvious high risk of breast cancer, were aware of dietary guidelines concerning cancer, as indicated by beliefs about specific foods that should be increased or decreased to prevent cancer. Perception of change, as reported by them, was not found to be a reliable indicator of actual change in food frequency, as measured by the difference between sequential food frequency questionnaires. Consumption of high-fat foods was observed to have decreased over the interval, regardless of perceived change in consumption. Moreover, prediction of past food frequency on the basis of perceived change and current intake combined resulted in a less accurate appraisal of past diet than did the use of current intake alone. Perceived change in food frequency appears to be biased in different ways for different foods and seems to be influenced by beliefs about the role of diet in cancer. Studies of etiology should probably not rely on such methods.

Surface characteristics of separated subpopulations of mouse teratocarcinoma cells

Abstract Specific subpopulations of 129/J mouse teratocarcinoma cells were separated by velocity sedimentation in shallow density gradients using unit gravity or centrifugal force. The subpopulations were examined with perspective plots generated by a computer program. These plots permitted 360 ° rotation of the horizontal axis making it possible to examine the symmetry of the major cell populations. The teratoma consistently separated into two major populations of cells: ‘large’ cells and ‘small’ cells. Although the small and large cells bound many of the eight lectins tested, only the large cells agglutinated in the presence of low concentrations of lectins. The large cells, therefore, are more malignant-like than the small cells with respect to their agglutinability characteristics. This work demonstrates that a heterogeneous, in vivo teratocarcinoma tumor can be separated into specific cell populations that clearly differ with respect to certain cell surface characteristics.