Christina Lee

Leisure Time Physical Activity in Australian Women: Relationship with Well Being and Symptoms

Abstract This paper explores the association between moderate levels of physical activity (PA) and health benefits in well being and symptoms such as tiredness, back pain, and constipation. Participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Womens Health, 14,502 young women (ages 18–23 years), 13,609 middle-age women (45–50 years), and 11,421 older women (ages 70–75 years), answered questions about vigorous and less vigorous exercise (used to determine a physical activity score), well being (SF-36), symptoms, and medical conditions. There were significant associations between the PA score and SF-36 in each cohort. Odds ratios (OR) for a range of symptoms and conditions were lower for women who reported low to moderate activity than for sedentary women, for example, for young women or for constipation = 0.76 (CI, 0.65–0.89), for middle-age women or for tiredness = 0.70 (0.63–0.78). There was no threshold of PA at which health benefits increased significantly. Although cross-sectional, the findings suggest that low-to-moderate levels of exercise are associated with a range of health benefits for women of all ages. These preliminary findings will be followed up during the longitudinal study.

Attitudes, knowledge and stages of change: A survey of exercise patterns in older Australian women

This article describes a telephone survey of attitudes and behavior relevant to exercise adoption among 286 Australian women aged 50 to 64. Stages of change identified by the transtheoretical model of behavior change were related to attitudes, knowledge, and demographic variables. In comparison with exercisers, precontemplators were older, had lower exercise knowledge, perceived lower levels of family support for exercise, expected fewer psychological benefits from exercise, and rated exercise as less important than avoiding smoking. The main significant difference between contemplators and those in the action or maintenance stage involved the perception of practical barriers. Despite the limitations of this cross-sectional self-report study, it identifies attitudes and knowledge as potential targets for intervention with middle-aged women.

Effects of physical activity on emotional well-being among older Australian women Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses

OBJECTIVE To explore relationships between physical activity and mental health cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a large cohort of older Australian women. METHOD Women in their 70s participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Womens Health responded in 1996 (aged 70-75) and in 1999 (aged 73-78). Cross-sectional data were analyzed for 10,063 women and longitudinal data for 6472. Self-reports were used to categorize women into four categories of physical activity at each time point as well as to define four physical activity transition categories across the 3-year period. Outcome variables for the cross-sectional analyses were the mental health component score (MCS) and mental health subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36). The longitudinal analyses focused on changes in these variables. Confounders included the physical health component scale (PCS) of the SF-36, marital status, body mass index (BMI) and life events. Adjustment for baseline scores was included for the longitudinal analyses. RESULTS Cross-sectionally, higher levels of physical activity were associated with higher scores on all dependent variables, both with and without adjustment for confounders. Longitudinally, the effects were weaker, but women who had made a transition from some physical activity to none generally showed more negative changes in emotional well-being than those who had always been sedentary, while those who maintained or adopted physical activity had better outcomes. CONCLUSION Physical activity is associated with emotional well-being among a population cohort of older women both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, supporting the need for the promotion of appropriate physical activity in this age group.

Cognitive dissonance in tobacco smokers

The knowledge and beliefs about smoking of smokers, non-smokers, and ex-smokers were examined within a cognitive dissonance framework. The 186 respondents completed a questionnaire concerned with smoking habits, knowledge of the effects of smoking, beliefs about smoking, and estimates of risk of lung cancer to themselves and to the average Australian smoker. Smokers estimated their risk of contracting lung cancer as greater than the risk non-smokers or ex-smokers saw for themselves, but less than the risk for the average Australian smoker. No differences were found in the amount of factual knowledge about the effects of smoking. However, smokers endorsed significantly more rationalisations and distortions of logic regarding smoking than did non-smokers or ex-smokers. Smokers may experience cognitive dissonance as a result of using tobacco despite its well-publicised ill-effects, and it may be that interventions targeting rationalisations for smoking will be useful in smoking cessation.

Issues for a psychology of men's health

This article argues for a gendered psychology of men’s health. We argue that capitalism and patriarchy, through their reliance on a restrictive definition of masculinity, limit men’s choices and impact on their health. A psychology of men’s health situates men in their social, cultural and political contexts, addressing the social construction of masculinities and the effects of beliefs about appropriate behaviour on men’s health. At the individual level, gender roles can explain men’s reluctance to seek help; avoidance of emotional expression; unsafe sexual behaviours; and risk-taking including drug use, crime and dangerous sports. At a social level, identification of the self with paid work, and avoidance of family activities, are problematic. Dominant social discourses position these as freely chosen behaviours, implicitly blaming individual men for risky or antisocial choices; there is little awareness of the role of social constructions in men’s choices. A gendered psychology of men’s health uses of a variety of epistemologies, focuses on health in its broadest sense, considers the context and is sensitive to cultural diversity.

Relationships between psychological stress, coping and disordered eating: A review

Abstract Objective: Psychological stress and inadequate coping skills have been hypothesized to play important roles in the etiology of disordered eating. This paper reviews the empirical evidence which has emerged regarding the proposed relationships among stress. coping skills and various forms of disordered eating. Method: A search of psychological and medical databases was conducted to identify studies examining life events, and other types of psychological stress and coping strategies, in relation to the onset of disordered eating. Results: Despite methodological limitations such as the use of non-representative samples and retrospective methodologies, evidence of relationships between stress. coping and disordered eating was obtained in the majority of studies reviewed. Discussion: The implications of these findings am discussed and suggestions for future research, including the utilization of longitudinal. prospective studies, am presented.

Accuracy of efficacy and outcome expectations in predicting performance in a simulated assertiveness task

Banduras (1977) self-efficacy theory proposes that the central determinants of behavior are afficacy expectations, which are specific beliefs about ones ability to perform particular behaviors. Others have argued that expectancies concerning outcome are of equal or perhaps greater importance in determining ones behavior. In the present study, both efficacy expectations and outcome expectations for particular behaviors were obtained and compared as predictors of subsequent performance. The experimental task involved responding verbally to a range of social situations presented as role-plays, and 40 female psychology students participated. It was found that each predictor individually was highly correlated with performance, but that efficacy measures were somewhat better predictors than the outcome measure. Regression analyses combining the predictors did not account for more of the variance than did efficacy measures alone. These data support the contention that efficacy measures are more important in predicting outcome than are outcome expectancy measures, but they do not reflect on the question of whether efficacy expectations are causally related to behavior.

Violence against young Australian women and association with reproductive events: a cross-sectional analysis of a national population sample

Objective:This study aimed to investigate associations between violence and younger womens reproductive events using Survey 1 (1996) data of the Younger cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Womens Health (ALSWH).

Factors related to the adoption of exercise among older women

The role of exercise in promoting health is well documented; however, older women have the lowest rates of aerobic exercise of any community group. This paper examines psychological variables relevant to womens initial adoption of exercise. While the evidence is limited, it appears that middle-aged and older women have positive attitudes to exercise but seem unable or unwilling to take action. The influence of practical barriers and of broader social attitudes is considered. It is concluded that social psychological variables have had limited success in explaining sex differences in physical activity. An understanding of practical and societal constraints on behavior choice in a broader social context may provide direction for the development of strategies to improve the exercise levels of this community group.

Development of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire for Young Women

The Perceived Stress Questionnaire for Young Women (PSQYW) was developed for the Womens Health Australia (WHA) project as a measure of the level and perceived sources of stress. A total of 14,779 women aged 18-23 completed the baseline survey. The PSQYW scale was shown to be internally reliable, unifactorial and to have content validity. Convergent construct validity was demonstrated most strongly with measures of mental health, life events and symptoms, and more weakly with the health behaviours of smoking and alcohol bingeing. There was no relationship with physical activity. Multiple regression showed that illness, physical health, mental health and life events explained 44% of the variance, with mental health explaining the most. Construct validity for the life domains indicated five factors relating to family of origin, relationships with others, own health, work/money and study. The PSQYW was proposed to be an adequate measure of overall perceived stress and to be able to indicate broad life domain perceived stress sources for young women. Further research with broader demographic samples is proposed to enable the PSQYW to be used as a succinct method of assessing perceived stress levels and sources by GPs, and other health practitioners.