Émilia Kalinova

Correlates of Body Dissatisfaction in Children.

OBJECTIVE To assess body dissatisfaction among children between 9 and 14 years of age and to examine factors (age, sex, body mass index, perceived shape, and self-esteem) associated with wanting a thinner or a larger shape. STUDY DESIGN Through at-school questionnaires, 1515 preadolescent children (51.2% girls) were asked to fill out the Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (body dissatisfaction). Trained assessors then weighed and measured the students individually. RESULTS Overall, 50.5% of girls wanted a thinner shape compared with 35.9% of boys. More boys wanted a larger shape compared with girls (21.1% vs 7.2%). Most of the preadolescents who were overweight or obese were unsatisfied whereas 58.0% of girls and 41.6% of boys who were underweight were satisfied with their body. Results of a multinomial logistic regression revealed that age, sex, body mass index, perceived shape, and self-esteem were significant correlates of the 4 body dissatisfaction contrasts (wanting a slightly thinner, much thinner, slightly larger, and much larger shape) and explained 50% of the variance. An interaction between sex and perceived shape was found, revealing that girls who perceived themselves as having a larger shape were more likely to desire a thinner shape than boys. CONCLUSIONS The high prevalence rate of body dissatisfaction among children suggests that current approaches in our society to prevent problems related to body image must be improved. The different results between girls and boys highlight the need to take into account sex differences when designing prevention programs that aim to decrease body dissatisfaction.

The effect of exercise on sleep quality and psychological, physiological, and biological correlates in patients with schizophrenia: A pilot study.

Sleep problems affect roughly 75% of hospitalized individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia (Anderson and Bradley, 2013; Waters et al., 2012) and 50% of outpatients (Palmese et al., 2011). For these patients, sleep problems can interfere with their daytime activities as well as their ability to invest themselves fully in their own treatment (Waters et al., 2012). Currently, medication is the main strategy used to tackle sleep problems for these patients (Waters et al., 2012; Wilson and Argyropoulos, 2012) but this solution is far from ideal, primarily because longer sleeping hours do not result in any significant improvement in the quality of sleep subjectively reported by patients (Waters et al., 2012), many of which prefer an alternative to medication when seeking to reduce their sleep problems (Peacey et al., 2012). The purpose of the present research was to document the effects of a short-term physical training program on sleep quality and associated psychological, physiological and biological correlates. Eight patients (mean age= 33.8 ± 6.7) diagnosedwith schizophrenia by a psychiatrist (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) were recruited by clinical staff among outpatient clients at the Chicoutimi regional hospital to participate in the study. Each participant took part in a bi-weekly physical exercise program (75 min/session during eight weeks). Participants engaged in strength-training and cardiovascular fitness exercises indoors. They completed a 200 m circuit that

Effects of an exercise program on the physiological, biological and psychological profiles in patients with mood disorders: a pilot study

Abstract Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the impact of an 8-week physical training program on physiological, biological and psychological profiles in individual with mood disorders. Methods: Seven patients participated in the study. Patients were trained twice weekly (75 min/session) for 8 weeks. The training program aimed to improve muscular and cardiorespiratory reserves as well as functional capacity. Bioassays were also measured (lipid profile, blood glucose and cortisol). Depression, sleep quality and body image dissatisfaction were assessed. All measures were administrated at pre/post-intervention. Results: At post-intervention, 13 of the 15 physiological fitness, muscular strength and functional capacity variables improved significantly (p < .05). In addition, change in cortisol levels represented a medium to large effect size (Cohen’s d = −0.67) which indicates a clinical reduction of stress-related symptoms. Depression was significantly improved (Cohen’s d = −0.47; p = .027). Sleep and body image showed a trend-level improvement. Conclusions: An 8-week periodised training program improved physiological, biological and psychological profiles in patients with mood disorders.