Jason Van Allen

A Longitudinal Examination of Hope and Optimism and Their Role in Type 1 Diabetes in Youths

OBJECTIVES To test the longitudinal associations between hope and optimism and health outcomes (i.e., HbA1c and self-monitored blood glucose [SMBG]) among youths with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) over a 6-month period. METHODS A total of 110 participants (aged 10-16 years) completed study measures at Time 1, and 81 completed measures at Time 2. Analyses examined hope and optimism as predictors of change in health outcomes, and examined SMBG as a mediator of the relationship between hope and optimism, and HbA1c. RESULTS Change in hope, but not optimism, was associated with change in SMBG and HbA1c. Change in SMBG mediated the relationship between change in hope and HbA1c, but not between optimism and HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS It may be beneficial to assess hope in pediatric T1DM patients to identify youths who may be at risk for poor diabetes management, and to test the benefit of hope-based intervention efforts in clinical studies.

Changes in Parent Motivation Predicts Changes in Body Mass Index z-Score (zBMI) and Dietary Intake Among Preschoolers Enrolled in a Family-Based Obesity Intervention

OBJECTIVES To examine whether changes in parent motivation over the course of a pediatric obesity intervention are significantly associated with long-term changes in treatment outcomes.  METHODS  Study hypotheses were tested with a secondary data analysis of a randomized controlled trial (N = 42). Study analyses tested whether baseline to posttreatment change in total score for a self-report parent motivation measure (Parent Motivation Inventory [PMI]) was significantly associated with baseline to 6-month follow-up changes in body mass index z-score (zBMI), dietary variables, and physical activity.  RESULTS  Increases in PMI were significantly associated with decreased zBMI, decreased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets, and increased consumption of artificially sweetened beverages.  CONCLUSIONS  Given that increases in parent motivation were associated with some treatment benefits, future research should evaluate the impact of directly assessing and targeting parent motivation on weight outcomes for preschoolers participating in a weight management program.

Weighing Physical Activity: The Impact of a Family-Based Group Lifestyle Intervention for Pediatric Obesity on Participants’ Physical Activity

OBJECTIVES To examine differences in self-reported physical activity (PA) between participants enrolled in the treatment versus active control condition of a pediatric obesity intervention, and to test associations between parent and child PA. METHODS Participants (N = 93) included children aged 7-17 years and their parent. Analyses tested whether participants in the treatment condition reported greater PA at postintervention and 12-month follow-up compared with the control condition. Further, researchers examined change in PA across time and whether change in parent PA was associated with change in child PA. RESULTS Children in the treatment condition reported greater PA at 12-month follow-up. Parents in the treatment group reported a significant increase in PA between baseline and postintervention. Change in parent PA was associated with changes in child PA across multiple periods. CONCLUSIONS Family-based obesity interventions may promote long-term change in self-reported PA among youths, and change in parent PA may be a contributing factor.

Moderating Role of Trait Hope in the Relation Between Painful and Provocative Events and Acquired Capability for Suicide

BACKGROUND The interpersonal theory of suicide has gained empirical support as a conceptualization of suicide risk; however, little research has examined the role of individual traits, such as trait hope, within the interpersonal theory of suicide. AIMS The purpose of this study was to further investigate the role of trait hope components (i.e., pathways and agency) in acquired capability for suicide. METHOD Participants were 711 college students who completed measures of acquired capability for suicide, painful and provocative events, and trait hope (i.e., pathways and agency). Linear regression was used to test the hypotheses. RESULTS As hypothesized, there was a positive relation between pathways and acquired capability. Contrary to our hypotheses, after controlling for gender there was a significant relation between agency and acquired capability. In addition, after controlling for gender, pathways did not moderate the relation between painful and provocative events and acquired capability, whereas agency did moderate this relation. CONCLUSION Painful and provocative events should be assessed as a risk factor for acquired capability for suicide, and this may be more salient for individuals higher in the agency component of trait hope. Future research should consider examining the role of other traits within the interpersonal theory of suicide.

Associations Between Change in Hope and Change in Physical Activity in a Pediatric Weight Management Program

The present study was designed to examine how changes in an individual factor, hope, are associated with changes in physical activity over the course of a weight-management program for children (i.e., “Positively Fit”). This study consisted of 67 participants measured for height and weight (to determine body mass index [BMI] percentiles), and who completed self-report measures of hope and physical activity pre- and post-intervention. Results indicated that changes in hope were significantly associated with changes in physical activity over the course of treatment. Future research may benefit from examining the relationship between hope and more objective measures of physical activity, but the present study suggests that hope may be an important individual factor in physical activity change.

Specificity of peer difficulties to social anxiety in early adolescence: categorical and dimensional analyses with clinical and community samples

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives: We investigated the specificity of social difficulties to social anxiety by testing associations of social anxiety and other anxiety presentations with peer acceptance and victimization in community and treatment-seeking samples of adolescents aged 12–14 years. Design: Cross-sectional, quantitative survey. Methods: Adolescents from the community (n = 116) and a clinical setting (n = 154) completed ratings of anxiety symptoms, perceived social acceptance, and peer victimization. Their parents also completed ratings of the adolescents’ anxiety and social acceptance. Results: Social acceptance was lowest among adolescents with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and lower among adolescents with other anxiety disorders than in the community sample. Anxiety symptoms were negatively correlated with social acceptance, but these associations were not unique to social anxiety symptoms. Girls in the community sample reported more overt victimization than girls with SAD and with other anxiety diagnoses. Relational victimization was associated with social and nonsocial anxiety symptoms only in the community sample. Conclusions: Our findings supplement recent laboratory-based observational studies on social functioning among adolescents with SAD and other anxiety disorders. Although social anxiety may be associated with unique social skill deficits and impairment, concerns about peer relations should also be considered among adolescents with other anxiety symptoms.

The Treatment of Pediatric Obesity: Bringing Contexts and Systems Into Focus

As attested to by epidemiological surveys (e.g., Flegal, Carroll, Ogden, & Curtin, 2010; Ogden, Carroll, Curtin, Lamb, & Flegal, 2010; see Wang & Lobstein, 2006) and lamented by popular press articles (e.g., Ambinder, 2010), obesity has become an increasingly international pandemic. Among children and adolescents in the United States, rates of overweight and obesity increased steadily from the mid-1970s until the late 1990s, and have remained relatively stable (but unacceptably high) over the past decade (Ogden & Carroll, 2010). The most current data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007– 2008) indicate that approximately 32% of children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight (i.e., body mass index [BMI] 85th percentile; Krebs et al., 2007), and that approximately 17% of children and adolescents are obese (i.e., BMI 95th percentile; Krebs et al., 2007; Ogden et al., 2010). Similar trends in the prevalence of obesity and overweight have been observed for adults in the United States, with current estimates of obesity (i.e., BMI 30) ranging from 31% to 36% of the population (Flegal et al., 2010). These overall figures mask significant differences in the prevalence of obesity and overweight across age, gender, socioeconomic, and ethnic and racial group-

Associations between the repressive adaptive style and self-reported hope in Mexican American and Euro-American children.

A large literature has examined the associations between Weinberger, Schwartz, and Davidsons (1979) repressive adaptive style (RAS) construct and various self-report measures of distress or unpleasant emotional states in adults and children. Fewer investigations have examined the role of RAS in self-reported positive psychology constructs. In this investigation, we used Weinberger et al.s (1979) categorical typology to examine the associations between adaptive style and hope in Euro-American (n = 60) and Mexican American (n = 49) children (M age = 11.4 years) who were students at 1 of 3 parochial schools in a large Midwestern city. Partially supporting the hypotheses, a univariate 2 (ethnic group) × 2 (repressor group) analysis of variance indicated a significant main effect for adaptive style group but no significant main effect for ethnic group and no significant interaction effect. Results extend the literature on the associations between adaptive style and self-report instruments and indicate that (similar to self-reported measures of distress) self-reported hope may be subject to social desirability bias.

Measuring Self-Efficacy in the Context of Pediatric Diabetes Management: Psychometric Properties of the Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Scale

Objective The Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Scale (SED) is a widely used measure of diabetes-specific self-efficacy with three subscales: diabetes-specific self-efficacy (SED-D), medical self-efficacy (SED-M), and general self-efficacy (SED-G). The present study examined the factor structure and construct validity of the SED in 116 youth, aged 10-16 years (13.60 ± 1.87), with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the SED. Correlational and regression analyses examined relations between subscales and select outcomes. Results CFA of the original three-factor structure provided a poor fit to the data. Factor models using rescaled items were tested. Results provided preliminary evidence for the SED-D as an independent one-factor model, and for a reduced one-factor model. Significant associations were found between the SED subscales, responsibility for diabetes management, and glycated hemoglobin. Conclusions Results provide limited support for the SED-D as a reliable and valid measure of diabetes-specific self-efficacy.

Can you catch Ebola from a stork bite? Inductive reasoning influences generalization of perceived zoonosis risk

Emerging zoonoses are a prominent global health threat. Human beliefs are central to drivers of emerging zoonoses, yet little is known about how people make inferences about risk in such scenarios. We present an inductive account of zoonosis risk perception, suggesting that beliefs about the range of animals able to transmit diseases to each other influence how people generalize risks to other animals and health behaviors. Consistent with our account, in Study 1, we find that participants who endorse higher likelihoods of cross-species disease transmission have stronger intentions to report animal bites. In Study 2, using real-world descriptions of Ebola virus from the WHO and CDC, we find that communications conveying a broader range of animals as susceptible to the virus increase intentions to report animal bites and decrease perceived safety of wild game meat. These results suggest that inductive reasoning principles may be harnessed to modulate zoonosis risk perception and combat emerging infectious diseases.