Nancy Vogeltanz-Holm

Gender and alcohol consumption: patterns from the multinational GENACIS project.

AIMS To evaluate multinational patterns of gender- and age-specific alcohol consumption. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS Large general-population surveys of mens and womens drinking behavior (ns > 900) in 35 countries in 1997-2007 used a standardized questionnaire (25 countries) or measures comparable to those in the standardized questionnaire. MEASUREMENTS Data from men and women in three age groups (18-34, 35-49, 50-65) showed the prevalence of drinkers, former drinkers, and lifetime abstainers; and the prevalence of high-frequency, high-volume, and heavy episodic drinking among current drinkers. Analyses examined gender ratios for prevalence rates and the direction of changes in prevalence rates across age groups. FINDINGS Drinking per se and high-volume drinking were consistently more prevalent among men than among women, but lifetime abstention from alcohol was consistently more prevalent among women. Among respondents who had ever been drinkers, women in all age groups were consistently more likely to have stopped drinking than men were. Among drinkers, the prevalence of high-frequency drinking was consistently greatest in the oldest age group, particularly among men. Unexpectedly, the prevalence of drinking per se did not decline consistently with increasing age, and declines in high-volume and heavy episodic drinking with increasing age were more typical in Europe and English-speaking countries. CONCLUSIONS As expected, men still exceed women in drinking and high-volume drinking, although gender ratios vary. Better explanations are needed for why more women than men quit drinking, and why aging does not consistently reduce drinking and heavy drinking outside Europe and English-speaking countries.

Longitudinal Predictors of Binge Eating, Intense Dieting, and Weight Concerns in a National Sample of Women

As part of an ongoing longitudinal study of the antecedents and consequences of womens drinking in the U.S. adult female population, women who participated in a 1991 survey provided data in 1996 about their experiences of binge eating, intense dieting, and weight concerns ( N = 709, ages 26 to 54 in 1996). Five percent of the women reported binge eating in the past 30 days, 29% reported that they had engaged in intense dieting or fasting in the past 3 months, and 1.5% of the women met criteria for nonpurging bulimia nervosa (binge eating and intense dieting). Forty-three percent reported that their weight and shape were either very important or more important than anything else. After controlling for 1991 occurrence of binge eating, predictors of binge eating in 1996 were past 12-month use of illicit drugs (mostly marijuana) and greater occurrence of drinking to intoxication. A body mass index (BMI) × 1991 binge eating interaction indicated that having a higher BMI in 1991 predicted the onset of binge eating by 1996, but it did not predict the continuation (chronicity) of binge eating 5 years later. Year 1991 predictors of intense dieting in 1996 were having weight concerns, being unmarried, having used illicit drugs in the past 12 months, and having parents who had more than a high school education. Only a younger age in 1991 and having a lower BMI predicted 1996 weight concerns, after controlling for weight concerns 5 years earlier. These results indicate that risk factors for the onset and chronicity of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes across longer time periods in adult women may differ considerably from predictors found in cross-sectional studies or studies of adolescent females.

The Effects of Rumination and Distraction Tasks on Psychophysiological Responses and Mood in Dysphoric and Nondysphoric Individuals

Prior experimental manipulations of ruminative and distractive response style have not included psychophysiological measures or investigated the statistical relation between rumination and the conceptually-related constructs of worry and neuroticism. Dysphoric (n =84) and nondysphoric participants (n =86) were randomly assigned to either a rumination task (i.e., self-focused attention) or a distraction task. Results supported prior findings that distraction and rumination differentially impact depressed mood in dysphoric individuals; dysphoric ruminators reported significantly higher levels of postexperiment depressed mood than did dysphoric distractors, even after neuroticism, worry, or response style were included in the empirical model. However, post- rumination worry ratings were significantly higher than postdistraction worry ratings, regardless of initial dysphoria status. Of the psychophysiological responses measured, a significant difference in postrumination systolic blood pressure was found between nondysphoric men (M = 119.88; SE = 1.29) and nondysphoric women (M = 114.88; SE = 1.20). The implications of these results for future response style studies are discussed

Attitudes, knowledge, and intentions related to breastfeeding among university undergraduate women and men.

The purpose of the current study was to examine university undergraduate womens and mens attitudes and knowledge toward breastfeeding. Data were gathered for 111 women and 50 men. Data showed a significant relationship between positive attitudes toward breastfeeding and exposure to breastfeeding. Women and participants older than 20 years scored higher on measures of knowledge and attitudes. Results indicated that positive attitude toward breastfeeding was a significant predictor of intention to breastfeed among women and men. In conclusion, the results suggest that understanding attitudes among young adults is an important line of research. Further studies are needed to develop and evaluate interventions aimed at improving attitudes about breastfeeding and increasing initiation of breastfeeding among this population. J Hum Lact. 24(2):186-192. El propósito de este estudio fue examinar actitudes y conocimientos sobre lactancia materna de las mujeres y hombres cursando estudios universitarios. Los datos se tomaron de 111 mujeres y 50 hombres. Los datos mostraron una relación significativa entre las actitudes positivas hacia la lactancia materna y exposición a lactancia materna. Las mujeres y participantes mayores de 20 años tenían puntajes más altos en la medición de conocimiento y actitudes. Los resultados indican que una actitud positiva hacia la lactancia materna fue un factor significativo precursor de la intención de lactancia materna entre hombres y mujeres. En conclusión, los resultados sugieren que el entendimiento de las actitudes de los adultos jóvenes es un área importante de investigación. Se necesitan más estudios para desarrollar y evaluar intervenciones dirigidas a mejorar las actitudes sobre lactancia materna e incrementar la iniciación de la lactancia materna en esta población.

Assessing Health Status, Behavioral Risks, and Health Disparities in American Indians Living on the Northern Plains of the U.S.

Objective. We assessed health status and behavioral risks in American Indians (AIs) from rural, northern plains reservation communities. Methods. AI interviewers from the communities administered the core and optional modules of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to 404 AI adults randomly selected from housing lists from four AI tribal communities located on the northern plains of the U.S. The BRFSS interview assessed several health functioning areas including medical conditions, preventive screenings, and behavioral risks. We measured health disparities by comparing the AI sample data with a northern plains statewide (North Dakota) sample and a U.S. national sample. We compared outcomes with BRFSS statewide (North Dakota) and U.S. national data from telephone-based interviews. Results. AI participants showed a significantly greater prevalence of diabetes, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, smoking, obesity, and heavy alcohol use than either the regional or national samples. They also reported being less likely to engage in leisure-time physical activity and to have had age-appropriate preventive screenings for several diseases including colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Conclusions. Face-to-face interviews conducted by AI community members are an effective means of gathering health information about AIs living in rural, reservation communities. AIs living in these communities on the northern plains have a much higher prevalence of many health-risk behaviors and some medical conditions than are found in the general population. Improved health-care access, better preventive screenings, and culturally appropriate community-based health promotion programs and policies should be examined as possible ways to reduce health disparities.

Self-reports of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse in a nationally representative sample of US women☆

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to describe patterns of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a nationally representative sample of US adult women. METHOD The respondents were a national probability sample of 711 women, aged 26 years to 54 years, residing in noninstitutional settings in the contiguous 48 states. In a 1996 face-to-face interview survey, trained female interviewers asked each respondent whether she had experienced any sexual coercion by family members or nonfamily members while growing up; whether she believed that she had been sexually abused (by family members or others); and whether she had ever forgotten the CSA experiences and, if so, how she had subsequently remembered them. RESULTS Twenty-one and six-tenths percent of respondents reported having sexually coercive experiences while growing up; of these, 69.0% indicated that they felt they had been sexually abused. More than one-fourth of respondents who felt sexually abused reported that they had forgotten the abuse for some period of time but later remembered it on their own. Only 1.8% of women self-described as sexually abused reported remembering the abuse with the help of a therapist or other professional person. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that, among women who report CSA, forgetting and subsequently remembering abuse experiences is not uncommon. According to the women surveyed, however, very few (1.8%) of those who felt abused recovered memories of CSA with help from therapists or other professionals. As one of the few studies of CSA memories in a nationally representative sample, this study suggests that therapist-assisted recall is not a major source of CSA memories among women in the US general population.

The effects of alcohol and anxiousness on physiological and subjective responses to a social stressor in women.

Several studies have examined the validity of the tension reduction hypothesis as an explanatory model for the development of alcohol problems, but support has been inconsistent. In recent years, researchers have begun to examine how various individual differences variables moderate the relationship between alcohol consumption and reduction of anxiety. The present study examined how 40 women, either moderate or low in anxiety sensitivity (AS), responded to a social stressor (giving a body image speech) after consuming either a low dose of alcohol (0.4 ml/kg of body weight) or a placebo. Results indicated that of the participants reporting moderate AS, participants consuming alcohol reported more stress dampening as measured by heart rate in anticipation to the stressor than participants not consuming alcohol. Furthermore, of the participants consuming alcohol, those reporting high social anxiety reported more of an increase in heart rate than participants not consuming alcohol. Findings are discussed in terms of considering individual differences factors when examining predictions made from the tension reduction hypothesis.

Carbohydrate antigens in nipple aspirate fluid predict the presence of atypia and cancer in women requiring diagnostic breast biopsy

BackgroundThe goal of this prospective study was to determine (a) concentrations of the carbohydrate biomarkers Thomsen Friedenreich (TF) antigen and its precursor, Tn antigen, in nipple discharge (ND) collected from women requiring biopsy because of a suspicious breast lesion; and (b) if concentration levels predicted pathologic diagnosis.MethodsAdult women requiring biopsy to exclude breast cancer were enrolled and ND obtained. The samples from 124 women were analyzed using an anti-TF and anti-Tn monoclonal antibodies in direct immunoassay.ResultsThe highest median concentration in ND for TF and Tn was in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). TF was higher in women with 1) cancer (DCIS or invasive) vs. either no cancer (atypia or benign pathology, p = .048), or benign pathology (p = .018); and 2) abnormal (atypia or cancer) versus benign pathology (p = .016); and was more predictive of atypia or cancer in post- compared to premenopausal women. Tn was not predictive of disease. High TF concentration and age were independent predictors of disease, correctly classifying either cancer or abnormal vs. benign pathology 83% of the time in postmenopausal women.ConclusionsTF concentrations in ND were higher in women with precancer and cancer compared to women with benign disease, and TF was an independent predictor of breast atypia and cancer. TF may prove useful in early breast cancer detection.

A CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S DRINKING AND DRINKING-RELATED PROBLEMS IN FIVE COUNTRIES: FINDINGS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH GROUP ON GENDER AND ALCOHOL

This study (1) examined patterns of correlations between two alcohol consumption measures and 2 drinking-related problem domains in women from 5 different countries; and (2) tested the hypothesis that the correlations between womens alcohol consumption and social criticism of their drinking would be higher in countries where womens drinking is less accepted or tolerated. Data were from 6 general population studies in Australia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States. Controlling for age, correlations between frequency and social criticism were slightly higher than correlations between quantity and social criticism in all countries except the United States and Sweden. Correlations between quantity and dependence symptoms were higher than that between frequency and dependence symptoms in all countries. Correlations between consumption and social criticism were not systematically higher in countries where womens drinking was less common. Results indicate that a social deviance model applied to womens drinking problems may not be useful.

Relationships Between Health Behaviors and Weight Status in American Indian and White Rural Children

PURPOSE Preventing obesity in childhood is an increasingly important public health goal. Prevention efforts can be improved by better understanding relationships between health behaviors and overweight and obesity. This study examined such relationships in young American Indian and white children living in the rural United States. METHODS Self-report measures of diet, screen time (passive and active), and physical activity were combined with cardiovascular fitness in cross-sectional analyses to predict weight categories based on body mass index percentiles in 306 American Indian and white children (aged 8-9 years) from a rural area in the upper Midwestern United States. FINDINGS Multinomial logistic regression models were statistically significant for girls (χ2 [20] = 42.73, P < .01), boys (χ2 [20] = 50.44, P < .001), American Indian (χ2 [20] = 36.67, P < .05), and white children (χ2 [20] = 55.99, P < .001). Obesity was associated with poorer cardiovascular fitness in girls (OR = 0.82), boys (OR = 0.83), American Indian (OR = 0.79), and white children (OR = 0.85), and with passive screen time in girls (OR = 1.69), boys (OR = 2.1), and white children (OR = 1.81). Overweight was associated with passive screen time (OR = 2.24) and inversely with active screen time (OR = 0.54), but only in boys. CONCLUSIONS Logistic regression models were more successful at predicting obesity than overweight in all groups of participants. Poorer cardiovascular fitness showed the strongest and most consistent association with obesity, but passive screen time was also a significant and important contributor to the prediction of obesity in most prediction models. Prediction models were similar in girls, boys, American Indian, and white children.