Biomedical subjects

J C Birkimer

Publications and source records attributed to J C Birkimer.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Predictors of health behavior from an behavior-analytic orientation.

The frequencies of American college students' positive self-talk, emotional reactions, and other positive thoughts for engaging in five health behaviors were assessed and found to be highly correlated; they then were combined into a composite measure. A similar composite resulted for negative self-talk, emotional reactions, and other negative thoughts for engaging in unhealthy alternative behaviors. Effortfulness and pleasantness of the health behaviors were also assessed. One or (in some cases) both composites, effortfulness, and pleasantness were substantially related to vigorous exercise, use of seat belts, and avoidance of alcoholic beverages. Mild exercise and avoidance of junk food were less well predicted.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

The Postpartum Support Questionnaire: reliability and validity.

Support has been found to be related to perinatal health, resulting in the development of the Postpartum Support Questionnaire based on the four categories of support (informational, material, emotional and comparison) identified by House (1981) and Cronenwett (1985). Data from four studies (N = 207) provided evidence of the psychometric properties of the instrument. Internal consistency reliability was demonstrated (alpha = .90 to .94 for total instrument). Test-retest reliability ranged from .69 to .79 for total scores and .30 to .79 for for categories of support. Measures of concurrent validity with the Personal Resource Questionnaire .85 were .42 and .48 at 6 and 8 weeks postpartum. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 7 supported the four categories of support, but the use of these factors separately remains to be demonstrated.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Social support and postpartum depression.

Discrepancies between prenatal social support expectations and subsequent perceptions of support actually received were examined in relation to postpartum depression. Low-risk primiparous women (N = 105) were surveyed 1 month before and 1 month after delivery. Almost half of the women prenatally and one third postpartially had depression scores which would lead them to be classified as possibly depressed (CES-D scores of 16 or greater). In multiple regression, two social support discrepancy measures, prenatal depression and postpartal closeness to husband, correlated with postpartal depression and accounted for nearly 40% of its variance. The generalizability of the findings should be further explored, but the findings suggest the need for attention to prenatal expectations of postpartum support as a way to influence the incidence of postpartum depression. In addition, continued efforts to identify causes of postpartum closeness with the spouse are needed.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Guilt and help from friends: variables related to healthy behavior.

American college students' self-reported status regarding 13 health-related behaviors, and several potential predictors of healthy behavior were assessed. Healthy behaviors were, at best, weakly related to being informed about or agreeing with a rule that the unhealthy alternatives were dangerous. Healthy behaviors were more strongly related to reports that guilty feelings would result from choosing the unhealthy alternatives and that friends would help with the healthy behaviors. Higher levels of reported self-control also predicted healthier behavior.

Feeding Behavior↗

PubMed1991

The relationship among locus of control, coping styles, and psychological symptom reporting.

One hundred two subjects provided locus of control, coping style, psychological symptom, and related information. While locus of control and other predictors were related individually to reports of symptomatology, multiple regressions showed only direct coping strategies and lower reported perceptions of stressfulness as consistently predicting reduced symptom reporting; they generally predicted 25 to 35% of the variance in symptomatology. Direct coping, in turn, was found to be predicted strongly by the combination of increased age, perceptions of the controllability of situations, and an internal locus of control. Older subjects reported fewer attributions to chance locus of control, more direct coping, and less symptomatology, which suggests a possible developmental trend toward better adjustment in these relatively young adults.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1988

An exploration of factors predicting the effects of aerobic conditioning on mood state.

This study explored variables which predict effects of an aerobic exercise program on mood. Adult members of an eight-week conditioning program improved significantly in mood, in comparison with non-exercising controls, immediately after and three months after the program. Mood improvement was predicted by initial mood, with improvement limited to the most mood-disturbed subjects. It was not, however, predicted by improvement on cardiovascular or other physical indices, by other psychological or demographic ratings, or by beliefs and expectations about physical fitness or about mood state.

Adult↗