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Biomedical subjects

S J Paxton

Publications and source records attributed to S J Paxton.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Public reaction to the portrayal of the tobacco industry in the film The Insider.

OBJECTIVES: To assess public perceptions of the tobacco industry and behavioural intentions for tobacco use in response to watching the film The Insider. DESIGN: Self administered pre-film survey conducted immediately before viewing and post-film telephone survey conducted within 1-5 weeks of viewing. SETTING: Two commercial cinemas in Melbourne, Australia. SUBJECTS: 323 cinema patrons were recruited before screening of target films. 182 watched The Insider, 141 watched Erin Brockovich. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects watched one of two films: The Insider which featured information about unethical conduct by the tobacco industry and negative information about the health effects of smoking, or the "control" film Erin Brockovich which had an analogous plot without anti-tobacco content. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pre-film questionnaire: assessed movie viewing habits, demographic characteristics, smoking status, attitudes towards the tobacco industry, intentions for smoking. Post-film questionnaire: assessed same attitudes and intentions plus questions on the film viewed and perceptions of smoking prevalence. RESULTS: 266 (82%) subjects completed the post-film survey. Attitudes toward the tobacco industry were unfavourable at baseline. Those who saw The Insider held more negative views of business conduct by the tobacco industry than those who saw Erin Brockovich, once pre-existing attitudes to the industry were controlled for. The Insider also appears to have promoted a short term reduction in intentions to smoke. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that if people were recurrently exposed to anti-tobacco content in movies there is potential for a more substantial and lasting impact on attitudes toward the tobacco industry and smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Examination of a model of multiple sociocultural influences on adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint.

This study examined the perceived role of three types of sociocultural agents (peers, parents, and media) in influencing body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint in adolescent girls. Participants were 577 grade 10 girls from six schools who completed questionnaires in class and had height and weight measured. Two path analyses resulted in a similar pattern. While current body size strongly predicted ideal body size and body dissatisfaction, perceived influence of multiple sociocultural agents regarding thinness also had a direct relationship with body ideal and dissatisfaction. Dietary restraint was predicted directly from body dissatisfaction and sociocultural influences. Peers, parents, and media varied in their perceived influence. The findings support the idea that those girls who show the most body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint live in a subculture supporting a thin ideal and encouraging dieting.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

A cross-cultural examination of weight-related teasing, body image, and eating disturbance in Swedish and Australian samples.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, cross-culturally, a model for the prediction of eating disturbance from factors such as body image disturbance, negative verbal feedback regarding appearance (teasing), and body mass index (BMI). METHODS: Three samples of adolescent girls from Sweden (Grade 8: n = 260; mean age = 14.3) and Australia (Grade 7: n = 159; mean age = 12.8 and Grade 8: n = 210; mean age = 13.7) completed two measures of eating restraint and one scale each reflective of bulimic symptomatology, teasing history, and body dissatisfaction. RESULTS: Path analyses revealed that BMI predicted teasing and body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction predicted level of eating restraint. In all three samples, there was evidence of partial mediation by teasing of the connection between BMI and restraint. DISCUSSION: The results partially replicate previous work with U.S. samples. The findings are discussed with regard to the need for further cross-cultural work and its relevance for identifying factors for early intervention and prevention programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Friendship clique and peer influences on body image concerns, dietary restraint, extreme weight-loss behaviors, and binge eating in adolescent girls.

This study explored friendship variables in relation to body image, dietary restraint, extreme weight-loss behaviors (EWEBs), and binge eating in adolescent girls. From 523 girls, 79 friendship cliques were identified using social network analysis. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed body image concerns, eating, friendship relations, and psychological family, and media variables. Similarity was greater for within than for between friendship cliques for body image concerns, dietary restraint, and EWLBs, but not for binge eating. Cliques high in body image concerns and dieting manifested these concerns in ways consistent with a high weight/shape-preoccupied subculture. Friendship attitudes contributed significantly to the prediction of individual body image concern and eating behaviors. Use of EWLBs by friends predicted an individual's own level of use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Avoidance coping, binge eating, and depression: an examination of the escape theory of binge eating.

The relationship between binge eating, avoidance coping, and depression was investigated with reference to the escape theory of binge eating which predicts binge eaters will exhibit elevated avoidance coping. Undergraduate females were selected into one of three groups: control (nonrestrained/nonbinge eating) (n = 73), restrained (restrained/ nonbinge eating) (n = 61), and binge eating (restrained/binge eating) (n = 15). The groups did not differ on use of avoidance coping. Binge eating scores were significantly correlated with avoidance coping and depression, but hierarchical regression analyses indicated avoidance coping did not significantly add to the prediction of binge eating above the contribution of depression. It is proposed therefore, that it is not appropriate to use findings of elevated avoidance coping in individuals with eating disorder in support of the escape theory.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Why do adolescent girls watch their weight? An interview study examining sociocultural pressures to be thin.

Body concerns, dieting, and weight watching were examined in 30 year 10 adolescent girls. Semistructured interviews consisting of open-ended and rated questions assessed descriptions of and reasons for weight loss attempts, with an emphasis on noting sociocultural influences. Audiotaped and transcribed interviews were assessed for themes, coded and rated. Findings suggested a strong role of sociocultural influences leading to both unhealthy and healthy body attitudes and eating behaviors. Media and fashion were reported to exert the strongest pressures to be thin for subjects. While a few subjects reported direct pressures to diet from friends and parents, indirect social influences were more common. These influences included social comparison, joint dieting and avoidance of social disapproval.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Risk factors for eating disorders in Greek- and Anglo-Australian adolescent girls.

Past research indicates ethnicity may be related to eating disorder and related risk factors. The present study examines risk factors for eating disorders in 50 Anglo- and 50 Greek-Australian girls (mean age = 13.5 years). The variables assessed included bulimic tendencies, body dissatisfaction, use of extreme weight loss behaviors (EWLBs), self-esteem, depression and family cohesion and adaptability. Cultural eating patterns were also explored. A stepwise discriminant function analysis to examine whether the two groups could be discriminated on these variables was significant and correctly classified 73.9% of the sample, the chief discriminating variables being Pressure to Eat, EWLBs, and Family Adaptability. Univariate analyses indicated differences between the groups on Pressure to Eat, Family Adaptability, and Mother's Shape. Although the groups were discriminable, a number of variables generally associated with eating disorder did not contribute to the function. These data are discussed in terms of cultural assimilation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Weight-loss strategies and beliefs in high and low socioeconomic areas of Melbourne.

Overweight is a serious health risk and is prevalent in Australia. This study explored sex, socio-economic status and age differences in body mass index, the perceived effectiveness of weight-loss strategies and the frequency of their use, and awareness of the risks of obesity in a random sample of adult men (n = 457) and women (n = 537) from higher and lower socioeconomic areas. According to self-reports, 37 per cent of the sample were overweight or obese. More men than women, and more older than younger respondents, were overweight. There were no sex differences in the frequency of obesity. There were significantly more obese individuals in the lower than in the higher socioeconomic area. Women more frequently put themselves in a higher weight category while men more frequently put themselves in a lower weight category. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents reported the desire to lose weight and 24 per cent of the sample were trying to lose weight on the survey day; 46.9 per cent had attempted to lose weight in the previous 12 months, and these were more likely to be female, younger and obese or overweight. Only minor differences according to sex or socioeconomic status were found in beliefs about the effectiveness of different weight-loss strategies. However, older respondents were less likely to have exercised recently as a means of weight reduction. There was good recognition of diseases made worse by being overweight, although the health risk of male fat distribution patterns was not widely known.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

A prevention program for disturbed eating and body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls: a 1 year follow-up.

This study evaluated an intervention program to reduce moderate and extreme weight loss behaviors, disordered eating and low body image. The Body Image and Eating Behavior Intervention Program consisted of five specialized classes addressing media images of women, determinants of body size, healthy and unhealthy weight control methods, and emotional eating. The program was conducted in year 9 in Schools 1 (n = 80) and 2 (n = 27), while students from the same year in School 3 (n = 29) were control subjects. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing eating behavior and body image attitudes prior to the program, 1 months after the program and at 12 months follow-up, while control subjects completed the questionnaires at the same time but did not receive the program. Data were analyzed using groups (Schools 1, 2 and 3) by testing occasion (pre, post and follow-up) analyses of variance with repeated measures on testing occasion. Measures of disordered eating and frequency of use of extreme weight loss behaviors were constant over testing occasion and showed no effect of the intervention program. Body dissatisfaction was consistently lower in School 1 but increased across all subjects over the year. The implications of these data for school-based intervention programs in this area are examined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The effect of exercise on sleep: the negative view.

Theories of sleep typically view sleep as having a compensatory relationship to wakefulness. This hypothesis leads to the prediction that physical exercise will cause both sleep duration and the amount of slow wave sleep (SWS) to be higher on the following night. Three previous reviews of the literature, while not agreeing in detail, have generally supported the hypothesis. It is argued that, in two of these reviews in particular, the extent of the positive evidence was overstated. Consistent with this interpretation the subsequent literature is also negative with regard to the hypothesis. Further, physical fitness, which occurs as a result of long periods of physical training, is not consistently associated with either longer sleep durations, or higher levels of SWS. While there is some evidence that exercise may have indirect effects on sleep under a limited range of circumstances, there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that physical exercise directly causes, or is reliably associated with, longer sleep durations or higher levels of SWS.

Exercise↗
PubMed1984

Fitness facilitates sleep.

Eight army recruits were studied at the start, middle, and end of their initial 18-week training programme. At each point the subjects were studied for four consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. Their sleep was characterized by the means of the recordings on the last two nights. Within 2 days of the sleep recordings (but never on the same day) each subject spent 2 non-consecutive days in the exercise laboratory. On the 1st day a maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max) measurement was performed on a treadmill and on the 2nd day a 24-min progressive exercise bicycle ergometer test was carried out with simultaneous venous sampling (for lactic acid measurements) and oxygen consumption recordings from which the lactate turn point (LTP) was calculated. LTP was used as a measure of fitness. Approximately 1 week after the above measures lean muscle mass as calculated by total body potassium estimation was obtained for each subject. Slow wave sleep (SWS) as a percentage of total sleep time increased significantly between the start and the measurements at 9 and 18 weeks, being 21.9%, 29.9%, and 28.5% respectively. Anaerobic threshold increased significantly (P less than 0.05) over the first 9 weeks and continued to increase to the end of the training period (P less than 0.001) using VO2 when lactate level was 2 mmol/l as a percentage of VO2 max. With increase in fitness, sleep onset latency and wake time during sleep decreased and sleep efficiency improved. The results suggest that as fitness increases sleep quality improves.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Effect of physical fitness and body composition on sleep and sleep-related hormone concentrations.

The study assessed the effect of physical fitness and body composition on sleep and the nighttime secretion of the hormones, human growth hormone (hGH), prolactin, and cortisol. Two groups of 17 subjects, one of fit athletes and the other of unfit nonathletes, were selected so that the groups were matched for weight, height, lean body mass (LBM), and fat levels. Subjects slept in a sleep laboratory for 3 nonconsecutive nights: 1 adaptation night and 2 experimental nights. On 1 experimental night blood samples were collected; on the other, baseline sleep was assessed and the catheter was not inserted. Weight and height were measured and LBM assessed by 24 h urinary creatinine. The effect of physical fitness was tested by a comparison of the two groups; body composition was assessed by correlation analyses. Physical fitness did not have a significant effect on either sleep or hormone levels, although in the latter case the results were marginal. In contrast, body composition was related to both sleep and hGH. Percentage LBM was negatively correlated with slow-wave sleep and positively correlated with hGH levels. These results were significant for all subjects combined and for the fit group, although not the unfit group alone.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1982

Energy expenditure and total sleep time: effect of physical exercise.

The energy conservation model proposes that the main function of sleep is to lower metabolic requirements periodically and thus to conserve energy. However, certain variations in energy expenditure, such as that produced by physical exercise, have not been found to be consistently related to sleep length. We hypothesized that, because sleep variables may adapt relatively slowly to metabolic changes, the effect of exercise on sleep time would be observed as a function of habitual exercise patterns, not of daily variations. The study consisted of a retrospective analysis of five experiments. Although the design of each experiment was idiosyncratic, all involved physically fit and/or unfit subjects whose sleep was assessed following daytime exercise and/or no exercise conditions. As predicted, fit subjects slept significantly longer than unfit subjects, and daytime exercise had no consistent effect on sleep duration. However, for several reasons, the relevance of the data to the energy conservation model is uncertain.

Adult↗