This is a Nail Biter.

Students all across the world get nervous at times. The question of why this unconscious decision happens so often still lingers. A study done by Gilly Koritzky and Eldad Yechiam about nail biting (Onychophagia) tries to examine the reasons behind the impulsive habit. The two authors express the idea of using non-removable bands placed around the wrist as well as the ankle. The two factors are used to see whether or not a reminder is needed to stop a habit. Participants were 80 students (51 males and 29 females) who replied to ads spread around campus. Unconscious behavioral decisions made by individuals can be put to an end by using a simple “no”.
          In past studies reminders have been shown to be effective. Doctors use reminders all the time to manage their routine check-ups with patients. This study is generated to evaluate the use of reminders for modifying an “impulsive and maladaptive habit”. Koritzky and Yechiam are mainly focusing on the ability to use reminders to avoid this impulsive behavior that is not regulated and doesn’t contemplate long-term goals. Quick immediate satisfaction is the actual motive. There are two major theories that say reminders should be helpful in the modification of impulsive behavior. “Bandura’s (1989)sociocognitive theory suggests that means of affecting behavior should be regulated by the person’s own agency”(Koritzky,Yechiam, 3). The second theory consists of a weak memory process. This states that not only poor impulse control and related motivational biases but “addiction” is the cause root cause of the problem.
          The participants were, nail biters that had the willingness to quit, randomly chosen to participate in one of two conditions. A portion of these participants were told to where a non-removable vinyl wristband for a period of 6 weeks. The wristbands were created to represent participants’ resolution to stop biting their nails and remind them of it. They were also told to apply a secondary manipulation to keep the individuals from biting their nails. This manipulation made them applied bitter-tasting nail enamel to their nails routinely. Half of these participants applied normal clear enamel to their nails while the other half had colored enamel placed on the nails.
           Within this 6 week period these participants were observed on how many times they normally bit their nails. The first session the average was around 10 times a day. At the Second session the average dropped dramatically to an estimated 2 times a day. Sessions 3 and the end result at the follow up were sitting at the same number of 2.5 times a day. This shows how over a 6 week period of consciously reminding yourself not to continue partaking in a bad behavioral habit that it can be stopped.
           Many college students that have this obsession to bite their nails are able to put an end to if they truly want to. Onychophagia also known as nail biting is a behavior that many college students have and deal with on a day to day basis. As this study shows, participants that have a desire to put an end to something then it can be done.

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

Georgia O'Keeffe

Painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, 1931
Picture By MetMuseum.org

      Iconic feminist artist Georgia O’Keeffe was one of the first female artists to depict simplistic objects, such as flowers and cow skulls, on a much larger scale in comparison to other artist. She is especially known for, not only the condensed yet detailed structure of her paintings, but their larger than life proportions. Although the size of her paintings seem to be grandiose author Sharyn R. Udall seems to think that O’Keeffe, herself, suffered from depression which was a major contributing factor to the success of her artwork. In Udall’s article “Georgia O’Keeffe and Emily Carr: Health, Nature, and Creative Process” she proceeds to inform us of the connection between O’Keeffe, her emotions, and her artwork.
     According to Udall, O’Keeffe suffered from patterns of depression which stemmed from numerous physical illnesses that she developed early on in her life as well as from aliments that her family endured. For example, at the age of eighteen she contracted typhoid, and the disease left her physically exhausted without hair and in low spirits. However, despite these troubling times O’Keeffe tried to maintain an optimistic mantra especially while her mother fought her last battle with tuberculosis. Unfortunately, in spite of her positivity O’Keefe fell victim to her depression only three months after the passing of her mother (Udall 20).
     But these devastating moments often worked in favor for O’Keeffe and her artwork. As she began to mature O’Keeffe recognized that her health and body image directly affected her artistic production this being because her “energies and emotions were intimately intertwined” as Udall describes. At times O’Keeffe seemed to recognize how life’s tensions undermined her art realizing that her mind and body functioned together both in sickness and in health and art seemed to lend itself therapeutically to her. In the year 1928, many of her canvasses seemed dark in coloration; including corn plants, abstractions, as well as a series of lack luster works she called Portrait a Day (Udall 23) which reflected the depression that she felt living the conservative city life.
     In 1929 O’Keeffe had still not adjusted to her metropolitan lifestyle so having to reside in New York her work often mirrored the dismay that she felt. Her paintings frequently evoked many torn, broken, and jagged edges as well as the New York skyline (Udall 24). During this period O’Keeffe was also struggling with the relationship she shared with her husband, artist --- Stieglitz and his growing infatuation for a woman named Dorothy Norman. Knowing that another summer spent with Stieglitz would create further depression and tension for herself she departed for Mexico that same year, which worked in favor of her paintings. During her time spent in Mexico O’Keeffe became physically and emotionally healthier than she had been in years (Udall 24) created some of the most upbeat pieces of art that she ever painted.
     Essentially, the story behind artist Georgia O’Keeffe is that emotions oftentimes were the fueling force behind her paintings. Frequently, the physical ailments that surrounded her contributed to the depression that she experienced but her depression often found escape through the canvas. Having endured many difficult life situations O’Keeffe learned how to maintain a balance between her emotions and her artwork, essentially leading to the success of her artistic career.

Works Cited

Udall, Sharyn R. "Georgia O'Keeffe and Emily Carr: Health, Nature and the Creative Process."Woman's Art Journal 27.1 (2006): 17-25. Wilson Webb. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

The Most Importanat Meal of the Day! Part II

Video Games v.s. Active Habits

Results of Sleep Study

How Did A Lack of Caffeine Affect Me?

Cardio vs Strength Training - Symptoms of Exercise

Caffeine: Less or more to score?

Sleep More Do More

Exercise Experiment

The Most Important Meal of the Day!

Binge Eating and Body Image

Binge eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which people frequently consume very large amounts of food. According to the Mayo clinic, people with binge eating disorder keep eating even when they are full, they eat rapidly during binge episodes, feel that their eating behavior is out of control, and frequently eating alone (Staff). Body image is the image a person constructs of how they appear and how they imagine they appear to others. (Thompson, 2004).

Image provided by Axom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/axomina/5783892036/

The Behavior Modification study compared the females who have binge eating disorder and females that do not have binge eating disorder. The study had 15 female participants with severe obesity and a binge eating disorder (OBE) as well as 15 female participants with only obesity (ONB) (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). The binge eating disorder group had an average age of 33.8 years and an average weight of 121.1 kg (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). For the ONB group, the average age was 40.7 years and the mean weight of the group was 120.2 kg (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185).

The study used questionnaires to measure body image disturbances and eating behavior. They called the questionnaire Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire or EDE-Q for short. The EDE-Q measured the relevant characteristics of eating disorders on a 7-point scale (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). Answers on the high end of the scale like 5 to 6 were scores reflecting greater severity or frequency of binge eating disorder (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). The study also included and visual aspect. The researchers took photographs of the participants in leggings and a tight-fitting T-shirt (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). The picture was presented on a computer screen with the following questions: “What do you really look like?”(actual body image), “What do you feel you look like?” (felt body image), and “What would you like to look like?” (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). By pressing keys, the participants could adjust the width of their picture, making their body appear thinner or fatter (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185)

The study found that the group with binge eating disorder (OBE) showed higher body dissatisfaction. Throughout the study the women with OBE reported higher dissatisfaction for all parts of the body (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). The photo part of the study revealed no significant differences between OBE and ONB groups in relation to the perception of body dimensions (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185).

The journal used multiple references for support for of the study. For example, in a recent review by Yanovski (2003) they suggest that binge eating may be an important contributor to obesity (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). They also state that binge eating behavior could possibly be an emotion regulation strategy for coping with negative feelings such as frustration and even the depressive symptoms associated with body satisfaction (Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185). According to Bruce and Agras, approximately, 10% of the obese population and 30% of obese participants in weight reduction programs have a binge eating disorder (BED; de Zwaan & Mitchell, 1992; Spitzer et al., 1992, 1993; Striegel-Moore & Franko, 2003).

It’s clear to see from the results of the study that people with binge eating disorder have more problems with body image. If you have poor body image or know someone with poor body image, get them the help they need. There are many counselors and nutritionists available for students at UNC. Those people are here for you. If you don’t know anyone with a eating disorder or poor body image, it’s important to know how eating disorders can affect the people who have them. It’s better to be aware of what they can cause the people going through them because the affects can be physically and psychologically detrimental to one’s life.

Works Cited:

Legenbauer, Tanja, Silja Vocks, Sabrina Betz, María Puigcerver, Andrea Benecke, Nikolaus Troje, and Heinz Rüddel. "Differences in the Nature of Body Image Disturbances Between Female Obese Individuals With Versus Without a Comorbid Binge Eating Disorder: An Exploratory Study Including Static and Dynamic Female Obese Aspects of Body Image." Behavior Modification . (2011): 160-185. Print. <http://bmo.sagepub.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/content/35/2/162.full.pdf html>.

(Legenbauer, Vocks, Betz, Puigcerver, Benecke, Troje, and Rüddel 160-185)

Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Mayo Clinic." Binge-Eating Disorder . Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Aug 2011. Web. 19 Oct 2011. < Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/binge-eating-disorder/DS00608>.

Thompson, J. K. (2004). The (mis)measurement of body image: Ten strategies to
improve assessment for applied and research purposes. Body Image, 1, 7-14.

To Eat or Not to Eat? That is the Disorder

Eating disorders among college students is a very pertinent issue of debate seeing that it so frequently occurs throughout the world. The article “Cognitive Behavioral Theories of Eating Disorders” by Williamson et. al gives a broad spectrum of various eating disorders that people encounter and the reasons to why they are so detrimental. Presumably many college students have encountered individuals who are diagnosed with some kind of eating disorder, and it is not an issue that should be left unattended. It is important to understand why individuals resort to eating as a coping mechanism for various problems and Williamson et. addresses some of these reasons. Eating disorders are a very pertinent area of psychological research since those who have encountered them wish to maintain a certain image, which in turn causes detrimental health affects.

Body shape and size is one of the main cognitive aspects that many people store, and have the need to maintain. Eating disorders have arisen from the need to maintain a certain image, and these thoughts have caused one’s memory to store the need to eat a certain way just to obtain these bodily outcomes. Williamson et al talks about a self-schema or self-representation that we all have and need to maintain. Food acts as a stimulus and triggers emotions related to cognitive behavior. For example, people who have eating disorders correlate “feeling full” after eating a meal as “feeling fat”. The authors hypothesized that anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are often caused by the development of a highly organized self-representation concerning body and weight related images. This means that people generate thoughts and cognitive memories relating food to a negative memory, causing eating disorders to occur.

The authors also include that negative emotions such as anxiety, feelings of fatness, depression, anger, and self-loathing are qualities that people who have eating disorders tend to have. For binge eating, when individuals indulge in food to relieve short term problems, individuals tend to obsess over eating and obsess over their body size. Binge eaters feel as though they need to “escape” from their surroundings and use eating as a management technique. When individuals feel as though they can’t ever be healthy or lose weight, they resort to binge eating just to cope with their negative emotions.

People who have eating disorders tend to have a large misconception about body image and how they perceive their body to actually look like. For example, individuals with anorexia and bulimia tend to feel that their body mass or size is larger than it actually is. This causes people to have the continuous need to decrease their body mass in unorthodox ways. This also relates to the main hypothesis that Williamson et al presents that people form a self representation to look a certain way. Even though individuals are fit in actuality, their stigma to lose weight empowers the desire to maintain a healthy diet.

The points listed above are merely some of the major points that the article “Cognitive Behavioral Theories of Eating Disorders” makes about why people resort to various eating habits to maintain a self image. Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are qualities that a handful of college students encounter due to various factors. Individuals who have eating disorders have a drive to maintain an ideal body size and do so in unhealthy ways. The cognitive side of eating disorders is a very important area of research and should be noted thoroughly due to the large numbers of people who are diagnosed with eating disorders and the detrimental affects towards their bodies.

Works Cited

Williamson, Donald A., Marney A. White, Emily York-Crowe, and Tiffany M. Stewart. "Cognitive-Behavioral Theories of Eating Disorders." Behavior Modification. 28.6 (2004): 711-38. Print.

Clearing the Smoke



Picture by Valentin Ottone



            Despite obvious health risks numerous women have currently engaged in jeopardous activities, such as smoking, in order to maintain weight and body image. Associate professor at Temple University in the Departments of Kinesiology and Public Health, as well as a Research Scientist at the Center for Obesity Research and Education, Melissa A. Napolitano has provided extensive research into this behavior in her article entitled “ Targeting Body Image Schema for Smoking Cessation Among College Females: Rationale, Program Description, and Pilot Study Results.” According to her article, body image as well as weight concerns, often fuel smoking behaviors among females. Undeterred by negative heath consequences women continue to smoke, in order to achieve aesthetic approval, but Napolitano discusses possible smoking interventions, including body image and exercise interventions, that may help modify this behavior.

            According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each year tobacco claims more lives than HV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined; and account for 80% of lung cancer deaths in women. With this staggering statistic in mind, tobacco unsurprisingly has been the leading cause of premature mortality in the United States (Napolitano 3). Cigarette companies openly communicate risks associated with smoking their products but many consumers decide to disregard these warnings. They continue to purchase their goods, often with superficial objectives in mind, many of which are female buyers.

            Among college students, twenty-two to thirty-four percent engage in smoking rituals (Napolitano 3). There is substantial evidence that has led researchers to believe that body image and weight play an integral role in smoking behavior. Correlational studies have revealed that smokers seem to be less satisfied with their bodies than non-smokers (Napolitano 3).  Within the female psyche, smoking is synonymous to dieting, disordered eating symptoms, as well as weight concerns (Napolitano 3). Napolitano has introduced a series of interventions with hopes of reversing this behavior.

            Napolitano’s body image intervention consisted of weekly 45 minute body image workshops, in which group leaders, guided by cognitive-behaviorally based treatment for body dissatisfaction, would introduce new topics to the group. The framework of the group discussions were provided by topics such as Discovering Your Personal Body Image, Harnessing Knowledge for Change, Treating your body right, as well as a range of other topics in between. The topics were provided by a workbook titled The Body Image Workbook: An 8-Step Program for Learning to Like Your Looks that participants were asked to take home and complete homework for the next week (Napolitano 8).

            Within the exercise intervention, participants attended one 45 minute class, weekly, with a certified fitness instructor who taught them how to exercise within their proper target heart rate range, take their own heart rates, and assess exertion levels to ensure proper intensity of activity (Napolitano 8). Each week staff study members would collect an exercise log from each participant and help them to solve problems surrounding personal barriers that may inhibit their physical activity. Additionally, all participants were given packets of handouts that would aid them in meeting their physical activity goals (Napolitano 9).

            As a result, Napolitano concluded that, as a whole, participants attended about 5.38 out of 8 possible sessions. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the number of participants of the body image group versus the exercise group (Napolitano 14). Towards the end of the interventions it was recorded that participants of the body image group lost a mean of 3.3 pounds while the participants of the exercise group lost 0.9 pounds. In relation to these results, members of the body image group reported reductions in smoking-related weight loss concerns, while participants of the exercised group reported virtually no change (Napolitano 15).  

            Conclusively, we can assume that there are high hopes for reducing smoking-related body image and weight lost behaviors. The source of the behaviors seems to be more psychological rather than physical, as the results from Napolitano’s interventions reveal. Providing positive self-evaluations, as well as ways to counteract negative thoughts, majorly impact the severity of smoking-behaviors. Essentially, it seems as though increasing self-esteem among female college smokers may be the key to diminishing the number of cigarettes we find on college campuses.

Works Cited

Napolitano, Melissa A. "Targeting Body Image Schema for Smoking Cessation Among College Females: Rationale, Program Description, and Pilot Study Results." Behavior Modification 35.4 (2011): 323-46. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

Studies On Relapse Behavior and Exercise

http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/11/
exercise-and-depression-its-complicated.html

"Low-Cost Strategies for Increasing Exercise Behavior : Relapse Preparation Training and Social Support,” by Abby C. King published in the Behavior Modification Journal, outlines a study that was conducted on exercise regiments in 18-20 year old female psychology students.  The study was conducted to measure how social support and relapse preparation could prevent “Drop out” syndrome frequent among men and women who join exercise programs.  The author suggests that drop out rates from these program are frequently between 33% and 70%.  The relapse preparation program outlines similar psychological patterns between men and women trying to break a habit or create new ones.  King suggests that the implementation of social support and relapse preparation as a substitute for positive reinforcement lowers the drop out rates from exercise programs.

    The social support part of the study was constructed to measure the effect of grouping members of these programs together to accomplish similar fitness goals.  Members of this group had no prior history and acknowledged that they had never met before.  In addition, members of this group were encouraged to restrict their social interaction to jogging only.  No group was constructed of participants that were socially active before the participation of this study.  The members compared interests with one another in the fields of music and personal background.  The groups also submitted to a 12 minute run to match groups of joggers according to their physical fitness at the initialization of the study.  The participants in the social support part of the study were told to initialize times and days for their runs each week.  This pushed the individuals away from creating a routine regimen and created an additional step to follow through with their fitness plans.  In addition, groups were given team shirts and numbers representing the individual jogger.
    The relapse preparation group was constructed following programs similar to recovering alcoholics, or quitting smokers.  The groups were asked to identify specific times during the study where relapse would be likely.  For instance, exam weeks or holidays.  Individuals in this group were given mental cognition tests designed to test how participants would handle potential relapses.  These tests were designed to measure how relapses might effect the individuals mindset and determination to reach their fitness goal.  Information how serious relapses in the exercise program could be for the long term fitness regiment per individual.
    Both a control group and a combined group were added to the study.  Individuals placed in the control group were told to jog alone.  Individuals in the combined group received the combined relapse prevention and social support techniques.  Participants were given jogging cards to monitor the duration and time of their jogs.  All participants jogged at an in closed 330 meter track and placed their cards in a lock box at the conclusion of their exercise.  Staff members also kept records of which participants they saw jogging throughout the day and placed the records in the lock box after each setting.  To keep the study unobtrusive, no effort was made to characterize the intensity of the jogs.  All teams were encouraged to jog 4 times a weak at their convenience.  
    Results showed that the social support group and the relapse prevention group individually were twice as likely to follow through with their exercise regiments when compared to the control group.  This information suggests that social support and relapse prevention are both valid procedures that could be introduced to encourage behavior modification concerning physical fitness methods.  However, the combined group scored lower than the social support and relapse prevention groups individually.  King speculates that this derives from the relapse prevention cognitive test scores.  The mean scores for the combined group were lower than those of the relapse prevention group, therefore suggesting that relapse in exercise regiments were more likely to disrupt the physical fitness regiment of the individuals in the combined group.  
    King writes that the most prevalent attack on drop out rates from exercise programs from physical fitness trainers and other professionals is positive reinforcement both during and after exercise programs.  The results of this study conclude that social support and relapse prevention techniques should be introduced into today’s physical fitness plans to lower drop out rates and help individuals reach their physical fitness goals.