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BACKGROUND: Internalized weight bias (IWB) negatively impacts mental and physical health, and disproportionately affects women of higher weight. Although self-compassion training may be advantageous for reducing IWB and associated sequalae, further examination of its clinical significance and cultural acceptability is warranted. METHOD: A randomized pilot study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility, including cultural acceptability, and clinical significance of a 3-session self-compassion intervention (SCI) for women with IWB. Women with BMIs of > 25 and IWB (N = 34) were randomly assigned to the SCI or a waitlist control group. Participants completed pre, post, and 1-month follow-up surveys on IWB, self-compassion, body image, eating behaviors, physical activity, and affect. Analyses of covariance were employed and percentages of change were calculated to examine post-intervention between-group differences in outcomes. Cultural acceptability was evaluated through participants' ratings of the perceived inclusivity and relevancy of the SCI. RESULTS: There were 59% (n = 10) and 47% (n = 8) completion rates in the SCI and waitlist control groups, respectively. Compared to the waitlist control group, SCI participants reported greater pre-post improvements in self-compassion, IWB, body shame and surveillance, uncontrolled eating, and physical activity with medium to large effect sizes, and emotional eating with small effects. The SCI was perceived to be beneficial overall, and cultural acceptability ratings were mostly favorable despite individual differences. CONCLUSION: This brief SCI may be beneficial for women impacted by weight stigma and IWB. Attention to increased diversity and cultural acceptability is warranted in future trials.

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OBJECTIVE: To identify pandemic-specific stressors among college students and compare patterns of stressors in samples obtained during early and chronic phases of the pandemic. METHOD: Different undergraduate student samples from a Southeastern university completed an online survey in Spring 2020 (early pandemic; N = 673) and Fall 2020 (chronic pandemic; N = 439). This repeated cross-sectional survey study used a mixed methods triangulation design to validate and expand on quantitative findings using qualitative data. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed 13 pandemic stressor domains, with academics and lifestyle adjustment among the most stressful in both samples, and more stressful in the chronic pandemic sample. Non-freshmen, female, and first-generation college students were at greater risk for pandemic stress. CONCLUSIONS: As college students continue to experience stressors related to COVID-19 and encounter future crises, colleges and universities must adapt to meet their unique needs specific to the context.

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This study examines the potential racial disparity in postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms among a cohort of non-Hispanic white and African American women after taking into consideration the influence of socioeconomic status (SES). Participants (N = 299) were recruited from maternity clinics serving rural counties, with oversampling of low SES and African Americans. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was administered 1 and 6 months postpartum, and subjective SES scale at 6 months postpartum. Demographic information was collected during enrollment and 1 month postpartum, with updates at 6 months postpartum. Separate logistic regressions were conducted for 1 and 6 month time points for minor-major PPD (EPDS ≥ 10) and major PPD (EPDS > 12); with marital status, poverty, education, subjective SES, and race predictors entered in block sequence. After including all other predictors, race was not a significant predictor of minor-major or major PPD at 1 or 6 months postpartum. Subjective SES was the most consistent predictor of PPD, being significantly associated with minor-major PPD and major PPD at 6 months postpartum, with higher subjective SES indicating lower odds of PPD, even after accounting for all other predictors. This study shows that significant racial disparities were not observed for minor-major or major PPD criteria at 1 or 6 months postpartum. The most consistent and significant predictor of PPD was subjective SES. Implications of these findings for future research, as well as PPD screening and intervention are discussed.

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Interviews were conducted with 21 pregnant or recently pregnant African American and Caucasian low-income women living in a rural southeastern community to elicit perceived barriers to seeking help for depressive symptoms in pregnancy and ways to overcome these barriers, as well as intervention suggestions. Participants identified themes regarding barriers to seeking help. These were: (1) lack of trust, (2) judgment/stigma, (3) dissatisfaction with the health care system, and (4) not wanting help. Themes identified regarding overcoming barriers were: (1) facilitating trust and (2) offering support and help. These and other findings point to the importance of integrating women's ideas into culturally sensitive interventions for women with depressive symptoms or depression in pregnancy that can be provided by a psychiatric nurse-practitioner or other mental health provider.

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OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships of work and individual protective factors to health outcomes. METHODS: Participants from 2 corporate samples completed measures of supervisor support, hardiness, coping, global stress, and symptoms of illness. RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated that higher scores on hardiness and approach coping and being male predicted lower scores on stress and symptoms of illness. Additionally, supervisor support predicted fewer symptoms of illness but did not have a spillover effect onto stress. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that enhance individual protective factors primarily and work protective factors secondarily may be most effective in reducing stress and illness among employees.

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OBJECTIVE: To determine the predictive ability of acculturation as an antecedent of stress, biobehavioral risk, corticotropin-releasing hormone levels, and poor birth outcomes in pregnant Hispanic women. DESIGN: A prospective, observational design with data collected at 22-25 weeks of gestation and at birth through medical record review. SETTING: Public prenatal health clinics in south Texas serving low-income women. PARTICIPANTS: Self-identified Hispanic women who had singleton pregnancies, no major medical risk complications, and consented to answer questionnaires as well as a venipuncture and review of their prenatal and birth medical records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gestational age, Apgar scores, length, weight, percentile size, and head circumference of the infant at birth. RESULTS: Significant differences were seen in infant birth weight, head circumference, and percentile size by acculturation. English acculturation predicted stress, corticotropin-releasing hormone, biobehavioral risk, and decreased gestational age at birth. CONCLUSIONS: Investigation must continue to understand the circumstances that give rise to the decline in birth outcomes observed in Hispanics with acculturation to the dominant English culture in the United States.

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PURPOSE: To test a theoretically and empirically based model linking potential protective resources (hardiness, coworker and supervisor support) to the outcomes of work stress and job satisfaction and replicating the relationship of work stress to job satisfaction while accounting for the potential influence of negative affectivity. DESIGN: A cross-sectional research design using survey data collected from two convenience samples. SETTING: Two worksites: (1) a high-tech company and (2) a government agency. SUBJECTS: High-tech employees (N = 310; response rate, 73.8%) and government agency employees (N = 745; response rate, 49.7%). MEASURES: The Dispositional Resilience Scale measured hardiness and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule measured negative affectivity. Coworker and supervisor support were measured using the Coworker Support Scale and the Supervisor Support Scale, respectively. The Perceived Work Stress Scale measured work stress, and a single item from the Job Satisfaction Scale assessed overall job satisfaction. RESULTS: A multiple-group path analysis examined the proposed model. Similar patterns of association were found for both samples and suggested a more parsimonious model without the path from negative affectivity to job satisfaction. The model supports the protective nature of hardiness and support at work with regard to work stress and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Explanations of relationships depicted in the model, practical implications for reducing work stress and enhancing job satisfaction, limitations and future directions are discussed.

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PURPOSE: To investigate the reliability and validity of a single-item overall job satisfaction measure. METHODS: Public agency employees (n = 745) were surveyed regarding job satisfaction, work, personality, and health variables. The single-item measure underwent the following analyses: correction for attenuation formula to estimate minimum reliability; correlations with multiple-item job satisfaction, work, personality, and health measures to determine concurrent validity, construct validity, and specific relevance to health promotion; and logistic regression to determine the predictability of turnover intention. RESULTS: For the single-item measure the minimum reliability estimate was high, all correlational tests for validity were significant, logistic regression indicated substantial predictability of turnover intention, and correlations with the health measures were significant. DISCUSSION: These results are consistent with other studies and support the psychometric properties of this single-item overall job satisfaction measure. Limitations of the study and its implications for worksite health promotion are discussed.

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PURPOSE: This study tested a conceptual model based on research supporting the relationship between the predictors of hardiness, supervisor support, and group cohesion and the criterions of job stress and job satisfaction and between the predictor of job stress and the criterion of job satisfaction. DESIGN: The study employed a cross-sectional research design. Survey data were collected as part of the baseline measures assessed prior to an organizational hardiness intervention. SETTING: Worksite of Dell Computer Corporation in Austin, Texas. SUBJECTS: The subjects included 160 full-time Dell employees recruited from a convenience sample representing nine work groups (response rate = 90%). MEASURES: Hardiness was measured using the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS), job stress was measured using the Perceived Work Stress Scale (PWSS), and supervisor support, group cohesion, and job satisfaction were measured using a proprietary employee attitude survey. RESULTS: In the proposed model, high hardiness, supervisor support, and group cohesion were related to lower levels of job stress, which in turn was related to higher levels of job satisfaction. The model also proposed direct paths from hardiness, supervisor support, and group cohesion to job satisfaction. Path analysis was used to examine the goodness of fit of the model. The proposed model was a good fit for the data (chi 2[1, N = 160] = 1.85, p = .174) with the exception of the direct path between group cohesion and job satisfaction. Substantial portions of the variances in job stress (R2 = .19) and job satisfaction (R2 = .44) were accounted for by the predictors. CONCLUSION: Implications for targeted worksite health promotion efforts to lower job stress and enhance job satisfaction are discussed.

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