Stress contributes to the development and maintenance of obesity. Mindfulness-based therapies are being used to reduce stress and promote weight reduction and maintenance. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions for stress and weight reduction in the short, medium, and long term. Searches on PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, WOS, and Science Direct were conducted until March 2021. Intervention studies with a sample of adults were included; these evaluated a mindfulness-based intervention and used stress and weight or body mass index as outcome variables. These criteria were met by 13 articles. A meta-analysis of 8 of the 13 articles was performed with a random-effects or fixed-effects model, depending on the level of heterogeneity between studies. Mindfulness-based interventions had a small effect on stress reduction over a 3-month period: effect size (standardized mean difference) = −0.29 (95% CI: −0.49, −0.10). However, no significant evidence was found for stress reduction from 3 months onwards, nor for weight or body mass index reduction in any period. Mindfulness-based interventions are effective in reducing stress in the short term, but not in the medium or long term, nor are they effective for weight or body mass index. More robust and longer study designs are needed to determine their effects.
Emotional Eating (EE) patterns have been shown to play a relevant role in the development of overweight and obesity. The aim of this study was to analyze the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) in university students from Huelva. The EEQ was administered to 1282 students (age 22.00 (±5.10), BMI 23.59 (±6.74)), belonging to the University of Huelva. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were carried out. The internal structure of the questionnaire, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity were analyzed. Principal component analysis of the questionnaire showed two dimensions, explaining 56% of the variance. Internal consistency showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.859 globally, and of 0.841–0.855 if the items were removed. The corrected item-total correlation yielded values of 0.444–0.687. The test-retest stability was ICC = 0.924 (p < 0.001). The data showed significant correlations between EEQ and the rest of the variables, and a Spearman’s Coefficient ranging from −0.367 to 0.400. The fit indexes were good for the confirmatory factor analysis. The results obtained with this structure found an adequate reliability and validity of the questionnaire in comparison with previous studies.
The development of healthy eating habits in adolescence is perceived as an effective strategy to avoid health problems in adulthood. The involvement of educational centres’ governing boards, as well as the Educational State and Regional Administrations’, may be necessary to create healthy food environments during the school day. The objective of this study is to identify the relationship between students’ eating habits during the school day and sociodemographic, family and physical activity variables, as well as the existence of a school cafeteria. For this, a cross-sectional study in a stratified random sample of 8068 students of Public Secondary Education High Schools of Andalusia (Spain) has been carried out. The results show that students who are 14 years old or older are more likely to skip breakfast at home (odds ratio (OR): 1.81, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.55–2.12) than those under this age. Students whose mothers do not have a university education are more likely to consume incomplete breakfasts (OR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.26–2.65). Snacks with sweets (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.67–2.23), candy in general (OR: 2.75, 95% CI: 2.38–3.19), and bagged crisps (OR: 3.06, 95% CI: 2.65–3.54) were more likely to be consumed in schools with a cafeteria. The factors that significantly influence the eating habits of secondary students in Andalusia include age, sex, parental level of education, physical activity and the existence of a cafeteria.
In order to discover family conceptions and their difficulties with regard to healthy eating habits during the school day, a qualitative study framed in the phenomenological, exploratory, and explanatory perspective has been carried out to detect and describe the aspects and interrelationships that shape the study phenomenon. The researchers performed triangulation techniques and information analysis support with the Atlas-ti programme. As participants, the students’ parents belonging to public secondary education high schools in Huelva, and the capital and its province were included. The participants were intentionally chosen based on established selection and segmentation criteria. Four main categories were obtained from the triangulated analysis. Healthy breakfast, school snack, school cafeteria, and promotion of healthy food measures. Other subcategories were established within them. Families are well aware of the composition of a healthy breakfast, although this is often not translated into practice. Lack of time, comfort and market influence are the main challenges they encounter for their children to acquire healthy habits. The maintenance of healthy habits, their responsibility and control on behalf of the family, and promoting fruit consumption and healthy products from the part of the centre and its cafeteria were highlighted as improvement proposals.
27 March 2023 in International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
Caregivers of people suffering from dementia may go through a grieving process prior to the death of the cared-for person, which is related to mental health and physical problems. Interventions aimed at improving grief and depression are being used in response to these difficulties. The aim of this study was to synthesize and evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the grief process in home-based caregivers of people with dementia with the aim of reducing grief and depression. A systematic review, including a meta-analysis, was designed. Following the PRISMA guideline, original articles were searched in the databases: Medline, WOS, Scopus and PsycINFO, up to September 2022. Articles that evaluated interventions aimed at improving the grief process in caregivers of people with dementia, whose care recipients were alive at the beginning of the study at minimum and living at home were selected. Grief and depression were considered outcome variables. A meta-analysis was carried out with a fixed effects model for these variables and for the domains of the Caregiver Grief Scale (CGS). Eight articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Most of the interventions aimed at improving the grief process showed an improvement in grief and depression. The 'emotional pain' and 'absolute loss' domains of the CGS stood out with an improvement in these variables. Interventions aimed at improving the grief process are relatively effective in reducing grief and depression. Interventions that are even more effective and more robust studies are needed.
6 October 2023 in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Background: Caregivers of people with dementia may experience characteristic grief linked to present and anticipated losses before the physical death of the care recipient occurs, which is related to physical and mental health problems. The Marwit–Meuser Caregiver Inventory‐Short Form (MM‐CGI‐SF) is an instrument that assesses this type of grief. Since there are no studies on an adaptation of the MM‐CGI‐SF to the Spanish population, the aim of the study was to evaluate its psychometric properties in a sample of caregivers of dementia patients. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was carried out. The tool was translated and adapted into Spanish, which was administered to 250 caregivers of people with dementia in the province of Huelva, together with other related instruments. Descriptive statistics and internal consistency reliability were calculated using Cronbach's alpha, for the total questionnaire and for each subscale. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed and the Spanish version of the MM‐CGI‐SF was correlated with the rest of the variables by calculating Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: 80.4% of the participants were female and had high levels of caregiver grief ( = 64.62, SD = 14.86). Cronbach's alpha for the general questionnaire was 0.927 and between 0.822–0.854 for its subscales. The fit values of the CFA were: x 2 = 202.033, degrees of freedom = 121, x 2 /df = 1.670, TLI = 0.954, CFI = 0.963, SRMR = 0.047, RMSEA = 0.052; and all the correlations were statistically significant. Conclusions: The Spanish version of the MM‐CGI‐SF shows adequate psychometric properties. Thanks to this instrument, health professionals may measure caregiver grief, get closer to the reality of dementia care, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to manage this grief.