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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (52 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2015)
People with traits that are attractive on the mating market are better able to pursue their preferred mating strategy. Men who are relatively tall may be preferred by women because taller height is a cue to dominance, social status, access to resources, and heritable fitness, leading them to have more mating opportunities and sex partners. We examined height, education, age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI) as predictors of sexual history among heterosexual men and women (N = 60,058). The linear and curvilinear associations between self-reported height and sex partner number were small for men when controlling for education, BMI, and ethnicity (linear ß = .05; curvilinear ß= -.03). The mean and median number of sex partners for men of different heights were: very short (9.4; 5), short (11.0; 7), average (11.7; 7), tall (12.0; 7), very tall (12.1; 7), and extremely tall (12.3; 7). Men who were "overweight" reported a higher mean and median number of sex partners than men with other body masses. The results for men suggested limited variation in reported sex partner number across most of the height continuum, but that very short men report fewer partners than other men.
    Cover page: Height and Body Mass on the Mating MarketCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2014)
    Outpatient surgery is extremely common in children, and approximately 4 million children experience significant pain after surgery in the USA each year. Management of children's postoperative pain in the home setting is suboptimal and is impacted by characteristics of children and parents, as well as the larger family and cultural context. In particular, developmental status of the child, parental beliefs regarding pain expression and analgesic use in children, cultural values and language barriers can affect management of children's postoperative pain. Targeting the myriad barriers to children's pain management by capitalizing upon the use of tailored interventions may help bridge the gap between the translation of pain management guidelines to the home setting.
      Cover page: Developmental and cultural perspectives on children's postoperative pain management at homeCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
      • Thesis
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2017)

      Positive and negative affect has been associated with numerous health factors. However, what is commonly investigated are the mean levels of affect. While means reveal important information, how affect varies over time may provide further information about how the experience of affect relates to important outcomes. This change from moment to moment, day to day, or week to week has been referred to as affect variability and is often operationally defined as the standard deviation of affect over time. While useful, this methodology is incomplete as it loses important information about the temporal aspect of affect variability (i.e., information about patterns of affect responses over time are lost). Nevertheless, greater affect variability has been associated with several psychological health and health-relevant outcomes such as low self-esteem and higher depressive symptoms. What remains unclear is how affect variability patterns and interactions with mean levels relate to such variables. What is also unknown is whether affect variability is associated with markers of physical health. Therefore, the goals of this dissertation are to 1. assess whether affect variability is associated with markers of physical health, 2. examine a new method for assessing affect variability that may overcome the downsides of standard deviation (i.e., loss of information about patterns), and 3. use this new method to better understand how affect variability patterns relate to mental and physical health and health-relevant variables.

        Cover page: Affect Variability is Constantly Important: Implications for Health
        • Thesis
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2016)

        Objectives: The resource model of self-control posits that self-control is a finite resource that can be depleted. Individuals with diabetes must continually control their diet, requiring self-control. As a result, dietary adherence is difficult, and lapses are common. People with diabetes who overexert self-control, to gain control of their diet, following a lapse in adherence may be especially likely to experience a subsequent relapse, as suggested by the resource model. This investigation used the resource model of self-control to test whether overexertion of dietary self-control following a lapse would be predictive of a subsequent relapse in dietary control. Design: We tested this prediction in a longitudinal daily diary study of 128 individuals with diabetes (Mage = 66.12). Methods: Participants’ reports of their daily dietary adherence were used to define lapses in adherence, post-lapse adherence, and relapses. Results: Individuals who overexerted self-control after a lapse were more likely to experience a subsequent relapse (OR = 3.276, p = .016) and to do so sooner (HR = 2.12, p = .023). Conclusions: People with diabetes may seek to compensate for a lapse in adherence by overexerting self-control, but doing so may deplete their self-control and increase the risk of a future relapse.

          Cover page: Too Much of a Good Thing? Overexertion of Self-Control and Dietary Adherence in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2015)

          Objectives

          The goal of this study was to compare pediatric complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and pediatric health care provider CAM referral as well as identify predictors of use and referral.

          Design

          Surveys were administered to 283 parents/caregivers of pediatric patients and 200 pediatric health care providers (HCP).

          Setting

          This study took place at the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children's) in Orange, CA.

          Main outcome measures

          Caregivers and HCP were provided a list of 32 CAM interventions and asked to indicate which treatments their child had ever used or which they would consider using for their child and which treatments they had ever referred or which they would consider referring, respectively. The main outcome variables were the number and type of CAM therapies endorsed by participants.

          Results

          Providers referred the majority of CAM therapies significantly more often than patients used each therapy and more often than caregivers would consider each therapy for their child. In addition, children from families with higher incomes, whose parents were older and had more education, who were White, and whose primary language spoken at home was English were more likely to use CAM therapies, all p's<0.05. HCP CAM referral was not significantly predicted by number of years a health care provider practiced or health care profession, all p's<0.05.

          Conclusions

          HCP referred CAM therapies more often than parents reported use for their children. Findings may imply that parents/caregivers are underutilizing CAM therapies for their children. Potential barriers to CAM use in pediatric patients needs to be explored.
            Cover page: Differences in referral and use of complementary and alternative medicine between pediatric providers and patientsCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2019)
            Positive affect (PA) is associated with better health across a wide range of physical health outcomes. This review reflects on why the study of PA is an essential component of our understanding of physical health and expands on pathways that connect these two variables. To encourage forward movement in this burgeoning research area, measurement and design issues in the study of PA and health are discussed, as are the connections between PA and a range of different health outcomes. Plausible biological, social, and behavioral pathways that allow for positive feelings to get under the skin and influence physical wellness are detailed and framed in the context of several theoretical models. Finally, new directions for the field and important methodological and interpretative considerations that are essential to moving this important research area forward are explored.
              Cover page: Positive Affect and Health: What Do We Know and Where Next Should We Go?Creative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2024)
              Neighborhood socioeconomic context where Latinx children live may influence body weight status. Los Angeles County and Orange County of Southern California both are on the list of the top ten counties with the largest Latinx population in the USA. This heterogeneity allowed us to estimate differential impacts of neighborhood environment on childrens body mass index z-scores by race/ethnicity using novel methods and a rich data source. We geocoded pediatric electronic medical record data from a predominantly Latinx sample and characterized neighborhoods into unique residential contexts using latent profile modeling techniques. We estimated multilevel linear regression models that adjust for comorbid conditions and found that a childs place of residence independently associates with higher body mass index z-scores. Interactions further reveal that Latinx children living in Middle-Class neighborhoods have higher BMI z-scores than Asian and Other Race children residing in the most disadvantaged communities. Our findings underscore the complex relationship between community racial/ethnic composition and neighborhood socioeconomic context on body weight status during childhood.
                Cover page: Obesity Heterogeneity by Neighborhood Context in a Largely Latinx Sample.
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2018)
                OBJECTIVES: This study addresses methodological and theoretical questions about the association between affect and physical health. Specifically, we examine the role of affect variability and its interaction with mean levels of affect to predict antibody (Ab) levels in response to an influenza vaccination. METHODS: Participants (N=83) received the vaccination and completed daily diary measures of affect four times a day for 13days. At one and four months post-vaccination, blood was collected from the participants to assess Ab levels. RESULTS: Findings indicate that affect variability and its interaction with mean levels of affect predict an individuals immune response. Those high in mean positive affect (PA) who had more PA variability were more likely to have a lower Ab response in comparison to those who had high mean PA and less PA variability. Although it did not interact with mean negative affect (NA), NA variability on its own was associated with Ab response, whereby those with less NA variability mounted a more robust immune response. CONCLUSION: Affect variability is related to immune response to an influenza vaccination and, in some cases, interacts with mean levels of affect. These oscillations in affective experiences are critical to consider in order to unpack the intricacies of how affect influences health. These findings suggest that future researchers should consider the important role of affect variability on physical health-relevant outcomes as well as examine the moderating effect of mean affect levels.
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2021)
                    Cover page: Does a Good Advisor a Day Keep the Doctor Away? How Advisor-Advisee Relationships are Associated with Psychological and Physical Well-Being among Graduate StudentsCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2014)
                      Cover page: Parent management of children’s postoperative painCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
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