The features of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social operations to contain the spread of the virus might have limited or altered coping, including healthy habits such as exercise, this contributing to a myriad of negative consequences for the mental health of the global population. We explored the contribution of coping and physical activity to the management of anxiety in Spanish adults during an active phase of the epidemic, as well as the relationship between these strategies. A total of 200 young and adult individuals (70% women) voluntarily completed an anxiety inventory, a coping skills self-report and a personal data section including exercise practice. The participants reported in average a mild yet existing level of anxiety symptoms; a third reported noticeable symptoms. At the time of the study, the participants used more adaptive than maladaptive coping styles. Participants’ anxiety was inversely correlated with an active coping style, and positively with an avoidant style; physical activity correlated positively with an active coping style, and regular exercisers used more frequently active coping. Controlling for confounders, active coping, avoidant coping and exercise during the pandemic predicted anxiety symptoms. Other findings indicated that exercise was used as a coping strategy for dealing with emotional distress. Our results highlight the positive impact of functional coping and exercise for the management of negative states such as anxiety during the pandemic, and underline the importance of developing interventions aimed at enhancing coping skills for promoting physical and mental well-being of the population during health and social crises.

With prevalence of obesity increasing worldwide, understanding body image in individuals with excessive weight is important, as unawareness of weight excess can prevent weight loss attempts. We explored the associations among measured and self-reported body mass index (BMI), body image and body satisfaction among Spanish females and males with overweight or obesity, with a special focus in discriminating individuals who are and are not satisfied with their body and wish or not to change their appearance. Just unifying all individuals with excessive weight may lead to uncover or deny different realities and to develop unfitted clinical management options. Updating findings for the Spanish population, we found that most participants correctly estimated their weight, but 3 in 10 underestimated it. Similarly, their body images corresponded to adults with overweight or obesity who desired to be thinner, but in average they reported a perceived body just slightly overweight and a moderate satisfaction with their body. Complementing the existing evidence, BMI and sex-gender interacted for influencing body weight estimation and desired weight change. In addition, three different subgroups were found for desired change of weight and size, depending on their BMI and body satisfaction. Discovering and considering different subjective realities and corporeal experiences among individuals with weight excess will help professionals to develop appropriate therapeutic interventions. Thus, the personal experiences that individuals have with obesity, instead of obesity itself, should be considered for disentangling management efforts.

Título: Satisfacción sexual en mujeres jóvenes: Frecuencia de las actividades sexuales como mediadora. Resumen: El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la relación entre varios predictores social-cognitivos del comportamiento sexual (creencias, conocimientos, actitudes y valores), las conductas sexuales, la frecuencia de actividades sexuales y diferentes dimensiones de la satisfacción sexual (individual/de pareja y actual/deseada). Para ello se utilizó un paradigma mixto de investigación. Para recabar los datos se diseñó una entrevista semiestructurada que fue administrada a mujeres jóvenes de entre 14 y 20 años. El análisis de correlaciones indicó que no se establecen las relaciones directas esperadas entre los predictores social-cognitivos, la conducta y la satisfacción sexual, por lo que se exploraron posibles efectos indirectos. Los resultados del modelo de mediación que mejor se ajusta a los datos revelaron que los comportamientos sexuales se asocian a la satisfacción sexual (actual) de forma directa e indirecta a través de la frecuencia con que se practican las actividades sexuales en un (probable) efecto de mediación parcial. Estos hallazgos tienen interesantes aplicaciones prácticas en términos de educación sexual y promoción de la salud sexual en mujeres jóvenes. Palabras clave: Sexualidad; satisfacción sexual; conductas sexuales; actividades sexuales; frecuencia; mediación; salud sexual; mujeres jóvenes.Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship among several social-cognitive predictors of sexual behaviour (beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and values), sexual behaviours, the frequency of sexual activities and several dimensions of sexual satisfaction (individual/with the partner and actual/desired sexual satisfaction). A mixed-method study was conducted. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview specially designed for this study, which was administered to 14-to 20-year-old women. Correlation analyses revealed that the expected direct associations between the explored social-cognitive predictors, sexual behaviour and sexual satisfaction were not established; consequently, possible indirect effects were explored. The results of the mediational model that better fit the data indicated that sexual behaviour is related to (actual) sexual satisfaction not only directly but also indirectly through the frequency of sexual activities in a (probable) effect of partial mediation. These findings have interesting applications in terms of sexual education and sexual health promotion among young women.

Introduction Available sexual self-efficacy (SSE) measures are mostly focused on self-perceptions of efficacy regarding engaging in specific preventive sexual behaviors, and do not include beliefs and expectations regarding behaviors aimed at achieving a more agentic and pleasurable sexual health in positive terms, nor do they consider the varied sexual orientations or relationship options. Methods This self-report-based, cross-sectional study sought to validate a new instrument to assess SSE for both preventive and health promotion sexual behaviors: the Sexual Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SSEQ), among a non-probabilistic sample of 1080 women aged 18–50 years old. Data were gathered from January 2015 to December 2021. For validation purposes, reliability, factorial structure, and convergent construct validity with other well-known instruments measuring SSE were analyzed. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a bifactorial structure of the SSEQ, with 10 items in the factor SSE for health-promotive actions and 10 items in the factor SSE for preventive actions. Furthermore, the SSEQ showed good reliability and convergent validity. Conclusions Our findings support the use of the SSEQ as an alternative tool with appropriate psychometric characteristics that assesses cognitions related to achieving a healthier sexuality through the performance of preventive behaviors aimed at avoiding potentially negative outcomes and those promotive actions leading to more gratifying consequences for women. Policy Implications The SSEQ can be used in research, educative, and clinical contexts to develop interventions to improve women’s behavioral competences and perceived confidence in their skills to achieve a healthier and more pleasurable and agentic sexuality.

Background The postmenopausal period can represent an opportunity for women to improve their health and well-being. The Active and Healthy Ageing in Women during early postmenopause (AHAWOMEN) study aims to identify the key determinants of an active lifestyle among middle-aged women, with a focus on the stages and the social-cognitive variables outlined in the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) model, a theoretical framework for understanding health behaviour change. We expected that HAPA factors and processes of intention creation (motivational phase) and action adoption (volitional phase) will be significant predictors of exercise initiation and maintenance, supporting both the HAPA tenets and the efficacy of HAPA-based interventions. Methods/design This study was approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Committee. Postmenopausal women aged between 45 and 65 years will voluntarily participate. The participants will be allocated to one of three groups: Intervention-Initiators (n = 100, random allocation), Control-Sedentary (n = 100, random allocation) or Control-Active (n = 100, non-random allocation). The intervention group will engage in a supervised exercise programme lasting at least 3 months, supplemented with a HAPA-based intervention for behaviour change. The sedentary control group will not receive any intervention to change their physical activity, while the active control group will consist of women who are already regularly adhering to an active lifestyle. Study variables will be measured at baseline and postintervention phases, as well as at 1, 3, 6 and 12-month follow-ups. The predictors of exercise behaviour in the different phases of the behavioural change process will be explored and compared within and between groups throughout the study. These analyses will help identify the factors that determine the adoption of a healthy active behaviour. Additionally, the effectiveness of the model and the intervention for changing active behaviour will be evaluated. Discussion This paper describes the rationale, development and methods used in the AHAWOMEN project. Supporting women who intend to become active can help them to translate their goals into sustainable action. Verifying that the HAPA predictions are applicable to postmenopausal women’s adoption of exercise would provide the basis for designing effective interventions for promoting healthy and active ageing that are also tailored to the experiences of middle-aged women. Trial registration ISRCTN16251361. Registration date: 01/06/2023 (retrospectively registered).

The validated tools for measuring sexual satisfaction (SS) assess in fact other phenomena such as sexual functioning, assess SS within the context of a romantic heterosexual relationship and intercourse-type activity or were designed to be applied only in therapeutic or rehabilitation contexts. Consequently, they offer an incomplete understanding of SS, particularly among women. We thus developed an alternative measure of SS, the Sexual Satisfaction Comprehensive Index (SSCI), considering both the individual and with-a-partner dimensions, as well as the actual and desired experiences of satisfaction, along with other dimensions affecting SS, and explored its psychometric properties. A total of 1080 young to mid-aged women with different sociodemographic, relationship and sexual identity backgrounds voluntarily completed several measures of SS, including the SSCI. Results showed that the SSCI is a reliable measure for assessing SS. An exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the latent multidimensional structure of the SSCI, supporting its factorial validity. In addition, the SSCI showed appropriate convergent validity with other measures commonly used to assess SS. In sum, the SSCI was revealed to be a useful multidimensional index of SS for research and practice contexts which allows the practitioner or the researcher to make decisions on which dimension(s) are to be evaluated. This study focused on women’s SS, and future research with other gender, sexual and cultural identities is necessary to support its utility in multi-identity and multi-sexuality scenarios.

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Background The postmenopausal period can represent an opportunity for women to improve their health and well-being. The Active and Healthy Ageing in Women during early postmenopause (AHAWOMEN) study aims to identify the key determinants of an active lifestyle among middle-aged women, with a focus on the stages and social-cognitive variables outlined in the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) model, a theoretical framework for understanding health behaviour change. We expected that HAPA factors and processes of intention creation (motivational phase) and action adoption (volitional phase) will be significant predictors of exercise initiation and maintenance, supporting both the HAPA tenets and the efficacy of HAPA-based interventions. Methods/Design: This study was approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Committee. Postmenopausal women aged between 45 and 65 years will voluntarily participate. The participants will be allocated to one of three groups: Intervention-Initiators (n = 100, random allocation), Control-Sedentary (n = 100, random allocation) or Control-Active (n = 100, non-random allocation). The intervention group will engage in a supervised exercise programme lasting at least 3 months, supplemented with an HAPA-based intervention for behaviour change. The sedentary control group will not receive any intervention to change their physical activity, while the active control group will consist of women who are already regularly adhering to an active lifestyle. Study variables will be measured at baseline and postintervention phases, as well as at 1, 3, 6 and 12-month follow-ups. The predictors of exercise behaviour in the different phases of the behavioural change process will be explored and compared within and between groups throughout the study. This analysis will help identify the factors that determine the adoption of a healthy active behaviour. Additionally, the effectiveness of the model and the intervention for changing active behaviour will be evaluated. Discussion This paper describes the rationale, development and methods used in the AHAWOMEN project. Supporting women who intend to become active can help them to translate their goals into sustainable action. Verifying that the HAPA predictions are applicable to postmenopausal women’s adoption of exercise would provide the basis for designing effective interventions for promoting healthy and active ageing that are also tailored to the experiences of middle-aged women. Trial registration: ISRCTN16251361. Registration date: 01/06/2023 (retrospectively registered).