Objective: Obesity is highly prevalent among American adults and has negative health and psychosocial consequences. The purpose of this article was to qualitatively review studies that used technologybased interventions for weight loss and to identify specific components of these interventions that are effective in facilitating weight loss. Materials and Methods: We conducted a narrow, qualitative review, focusing on articles published in the last 10 years that used an experimental or pre/posttest design and used a technology-based intervention for weight loss. Results: Among the 21 studies reviewed, we identified the following five components that we consider to be crucial in technology-based weight-loss interventions that are successful in facilitating weight loss: self monitoring, counselor feedback and communication, social support, use of a structured program, and use of an individually tailored program. Conclusions: Short-term results of technologically driven weight-loss interventions using these components have been promising, but long-term results have been mixed. Although more longitudinal studies are needed for interventions implementing these five components, the interface of technology and behavior change is an effective foundation of a successful, short-term weight-loss program and may prove to be the basis of long-term weight loss.

Background.A workplace's design can have various positive or negative effects on the employees and since the 1970s the advantages and disadvantages of open-plan offices have been discussed. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate perceived health, work environment and self-estimated productivity one month before and at three, six and twelve months after relocation from individual offices to an open-plan office environment. Methods: Employees from three departments within the same company group and who worked with relatively similar tasks and who were planned to be relocated from private offices to open-plan offices were invited to participate. Questionnaires comprising items from The Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale, The Work Experience Measurement Scale, the questionnaire by Brennan et al. about perceived performance and one question from the Work Ability Index were sent to participants one month before relocation (baseline) to open-plan offices and then at three, six and twelve months after relocation. At baseline, 82 questionnaires were sent out. The response rate was 85%. At the follow-ups 77-79 questionnaires were sent out and the response-rate was 70%-81%. Results: At follow-ups, perceived health, job satisfaction and performance had generally deteriorated. Conclusions: The results of the study indicate that employees' perception of health, work environment and performance decreased during a 12 month period following relocation from individual offices to open-plan offices. .

This study examined the relationships among dissociation, childhood trauma and sexual abuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in HIV-positive men. Data was collected from 167 men enrolled in a randomized clinical trial (Project RISE) that examined a group therapy intervention to decrease HIV-related risk behavior and trauma-related stress symptoms. Participants completed the Trauma History Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale - Revised, and the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire. Overall, 35.3% of the participants reported having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA). A total of 55.7% of the sample met diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The intensity of dissociative symptoms that participants endorsed was positively associated with experience of childhood sexual abuse (r = .20, p < .01). Dissociative symptoms were also positively associated with specific PTSD symptoms, notably hyperarousal (r = .69, p < .001). Hierarchical regression indicated that hyperarousal symptoms account for more of the variance in dissociation than childhood sexual abuse. These results suggest that childhood sexual abuse may be involved in the development of dissociative symptoms in the context of adulthood stress reactions. Furthermore, the pattern of the association between dissociation and PTSD is consistent with the possibility of a dissociative PTSD subtype among HIV-positive men.

Objectives While some studies have examined the deleterious effects of childhood bullying on adults, no studies to date have focused on the effects of bullying on Persons Living with HIV (PLH), a particularly at-risk population. PLH experience higher rates of childhood and adulthood physical and sexual abuse than the population at large, and experience of childhood abuse appears to be predictive of sexual and other risk behaviors in this population. Thus it remains critical to examine rates of childhood bullying and correlates of bullying in adult PLH. Methods A sample of 171 HIV-positive men over 18 years of age were recruited from the San Francisco Bay Area. All participants reported experiencing symptoms of traumatic stress. The participants were recruited as part of a larger study assessing a group intervention for individuals with HIV and symptoms of trauma. Self-report questionnaires were administered to assess participants’ exposure to bullying in childhood and trauma symptoms in adulthood. Results Bullying was commonly reported by men in the current sample, with 91% of the sample endorsing having experienced some level of bullying before age 18. Having been bullied in childhood was significantly (p < .05) associated with methamphetamine use in adulthood, difficulties with mood, and with symptoms of trauma. Results of a hierarchical regression equation found that report of bullying in childhood predicted additional, unique variance in trauma symptoms in adulthood above and beyond the effect of exposure to other forms of trauma, resulting in a better-fitting model. Conclusions The current study highlights the association between rate of childhood bullying and symptoms of trauma in adulthood, accounting for the effect of exposure to other forms of trauma. Given the impact of trauma symptoms on disease progression in PLH, exposure to bullying must be considered in any intervention aiming to reduce trauma symptoms or improve mental or physical health among HIV-positive populations.

The consent process is an integral piece of research and evaluation studies, especially when conducted within a school setting. The challenge of reaching parents of students to obtain consent is an issue with which those conducting school-based studies grapple. The literature suggests that the success of the consent process can affect the representativeness of the sample. This study describes one consent approach and examines the demographic differences between the eligible population, the consenters and the refusers. Demographic differences were found between consenters and refusers and suggestions are offered for further research and for other researchers who conduct school-based projects.

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