No abstract

Objective: This review discusses the current knowledge and future directions regarding obesity within the US military family (i.e., active-duty servicemembers, as well as military spouses, children, retirees, and veterans). The increasing rates of overweight and obesity within the US military adversely impact military readiness, limit recruitment, and place a significant financial burden on the Department of Defense. Design and Methods: The following topics are reviewed: 1) The prevalence of and the financial, physical, and psychological costs associated with overweight in military communities; 2) military weight regulations, and challenges faced by the military family related to overweight and disordered eating; 3) the continued need for rigorous program evaluations and new intervention development. Results: Overweight and its associated sequelae impact the entire military family. Military families share many similarities with their civilian counterparts, but they face unique challenges (e.g., stress related to deployments and relocations). Although the military has weight management resources, there is an urgent need for rigorous program evaluation and the development of enhanced obesity prevention programs across the lifespan of the military family-several of which are proposed herein. Conclusions: Interdisciplinary and collaborative research efforts and team-based interventions will continue to inform understanding of obesity treatment and prevention within military and civilian populations.

Critical parenting behaviors are associated with preadolescents' psychological well-being, which has implications for self-care. Clinical implications include decreasing critical parenting behaviors and monitoring preadolescents with T1D for depressive symptoms.

The social networks of adult gay men play important roles in both the promotion and prevention of health risk. The current investigation had 2 primary goals. First, this study examined the existence of gay peer crowds using the opinions of a large (N ϭ 340) online sample of self-identified gay men. Second, it explored how these peer crowd affiliations may be differentially related to health risk. All participants provided demographic information, opinions regarding the existence of gay peer crowds, and subjective ratings of identification with each crowd. Information regarding marijuana and other drug use, binge drinking, smoking, unprotected sex, and steroid use was also collected. The majority of men surveyed believed in the existence of gay peer crowds. Identifying with Circuit Partiers, Bears, Muscle Boys, Granolas, and Goths was related to adverse health behaviors. Low-risk peer crowd affiliations included Suburbans, Professionals, Twinks, and Activists. These effects were above and beyond those of age, income, and education. Implications for future research and intervention efforts with gay men are discussed.

Objective The current study assessed relations among maternal depressive symptoms, poorer youth diabetes adherence, and glycemic control. Specifically, hypothesized mediating links of lowered expectations of parental involvement, less parental monitoring and more conflict were examined. Methods Participants included 225 mothers and their young adolescents, aged 11–14 years (M = 12.73 years, SD = 1.2) diagnosed with T1D. Maternal depressive symptoms and outcome expectancies for maternal involvement were evaluated with self-report questionnaires. Multi-source, parent/youth, and multi-method assessment of adherence, parental monitoring, and conflict were evaluated during a baseline assessment from a larger randomized clinical trial. Results The first hypothesized structural equation model demonstrated a good fit and indicated that more maternal depressive symptoms were directly associated with less parental monitoring and more conflict, which in turn each were associated with poorer adherence and glycemic control. Although higher involvement expectancies were associated with more monitoring and less conflict, they were not associated with other model variables. A second alternative model also fit the data well; poorer youth adherence was associated with more conflict that in turn related to maternal depressive symptoms. Conclusions Two models were tested by which maternal depressive symptoms and poorer youth adherence were interrelated via less monitoring and more conflict. Follow-up longitudinal evaluation can best characterize the full extent of these relations.