Weight stigma—the devaluation of those with higher weight—is well-documented in health care settings. One common outcome of these experiences is avoidance of health care due to worry about being treated poorly for their weight gain. This avoidance of health care is a vigilance-based coping behavior, which is defined by anticipating a threat in a specific context and is marked by behavioral changes to avoid stigmatizing experiences. One supported predictor of health care avoidance is weight bias internalization or self-devaluation due to one’s body weight. This study explores a model in which weight stigma in health care is associated with maladaptive eating behaviors via health care avoidance, and the relationship between weight stigma in health care and health care avoidance is strongest for those high in weight bias internalization. Women were recruited to participate based on nationally (United States) representative quotas (N = 1,115). Moderated mediation tested whether weight stigma was both directly associated with each maladaptive eating behavior and indirectly associated with each eating behavior via health care avoidance due to weight. Findings supported the proposed model for all three maladaptive eating outcomes (i.e., uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, and restrictive dieting). These results support a health care specific model that explains how weight stigma, weight bias internalization, and health care avoidance interact to contribute to maladaptive eating behaviors

A hallmark symptom of many anxiety disorders, and multiple neuropsychiatric disorders more broadly, is generalization of fearful responses to non-fearful stimuli. Anxiety disorders are often comorbid with cardiovascular diseases. One established, and modifiable, risk factor for cardiovascular diseases is salt intake. Yet, investigations into how excess salt consumption affects anxiety-relevant behaviors remains little explored. Moreover, no studies have yet assessed how high salt intake influences generalization of fear. Here, we used adult C57BL/6J mice of both sexes to evaluate the influence of two or six weeks of high salt consumption (4.0% NaCl), compared to controls (0.4% NaCl), on contextual fear acquisition, expression, and generalization. Further, we measured osmotic and physiological stress by quantifying serum osmolality and corticosterone levels, respectively. Consuming excess salt did not influence contextual fear acquisition nor discrimination between the context used for training and a novel, neutral context when training occurred 48 prior to testing. However, when a four week delay between training and testing was employed to induce natural fear generalization processes, we found that high salt intake selectively increases contextual fear generalization in females, but the same diet reduces contextual fear generalization in males. These sex-specific effects were independent of any changes in serum osmolality nor corticosterone levels, suggesting the behavioral shifts are a consequence of more subtle, neurophysiologic changes. This is the first evidence of salt consumption influencing contextual fear generalization, and adds information about sex-specific effects of salt that are largely missing from current literature.

Funding from: Kent State University; Applied Psychology Center in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kent State University

Comparing health risks is challenging. We tested whether a worked-example intervention with number line (NL) visual displays improved adults’ risk comparison accuracy, whether pretest confidence moderated learning, and which individual differences related to accuracy. Replicating prior work, U.S. adults randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 883) were more accurate than control participants (n = 949) at solving health-related math problems with number line visual displays and a transfer problem without a visual display. One day later, most participants were accurate and there were no differences between conditions, potentially because participants with better math skills and attitudes participated at follow-up. However, there was a small effect on accuracy 1 day later among those who learned from the intervention. Adults were more likely to learn from the intervention if they made a low-confidence pretest error. Identifying as male, accurately estimating numbers on number lines, lower math anxiety, higher educational attainment, and being older were associated with greater risk comparison accuracy.

People with concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs)—when one possesses an identity that is devalued but can be hidden—report having high rates of poor health outcomes. Limited research examines how severity of a CSI (e.g., how much distress the CSI causes the person), or spontaneous self-affirmation (e.g., when one reaffirms themselves after a threatening experience) may be related to health among people with CSIs. Students from a large Midwestern University (N = 294) answered questions about their CSI (i.e., centrality, severity, active concealment), coping mechanisms (i.e., social support, spontaneous self-affirmation), and health (i.e., psychological and physical quality of life (QOL), life satisfaction). Using structural equation modeling, we found that severity was indirectly associated with lower life satisfaction through higher active concealment, lower social support, and lower psychological quality of life. Severity did not directly impact psychological quality of life. Spontaneous self-affirmation was indirectly associated with greater life satisfaction through greater psychological quality of life. This model illustrates how amplifiers (i.e., severity, centrality, active concealment) and potential coping mechanisms (i.e., social support, spontaneous self-affirmation) impact health downstream in individuals with CSIs.

Human nutrition, and what can be considered “ideal” nutrition, is a complex, multi-faceted topic which many researchers and practitioners deliberate. While some attest that basic human nutrition is relatively understood, it is undeniable that a global nutritional problem persists. Many countries struggle with malnutrition or caloric deficits, while others encounter difficulties with caloric overconsumption and micronutrient deficiencies. A multitude of factors contribute to this global problem. Limitations to the current scope of the recommended daily allowances (RDAs) and dietary reference intakes (DRIs), changes in soil quality, and reductions in nutrient density are just a few of these factors. In this article, we propose a new, working approach towards human nutrition designated “Foundational Nutrition”. This nutritional lens combines a whole food approach in conjunction with micronutrients and other nutrients critical for optimal human health with special consideration given to the human gut microbiome and overall gut health. Together, this a synergistic approach which addresses vital components in nutrition that enhances the bioavailability of nutrients and to potentiate a bioactive effect.

Biomaterials cover and are an integral part of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields. They are crucial to mimic endogenous tissue responses and help to eliminate high research costs and ethical concerns that come with 2D systems and animal models. In this study, we present a co-culturing system wherein neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) and oligodendrocyte (MO3.13) cell lines grow within both a caprolactone-based 3D elastomer and liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) scaffolding. We also demonstrate that LCE scaffolds promote maturation and differentiation of both cell lines alone, and in co-culturing fashion as they provide a suitable 3D in vitro environment to study myelination. Additionally, we validate that these scaffolds are suitable for primary cell growth and proliferation using neurons, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) and astrocytes. Our data suggest that responsive LCE scaffolds can effectively impact cellular function, differentiation, and myelination of co-cultured cell lines, allowing the mimicry of a more endogenous environment and providing support for long term studies to manipulate cellular crosstalk.