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Biomedical subjects

L O Walker

Publications and source records attributed to L O Walker.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Is integrative science necessary to improve nursing practice?

This article explores integrative science as a perspective for overcoming intellectual barriers between nurses' valuing of the holistic person and the science and technology that drives advances in health care. Several meanings of integrative science are reflected in health science literature. One use of integrative science refers to comprehensive and unifying theories (or viewpoints) that draw together interrelated aspects of a field. Another use of integrative science pertains to efforts to formulate models that accommodate the special dualities that exist in studying humans. Integrative science as a perspective addresses overcoming intellectual separation of knowledge relevant to understanding of persons or populations by an open-ended sharing and juxtaposing of knowledge relevant to solving that problem. For nursing, integrative science may pose a threat to nursing knowledge. Failure to thrive, a nutritional and psychosocial phenomenon, is presented as an example of a topic manifesting the need for an integrative science perspective.

Holistic Health↗
PubMed1999

The construct of thriving in pregnancy and postpartum.

This article explores the construct of thriving as an integration of nutritional (manifested in weight), psychosocial, and lifestyle concerns of childbearing within the context of Orem's self-care deficit theory. Provisional definitions of thriving in pregnancy and postpartum are proposed. Preliminary dimensions of thriving in postpartum are based on factor analysis of weight, lifestyle, and psychosocial data from 145 women after childbirth. Four dimensions emerged: psychosocial distress, lifestyle patterns, a weight factor, and a body image factor. Although the dimensionality of postpartal thriving reported is preliminary, it provides a beginning foundation for assessment and intervention for postpartal women.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Weight-related distress in the early months after childbirth.

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of weight-related distress reported by new mothers and to explore associations of anthropometric and psychosocial variables with feelings about weight. New mothers' (N = 227) written descriptions of feelings about their weight were categorized using content analysis. More than 40% were somewhat satisfied with their weight, another 40% were mildly dissatisfied, and 8% experienced weight-related distress. Higher prepregnancy body mass index, larger gestational weight gain, higher current postpartum body mass index, less healthy lifestyle, and greater body image dissatisfaction were associated significantly with more dissatisfied/distressed feelings about weight. Results support the need for greater attention to the psychosocial significance of weight after childbirth.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Is a healthy lifestyle related to stress, parenting confidence, and health symptoms among new fathers?

A healthy lifestyle is widely recognized as important in preventing disease and disability. This study examined whether in the transition to fatherhood a healthy lifestyle was related to perceived stress, parenting confidence, and physical health symptoms. Survey data from 87 fathers were examined for relationships between lifestyle, measured by 6 subscales of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP), and perceived stress, parenting confidence, and health symptoms. In general, a healthier lifestyle, especially HPLP self-actualization and stress-management subscales, was related to less perceived stress, more parenting confidence, and fewer health symptoms. Higher HPLP nutrition and exercise scores were related to fewer health symptoms; higher exercise and seeking-interpersonal-support scores were related to higher parenting confidence. Also, higher social desirability scores, a confounding influence, were related to less perceived stress. The authors conclude that health-promotion behaviours may be an important personal resource in maintaining health and promoting well-being among new fathers.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Contributions of maternal identity and lifestyle to young children's adjustment.

Early child behavior problems have been related to later child adjustment. Therefore, it is important to study factors, such as maternal characteristics, which may affect early child behavior. Existing science stresses the import of maternal identity formation as a key aspect of the early mother-child relationship; however, recent evidence also shows that mothers' health-related lifestyles are salient to preschool children's healthy adjustment. The relative contributions of these two influences on children's behavioral adjustment were compared in a longitudinal mail study of new mothers. The sample consisted of two cohorts of mothers (6 or 12 months postpartum at recruitment) systematically selected (every third name) from published birth announcements in a midwestern newspaper. Maternal identity and lifestyle were both measured when children were 6 to 12 months and were used to predict child behavioral problems 2 years later (N = 122). Using path analysis, the influence of maternal identity and lifestyle on child behavior problems was tested within one model with maternal age, education, family income, and social desirability statistically controlled. The model provided an acceptable fit to the data. The hypothesis that maternal identity would be related to child behavior problems was not supported; however, maternal lifestyle was significantly related to child behavior problems. These findings support the relationship between the mother's health-related lifestyle and her young child's adjustment.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Weight and weight-related distress after childbirth: relationships to stress, social support, and depressive symptoms.

The aim of this study was to explore whether women's psychosocial context was related to weight status 1 year after childbirth. A survey sample of 149 women provided data on life-event stress, social support, and depressive symptoms; and three weight variables: body mass index, weight gain, and weight-related distress. Of the women, 32 (22%) reported gains of > or = 5 kg and 50 (34%) met the criterion for high depressive symptoms. Low social support, low income, and high depressive symptoms were related to higher weight gain. Women with gains > or = 5 kg reported high depressive symptoms (53% vs. 28%) more often than women with lesser gains. Women who reported lowered self-esteem because of weight also had higher depressive symptoms, body mass indexes, and weight gains than women with increased or unaffected self-esteem. This study points to the importance of incorporating women's psychosocial context into counseling about weight management after childbirth.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Toward an integrative science of women's health.

For too long, the health care of women has separated childbearing from health promotion and management of chronic health problems. A critical dimension of an integrative science of women's health is bringing together childbearing with women's health during the life span. This integration is needed in areas such as preconception care, reproductive weight management, and gestational diabetes. An integrative science enhances research promoting women's health and patterns of care aimed at disease prevention.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1996

Predictors of weight gain at 6 and 18 months after childbirth: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To test the contributions of life-style and stress to postpartum weight gain after controlling for sociodemographic and reproductive influences. DESIGN: Longitudinal mail survey with retrospective data on gestational weight gain and prospective data on postpartum weight gain. SETTING: Multicounty community in the midwestern United States. PARTICIPANTS: After deleting from the sample women who became pregnant again, had confounding medical conditions, or had missing weight data, the sample consisted of 88 predominantly white mothers at 6 months after childbirth and 75 predominantly white mothers at 18 months after childbirth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight gain at 6 and 18 months after childbirth. RESULTS: Maternal race and gestational weight gain accounted for significant amounts of variance in 6-month and 18-month postpartum weight gain. Neither life-style nor perceived stress contributed significantly to predicting postpartum weight gains. Gestational weight gain was the most important predictor of postpartum weight gain. CONCLUSIONS: Given the contribution of gestational weight gain to postpartum weight gain, further study is needed of high gestational weight gain.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Are maternal health behaviors related to preschool children's adjustment? A preliminary report.

Little is known about how parental health behaviors affect others within the family. This study examined the relationship of mothers' health behaviors to mothers' reports of their preschool children's mental health. Mothers (n = 89) of 2 and 3 year olds completed a mail survey assessing a variety of health related measures. Children's adjustment was assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist, a well established measure of child adjustment. The Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire and Perceived Stress Scale were also contained in the survey. Most mothers were white, married, and had attended college. After entering control variables (income, work status, and perceived stress) in regression analyses, mothers' overall health behaviors were significantly related to total child behavioral/emotional problems. These preliminary findings suggest that the health behaviors of mothers may be related to children's mental health, but the direction of the relationship should be tested further in longitudinal research.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Health and well-being of childbearing women in rural and urban contexts.

As part of the national focus on women's health issues, it is important to identify those health-related characteristics of rural women that distinguish them from women living in urban settings. The aim of this study was to compare rural and urban childbearing women on socioeconomic characteristics, perceived stress, health-related practices, illness symptoms, parenting confidence, and body weight. One hundred sixty-five midwestern women responded to a health survey sent to them six months after childbirth. Rural women were younger and less educationally and economically advantaged compared to urban women. Before adjusting for these differences, rural women were less self-actualized, more interpersonally isolated, and reported less healthy nutrition than urban women. These differences disappeared when socioeconomic differences were adjusted. Rural and urban mothers did not differ in most other areas, including perceived stress, parenting confidence, and body weight. Compared to national norms, the perceived stress levels of both rural and urban mothers were significantly higher than a probability sample of U.S. women. Findings support the role of socioeconomic factors as contributing to risk of poor health promotion among rural childbearing women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Well-being of mothers with infant children: a preliminary comparison of employed women and homemakers.

In general, research has demonstrated that employment has positive or neutral effects on women's mental and physical health. Stressors unique to full-time employed mothers of infants, however, may diminish their well-being. This study compared perceived stress levels and health-promotive lifestyles in a sample of full-time employed mothers and homemaking mothers. As expected, full-time employed mothers of infants reported greater perceived stress in their lives and less healthy lifestyles when they were compared with homemakers. The most frequently reported sources of stress for employed mothers of infants were conflicts or problems about returning to work. Findings support the hypothesis that full-time employed mothers of infants may adopt a pattern of self-neglect to cope with work overload.

Adult↗