Dr. Linda Mintle

Author: Dr. Linda

  • Video Games: Does the Violence Matter?

    We’ve come a long way from Pong and Pac Man when it comes to video games.  According to studies published in the April 2000 edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, violent video games can increase aggressive behavior.

    Here are the results. One study wanted to answer the question; if people are exposed to violent video games over time, will they show more aggression? The answer is yes. Not only did aggressive behavior increase with violent video playing, but so did delinquent behavior. This means that the more people played violent games, the more likely they were to be aggressive and delinquent-not a good outcome. This relationship was stronger in men and people with aggressive personality traits.

    In addition, academic achievement was poorer for those college students who had a long time history of playing video games (any kind of video game not just violent video games). College students were chosen for the study because they were old enough to have long -term histories of playing video games. While college students don’t represent all students, this information is still useful. Additional studies are needed to see if this same finding applies to high school kids as well.

    What should we learn from these studies? Playing video games may hamper academic achievement–not something most parents will be thrilled to hear. Secondly, aggression and delinquency can result from long term playing of violent video games-another negative finding.

    The concerns of many parents are real even though the media downplays the impact of these games on kids. Exposure to these games can increase aggressive behavior. These games aren’t just entertainment. They have the potential to harm. Let’s look to the research for answers and not listen to the opinions of those profiting from sales.

    Anderson, Craig A. & Dill, Karen E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,78(4), 772790.

  • Transition to Parenthood: Marital Friendship Reduces Stress

    The transition to parenthood, even when desired, is not easy for most couples. We know from previous research that marriages are vulnerable following the birth of a baby. Marital satisfaction usually decreases. Couples face more conflict and usually have less positive communication. The question then is what helps couples prevent this normal developmental change from becoming so stressful?

    Researchers Shapiro and Gottman attempted to find out by studying a group of couples who did and did not have children during the first six years of marriage. What they found reinforced previous research– wives who had children reported less marital satisfaction than wives who did not become parents. The lowered satisfaction rates for over half the wives occurred a year after birth. For a small percentage (15%), satisfaction decreased two years post-birth.

    Husbands who had children were also less satisfied with their marriages compared to those who did not have children. However, the difference between the two groups of husbands was not significant.

    The researchers also studied the group of couples who became parents but remained stable or increased on measures of marital satisfaction. What was different about these couples? What was it that helped buffer the stress of having a new baby?

    What they found was interesting. Marital friendship was key and included these two things: 1) Spouses had a level of awareness about their partner, his/her life and the couple relationship 2) Husbands admired and were fond of their wives. Marital friendship seemed to ward off the stress of transition to parenthood.

    So if you want to buffer your marital relationship from stress, build your friendship. Focus on things you admire and respect about your spouse. Get to know your spouses’ interests, go on dates, talk, have fun together and enjoy each others company.

    Like most friendships, the more time you spend getting to intimately know the person, the deeper the friendship can go. And in marriage, close friendship has a positive effect on countering stress.

  • Featured Blogger on beliefnet

    Dr. Linda entertains, educates and helps with real answers for real life as a featured blogger on beliefnet: http://blog.beliefnet.com/doinglifetogether/

  • Cut the Fat?

    Surgical treatment for obesity is often recommended for patients whose obesity is refractory or have obesity-related conditions that pose serious health consequences. Surgical intervention is reserved for those with a BMI (body mass index) of 40 or greater, or a BMI of at least 35 with obesity related health conditions.

    The two most used procedures are gastric bypass and gastric restriction. Surgery related death is less than 1% for low-risk patients, and less than 2% for high-risk patients for either procedure. The goal of surgery is to reduce the stomach reservoir so that a sense of fullness is gained from a smaller volume of food. Obviously with less food intake, weight loss occurs.

    Surgery can achieve maintainable losses of 40% to 60% of pre-surgery weight. But weight loss is a complicated psychological as well as physical feat. Unfortunately, the psychological state of a patient is not always considered when recommending this option. Increasingly, more surgeons are interested in psychological screenings for medically qualified patients. Far too many surgeries are still performed without taking this necessary step.

    Positive personality changes can accompany weight loss (Stunkard et al., 1986). Patients often report feeling less helpless, more stable, improved mood, etc. Other patients experience negative psychological post-operative changes (Loewig,1993). It is unsound practice not to screen for possible negative effects.

    We know that those who have surgery for medical reasons do better than those who undergo surgery for psychosocial reasons.

    So we need to ask:
    What does weight loss mean to a patient?
    What are his/her expectations?
    Are there serious pre-operative psychological problems?
    Will weight loss negatively affect the person’s psychological functioning?

    For example, those with severe psychological disturbance may see surgery as the end-all to their problems. When post surgery weight loss occurs and psychological disturbances remain, patients can dive into depression and other psychological disorders.

    Some patients have used obesity to cover traumatic events such as sexual abuse. When pounds are dropped, they feel vulnerable and scared. If fear and anxiety were channeled through food and food is no longer available as a coping mechanism, problems can arise.

    Obese people who spend years fighting social discrimination, attacks on self-esteem, and rejection may view surgery as a way to gain an acceptable body. When the physical body conforms to social expectation, the attention can be overwhelming and difficult to handle.

    Furthermore, many obese patients do not know how to determine their internal emotional states. They often see all needs as hunger needs. Emotional based eating does not go away with surgical weight loss.

    The key, then, is to screen patients for psychological issues prior to surgery and address those issues in an attempt to avoid negative long-term effects. It appears that those who do best with weight reduction via surgical treatment are those who are psychologically healthy.

    Stunkard, A. et al. (1986) Psychological and social aspects of surgical treatment of obesity. American Journal of Psychiatry. 143: 4, 417-429.

    Loewig, T. et al. (1993). Gastric banding for morbid obesity. International Journal

  • Is Beauty the Beast?

    “I never thought about how magazines influence my feelings about my body. I look at the models and sometimes read the articles. I’m interested in fashion and want to stay in style. But lately I’ve been obsessing on different body parts. It seems no matter what I do, I don’t look like the models I see. I’ve been feeling depressed. My mom is worried because I started dieting. She says I’m not fat.”

    Many teens I see in therapy struggle with body image disturbance. Their bodies become their enemies—not good enough to win them acceptance or popularity. They falsely believe that a “killer” body is the key to love.

    Adolescence is a time girls reorganize internally while trying to conform externally. Their style has to be uniquely their own while conforming to a certain look. Girls are acutely aware of the physical appearance of other girls. Comparisons abound and are not limited to peers. The glamorized icons of pop culture set the standard. It is easy to feel less than perfect.

    Despite all the efforts of the women’s movement, girls still give others tremendous power over feelings of self-worth. Those who don’t have good self-esteem and lack self-worth are particularly susceptible to negative pressure from peers and media.

    While parents still constitute the single most important influence in the life of a teen, media influence. For many teens, media fill in the gap. For teens who don’t have strong parent connections, media become the teaching parent. Teens try to imitate attractive models whose photos have been airbrushed and computer altered. When they don’t match the glamorous photos they regularly stare at, dissatisfaction with the body results.

    Early on, girls learn the lesson that appearance matters. This message reinforced by magazines and other media is internalized and often leads to preoccupation with beauty and the perfect body. Salmons et al, (1988) conducted a school survey of children ages 11 to 13 years. Most girls worried about the shape of their stomachs and thighs. Other studies have documented the preoccupation of young girls with dieting despite the fact that they aren’t fat.

    Our culture says perfect bodies are to be worshipped. The American body has been glamorized to idol proportion. But parents can influence daughters to accept their imperfect bodies. Try these suggestions to help correct those distortions:

    · Educate your daughter about the use of computer altering, make-up, hairstylists and airbrushed photos in magazines. Teens need to know most people don’t look like those photos without a lot of extra help.

    · Compliment your daughters for things unrelated to beauty and looks.

    · Moms, don’t criticize your own body for its imperfections in front of your daughters and stop your endless dieting.

    · Help your daughter find her true identity in Christ by filling her with the Word so she finds her identity in Christ.

    · Work on the internal parts of her character development. Inner beauty goes a long way in life and doesn’t fade with age.

    · Limit exposure to unhealthy media images as much as possible.

    · Show your daughter how to maximize her physical appearance without becoming obsessive and spending hours on make-up and hair. Good grooming differs from obsessing.

    · Talk to daughters about the dangers of body image disturbance as a precursor to eating disorders.