Perceptions of love and sex in young and middle Greek adults, relationship satisfaction and duration

Sexuality is perceived either as result or prerequisite of love or as working in tandem with love in romantic relationships. Hendrick & Hendrick (2002) proposed a theory and a measure capturing the lay perceptions of the love-sex link. The PLSS (Perceptions of Love and Sex Scale) comprises four themes/subscales, Love is Most Important, Love Comes Before Sex (“love themes”), Sex is Declining, Sex Demonstrates Love (“sex themes”). We examined the validity of PLSS in the Greek context, across two age-groups, young (18-40) and middle adults (41-65), and whether the themes predicted relationship satisfaction and duration. Greek participant (N=631) in romantic relationships responded online to the PLSS and other measures of relationship constructs (e.g., passionate, companionate love, sex, satisfaction). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the PLSS maintained its fourfold structure. The PLSS sexual themes correlated more strongly with relationship constructs than love themes. Young adult women stated that Sex was Declining less than middle adult ones and reported shorter relationships than men. Irrespective of age-group, Sex is (not) Declining, Love is Most Important, and Sex Demonstrates Love predicted satisfaction. Love Comes Before Sex and Sex is Declining predicted duration among young adults. Sex is Declining was the only predictor of duration among middle adults. Our findings suggest that love and sex work in tandem but sexual themes are more important for the Greek population. The study corroborated the validity of PLSS in the Greek context, demonstrating its sensitivity to capture cultural developments in conceptions of intimacy.

The iMPROVE Study; Design, Dietary Patterns, and Development of a Lifestyle Index in Overweight and Obese Greek Adults

Background: Dietary and lifestyle habits constitute a significant contributing factor in the formation of anthropometric and biochemical characteristics of overweight and obese populations. The iMPROVE study recruited overweight and obese Greek adults and investigated the effect of gene–diet interactions on weight management when adhering to a six-month, randomized nutritional trial including two hypocaloric diets of different macronutrient content. The present paper displays the design of the intervention and the baseline findings of the participants’ dietary habits and their baseline anthropometric and biochemical characteristics. Methods: Baseline available data for 202 participants were analyzed and patterns were extracted via principal component analysis (PCA) on 69-item Food-Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ). Relationships with indices at baseline were investigated by multivariate linear regressions. A Lifestyle Index of five variables was further constructed. Results: PCA provided 5 dietary patterns. The “Mixed” pattern displayed positive associations with logBMI and logVisceral fat, whereas the “Traditional, vegetarian-alike” pattern was nominally, negatively associated with body and visceral fat, but positively associated with HDL levels. The Lifestyle Index displayed protective effects in the formation of logBMI and logGlucose levels. Conclusions: Dietary patterns and a Lifestyle Index in overweight and obese, Greek adults highlighted associations between diet, lifestyle, and anthropometric and biochemical indices.

Awareness, Knowledge and Risky Behaviors of Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Young People in Greece

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affect mainly young individuals and cause health, social, and economic problems worldwide. The present study used a web questionnaire to assess the awareness, knowledge, sexual behaviors, and common practices regarding STDs in young Greek adults. The 1,833 individuals, aged 18–30 years, who responded to the study seem to be particularly knowledgeable regarding STDs such as AIDS (97.7%), warts (97%), Chlamydia (92.2%), genital herpes (89.9%), syphilis (81.9%), and gonorrhea (72.1%), whereas lower percentages were noted for trichomoniasis (39.3%), Molluscum contagiosum (12.9%), mycoplasmosis (11.6%), and amoebiasis (7.4%). Regarding oral STD transmission, participants replied correctly for genital herpes (45%), warts (35.8%), and AIDS (HIV; 33.8%), whereas 30.2% were unfamiliar with oral sexual transmission. Of the participants, 52% were not aware that STDs might cause infertility. Only 40.4% of the respondents reported always using condoms during sexual intercourse, and 48.6% had never been tested for STDs. The majority of the young population (55%) presented a moderate knowledge STD score (41–60%) and was associated with demographic parameters such as age, gender, sexual preference, number of sexual partners, and residence (p < 0.05). These findings provide important information regarding the prevention of STDs and highlight the significance of developing more effective sex education programs for young people in Greece.

An Epidemiological Study Report on the Antioxidant and Phenolic Content of Selected Mediterranean Functional Foods, Their Consumption Association with the Body Mass Index, and Consumers Purchasing Behavior in a Sample of Healthy Greek Adults

Functional food consumption is shown to have a positive effect on anthropometric parameters and human health promotion. In addition, consumers seem to be more interested in food choices, that may have a positive effect on their health. The current study aimed to identify the antioxidant and phenolic content of naturally functional foods from the Mediterranean diet and to investigate consumer behavior towards their consumption in terms of their weight control, as well as their purchasing behavior and knowledge of functional foods. For this purpose, blueberries, cranberries, pomegranate, grapefruit, red peppers, almonds and mountain tea were analyzed for their phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, using the Folin-Ciocalteau and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power assays, respectively. Furthermore, nine hundred forty-nine healthy Greek adults participated in an epidemiological study, by completing a validated food frequency questionnaire, for the consumption of the above investigated functional foods. Five hundred and fifty participants also completed an online questionnaire investigating factors that consumers evaluate when purchasing functional foods. Study results showed that the analyzed functional foods were high in antioxidants and phenolic compounds, especially the mountain tea. The increased consumption of cranberries, pomegranate, grapefruit, red peppers and mountain tea was significantly correlated with a decreased Body Mass Index, suggesting a possible positive role, in weight control. Participants seemed to be aware of the beneficial role of these specific investigated Mediterranean functional foods to human health. They evaluated the price, taste and nutritional value, as critical factors to buy these food products. A combination of factors seems to lead them to purchase and consume these functional foods. Future epidemiological and clinical studies should be conducted in order to further evaluate consumer preferences and bioactivity mechanisms related to Mediterranean functional food consumption.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among Greek adults: a cross-sectional survey

The COVID-19 virus characterised as a pandemic in 2020 at its outbreak around the world has been recorded to have severe effects on the global health and mental health. The current research is accomplished during the first period of the restrictive measures in Greece March – April 2020 and is aiming to evaluate the COVID-19 effect on mental health of the population. The STAI and DASS-21 questionnaires have been used in order to accomplish the aims of the study. The results (n = 527) show a moderate level on mental health status of the sample STAI-S: 45.8, STAI-T: 40.7, Depression: 4.6, Anxiety: 3.1 and Stress: 6.1. The research shows that women, younger respondents, lower income households and those living on smaller houses suffer from increased depression, anxiety and stress. Additionally, factors of the daily habits within the period of COVID-19 such as mask, gloves and use of antiseptic can drastically decrease illnesses of mental health. Such findings can be used from the Greek State in order to reduce the effects of COVID-19 in mental health of the population and protect the socially vulnerable groups.