Jana Rozehnalova

Background: Obesity represents a world-wide health problem. As yet, there is no gold standard treatment. Positive psychology (PP) has been successfully applied to psychological disorders and disturbances related to obesity. Research applying PP to address overweight and obesity is lacking.
Aims: This research aimed to develop a positive psychological intervention (PPI) for individuals with weight problems and assess its effectiveness on well-being and weight loss in non-clinical populations. Further aims were to identify potential molecular genetic pathways through which the PPI functions, and validate the intervention using OXTR gene expression as a model system.
Method: A 6-week PPI for weight management was delivered in two pilot studies (n=38) and a randomised controlled trial (RCT; n=20) to students and staff at an English University. Saliva samples were collected in weekly basis during the intervention sessions and qRT-PCR was used to analyse relative OXTR expression in the samples.
Results: Quantitative analyses of the pilot studies revealed significant increases in well-being and decreases in depression and anxiety. RCT findings revealed significant increases in well-being and decreases in anxiety in the intervention group. Differential gene expression analysis using a real time RT-PCR approach revealed significant increases in the OXTR gene expression levels in response to the intervention. Bioinformatic approaches revealed a number of genexgene interactions, elucidating potential novel molecular genetic pathways that may affect psychological wellbeing.
Conclusions: The current PPI made an effective contribution to mental health and overall well-being of participants in all three studies. The PPI may be able to modulate expression of genes related to positive psychological functioning, leading to increased well-being. Finally, it is proposed that the OXTR expression levels could be used as an experimental assay in validation of PPIs, promoting the practical legacy of PP.

Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Jana Rozenhalova.
Design/methodology/approach :
Jana provides a short summary of her life and is then interviewed by Jerome.
Findings :
Jana tells us about her long struggles with eating disorders and provides us with the metaphor that it is like being a broken cup glued back together again. You have to be very careful it does not break again.
Research limitations/implications :
Jana’s story is one, yet it offers us unique insights. She comments at one point, “[…] if it was not for the eating disorders […] I would not be me”.
Practical implications :
Jana notes that while she could see many reasons behind her eating disorders, they did not really matter. What mattered was that she could overcome them.
Social implications :
While Jana first thought hope was an empty word, she now realises in retrospect that she was more hopeful than anyone she knew. As Patricia Deegan (1996) puts it, “Hope is not just a nice sounding euphemism. Hope and biological life are inextricably intertwined” (p. 93).
Originality/value :
Jana concludes her account saying she would like to be able to look back at her life and feel that she had lived up to her potential. Most of us would also be happy with that outcome.