An examination of pre-wedding body image concerns in brides and bridesmaids

This study examined the prevalence of appearance and weight-related concerns in brides (N=347) and bridesmaids (N=122). Participants completed a short questionnaire on their pre-wedding beauty preparation plans at two bridal expos held in Adelaide, South Australia. Over 50% of participants planned to lose weight before the wedding, 40% intended to go on a diet, and around 67% indicated that they planned to exercise more. More than 10% of participants had been told by others that they should lose weight for the wedding. Looking good on the wedding day was seen as extremely important for both brides and bridesmaids, with 'for the wedding photos' the most highly cited reason. These results illustrate the focus on appearance in general, and on weight in particular, surrounding contemporary weddings.     

The Kosovar sponsoring experience in Northern Alberta

We examine the experiences of sponsors who assisted Kosovar refugees in Northern Alberta. Although the sponsors of the Kosovars did not provide basic financial support to the refugees, many found their role to be onerous, particularly in terms of emotional investment and demands on their time. They would have liked more opportunity to debrief and to have contact with other experienced sponsors. Some of the sponsors' initial expectations of the Kosovars were at odds with reality; conversely, many sponsors felt that the refugees had unrealistic expectations of them and of life in Canada. Recommendations are made for future sponsoring arrangements.     

Suicidality Among Adolescent Alberta Indians

A high rate of suicide attempts and suicide ideation characterized a sample of 229 grade 7 to 9 adolescents resident on seven reserves in central Alberta. The prevalence of suicidality for these adolescent Indians was very similar to rates reported for Navajo youth and for 8th- and 10th-grade American non-Indian students. Comparison of Indian and non-Indian suicidality risk factors showed somewhat elevated levels of family disruption and psychological problems among Indian adolescents. Compared to Canadian nonadolescents, substance abuse levels were high, and conditions necessary to modeling were virtually omnipresent. Suicide ideation was significantly elevated for Indian adolescents with low psychological well-being, no father in the home, and a prior suicide in the household. Controlling for age, risk factors for suicide attempts were heavy alcohol use, no father in the home, sleeping problems, and low psychological well-being. The high rates of adolescent Native suicide imply that a much higher proportion of their suicide attempts succeed. Targeted, community-based counselling and educational programs are needed to address these problems.     

Counselor Training in Canada: An Alberta Approach

This article examines the initiatives of the Alberta/Northwest Territories Region of Employment and Immigration Canada in the implementation and continuing development of employment counselor training within the context of changing economic conditions and policy changes. Initiatives have included innovative group approaches, a program of competence maintenance and enhancement, and the development of an accountability framework for employment counseling. Future directions for training are also examined.     

The Political Justification of Migrant Workers in Alberta,Canada

Considering a series of oil-driven economic booms, the use of inter-provincial and international migrant labour has become an important part of labour market policy in the Canadian province of Alberta. The increased use of temporary foreign workers is controversial. Narrative analysis of legislators’ statements in the legislature and the press between 2000 and 2011 reveals the government using three narratives to justify policies encouraging greater use of foreign migrant workers: (1) labour shortages require migrant workers, (2) migrants do not threaten Canadian jobs and (3) migrants are not being exploited. Close scrutiny of each narrative demonstrates them to be largely invalid. This suggests a significant disconnect between the real and espoused reasons for the significant changes to labour market policy, changes that advantage employers and disadvantage both Canadian and foreign workers. The findings are relevant to understand the political dynamics of economically related migration.     

On the (mis)categorization of unattractive brides and attractive prostitutes: extending evaluative congruency effects to social category activation

Numerous studies have shown that social categorization is a flexible process that partly depends on contextual variables. However, little is known about the role of affect in people's access to categorical dimensions. We investigated the hypothesis that social category activation is facilitated on evaluatively congruent dimensions. Two studies provide support for this evaluative-matching hypothesis, in which social categorization was found to be faster and more accurate for evaluatively congruent categories (i.e., unattractive foreigners, unattractive prostitutes, attractive fellow-citizens and attractive brides) than for evaluatively incongruent categories (i.e., attractive foreigners, attractive prostitutes, unattractive fellow-citizens and unattractive brides). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

NUANCE: Naturalistic University of Alberta Nonlinear Correlation Explorer

In this article, we describe the Naturalistic University of Alberta Nonlinear Correlation Explorer (NUANCE), a computer program for data exploration and analysis. NUANCE is specialized for finding nonlinear relations between any number of predictors and a dependent value to be predicted. It searches the space of possible relations between the predictors and the dependent value by using natural selection to evolve equations that maximize the correlation between their output and the dependent value. In this article, we introduce the program, describe how to use it, and provide illustrative examples. NUANCE is written in Java, which runs on most computer platforms. We have contributed NUANCE to the archival Web site of the Psychonomic Society (www.psychonomic.org/archive), from which it may be freely downloaded.     

Suicide in rural communities

The public image of rural areas being characterized by social stability, integration, and supportive interpersonal networks has been challenged with recent evidence showing a large increase in the suicide rate in these areas. Increases have been reported for a number of European countries, including Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, and Ireland. This paper reviews the evidence relating to those groups at risk of suicide. The group at most risk of committing suicide in rural areas is males between the ages of 25 and 60, who are unemployed and live alone, and who have a history of psychological disturbance. These findings are discussed in relation to the psychological implications of socio-economic changes brought about by changes in the Common Agriculture Policy of the European Community.     

Licensure of Internationally Educated Nurses Seeking Professional Careers in the Province of Alberta in Canada

While the regulation of nursing practice through licensure ensures that nurses meet minimum standards for safe competent and ethical care, it also inhibits integration of immigrant internationally educated nurses (IENs) into the Canadian professional labour market. With projections of significant nurse workforce shortages by 2010, there is impetus to enhance the numbers of licensed professional nurses through multiple strategies. The licensure processes and accompanying tensions in the Canadian context are described. As professional nurse licensure in Canada is a provincial responsibility, the situation in the Province of Alberta is used as an example. Suggestions for policy development and research include needs for better data and for gender-based analysis to address barriers to IEN licensure. The ability to practice in one’s chosen profession can be a major factor in integration of immigrants into Canadian society and thus a powerful factor in attraction and retention of highly skilled immigrants.     

Socio-Cultural Determinants of Physical Activity among Latin American Immigrant Women in Alberta,Canada

Acculturation has been associated with decreased physical activity among immigrants. This study assessed the process of changing physical activity patterns within the context of Latin American immigrant women’s migration experiences to Canada. Using the ecological model of health promotion, we applied a mixed methods research design. Thirty-six Latin American immigrant women, 18 recent (<10 years in Canada) and 18 non-recent (>10 years in Canada), participated. Six focus groups and 14 in-depth individual interviews were conducted. The Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire was administered. Overall, 86 % of the participants reported gaining weight since coming to Canada. Participants reported becoming more sedentary upon arriving in Canada. Only 27.3 % of recent and 41.7 % of non-recent immigrant women were considered sufficiently physically active. Lack of time, resources, social support, and migration stress were identified as key barriers to physical activity. Migration stress associated with social integration barriers strongly influence physical activity among Latin American immigrant women.     

University of Alberta norms of relative meaning frequency for 566 homographs

For many models of lexical ambiguity resolution, relative frequency of the different meanings of homographs (words with more than one meaning) is crucial. Although several homograph association norms have been published in the past, none has involved a large number of subjects responding to a large number of homographs, and most homograph norming studies are now at least a decade old. In Experiment l, associations to 566 homographs were collected from an average of 192 subjects per homograph. Frequency of occurrence for the three most common meanings is reported, along with the corresponding associates, and a measure of the overall ambiguity of each homograph. Homographs whose meanings differed in part of speech were more ambiguous overall than homographs whose different meanings belonged to a single grammatical class. Homographs whose pronunciation depended on meaning (heterophones) were no more ambiguous than nonheterophones, and word frequency was unrelated to overall ambiguity. Estimates of homograph balance across different norming studies were compared, and homographs with two meanings of approximately equal relative meaning frequency (balanced homographs) and homographs with one clearly dominant meaning (polarized homographs) were identified. In Experiment 2, reliability of meaning categorizations was measured for a subset of the homographs in the first experiment. Meaning categorizations were shown to be highly reliable across raters.     

Skilled Immigrants and the Negotiation of Family Relations During Settlement in Calgary,Alberta

When re-establishing their lives in Canada, international migrants with dependent children regularly encounter dramatically different conditions for family life. The parents’ employment situation, the limited availability of extended kin to help with child rearing, and a multicultural and relatively more permissive social environment, all of these invite or even demand changes in newcomers’ family practices. Yet, more information is needed about the ways in which skilled immigrants negotiate the changed conditions for work and family life in this country, and the impact this has on family dynamics during settlement. Drawing on data from interviews with 30 skilled immigrants living in Calgary, Alberta, this paper explores how coming to Canada impacted participants’ situations of paid work, parenting practices, and familial gender relations. Findings suggest that strained economic and social resources often limited the extent to which mothers and fathers were able to maintain an organization of family life similar to what they had established in their country of origin. However, while in some cases, shifts in family formation caused heightened levels of stress and strain and further entrenched the doing of conventional gender roles, in others, changed conditions acted as a catalyst for positive change. The tools that eased the burdens of settlement for some are explored, and recommendations are made for how to better support newcomer families.     

Families and schools in rural appalachia

A literature review revealed conceptual elements and approaches that have been productive in the study of rural education and rural families and children as they interface with schools. The Appalachian region is considered relative to these same issues. For nearly two decades the Appalachian Educational Laboratory has pursued systematic research and development aimed at improving the effectiveness of rural education by strengthening working linkages between families and schools. This programmatic work is summarized in order to illustrate--through both its breadth and specificity--the continual interchange which necessarily occurs between research and successful community practice. Implications and recommendations are considered.