Internet Daters’ Body Type Preferences: Race–Ethnic and Gender Differences

Employing a United States sample of 5,810 Yahoo heterosexual internet dating profiles, this study finds race–ethnicity and gender influence body type preferences for dates, with men and whites significantly more likely than women and non-whites to have such preferences. White males are more likely than non-white men to prefer to date thin and toned women, while African-American and Latino men are significantly more likely than white men to prefer female dates with thick or large bodies. Compatible with previous research showing non-whites have greater body satisfaction and are less influenced by mainstream media than whites, our findings suggest Latinos and African Americans negotiate dominant white idealizations of thin female bodies with their own cultures’ greater acceptance of larger body types.     

Emotional exchange in mother-child dyads: stability, mutual influence, and associations with maternal depression and child problem behavior.

This study examined the stability of the child and maternal affective expression and maternal responsiveness and the mutual influence of child and maternal expression of emotion. The authors tested whether maternal depression and child problem behavior were associated with the pattern of emotional exchange within the mother-child dyads. The sample consisted of 69 mother-child dyads (children aged 2-5 years), with 32 of the mothers having childhood-onset depression. Mothers were mostly stable in their affective expression (positive and negative) and responsiveness, whereas children were only stable in positive expression. Within the dyads, mothers seemed to play a more important role in regulating children's later emotional expression. Maternal depression was associated with concurrent maternal responsiveness and their reduced positive expression over time. Results are discussed in relation to the differential function of parental general positivity and responsiveness and the interpersonal transmission of emotional problems.     

Subjective reports of stimulus,response, and decision times in speeded tasks: How accurate are decision time reports?

Four experiments examined how accurately participants can report the times of their own decisions. Within an auditory reaction time (RT) task, participants reported the time at which (a) the tone was presented, (b) they decided on the response, or (c) the response key was pressed. Decision time reports were checked for plausibility against the actual RTs, and we compared the effects of experimental manipulations on these two measures to see whether the reported decision times showed appropriate effects. In addition, we estimated the amount of error associated with individual decision time reports by checking how often participants’ decision time reports were implausibly early (i.e., before stimulus onset) or late (i.e., after response), and by using several quantitative models. Overall, the results suggest that decision time reports are not very accurate but they may be usable for some purposes.     

The Application of Behavior Change Theory to Family-Based Services: Improving Parent Empowerment in Children’s Mental Health

We describe the development of a parent empowerment program (PEP) using a community-based participatory research approach. In collaboration with a group of dedicated family advocates working with the Mental Health Association of New York City and state policy makers, academic researchers took an iterative approach to crafting and refining PEP to better prepare family advocates to help bridge the gaps in service access among children with emotional and behavioral problems. Despite the growth of family-led, family support programs nationally, research that demonstrates the positive benefits of such programs is scarce in the children’s mental health literature. The PEP model is based on research data about barriers families face in mental health service utilization (e.g., stigma, perceptions of providers, attitudes towards mental illness, service availability, etc.). PEP is premised on (a) the concept of empowerment as a process, (b) the need to engage parents in becoming active agents of change, and (c) the application of an integrated framework to empower parents, called the Parents as Agents of Change model. Our paper focuses on describing the application of a Unified Theory of Behavior Change as a theoretical framework to help activate parents as change agents in meeting their children’s mental health needs. Based on an integrated model of grassroots driven Principles of Parent Support and research-based Unified Theory of Behavior Change, PEP’s Parents as Agents of Change model provides a conceptual framework for testing the effectiveness of family support services in children’s mental health, a much-needed area for future research.     

The availability and importance of Denominational Support Services as perceived by Clergy Husbands and their wives

Previous research by Morris and Blanton (1994b) used the Denominational Support Service Checklist (DSSC) to determine whether or not denominations were providing support services in any organized/systematic way to the clergy and their wives in their denomination. The DSSC has a yes/no format containing 21 support services that are divided into four areas of support. The four areas of support services included psychological services (3), career development services (6), family oriented services (7), and financial services (5). As a follow-up to the previous study, the purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of clergy husbands and their wives regarding the availability and importance of support services provided by their sponsoring denomination. The sample of the study included 136 ordained married clergy males and their non-clergy spouses (n=272) randomly selected from six denominations in the United States. The six denominations included the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC); Lutheran Missouri Synod (LMS); Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee (COG); Seventhday Adventists (SDA); the American Baptist Church (ABC); and the Episcopal Church (EC). Each husband and wife completed The Perceived Availability of Denominational Support Services (PADSS) and The Perceived Importance of the Denominational Support Service (PIDSS). The PADSS has a yes/no format and the PIDSS is a 3 point Likert-type questionnaire that corresponds identically (e.g., 21 items divided into four support areas) with the DSSC. Findings from the study indicated that a majority of clergy and their wives perceived that their sponsoring denominations were not making available those services that they perceived were important. Additionally, gender differences in reports of availability and importance were found indicating that some denominations may not be providing support services that enhance the quality tof life for the entire clergy family system. Recommendations and suggestions are made to encourage and guide denominations in providing support services for clergy families.