Selective visual attention for ugly and beautiful body parts in eating disorders

Body image disturbance is characteristic of eating disorders, and current treatments use body exposure to reduce bad body feelings. There is however little known about the cognitive effects of body exposure. In the present study, eye movement registration (electroculography) as a direct index of selective visual attention was used while eating symptomatic and normal control participants were exposed to digitalized pictures of their own body and control bodies. The data showed a decreased focus on their own 'beautiful' body parts in the high symptomatic participants, whereas inspection of their own 'ugly' body parts was given priority. In the normal control group a self-serving cognitive bias was found: they focused more on their own 'beautiful' body parts and less on their own 'ugly' body parts. When viewing other bodies the pattern was reversed: high symptom participants allocated their attention to the beautiful parts of other bodies, whereas normal controls concentrated on the ugly parts of the other bodies. From the present findings the hypothesis follows that a change in the processing of information might be needed for body exposure to be successful.     

Stability of attachment during the preschool period

Children's attachment patterns at early preschool age and 2 years later as well as factors related to stability-instability were examined in a diverse socioeconomic status French Canadian sample of 120 children. Attachment was assessed during 2 laboratory visits using separation-reunion procedures when the children were approximately 3.5 (J. Cassidy & R. S. Marvin, 1992) and 5.5 (M. Main & J. Cassidy, 1988) years old. Overall, stability of attachment, based on 4-way classification, was moderate (68%, k = .47, p = .01). Change from security to disorganization was associated with the most dramatic decline in interactive quality with mother, lowest marital satisfaction, and greatest likelihood of severe attachment-related family events, namely, loss and parental hospitalization. Families of children who changed from security to organized insecurity presented levels of caregiving and marital dissatisfaction that fell between those of stable secure children and secure children who changed toward disorganization.     

Premarital Sexual Debut in Emerging Adults of South Asian Descent: The Role of Parental Sexual Socialization and Sexual Attitudes

Ethnicity is an important factor in premarital sexual debut as norms regarding appropriate sexual conduct outside of marriage vary considerably across cultures. Emerging adults of South Asian descent living in Western societies are an important demographic group, yet little is known about the factors that contribute to variations in their premarital sexual debut. The goal of this study was to investigate the contributions of parental sexual socialization and attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors to premarital sexual debut in emerging adults of South Asian descent. University students of South Asian descent (N = 87) aged 18–24 completed a questionnaire containing measures of parental attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, their own attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, and experience with oral sex and intercourse. Mediation analyses showed that perceptions of mothers’ as more permissive toward premarital sexual behaviors was associated with respondents reporting more permissive attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, which in turn was associated with a greater likelihood of having engaged in oral sex and intercourse. No significant effect was found for fathers. These findings suggest that parental sexual socialization may influence emerging adults of South Asian descent’s decision to engage in premarital sexual behaviors through the process of sexual attitudes formation.     

Parallel development of ERP and behavioural measurements of visual segmentation

Visual segmentation, a process in which elements are integrated into a form and segregated from the background, is known to differ from adults at infancy. The further developmental trajectory of this process, and of the underlying brain mechanisms, during childhood and adolescence is unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the developmental trajectory of ERP reflections of visual segmentation, and to relate this to behavioural performance. One hundred and eleven typically developing children from 7 to 18 years of age were divided into six age groups. Each child performed two visual tasks. In a texture segmentation task, the difference in event‐related potential (ERP) response to homogeneous (no visual segmentation) and checkered stimuli (visual segmentation) was investigated. In addition, behavioural performance on integration of elements into contours was measured. Both behavioural and ERP measurements of visual segmentation differed from adults in 7–12 year‐old children. Behaviourally, young children were less able to integrate elements into a contour than older children. In addition, a developmental change was present in the ERP pattern evoked by homogeneous versus checkered stimuli. The largest differences in behaviour and ERPs were found between 7–8‐ and 9–10‐, and between 11–12‐ and 13–14‐year‐old children, indicating the strongest development between those age groups. Behavioural as well as ERP measurements at 13–14 years of age showed similar results to those of adults. These results reveal that visual segmentation continues to develop until early puberty. Only by 13–14 years of age, children do integrate and segregate visual information as adults do. These results can be interpreted in terms of functional connectivity within the visual cortex.     

Abstract reasoning and the interpretation of basic conditionals

Studies examining the interpretation that is given to if–then statementstypically use what are referred to as basic conditionals, which give contextless relations between two unrelated concrete terms (If the ball is blue, then the shape is square). However, there is some evidence that basic conditionals require a more abstract form of representation. In order to examine this, we presented participants with truth-table tasks involving either basic conditionals or conditionals referring to imaginary categories (If it is a bori, then it has red wings), and standard conditional inference tasks with abstract and familiar premises. As expected, fewer typical defective conditional interpretations were given to basic conditionals. In addition, partial correlations showed a unique relationship between the interpretation of basic conditionals and abstract inferential reasoning. Results suggest that people process basic conditionals as a form of abstract reasoning, and that the interpretation of conditionals must consider the semantic context.     

Suicide Intervention Skills and Related Factors in Community and Health Professionals

Health and community professionals have considerable exposure to suicidal people and need to be well skilled to deal with them. We assessed suicide intervention skills with a Dutch version of the SIRI in 980 health and community professionals and psychology students. Suicide intervention skills clearly differed among professional groups and were strongly related to experience, especially suicide‐specific experience. Some community professionals scored below acceptable levels on their ability to respond appropriately to suicidal people they encounter, and tended to overestimate their skills level. Training is therefore indicated for these groups, and may be useful to more highly experienced groups too.     

Patient Suicide: The Experience of Flemish Psychiatrists

The experience of the most distressing patient suicide on Flemish psychiatrists is described. Of 584 psychiatrists, 107 filled a self‐report questionnaire. Ninety‐eight psychiatrists had been confronted with at least one patient suicide. Emotional suffering and impotence were the most common feelings reported. Changes in professional practice were described and included a more structured approach to the management of suicidal patients. Colleagues and contact with the patient's family were the most frequently used sources of help, whereas team case review and colleagues were rated as the most useful ones. Patient suicide leads to emotional suffering and has a considerable professional impact.     

The Development of a Standardized Assessment Framework for Animal Exhibits

Science centers, zoos, and aquariums share the common goal of engaging visitors in learning about the physical and natural world. Exhibits in zoos and aquariums, however, focus primarily on living organisms. Interactive exhibits are less common in these institutions and this differentiates the way visitors engage with exhibits from that of a typical science center visit. Based on the usefulness of the Visitor-Based Learning Framework (Barriault &; Pearson, 2010 Barriault, C. L., &; Pearson, D. (2010). Assessing exhibits for learning in science centres: A practical tool. Visitor Studies, 13(1), 90–106. doi:10.1080/10645571003618824[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) as an exhibit assessment tool in science centers, the purpose of this research was to develop a similar tool that assesses the potential learning impact of live animal exhibits in zoos and aquariums. A comprehensive framework of learning-related behaviors was developed and field-tested with a total of 900 visitors. The resulting Visitor-Based Assessment Framework for Animal Exhibits provides zoo and aquarium researchers and practitioners with a valuable tool to assess exhibits through observable behavioral indicators.     

Stigma,Attitudes, and Help‐Seeking Intentions for Psychological Problems in Relation to Regional Suicide Rates

In this ecological study, we investigated whether help‐seeking related to stigma, intentions, and attitudes toward suicide are associated with the suicide rates of 20 regions within the Netherlands and Belgium. Significant associations were found between regional suicide rates and the intention to seek informal help (β = ?1.47, p = .001), self‐stigma (β = 1.33, p = .038), and shame (β = .71, p = .030). The association between self‐stigma and suicide rate was mediated by intentions to seek informal help. These results suggest that to promote suicide prevention at the level of the regional population, stigma, shame, and intentions to seek help should be targeted in the public domain.