Adaptation and validation of the Spanish version of the Sport Anxiety Scale SAS-2 for young athletes

The aim of this study is to design a Spanish version of the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS-2). The questionnaire, originally developed by the Washington University research group in sport psychology to evaluate anxiety in young athletes, was translated and adapted following the APA protocol and its psychometric properties were assessed through internal consistency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and validity evidence. The Spanish version of the Sport Anxiety Scale has revealed good internal consistency indexes in each subscale and its factor structure has faithfully replicated the one obtained in the original measure. Results indicate that the adapted version of the questionnaire is an adequate and valid measure for the assessment of anxiety in young athletes.     

Time course of inhibitory processes in bilingual language processing

This study examines the time course of inhibitory processes in Spanish–English bilinguals, using the procedure described in Macizo, Bajo, and Martín. Bilingual participants were required to decide whether pairs of English words were related. Critical word pairs contained a word that shared the same orthography across languages but differed in meaning (interlingual homographs such as pie, meaning foot in Spanish). In Expts 1 and 2, participants were slower to respond to homographs presented along with words related to the Spanish meaning of the homograph as compared to control words. This result agrees with the view that bilinguals non‐selectively activate their two languages irrespective of the language they are using. In addition, bilinguals also slowed their responses when the English translation of the Spanish homograph meaning was presented 500 ms after responding to homographs (Expt 1). This result suggests that bilinguals inhibited the irrelevant homograph meaning. However, the inhibitory effect was not observed in Expt 2 when the between‐trial interval was fixed to 750 ms which suggests that inhibition decayed over time.     

Empirically Defining Treatment Response and Remission in Body Dysmorphic Disorder Using a Short Self-Report Instrument

Determining response or remission status in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) usually requires a lengthy interview with a trained clinician. This study sought to establish empirically derived cutoffs to define treatment response and remission in BDD using a brief self-report instrument, the Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI). Results from three clinical trials of BDD were pooled to create a sample of 123 individuals who had received cognitive-behavioral therapy for BDD, delivered via the Internet. The AAI was compared to gold-standard criteria for response and remission in BDD, based on the clinician-administered Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, modified for BDD (BDD-YBOCS), and evaluated using signal detection analysis. The results showed that a ≥ 40% reduction on the AAI best corresponded to treatment response, with a sensitivity of 0.71 and a specificity of 0.84. A score ≤ 13 at posttreatment was the optimal cutoff in determining full or partial remission from BDD, with a sensitivity of 0.75 and a specificity of 0.88. These findings provide benchmarks for using the AAI in BDD treatment evaluation when resource-intensive measures administered by clinicians are not feasible.     

Identifying young people's guidance needs through telephone counseling.

This study examined the needs that young people in Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, expressed in phone calls to a research unit of the Mexican Social Security Institute. Three hundred forty-five calls, from individuals 11 to 24 years old who phoned from June 1995 to November 1998, were analyzed. Two hundred ninety-four of the callers were female and 51 were male. Greater percentages of females than males called to ask about sexuality and family problems. Males more than females asked about reproductive health (particularly pregnancy) and mental health. There were significant differences by gender and age, differences that were not detected in health service statistics. The findings have implications for decision makers and health and education service providers. They point to the need for programs that will reinforce young people's good health practices and help them avoid risky behaviors.     

EMG scanning: Normative data

Surface EMG was recorded from both right and left aspects of 18 muscle groups for the purpose of establishing a data base of normative EMG levels. A scanning electrode permitted easy and rapid EMG measurement from 52 male and 51 female college students, both sitting and standing. Several a posteriori analyses of variance revealed sex differences in the masseter, occipital, posterior cervical, upper trapezius, latissimus dorsi, and anterior tibialis. Similarly, there were side differences for the anterior temporalis, occipitalis, splenius capitus, trapezius, paraspinalis, and soleus. The analyses also revealed interactions among sex, position, and side for various measures on the trapezius. The data show that females tend to muscle brace more than males in the upper extremities. The study provides data for normative comparisons and helps to plan and interpret future EMG studies.     

Facilitation of the effect testosterone on male sexual behavior in rats deprived of REM sleep

The possibility of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation (REMd) altering the effect of testosterone on masculine sexual behavior was investigated. Adult castrated male Wistar rats with no sexual experience were randomly assigned to the following three groups: REMd (using the water tank technique) for 7 days, large platform control for 7 days, and undisturbed sleep control. All subjects were treated with 1 mg testosterone propionate daily for 14 days. Masculine sexual behavior was assessed 3 consecutive days prior to steroid administration and was evaluated daily during the treatment. Frequencies and latencies of mounts, intromissions, and ejaculations, as well as the postejaculatory refractory period were recorded. One hundred percent of the REMd subjects presented mounts, intromissions, and ejaculations sooner than the control group. In almost all parameters, a clear facilitation of sexual activity was observed in the REMd group.     

Book reviews

One Thousand Roads to Mecca. Michael Wolfe (Ed.), 1997. New York, Grove Press. 620 pp., hb. $32.50, ISBN 0 8021 1611 6

Early Mamluk Syrian Historiography: Al‐Yunini's Dhayl Mir'at al‐zaman. Li Guo, 1998. Leiden, E.J. Brill. 2 vols, 241 pp. and xv + 338 pp. Arabic, hb. n.p., ISBN 90 04 11028 3 and 90 04 11029 1

Defenders of Reason in Islam: Mu'tazilism from medieval school to modern symbol. Richard C. Martin & Mark R. Woodward with Dwi S. Atmaja, 1997. Oxford, Oneworld Publications. xv+ 251 pp., pb. £14.99/$22.95, ISBN 1 85168 147 7

Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought. Daniel Brown, 1996. Cambridge Middle East Studies 5. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. x+ 185 pp., hb. n.p., ISBN 0 521 57077 8

Ebu's su'ud, the Islamic Legal Tradition. Colin Imber, 1997. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. 288 pp., hb. £40.00, ISBN 07486 0767 6

Islam and the West: the making of an Image. Norman Daniel, 1997 (1993). Oxford, Oneworld. 467 pp., pb. $25.95/£16.99, ISBN I 85168 129 8

Exegesis as Polemical Discourse: Ibn Hazm on Jewish and Christian Scriptures. Theodore Pulcini, 1998. Atlanta, GA, Scholars Press. 216 pp., hb. $44.95, ISBN 0 7885 0396 0; pb. $19.95, ISBN 0 7885 0395 2

Christians and Jews under Islam. Youssef Courbage & Philippe Fargues, trans. Judy Mabro, 1997. London and New York, I.B. Tauris. xii + 242 pp., hb. £39.50, ISBN 1 86064 013 3

The Construction of Nationhood: ethnicity, religion and nationhood. Adrian Hastings, 1997. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 235 pp., pb. £12.95, ISBN 0 521 62544 0

Muslim Identity and Balkan State. Hugh Poulton & Suha Taji‐Farouki (Eds), 1997. London, Hurst & Co.. 250 pp., hb. n.p., ISBN 1 85065 276 7; pb. n.p., ISBN 1 85065 348 8

Turkish and Other Muslim Minorities of Bulgaria. Ali Eminov, 1997. London, Hurst & Co.. 218 pp., hb. £25, ISBN 1 85065 319 4

Al‐yahūd fi misr min al‐fath al‐'uthmani hatta awa'il al‐qarn al‐tas’ ‘ashar. [History of the Jewish Community in Egypt from the Ottoman Invasion to the. Beginning of the Nineteenth Century] (Arabic). Mohsen Shouman, 1996. Cairo, privately printed (available from the author, Department of History, College of. Arts, University of Zaqaziq, Egypt). 492 pp., n.p., no ISBN

The Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt: the rise of an Islamic mass movement 1928–1942. Brynjar Lia, 1998. Reading, Ithaca. 272 pp., hb, £30.00, ISBN 0 86372 220 2

African Islam and Islam in Africa: encounters between Sufis and Islamists. David Westerlund & Eva Evers Rosander (Eds), 1997. London, Hurst & Co.. 347 pp., hb. £40, ISBN 85065 282 1; pb. £15.95, ISBN 1 85065 281 3

Transforming Female Identities: women's organizational forms in West Africa/Transformation des identités feminines: formes d'organisations feminines en Afrique de l'Ouest. Eva Evers Rosander (Ed.), 1997. Uppsala, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet 243 pp., pb. £18.95, ISBN 91 7106 403 6

The Pure and the Powerful. Nadia Abu‐Zahra, 1977. Reading, Ithaca, NY. xx+ 320 pp., hb. £35.00, ISBN 0 86372 179 6