Belly Dance as an Embodying Activity?: A Test of the Embodiment Model of Positive Body Image

The study aimed to test Menzel and Levine’s (2011) embodiment theory of positive body image in the context of belly dance. Participants were 213 women from Adelaide, South Australia. They comprised 112 belly dancers recruited from two belly dance schools, and a sample of 101 college women who had never participated in belly dance. Participants completed questionnaire measures of positive body image, body dissatisfaction, self-objectification, and enjoyment of sexualization. It was found that belly dancers scored higher on positive body image and lower on body dissatisfaction and self-objectification than the college students. There was, however, no difference between groups in enjoyment of sexualization. Importantly, in support of the embodiment model, the effect of belly dance group on positive body image was mediated by reduced self-objectification. It was concluded that belly dance represents an embodying activity, one associated with a number of benefits for its practioners, including positive body image.     

The Measurement of Positive Attitudes: The Glass is Half Full

Positive thoughts play a significant role in the experience and recovery from depression. The Coping Attitudes Scale (CAS) is a rationally derived measure of positive cognitions. The CAS contains statements reflective of coping attitudes along five domains: life perspective, personal accomplishment, positive future, self-worth, and coping with problems. The current study examined the CAS in psychiatric outpatients and college students. Measures of depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation and positive attitudes were administered to 82 adult psychiatric outpatients and 156 college students. Depression and hopelessness were strongly, negatively, partially correlated with each of the CAS factors, after controlling for age. Relationships among individual CAS factors and suicidal ideation demonstrated weak to moderate partial associations, after controlling for age. Depression was significantly associated with the coping with problems subscale (R ² = .530). Hopelessness was significantly related to the positive future subscale (R ² = .696). Further, the CAS demonstrated a significant relationship with depression and hopelessness, even after accounting for the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised, Positive subscale. The CAS may be an improved measure of positive attitudes that could be useful in establishing a patient’s baseline of positive thinking, determining targets for therapy, and in monitoring progress in treatment.     

Making Common Sense of Vaccines: An Example of Discussing the Recombinant Attenuated Salmonella Vaccine with the Public

Researchers have iterated that the future of synthetic biology and biotechnology lies in novel consumer applications of crossing biology with engineering. However, if the new biology’s future is to be sustainable, early and serious efforts must be made towards social sustainability. Therefore, the crux of new applications of synthetic biology and biotechnology is public understanding and acceptance. The RASVaccine is a novel recombinant design not found in nature that re-engineers a common bacteria (Salmonella) to produce a strong immune response in humans. Synthesis of the RASVaccine has the potential to improve public health as an inexpensive, non-injectable product. But how can scientists move forward to create a dialogue of creating a ‘common sense’ of this new technology in order to promote social sustainability? This paper delves into public issues raised around these novel technologies and uses the RASVaccine as an example of meeting the public with a common sense of its possibilities and limitations.     

Effect of an Automated Training Presentation on Pre-service Behavior Analysts’ Implementation of Trial-based Functional Analysis

The trial-based functional analysis (FA) is a useful alternative to the traditional FA in contexts in which it is challenging to establish environmental control for extended periods of time. Previous researchers have demonstrated that others can be trained to conduct trial-based FAs with high procedural fidelity by providing a didactic presentation, small group instruction, and then a performance evaluation. However, one barrier to replicating this training sequence is that didactic presentations are not standardized and presentations can vary considerably across different groups of trainers or researchers. We designed an automated didactic presentation with video models embedded throughout for trainers and researchers to use when training others to conduct trial-based FAs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of this presentation on participant fidelity to trial-based FA procedures. Results demonstrate improved fidelity following the presentation. However, the presentation alone was insufficient to establish consistently high levels of fidelity across all conditions for all participants. Thus, additional training components are required when teaching others to conduct trial-based FAs.     

Emotion Regulation Among Preschoolers on a Continuum of Risk: The Role of Maternal Emotion Coaching

Parental emotion coaching involves acknowledging and validating children’s feelings, as well as guiding them on how to manage intense or negative feelings. Although parental emotion coaching has been identified as a potentially important factor for children’s emotional development, research into this topic is scant. The present study examined whether maternal emotion coaching can play a mediational role between family risk (i.e. economic disadvantage, family stress, and maltreatment) and emotion regulation in preschoolers. Seventy-four preschoolers, aged 46–58 months, and their maternal caregivers participated in an observational laboratory study, including a narrative task in which mothers and children reminisced about a mildly upsetting event. We coded these conversations for maternal emotion coaching behaviors with the Family Emotional Communication Scoring System. A family risk score was obtained via the Family Events Checklist and demographic data. We measured children’s emotion regulation with the Emotion Regulation Checklist. Increased family risk was associated with both reduced child emotion regulation and reduced maternal emotion coaching. Maternal emotion coaching partially mediated the relation between family risk and child emotion regulation, in particular child emotional lability. The findings support further research into the possibilities of training mothers in high risk families in emotion coaching skills in order to foster their children’s emotional development.     

Mental Health Problems of Displaced War-Affected Adolescents in Northern Uganda: Patterns of Agreement Between Self and Caregiver Assessment

We evaluate caregiver and adolescent concordance on adolescent mental health severity in war-affected Northern Uganda. Data were collected from 628 caregiver-adolescent dyads in two internally displaced persons’ camps. Internalizing and externalizing-type mental health problems were assessed using locally-developed scales. To evaluate concordance, mean caregiver and adolescent scores on each scale were compared using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and within-pair-differences were compared by subtracting caregiver from adolescent responses and using t tests to assess whether these differed from 0. Mental heath problem type and youth/caregiver gender and age were investigated as potential indicators of group differences. Adolescents consistently rated their problems as more severe for internalizing problems and less severe for externalizing problems compared with caregivers. Mothers’ reports exhibited better concordance for internalizing problems while fathers’ and other caregivers’ exhibited better concordance of externalizing problems. Results suggest researchers and program implementers need to be aware of respondent differences when planning studies and services.     

TEACHING RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS TO YOUNG CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME

Despite extensive evidence of significant and pervasive impairments in communication in individuals with Down syndrome, there is relatively little empirical and behavior analytic research demonstrating effective intervention procedures. In this study, we examined a behavior analytic intervention to teach answers to questions in two children with Down syndrome. Children acquired the target responses and generalized across settings and people. This contributes to the growing body of demonstrations of behavior analytic interventions to address the needs of children with Down syndrome. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Human Right to Water: The Importance of Domestic and Productive Water Rights

The United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights engenders important state commitments to respect, fulfill, and protect a broad range of socio-economic rights. In 2010, a milestone was reached when the UN General Assembly recognized the human right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation. However, water plays an important role in realizing other human rights such as the right to food and livelihoods, and in realizing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. These broader water-related rights have been recognized but have not yet been operationalized. This paper unravels these broader water-related rights in a more holistic interpretation of existing international human rights law. By focusing on an emerging approach to water services provision—known as ‘domestic-plus’ services—the paper argues how this approach operationalizes a comprehensive range of socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas. Domestic-plus services provide water for domestic and productive uses around homesteads, which challenges the widespread practice in the public sector of planning and designing water infrastructure for a single-use. Evidence is presented to show that people in rural communities are already using their water supplies planned for domestic uses to support a wide range of productive activities. Domestic-plus services recognize and plan for these multiple-uses, while respecting the priority for clean and safe drinking water. The paper concludes that domestic-plus services operationalize the obligation to progressively fulfill a comprehensive range of indivisible socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas.