Judges', lay judges', and police officers' beliefs about factors affecting children's testimony about sexual abuse

The authors examined Swedish judges', lay judges', and police officers' beliefs about factors that may complicate or facilitate children's reports of sexual abuse. Participants (N = 562) rated potential complicating and facilitating factors and freely reported which criteria they considered important when assessing the reliability of child witnesses. The groups had similar opinions regarding which factors are complicating and facilitating. Furthermore, the groups tended to regard emotional factors as more complicating than cognitive factors. When freely reporting criteria that are important when assessing reliability, judges and police officers reported criteria pertaining mainly to the child, whereas lay judges reported mainly criteria pertaining mainly to the police interview. Results indicate that participants believe that children have the capacity to remember and report about abuse but are hindered in doing so by emotional factors. Results also suggest that police officers may underestimate their own influence on the reliability of children's reports.     

The pursuit of muscularity among adolescent boys in Fiji and Tonga

The desire for muscularity is tied to Western views of the male gender role, which prescribe that men be strong, physically fit and athletically successful. Although, these ideals have been primarily studied among Western adolescent boys, there is emerging evidence that the same ideals are valued and promoted among males from the Pacific Islands. The aim of the present study was to examine body image concerns associated with muscularity and the reasons for these concerns among Fijian and Tongan adolescent boys. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Indigenous Fijian, 24 Indo-Fijian, and 24 Tongan boys aged between 13 and 20 years. A thematic analysis of boys’ narratives showed that the pursuit of muscularity was a dominant theme for many boys. Boys’ reasons for pursing muscularity included the attainment of strength and fitness, sporting performance, physical work, dominance, and health. These findings are examined in relation to previous research with Western adolescent boys.     

Implications of accuracy, sensitivity, and variability of body size estimations to disordered eating

The current study was conducted to investigate the relationships between body size estimations and disordered eating symptomatology. The method of constant stimuli was used to derive three measures of self-perceived body size in 93 women: (1) accuracy of body size estimations (body image distortion); (2) sensitivity in discriminating body size within blocks of trials (body image sensitivity); and (3) variability in making body size estimations between blocks of trials (body image variability). Participants also completed measures of disordered eating. Although body image distortion correlated with dietary restraint and eating concern, body image variability accounted for additional variance in these variables, as well as variance in binge eating. The relationships involving body image variability were found to be mediated by body dissatisfaction and internalization of the thin ideal. Together, these results are consistent with the proposition that body image variability is a significant factor in disordered eating.     

误导信息和源检测影响证言准确性的实验研究

通过操纵信息类型与测试类型两个自变量,探讨误导信息和源检测对证言准确性、自信程度的影响,同时研究了心理控制源、焦虑、自尊与证言准确性、自信程度的相关.研究发现,误导信息是影响证言准确性的重要因素,自信程度与心理控制源、自尊之间存在正相关.     

Assessing Reflective Parenting in Interaction With School-Aged Children

The aim of this study was to examine whether it was possible to develop a reliable and valid assessment of reflective parenting implicit in interaction with school-aged children using an adaptation of the Squiggle paradigm developed by Winnicott (1968 Winnicott, D. W. (1968). Playing: Its theoretical status in the clinical situation. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 49, 591–599.[PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and a manualized coding system (Normandin, Leroux, Ensink, Terradas, &; Fonagy, 2015 Normandin, L., Leroux, A., Ensink, K., Terradas, M. M., &; Fonagy, P. (2015). Reflective Parenting Assessment coding manual (Unpublished manual). University Laval, Québec City, QC, Canada. [Google Scholar]). A total of 158 mother–child dyads participated when children were age 5 to 12. Of this group, 89 children had experienced sexual abuse. Interrater reliability using the manualized coding system was excellent. The factor analysis identified a reflective parenting stance factor, in addition to an affectionate support factor and a negative parenting factor. Furthermore, there was a medium strength relationship between the mother's reflective parenting stance evident in her interactions with her child and parental reflective functioning assessed using the Parent Development Interview (Slade, Aber, Bresgi, Berger, &; Kaplan, 2004 Slade, A., Aber, J. L., Bresgi, I., Berger, B., &; Kaplan, M. (2004). The Parent Development Interview–Revised (Unpublished protocol). The City University of New York, New York, NY. [Google Scholar]), suggesting the parental reflective stance is a good indicator of parental reflective functioning in interaction. With regard to parent reports of child internalizing and externalizing behaviors, the reflective parenting stance was the only predictor of internalizing difficulties and a significant predictor of externalizing difficulties in addition to sexual abuse.     

选择性注意机制在情景线索效应中的作用

情景线索效应是指个体在视觉搜索过程中通过学习重复不变的情景信息提高搜索效率的现象。本文从情景线索效应相关行为特征、眼动特征及大脑神经活动等三个方面探讨了情景线索效应与选择性注意机制的交互作用,发现现有研究中存在着许多互相冲突的现象,增加了理解注意机制的难度。未来研究应结合认知神经科学技术寻找更多的实证数据,探索注意机制对情景线索效应的影响,以进一步完善情景线索效应中的注意机制理论。     

Sociocultural influences on body image and body changes among adolescent boys and girls

In 2 studies, the authors evaluated the role of parents, peers, and the media in body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys and girls. The respondents for Study 1 (423 boys and 377 girls) completed the Body Image and Body Change Inventory (L. A. Ricciardelli & M. P. McCabe, 2002) and the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire (M. P. McCabe & L. A. Ricciardelli, 2001b). Body mass index and age were also included in the analyses. Regression analyses demonstrated that sociocultural influences and feedback from the participant's best male friend were important predictors for all body-change strategies among boys. For girls, sociocultural influences and feedback from the participant's best female friend and mother were important predictors for body-change strategies. The most consistent predictor of weight loss, weight gain, and strategies to increase muscles was body-image importance. In Study 2, the authors examined the influence of the same sociocultural variables, as well as negative affect and puberty on body image and body-change strategies among a second group of 199 boys and 267 girls. The results demonstrated that a broad range of sociocultural influences predicted body-change strategies for boys and girls, with negative affect also having a unique influence for boys but not for girls. Puberty played a minor role, once other sociocultural variables were entered into the regression equation. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Body image attitudes and concerns among indigenous Fijian and European Australian adolescent girls

Research on body image has primarily been conducted among Western women who highly value the thin ideal body size. There has been limited research that has examined body image attitudes among Fijian adolescent girls who are exposed to both traditional sociocultural pressures that promote a larger body size and Western pressures that promote slimness. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews, we examined the factors associated with body image attitudes and concerns among a sample of 16 indigenous Fijian and 16 European Australian adolescent girls aged between 13–18 years. An inductive analysis of girls’ responses indicated that both groups of girls experienced body image concerns including body dissatisfaction, a preference for thinness and concerns associated with weight gain. These findings have implications for our understanding of the role of culture in shaping body image among girls and may prove useful in the development of future survey research that can be implemented among both Fijian and Western adolescents.