Body dissatisfaction and irrational beliefs

To test the hypothesis that the irrational evaluative beliefs, postulated by Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy, are associated with body dissatisfaction, 94 women (21 diagnosed with an eating disorder, 38 with high body dissatisfaction but without an eating disorder, and 35 with low body dissatisfaction) completed the Survey of Personal Beliefs and the Eating Disorders Inventory. Analysis showed no significant difference in body dissatisfaction between the Eating Disordered and High Body Dissatisfaction subgroups. No significant correlations between body dissatisfaction and irrational beliefs were found for the Eating Disordered subgroup. For the High Body Dissatisfaction subgroup, significant but low correlations were found between scores on body dissatisfaction and irrational standards for self and others and with negative self-rating. In terms of irrational beliefs the Eating Disordered and High Body Dissatisfaction subgroups showed a significantly greater tendency towards Catastrophizing, Low Frustration Tolerance, and Negative self-rating, compared to the controls, without any significant difference between the former two groups. The Eating Disordered subgroup but not the High Body Dissatisfaction subgroup differed significantly from the controls in terms of more Self-directed demands.     

Familientherapie

In the field of family therapy besides the emphasis on the autonomy of the different schools (behavioral, psychodynamic, systemic), partly motivated by professional politics, a growing openness for concepts developed in other approaches can be observed. Approaches and results of attachment and affect theory and research find their way into the conceptualization of family processes and family therapy. Processes in the “self” of the therapist are taken into the discussion of therapeutic processes in systemic therapies. Furthermore, new fields of application of family therapy approaches have developed: parents-infant therapy and counseling, therapy of the elder, family medicine and coping with the consequences of the “human genome project”. New research on the empirical validation of relational dynamic concepts and on the evaluation of family therapies show a trend to see the claim for making treatments as short as possible in very relative terms. It is assumed that the family therapeutic approach will become more important in the future.     

Die Selektion dimensionaler räumlicher Präpositionen: automatisch und nicht ressourcenadaptierend

The selection of dimensional spatial prepositions: automatic and not resource adaptive Summary. Speakers were required to generate dimensional spatial expressions in order to specify the position of a to-be-localized object (LO) relative to a reference object (RO). Placing LO in different positions around RO enabled us to establish the areas of application for the different German spatial terms. Canonical expressions (to the right of/ to the left of or above/ below) were only used if LO was placed horizontally or vertically aligned with RO. In all other directions combined expressions, e.g. 'rechts oben' (to the right and above) were used, which are common in German. These areas of application were of the same shape when subjects were under time pressure (Experiment 1). Additionally, a concurrent secondary task which was proven having high cognitive demands (Experiment 2) did not influence the area of application (Experiment 3). We conclude from these results that the selection of dimensional prepositions is automatic and that it is not resource adaptive. Zusammenfassung. SprecherInnen sollten ein zu lokalisierendes Objekt (LO) relativ zu einem Referenzpunkt (RO) sprachlich durch dimensionale räumliche Ausdrücke lokalisieren. LO wurde in unterschiedlichen Richtungen um RO platziert, sodass sich die Anwendbarkeitsräume für die verschiedenen räumlichen Ausdrücke im Deutschen bestimmen ließen. Die kanonischen Bezeichner (rechts von /links von oder über/unter) wurden praktisch nur bei direkt horizontaler oder vertikaler Lage von LO gewählt, in allen anderen Fällen wurden kombinierte Ausdrücke (z.B. rechts oben) benutzt. Diese Anwendbarkeitsräume änderten sich nicht, wenn die Personen unter Zeitdruck produzierten (Experiment 1). Eine gleichzeitig zu bearbeitende Nebenaufgabe, die das kognitive System stark belastet (Experiment 2), führte ebenfalls zu keiner Änderung der Anwendbarkeitsräume (Experiment 3). Wir schließen daraus, dass die Selektion der räumlichen Ausdrücke automatisch erfolgt und dass sie nicht ressourcenadaptierend ist.     

What Predicts Adolescent Violence in Better-Off Neighborhoods?

Predictors of repeated violent delinquency across ages 13–19 were investigated in a longitudinal sample of 420 urban adolescent males living in high- compared to low-socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods. Adolescents in high-SES neighborhoods were significantly less likely than their counterparts in low-SES neighborhoods to engage in serious and violent delinquency. Results indicated that risk factors for later repeated violence among adolescents in high-SES neighborhoods, such as physical aggression, may be biologically based, whereas risk factors for later violence among adolescents in low-SES neighborhoods, such as poor parent–adolescent communication and early intercourse, appeared to be context-dependent. Having positive attitudes toward problem behavior and delinquent peers increased risk for later violence regardless of neighborhood SES type. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Responsiveness to Threat and Incentive in Bipolar Disorder: Relations of the BIS/BAS Scales with Symptoms

Over the past 10 years, theorists have suggested that bipolar disorder symptoms result from increases and decreases in the activity of the Behavioral Activation or Facilitation System (BAS or BFS) and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). These neurobehavioral systems are thought to determine the intensity of affective and behavioral responses to incentives and threats. This study examined cross-sectional and prospective associations of self-reported BIS and BAS with mania and depression in a sample of 59 individuals diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder. Depression was tied to BIS, pointing to the importance of sensitivity to threats in depression. However, links between BIS and depression appeared state-dependent. BAS subscales did not correlate with manic symptoms in a state-dependent manner; however, BAS (total scale and reward responsiveness subscale) predicted relative intensification of manic symptoms over time. Thus, evidence suggests that BAS sensitivity may constitute a vulnerability to mania among persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Discussion focuses on the integrative potential of the BIS/BAS constructs for linking psychosocial and biological research on bipolar disorder.     

Questionnaire Assessment Potentially Overestimates Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease

Assessment of anxiety in Parkinson's disease (PD) is complicated by symptoms, such as trembling and shaking, that the two disorders have in common. This symptom overlap produces a potential for overestimation of the rate and severity of anxiety when assessed by self-report questionnaire. The purpose of this study is to estimate the extent to which anxiety scores in PD patients might be overestimated by two commonly-used mood state questionnaires. Fifty-nine patients with PD were administered the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Profile of Mood States. Results indicate that the rate of clinically significant anxiety on these measures is indeed higher than the rate of clinical anxiety as determined by interview alone, suggesting the potential for overestimation of anxiety in PD when using self-report questionnaires.     

Tone sequences with conflicting fundamental pitch and timbre changes are heard differently by musicians and nonmusicians

An Auditory Ambiguity Test (AAT) was taken twice by nonmusicians, musical amateurs, and professional musicians. The AAT comprised different tone pairs, presented in both within-pair orders, in which overtone spectra rising in pitch were associated with missing fundamental frequencies (F0) falling in pitch, and vice versa. The F0 interval ranged from 2 to 9 semitones. The participants were instructed to decide whether the perceived pitch went up or down; no information was provided on the ambiguity of the stimuli. The majority of professionals classified the pitch changes according to F0, even at the smallest interval. By contrast, most nonmusicians classified according to the overtone spectra, except in the case of the largest interval. Amateurs ranged in between. A plausible explanation for the systematic group differences is that musical practice systematically shifted the perceptual focus from spectral toward missing-F0 pitch, although alternative explanations such as different genetic dispositions of musicians and nonmusicians cannot be ruled out. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).     

The Induction of Mood via the WWW

Five experiments explored the methodology of Web-based mood induction and yielded empirical evidence for its feasibility and its limits. Study 1 examined the suitability of the Velten method and mood-suggestive photographs to induce both positive and negative moods. Negative mood was successfully induced, while the positive mood induction failed. In Study 2, cartoons successfully ameliorated mood, whereas jokes were ineffective. In Study 3, associations with affectively valenced words were not suitable in producing a positive or a negative mood. In Study 4, picture-illustrated emotive texts successfully induced a positive and a negative mood. In Study 5, valence and arousal ratings were obtained for the stimuli used in Study 1 and 3. Based on the results, recommendations for the application of online mood induction procedures are given.     

Effects of training on age estimation

This study examined the possibility to improve accuracy of age estimates through training. Thirty‐four participants were divided into an experimental and a control group. The sessions included a pre‐test before training, six feedback or no‐feedback training tests and a post‐test after training. The experimental group performed the feedback tests and the control group the no‐feedback tests. Training was found to improve age estimation accuracy, particularly estimations of old stimuli, and training with feedback seemed to be superior to training without feedback. No difference was found between the groups at pre‐test, but at post‐test the experimental group exhibited greater accuracy in age estimation. Moreover, the experimental group increased its accuracy between the pre‐ and post‐tests. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.