Sport type and interpersonal and intrapersonal predictors of body dissatisfaction in high school female sport participants

Through multiple group structural equation modeling analyses, path models were used to test the predictive effects of sport type and both interpersonal (i.e., mothers’ body dissatisfaction, family dynamics) and intrapersonal factors (i.e., athletic self-efficacy, body mass index [BMI]) on high school female sport participants’ (N = 627) body dissatisfaction. Sport types were classified as esthetic/lean (i.e., gymnastics), non-esthetic/lean (i.e., cross-country), or non-esthetic/non-lean (i.e., softball). Most participants reported low body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction did not differ across sport types. Nevertheless, mothers’ body dissatisfaction was positively associated with daughters’ body dissatisfaction for non-esthetic/lean and non-esthetic/non-lean sport participants, and high family cohesion was predictive of body dissatisfaction among non-esthetic/lean sport participants. Across sport types, higher BMI was associated with greater body dissatisfaction, whereas greater athletic self-efficacy was associated with lower body dissatisfaction. These findings highlight the complex relationship between interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and body dissatisfaction in adolescent female sport participants.     

Positive affectivity predicts successful and unsuccessful adaptation to stress

This study examined adaptation to work stress among public school teachers (n = 267). Regression analyses tested whether positive affect predicted successful and unsuccessful adaptation to stress (viz., resilience and burnout, respectively) after controlling for demographic characteristics and work stress. Positive affect was largely correlated with resilience (r = .65, p < .001) and burnout (r = ?.57, p < .001). The regression of resilience showed that positive affect had a direct effect (β = .66, p < .001) and the total model explained 44 % of the variance (R ² Change = 37 %). In the regression of burnout, positive affect also had a direct effect (β = ?.41, p < .001) and the total model explained 52 % of the variance (R ² Change = 14 %). Further analyses found no significant interaction between work stress and positive affect, but revealed that positive affect completely mediated the effect of work stress on resilience. Results provide support for the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, particularly the theory’s building and undoing effects.     

Separating global and specific factors in developmental dyslexia

The general goal of the study was to identify global and specific components in developmental dyslexia using various manipulations based on the rapid automatization paradigm (RAN). In two experiments, we used both factor analysis and the Rate-and-Amount Model to verify if one (or more) global factor(s) and a variety of specific effects contribute to the naming (and visual search) deficits in children with dyslexia.

Results of Experiment 1 indicated the presence of three global components: pictorial naming, detailed orthographic analysis, and visual search. Pictorial naming is predicated by typical RAN tasks (such as naming colors or objects), independent of set size, but also from a variety of other tasks including Stroop interference conditions. The detailed orthographic analysis factor accounts for naming of orthographic stimuli at high set size. Visual search marked tasks requiring the scanning of visual targets.

Results of Experiment 2 confirmed the separation between the pictorial naming and detailed orthographic analysis factors both in the original sample and in a new group of children. Furthermore, specific effects of frequency, lexicality, and length were shown to contribute to the reading deficit.

Overall, it is proposed that focusing on the profile of both global and specific effects provides a more effective and, at the same time, simpler account of the dyslexics' impairment.     

The creative suffering of the triune God: An evolutionary panentheistic paradigm

Abstract

One way the alleged conflict between science and religion is often presented is the claim that Western religions represent human beings as the pinnacle of creation. Science, however, has progressively shown this perspective to be false, specifically through the discoveries that we are not at the universe's center, that the universe is much larger than we once thought, and that we evolved from “lower” life forms. While these discoveries are valid, the interpretation that they mortify vain human pretensions to significance is not. In this essay we assess this claim of mortification and argue that it is a myth.     

Self-Construction,Cognitive Conflicts,and Disordered Eating Attitudes in Young Women

The aim of this study is to identify cognitive variables that predict disordered eating attitudes in a nonclinical sample composed of 50 female university students. Repertory grid technique was used to assess cognitive features of self-construing and cognitive conflicts. Drive for Thinness and Body Dissatisfaction scales from the Eating Disorder Inventory–2 were used as dependent variables, as previous studies suggested that high scores on these scales are associated with the risk of developing or aggravating eating syndromes. Results suggest that drive for thinness can be associated with cognitive conflicts, whereas body dissatisfaction may be higher for those who construct themselves as inadequate and similar to others. In addition, both dependent variables were predicted by being younger and having a higher body mass index.     

Barriers to Treatment in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Families Enrolled in a Community-Based Domestic Violence Intervention

Using quantitative and qualitative data, we examined the association between barriers to treatment, motivating factors, treatment attendance, and outcome in a sample of 63 mothers (most of Asian or Pacific Islander descent) enrolled in a family-based domestic violence treatment program. A high number of perceived barriers was associated with lower attendance and lower scores on assessment of parenting practices at posttreatment. Mothers reported relying on their own motivation, observations of children's improvement, and the quality of their relationships with staff and group members to overcome barriers. A larger number of motivating factors was associated with positive parenting practices at posttreatment. Discussion includes the benefits of a mixed-method approach to measuring barriers and its clinical application to increase treatment participation.     

The role of phonology in reading comprehension: Implications of the effects of homophones on processing sentences with referentially dependent categories

Two experiments investigated whether phonological representations are activated in the processing of anaphors in reading, and if they are, whether they play a role in the initial (first-pass) processing of the sentence or in review (second-pass) processes. Subjects made sentence acceptability judgements for sentences that contained either verb-gaps or indefinite and personal pronouns (overt anaphors). All sentences contained homophones. Half of the semantically unacceptable sentences were phonologically plausible if the homophones were inserted in the gap (e.g. The children sleighed in the winter, and the murderer in cold blood) or used as the referent of the pronoun (e.g. There is a sale on at the store and I have one at the boat). The other half of the semantically unacceptable sentences were phonologically implausible. In both experiments, half of the subjects saw the sentences under normal viewing conditions (whole sentence condition); for the other half of the subjects the words of each sentence were presented sequentially in the centre of the video screen at the rate of 250 msec/word (RSVP condition). A large proportion of the phonologically implausible sentences in the first experiment contained phrases in the second clause which resulted in semantic “oddities” (e.g. The children sleighed in the winter, and the murderer in the jar); the sentences in Experiment 2 did not contain such oddities. In Experiment 1 subjects made more errors on the phonologically plausible than implausible unacceptable sentences with both verb-gaps and pronouns in the whole sentence but not in the RSVP condition. There was no effect of phonological plausibility in Experiment 2. As the effect of phonological plausibility was only seen in the whole sentence condition, and only when the sentences contained semantic oddities, these data suggest that phonological information was not used in the first-pass analysis of the sentence, but rather when the subject re-read the sentence to find the referent.     

Individual characteristics and response to Contingency Management treatment for cocaine addiction

Voucher-based contingency management (CM) research has demonstrated efficacy for treating cocaine addiction, but few studies have examined associations between individual baseline characteristics and response to CM treatments. The aim of this study, involving 50 cocaine outpatients receiving CM for cocaine addiction, was to assess the impact of baseline characteristics on abstinence outcomes after six months of treatment. Patients who were abstinent after six months of treatment accounted for 58% of the sample. Patients with higher scores on the Alcohol area of the EuropASI and patients that were non-abstinent during the first month of treatment were less likely to achieve abstinence. These outcome predictors have implications both for treatment research and for clinical practice. Patients who do not respond early to treatment may need a more intensive intervention, and concomitant problematic alcohol use should be detected and treated. The remaining baseline variables examined were not statistically significant predictors of abstinence. This finding is important for the generalizability of CM across the range of individual characteristics of treatment-seeking cocaine abusers.