Examining a psychosocial interactive model of binge eating and vomiting in women with bulimia nervosa and subthreshold bulimia nervosa

The current study tested a psychosocial interactive model of perfectionism, self-efficacy, and weight/shape concern within a sample of women with clinically significant bulimic symptoms, examining how different dimensions of perfectionism operated in the model. Individuals with bulimia nervosa (full diagnostic criteria or subthreshold) completed measures of bulimic symptoms, multidimensional perfectionism, self-efficacy, and weight/shape concern. Among those who were actively binge eating (n=180), weight/shape concern was associated with binge eating frequency in the context of high perfectionism (either maladaptive or adaptive) and low self-efficacy. Among those who were actively vomiting (n=169), weight/shape concern was associated with vomiting frequency only in the context of high adaptive perfectionism and low self-efficacy. These findings provide support for the value of this psychosocial interactive model among actively binge eating and purging samples and for the importance of considering different dimensions of perfectionism in research and treatment related to bulimia nervosa.     

The spacing effect in children's memory and category induction

The spacing effect describes the robust phenomenon whereby memory is enhanced when learning events are distributed, instead of being presented in succession. We investigated the effect of spacing on children's memory and category induction. Three-year-old children were presented with two tasks, a memory task and a category induction task. In the memory task, identical instances of an object were presented and then tested in a multiple choice test. In the category induction task, different instances of a category were presented and tested in a multiple choice test. In both tasks, presenting the instances in a spaced sequence resulted in more learning than presenting the instances in a massed sequence, despite the difficulty created by the spaced sequence. The spaced sequence increased the difficulty of the task by allowing children time to forget the previous instance during the spaced interval.     

A reliability generalization study of coefficient alpha for the UCLA loneliness scale

Loneliness is a psychological construct that has been reported in a variety of populations and associated with a number of other negative psychological problems. This study was an examination of coefficient alpha of a prominent measure of loneliness: the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980; Russell, 1996). We utilized reliability generalization to provide an aggregate estimate of the reliability of the scale over time and in a variety of populations as well as to assess and identify sampling and demographic characteristics associated with variability in coefficient alpha. Of the 213 studies examined, 80 had reported alpha estimates, and we used them in this analysis. We discuss conditions associated with variability in coefficient alpha along with pertinent implications for practice and future research.     

Social identity contingencies: how diversity cues signal threat or safety for African Americans in mainstream institutions

This research demonstrates that people at risk of devaluation based on group membership are attuned to cues that signal social identity contingencies--judgments, stereotypes, opportunities, restrictions, and treatments that are tied to one's social identity in a given setting. In 3 experiments, African American professionals were attuned to minority representation and diversity philosophy cues when they were presented as a part of workplace settings. Low minority representation cues coupled with colorblindness (as opposed to valuing diversity) led African American professionals to perceive threatening identity contingencies and to distrust the setting (Experiment 1). The authors then verified that the mechanism mediating the effect of setting cues on trust was identity contingent evaluations (Experiments 2 & 3). The power of social identity contingencies as they relate to underrepresented groups in mainstream institutions is discussed.     

Exploring possible mechanisms of change in family‐based treatment for adolescent bulimia nervosa

Objective: Mediators of treatment for family‐based treatment are explored for outcomes among adolescents with bulimia nervosa (BN). Method: Using data from a recently completed randomized clinical trial (RCT) comparing family‐based treatment (FBT) to supportive psychotherapy (SPT) we examined possible mediators of treatment outcome. Results: Results suggest that FBT‐BN was more effective than SPT in producing remission by virtue of achieving greater reductions in eating disorder psychopathology by mid‐treatment. Specifically, reductions in cognitions related to BN as assessed by the EDE appeared to be the differentiating mechanism. Conclusion: It is reasonable to hypothesize that change in the EDE subscales mediates outcome for FBT‐BN. Future studies with sufficient power to examine this possibility as an a priori hypothesis would help to better understand how FBT‐BN works and may also help to guide future treatment refinement and development.     

Suicidal Behaviors in the African American Community

This article reviews the risk and protective factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the African American community. The authors provide a brief review of the history of suicide research in African American communities and critique some of the paradigms and underlying assumptions that have made it difficult to address the problem of suicidal behaviors in the African American community. The article also summarizes the articles that are presented in this special edition of the Journal of Black Psychology on suicidality in the African American community.     

Differential Daily Writing Contingencies and Performance on Major Multiple-Choice Exams

On 4 of 7 days in each unit of an undergraduate human development course, students responded in writing to specific questions related to instructor notes previously made available to them. The study compared the effects of three writing contingencies on the quality of student writing and performance on major multiple-choice exams in the course. The three contingencies were (1) receiving credit for all writing products each unit, (2) receiving credit for one randomly selected writing product each unit, and (3) receiving no credit for any writing product each unit. On all dimensions of exam performance, writing for daily credit produced higher scores than did writing for random credit and writing for no credit. The daily-writing contingency also produced the highest writing ratings across all units; the writing for random credit produced the next highest writing scores; and the writing for no credit yielded the lowest writing scores. Across all three contingencies, writing scores were highly correlated with performance on multiple-choice exams.