Body image, relationships, and time

The cultural standard of an impossible-to-attain ideal body image has been blamed for a plethora of psychological ills, from low self-esteem to eating disorders. In this study, the authors investigated the importance of current body image dissatisfaction compared with the ideal for married couples and for single people. The results indicated that although body image dissatisfaction exists in both married and single people, this discrepancy is of significantly less importance to married couples. The importance of long-lasting, satisfying relationships decreases the importance of body dissatisfaction and mitigates the impact of unrealistic ideal body image.     

The dynamics and impact of affirmative action processes on higher education,the curriculum,and black women

Affirmative action is perceived as a tool that can bring about significant social change. In higher education, it has yet to produce the desired results for which its policies were designed. In whatever stage of the affirmative action process colleges and universities find themselves, it can be observed that there are complex dynamics of formulating, implementing, and enforcing affirmative action goals that affect all participants in the process. The complex dynamics of achieving affirmative action goals within higher education deserve attention because they forecast the interactions between black women and higher education that we may expect to see in the future.     

Gender Differences in Emotional Closeness Between Preschool Children and Their Mothers

The emotional closeness between mothers andtheir children was examined to determine if motherdaughter pairs exhibit closer emotional relationshipsthan mother son pairs. Forty-one mother childpredominantly Caucasian dyads were videotaped during asemistructured play setting. The children were 4 (10males and 10 females) and 5 years of age (10 males and11 females). Emotional closeness was defined as physical proximity, mutual eye contact, and global levelof enjoyment. Results demonstrated that compared toboys, girls were physically closer to their mothers,engaged in more mutual eye contact with their mothers, and were rated higher on global enjoyment.Results are consistent with Chodorow's theory thatgender identity development is related to the emotionalrelationships that develop between children and their mothers.     

A rule analysis of judgments of covariation between events

Several strategies are proposed as bases for judgments of covariation between events. Covariation problems were structured in such a way that patterns of correct and incorrect judgments would index the judgment rule being used by a given subject. In two experiments, 10th-grade or college subjects viewed a set of covariation problems, each of which consisted of a set of observations in which each of two events was defined as present or absent. Subjects were asked to identify the relationship between the events. Subjects’ response patterns suggested that the modal strategy was to compare frequency of confirming and disconfirming events in defining the relationship. Response accuracy was influenced by pretraining on the concept of covariation and by response format. Instructions to sort the observations did not influence judgment accuracy.     

Family therapy ‘lite’? How family counsellors conceptualise their primary care family work

A number of current developments in the field potentially provide opportunities for preventative relationship and family interventions to be integrated into primary care. In this context, it is important to understand what family counselling is and how it might differ from family therapy. Thus, this paper investigates how the service of one low-intensity family counselling provider, Relate, is conceptualised and practised by counsellors on the ground. Questions about practice were posed to five focus groups of family counsellors and these were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that Relate family counselling is seen as ‘family therapy lite’, with a flexible, eclectic and integrative use of concepts and techniques within a systemic framework. Implications of this conceptualisation of family counselling for training, practice and research are discussed.     

Mechanisms that underlie coordination in children with developmental coordination disorder

The authors examined potential mechanisms underlying motor coordination in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Because children with DCD experience difficulty processing visual, auditory, and vibrotactile information, the authors explored patterns of choice reaction time (RT) in young (6-7 years) and older (9-10 years) children with and without DCD by using a compatibility-incompatibility paradigm and different sensory modalities. Young children responded more slowly than older children to visual, auditory, and vibrotactile stimuli. Children with DCD took longer than typical children to process visual and vibrotactile stimuli under more complex stimulus-response mappings. Young children with DCD responded more slowly than typical children to visual and vibrotactile information under incompatible conditions. Children with DCD responded faster than unaffected children to auditory stimuli. The results suggest that there is a developmental nature in the processing of visual and auditory input and imply that the vibrotactile sensory modality may be key to the motor coordination difficulties of children with DCD.     

Spiritual Bypass: A Preliminary Investigation

The phenomenon of spiritual bypass has received limited attention in the transpersonal psychology and counseling literature and has not been subjected to empirical inquiry. This study examines the phenomenon of spiritual bypass by considering how spirituality, mindfulness, alexithymia (emotional restrictiveness), and narcissism work together to influence depression and anxiety among college students. Results suggested that mindfulness and alexithymia accounted for variance in depression beyond what is accounted for by spirituality and that all 3 factors (mindfulness, alexithymia, and narcissism) accounted for variance in anxiety beyond what is accounted for by spirituality. Implications for counselors are provided.     

The 1994 ACA Model Legislation For Licensed Professional Counselors

Model legislation seeks to facilitate uniformity of counselor licensure laws and promote accepted professional standards. The text of the model bill as endorsed by the 1994 American Counseling Association Governing Council is provided with commentary accompanying those sections in which significant changes have occurred. The article concludes with 15 specific suggestions based on experiences gained in the development and implementation of previous legislation for licensed professional counselors.