Muscle dysmorphia: Current research and potential classification as a disorder

ObjectiveTo review the literature for scientific evidence in support of inclusion of Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).DesignThe criteria proposed by Blashfield, Sprock, and Fuller (1990) were used for determining whether scientific evidence supports the introduction of MD as a new disorder into a disease classification system.MethodPeer-reviewed journal articles were identified by searching databases for articles published (in print and electronically) from 2001 to 2011.ResultsThe search identified 59 journal articles that specifically focused on MD, of which 39 were empirical journal articles. There is ample literature on MD, including a common set of diagnostic criteria and assessment instruments to measure MD. However, questions remain about the diagnostic reliability and validity, including inter-rater reliability, and whether MD represents a disorder that consists of symptoms that frequently co-occur. Also, evidence of syndrome differentiation is lacking. Only two of the five criteria proposed by Blashfield et al. have been met.ConclusionLiterature suggests that MD is associated with several indicators of clinical significance and distinctiveness. However the current review has found significant limitations and gaps in the scientific literature on MD. Possible options regarding the status of MD in the DSM-5 are proposed, including introducing MD as an example of an eating disorder not otherwise specified, retaining MD as a body dysmorphic disorder, introducing MD as a new disorder, or introducing MD as a provisional diagnosis in need of further study.     

Mathematics Performance of Immigrant Students Across Different Racial Groups: An Indirect Examination of the Influence of Culture and Schooling

Immigrant students are commonly assumed lower performers in US schools. Their inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are often seen as obstacles to their successful school learning. However, whether and to what extent this assumption is sustainable for immigrant students' performances in mathematics is the question that has not been empirically explored. Proper answer to the question would help verify the popular assumption about the immigrant students and their learning in the mainstream US schools. Guided by the straight-line, segmented assimilation and cultural capital theories, this study examined this issue using US grades 4 and 8 datasets of Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 and 15-year-old dataset of Program for International Student Assessment 2009. It was found that there were substantial differences in the mathematics performances of students across different racial groups. Being immigrant students does not always mean they are lower performers than their mainstream peers. The immigrant students coming to the USA earlier did not always show worse mathematics performance over their immigrant peers who came to the USA later. These findings challenge the popular assumption that immigrant students' inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are obstacles to their successful school learning and call for a deeper understanding about the academic performance of immigrant students in different content areas and at various stages of immigration across different racial groups.     

How Lay Third Parties Weigh Legitimacy and Sanctions in a Side-Taking Dilemma: A Study among Chinese and Dutch Employees

Lay third parties sometimes react to an interpersonal dispute by taking sides. In this paper, we investigate the interaction effects of lay third parties’ moral and expedient orientations on the relationship between perceived legitimacy (or expected negative sanctions) and their intention of side‐taking with a legitimacy party (or a sanction party). Seventy‐nine Chinese and 77 Dutch employees were presented with a scenario describing a conflict dilemma between one party who has more legitimacy claims but less negative sanctions and the other party who has less legitimacy claims but more negative sanctions. The results showed that moral orientation by itself has a reinforcing effect on the positive link between perceived legitimacy and siding with a legitimacy party. In addition, in both countries, the relationship between expected negative sanctions and side‐taking with a sanction party was moderated by a joint effect of the moral and the expedient orientations. That is, for lay third parties with a weakly moral orientation and a strongly expedient orientation, an increase in negative sanctions led to more side‐taking with a sanction party. For those lay third parties who were weakly moral and weakly expedient oriented, strongly moral and strongly expedient oriented, or strongly moral and weakly expedient oriented, the above‐mentioned link was not positive any more. Confrontés à un conflit interpersonnel, les tiers non concernés réagissent parfois en prenant parti. Dans cet article, nous étudions les effets d’interaction des orientations morales et opportunistes de tiers non impliqués sur la relation entre la légitimé perçue ou les sanctions négatives attendues et leur intention de se ranger aux côtés d’un groupe légitime ou d’un groupe puissant. On a présentéà 79 salariés chinois et 77 salariés néerlandais un scénario décrivant un dilemme conflictuel entre un groupe qui disposait de plus de légitimité, mais de sanctions négatives moindres et un autre groupe qui disposait de moins de légitimité, mais de sanctions négatives plus fortes. Les résultats montrent que l’orientation morale exerce par elle‐même un renforcement sur la liaison positive entre la légitimité perçue et le fait de se ranger aux côtés d’un groupe bénéficiant de la légitimité. De plus, dans les deux pays, la relation entre les sanctions négatives attendues et le fait de choisir le groupe puissant était régulé par un effet conjugué des orientations morales et opportunistes. Ce qui signifie que pour des tiers pourvus d’une orientation morale déficiente et d’un grand opportunisme, une augmentation des sanctions négatives incite à prendre plutôt parti pour le groupe puissant. La relation ci‐dessus mentionnée n’est nullement positive pour les tiers à la morale et à l’opportunisme faibles, à la morale et à l’opportunisme forts, ou à la morale forte et à l’opportunisme faible.     

加强无论神研究、宣传与教育工作座谈会发言摘要

2008年2月17日,中国社科院办公厅组织召开了“加强无神论研究、宣传与教育工作座谈会”。参加会议的有来自教育部思想政治工作司、高等学校社会科学发展研究中心、《高校理论战线》;中国社科院办公厅、马克思主义研究院、世界宗教研究所：国家宗教事务局;中国无神论学会;中央党校、中央民族大学、上海师范大学的专家学者共17人。会议就加强无神论、宣传与教育的迫切形势与重要意义进行热烈的交流与讨论,形成了急需建设无神论学科、加大无神论宣传与教育力度的共识;并就如何开展研究、教育和宣传无神论。从多种角度提出了宝贵的理论和实践方面的建议．同时也提出了很多需要进一步思考与研究的问题。以下就是各位专家的真知灼见．供大家分享。     

Traffic-entry behavior and crash risk for older drivers with impairment of selective attention

Current research suggests that older drivers with declines in selective attention would make more unsafe traffic-entry judgments than would older drivers with normal attention. This hypothesis was tested using an instrumented vehicle and a LIDAR speed and range detector. Participants were 20 older drivers: 10 (M=72.0 yr.) had impairments of selective attention, measured with the Visual Attention Analyzer, Model 3000, and 10 were nonimpaired (M=71.2 yr.). Drivers pressed a button to indicate the last possible moment they could safely cross a road in front of an oncoming vehicle. The speed and distance of the oncoming vehicles were measured and time-to-contact was calculated. Each driver's time-to-cross the roadway was independently measured. Attention-impaired drivers showed shorter time-to-contact values (5.60 sec. versus 6.86 sec.), took longer to cross the roadway (5.41 sec. versus 4.84 sec.), and had shorter safety cushions (the difference between time-to-contact and time-to-cross the roadway). Monte Carlo simulation showed that these performance differences increased the crash risk of the impaired group by up to 17.9 times that of the nonimpaired group.