The Influence of Early Experiences and Adult Attachment on the Exhibition of the Sexual Double Standard

The sexual double standard is the phenomenon whereby men and women are judged differently for the same sexual behavior. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential relationship between life history theory, attachment theory and the sexual double standard. Life history theory posits that one’s upbringing (e.g., quality of early relationship with one’s parents) may have implications for one’s future mating strategies, especially for women. Furthermore, adult attachment orientation often influences individuals’ feelings toward sexual behavior. To address the relationship between these variables, we had participants complete questionnaires regarding their early relationships with their parents and their current attachment regarding romantic partners. Participants then evaluated a target individual who reported having 1 or 12 sexual partners (N = 154). Results showed that female participants’ early relationships with their parents and their current attachment avoidance predicted their exhibition of the double standard. Results are discussed in the context of theoretical and empirical implications.     

Risky Sexual Behavior of Multiple Partner Relations and Women’s Autonomy in Four Countries

Existent research reveals that inequitable gender-based power in relationships and intimate partner violence contribute to HIV rates among women in the developing world. This study uses a multi-country analysis to examine women’s autonomy in negotiating safe sex practices such as having sex with a partner with no other concurrent partner to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, and Nepal. The Demographic Health Survey data for Nigeria (2013), Kenya (2008–2009), Malawi (2010), and Nepal (2011) provide geographical variability as well as HIV risk variables. The sample included 16,540 women aged 15–49 years who self-identified as ever married. Factor analysis for women’s autonomy was conducted based on socio-cultural theory. Logistic regression was conducted and results identified decision-making, labor force participation, and individual autonomy as women autonomy factors significantly reduced the risk for HIV infection by having one sex partner who has only one sex partner. Other women autonomy factors related to lower risk for HIV include education, place of residence, and religion. Our study indicates that effective management of HIV transmission requires addressing women autonomy factors within the context of culture.     

Dual trajectories of maternal parenting stress and marital intimacy during toddlerhood

Parenting stress disrupts both parenting and child adjustment. Marital intimacy is often conceptualized as a source of support that may reduce parenting stress. We examined the association between mothers' trajectories of parenting stress and marital intimacy when their children were 15–36 month old. We also explored whether maternal depressive symptoms at 15 months accounted for individual differences concurrently or in the trajectories of parenting stress and marital intimacy. Mothers' marital intimacy was negatively associated with their concurrent levels of parenting stress and declines in parenting stress over time. Depressive symptoms were associated with 15‐month parenting stress and marital intimacy. Overall, intimacy within the marriage appears to be a resource that reduces mothers' parenting stress during the toddler years     

Risky Sexual Behaviour Among Married and Cohabiting Women and its Implication for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Mahikeng,South Africa

Risky sexual behaviour continues to be the main means through which sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV are spread in South Africa. However few studies have assessed risky sexual behaviour among married and cohabiting women in this high HIV prevalence country. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the prevalence and identify the predictors of risky sexual behaviour among married and cohabiting women in Mahikeng Local Municipality where HIV is generalized. The study used cross-sectional mixed methods data obtained from 568 women responding to a survey and 33 women participating in in-depth interviews in 2012. All the women were aged 18–49 years, married or cohabiting and were residing in rural and urban areas of Mahikeng Local Municipality at the time of the study. The data was analyzed by the use of the Chi square statistic and a parsimonious binary logistic regression model, and the thematic content analysis method. The study found that 4 in 10 of the women experienced risky sexual behaviour, which was significantly predicted by being in marriage or cohabitation for <5 years, having a partner working in agriculture, government and mining sectors, having sex to achieve motherhood, having the perception by the women that they were unlikely to contract STIs, having the belief that partners have the right to use force to obtain sex and having partners who were unwilling to use condoms. All the above predictors were exacerbated by culturally sanctioned gender inequality and structural factors. The findings suggest that risky sexual behaviour is prevalent among married and cohabiting women in the study area which has serious implication for the marital transmission of STIs and HIV. We suggest interventions that enhance gender equality in sexual decisions and initiatives that encourage men to change their sexual beliefs and values.     

We are what we eat: How food is represented in our mind/brain

Despite the essential role of food in our lives, we have little understanding of the way our knowledge about food is organized in the brain. At birth, human infants exhibit very few food preferences, and do not yet know much about what is edible and what is not. A multisensory learning development will eventually turn young infants into omnivore adults, for whom deciding what to eat becomes an effortful task. Recognizing food constitutes an essential step in this decisional process. In this paper we examine how concepts about food are represented in the human brain. More specifically, we first analyze how brain-damaged patients recognize natural and manufactured food, and then examine these patterns in the light of the sensory-functional hypothesis and the domain-specific hypothesis. Secondly, we discuss how concepts of food are represented depending on whether we embrace the embodied view or the disembodied view. We conclude that research on food recognition and on the organization of knowledge about food must also take into account some aspects specific to food category, the relevance of which has not been sufficiently recognized and investigated to date.     

The fallacy of placing confidence in confidence intervals

Interval estimates – estimates of parameters that include an allowance for sampling uncertainty – have long been touted as a key component of statistical analyses. There are several kinds of interval estimates, but the most popular are confidence intervals (CIs): intervals that contain the true parameter value in some known proportion of repeated samples, on average. The width of confidence intervals is thought to index the precision of an estimate; CIs are thought to be a guide to which parameter values are plausible or reasonable; and the confidence coefficient of the interval (e.g., 95 %) is thought to index the plausibility that the true parameter is included in the interval. We show in a number of examples that CIs do not necessarily have any of these properties, and can lead to unjustified or arbitrary inferences. For this reason, we caution against relying upon confidence interval theory to justify interval estimates, and suggest that other theories of interval estimation should be used instead.     

Do Children’s Attributions Mediate the Link Between Parental Conditional Regard and Child Depression and Emotion?

Both parental conditional regard for academics and depressogenic attributions are related to detrimental psychological outcomes for children. Here we examine associations among parental conditional negative regard, child depressogenic attributions, child depressive symptoms, and emotion reactivity in children between the ages of 8 and 12, as well as whether children’s self-reported and behavioral attributions for negative events mediate associations between parental conditional negative regard for academics with children’s depressive symptoms and emotion reactivity. In Study 1 (N?=?108, M _age ?=?9.73, 50 male), children’s self-reported attributions for hypothetical events mediated the link between parental conditional negative regard and child depressive symptoms. In Study 2 (N?=?104, M _age ?=?10.28, 54 male), children attempted an impossible puzzle task while their skin conductance level was monitored, after which they completed an interview that was coded for spontaneous attributions for failure. Children’s spontaneous attributions mediated the link between parental conditional negative regard and child emotion reactivity, but not depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that children’s attributions may be a mechanism through which parental conditional negative regard is related to children’s depressive symptoms and emotion reactivity during a performance challenge. These results have implications for developmental models of depression risk and potential areas for clinical interventions with both children and their parents.     

Maltreated and Comparison Adolescents’ Recollections of Lifetime Residences: Relationship to Delinquency and Marijuana Use

This study of child welfare-affiliated maltreated youth (n?=?216) and comparison youth (n?=?128) from the same community (age M?=?18.21, SD?=?1.42) examined: 1. whether child/caregiver characteristics and maltreatment status were associated with lifetime number of residences; and 2. whether child/caregiver characteristics, residences, and maltreatment status were associated with delinquency and marijuana use. Maltreatment status, ever living with a nonparent caregiver, and being older were associated with more residences during childhood. More residences and male sex were associated with person offense delinquency and marijuana use. It is important to help caregivers who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, especially families with child welfare involvement, understand the behavioral consequences of a high number of residences during childhood and adolescence and provide support for stable long-term housing.