Body checking and avoidance and the core features of eating disorders among obese men and women seeking bariatric surgery

This study examined two aspects of body checking and avoidance, and their relations to the core psychopathology of eating disorders (EDs), in severely obese men and women seeking bariatric surgery. A consecutive series of 260 (44 male and 216 female) gastric bypass candidates were administered measures to assess body checking and avoidance, binge eating, restraint, and overevaluation of weight and shape. The majority of patients reported regularly pinching areas of their body to check for fatness and avoided wearing clothing that made them particularly aware of their body. Significant associations were observed between checking and restraint, and between avoidance and binge eating. Both checking and avoidance behaviors were significantly associated with overevaluation of weight and shape. The positive associations between each of the two behaviors (body checking and avoidance) with overevaluation of weight/shape remained significant even after controlling for the effects of avoidance on body checking and vice versa. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that binge eating, body checking, and avoidance behaviors made significant unique contributions and jointly accounted for 22-25% of the variance in overevaluation of weight and shape, respectively. This study documents the presence of eating disorder psychopathology among severely obese patients seeking bariatric surgery. The findings support the view that body checking and avoidance behaviors are manifestations of overevaluation of weight and shape and disordered eating.     

The social context of imitation in infancy

Infants increasingly generalize deferred imitation across environmental contexts between 6 and 18 months of age. In three experiments with 126 6-, 9-, 12-, 15-, and 18-month-olds, we examined the role of the social context in deferred imitation. One experimenter demonstrated target actions on a hand puppet, and a second experimenter tested imitation 24h later. When the second experimenter was novel, infants did not exhibit deferred imitation at any age; when infants were preexposed to the second experimenter, all of them did. Imitating immediately after the demonstration also facilitated deferred imitation in a novel social context at all ages but 6 months. Infants' pervasive failure to exhibit deferred imitation in a novel social context may reflect evolutionary selection pressures that favored conservative behavior in social animals.     

Experimental research on just-world theory: problems, developments, and future challenges

M. J. Lerner (1980) proposed that people need to believe in a just world; thus, evidence that the world is not just is threatening, and people have a number of strategies for reducing such threats. Early research on this idea, and on just-world theory more broadly, was reviewed in early publications (e.g., M. J. Lerner, 1980; M. J. Lerner & D. T. Miller, 1978). In the present article, focus is directed on the post-1980 experimental research on this theory. First, 2 conceptualizations of the term belief in a just world are described, the typical experimental paradigms are explained, and a general overview of the post-1980 experiments is provided. Second, problems with this literature are discussed, including the unsystematic nature of the research. Third, important developments that have occurred, despite the problems reviewed, are described. Finally, theoretical challenges that researchers should address if this area of inquiry is to advance in the future are discussed.     

Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment and Counseling: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

These cancer genetic counseling recommendations describe the medical, psychosocial, and ethical ramifications of identifying at-risk individuals through cancer risk assessment with or without genetic testing. They were developed by members of the Practice Issues Subcommittee of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Cancer Genetic Counseling Special Interest Group. The information contained in this document is derived from extensive review of the current literature on cancer genetic risk assessment and counseling as well as the personal expertise of genetic counselors specializing in cancer genetics. The recommendations are intended to provide information about the process of genetic counseling and risk assessment for hereditary cancer disorders rather than specific information about individual syndromes. Key components include the intake (medical and family histories), psychosocial assessment (assessment of risk perception), cancer risk assessment (determination and communication of risk), molecular testing for hereditary cancer syndromes (regulations, informed consent, and counseling process), and follow-up considerations. These recommendations should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of management, nor does use of such recommendations guarantee a particular outcome. These recommendations do not displace a health care provider's professional judgment based on the clinical circumstances of a client.     

Effects of prolonged work on data entry speed and accuracy

In 2 experiments, participants used a keyboard to enter 4-digit numbers presented on a computer monitor under conditions promoting fatigue. In Experiment 1, accuracy of data entry declined but response times improved over time, reflecting an increasing speed-accuracy trade-off. In Experiment 2, the (largely cognitive) time to enter the initial digit decreased in the 1st half but increased in the 2nd half of the session. Accuracy and time to enter the remaining digits decreased across though not within session halves. The (largely motoric) time to press a concluding keystroke decreased over the session. Thus, through a combination of facilitation and inhibition, prolonged work affects the component cognitive and motoric processes of data entry differentially and at different points in practice.     

Psychopathy is related to negative affectivity but not to anxiety sensitivity

Although the hypothesis that psychopathic individuals are characterized by a reduced capacity for experiencing anxiety is central to many theories of psychopathy, most prior studies have examined anxiety and fear measures generally considered outdated in the literature. Moreover, prior findings are mixed, with several studies reporting no relationships between psychopathy and anxiety, and others suggesting negative relationships for the affective, interpersonal aspects of the disorder and positive relationships for the antisocial behavior dimension. To examine whether psychopathy dimensions are associated with contemporary measures of anxiety, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index and State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait scale were administered to 157 male inmates. Participants also completed the MMPI-derived Welsh Anxiety Scale (WAS), commonly used in psychopathy studies. Analyses provide no evidence for a negative relationship between psychopathy's affective, interpersonal factor and anxiety sensitivity after controlling for trait anxiety. Trait anxiety and WAS scores were positively associated with the antisocial behavior dimension of psychopathy. Findings do replicate prior relationships between the WAS and psychopathy, suggesting the WAS may measure aspects of negative affectivity that differ from anxiety.     

Predicting abuse in adolescent dating relationships over 1 year: the role of child maltreatment and trauma

Three mediators of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and dating violence perpetration during midadolescence (i.e., trauma-related symptoms, attitudes justifying dating violence, and empathy and self-efficacy in dating relationships) were tested over 1 year with a sample of students from 10 high schools (N = 1,317). Trauma-related symptoms had a significant cross-time effect on predicting incidents of dating violence for both boys and girls. Attitudes and empathy and self-efficacy did not predict dating violence over time, although they were correlated with such behavior at both time points. Child maltreatment is a distal risk factor for adolescent dating violence, and trauma-related symptoms act as a significant mediator of this relationship. The importance of longitudinal methodology that separates correlates from predictors is discussed.     

An outcome management program for extending advances in choice research into choice opportunities for supported workers with severe multiple disabilities

We evaluated an outcome management program for increasing choice opportunities provided by 2 job coaches for 5 supported workers with severe multiple disabilities in a community job. The program involved specifying and monitoring behavioral outcomes among workers and staff, training staff, and supportive and corrective feedback. Increased choice provision occurred for both job coaches across a 1-year period. Results indicate how outcome management can help translate advances in choice research into routine practice.     

Differential memory-preserving effects of reminders at 6 months

Although reactivation and reinstatement reminders differ procedurally, differences in their memory-preserving effects have been described as artifactual. In three experiments, we examined this conclusion. One hundred and twelve 6-month-olds learned an operant task, forgot it, received a reactivation or reinstatement reminder to recover the inactive memory, and were tested after increasing delays until they forgot it again. In Experiments 1a and 1b, a single reactivation reminder extended infants' memory of an operant mobile task for 2 weeks after reminding, but a single reinstatement extended it for 4 weeks, when testing was discontinued. In Experiment 2, a single reinstatement extended 6-month-olds' memory of an operant train task for 19 weeks after reminding, when infants were almost 1 year old. After reactivation, infants remember this task for only 2 weeks. The finding that the memory-preserving effect of reinstatement is greater by an order of magnitude suggests that procedural differences between the two reminders have functional significance.