What Triggers Abnormal Eating in Bulimic and Nonbulimic Women?

Dissociative experiences and abnormal eating were examined in 92 non-eating-disordered women and 61 age-matched bulimic women. In the non-clinical sample of women, dissociative experiences were associated with abnormal eating attitudes and behavior, even after controlling for other forms of psychopathology; furthermore, dissociation mediated the relationships between abnormal eating and sexual abuse, abnormal eating and emotional distress, and abnormal eating and impulsivity. Analyses using both bulimic women and occasional binge eaters among the controls showed that a combination of reported negative affect and dissociative experiences preceding a binge was associated with the highest levels of abnormal eating. Finally, in both bulimic women and occasional binge eaters, feelings of panic appeared to decrease as a binge episode progressed, whereas, in bulimic women only, dissociative experiences appeared to increase during binge eating. The implications for the role of dissociation in combination with emotional distress in triggering and reinforcing abnormal eating in women are discussed.     

A meta-analysis of gender differences in character strengths and age,nation, and measure as moderators

Abstract

The present meta-analysis investigates gender differences in the 24 VIA character strengths. Based on a literature search on quantitative studies that assessed character strengths, 65 samples consisting of both published and unpublished data were included (total N = 1,189,924). A random-effects model yielded significant gender differences for 17 of the 24 character strengths, although only four of these differences showed at least small effects: Females scored higher than males in appreciation of beauty and excellence, kindness, love, and gratitude. Thus, males and females were mostly similar in their character strengths. The size of the gender differences did not vary with nationality (i.e. the US, Switzerland, Germany, and Israel), while age and type of measure were significant moderators for 13-14 character strengths. The most pronounced differences emerged between children/adolescents and the VIA-Youth in comparison to adults and the VIA-IS as well as the short measures.     

Gaze,goals and growing up: Effects on imitative grasping

Developmental differences in the use of social‐attention cues to imitation were examined among children aged 3 and 6 years old (n = 58) and adults (n = 29). In each of 20 trials, participants watched a model grasp two objects simultaneously and move them together. On every trial, the model directed her gaze towards only one of the objects. Some object pairs were related and had a clear functional relationship (e.g., flower, vase), while others were functionally unrelated (e.g., cardboard square, ladybug). Owing to attentional effects of eye gaze, it was expected that all participants would more faithfully imitate the grasp on the gazed‐at object than the object not gazed‐at. Children were expected to imitate less faithfully on trials with functionally related objects than those without, due to goal‐hierarchy effects. Results support effects of eye gaze on imitation of grasping. Children's grasping accuracy on functionally related and functionally unrelated trials was similar, but they were more likely to only use one hand on trials where the object pairs were functionally related than unrelated. Implications for theories of imitation are discussed.     

Does self-compassion protect adolescents who are victimized or suffer from academic difficulties from depression?

ABSTRACT

Adolescents face many social and academic difficulties which, if not managed properly, can lead to depression. Self-compassion, a kind and caring orientation towards oneself, has emerged as a possible resilience factor alleviating depression. Self-compassion comprises two factors: self-compassion and self-coldness. The present study set out to investigate whether self-compassion weakens or self-coldness strengthens the association between depression and two difficult circumstances: victimization and academic difficulties (ADs). The sample consisted of 2383 students who had recently made the transition to upper secondary education. The study was cross-sectional and employed a hierarchical regression analysis approach. Strongest interactions were followed up with simple slope analysis. Self-compassion (inversely), self-coldness, ADs, and victimization were statistically significant predictors of depression. Self-compassion weakened the association between ADs and depression. The results suggest encountering difficulties in adolescence and depression are related and that self-compassion may moderate the association.     

Tempted to join in or not? Moral temptation and self-reported behaviour in bullying situations

We investigate the relationship between adolescents’ construction of a transgression relating to a hypothetical temptation and bystander behaviour and bullying (offline and online). A total of 331 Swiss eighth graders completed an electronic questionnaire on bystanding, bullying, moral disengagement, and empathy. Moral functioning was assessed in a hypothetical scenario, using different moral judgements (deontic and self-judgement, judging the transgression; paper-and-pencil measure). Cluster analyses were used to identify patterns of moral functioning. For the open situation (deontic and self-judgement), happy transgressors, happy moralists, ashamed moralists, and indifferent moralists were differentiated, and for the transgression (accomplished deed) moralists and happy opportunists. The analyses yielded significant differences between the different cluster groups. Happy transgressors (open situation) reported higher levels of assisting the bullying than unconcerned moralists. Happy transgressors also reported lower levels of helping than ashamed and happy moralists. Opportunists (accomplished deed) reported higher levels of assisting the bullying, offline bullying, and lower levels of helping the victim. The multivariate GEE analyses showed that happy transgressors reported higher levels of assisting the bully and online bullying than the moralist groups (open situation). The study shows that adolescents who construct a favourable interpretation of yielding to temptation in a hypothetical scenario displayed higher levels of both assisting the bully and online bullying, emphasizing the need for incorporating targeted moral education in bullying prevention.     

Factor structure of the Friends and Family interview

The aim of this study was to specify the latent construct structure of the Friends and Family Interview (FFI: Steele & Steele, 2005) based on its dimensional scale coding protocol. The FFI is a semi-structured interview measuring attachment in middle childhood. We analyzed data from 341 FFI interviews with children aged 7–12 years, recruited in the Scandinavian Öresund Region. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a three-component model as best fitting the data. The first component, denoting attachment security, gathered all dimensional scales for evidence of secure base/safe haven regarding mother/father and coherence in the child’s narrative style, along with scales regarding reflective functioning, self-perception, and social functioning. The second component comprised preoccupying feelings of anger, but also derogation. The third component gathered all scales coding idealization. Inter-relations among the components were consistent with attachment theory, and respondents’ scores for all three components differed significantly across the four categorical attachment classifications. Affect regulation of negative emotion through anger and through derogation co-occurred, and was distinct from regulation through maintaining a belief that things are better than they appear (idealization). These two affect regulation strategies appeared commonly when reflective functioning, and an organized self-perception, and positive peer relations were less in evidence. The multi-dimensional FFI coding system appears to measure successfully these diverse features of the child’s narrative provided in response to the interview. Overall, our findings support the construct validity of the FFI and provide further evidence of its usefulness for assessing attachment in middle childhood and early adolescence.     

Differences between girls and boys in emerging language skills: Evidence from 10 language communities

The present study explored gender differences in emerging language skills in 13,783 European children from 10 non‐English language communities. It was based on a synthesis of published data assessed with adapted versions of the MacArthur‐Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) from age 0.08 to 2.06. The results showed that girls are slightly ahead of boys in early communicative gestures, in productive vocabulary, and in combining words. The difference increased with age. Boys were not found to be more variable than girls. Despite extensive variation in language skills between language communities, the difference between girls and boys remained. This suggests that the difference is caused by robust factors that do not change between language communities.