Educating the Senses: Explorations in Aesthetics,Embodiment and Sensory Pedagogy

Studies in Philosophy and Education - This volume takes two different, albeit intertwined approaches. The first concerns a reformulation of aesthetics in education—one which highlights the...     

Self-Compassion and Need Frustration Moderate the Effects of Upward Appearance Comparisons on Body Image Discrepancies

Abstract

Drawing from diverse theoretical frameworks, we examined predictors of discrepancy between current and ideal body image in a sample of 396 Greek adolescents. The participants completed assessments of the frequency of comparing oneself with someone of perceived better appearance, appearance evaluations, frustration of basic psychological needs, and appearance self-compassion. We found that upward appearance comparisons negatively predicted appearance evaluation, which in turn was a negative predictor of body image discrepancy. Moderated mediation analyses showed that appearance self-compassion buffered, whereas psychological need frustration augmented the negative effects of upward comparisons on appearance evaluation. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on body image discrepancies in adolescence by examining moderating factors that amplify or buffer such discrepancies, hence identifying viable intervention pathways.     

Antenatal caregiving representations and perinatal behavior in mothers with severe lifetime psychopathology

Psychopathology poses a risk for optimal parenting. The current study explored antenatal caregiving representations as markers for later risk of nonoptimal maternal behavior among mothers with severe mental illness. Sixty-five mothers diagnosed with psychosis, bipolar disorder, depression (psychopathology group), and nonclinical controls participated in a longitudinal study from pregnancy to 16 weeks after birth. Mental health diagnoses and caregiving representations were assessed during pregnancy. Maternal behavior was assessed during the 5-min recovery phase of the still-face paradigm at 16 weeks. Mothers with psychopathology reported significantly higher levels of “heightened” caregiving representations (i.e., separation anxiety from the child) than did controls. The only significant diagnostic group difference in perinatal maternal behavior was that mothers diagnosed with depression exhibited more overriding-intrusive behavior than did nonclinical control mothers. Regression modeling results showed that antenatal caregiving representations of “role reversal” predicted significantly lower levels of sensitivity and higher levels of overriding-intrusive behavior independent of the effect of psychopathology. The findings can be interpreted in the context of representational transformation to motherhood during pregnancy. The results provide preliminary evidence for the potential of a new questionnaire measure of caregiving representations as a screening instrument for antenatal representational risk.     

Four Dimensions of Criticism Against Gender-Fair Language

Sex Roles - The gender-neutral third-person pronoun singular hen was recently introduced in Swedish as a complement to she (hon) and he (han). The initiative to add hen initially received strong...     

Multiple Learning Contexts and the Development of Life Skills Among Canadian Junior National Team Biathletes

The purposes of this study were to identify and explore (a) the life skills learning contexts experienced by Canadian junior national team biathletes and (b) the ways in which they learned life skills in these contexts. Nine members of the Canadian junior national biathlon team participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Results of thematic analysis revealed 3 life skills learning contexts: sport, school/work, and family. Participants reported learning life skills by using cognitive processes of observational learning and reflections on experiences. Some athletes reported that life skills learning occurred automatically, which may suggest implicit cognitive learning.

Lay Summary:

The different contexts in which Canadian junior national team biathletes learned life skills were studied. Nine athletes were interviewed. Athletes learned life skills in sport, school/work, and family contexts. They used cognitive strategies of observational learning and reflecting on experiences. Some athletes thought they learned life skills automatically, which may suggest implicit cognitive learning.     

Seeing red? Colour biases of foraging birds are context dependent

Animal Cognition - Colours are commonly used as visual cues when measuring animals’ cognitive abilities. However, animals can have innate biases towards certain colours that depend on...     

Age influences domestic dog cognitive performance independent of average breed lifespan

Animal Cognition - Across mammals, increased body size is positively associated with lifespan. However, within species, this relationship is inverted. This is well illustrated in dogs (Canis...     

Temperamental differences between healthy,asthmatic, and allergic children before onset of illness: a longitudinal prospective study of asthma development

The authors investigated the link between children's temperament and the development of asthma and allergies. Prospective longitudinal data on children at the ages of 3-5 months, 3-5 years, and 7-9 years were collected. At age 7-9 years, analyses were performed on data for 3 groups of children (n = 42): those with asthma (no allergies), those with allergies (no asthma), and those with neither asthma nor allergies (the control group). Data for children who developed asthma or allergies prior to age 7-9 years were not analyzed. Differences were found in the premorbid period between the control group and the children who later developed asthma or allergies as well as between the asthma and allergy groups. After onset of illness, no temperamental differences were observed between the 3 groups. The study shows the importance of longitudinal design for asthma research.     

The effect of sensitization and coping style on post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life: two longitudinal studies

The present study investigated the effects of multiple trauma exposure and coping style on post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life. It was hypothesized that sensitization would occur in subjects repeatedly exposed to life-threatening situations (study 1), and different coping styles would act as a resilience or facilitating factor in symptom development (study 2). The results showed that the single-exposure group revealed a decrease in trauma specific stress reactions from three weeks to four months, with a persistent reduction at 12-month follow-up, while the repeated-exposure group showed an increase in symptom reporting over the 12-month period. The same pattern emerged for perceived quality of life-measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). The second study revealed a correlation between scores on avoidant-focused coping style and the Impact of Event Scale-avoidance dimension, Post-traumatic Symptom Scale and GHQ-30. Furthermore, only subjects with a dominant coping style of emotion-focused or task-focused coping showed a reduction in trauma-specific symptom scores over time.