Obese-normal differences in the self-monitoring of expressive behavior

Several recent studies have found that while the behavior of normal weight individuals is primarily determined by internal cues, the behavior of the obese is chiefly controlled by external or environmental cues. The present study sought to generalize this finding to the self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Specifically, it was predicted that obese persons would tend to be high in the self-monitoring of their expressive behavior while individuals of normal weight would tend to monitor their expressive behavior to a lesser extent. This hypothesis was strongly supported. The findings are discussed both in terms of further extending the Schachterian model and in terms of the obese as a deviant population.     

Effects of a model on eating behavior: the induction of a restrained eating style.

An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of a same-sex model on females' eating behavior. The model ate either a large or small quantity along with the subject in an ad lib satiation context, and either did or did not identify herself as a dieter. Subjects were 86 female undergraduates, split into normally dieting or nondieting subgroups. Number of sandwich quarters consumed ad lib following a small fixed preload was found to vary as a function of (a) model's consumption (b) model's dieter status and (c) subject's dieter status; there were no significant interactions. A subsequent taste-rating assessment of nut consumption, in which the model was present but could neither see nor be seen by the subject, indicated that the three factors which had previously affected sandwich consumption independently combined to affect nut consumption interdependently. The results were interpreted in terms of the effect of the model on the quantity and pattern of consumption, and conclusions were drawn about the dynamics of restrained and unrestrained eating and implications for therapy.     

Psychosocial Issues That Face Patients With Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: The Role of Genetic Counseling

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a hereditary debilitating progressive muscular atrophy and sensory neuropathy of the distal extremities. CMT is usually nonlife threatening. Signs of the disease usually present in childhood or in young adulthood and the level of disability can be variable within and between families. Research addressing specific psychosocial and emotional issues faced by individuals with CMT is limited. Fourteen adults with a clinical and/or molecular diagnosis of CMT (ages 32–74 years) consented to an audio taped interview. The format of the interview was based around an informal questionnaire to prompt and guide the interviewee to describe their experiences of living with a disabling genetic disorder. The interviews focused on their experiences of first symptoms and diagnosis, their life experience with CMT, their limitations due to disability and the role of genetic counseling. This study identifies and explores life issues that individuals with CMT may face, specifically grief over the loss of independence, emotional pain and stress such as embarrassment and guilt of passing on a gene mutation, impact on quality of life, the impact of wearing orthopedic devices, and fear of progressive disability. Our findings suggest that that there are emotional and psychosocial issues specific to affected individuals at different life stages and genetic counselors need to be aware of these issues in order to provide age appropriate support and advice to individuals affected by CMT.     

Brain lateralization of phonological awareness varies by maternal education

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to influence language skills, with children of lower SES backgrounds performing worse on language assessments compared to their higher SES peers. While there is abundant behavioral research on the effects of SES, whether there are differences in the neural mechanisms used to support language skill is less established. In this study, we examined the relation between maternal education (ME), a component of SES, and neural mechanisms of language. We focused on Kindergarten children, at the beginning of formal reading education, and on a pre‐reading skill, phonological awareness—the ability to distinguish or manipulate the sounds of language. We determined ME‐related differences in neural activity by examining a skill‐matched sample of typically achieving 5‐year‐old children as they performed a rhyme judgment task. We examined brain lateralization in two language processing regions, the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG). In the IFG, lateralization was related to ME but not skill: children with low ME showed bilateral activation compared to children with higher ME who showed leftward lateralization. In the STG, there was a skill by ME interaction on lateralization, such that children with high ME showed a positive relation between rightward lateralization and skill and children with low ME showed a positive relation between leftward lateralization and skill. Thus, we demonstrated ME is related to differences in neural recruitment during language processing, yet this difference in recruitment is not indicative of a deficit in linguistic processing in Kindergarten children.     

Biased Facial Expression Interpretation in Shy Children

The relationship between shyness and the interpretations of the facial expressions of others was examined in a sample of 123 children aged 12 to 14 years. Participants viewed faces displaying happiness, fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, as well as a neutral expression, presented on a computer screen. The children identified each expression by pressing a button on an external keyboard. For each expression, children also rated (a) the degree to which they felt the child displaying the expression would like them, (b) the probability that someone at school would look at them with that expression, and (c) their own emotional reaction to interacting with a child displaying the expression. Participants also completed the Children's Shyness Questionnaire and the Children's Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire. We hypothesized that shyness in children would be related to negatively biased interpretations of facial expressions. Although the accuracy with which the children could identify the facial expressions was not related to their degree of shyness, negative biases were found in their interpretations of the meanings of the expressions. Furthermore, rejection sensitivity significantly mediated many of these biased interpretations. These findings may have implications for interventions for children experiencing shyness and social anxiety, especially social‐skills training approaches. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theobiology: An Analysis of Spirituality, Cardiovascular Responses, Stress, Mood, and Physical Health

The relationships of spirituality and religion to acute cardiovascular responses, physical symptoms of illness, stress and psychological mood were assessed in a community sample of adults. Nineteen men and 61 women participated in a betrayal interview, while their blood pressure and heart rate were monitored. Religious affiliation, frequency of attendance at worship and religiousness were associated with resting diastolic and mean arterial pressure. Spirituality, especially as assessed by the existential scale of the Spiritual Well-being Scale, was related to symptoms of illness, medication use, stress and negative mood states. Spirituality and involvement in organized religion may represent a means to increase the sense of purpose and meaning in life, which is related to greater resiliency and resistance to stress-related illness.     

Agreement among teacher,peer, and self-ratings of children's aggression,withdrawal, and likability

This study examined the relationship among teacher, peer, and self-ratings of children's social behavior. The Pupil Evaluation Inventory was completed by 172 first-graders, 346 fourth-graders, 283 seventh-graders, and 30 teachers. Groups of deviant responders and controls were also selected from the total sample on the basis of peer-rated aggression and withdrawal scores. Interrater agreement was consistently greater between peer and teacher ratings than between self-ratings and either peer or teacher ratings. Discrepancies between raters were greatest for children with more deviant scores, with peer ratings providing the highest estimates of deviant behavior, and self ratings yielding the lowest. Self ratings were lower than teacher or peer ratings on aggression and withdrawal, and higher on likability. Aggression produced greatest agreement between raters. Agreement was uninfluenced by the cognitive maturity of peer evaluators. The results suggest that the selection of raters should be influenced by the class of behaviors to be evaluated and the context in which they occur.This research was funded by Québec Ministry of Social Affairs Grant RS 281 to Jane Ledingham and Alex Schwartzman. The authors wish to thank Lisa Serbin for her helpful comments on this article, and Claude Senneville, Geoff Selig, and Denise Morin for their assistance in the data collection and analysis.     

How children describe their shy/withdrawn peers

In individual interviews, 227 children from the first, third, fifth, and seventh grades described the behaviours that characterize shyness in their peers. The categories of behaviour most frequently described included the following: doesn't talk, stays by self, doesn't play, walks/runs away from others, hides, looks away/avoids eye contact, physical signs of anxiety, stays near familiar people, cries, blushes, and gets mixed up when talking/stutters. The number of children mentioning hides, stays near familiar people, and cries decreased significantly across grade level, whereas the number mentioning doesn't talk, stays by self, blushes, and gets mixed up when talking/stutters increased across grade level. The situations in which children described the shy behaviours as occurring were classified as entailing either fearful shyness or self‐conscious shyness. The number of children who mentioned contexts involving fearful shyness declined across grade level grade, whereas the number mentioning contexts involving self‐conscious shyness increased with increasing grade level. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Adult Attachment Style in Forgiveness Following an Interpersonal Offense

The role of attachment style in relation to forgiveness was investigated in 2 betrayal interviews. Blood pressure and heart rate were assessed, along with attachment style, forgiveness, empathy, and emotional expressiveness. Securely attached individuals were more forgiving of the specific offense, had higher levels of trait forgiveness, and expressed more positive emotion. Securely attached adults had lower interview systolic blood pressure and exhibited greater blood pressure recovery. Attachment style may be an independent antecedent of forgiveness.