The relationship of body image dissatisfaction to cigarette smoking in college students

This study examined the association of cigarette smoking status and body image dissatisfaction as measured by the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), in 1575 young adult college students, 18–24 years of age. Respondents were current cigarette smokers (N = 482) or never tobacco users (N = 1093). Smoking status was found to be significantly associated with 5 of the 10 MBSRQ subscales, with current smokers having lower scores on Fitness Orientation, Health Evaluation and Health Orientation (all p < 0.001) and higher scores on Appearance Orientation (p = 0.01) and Overweight Preoccupation (p = 0.03) compared with never tobacco users. Furthermore, among current smokers, a higher number of days smoked in the last 30 days were associated with lower scores on all MBSRQ subscales, except Self-Classified Weight. In terms of clinical implications, interventions for smoking cessation among college students might benefit from inclusion of components for addressing body image dissatisfaction and improving health beliefs.     

坏念头，罪几何？意图信息的强弱变化对大学生道德判断的影响

成人在对他人的行为进行道德判断时,对意图和结果信息的利用存在不稳定的现象。Cushman提出道德判断双加工过程理论,认为当存在重大负性后果时,需要综合考虑意图和结果信息;而当不存在负性后果时,主要关注意图信息。本研究通过句式变化操控意图信息的明显性,分别考察了两组大学生在对道德情景进行判断时意图信息强弱变化所造成的影响,结果发现：（1）对中性行为进行道德判断时,突显负性意图信息后被试会增加道德谴责;（2）对负性行为进行道德判断时,道德谴责程度没有因意图信息明显性的改变而发生显著变化。此研究结果表明,在行为结果为中性时,人们主要利用意图的信息做出道德判断,但此时对负性意图的谴责程度并不稳定,容易受明显性变化的干扰。     

Análisis factorial confirmatorio de la Escala de habilidades sociales en universitarios chilenos

This paper presents a psychometric study performing a confirmatory factor analysis of Gismero's Social Skills Scale. A background review is conducted on evaluation tools generally used for social skills, and the general characteristics of the scale are presented for the tool studied. A review is also conducted on psychometric properties of this tool. The sample consisted of 1206 college students at the Universidad Católica de Temuco, Chile. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using a polychoric correlation matrix, and the structure proposed by Gismero was analyzed. Reliability assessment procedures, such as internal consistency (Ordinal Alpha) and discriminant validity analysis, were also conducted using AF5 factors. The results show good internal reliability of the tool, suitability of the model to the data, and good discriminant validity. In conclusion, the Gismero's Social Skills Scale is considered as a suitable tool for assessing social skills in Chilean university students. A slight modification of the model structure in the second order factor level is proposed.     

Does short-term fasting promote changes in state body image?

Fasting, or going a significant amount of time without food, is a predictor of eating pathology in at-risk samples. The current study examined whether acute changes in body image occur after an episode of fasting in college students. Furthermore, it evaluated whether individual difference variables might inform the relationship between fasting and shifts in body image. Participants (N = 186) included male (44.7%) and female college students who completed the Body Image States Scale (BISS) and other eating-related measures before a 24-h fast. Participants completed the BISS again after fasting. While no overall changes in BISS scores emerged during the study, some individuals evidenced body image improvement. Baseline levels of disinhibition and self-reported fasting at least once per week uniquely predicted improvement in body image. Individual difference variables may play a role in how fasting could be reinforced by shifts in body image.     

Natural Mentors,Social Class,and College Success

Natural mentors provide advice, moral support, and assistance to adolescents who aspire to obtain a postsecondary degree, but past studies of the benefits of having an informal adult mentor have yet to resolve several issues. Our analyses of a national sample of high school graduates test three hypotheses: (H1) natural mentoring increases the odds of college attendance and completion, (H2) guidance and career advice are more important for college success than encouragement or role modeling, and (H3) students from poor and working‐class families benefit more from mentoring than students from middle‐ and upper‐class families. Hypotheses 1 and 3 are clearly supported when examining the odds of attending college, while Hypothesis 2 was not supported—encouragement and role modeling boost attendance, not advice or practical help. None of the hypotheses is supported when predicting degree completion among those who matriculated. As natural mentors do not appreciably increase the odds of completing college, we conclude past studies have overstated the postsecondary educational benefits of natural mentors.     

The role of trait emotional intelligence in academic performance during the university transition: An integrative model of mediation via social support,coping, and adjustment

The authors propose conceptual models linking trait emotional intelligence (TEI) with achievement both directly and indirectly via perceived social support (PSS), engagement coping (EC), and adjustment, in the context of the university transition. The models were tested in a multiwave design with a sample of incoming Australian undergraduates (N = 470). In structural equation analyses, TEI was found to be a direct predictor of higher PSS and the greater use of EC strategies. Further, mediation analyses revealed that TEI was indirectly associated with academic adjustment via EC and psychological adjustment via EC and PSS operating in parallel. TEI was also found to be indirectly associated with achievement via EC and academic adjustment linked serially in a three-path mediated sequence. These direct and indirect relations were robust when controlling for known confounding influences. The empirically supported mediating processes extend the literature by elucidating some of the pathways through which TEI is linked with better adjustment and achievement.     

Cornell College: Program in Science and Religion

Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, has established a new interdisciplinary program in science and religion. One of the features of this program is an undergraduate major in science and religion that requires substantial course work in at least one of the natural sciences as well as course work in philosophy, religion, and history. As a result of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, Cornell College will offer a special course, God and Physics: From Aquinas to Quantum Mechanics (April 1998), and will sponsor an international symposium on creation and contemporary cosmology (April 1999). Opportunities exist for interested scholars to come to Cornell as Templeton Visiting Fellows in order to participate in these activities.     

The restoration of extinguished avoidance responses

Following extensive signaled shuttlebox avoidance training, Fischer 344 rats were given extinction trials until they reliably stopped responding and, thereafter, they received occasional classical CS-UCS pairings during the course of restoration test trials in which shock was absent. Experiment I demonstrated that the classical contingency was both necessary and sufficient for the complete recovery of such behavior. Experiment II revealed that the degree of recovery was not differentially affected by the frequency of such CS-UCS pairings. However, in Experiment III recovery in the presence of this contingency was shown to depend on the number of previous extinction trials, although even after a large number of such trials, a considerable degree of recovery occurred. These findings demonstrated the central role of the classical CS-UCS contingency in restoring a previously extinguished avoidance response.