A population-based study of body image concerns among urban Chinese adults

Using a nationally representative Chinese urban sample of 930 women and 893 men aged 20–45 who were married or had a steady sexual partner, this study examines the prevalence, risk factors and sequelae of body image concerns. Women's weight loss desires begin at modest BMI levels and are more pronounced among youth, among people of urban origin, and among the educated. Women also have stronger body image concerns if they are single, living in coastal areas, taller or larger than their partner, or if their relationship with their partner is poor. Moreover, women who perceive themselves as unattractive and who want to lose weight report more psychological distress. These findings suggest that China has joined the worldwide diffusion of the thin ideal, with negative consequences for women.     

A psychometric reanalysis of the Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire

The psychometric properties of the 27-item Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire (APPQ) were evaluated in 1930 outpatients with DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders. Although prior findings of a 3-factor latent structure were upheld in several replications (Social Phobia, Agoraphobia, Interoceptive), three items failed to load on their predicted factor (Interoceptive). Multiple-groups CFAs indicated that the measurement properties of the APPQ were invariant in male and female patients, with the exception of an intercept of one item from the Agoraphobia scale which evidenced bias against females. The three APPQ dimensions were consistently associated with high levels of scale reliability and factor determinacy. Strong evidence of concurrent validity of the Social Phobia and Agoraphobia factors was obtained in relation to interview and questionnaire measures. Although the Interoceptive factor was more strongly related to criterion measures of anxiety sensitivity and fear of panic than Social Phobia, the Agoraphobia factor had the strongest relationships with these validity indices. The results are discussed in regard to psychometric implications for the APPQ and conceptual issues pertaining to the discriminant validity of fear of agoraphobic situations and fear of sensation-producing activities.     

Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol: Findings from a Community-Based Randomized Trial

Underage drinking continues to be an important public health problem and a challenge to the substance abuse prevention field. Community-based interventions designed to more rigorously control underage access to alcohol through retailer education and greater enforcement of underage drinking laws have been advocated as potentially effective strategies to help address this problem, but studies designed to evaluate such interventions are sparse. To address this issue we conducted a randomized trial involving 36 communities to test the combined effectiveness of five interrelated intervention components designed to reduce underage access to alcohol. The intervention was found to be effective in reducing the likelihood that retail clerks would sell alcohol to underage-looking buyers, but did not reduce underage drinking or the perceived availability of alcohol among high school students. Post hoc analyses, however, revealed significant associations between the level of underage drinking law enforcement in the intervention communities and reductions in both 30-day use of alcohol and binge drinking. The findings highlight the difficulty in reducing youth drinking even when efforts to curtail retail access are successful. Study findings also suggest that high intensity implementation of underage drinking law enforcement can reduce underage drinking. Any such effects of enhanced enforcement on underage drinking appear to be more directly attributable to an increase in perceived likelihood of enforcement and the resultant perceived inconveniences and/or sanctions to potential drinkers, than to a reduction in access to alcohol per se.     

Battling Discrimination and Social Isolation: Psychological Distress Among Latino Day Laborers

Day labor is comprised of predominately male and recent Latino immigrants, mainly from Mexico and Central America who work in an unregulated and informal market. Three-quarters of the day labor force is undocumented and live under the federal poverty threshold as work is seasonal and highly contingent on the weather and the local economy. However, in spite of their exposure to significant health risks, little is known about the impact of Latino day laborers’ (LDLs) work and life conditions on their mental health. This mixed methods study extends the literature by using the minority stress theoretical model to examine the relationship between discrimination and social isolation as well as participant identified protective factors such as religiosity and sending remittances with psychological distress. A quantitative survey with 150 LDLs was conducted and was followed by a qualitative member checking focus group to extend upon the quantitative results as well as the minority stress model with the lived experiences of these immigrant workers. Results reveal implications for prevention efforts with this hard-to-reach and marginalized population.     

Self-supporting personality and psychological symptoms: The mediating effects of stress and social support

This study examined relations among self-supporting personality, stress, social support, and psychological symptoms in a sample of 782 Chinese undergraduate students using the Self-Supporting Personality Scale for Adolescent Students (SSPS-AS), Adolescent Self-Rating Life Event Checklist (ASLEC), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MPSSS), and Symptoms Check List 90 (SCL-90). As predicted, results from cross-sectional structural equation analyses suggested that stress and social support mediate the relationship between four self-supporting personality traits and psychological symptoms; an alternative stress-moderation model was not supported.     

Getting stuck in depression: The roles of rumination and emotional inertia

Like many other mental disorders, depression is characterised by psychological inflexibility. Two instances of such inflexibility are rumination: repetitive cognitions focusing on the causes and consequences of depressive symptoms; and emotional inertia: the tendency for affective states to be resistant to change. In two studies, we tested the predictions that: (1) rumination and emotional inertia are related; and (2) both independently contribute to depressive symptoms. We examined emotional inertia of subjective affective experiences in daily life among a sample of non-clinical undergraduates (Study 1), and of affective behaviours during a family interaction task in a sample of clinically depressed and non-depressed adolescents (Study 2), and related it to self-reported rumination and depression severity. In both studies, rumination (particularly the brooding facet) and emotional inertia (particularly of sad/dysphoric affect) were positively associated, and both independently predicted depression severity. These findings demonstrate the importance of studying both cognitive and affective inflexibility in depression.     

Knowing when to seek anger: Psychological health and context-sensitive emotional preferences

According to hedonic approaches to psychological health, healthy individuals should pursue pleasant and avoid unpleasant emotions. According to instrumental approaches, however, healthy individuals should pursue useful and avoid harmful emotions, whether pleasant or unpleasant. We sought to reconcile these approaches by distinguishing between preferences for emotions that are aggregated across contexts and preferences for emotions within specific contexts. Across five days, we assessed daily confrontational and collaborative demands and daily preferences for anger and happiness. Somewhat consistent with hedonic approaches, when averaging across contexts, psychologically healthier individuals wanted to feel less anger, but not more happiness. Somewhat consistent with instrumental approaches, when examined within contexts, psychologically healthier individuals wanted to feel angrier in more confrontational contexts, and some wanted to feel happier in more collaborative contexts. Thus, although healthier individuals are motivated to avoid unpleasant emotions over time, they are more motivated to experience them when they are potentially useful.     

Essentialist Beliefs About Bodily Transplants in the United States and India

Psychological essentialism is the belief that some internal, unseen essence or force determines the common outward appearances and behaviors of category members. We investigated whether reasoning about transplants of bodily elements showed evidence of essentialist thinking. Both Americans and Indians endorsed the possibility of transplants conferring donors' personality, behavior, and luck on recipients, consistent with essentialism. Respondents also endorsed essentialist effects even when denying that transplants would change a recipient's category membership (e.g., predicting that a recipient of a pig's heart would act more pig‐like but denying that the recipient would become a pig). This finding runs counter to predictions from the strongest version of the “minimalist” position (Strevens,2000), an alternative to essentialism. Finally, studies asking about a broader range of donor‐to‐recipient transfers indicated that Indians essentialized more types of transfers than Americans, but neither sample essentialized monetary transfer. This suggests that results from bodily transplant conditions reflect genuine essentialism rather than broader magical thinking.     

What’s in a name? Psychology’s ever evasive construct

We explore in broad terms the uses of the construct concept in psychological and related scientific discourses. First, we provide a brief history of the origins and development of the concept ‘construct.’ We then describe past and current definitions and/or uses of ‘construct’ and attempt to draw out certain conceptual implications of these uses. Finally, we highlight and attempt to clarify several core conceptual confusions that surround the use of ‘construct’ in psychology.     

Downsizing in britain and its effects on survivors and their organizations

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the psychological effects of downsizing and redundancy on those remaining within organizations after large-scale redundancy programs. While there have been a number of studies of this type in the recent past, our task is to explore two separate studies which have investigated this phenomena. The first study explores the impact of redundancy in a recently privatized organization in the UK. This, we argue, is a particularly fertile area of study given the radical changes that have affected organizations in the UK that have been subjected to privatization. The results stem from an exploratory and qualitative case study which takes an individual perspective. The second study discussed in this paper explores the results of a survey conducted in the UK that examines the implications of change in both the public and private sector organizations. This survey takes a quantitative look at the implications of redundancy from an organizational perspective. By investigating these two studies, our research explores the impact of redundancy on two levels—the individual level and the organizational level. First, we examine the emotional, attitudinal and behavioral effects of redundancy on survivors and the resultant implications for management: in particular the changing role of line managers where delayering and redundancy has taken place. Second, we explore the impact of redundancy on the organization in terms of organizational morale, motivation, organizational loyalty and job security where redundancy has and has not been used as a method of downsizing.