Just world beliefs, causal beliefs, and acquaintance: Associations with stigma toward eating disorders and obesity

The current study investigated the relationship between just world beliefs and stigmatizing attitudes toward eating disorders and obesity. Further, the associations between stigma and causal beliefs, and between stigma and acquaintance with these conditions, were examined. Participants (n = 447) read four vignettes describing an individual with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or obesity. After each vignette, participants completed questionnaires assessing stigmatizing attitudes, just world beliefs, causal beliefs, and acquaintance with the condition depicted in the vignette. Stronger just world beliefs were associated with greater stigma toward all three eating disorders, as well as obesity (rs ranging from −.11 to −.18). More stigmatizing attitudes were associated with greater attribution of individual responsibility for the development of the disorder. However, participants with personal experience or who knew someone with the depicted problem did not have lower stigma scores than those who did not. The current study suggests that justification ideologies such as just world beliefs and controllability beliefs may underlie the stigmatization of eating disorders and obesity. These findings provide support for stigma reduction efforts aimed at targeting justification ideologies and altering causal beliefs.     

A model of communicative perspective-taking for typical and atypical populations of children

Successful communication requires that individuals attend to the perspective of their conversational partners and use this information to modify their behavior accordingly. This paper presents a framework by which to understand children’s communicative perspective-taking skills and, within this framework, outlines three routes by which children’s communicative perspective-taking performance can be disrupted. First, children may have difficulty in communicative contexts due to deficits in mentalizing ability whereby they are unable to appreciate another’s perspective. Second, children may have intact mentalizing abilities but do not have the cognitive skills to support the use of this information when generating communicative behaviors. Third, decreased social exposure may lead to exacerbated deficits in either mentalizing ability or the use of mentalistic information within communicative contexts. Patterns within both typical and atypical populations (i.e., autism, ADHD, and mood disorders) are reviewed.     

Identifying and preventing disordered eating among athletes: Perceptions of track and field coaches

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify the strategies employed by coaches when identifying disordered eating (DE) among track and field athletes.DesignThis was a qualitative study and an inductive thematic analysis was conducted.MethodSemi structured interviews were conducted with eleven track and field coaches, with experience of coaching at national and international level. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysis was conducted.ResultsTrack and field coaches reported using physical, social and performance indicators to identify disordered eating in their athletes. Coaches also monitored their athletes' eating attitudes and behaviors. Weight loss (both observed and objectively monitored) was considered to be a key indicator of disordered eating. Coaches placed a high level of importance on weight for performance, and an “ideal” female athlete body. Previous experiences of detecting disordered eating and a close relationship with the athlete facilitated the identification of disordered eating. Athlete secrecy and masking behaviors, difficulties in communication and coaches' stereotypical beliefs were found to complicate the identification process.ConclusionsThis study highlights the need for additional information, advice and guidance for track and field coaches to improve their knowledge and confidence in identifying disordered eating among their athletes.     

Reflections on athletes and eating disorders

ObjectivesThe purposes of this paper were to offer reflections, thoughts, and observations on the burgeoning research regarding eating disorders in athletes over the past 25 years, to comment on the findings and clinical implications of the studies contained in this special issue, and to provide suggestions for future research.ResultsDisordered eating and eating disorders are complex, multidimensional, and multiply determined, and can affect the health and performance of athletes in both genders and most sports. Although coaches and teammates can be significant sources of weight and body image pressure, they can also play a positive role in identification and prevention.ConclusionsFurther research is needed in several areas. These include a broader focus that includes athletes believed to be at less risk, most notably males and non-lean sport athletes, and ironically younger athletes, who may be at greatest risk. We also need more research related to treatment of athletes with eating disorders and especially how we might better motivate them for recovery.     

How professional pilots perceive interactions of working conditions,rosters, stress,sleep problems,fatigue and mental health. A qualitative content analysis

IntroductionSo far, no qualitative content analysis (QCA) has analysed pilots’ experiences and perceptions regarding weaknesses of fatigue risk management (FRM), flight time limitations (FTL), rosters, fatigue-severity, sleep problems, and how they relate to pilots’ mental health and well-being.ObjectiveThis research analyses pilots’ described perceptions of stress, fatigue, aviation safety and how regulations like FTL can affect their health and well-being.MethodIn total, 119 international pilots described their perceptions of FTL, rosters, aviation safety, and how they relate to fatigue and health. The QCA was conducted to analyse interactions of working conditions, stressors, fatigue, sleep problems and mental health of EASA-based and Australian pilots.ResultsAlthough pilots were rostered for only 60.8% to 62.5% of the legally allowed duty and flight hours/month, 78.6% reported severe or very high fatigue, 22.8% significant depression, 12.3% significant anxiety symptoms, 10.5% reported significant depression and anxiety symptoms. Pilots uttered severe concerns about FTL, sleep restrictions associated with early starts, minimum rest, etc. Pilots also expressed distinct fears regarding more fatigue-related crashes, and how adverse working conditions, work-related and psychosocial stress could impair their health.ConclusionsThis QCA provided valuable insights into interactions of working conditions, fatigue, sleep restrictions, physical and mental health. Progressive health impairment due to lack of sleep and accumulated fatigue promote burnout, mental and physical health problems, which not only threaten flight safety, but also sustainability of aviation.     

High cognitive sensitivity to activational effects of testosterone in parents of offspring with autism spectrum disorders

The existence of mild forms of autistic-like characteristics in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has been defined as a broader autistic phenotype (BAP). Excessive prenatal exposure to testosterone (T) seems to play a role in its development. The aims of this study were to characterize whether ASD parents show masculinized brains or high T prenatal exposure compared to a normative population, using cognitive questionnaires, and also to examine the T level changes in response to different cognitive tasks. ASD parents were found to present higher autistic and lower empathic trait scores than controls. They also have higher T levels and magnitude of T response to cognitive tasks. Specific correlation patterns between masculinized brain types and T levels were observed only in ASD parents. Thus, it seems that first-degree relatives of people with ASD have high T levels during task performance, which, in turn, produce slight cognitive masculinization. Our findings should be considered for understanding the role of androgens in the etiology of ASD. Nevertheless, the masculinization parameters described throughout the study are subtle and require further analysis.     

Developmental plateau in visual object processing from adolescence to adulthood in autism

A lack of typical age-related improvement from adolescence to adulthood contributes to face recognition deficits in adults with autism on the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). The current studies examine if this atypical developmental trajectory generalizes to other tasks and objects, including parts of the face. The CFMT tests recognition of whole faces, often with a substantial delay. The current studies used the immediate memory (IM) task and the parts-whole face task from the Let’s Face It! battery, which examines whole faces, face parts, and cars, without a delay between memorization and test trials. In the IM task, participants memorize a face or car. Immediately after the target disappears, participants identify the target from two similar distractors. In the part-whole task, participants memorize a whole face. Immediately after the face disappears, participants identify the target from a distractor with different eyes or mouth, either as a face part or a whole face.Results indicate that recognition deficits in autism become more robust by adulthood, consistent with previous work, and also become more general, including cars. In the IM task, deficits in autism were specific to faces in childhood, but included cars by adulthood. In the part-whole task, deficits in autism became more robust by adulthood, including both eyes and mouths as parts and in whole faces. Across tasks, the deficit in autism increased between adolescence and adulthood, reflecting a lack of typical improvement, leading to deficits with non-face stimuli and on a task without a memory delay. These results suggest that brain maturation continues to be affected into adulthood in autism, and that the transition from adolescence to adulthood is a vulnerable stage for those with autism.