Eating regulation and bulimic symptoms: the differential correlates of health-focused and appearance-focused eating regulation

Based on Self-Determination Theory, this study aimed to gain further insight in the pathway from eating regulation to bulimic symptoms by (a) examining diet-specific need frustration as an intervening mechanism, (b) investigating the associations between different types of goals underlying eating regulation and diet-specific need frustration and bulimic symptoms, and (c) considering body dissatisfaction as an antecedent of eating regulation and eating regulation goals. In a sample of 244 female adolescents, SEM analyses showed that (a) the association between eating regulation and bulimic symptoms can be accounted for by need frustration, (b) appearance-focused and health-focused eating regulation are associated differentially with need frustration and bulimic symptoms, and (c) body dissatisfaction is related positively to eating regulation and appearance-focused eating regulation. These findings suggest that the goals underlying one's eating regulation and the concept of need frustration help to understand when and why eating regulation is associated with bulimic symptoms.     

The Need for Power and Fear of Assertiveness in English-Speaking South African Female Graduates

The present study demonstrated that Winter's (1973) power arousal procedure and scoring system for the need for power, which were developed in the United States, are valid for English-speaking South African female graduates. Subjects in whom the need for power had been aroused by a prerecorded inspirational speech (n = 20) had significantly higher n Power scores than matched nonaroused subjects (n = 20), T ²(8, 31) = 56.17, p ≤ .01. Further, it was argued that the fear of assertiveness is a component of the need for power, and a scoring system for measuring this motive was suggested. Fear of assertiveness was shown to correlate significantly with various behavioral and dispositional measures of assertiveness, relating especially to a dependency pattern of behavior.     

Effect of Training on Sensory Room and Cart Usage

In this study, the authors assess the effectiveness of education on the consistency of use of sensory rooms within a large mental health facility. Eleven staff and thirty-six clients received additional multimodal education in sensory strategies, the use of the sensory rooms on their assigned units, and the link between the rooms and clients' personal crisis intervention plans. Staff knowledge and room usage rates were analyzed pre- and post-training. The authors found statistically significant increases in staff knowledge post-training and increases in the use of the sensory rooms by study participants. The results support the effectiveness of training which uses hands-on, population-specific strategies.     

Discounting by Probabilistic Waiting

In everyday life, many probabilistic situations may be characterized as probabilistic waiting. A gambler, for example, bets repeatedly at the racetrack, the casino, or the card table. The gambler may not win on the first try, but if a gamble is repeated enough times, a win is almost certain to occur eventually. If repeated gambles are structured as strings of losses ending in a win (probabilistic waiting) and the amount won is discounted by the delay caused by the series of losses, then strings with many losses will be discounted more than those with fewer losses, thereby causing subjective value of the series of gambles as a whole to increase. The current study used the opposite effect that amount has on the degree of delay and probability discounting as a marker to determine whether people evaluate situations involving probabilistic waiting as they evaluate situations involving delayed outcomes or as situations involving probabilistic outcomes. We find that the more likely a probabilistic waiting situation is to end in reward (e.g., a gamble is repeated indefinitely until reward is obtained), the more that situation conforms to delay discounting; the less likely a probabilistic waiting situation is to end in reward (e.g., a fixed, small number of gambles), the more that situation conforms to probability discounting. We argue that the former situation is applicable to pathological gambling, and that people with steep delay discount functions would therefore be more likely to have gambling problems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Witnesses stumbling down memory lane: The effects of alcohol intoxication,retention interval,and repeated interviewing

Intoxicated eyewitnesses are often discredited by investigators and in court, but few studies have examined how alcohol affects witnesses’ memory. The primary aim of the present study was to examine how intoxication (alcohol vs. control), retention interval (immediate vs. one week delay), and number of interviews (one vs. two interviews) affect witnesses’ memory. The participants (N?=?99) were randomly assigned to consume either orange juice or alcohol mixed with orange juice, and they all witnessed a filmed mock crime afterwards. The recall took place either (a) immediately and after a one week delay or (b) after a one week delay only. No main effect of alcohol was found on the quantity or quality of the witnesses’ statements. Both intoxicated and sober witnesses recalled more details, and were more accurate, during immediate compared to delayed recall. For witnesses interviewed twice, an average of 30% new details were provided in the second compared to the first interview, and these were highly accurate. In sum, contrary to what one can expect, intoxicated witnesses with a low to moderate blood alcohol concentration (below 0.10%) were reliable witnesses.     

青少年重复梦主题的调查研究

该文通过对615名青少年进行《重复梦调查问卷》、梦的态度量表、幸福感指数量表等三份问卷的调查,结果发现:1)青少年重复梦的发生频率较高,86.4%的青少年做过重复梦;2)青少年重复主题的梦是最普遍的,占总数的32.4%;3)重复梦的发生频率个体差异较大,难以发现固定规律;4)重复梦里的情绪多为负性的情绪,占58.4%,其中恐惧是重复梦中体验最多的情绪,占38.0%;5)青少年重复梦发生频率最高的两大主题就是被追赶和坠落;6)是否做过重复梦与梦的态度显著相关,现在还在做重复梦的群体对梦的态度最积极;7)有没有重复梦与个体的主观幸福感指数不存在显著相关。     

Clarifying the role of impulsivity in dietary restraint: A structural equation modeling approach

This study was designed to clarify the relationship between the four dimensions of impulsivity in Whiteside and Lynam’s (2001) model and the two aspects of dietary restraint (Concern for Dieting and Weight Fluctuation) in a non-clinical sample. Data were collected from a volunteer community sample (N = 216) of women who responded to two self-report instruments related to impulsivity (UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale, Whiteside & Lynam, 2001) and dietary restraint (Restraint Scale, Polivy, Herman, & Warsh, 1978). A structural equation model was tested. The model provided a good fit to the data (χ²/df = 1.64, p < .0001, RMSEA = 0.054, 90% CI = 0.050–0.058, p-value for test of close fit (RMSEA > 0.05) = .035) and revealed that Concern for Dieting was positively related to Urgency (standardized β = 0.25, p < .01). Weight Fluctuation was related to lack of Perseverance (standardized β = 0.25, p < .01) and tended to relate to Sensation Seeking (standardized β = 0.17, p = .056). Urgency and lack of Perseverance were found to play a significant role in predicting Concern for Dieting and Weight Fluctuation.     

Subtyping children and adolescents with loss of control eating by negative affect and dietary restraint

OBJECTIVE: Research suggests that subtyping adults with binge eating disorders by dietary restraint and negative affect predicts comorbid psychopathology, binge eating severity, and treatment outcome. Little research has explored the validity and clinical utility of subtyping youth along these dimensions. METHOD: Children (aged 8-18 years) reporting loss of control eating (n=159) were characterized based upon measures of dietary restraint and negative affect using cluster analysis, and then compared regarding disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, and parent-reported behavior problems. RESULTS: Robust subtypes characterized by dietary restraint (n=114; 71.7%) and dietary restraint/high negative affect (n=45; 28.3%) emerged. Compared to the former group, the dietary restraint/high negative affect subtype evidenced increased shape and weight concerns, more frequent binge eating episodes, and higher rates of parent-reported problems (all ps<0.05). CONCLUSION: Similar to findings from the adult literature, the presence of negative affect may mark a more severe variant of loss of control eating in youth. Future research should explore the impact of dietary restraint/negative affect subtypes on psychiatric functioning, body weight, and treatment outcome.     

An Examination of the Effects of Repeated Readings with Secondary Students

Reading is a fundamental skill for success in school and as an adult. However, many children and adults experience difficulties reading. Previous research has demonstrated that repeated readings is an effective intervention for increasing both fluency and comprehension for elementary age readers of all skill levels. However, the impact of repeated readings on fluency and comprehension has not been examined with secondary students with reading deficits. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of repeated readings for increasing four secondary student's fluency on passages at their instructional level, at the ninth grade level, and on generalization passages from their school curriculum. Furthermore, the effects on comprehension were also explored. A comparison group of average readers served as an estimate for how fluently secondary students read. The results of this study demonstrated that fluency improvements were achieved for all of the participants with just ten additional hours of practice. Effects on comprehension were not as clear. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.     

Fluent Reading as the Improvement of Stimulus Control: Additive Effects of Performance-Based Interventions to Repeated Reading on Students' Reading and Error Rates

The impact of adding performance-based interventions to a skill-based intervention on oral reading fluency was examined with 3 elementary students identified as having difficulty with reading. Two performance-based interventions were combined with the skill-based intervention Repeated Reading (RR) to create the three instructional packages investigated. The packages included Repeated Readings (RR), Repeated Readings with Performance Feedback (RR/FB), and Repeated Readings with Performance Feedback and Contingent Reward (RR/FB/REW). Results suggested that Repeated Reading (RR) alone led to the greatest increase in reading fluency for participants with the highest reading rates and lowest error rates at baseline. In contrast, the participant who exhibited the lowest reading rate and highest error rate benefited the most when Repeated Readings was offered in conjunction with Performance Feedback (RR/FB) or Performance Feedback plus Contingent Reward (RR/FB/RW). Implications for blending skill- and performance-based interventions to develop stimulus control over fluent reading and future research directions are discussed.