Eating Regulation Styles, Appearance Schemas, and Body Satisfaction Predict Changes in Body Fat for Emerging Adults

Obesity and high body fat percentages are a major public health issue. The percentage of obese and overweight Americans has increased over the past 30 years. On average, overweight individuals with higher percent body fat than normal weight individuals are at increased risk for numerous negative outcomes both physically and mentally. A prime time to investigate changes in body composition and associated psychological influences on decision making is during the emerging adulthood period. The first few years of college are a time when adolescents begin to regulate for themselves their own eating behaviors. Previous research shows that freshmen gain weight and increase in percent body fat during their first year of college. The current study addresses the limitations of previous research by investigating (1) individual growth in percent body fat over a longer period of time in college than previous available research and (2) important psychological and sex differences in this growth. This study measures percent body fat across the first 3 years of college at 8 time points for 542 undergraduates (351 females, 65 %; 191 males, 35 %). Longitudinal data analysis was conducted to identify changes in percent body fat, psychological predictors of those changes, and how changes differ for males and females. Our study found that significant increases exist in percent body fat during undergraduates' college years and that change differs for males and females. In addition, through the use of nested hierarchical models, eating regulation style (autonomous or controlled regulation), appearance schema (self-evaluative salience or motivational salience), and body satisfaction were identified as influential predictors of change in percent body fat. For example, young females, who do not feel in control of their physical appearance yet spend a great deal of time maintaining their appearance, have the highest initial body fat percentage and the steepest increase in percent body fat. Overall, males and females with high autonomous regulation and high motivational salience are likely to maintain (instead of increase) percent body fat over the college years. Knowing the influence of these predictors can be useful for promoting health and intervening with young adults in the college setting and other emerging adults who are not enrolled in postsecondary institutions.     

Commercialising smallholder agricultural production in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Many smallholder farmers in Lao People’s Democratic Republic are transitioning from subsistence to commercial production. This article employs the Agriculture Innovation System (AIS) framework to report on empirical findings from six case studies of Lao smallholder production. It identifies the actors, organisations, and institutions involved in systemic commercialisation of subsistence farming and articulates patterns of interactions that contribute to the relative success of the transition. Of the factors identified in the case studies, the most important enablers of commercial production and adoption of innovative technologies were technical and financial assistance, access to markets, and the formation of farmer associations/organisations.     

Developing critical thinking in NGO field staff

The quality of NGO work is hugely dependent on the quality of critical thinking and analysis of poverty among all levels of staff. In particular, the quality of the work in the field – at partner and community levels – depends on an understanding of development processes and on strong facilitation skills, both of which rely on strong levels of critical thinking. While these are innately present in almost everyone, rote learning in education systems and patriarchal and top–down power structures often impede their development. This article suggests some practical means by which development agencies can develop strong analytical thinking and strong facilitation skills among their staff. While the article is mainly aimed at frontline staff, the implication is that such mechanisms are required at all levels if organisations are going to develop their own capacities.     

Glass Ceilings or Gendered Institutions? Mapping the Gender Regimes of Public Sector Worksites

The "glass ceiling" model of gender equity has its weaknesses. Therefore, a multiple-dimensions approach to gender is proposed. This essay reports on a field study of organizational gender arrangements in 10 public sector worksites in New South Wales, Australia. Despite equal opportunity measures, gender divisions of labor persist in several forms. Processes that sustain and undermine these divisions are identified. Authority patterns are being reconfigured, with restructuring and rising numbers of women in management resulting in local turbulence in gender relations. Emotions of gender transition are identified, with considerable diversity in reactions among men. An emerging pattern, the "depolarized workplace," is described. A cultural trend toward workplace gender neutrality is observable. Proposals are made for better practice in gender equity work, including richer ways for public organizations to study their own gender regimes.     

Examining general strain: Using subjective and objective measures of academic strain to predict delinquency

General Strain Theory (GST) places importance on the experience of negative emotional states resulting from exposure to stressful and/or negative events. Subsequent research has suggested that identifying strain might be contingent upon the use of objective or subjective measures of strain, and that the types of delinquent outcomes assessed might mediate the significance of the findings. Using a sample of nontraditional high school students, this study examines whether objective or subjective measures of academic strain will explain involvement in both substance use (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs) or delinquent offending. We conclude with results and policy implications.     

Exploring the Link Between Being Bullied and Adolescent Substance Use

Although research suggests that bullied adolescents may respond to victimization with substance use, much of this prior work has been cross-sectional. Using longitudinal data from a community-based sample, we examine the impact of early bullying victimization on the initiation of substance use in adolescence after considering the potential influence of selection effects using propensity score matching. After matching, there were moderate differences between victims of bullying and control students for cigarette smoking and alcohol use, which was limited to those exposed to higher levels of bullying. Being bullied in childhood appears to have only minor effects on the onset of adolescent substance use in this sample.     

Feminist Scholarship and the Public Realm in Postcolonial Australia

Abstract

This paper explores the connections of feminist scholarship in the social sciences with political struggles and institutions. The creation of bases for a feminist knowledge project is outlined and its uses in challenging sexist culture and in developing agendas of reform are explored. The impact of neoliberalism and the significance of Australia's location in the global periphery for the shape of the public realm and the character of feminist research are discussed. The resource represented by feminist scholarship across the global South for understanding contemporary forms of patriarchy is emphasised.