Preadolescents’ and Parents’ Dietary Coping Efficacy During Behavioral Family-Based Weight Control Treatment

Developmentally relevant high-risk dietary situations (e.g., parties where tempting foods are available) may influence overweight youth’s weight control, as they increase risk for overeating. Better self-efficacy for coping with these situations—which preadolescents may learn from their parents—could foster successful weight control. Overweight preadolescents (N = 204) ages 7–12 years (67% female), each with one parent, separately completed the Hypothetical High-Risk Situation Inventory (HHRSI) pre- and post-weight loss treatment. The HHRSI assesses temptation to overeat and confidence in refraining from overeating in response to four high-risk dietary scenarios. Participants generated coping strategies for each scenario. Coping strategies and confidence increased and temptation decreased from pre- to post-weight loss treatment. Parents’ increase in confidence from pre- to post-treatment was associated with preadolescents’ and parents’ weight loss. Tailoring treatments to enhance parents’ coping skills (e.g., building strategies, targeting high temptation/low confidence scenarios) may maximize preadolescents’ weight control.     

Psychosocial Correlates of Shape and Weight Concerns in Overweight Pre-Adolescents

Shape and weight concerns among overweight pre-adolescents heighten risk for eating disorders and weight gain. Treatment and prevention efforts require consideration of psychosocial factors that co-occur with these concerns. This study involved 200 overweight pre-adolescents, aged 7–12 years (M age = 9.8; SD = 1.4), presenting for family-based weight control treatment. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the influence of pre-adolescents’ individual characteristics and social experiences, and their parents’ psychological symptoms, on shape and weight concerns as assessed by the Child Eating Disorder Examination. Findings revealed that higher levels of dietary restraint, greater feelings of loneliness, elevated experiences with weight-related teasing, and higher levels of parents’ eating disorder symptoms predicted higher shape and weight concerns among overweight pre-adolescents. Interventions addressing overweight pre-adolescents’ disordered eating behaviors and social functioning, as well as their parents’ disordered eating behaviors and attitudes, may be indicated for those endorsing shape and weight concerns.     

The social and religious characteristics of suicide bombers and their victims

Using data collected by the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa, the authors provide social profiles of Palestinian suicide bombers and their largely Israeli victims. In addition, drawing on a series of public opinion polls, the writers describe the reactions of Israeli citizens to the wave of suicide bombings the country has experienced since the beginning of the Al Aqsa intifada in the second half of 2000.     

Political parties and the formation of terrorist groups

Where do modern terrorist group come from? How do they begin? This article establishes that most often they emerge from political parties. An effort is made to identify the relevant types of parties and the internal party dynamics which may have led to terrorist activity. Also, it is asserted that party‐terrorist group links are most likely to occur in nations whose political systems are going through episodes of regime transformation.     

Profiling candidate images in televised political spot advertisements for 1984: Roles and realities of presidential jousters at the height of the Reagan Era

Continued growth in the use of televised political spot advertisements in presidential campaigns justifies the increasing attention given to analyzing the role and content of such messages in the larger political system. The 1984 campaign offered a unique opportunity for theorists to investigate the potential for such messages either to reflect accurate images of candidates, or to evoke more dissonant themes between the images of candidates fabricated for the electorate, and the substantive candidates those images are intended to represent. This study analyzed the character attributes presented for ten presidential hopefuls in 201 televised spots, produced for 1984's primary and general election campaigns, and finds that while political spots can offer accurate portrayals of presidential candidates, the role of such messages can be nullified by perceived dissonance in the images they convey about their subjects.