The Peer Appearance Culture During Adolescence: Gender and Body Mass Variations

The purpose of this research was to examine gender and body mass, as factors linked to perceived experiences within the peer appearance culture. The sample included 215 girls and 200 boys who were either in 7th grade or 10th grade. Students provided self-reports on experiences in three domains: appearance culture among friends (appearance conversations and diet/muscle talk), peer evaluations (peer appearance pressure, appearance teasing, and vicarious peer teasing), and peer acceptance concerns (appearance-based acceptance, peer appearance comparison). The results indicated that although girls reported more appearance conversations, boys perceived more appearance pressure and teasing. Boys also admitted that they talked with friends about muscle building at a rate greater than girls talked about dieting. BMI showed distinct gender patterns. BMI was a key attribute that unified the experiences within the appearance culture for overweight girls. Among the boys, BMI was associated with differentiated experiences for underweight and overweight participants.Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Washington. She is a developmental psychologist specializing in the contributions of peers to body image and social-emotional well-being during adolescence. Research interests include body image during adolescence and gender differences.Doctoral student at the University of Washington in Human Development and Cognition. Her research focuses on the social-emotional development of adolescents, academic and appearance social comparisons, and issues related to gender and science. Research interests include body image during adolescence, gender differences, social comparison, and academic competence.     

Pubertal Maturation and African American Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

The association of pubertal maturation with internalizing and externalizing symptoms was examined with a sample of 867 African-American 10 – 12-year-old children. Children reported their pubertal development status and timing using a self-report questionnaire, and symptoms were assessed through diagnostic interviews with the children and their primary caregivers. Pubertal status and timing were significantly associated with children's reports of the internalizing symptoms of social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depression and with the externalizing symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit disorder, and conduct disorder. Pubertal development also was associated with caregivers’ reports of children's externalizing symptoms. The pubertal transition was associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms in both boys and girls.Xiaojia Ge is Professor at the University of California, Davis. He received his PhD in sociology from the Iowa State University. He is interested in the influences of biological changes and social transitions on emotional and behavioral development in children and adolescents.Gene H. Brody is a Regents’ Professor at the University of Georgia. He received his PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Arizona. His major research interests are contextual influences on cognitive and psychosocial development, particularly those factors that protect at-risk children and adolescents from negative outcomes.Rand. D. Conger is Professor at the University of California, Davis. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is interested in the influences of family economic stress on emotional and behavioral adjustment of family members. He is currently conducting a large-scale study on Mexican American families in California.Dr. Ronald L. Simons is Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Georgia. He received his PhD in sociology from Florida State University. Much of his research has focused upon the manner in which family and community processes combine to influence child development. He has also been concerned with the effect of discrimination and racial socialization upon child adjustment.     

First-Year College Student Affect and Alcohol Use: Paradoxical Within- and Between-Person Associations

Based on 10 weekly telephone interviews with first-year college students (N=202; 63% women; M=18.8 years, SD=.4), within- and between-person associations of positive and negative affect with alcohol use were examined. Multi-level models confirmed hypothesized within-person associations between weekly positive affect and alcohol use: Higher positive affect weeks had greater alcohol consumption, more drinking and heavy drinking days in the same week, and less plans to drink the following week. However, between-person, average positive affect did not predict individual differences in alcohol use. The negative affect—alcohol use association was complex: Within-person, higher negative affect was associated with less drinking days but between-person, with more drinking days; lability in negative affect was associated with greater average alcohol use and more drinking and heavy drinking days. Health promotion efforts for late adolescent and emerging adult students are advised to recognize these paradoxical effects (e.g., promoting dry celebratory campus-events, strategies to manage negative mood swings).

Coping with energy insecurity: China’s response in global perspective

Already the world’s second largest energy consumer, China has accounted for more than a third of the increase in global oil demand since 2000. Due to infrastructural bottlenecks as well as supply shortages, intensified by sustained growth, the PRC is likely to become an increasingly important factor in global oil and gas markets, and to pursue an increasingly active energy diplomacy. Reducing energy vulnerability will be a key imperative. The PRC is striving to reduce its energy vulnerability by: (1) promoting energy efficiency; (2) diversifying away from its heavy reliance on coal and oil, toward nuclear power and natural gas; (3) improving domestic energy infrastructure; (4) promoting national energy champions; (5) deepening reliance on congenial nations; and (6) reducing reliance on sea lanes dominated by the U.S. Navy. Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Australia, and African energy producers are special priority targets of its energy diplomacy, which is likely to become more salient in China's overall foreign policy in coming years.     

The evolution of party images and party system in Taiwan, 1992–2004

This article examines the evolution of party images in Taiwan between 1992 and 2004. It shows that party images are not immutable, as while the DPP gained more positive images, the other parties gained more negative images during the research period. The results show that the Taiwanese parties have quite distinct party images. Taiwanese voters often tend to use ethnic background and the cross-Strait relations to define the parties. Party images also play a significant role in Taiwanese voting behaviour, even when other variables are controlled. Voters tend to vote for the parties that they have favourable impressions of. The results also have implications for how political parties package themselves to attract more votes and on the development of the party system in Taiwan.     

农民工实现身份转变对策研究——以桂林地区为例

农村劳动办转移已经进入一个新的历史阶段,实现农民工的身份转变,已成为加速实现城镇化、工业化、农业产业化以及全面推进我国社会主义新农村和全面小康社会建设的重要课题和当务之急。     

高校互动式师德建设机制之新见

随着市场经济体制的建立和社会价值主体的变化,价值取向由单一走向了多元,因此,在高校更新师德建设机制是时代发展的迫切要求。在加强高校教师师德修养、提高师德水平的过程中,实现师德建设机制的创新是最主要、最核心的问题。建立互动式师德建设机制是符合教育自身规律和道德建设规律的,在实践中,应以师德认识、师德内涵认识、师德实践和师德评价等互动式师德建设机制为内容,努力建构高校互动式师德建设新机制。     

不平衡发展与中国新型城乡二元经济

城乡不平衡是经济发展的常态,城乡差别是不可消除的。中国城乡关系的构建应抛弃变二元经济为一元经济的传统思路。在新的历史条件下,克服中国巨大的城乡差距的正确途径是实施向农村倾斜的新不平衡发展战略,逐步建立城乡有别、各具特色、相互协调的新型城乡二元经济。     

胡锦涛的“三农”思想

农业、农村和农民问题是中国革命、建设和改革的根本问题,是当前全党工作的重中之重。以胡锦涛为总书记的党中央,提出的一系列加强“三农”工作的思想和观点,应用、丰富和发展了中国特色社会主义经济理论。     

自律：新时期推进我国廉政建设的必然视角

离开了公共权力主体的运用和操作,公共权力便不会发挥任何作用,再完善的体制也实现不了。在新时期我国廉政建设的推进过程中,公共权力主体的自律能力提升就显得尤为迫切。我们从公职人员自律的角度出发,认为实现自律具有可行性,并可以通过主体积极主动以及他律两种方式来实现自律。