An integrative quantitative model of factors influencing the course of anorexia nervosa over time

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors influencing the course of anorexia nervosa (AN) over time.

METHOD

Former female patients with AN (36 remitted and 24 nonremitted) and 31 healthy females responded to standardized interviews and self-rating questionnaires. Remitted patients maintained normal eating, normal weight, and regular menses for the past 12 months. Patients not fulfilling these criteria were considered nonremitted.

RESULTS

Using logistic regression, we identified that number of hospitalizations, duration of ambulatory treatment, past vegetarianism, past anxiety, and childhood sexual abuse differentiated remitted from nonremitted patients, predicting nonremission. A similar analysis identified that elevated follow-up vegetarianism and eating-related concerns and lower body mass index (BMI) differentiated remitted from nonremitted patients, contributing to nonremission. Univariate analyses identified that remitted patients had elevated anxiety and eating-related obsessionality compared with the controls, suggesting these variables to potentially predispose to AN.

DISCUSSION

Elevated anxiety and eating-related obsessionality may increase the risk for the development of AN and for nonremission.

Developmental Trends in Directionality of Drawing in Jewish and Arab Israeli Children

Jewish and Arab Israeli children (n = 484), attending pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, were required to copy a vertical and a horizontal line. Partial samples were also tested using the WPPSI. It was found that Jewish and Arab children were similar in their preference for top-bottom directionality, but in copying the horizontal line Jewish children used mostly a left-right and Arab children used mostly a right-left stroke. Correlations with the WPPSI indicated that starting from the right was correlated with higher intelligence for Arabs and with lower intelligence for Jews. The significance of these findings is discussed in the context of the writing requirements of the Hebrew and Arabic languages.

Effects of Ethnic Origin and Parental SES on WPPSI Performance of Pre-School Children in Israel

A Hebrew translation of the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence was administered to 1072 Israeli-born children aging 4 to 6 1/2 years. Groups originating from Israel, East Europe, Middle East and North Africa, all subdivided into High vs. Low SES groups, were identified. The eight groups differed significantly in the level but usually not in the pattern of the subtests' scores. First generation Oriental children performed relatively lower, but the gap between second-generation Israeli children of Oriental and Western origin is notably diminished.

Perceptual Exploration in Israeli Jewish and Bedouin Children

A sample of 104 Israeli Bedouin children were tested in an attempt to clarify further the factors influencing developmental trends in visual perceptual exploration. In addition to a further demonstration of the influence of the specific characteristics of the language of school instruction, the findings suggest the importance of extra-school reading opportunities. A discrepancy between two indices of perceptual exploration was related to different aspects of reading development. While the Bedouin children's perceptual exploration might be considered less mature in some ways related to reading, this was not the case with other aspects of perceptual exploration.

Successful career women at midlife: crises and transitions

Recent theories and studies have gradually clarified some of the psychological processes of middle age. Most interesting are the contributions that maintain different developmental processes for women and men. Three of the major theories in the area seem to converge in proposing a process of gradual cross-sex transition in adulthood, the result of which may be a more integrated or androgynous personality structure in the second half of life. A different model of adult development, centered on midlife crisis, was proposed by Levinson et al. as a universal stage in men's life cycle. Similar theory and research about women are not as conclusive. The present study investigated in depth the life history of twenty-five American career women at midlife. Such women sociologically combine feminine and masculine roles and may be considered as a test case for the theories. The transitions experienced by these women during their lifetimes were categorized into "masculine" or "feminine" types. It was found that they were distributed about equally between the two types of transitions, thus excluding a simple biological approach. Acute midlife crisis was reported by only about a third of the sample. It is proposed that the double role protects these women from acute crisis.

Long-term effects of MPA on human progeny: intellectual development

Tests of verbal and spatial ability were done on 450 boys and 537 girls in their late teens of whom 73 and 97, respectively, had been exposed in utero to MPA. Exposed boys achieved higher raw scores than controls on verbal and spatial tests but the differences were explained by their more favorable demographic and social characteristics. Exposed girls did not differ from controls. Although, mothers of exposed boys reported that their offspring talked and walked later than controls, our results support the hypothesis that intrauterine exposure to MPA at contraceptive doses has no long-term effect on intellectual development.

Effects of Different Payoff Matrices on Arithmetical Estimation Tasks: An Attempt to Produce “Rationality”

5 experiments were conducted in an attempt to produce a shift in the decision pattern in a forced-choice arithmetical estimation task. The expected shift was related to a change in the payoff matrix attached to the possible outcomes of the decision. The experiments varied in the amount of payoff, clarity of the explanation of the payoff matrix, difficulty of the task, feedback after decision and the length of decision time. None of these manipulations produced the expected rational shift. The role of payoff matrices in decisions in tasks involving skill is discussed.

After the Escape: Physical Abuse of Offspring, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and the Legacy of Political Violence in the DPRK

What is the relationship between victimization by political violence against women in North Korea and later physical abuse of offspring? This article examines the relationships between victimization by political violence, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol abuse/dependence, and abuse of offspring after arrival in South Korea. A random sample of 204 female North Korean defectors was used to test hypotheses. An oral history conducted with a survivor of North Korean political violence is provided in an appendix to contextualize the results. Analyses established a significant link between previous victimization by political violence and abuse of offspring but not mediation by either PTSD or alcohol abuse/dependence.

Patterns of Intellectual Ability in Jewish and Arab Children in Israel

Two samples of Israeli Arab village children were tested on an Arabic translation of the WPPSI. The subtest profiles of these samples were compared to a relevant subsample of the Israeli Jewish normative national sample. In contrast to the Jewish ethnic subsamples, the pattern for the Arab rural samples was distinctly different. These findings, based on the usual mean score analysis, were supplemented by a more extensive analysis based on the total distribution of scores. Correlational configurations of the two samples, however, reveal certain invariance of the structure. The findings are related to other studies.

Aggression, physical activity levels and sex role identity in teenagers exposed in utero to MPA

Sex-dimorphic traits and behavior were measured in a 17-year old prospective study of 74 teenager boys and 98 girls who had been exposed to medroxyprogesterone acetate in utero compared with 459 boys and 546 girls not exposed. Bem Sex Role Identity scores were identical in exposed and non-exposed teenagers of each sex. There were no significant differences between MPA-exposed and non-exposed males or females on the Buss-Durkee overall aggression scale and on its assaultiveness subscale. Mothers of exposed males more often reported that teachers had complained that their offspring were naughty in school. No such difference was reported for females, nor for other school behaviors of dominance/aggression, activity, shyness and quietness. Exposed and non-exposed children were similar in the number of accidents experienced in childhood, as reported by their mothers, and in participation in competitive sports. These findings fail to support hypotheses posed by earlier researchers that exposure in utero to medroxyprogesterone acetate might alter sex-dimorphic behavior or traits in later life.

Oral History in the Service of Communities

The narrative turn has several applications in therapy, education, medicine, and gerontology. Oral history, as the collection of individual life stories for the purpose of preserving and promoting the collective memory of communities, is another such application. This article describes the resurgence of oral history and its various genres. In this context, four international oral history projects are described: in India for the Tibetan exiles, in Japan for the tsunami victims, in South Korea for North Korean refugees, and in Israel for a binational Jewish-Palestinian village. The article discusses the changes that occur in the lives of interviewees and interviewers and highlights the role and the challenges of qualitative inquiry as a humanitarian endeavor.1

PERSONAL STYLES OF REACTION TO THE FRUSTRATION OF OTHERS AS PORTRAYED BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALOGRAM ANALYSIS

A questionnaire for the assessment of reactions to the frustration of others was constructed and administered to 56 Ss. This questionnaire concentrated on the reported intensity of eight reactions, namely: Pity, Attempt to Help, Reproach, Withdrawal, Disgust, Mockery, Anger, and Malicious Joy. Each one of the 56 Ss had a total profile of the eight reactions, and these profiles were analyzed by Multidimensional Scalogram Analysis (MSA). MSA led to the conclusion that the personal styles of reaction could be characterized as a Cartesian product of two facets: a ) Activity-Passivity of the reaction, b) High vs. Low Intensity of the reaction. A third facet was hinted, which relates to the time-sequence of the reactions.