Factors related to depression and eating disorders: self-esteem, body image, and attractiveness.

To test hypotheses that women suffering from some form of eating disorder would experience lower self-esteem and higher depression and that women with lower self-esteem and greater depression would rate their attractiveness lower and see themselves as heavier than less depressed individuals, 42 college undergraduate women were individually administered the Eating Disorders Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory, and a Body Image/Attractiveness Perception Scale. A Pearson correlation indicated a substantial relation between scores on depression and scores on eating disorders, but nonsignificant values between self-esteem scores and scores on either eating disorders or on depression. Depression scores correlated significantly with rated body size, but not attractiveness, while self-esteem scores were significantly correlated with rated attractiveness, not body size. These results contradict literature on the relation between self-esteem and depression. Directions for additional research are discussed.

Violent tactics in family conflict relative to familial and economic factors.

A study was conducted to examine the social, economic, and family process factors which may be associated with families' use of violent tactics in conflict within an homogeneous population in the Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia. The primary hypothesis stated that economic conditions as set by the employment status of parents would be a significant factor in predicting use of violence in the resolution of family conflict. The study employed a questionnaire modeled after that used in a national study of family violence conducted by Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz in 1980 with additional items developed to assess regional family processes and economic conditions. 114 boys and 161 girls ranging in age from 15 to 17 yr. participated. Statistical analysis confirmed the major hypothesis: in families where the father was unemployed, there was greater than expected frequency of reported violent interactions. Additional findings included associations between previous generation's abuse and use of violent interactions as well as sex of subject and use of violent interactions.

The role of community psychology in the community.

Community Psychology's future place in community activism is assessed relative to its unique independent origins in academia, its tradition of empirical research and strict methodology, and its strong commitment to the elimination of its own existence. These attributes, which define the discipline in the mental health field, are contrasted with the singular traits of other community mental health professions. This paper is a discussion of the history, present weaknesses, and ultimate salvation of Community Psychology.

Psychiatric illness in the mothers of anxious children.

The authors compared maternal lifetime psychiatric illness for children with separation anxiety disorder and/or overanxious disorder (N = 58) and for children who were psychiatrically disturbed but did not manifest an anxiety or affective disorder (N = 15). The vast majority (83%) of mothers of children with separation anxiety disorder and/or overanxious disorder had a lifetime history of an anxiety disorder. Moreover, over one-half (57%) of the mothers presented with an anxiety disorder at the same time at which their children were seen for similar problems. Both of these rates significantly differed from those obtained for control subjects.