Eating beyond satiety and body mass index.

OBJECTIVE: To examine discrete eating behaviours as predictors of body mass and psychological processes through which these behaviours might lead to increased body mass. METHOD: Three hundred and twenty-nine undergraduate females filled out questionnaires on eating beyond satiety (EBS), snacking, night eating, and hunger as well as the process variables--eating expectancies and self-reported cue reactivity--in an online study. The eating behaviours were regressed on body mass index and mediation analyses were conducted for the process variables. RESULTS: EBS was the strongest predictor of body mass when the other eating behaviours were controlled. The process variables did not mediate the relationship between EBS and body mass. DISCUSSION: EBS may be a discrete variable on which to intervene to prevent and treat overweight and obesity. Further research is needed to elucidate the situational and affective antecedents of EBS.

AIDS-relevant condom use by gay and bisexual men: the role of person variables and the interpersonal situation.

This study examined the relative ability of selected person variables (interpersonal self-efficacy, self-control, attitudes about the effect of condoms on sex, normative beliefs) and interpersonal-situational variables (partner preference, partner serostatus) to explain gay and bisexual males' (N = 267) condom use during insertive and receptive intercourse. Partner preference accounted for a large amount of variance in condom use by itself and when controlling for the effects of the remaining variables. Exploratory hierarchical regression analyses suggested that the receptive partner's preference influenced condom use decisions to a greater extent than did the insertive partner's. Partner serostatus alone explained little variance in condom use. However, partners serostatus interacted with subject serostatus such that dyads with concordance serostatus (i.e., both partners HIV positive or both HIV negative) used condoms the least, and dyads with discordant serostatus used condoms the most. Results suggest that the interpersonal situation plays an important role in condom use decisions.

PIP: The authors examined the relative ability of selected personal variables and interpersonal-situational variables to explain gay and bisexual males' condom use during insertive and receptive intercourse. Personal variables included interpersonal self-efficacy, self-control, attitudes about the effects of condoms on sex, and normative beliefs, while interpersonal-situational variables were partner preference and partner serostatus. 267 men participated in the study. Partner preference accounted for considerable variance in condom use both alone and when controlling for the effects of the remaining variables. It was determined that the receptive partner's preference may influence condom use decisions more than the insertive partner's preference. Partner serostatus alone explained little variance in condom use. Partner's serostatus, however, interacted with subject's serostatus such that when both partners were either HIV-positive or HIV-negative, condoms were used the least often. Partners with discordant serostatus used condoms the most.

Cognitions of gay and bisexual men in sexual situations: development of the sex and AIDS Thought Scale (SATS).

To examine the domain of thoughts experienced by gay men prior to and during sexual activity, the Sex and AIDS Thought Scale (SATS) was developed using a sample of 203 gay men. Principal components analysis revealed four factors, each with high internal consistency, that were labeled Safety Consciousness, Risk Justification, Sexual Importance, and Interpersonal Consequences. Correlations between SATS subscales and past condom use were calculated separately for intercourse with partners who either recently tested HIV negative (lower-risk partner) or did not (higher-risk partner). Correlational analyses revealed that, for higher-risk partners, Risk Justification and Interpersonal Consequences were significantly correlated with condom use during insertive and receptive intercourse. As anticipated, correlational analyses involving lower-risk partners yielded generally lower and non-significant correlations, providing evidence that the failure to account for perceived partner serostatus may attenuate the observed correlations between psychosocial variables and AIDS-relevant condom use. Implications for AIDS research and treatment are discussed.

Attributional, perceptual, and affective responses to depressed and nondepressed marital partners.

Husbands of wives with (n = 22) or without (n = 23) a history of a depressive disorder indicated their attributions about and affective reactions to real and hypothetical positive and negative events occurring to their wives, rated their wives on personality traits categorized as depression-related and depression-neutral, and reported their own marital satisfaction. Husbands of depressed, relative to nondepressed, wives made more dispositional attributions, reported more negative affect in reaction to negative events, and indicated less marital satisfaction. Depressed wives were rated more negatively on both depression-related and depression-neutral personality traits. Results are interpreted as suggesting that spouses of depressed wives have a generalized negative view of their wives, which may also be operating within distressed marriages.

Gender differences in AIDS-relevant condom attitudes and condom use.

Two studies, conducted approximately one year apart, examined gender differences in AIDS-relevant condom attitudes, condom use behaviors, and relationships among attitudes and condom use behaviors. Subjects (N = 248, N = 528) were undergraduates, primarily heterosexual. Females reported more favorable attitudes, with the exception of greater inhibition about buying and possessing condoms. Men engaged in preliminary condom use behaviors (carrying and keeping condoms at home) substantially more often than did women. Preliminary condom use behaviors predicted past and intended condom use more consistently for men than for women. Relationships between condom attitudes and condom use behaviors were generally similar for both sexes, with poorer self-control explaining the most variance in past and intended condom use. These results, interpreted from the perspective of Eagly's (1987) gender role theory, suggest that although females may indirectly influence condom use decisions, providing condoms is the expected role of males, infusing them with greater control over the interpersonal process.

PIP: 2 studies were conducted 1 year apart exploring gender differences in AIDS-relevant condom attitudes, condom use behaviors, and relationships among attitudes and condom use behaviors. 248 self-reported heterosexual undergraduates were studied in the 1st study. Participants were 65% female, 96% self-reported heterosexuals, 87% white, and of average age 22.77 years. 71% reported having sexual intercourse at least once in the preceding 2 years and 64% reported using a condom at least once during sex in the preceding 2 years. The 2nd group of 528 individuals sampled in the 2nd study had characteristics which were highly similar to those of the 1st study, except that 74% of the participant were female. Females generally had more favorable attitudes than men about condoms, but were more inhibited than men about buying and possessing them. Men carried and kept condoms at home far more often than did women. This behavior predicted past and intended condom use more consistently for men than for women. Generally similar relationships were found for both sexes between condom attitudes and condom use behaviors; poorer self-control explained the most variance in past and intended condom use. The results suggest that while females may indirectly influence condom use decisions, providing condoms is the expected role of males. Interventions with the objective of increasing the use of condoms during sexual intercourse should be designed accordingly.

Factors related to correspondence between teacher ratings of elementary student depression and student self-ratings.

Fourth through sixth graders (n = 418) completed the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1980). Each teacher (n = 31) rated 6 students with high, low, or medium CDI scores (n = 181) using the CDI items (teacher-CDI) and a single global rating. Remaining students received the global rating only. Sixteen teachers were randomly assigned to receive instruction on childhood depression. Contrary to earlier studies, moderate correspondence was found for both measures. Familiarity was related to correspondence, whereas confidence and student gender were unrelated to correspondence. Instruction improved knowledge, but not correspondence. School-related behaviors yielded the highest correspondence. The teacher-CDI displayed high test-retest reliability.

Training psychiatric patients to discuss medication issues. Effects on patient communication and knowledge of medications.

Psychiatric inpatients were randomly assigned to a medication-related communication skills program or to a control condition that consisted of a medication education program. The medication communication program emphasized learning to ask physicians questions about medications, to describe current problems, and to make relevant requests. Although patients in both groups improved their knowledge of medications, the medication communication skills program had the added impact of teaching patients to ask more questions of a doctor and to engage in longer conversations. Moreover, patients who completed the medication communication program were rated as more assertive, as having acquired more information about a new medication that was prescribed, as having greater social skill, as being more likely to be compliant with medication, and as having greater eye contact. These results suggest that the use of a medication-related communication skills program may be a somewhat novel and effective way to increase patient involvement in treatment and to facilitate the elicitation of information about the prescribed medication regimen.

Effect of actor depression on observer attributions: existence and impact of negative attributions toward the depressed.

This experiment examined whether others explain the successes and failures of depressed versus nondepressed people differently and how these attributions are related to affective and behavioral reactions to a request for psychological help. Ss reported attributions about the success and failure experiences of hypothetical depressed and nondepressed people. Ss also responded to a hypothetical request for psychological help by indicating their attributions, affective reactions, willingness to help, and desire for future social contact. As hypothesized, Ss displayed more negative attributions toward depressed people. Replicating prior research, Ss responded to the depressive's request for help with mixed emotional and behavioral reactions. Path analyses revealed that attributions influenced affective reactions, which influenced willingness to help; but a more complex pattern emerged from the analysis of desire for future social contact. Results are discussed in terms of the interpersonal impact and possible causes of negative attributions about the experiences of depressed people.

Psychometric evaluation of the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale using an elderly community sample.

In this study the psychometric properties of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were evaluated and compared, using a relatively large elderly community sample. The GDS generally performed well, replicating earlier findings from a different population. Also, as hypothesized, the SDS, which has a multiple-choice format, had a higher non-completion rate than the GDS, which has a true-false format. Finally, no significant differences between the responses of young-old and old-old subjects were observed.

Effect of instructional set on responses to the Geriatric Depression Scale.

A community sample of elderly subjects (M age = 74 years) was randomly assigned to four variations in reference group instructions on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). In one condition, subjects received no instructions as to reference group, which is the standard instructional format of the test. In the other three conditions, subjects were asked to compare themselves with one of three reference groups: age group peers, adults in general, or themselves at a younger age. Results indicated that the GDS is robust with respect to variation in reference group instruction.

Effect of depression level and length of acquaintance on reactions of others to a request for help.

This experiment examined an interpersonal-process view of depression by assessing subjects' reactions to a request for help from a hypothetical depressed or nondepressed person with whom they had been acquainted for a relatively short (2 weeks) or long (1 year) period of time. Subjects responded to each of the four hypothetical persons by indicating their probable affective reactions to the request, the number of minutes they would be willing to help, their desire for future social contact with the hypothetical person, and their expectations of future requests for help. Requests from depressed persons elicited significantly more anger and social rejection but equal amounts of concern and willingness to help. This mixed response pattern was interpreted as providing partial support for an interpersonal-process view of depression. In addition a path analysis provided limited support for Coyne's (1976b) hypothesis that rejection of depressed persons results from the negative mood they induce in others.

Depression and self-reinforcement in a public and a private setting.

Three groups of subjects--depressed, nondepressed, and nondepressed pretreated with an insolvable-problems (failure) manipulation--were compared on self-reinforcement during a 22-trial skill task. Success rate was experimentally controlled, and all subjects received either an initially high rate of success followed by a low rate of success or an initially low rate of success followed by a high rate of success. Subjects responded in either a public (experimenter present) or a private (unobserved and anonymous) condition. Measures of self-reinforcement revealed differences among the groups' responses across the public-private conditions, suggesting greater support for predictions derived from an interpersonal view of depression than for predictions from current cognitive theories of depression. Moreover, it was found that within the high-low sequence depressed-private subjects reinforced themselves at a significantly higher level than nondepressed-private subjects, a finding at odds with predictions derived from cognitive theories.

Performance satisfaction of depressives under high and low success conditions.

Evaluated two competing predictions about the effects of high and low success experiences on depressives' satisfaction with performance. No support was found for the prediction derived from Beck's cognitive theory, which posits distorted, negative cognitions about the self as the central dynamic of depression. However, results did tend to support the learned helplessness model's contention that depression is characterized by the perception that reinforcements occur independent of the individual's responses.