The high level of weight and shape concerns amongst preadolescent children has prompted interest in the development of prevention programs for this age group. In the 1990s weight and shape concerns were considered primarily an adolescent phenomenon. However, prevention programs which have been designed with adolescent and adult populations have been found to show limited success. Some researchers have argued that programs which target preadolescent children are more likely to be effective than programs that target adolescents, as by adolescence many attitudes and behaviours have become entrenched so they may be more difficult to modify. On the other hand, children's weight and shape concerns are believed to be more malleable and amenable to change. To date there have been limited controlled studies implementing prevention programs designed to reduce weight and shape concerns with preadolescent populations. The new study conducted as part of this thesis involves the development and implementation of the ‘Everybody’ s Different, Nobody Else Is Me’ preadolescent prevention program. The program was designed to address some of the methodological biases of past research and incorporate three risk factors, social comparisons, negative affect, and self-esteem, to reduce and/or prevent the development of weight and muscle concerns among children. These three risk factors have been found to be associated with weight and shape concerns of adolescents and adults, and there is also increasing evidence that they are important factors among children. Research also suggests that social comparisons, negative affect, and self-esteem are interrelated, which highlights the importance of targeting the variables in one program. The new five session prevention initiative was implemented with 156 grade four children. Both the treatment and control conditions consisted of 78 children. Preliminary evidence from the new prevention initiative indicated that the program reduced muscle bulk and exercise (ie. An over-emphasis on exercise to lose weight rather than health promotion), and negative affect in the long term as assessed by the six month follow-up. At the six month follow-up, children in both the treatment and control conditions reported reduced negative affect, dieting, and muscle bulk and exercise scores and increased positive affect. Consistent with short term follow-up results, boys reported greater muscle bulk and exercise scores than girls at the six month follow-up. Girls, in both conditions, were also found to report greater positive affect than boys. These findings are discussed in relation to past research, and suggestions for future prevention initiatives are highlighted.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 23, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-146).

Not available / text

The purpose of this project was to examine potential differences in undergraduate student attachment styles based on their nationality (Taiwanese and U.S.), gender (female and male), and the duration of their dating relationships (no relationship, less than 1 year, more than 1 year but less than 2 years, more than 2 years but less than 3 years, and more than 3 years). A total of 2,580 students participated in this study. Of these students, 1,298 were recruited from a university in Taiwan, and 1,282 were obtained from a university in the U.S. Due to a lack of culturally-sensitive attachment theory and measures for the Asian population, in the current project, the author created a new scale based on the five Eastern cultural constructs identified by Wang and Song (2010) in order to gather data to better understand Taiwanese relational patterns. However, rather than confirming the five cultural constructs, a three-factor solution was found in this project. This solution better fit the data for Taiwanese students. The three-factors that were discovered were dialectical thinking and interdependent self-construal, filial piety, and yuan. In the study to test the hypotheses, it was found that among the three cultural constructs, dialectical thinking and interdependency and yuan seemed to be more relevant to the attachment styles of Taiwanese students than filial piety. For the U.S. students, however, responses to yuan were significantly correlated with responses to attachment styles. Regarding the comparison between Taiwanese and U.S. participants, Taiwanese respondents seemed to relate to a dialectical thinking pattern, interdependency, and yuan better than U.S. students, while U.S. respondents rated higher on filial piety than the Taiwanese participants. In addition, the longer individuals were involved in a dating relationship, the lower they scored on attachment avoidance. Even though females' overall scores on avoidance were higher than males, being in a relationship had greater salience for females than males. Strengths, limitations, and implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Includes tables. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Debra A. Noumair. Dissertation Committee: Patricia M. Raskin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-143).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-53).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Honors Project--Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-63).

The study investigated whether a relationship existed between using technology for recreation, and attachment style with important individuals in the lives of respondents. The main results showed that (4) a decrease in friend anxiety contributes towards an increase in the positive attitude towards using the HES for explicit content; (5) An increase in romantic partner anxiety contributed towards an increase in the positive attitude towards using the HES for social replacement. (6) Decreased father avoidance and increased father anxiety lead to an increasingly positive attitude towards using the PC for social, romantic and sexual improvement; (7) an increase in mother avoidance and anxiety, partner anxiety and friend anxiety contributed towards an increase in the positive attitude towards using the cell phone for explicit content and relationship related activities. / Psychology / (M.A. (Psychology))