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Objectives: Most lifetime mental health problems (MHP) start before the age of 25. Yet young people—particularly those of minority backgrounds—often do not seek or access professional help. In the UK, young people of Eastern European (EE) backgrounds represent a large minority group; however, little is known about their experiences of MHP and help‐seeking. In this study, we aim to understand the help‐seeking process from the perspectives of EE young people. Design: We used a qualitative study design with semi‐structured individual interviews. The results were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Method: Twelve young people (18–25 years) of EE backgrounds, living in Oxfordshire, UK, took part. All participants had experienced a severe MHP and were identified in the community. Results: EE young people's experiences of MHP and help‐seeking were driven by a sense of being caught between different cultures and simultaneously needing to navigate the potentially contrasting expectations of both cultures. This process was reinforced or tempered by the perceived continuing influence of young people's families, that is, families with more open views about MHP made it easier for young people to navigate through the process of help‐seeking. Young people's internalised cultural and familial beliefs about MHP affected their decision‐making when experiencing difficulties, their levels of trust in services, and perceived sense of resourcefulness and ability to cope. Conclusions: Recognising and responding to the cultural tension that young people of EE backgrounds may experience can help us to develop more accessible and inclusive mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An estimated 2.2 million people from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) live in the United Kingdom. It has been documented that CEE migrants underutilise health services in the United Kingdom and, as an alternative, seek healthcare in their home country. However, reasons for seeking healthcare abroad are not always clear. This review aims to identify the reasons for the uptake of transnational healthcare among CEE migrants resident in the United Kingdom. Methods: Informed by discussions with community members, medical stakeholders and academics, a systematic scoping review was undertaken following the nine‐stage Joanna Briggs Institute framework for scoping reviews. A search strategy with MeSH terms, where relevant, was used and adapted in five academic databases, two grey literature databases and Google Scholar. Included records encompassed four concepts: migration, CEE nationalities, UK nations and healthcare utilisation, which were written in English and published between May 2004 and 2022. Data from the literature were coded, grouped and organised into themes. Results: A total of 16 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There is evidence that some CEE migrants exclusively use healthcare services in the United Kingdom. However, many CEE migrants utilise healthcare both in the United Kingdom and their country of origin. Four themes were identified from the literature as to why migrants travelled to their country of origin for healthcare: cultural expectations of medical services, distrust in the UK NHS, barriers and transnational ties. Conclusion: Push factors led CEE migrants to seek healthcare in their country of origin, facilitated by ongoing transnational ties. CEE migrants frequently combine visits to their country of origin with medical appointments. Utilising healthcare in their country of origin as opposed to the United Kingdom can result in fragmented and incomplete records of medications, medical tests and surgeries and risk of unnecessary treatments and complications. This review highlights the need for more targeted health outreach with CEE groups within the United Kingdom, as well as the need for further research on the impact of national events, for example, COVID‐19 and Brexit, on transnational healthcare‐seeking behaviours. Patient or Public Contribution: The concept for this scoping review was informed by discussions with community members, medical professionals and academics, who identified it as a current issue. The results of this scoping review were discussed with healthcare stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Ethnic minority populations experience significant health and social care disparities; despite experiencing a greater burden of diseases, these groups are underrepresented in health and social care research. Consequently, related research can be less applicable to these population groups. The REPRESENT study aims to explore the health and social care experiences of ethnic minorities and other minoritised populations, their research interests and appropriate research practices. Methods: Focus groups and semistructured interviews were conducted between May and September 2022 with members of a number of ethnic minority communities in England. Data were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically coded using NVivo 12. Rigour was determined through extensive sampling, iterative data collection and analysis. Findings: Fifty‐two ethnic minority members were engaged in group interviews and one‐to‐one interviews. Participants included representatives of the following groups: African Caribbean, Eastern European, Gypsy Travellers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual+, Refugee/Asylum Seekers, Somali and South Asian communities. Interviews were also conducted with ethnic minority healthcare providers and researchers. Three overarching categories were identified: health information, medical service experiences, health and social care concerns and health research. Health and social care services challenges were mostly attributed to discrimination, delayed services, poor cultural relevance and language and cultural barriers. The most influential information sources were local community organisations and word‐of‐mouth. The main health and social care concerns were chronic long‐term health conditions, mental health, maternal health and child development. Recommendations for research involved understanding the motivations for participation, improving communication and empowering communities. Top research priorities were long‐term health conditions, health promotion and education, early care interventions and understanding community needs. Interpretation: Discrimination and bias in health and social care provision have severe implications for worsening ethnic health inequalities. Healthcare commissioning authorities and policymakers can leverage the preference of ethnic minority groups for pharmacy services and community organisations to improve access to care. Improving research interest and engagement requires understanding individual community needs, community sensitivity, research relevance and cultural appropriateness. Patient or Public Contribution: Members of ethnic minority Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement group and Community Advisory Board supported the REPRESENT study design, conceptualisation and report development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about bullying experienced by internationally adopted teens residing in Europe. Objectives: Within the framework of an international research effort involving several European countries, the main goal of this study was to explore the experiences of bullying victimization suffered by adopted adolescents, as well as its impact on their psychological adjustment. Methods: The sample consisted of 199 adolescents born in Eastern European countries and adopted in France (n = 50), Italy (n = 59), Norway (n = 25) and Spain (n = 65). Results: More than half of the adopted adolescents had been exposed to some form of peer victimization in the previous 2 months, with verbal harassment and social exclusion being the most common forms of victimization. Differences between receiving countries were not statistically significant, suggesting a common pattern for Eastern European adopted adolescents living in Western Europe. More frequent experiences of peer victimization were associated with more psychological difficulties among the adopted adolescents. Conclusions: Findings highlight that adopted adolescents might have considerable difficulties in social integration with peers; these experiences of peer victimization might play an important role hindering their psychosocial adjustment. The socioemotional development of adopted people is not only linked to their pre‐adoptive experiences; factors in their daily lives (i.e., peer relationships) may also be associated with their psychological adjustment later in life. Interventions are needed to promote the real inclusion of these groups of children in their social and educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Around 2 million people have migrated from Central and Eastern Europe to the UK since 2004. The UK Central and Eastern European Community (UK‐CEE) are disproportionately exposed to the social determinants of poor physical and mental health. Their health and healthcare beliefs remain under‐researched, particularly regarding primary care. Objective: This review explores UK‐CEE community members' use and perceptions of UK general practice. Methods: A systematic search of nine bibliographic databases identified 2094 publications that fulfilled the search criteria. Grey literature searches identified 16 additional relevant publications. Screening by title and abstract identified 201 publications of relevance, decreasing to 65 after full‐text screening. Publications were critically appraised, with data extracted and coded. Thematic analysis using constant comparison allowed generation of higher‐order thematic constructs. Results: Full UK‐CEE national representation was achieved. Comparatively low levels of GP registration were described, with ability, desire and need to engage with GP services shaped by the interconnected nature of individual community members' cultural and sociodemographic factors. Difficulties overcoming access and in‐consultation barriers are common, with health expectations frequently unmet. Distrust and dissatisfaction with general practice often persist, promoting alternative health‐seeking approaches including transnational healthcare. Marginalized UK‐CEE community subgroups including Roma, trafficked and homeless individuals have particularly poor GP engagement and outcomes. Limited data on the impact of Brexit and COVID‐19 could be identified. Conclusions: Review findings demonstrate the need for codesigned approaches to remove barriers to engagement, culturally adapt and develop trust in GP care for UK‐CEE individuals. Community Involvement: Community members and stakeholders shaped the conceptualisation of the review question and validation of emergent themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: People living with HIV (PLWH) are at higher risk of poorer COVID‐19 outcomes. Vaccination is a safe and effective method of prevention against many infectious diseases, including COVID‐19. Here we investigate the strategies for national COVID‐19 vaccination programmes across central and eastern Europe and the inclusion of PLWH in vaccination programmes. Methods: The Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe Network Group consists of experts in the field of infectious diseases from 24 countries in the region. Between 1 November 2020 and 19 March 2021 the group proceeded an on‐line survey consisting of 20 questions. Results: Twenty‐two countries (out of 24 invited) participated in the survey and 20/22 countries in the period between December 2020 and March 2021 had already started their COVID‐19 vaccination programme. In total, seven different vaccines were used by participating countries. In 17/21 countries (81%), vaccinated persons were centralized within the national registry. In 8/21 countries (38%) PLWH were prioritized for vaccination (the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) and the Czech Republic, Greece and Serbia had put in place national guidelines for vaccination of PLWH. In 14/20 countries (70%) vaccination was only provided by designated centres. Eighteen respondents (18/21; 85.7%) reported that they planned to follow up HIV patients vaccinated against COVID‐19, mainly by measuring antibody levels and checking COVID‐19 incidence (11/21; 52.3%). Conclusions: This survey‐based study suggests that there are significant differences in terms of prioritizing PLWH, the types of vaccines used, vaccination coverage, and the development and implementation of a vaccination programmes within the region. Regardless of heterogenicity and existing barriers within the region, systematic vaccination in PLWH should have the highest priority, especially in those with severe immunodeficiency, risk factors, and in the elderly, aiming for prompt and high vaccination coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Because there is high variability among European countries in prevalence levels of various alcohol consumption measures, the informational value of adolescent's alcohol consumption indicators is uncertain. The present study aimed to examine information capacity and measurement invariance of different alcohol consumption indicators in adolescents from countries of the former Soviet (Eastern) Bloc in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Methods: Data were collected in 16 CEE countries, as part of the 2013/2014 wave of the Health Behavior in School‐aged Children study. Data from adolescents (age 15) who reported having consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime were analyzed. Four binary items selected for analysis measured the presence or absence of alcohol consumption in the last 30 days, lifetime drunkenness, weekly drinking frequency, and binge drinking on a typical occasion. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory analysis were used to examine the data. Results: In most of the included countries, alcohol consumption in the last 30 days and lifetime drunkenness were indicative at lower severity levels, while binge drinking and weekly drinking frequency were informative at higher levels of alcohol use severity. A low proportion of the estimated intercepts and factor loadings were noninvariant, which indicated approximate cross‐national invariance of these indicators. Conclusions: Adolescent alcohol consumption indicators are informative for different severity levels and enable cross‐nationally invariant measurement. However, different indicators suggested the presence of diverging drinking cultures in the CEE regions, with the highest discrimination capacity at the lower and higher ends of the continuum of alcohol use severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we contribute to debates on how social networks sustain migrants' entrepreneurial activities. By reporting on 31 interviews with Eastern European migrants in the UK, we provide a critical lens on the tendency to assume that migrants have ready‐made social networks in the host country embedded in co‐ethnic communities. We extend this limited perspective by demonstrating how Eastern European migrants working in the UK transform blat social networks, formulated in the cultural and political contours of Soviet society, in their everyday lived experiences. Our findings highlight not only the monetarization of such networks but also the continuing embedded nature of trust existing within these networks, which cut across transnational spaces. We show how forms of social capital based on Russian language use and legacies of a shared Soviet past, are just as important as the role of 'co‐ethnics' and 'co‐migrants' in facilitating business development. In doing so, we present a more nuanced understanding of the role that symbolic capital plays in migrant entrepreneurial journeys and its multifaceted nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East Europeans are integrating into life in the UK. This entails learning to get along with their new neighbours, but it also involves not getting along with certain neighbours. Integration is not confined to benevolent forms of everyday cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism and conviviality; it can also include more pathological forms, like racism. Whilst integration is generally seen as desirable, the learning that it entails necessarily includes less desirable practices and norms. The aim of this article is to show how East Europeans in the UK have been acquiring specifically British competencies of racism. This doesn't mean all East Europeans are racist or they always use racism; it does mean, however, that racism is a part of the integration equation. We focus on the racist and racializing practices of Poles, Hungarians and Romanians in Bristol in the UK. These East Europeans are using racism to insert themselves more favourably into Britain's racialized status hierarchies. This is a kind of integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the rhythm of temporary mobility experiences of young Eastern Europeans in Spain, after the European Union ( EU) enlargement towards the East. Following Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis approach, and drawing on 60 in-depth qualitative interviews, this paper investigates how rhythms are linked to youth mobility and how different interplays of rhythms are connected and disconnected in multiple ways. I argue that both the EU socio-economic context and the personal and professional life-course circumstances of young Eastern Europeans who practice mobility create different, uneven rhythms that influence their everyday lives and their perceptions of mobility. This paper highlights the issue of rhythmic change in temporary mobility, uncovering 'arrhythmic' mobility, reflected in the loss and insecurity in the lives of those who practice it; 'polyrhythmic' mobility, practised by people looking to study and/or work and expressed through uncertainty on the one hand and the possibility of establishing a certain rhythm in their lives on the other; and 'eurhythmic' mobility, used by those with a stable professional status in one of the EU countries, in this case, Spain. The conclusions provide a better comprehension of Lefebvre's thinking, offering insights for wider applications. They show the need to advance the theoretical and empirical understandings of rhythm in relation to mobility during the lifecourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses employers' support for the introduction of industry-specific minimum wages as a cost-raising strategy in order to deter market entry. Using a unique data set consisting of 800 firms in the German service sector, we show that high-productivity employers support minimum wages. We further find some evidence that minimum wage support is higher in industries and regions with low barriers to entry. This is particularly the case in East Germany, where the perceived threat of low-wage competition from Central and Eastern European countries is relatively high. In addition, firms paying collectively agreed wages are more strongly in favour of minimum wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the determinants of temporary migration and the destination choices of migrants from a geopolitically important region in eastern Europe that borders Russia and the enlarged EU. We present empirical evidence from a novel survey simultaneously conducted in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, five countries that share a common institutional and linguistic heritage with Russia. Temporary migrants from eastern Europe are less well educated than non-migrants. While the least educated migrants head for Russia, the higher educated move to the EU and the best educated to overseas destinations. According to unique information on pre-migration training courses, a non-negligible fraction of eastern European migrants to the EU is well-equipped with language skills and qualifications. However, since many labour migrants suffer from occupational downgrading or skill waste in the destination, the EU seems to fail in fully benefiting from the potential of eastern European migration despite the geographic proximity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration plays an important role in shaping contemporary society in the European Union (EU), with constituent countries being affected differently. As a result of the most recent expansion of the EU in 2004, the United Kingdom (UK) has experienced an influx of economic migrants from former 'Eastern Bloc' countries, including many young people from Poland. In this study, we explore the experiences of a group of nine young Polish adults living, studying and working in the UK. Three of the nine participants were co-researchers in this participatory action research, equipping them with the tools to undertake a narrative enquiry. The resultant narratives outline emergent themes and subthemes: including reasons for coming to and staying in the UK; first impressions of and changing opinions about life in the UK; the impact of visits to Poland; and plans for the future. The data add to the literature by providing a unique developmental perspective of the changing experiences of living in the UK; and give some insight into the life impacts of migration in contemporary Europe, amongst young people in their twenties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the exploration of Polish and Lithuanian migrants' work experiences in the United Kingdom. It argues that it is hard to categorize these individuals as highly skilled or low-skilled because, in spite of their relatively high qualifications, they often occupy low-skilled positions in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the article suggests that these migrants are 'middling transnationals' (). Although they are classified as economic migrants, many of them have migrated to the United Kingdom not only in order to earn money but also to try life abroad, see the world, or learn English. Following Bourdieu's terminology, the article suggests ways in which migrants use different cultural capital (skills, qualifications, social environment) to enhance their economic capital in the United Kingdom, but also ways in which these different forms of migrants' capital are interrelated. The findings suggest that Eastern Europeans are highly mobile in the British labour market. Provided they possess necessary linguistic skills, migrants progress from 'any job' to a 'better job' in search of a 'dream job'. The article emphasises that this transition in the British labour market became easier after Poles and Lithuanians became EU citizens, whereby they were granted the right to work and improved access to education services in the United Kingdom. The article also argues that viewing migrants' work experiences in the context of their future plans helps to understand better why working below qualifications is acceptable to many East Europeans in the United Kingdom. This is either because it helps them maximise their income and return to their home country as soon as possible, or because a low-skilled position helps them to improve other skills (e.g., English) and serves as a stepping stone to better career opportunities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the degree of co-movements in real macroeconomic aggregates across selected euro area and Central and Eastern European ( CEE) countries applying a multi-factor model. Our results suggest that the evolution of the global European factor matches well the narrative of main economic events between 1995 and 2011, capturing among others the recession during the recent global financial and economic crisis. This factor plays a central role in explaining real output growth variability in euro area and is negligible in CEE countries. Furthermore, using Markov switching models and concordance indices, we shed light on an increase in business cycle synchronization, with the degree of concordance between country-specific and European business cycles being high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how English local governments managed high levels of worker migration from Eastern Europe in the wake of the enlargement of the European Union in 2004. Theories of local government capacity suggest that strong central administration and vibrant community organizational life can increase the likelihood that public service performance will be maintained despite sudden shifts in the external environment. We explore the interactive effects of immigration and administrative and community capacity on English local government performance, using multivariate statistical techniques. The results suggest that local government capacity moderated the negative impact on performance of migration from Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization has increased the occurrence of 'international marriages' due to expanded marriage markets resulting from increased travel and communication avenues. Although Eastern Europe is one of the top three regions of origin for marriage migrants, little is known about who chooses this type of marriage arrangement. This study describes demographic characteristics of Eastern European-U.S. international marriages using a nationally representative sample ( N = 442) from the American Community Survey, 2008-2009. Paired t test, chi-square, and ANOVA analyses were used to assess within-couple and between-couple differences. Spouses in Eastern-European-U.S. couples were found to differ significantly by age, income, education, and number of previous marriages. Results showed that marriages between Eastern European wives and U.S. husbands differed in important ways from marriages between U.S. citizens. Findings support both status homogamy and status exchange theories of international mate selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the experiences of young, well-educated Eastern Europeans who have moved to Western Europe in search of opportunities for professional development, opportunities that, for the most part, are not available in their home countries. The focus of this paper is on the resulting outcome of downskilling, where these individuals work in positions well below their levels of education and capability. Based on 22 in-depth interviews with workers living in Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, the study offers two major findings. First, although self-directed expatriates move to host countries specifically for professional development opportunities, they do little to research on their career and employment options prior to moving to the host country. Second, organizations are not fully utilizing the available human capital offered by Eastern Europeans, suggesting untapped opportunities to achieve competitive advantage through human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laboratory diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections in many Eastern European countries remains suboptimal. The main objective of the present evidence-based guidelines is to provide comprehensive information regarding the laboratory diagnosis of infections caused by Trichomonas vaginalis in East European countries. In particular, the present guidelines recommend: (i) to encourage examination of the wet mounts of vaginal exudates, instead of stained smears, at all clinical settings; (ii) nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) or culture could be employed if no trichomonads are detected on microscopic examination of the wet preparation and there is a strong indication of infection and (iii) the use of NAATs is encouraged in screening, using non-invasive specimens, or high volume testing situations. In the absence of internationally recognized commercial NAAT systems, tests developed in-house should be validated using obtainable international standards and quality assured strictly. Individual East European countries may be required to make minor national adjustments to these guidelines as a result of lack of accessibility to some reagents or equipment, or laws in a specific country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socialist ideology in Eastern Europe strived to remodel all aspects of social life and to provide a framework for political, economic, and moral authority. For twenty years after the fall of socialism in 1989, Eastern Europeans have been entangled in dynamic transitions from socialism to democracy, from nationalized to privatized economies, and from 'thinking local' to 'thinking global.' Now, they are struggling with a new set of transformations: becoming part of the European project for politico-economic and socio-cultural integration. This multifarious process affects people in different ways according to their age, economic status and gender, among other factors. This paper investigates how age affects the experiences and conceptualizations of European integration of citizens in one post-socialist EU member-state-Bulgaria. It attempts to reveal differences in ideological motivations, degree of intensity and nuances in experiencing, conceptualizing, and engaging with the European Union. Exploration of these various experiences and conceptualizations suggests the existence of significant conceptual and metaphoric discrepancies between the pre-and post-1980s generations and within the youth generation of the 1980s itself. Both disappointment with the failure of the Soviet model of social engineering and nostalgia for the socialist past inform anticipation of the effects of and reaction to European integration. However they do not capture or explain new ways of reconstructing the past or emerging narratives of the present and the future, influenced by the differential access to a range of new economic opportunities, social realities, and domains of knowledge enabled by European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a research study exploring the correlations between religious status and drug-use behavior among immigrations from the former Soviet Union. Introductory details are given noting the social conditions and immigration policies of Eastern Europe at the fall of the Soviet Union, noting the large-scale exodus of immigration at the time. Discussion is also given noting the rise in drug use as a coping mechanism to the social stress of the period. Statistics are then provided citing trends in drug use by immigrants qualified by religious affiliation.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how 20 families have adapted after adopting children between the ages of 3 and 5 years from eastern European institutions. The researcher visited a Romanian orphanage and then interviewed 20 families about their experiences with the adoption process and with family adaptation postadoption. Several themes emerged from the parents’ stories regarding their search for support and resources to aid in parenting their children. Family therapists who are interested in working with families who adopt internationally from institutional settings can learn from the stories of parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early twentieth century, a wave of immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe to the United States caused natives' anxiety and debates over the racial purity of “the nation.” By mid-century, these new-comers would be accepted in the ethnic wing of the white race. Across academic disciplines, this immigrant history has become emblematic of how “white people” in the United States are not born but made. Focusing on narratives on “the Balkans” in the popular at the time scientific magazine the National Geographic, this study examines American racial ideas of immigrants from the region from a comparative and cross-national perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To analyse the effects of a training programme on the motor performance of Romanian schoolchildren. Methods: A total of 178 boys (9.5±0.8 y, 34±9 kg, 137.6±8 cm) and 192 girls (9.6±0.4 y, 32.7±7.6 kg, 136.9±7.5 cm) were randomly selected for the training group (TG) ( n =198, 109 girls, 89 boys) and control group (CG) ( n =172, 83 girls, 89 boys). The TG completed a 6-mo extracurricular training programme (two 50-min sessions per week) involving moderate-intensity impact exercises. At baseline and at follow-up, the EUROFIT tests were administered, and body composition, skeletal maturation and BMI were calculated. Results: At baseline there were no differences in physical characteristics between TG and CG. With the exception of cardiorespiratory endurance, both groups improved motor performances at follow-up. However, for TG boys the improvement was greater than for CG boys in the plate-tapping (+37.2%), sit-up (+20.4%), standing broad-jump (+13%) and shuttle-run tests (+3.8%). TG girls improved more than CG girls only in the standing broad-jump (+18.8%) and shuttle-run (+8.5%) tests. Conclusion: Boys and girls in trained groups demonstrated greater increases in some tests of motor performance compared to their untrained peers. Two extra sessions of physical education per week were sufficient to elicit improvements in a number of components of motor fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a model of citizen support for membership to the European Union designed explicity for post-communist countries in Eastern Europe. Guarantee to the continuation of economic reforms undertaken since the end of communism; 'Winners' who have benefited from the political and economic transition; Contrast with the attitudes of 'losers,' who oppose the free market.

The incidence of eating disorders has been highest among Caucasian American Women of middle to upper middle social classes. Observations of anorexia nervosa and bulimia in two Eastern European immigrants to the United States are described. These cases illustrate the influence of immigration and acculturation on the adolescent and highlight their particular vulnerability to acculturation pressures of the new society. The case studies illustrate the complex interaction of individual, familial, and sociocultural factors associated with development of anorexia nervosa and bulimia in a population not previously considered to be at risk. Consideration is given to the potential susceptibility of female immigrants in the United States to the pervasive messages emphasizing slimness and attractiveness as vehicles to acceptance and success in American culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on issues related to critical Marxism and Eastern Europe. As an effect of the post-war strategic-military games, the East European countries, dominated by Stalinist parties, were compelled to embark on the same political and economic platform as the Soviet Union, were submitted to all the practices involved and in the Stalinist socio-political paradigm. The ersatz Marxism of the epoch was subsequently the ideological framework created by Stalin and by his followers and was, in fact, a compendium of trivial metaphysical ideas interwoven with pragmatic rules and mythological fixations. The Stalinist ideology fulfilled the process of increasing pauperization of Marxist theoretical practice and actually functioned as an effective counter-doctrine meant to emasculate the originally emancipatory momentum of negative dialectics and to substitute for it an opportunist-positivistic sociology deliberately situated beyond the traditional moral borders. More than a decade after Stalin's death, the favourite theme in the discourses of East European philosophers was the return to Marx.

Contenting national characteristics, previous work (Peabody, 1985) had generally shown agreement between student judgements and other information. The Russians were a dramatic exception. New evidence comes from ingroup judgements, where Russians were judged impulse-expressive. This disagrees with earlier outgroup judgements, but agrees with other evidence about Russian national character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eastern European countries are considered a stronghold for the continent's farmland biodiversity. The abundance of farmland birds is one important element of this biodiversity. At the end of the 20th century, member states of the European Union (EU) experienced serious population declines of farmland birds due to agricultural intensification, which was not observed in the Eastern European nonmember states. In 2004, 10 mostly Eastern European countries acceded to the EU. It is thus important to ask whether this historical step resulted in changes of agricultural production and, in turn, in farmland bird populations. Here we used annual crop yields and monitoring data on farmland bird abundance in an Eastern European new EU‐member state and showed that agricultural production intensified and farmland bird populations declined steeply after country's EU accession. These results indicate that entering EU's Common Agricultural Policy caused significant deterioration of farmland biodiversity in a once biodiversity‐rich region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]