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In the present study, we explored the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Mandarin Chinese BAS-2 among adolescents residing in the Chinese mainland. Exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 (N = 790; 396 girls, 394 boys) supported the unidimensionality of the Mandarin Chinese BAS-2 among Chinese adolescents. Internal consistency reliability was upheld via McDonald's omega. Convergent validity was supported by its moderate-to-strong relationships with body satisfaction, functionality satisfaction, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect, while its small-to-moderate correlation with social desirability provided somewhat weaker discriminant validity support. Criterion-related validity was upheld by its inverse correlation with eating disorder symptomatology and positive correlation with intuitive eating. It explained unique variance in self-esteem (for girls and boys), eating disorder symptomatology (for girls), and intuitive eating (for boys) beyond age, body satisfaction, and functionality satisfaction, providing incremental validity evidence. A subsample of 134 girls and 114 boys completed the Mandarin Chinese BAS-2 again after three months, and test-retest reliability was upheld. The confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 (N = 337; 192 girls, 145 boys) replicated the unidimensional structure and supported measurement invariance across gender. Collectively, the present study supported the unidimensionality, reliability, and validity of the Mandarin Chinese BAS-2's scores among Chinese adolescents., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper represents the first research study conducted to date on the use of Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) to treat children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Mainland China. This study gives detailed clinical examples of how to use DMT in the treatment of this population, and demonstrates the linguistic, nonverbal, and relational changes that took place after 7 months of individual sessions. Data from interviews with caregivers yielded four themes regarding the impact of DMT: (1) Improvement of ability to use language and to communicate, (2) Expansion of nonverbal communication and understanding of bodily language, (3) Emergence of new behaviors: game playing, imagination, and bodily movement, and (4) Appearance of positive emotional expression. In addition, the VB-MAPP assessment was used to evaluate the children's language levels before and after DMT. Findings indicate that it is necessary, appropriate, and effective to use DMT in the treatment of children with ASD, and that this evidence-based treatment should receive further development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social media content on Western platforms promoting thinness, or thinspiration, has been found to negatively affect body image perception of users. Less is known about non-Western social media use and its effects on body image concerns. Chinese TikTok, known as Douyin, is a popular short video platform with 600 million daily active users. Recent trends on Douyin encourage users to demonstrate thinness through participation in 'body challenges'. This paper argues that such content is comparable to thinspiration, however, to date hardly any research has been undertaken on these challenges. Thus, this pilot study aimed to analyse the content of three viral challenges and investigate their impact on Douyin users. Methods: Thirty most viewed videos were collected for three challenges (N = 90): the Coin challenge, the A4 Waist challenge, and the Spider leg challenge. Videos were coded for variables relating to thin idealisation, including thin praise, sexualisation and objectification, and analysed through content analytic methods. Video comments (N ≈ 5500) were analysed through thematic analysis, and main themes were identified. Results: Preliminary findings showed that participants who objectified their bodies to a greater extent expressed more negative body image concerns. In addition, comments on the videos had themes of thin praise, self-comparison, and promotion of dieting behaviours. In particular, videos of the A4 Waist challenge were found to incite more negative self-comparison in viewers. Conclusion: Preliminary findings suggest all three challenges promote the thin ideal and encourage body image concerns. Further research about the broader impact of body challenges is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Video lectures which include the instructor's presence are becoming increasingly popular. Presenting a real human does, however, entail higher financial and time costs in making videos, and one innovative approach to reduce costs has been to generate a virtual speaking instructor. Objectives: The current study examined whether the use of a virtual instructor in video lectures would facilitate learning as well as a human instructor, and whether manipulating the virtual instructor's characteristics (i.e., voice and appearance) might optimize the effectiveness of the virtual instructor. Methods: Our study set four conditions. In the control condition, students watched a human instructor. In the experiment conditions, students watched one of (a) a virtual instructor which used the human instructor's voice and an AI image, (b) a virtual instructor which spoke in an AI voice with an AI image made to speak using text‐to‐speech and lip synthesis techniques, or (c) a virtual instructor with used an AI voice and an AI likable‐image of an instructor. Results and Conclusions: The AI likable instructor condition had a significant positive effect on students' learning performance and motivation, without decreasing the attention students paid to the learning materials. Implications: Our findings suggest that instructional video designers can make use of AI voices and AI images of likable humans as instructors to motivate students and enhance their learning performance. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Video lectures which include the instructor's presence are becoming increasingly popular.Presenting a virtual instructor (i.e., a pedagogical agent) in video lectures has been shown to reduce costs of video production, both financially and in terms of time. What this paper adds: An AI‐generated voice and an AI‐generated image facilitated more students' transfer performance than a human instructor.The AI likable instructor condition had a significant positive effect on students' learning performance and motivation, without decreasing the attention students paid to the learning materials. Implications for practice and/or policy: We encourage instructional designers to use AI‐generated voices and AI‐generated images connected to a virtual instructor instead of a human instructor in video lectures.We encourage instructional designers to use likable human images (as defined by the students themselves) as a way to motivate students more and enhance their learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a body size measurement system based on deep learning for image segmentation by binocular stereovision for clothing design. A pair of binocular stereo cameras and a precise revolving platform are used to collect the stereo images of the entire human body. A more diverse human body dataset is constructed for deep learning. An optimized girth semantic segmentation model based on PSPNet network is well trained by deep learning to realize the automatic segmentation of more girth regions in human body images taken from multiple angles. Color subspaces with larger spacing in color spaces are designed to perform more effective stereo matching. The space coordinates of 3D point corresponding to each stereo matching point pair are calculated in the same coordinate system. The space coordinates are reversely revolved back to the intial coordinates of the same coordinate system according to the revolving angle of the platform. Girths of bust, waist, hip and thigh are measured by calculating the fitting curve length after girth fitting of the markers thereon. Height of bust, waist, hip, thigh and entire body are estimated according to the ratio of the 3D distance to the number of pixels between two adjacent markers on the same girth. Quantitative experiments on many human subjects demonstrate that the proposed system can measure body size intelligently and accurately for clothing design under the regulation of China national standards GB/T 2664-2017, GA258-2009, GB/T 2665-2017 and textile industry standard FZ/T 73029-2019, FZ/T 73017-2014, FZ/ T 73059-2017, FZ/T 73022-2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important that scales that evaluate body image and related attitudes and behaviors are both reliable and valid to evaluate these constructs in different countries. This paper introduces a series of five papers that examine the measurement invariance of multiple scales for men and women across eight countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the US). The papers examined measures of: sociocultural influences (i.e., appearance-related pressures) on strategies to lose weight/increase muscle; internalization of the thin/muscular ideal; body image; personality constructs; body change strategies to increase muscles and lose weight; and eating regulation. Measurement invariance was generally well-established across the eight countries. One or more items were removed in some scales for some countries to establish invariance. Factor loadings were equivalent across countries and refined scales demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability. The most frequent difference in the scales was in the item intercepts across groups, although most item intercepts were equivalent across groups. This series of papers makes an important contribution to the body image literature by demonstrating the validity of measures of body image, disordered eating, and sociocultural factors that can be used to better understand the relationship between these variables across different countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes a Chinese translation and validation of the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS; Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005), a questionnaire for assessing attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. Chinese adults (335 women, 240 men; M age  = 33.65) completed the Chinese ACSS and - to investigate construct validity - measures of body appreciation, facial appearance concerns, sociocultural attitudes towards appearance (i.e., internalization of appearance ideals and appearance pressures), and demographics. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the Chinese ACSS comprised two factors, which were invariant across sex, mirroring results among other non-Western samples. The Chinese ACSS also demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas > .90) and convergent validity via its positive associations with facial appearance concerns and overall sociocultural attitudes toward appearance. Chinese ACSS scores were higher among women, and were positively correlated with age among men. Chinese ACSS scores were not associated with body appreciation or other demographic factors. The ACSS seems to be a valid instrument for use in Chinese adults, and could bring more insight into attitudes toward cosmetic surgery from a cross-cultural perspective., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

In the current paper, two different studies were designed to investigate body image dissatisfaction and perception of the attractive female body in Chinese and Croatian women and men using the correlational and experimental study research approach. Study 1 comprised 266 Chinese (160 women; 106 men) and 261 Croatian participants (161 women; 100 men). Women from both countries were asked to complete the measures of the Contour Rating Scale, SATAQ – 4, Body Area Scale and demographic data, while men were asked to complete the measures of the Contour Rating Scale and demographic data via online surveys. The obtained results indicated that thin internalization predicted body image dissatisfaction in both samples. Besides, while both samples scored relatively high on thin-ideal internalization, Chinese women, who were also in general less satisfied with their body image, had higher scores. Chinese women also scored higher on musculature internalization and felt more pressure from family, friends, and media to conform to standard beauty norms compared to Croatian women. The samples also differed in their perceptions of preferable body size, where Chinese women had a more negative perception of their actual body size. The obtained results furthermore revealed that Chinese men preferred thinner women compared to Croatian men. Moreover, both samples misjudged what their female counterparts found attractive, thinking that women wanted to have even thinner bodies than they actually reported. Similarly, women from both cultures revealed a preference for thinner figures than the ones selected as the most attractive by the opposite sex. Finally, in Study 2, experimental manipulation of thin-ideal was used to examine whether thin priming affected body image dissatisfaction. The obtained results revealed that when primed with thin-ideal women from both countries felt lower satisfaction with their body size. The observed effect was stronger for Chinese participants. Limitations of the current study are discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the existing knowledge regarding the impact of beauty ideals and body positive social media content on women's body image is based on the Western cultural context. This limits our understanding of the issue in other cultures, such as China, among others. Therefore, to address this gap, this study examined young Chinese women's perspectives on beauty ideals and body positivity in social media through a qualitative investigation. Female university students in China (N = 24) participated in individual interviews. A thematic analysis revealed four primary themes: (1) characteristics of mainstream beauty ideals in Chinese social media; (2) impact of beauty ideals on young women; (3) perspectives on the content and roles of body positivity; (4) influences of body positive social media content on young women. These findings indicate that young Chinese women are aware of the beauty ideals in social media and their negative impact on their body image. Furthermore, young Chinese women generally expressed a favorable outlook on body positivity but noted its limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The literature suggests that the medical community needs musicians to provide an insider’s perspective to understand the physical and psychological dimensions of playing an instrument, and healthcare providers need to understand musicians’ experiences in order to develop coping strategies. Compared with professional pianists, student pianists are a neglected group. However, student and professional pianists both want to maintain their playing careers and have the experience of giving up playing because of playing-related musculoskeletal disorder (PRMD). There are a few studies conducted on student pianists’ experiences with PRMD, but none have been conducted in the Chinese context. Given the distinctive characteristics of higher music education in China and Chinese piano students, this study aims to investigate the lived experiences of tertiary student pianists with PRMD. Methods: Phenomenology is the most suitable qualitative method for investigating lived experiences. This study employed a transcendental phenomenological approach to investigate the experiences of student pianists, collecting data through one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions. Since phenomenological research emphasizes the homogeneity of research subjects, all 25 participants in this study are tertiary student pianists from seven Chinese higher education institutions. Results: Four themes and ten sub-themes were identified in this study. They are as follows: Theme one, Perceptions of PRMD, with sub-themes of body perceptions, negative thought, and emotional changes; Theme two, Complex Identity, with sub-themes of future pianists’ identity, nuanced identity of student pianists, and the dual identity between student pianist and patient; Theme three, Coping Strategies, with sub-themes of self-regulation and actively seek help from social relations; Theme four, Influences and Meanings, with sub-themes of negative influences of PRMD and positive meanings of PRMD. Conclusion: This study explores the experiences of tertiary student pianists with PRMD, including their subjective thoughts and feelings. It also highlights the importance of understanding tertiary student pianists’ experiences in developing health education and healthcare measures tailored to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – A qualitative study by autovideography was conducted to examine adolescent girls' negotiation of their gender roles through the consumption of advertising images. This paper aims to document the study. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 20 adolescent girls aged 15 to 18 in Hong Kong were asked to take pictures from the media that could illustrate "what girls or women should or should not be and what girls or women should or should not do". Advertising images captured by the interviewees and their interpretations of those images were analyzed. Findings – Seven dominant themes were isolated from the interpretations: appearance; personality; skills and work; activities, interests and lifestyle; family; health and safety; and caring for people and the environment. The findings show that adolescent girls pay much attention to images about slimming, body image and physical appearance. They criticized female images in ads as unrealistic but identified with female images that were natural and conventional. Research limitations/implications – The interviewees were recruited from two secondary schools that may not have been representative. The interviews were conducted in English, which may have caused some of the participants to be reticent about presenting their viewpoints. The implications represent a step forward in relation to how media influence young consumers and how teenagers perceive and intercept what they see in the media. Originality/value – The paper shows that collecting and interpreting female visual images can illustrate vividly the process of gender socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify and assess evidence related to the efficacy of mind-body interventions on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the Chinese population. Method: Drawn from Chinese databases, nine RCTs and three Q-E studies were included in the systematic review. The methodological quality of RCTs was evaluated based on the following criteria: adequate sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, completeness of outcome data, selective reporting, and other potential biases. For continuous variables, the effect size (ES) was determined by calculating the standardized mean difference between groups. For dichotomous variables, the ES was determined by calculating the risk ratio (RR) between groups. Given the heterogeneity between the trials and the small number of studies included, both random effects and fixed effects models were used. The inverse variance method was used for pooling. Statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager version 5.0. Results: The total number of papers identified was 710: 462 from English language databases and 248 from Chinese language databases. Twelve studies met our eligibility criteria. Among the studies selected, three were Q-E studies the rest RCTs. Two studies described the randomization process. None of the studies reported allocation concealment nor blinding. Seven studies reported no dropouts. One of the studies mentioned the total amount of dropouts; though the reason for dropping out was not referenced. The other four studies did not clearly report dropouts. With the exception of three studies, there was inadequate information to determine biased reporting for the majority; the level of risk for bias in these studies is unclear. Finally, six meta-analyses were performed. One was conducted with four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used cure rate as outcome measures to evaluate gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, which suggested that mind-body interventions were effective in improving GI symptoms (random effects model: RR = 1.08; 95 % CI 1.01 to 1.17; fixed effects model: RR = 1.07; 95 % CI 1.01 to 1.12). The remaining five were conducted in three RCTs, which suggested that mind-body interventions were effective in improving several aspects of quality of life, including interference with activity (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.64; 95 % CI 0.41 to 0.86), body image (random effects model: SMD = 0.36; 95 % CI 0.06 to 0.67; fixed effects model: SMD = 0.33; 95 % CI 0.11 to 0.55), health worry (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.67; 95 % CI 0.44 to 0.90), food avoidance (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.45; 95 % CI 0.23 to 0.68), and social reaction (random effects model: SMD = 0.79; 95 % CI 0.47 to 1.12; fixed effects model: SMD = 0.78; 95 % CI 0.55 to 1.01), as measured by Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire ( IBS-QOL). Conclusion: Mind-body interventions may have the potential to improve GI symptoms in Chinese patients with IBS. The improvement of GI symptoms was also accompanied with the improvement of various outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and quality of life, just to mention a few. However, the published studies generally had significant methodological limitations. Future clinical trials with rigorous research design are needed in this field. More studies focusing on the mind-body interventions originated in China, such as tai chi and qi gong should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Negative body image is a common psychological phenomenon among young Chinese women, and merits further investigation. Peers and the media are important factors that associated with body image. This study explored how media and peers promote body dissatisfaction among young Chinese women, including the mediating role of body surveillance and the moderating role of protective filtering. Methods: 3499 women from the general China community aged 18–40 years (M = 23.44 years, SD = 1.18 years) were investigated with sociocultural attitudes towards appearance scale-3, objectified body consciousness scale and protective filtering scale. The data were analyzed by using a moderated mediation model with SPSS and the Process 4.0 macro. Results: Correlational analysis results indicated that body surveillance acted as a chained indirect effect between the internalization of media information and body dissatisfaction, as well as between peer comparison and body dissatisfaction. Moreover, protective filtering was demonstrated to moderate the path of media attention affecting the internalization of media information and the path of peer communication affecting peer comparisons. Conclusion: Our results contribute to the understanding of the sociocultural mechanisms underlying young women's negative body image. Furthermore, investigating the moderating effect of protective filtering is conducive to guiding future female positive body image interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is associated with increased risk of a number of physical and psychological problems, including heart disease, depression, and sexual dysfunction. We investigated the relationship between Body Mass Index categories, body image, and sexual function using more detailed assessment of potential weight related sexual problems than previous research. We recruited 251 Chinese participants (124 men) aged 18–57 to fill out an online questionnaire regarding sexual function, general body image, body image related to sexuality, and weight-related physical problems during sexual activity. The created body weight category groups with equal age controlling for its potential confounding effect on the association between obesity and sexual function. Participants' and their partners' height and weight as well as the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5), Checklist for Early Ejaculation Symptoms (CHEES), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Body Image States Scales (BISS), sexual body image questions, and a series of questions regarding weight-related physical problems during sex were used. Obese and overweight men had worse erectile and ejaculatory function than normal weight men whereas in women no association with sexual dysfunction was found. Obese and overweight men and women had worse general and sexual body image than normal weight individuals of their gender. For men, Body Mass Index was associated with erectile and ejaculatory function through sexual body acceptance and sexual body shame. In addition, Body Mass Index was associated with ejaculatory function via body image and physical problems related to exhaustion and fat tissue during the sex. For women, Body Mass Index was associated with female sexual function through body image and sexual body acceptance. Finally, we also found that participants' own Body Mass Index was positively associated with their partners' Body Mass Index. The resulted indicate that obesity and overweight have complex relationships with sexual function that clinicians should be aware of. This study is first to investigate the potential mediation psychological and physical factors on the relationship between obesity and sexual function both for men and women. However, the sample size is limited and the cross-sectional design does not allow causal conclusions. Body Mass Index is associated with individuals' sexual functioning via satisfaction with their own body, body satisfaction specifically related to sexual activity as well as physical problems during sexual activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research intends to explore the effects of short video use on college students' weight loss intentions, and its intrinsic mechanism of action, based on the responses of 1268 students from three universities in southwest China to questionnaires with the instruments of a sports participation scale, body image scale, self-esteem scale and weight loss intention scale. The findings are listed as follows: 1) Short video use can significantly and positively predict weight loss intention; 2) Body image mediates the relationship between short video usage and weight loss intentions; 3) Self-esteem plays a regulatory effect as the direct path between short video use and weight loss intention as well as partial mediation effect of body image. The direct effect of short video use on weight loss intentions and the mediating effect of body image gradually increased with the decrease of self-esteem. The results of the study suggest that short video use can affect the weight loss intentions of college students through either a direct or indirect path created by the mediating role of body image. Meanwhile, the influence of self-esteem on weight loss intention can't be ignored, which is another key factor that affects college students' weight loss intentions beyond short video use and body image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on women's bodily experience of breast cancer in the context of sociology of the body. Based on the in-depth interviews of 14 Chinese women with breast cancer, we constructed a "deformed body" analytical framework to be distinguished from a widely used "disease-based" one. For most of the women, breast cancer means mastectomy or removing an important part of the body that signifies the female gender. This type of bodily deformity challenges the normal female body. Therefore, breast cancer not only causes bodily pains but pertains to the definition of the normality and perfectness of a female body, and even that of the normality of being a female in the mainstream culture regarding the body. A "deformed body" framework has four aspects: bodily functioning and experience (pains and mobility constraints), bodily appearance (hair and breast losses), personal identity (the patient identity, the female identity, and the normal social identity), and interpersonal relationships (especially the intimate relationships). The narratives from this conceptual framework display how the females, while experiencing the breast cancer (especially after the mastectomy), face and manage their "deformed" bodies as defined by the medicine and society, and how to restore the "normality" of their bodies and intimate relationships. The body moves from the medical space to the social space. The four aspects of the sense of deformity, as well as the journey toward normality, show specific stage/phase-linked characteristics in the process of diagnosis, chemotherapy, and rehabilitations that are nevertheless intricately connected, reflecting the multidimensional and political nature of the body in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to describe the prevalence of deliberate self-harm (DSH) and to determine the socio-demographic, behavioral, and psychological correlates of DSH behaviors in Chinese adolescents and young adults in a representative sample of the general population. The data were obtained from an epidemiologic study involving adolescents and young adults from junior and senior schools and colleges located in eight provinces of China. A total of 17,622 cases were retained for analysis. The relationship between the explanatory variables with self-harm was analyzed using a Pearson χ test and a multinomial logistic regression model. A total of 3,001 (17.0%) students reported that they had harmed themselves deliberately in the past 12 months. The act of DSH occurring 1 and >2 times accounted for 4.2% (742) and 12.8% (2,259) of all respondents, respectively. The most frequently reported form of DSH was self-hitting. If the reference category was No DSH, the findings indicated that family composition, father's education, perceived family economic status, cigarette use, perceived body image, and higher scores in depression scales were important concomitants of repeat-incidents of DSH. The students, in western areas, who were younger, reported that having unhealthy weight control behaviors, and alcohol use had a higher risk for both types of DSH. Regarding students of age 15-18 years perceived body image (too fat), having unhealthy weight control behaviors or a high level of depression symptoms demonstrated an elevated risk for repeat-incident DSH when single-incident DSH was used as the reference category, whereas the students in middle area reported family composition (both parents), education of the father (less than college) or alcohol use had a decreased risk for repeat-incident DSH. The results of this study suggest that both types of DSH are associated with other wide-ranging problems in the students' lives. Despite their common features, these phenomena also differed from each other. It is necessary to investigate the possible neurobiologic underpinnings of DSH within a longitudinal study to enhance the knowledge of this behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a qualitative inquiry into the aetiology of anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. These results are part of our main research project about family treatment and families with a daughter suffering from anorexia nervosa. This present qualitative study adopts a multiple case study approach ( n = 8) and employs a multiple-source data collection method, involving pre- and post-family treatment interviews, clinical observations of the participants during the treatment sessions and home visits, as well as detailed field notes. The findings indicate that there are biological, psychological, socio-cultural and familial interpretations of the aetiology of anorexia nervosa. This study challenges the dominant discourse on anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong, which states that the root of the disease lies in a desire for slenderness and beauty, and suggests instead that the aetiology of anorexia nervosa can be discovered only if approached from the systems level. Implications for social work practice are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a 10‐min self‐compassion writing in alleviating body dissatisfaction, self‐objectification, and emotional eating in young adult women engaged in emotional eating in the context of appearance‐related cyberbullying. Method: A total of 175 Chinese young adult women (Mage = 20.90, SD = 1.65) were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: self‐compassion, distraction, or control group. At baseline, participants completed assessments of trait and state body dissatisfaction, trait self‐objectification, trait self‐compassion, emotional eating, and positive and negative affect. Then they needed to recall an appearance‐related cyberbullying victimization experience, after which state body dissatisfaction, state self‐objectification, and positive and negative affect were measured. After the intervention, participants completed measures of state body dissatisfaction, state self‐objectification, positive and negative affect, state self‐compassion, and a food‐choosing task. At 1‐month follow‐up, participants completed measures of trait body dissatisfaction, trait self‐objectification, trait self‐compassion, and emotional eating. Results: At post‐intervention, state body dissatisfaction and negative affect were significantly lower, and positive affect was significantly higher in both the self‐compassion and distraction groups compared to control. State self‐objectification was significantly lower in the self‐compassion group than in the other two groups. At 1‐month follow‐up, the self‐compassion group showed significantly lower levels of body dissatisfaction than the control group. Discussion: The findings provide initial evidence for the potential of self‐compassion writing in reducing state self‐objectification and state body dissatisfaction in the context of appearance‐related cyberbullying. Public Significance: Appearance‐related cyberbullying, a common phenomenon in social networking sites, has been documented to associate with appearance‐related concerns and disordered eating in young adult women. However, effective interventions that can reduce these negative associations are scarce. This study preliminarily found that a brief self‐compassion writing could be a potential intervention for reducing state self‐objectification and state body dissatisfaction in young adult women who had suffered appearance‐related cyberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nowadays, the effect of body image (BI) on negative affect among nursing college students has been ignored. This study used personcentered methods to evaluate the profiles of body appreciation (BA) among Chinese nursing students. We explored the predictive factors of these profiles and examined the difference in negative affect among the profiles. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in a university in Anhui province, China. Five hundred and forty-one Chinese nursing students from a nursing college of a larger university completed this survey. Participants completed the Sociodemographic Characteristics Questionnaire, the Selfconcept Clarity Scale, the Body Appreciation Scale-2, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Latent profile analysis was employed to classify the BA profiles, and multinomial logistic regression analysis were conducted using the three-step regression and Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars method to test the relationship between the latent profiles of BA, several covariates (including gender, age, year of schooling, residence, academic achievement level, interpersonal relationship status, whether the student is an only child, duration of use of social media platforms, body mass index (BMI), and self-concept clarity (SCC)), and negative affect. Results: Analysis resulted in a four-profile model that included a "low BA" group (14.42%), an "upper medium BA" group (36.41%), a "lower medium BA" group (36.97%), and a "high BA" group (12.20%). SCC, years of schooling, interpersonal relationship status, and BMI were found to be the predictive factors of BA profiles. The four profiles differed in levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. Conclusion: Our study showed that more than half of nursing students were dissatisfied with their BI and the predictive factors evaluated and negative affect were associated with the profiles of BA. Nursing faculties should take measures to help students develop a more appropriate awareness of nursing aesthetics, a healthier lifestyle, a better interpersonal relationship with family members and peers, and a clearer self-concept to promote body appreciation and reduce negative affect related to BI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young breast cancer survivors with body image disturbance have poor quality of life. Self-compassion and different coping styles can influence their body image. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between self-compassion, coping styles, and body image disturbance, and examined the mediation role of coping styles between self-compassion and body image disturbance among young breast cancer survivors in China. Methods: In the cross-sectional study, a total of 310 young women with breast cancer were assessed on self-compassion, coping styles, and body image disturbance by self-reported questionnaires in China. Spearman's correlation was used to test the links between variables and to verify the indirect effects between variables by constructing a structural equation model. Results: There were correlations between self-compassion, different coping styles, and body image disturbance. Confrontation, avoidance, and acceptance-resignation coping had significant mediation effects on the association between self-compassion and body image disturbance. The mediation effects of confrontation coping were greater than avoidance, and acceptance-resignation coping. Conclusions: In this study, different coping styles acted as mediators between self-compassion and body image disturbance, providing support for further understanding the mechanism between self-compassion and body image disturbance, and developing comprehensive interventions for body image disturbance. Oncology nurses should pay attention to the breast cancer survivors' self-compassion and coping styles and encourage them to adopt adaptive coping strategies, which can reduce body image disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A validated Chinese version of Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R) is currently lacking. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of this translated scale in a Chinese sample. Following a forward–backward translation of the EDS-R, the Chinese version (EDS-C) and validated scales assessing associated constructs were administered to a large sample of habitual exercisers (N = 1447, 54.4% male) in several universities and communities in China. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), gender-based invariance test, internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and construct validity were completed. EDS-C confirmed the original seven-factor structure (TLI =.94, CFI =.95, RMSEA =.068, SRMR =.032). Moreover, gender-based invariance and good internal consistency (Cronbach α [0.73 to 0.93 for sub-scales]) could be demonstrated. Beyond that a moderate test–retest reliability was observed [r: 0.45–0.82]. Finally, positive associations of the EDS-C with exercise frequency and eating disorder symptoms, body image inflexibility, and generalized anxiety symptoms appeared. Based on these results, the EDS-C appears to be a psychometrically sound screening tool for exercise dependence in Chinese sample aged between 17 to 70 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, depression in early adulthood has become an urgent global public health concern. The university years mark a transitional period from adolescence to adulthood. Young people are required to face academic and life pressures independently, which increases the risk of mental health problems in university. Purpose: The main goal of the current study was to explore the sex differences in depression, body dissatisfaction, sleep quality, and exercise intensity among university students in southern China and to analyze the factors affecting the level of depression among university students. Methods: In total, 1,258 university students aged 18-23 years were recruited for this study. All participants completed anthropometric measurements, the Selfrating Depression Scale, Physical Activity Rating Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Body dissatisfaction levels were measured using sex-appropriate silhouettes. Results: Compared with young women, young men had higher exercise intensity and sleep quality, whereas young women's body dissatisfaction and depression levels were significantly higher than those of young men. Sleep quality score (ß = 0.34, p < 0.01), sex (ß = 0.15, p < 0.01), physical activity score (ß = -0.14, p < 0.01), and body dissatisfaction (ß = 0.14, p < 0.01) were significant predictive factors of the Self-rating Depression Scale score. Conclusion: Low levels of physical dissatisfaction have a positive effect on depression, and high levels of physical activity and quality sleep can also improve depressive symptoms. At the same time, increasing body satisfaction has the effect of increasing physical activity and improving sleep quality. Therefore, there is great potential to prevent and ameliorate depression by reducing body dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the medicinal trade and markets in late imperial China increased anxiety among scholarly physicians about the authenticity of medicines. Even though the market was typically depicted by scholarly physicians as a place full of tricks and deceptions, it was a repertoire where practical knowledge about authentication was created and circulated. The specialized knowledge was mainly transmitted through oral tradition. But in some instances, it was also written down by scholarly physicians or merchants, allowing us to reconstruct the techniques and their underlying rationales. Authentication of medicines mobilized multiple sensory perceptions of the human body, consisting of observing, tasting, smelling, touching, and performing small tests. All these techniques played different roles in the practice of authentication. Even though these sensory techniques seemed like a collection of trivial and practical records without any coherent rationales, an underlying episteme could be detected through a close investigation. Merchants and practitioners in the market did not understand the nature and materiality of medicines by any established theories. Instead, they actively engaged with the tangible form of medicines through the senses and bodily techniques. This sensory form of knowing indicates a type of practical expertise that is distant from the scholarly tradition of materia medica in late imperial China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a highly prevalent and serious public health concern among Chinese LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) populations, and a variety of cognitive and affective factors caused by sexual minority stress is influential in the development of NSSI. This study tested a chain mediating model to examine the roles of negative body image (i.e., a cognitive factor) and anxiety (i.e., an emotional factor) in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and NSSI. Potential gender differences on these associations were also tested. Methods: A total of 682 Chinese LGB individuals (57.8% gay men, 6.0% bisexual men, 16.0% lesbian women, and 20.2% bisexual women; mean age = 24.4 years, SD = 6.5) from across the country participated in this study in August 2020. They completed self-report measures of maladaptive perfectionism, negative body image, anxiety, and NSSI. Results: There were significant positive correlations among maladaptive perfectionism, negative body image, anxiety, and NSSI in Chinese LGB populations. In the chain mediation analyses, maladaptive perfectionism was indirectly related to NSSI via negative body image and anxiety. In addition, negative body image was related to anxiety only in gay males, but not in sexual minority females, and anxiety was related to NSSI more strongly in sexual minority females than in gay males. Conclusions: Findings of the study contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of NSSI in Chinese sexual minorities. Maladaptive perfectionism was related to NSSI through negative body image and anxiety. Gender differences were noteworthy. Policy Implications: Psychological education regarding proper body image expectations may be necessary for LGB populations, and clinicians may pay special attention to gender differences when addressing related mental health problems of LGB individuals in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As modernization continues to advance the development of digital society, social media has become an important part of people’s daily life and an extension and expansion of real social interactions. In this process, social media use and individual social psychology have increasingly become the object of academic attention, among which the relationship between selfie behavior, as an important interaction practice of youth group in social media, and social anxiety needs to be further explored and discussed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current situation of selfie behavior, body image, and social anxiety among young people in China. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Chinese mainland (n = 920) to examine the mediating effects of social comparison and body image on social media selfie behavior and social anxiety, and found that there was a significant negative relationship between youth social media selfie behavior and social anxiety, while the sequence mediating effects of social comparison and body image were significant. The findings of the study provide new ideas and directions for exploring the intervention paths of youth social psychology in the era of image socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to examine a possible two mediator model with both body surveillance and body shame mediating the association of selfie behavior with cosmetic surgery consideration in young adult women. A sample of 588 young adult women participated in this study and completed questionnaires regarding selfie behavior, body surveillance, body shame, and cosmetic surgery consideration. Results indicated that selfie behavior was positively related to cosmetic surgery consideration. In addition, the mediation analysis by PROCESS revealed that body surveillance and body shame mediated the relation between selfie behavior and cosmetic surgery consideration. These findings add to the extant literature by suggesting that selfie behavior may be a new experience of self-objectification, which provide new insights into the relation between selfie activities and cosmetic surgery consideration in young women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Happiness is a universal goal that people pursue. Studies of the relationship between obesity and happiness have shown mixed findings. It is uncertain whether an optimum BMI level exists and at what level obesity interferes or interacts with happiness. Guided by the Circle of Discontent Theory, we examined the relationship between obesity and happiness among Chinese residents using the 2014 China Family Panel Studies data. The results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between BMI and happiness, with obesity associated with happiness through physical appearance, health, and income. The socioeconomic conditions for the appropriate weight to achieve happiness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many previous studies have investigated the risk factors associated with eating disorders (EDs) from the perspective of emotion regulation (ER). However, limited research has investigated interactions between co-existing risk factors for EDs, especially in China where research in EDs is underrepresented. Methods: This study examined core risk factors related to maladaptive eating behaviors and ER, and how their interactions affect the detection of EDs. Using machine learning, a decision tree model was constructed on a data set of 830 non-clinical Chinese young women with an average age of 18.91 years (SD = 0.95). The total data set was split into training and testing data sets with a ratio of 70 to 30%. Results: Body image inflexibility was identified as the major classifier for women at high risk of EDs. Furthermore, interactions between body image inflexibility, psychological distress, and body dissatisfaction were important in detecting women at high risk of EDs. Overall, the model classifying women at high-risk for EDs had a sensitivity of 0.88 and a specificity of 0.85 when applied to the testing data set. Conclusions: Body image inflexibility, psychological distress, and body dissatisfaction were identified as the major classifiers for young women in China at high risk of EDs. Researchers and practitioners may consider these findings in the screening, prevention, and treatment of EDs among young women in China. Plain English summary: Previous studies have identified multiple risk factors of eating disorders that are related to emotion regulation and coping strategies in the Western context. However, most of these studies failed to describe any kind of hierarchy or interaction between risk factors that co-occur. To address this knowledge gap, the present study investigated a broad range of risk factors from the perspective of emotion regulation and then used a decision tree classification method to screen for EDs among young women in China. Results showed that body image inflexibility, psychological distress, and body dissatisfaction were the primary classifiers for Chinese women at high risk of EDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the background of current information era and the important role of body image in the health and well-being of female adolescents, this study aimed to investigate the moderating role of body image flexibility on the association between photo-related activities on SNS (social networking site) and body dissatisfaction among female adolescents in China. A total of 646 female adolescents were recruited to complete a set of questionnaires concerning the photo-related activities on WeChat Moments (the most widely used SNS in China), body image flexibility, and body dissatisfaction. The results showed that photo-related activities were positively associated with body dissatisfaction, and body image flexibility could significantly moderate this association, with a more significant effect for individuals with low levels of body image flexibility. This study not only contributes Chinese data and findings to this research theme, but also deepens our understanding by investigating the moderating mechanism; the results were also discussed in terms of limitations and implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual assertiveness can facilitate sexual autonomy and satisfaction and protect individuals against unsafe sexual relations. However, when a person lacks sexual assertiveness, they tend to use less powerful strategies in response to unwanted sex, and they are more likely to engage in unsafe sexual behaviors. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the factors predicting sexual assertiveness among Chinese female college students. An anonymous online survey was conducted among a convenience sample of 304 female college students in three colleges in China. Data were collected using a demographic data form, the Sexual Assertiveness Scale, the Body Appreciation Scale-2, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Scale of Sexual Communication with Parents and Peers, the Anticipated Negative Partner Reaction Scale, the Sexual Double Standard Scale, and the adapted Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation test, and multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that anticipated negative partner reaction, sexual double standard, sexual communication with parents, alcohol use, and body appreciation could together predict sexual assertiveness, accounting for 21% of the variance with anticipated negative partner reaction is the strongest. These findings help determine approaches for health providers, including nurses, to promote sexual health interventions that include enhancing sexual assertiveness, coping with anticipated negative partner reactions, sexual double standards, and alcohol use. It is essential to encourage self-body appreciation and communication with parents on sexual issues among female college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Obsessive attention to healthy eating might paradoxically lead to physical and psychosocial impairments, a potential eating disorder termed orthorexia nervosa (ON). An ongoing debate concerns whether ON should be categorized as an eating disorder, an obsessive–compulsive disorder, or a mental disorder at all. A missing voice in this debate is ON in the elderly, which remains unknown, despite health being a more central issue in everyday life during old age. Similarly missing is ON in East Asia, which remains largely unexplored. Method: The current study investigated ON in 313 Chinese elderly (M = 67.90, SD = 7.94) using the Chinese version of the Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale (C‐DOS). Questionnaires were used to measure traditional eating disorder symptomatology, body image (body dissatisfaction, body appreciation, and functionality appreciation), lifestyle behaviors (fruit and vegetable consumption and time spent on physical activity), and indexes of well‐being (psychological distress, food‐related quality of life, and life satisfaction). Results: ON symptoms were positively related to physical activity, fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption, body appreciation, functionality appreciation, and life satisfaction, but negatively related to body dissatisfaction. Compared with those without ON, the elderly with ON scored higher on positive psychological/lifestyle measures but lower on negative psychological measures. Discussion Contrary to the dominant characterization of ON as a variant of disordered eating, in Chinese elderly ON was associated with several positive lifestyle and psychological measures. Thus, ON in the elderly might not be viewed as a form of disordered eating but can be protective and beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examined the associations between weight status (body mass index [BMI] and perceived weight measures) and school bullying experiences (being bullied and bullying others) of children and adolescents in urban China. A national representative sample (n = 3,675) of all types of pre-college schools from seven Chinese cities was employed for the analysis. Students from all grades in high school, vocational school, middle school, and primary grades 4 to 6 were surveyed. Height, weight, perceived weight status, and experiences of being bullied and bullying others were obtained. The results demonstrated that the objective weight status (BMI) was neither associated with being bullied overall by others nor associated with bullying others, but the subjective/perceived weight status was significantly related to being bullied. Regarding the specific forms of being bullied, underweight (measured by BMI) students were less likely to be cyberbullied, whereas obese (measured by BMI) students were more likely to be cyberbullied. Students who perceived themselves as slightly fat and too fat were more likely to be verbally bullied. Overweight and obese students were more likely to bully others physically and relationally, and the students who perceived themselves as too thin were positively associated with physically bullying others. Moreover, BMI had a role in the involvement in school bullying for boys, whereas perceived weight status had a role in school bullying involvement in girls. These results indicate that school bullying prevention and intervention should consider weight status, as well as gender differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Chinese culture, one way that family and friends demonstrate that they care about one‐another is by making body‐related comments. How such comments are experienced by young women, in particular, including how they relate to their psychological disposition and/or use of unhealthy weight control behaviors, is unknown. The purposes of this study were to understand the frequency and type of body‐related comments Chinese college women received, from whom, and their associations with body mass index (BMI), body satisfaction, body change motivations, and unhealthy weight control behaviors. Women from a comprehensive university in Southwest China (N = 236) participated in this cross‐sectional study. Results showed that female Chinese college students received body‐related comments most frequently from their friends, followed by parents, and romantic partners. While the frequency of receiving body‐related comments was not associated with BMI, higher frequencies were associated with stronger motivation to lose weight/fat and to practice unhealthy weight control behaviors. Additionally, positive body‐related comments from romantic partners were associated with higher motivation to gain weight/muscle and/or to maintain weight. Furthermore, positive body‐related comments from friends were associated with higher body satisfaction. Educational programs are needed to help female Chinese college students and members of their social networks recognize and understand the potential impact associated with giving body‐related comments. Screening protocols for unhealthy weight control behaviors and appropriate counseling services should also be developed and made available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This qualitative study examines the representations of young Chinese girls and women with eating disorders (EDs) about the role of women in China, because conflicting societal values for women may foster the development of EDs there. Method: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 adolescent girls or young women hospitalized for an ED and with eight of their parents. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore the data. Result: Three superordinate themes emerged from the participants' narratives: the thin ideal in Chinese society; the experience of gender‐related pressure; and independence and autonomization in a changing society. The ideal of thinness prevails, both in interpersonal relationships and in social roles. Highly codified representations persist, limiting women's opportunities. The participants and their parents show substantial ambivalence about independence; the young women have real difficulty in making decisions, thus failing to adopt roles that accord with their aspirations. Discussion Young girls' and women's representations of their gender could have implications in the development of EDs, mediated by their focus on thinness and their difficulties in constructing their identity, in developing autonomy and self‐esteem, as well as family conflict. These findings indicate that construction of femininity in China is unsettled by rapid societal changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We report a rare case of the periodontal Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (pEDS) associated with severe periodontitis and tooth loss in a Chinese family. Material and Methods: The proband complained of gingival bleeding and mobility, which were also reported in his mother, and maternal uncle and his maternal grandmother and great‐grandfather in the past. All family members underwent oral, physical, dermatological, and genetic examinations. Results: Oral manifestation of family members affected with pEDS presented severe periodontitis with multiple or total tooth loss. The proband displayed unique clinical manifestations including a characteristic facial appearance and thin, translucent skin with easily visible venous patterns on feet. Whole‐exome sequencing identified missense mutation c.265T>C in C1R in all affected family members tested and frameshift mutation c.1322delG in COL3A1 in the proband alone. None of the unaffected members showed any marked oral, physical, dermatological, or genetic findings. Conclusion: We reported an extremely rare case of pEDS with a missense mutation in C1R in a Chinese family, with coexistence C1R and COL3A1 mutations in the proband who was suspected to suffer from vascular EDS as well. To our knowledge, this is the first case of coexistence of two forms of EDS in a single individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of young girls have attached great importance to their body-image in China. Body-image dissatisfaction has resulted in increased weight loss behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that were associated with underweight body-image in female college students. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 2,023 young female participants from eight Chinese universities. In addition, 160 participants were involved in a qualitative study. The ideal body-image and the factors that influence weight were determined using descriptive and analytical statistics. We found that 1,484 out of 2,023 participants (73.36%) had taken action to lose weight in the past six months. Among these participants, 618 (30.55%, out of 2023) participants were already underweight, and 1,161 (57.39%, out of 2023) would like to be much thinner, which would lead to more underweight individuals. Moreover, non-scientific physical activity and diets were found to lead participants to the underweight subgroup. The participants’ Body Mass Index (BMI), peer advice and western culture influenced the problematic thin-ideal (ideal BMI < 18.5 was considered as the problematic thin-ideal) (P<0.05). Together, western influences leading to the “problematic thin-ideal” and “unhealthy weight-control behavior” have brought about an increased prevalence of desired underweight body-image among female college students in China, which might be harmful for their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural influences on the body image of 133 female and 99 male Japanese adolescents aged 12-18 years (M = 15.9, SD = 1.2) were compared to those of a databank of 1233 female and 1149 male adolescents also aged 12-18 years (M = 14.9, SD = 1.5) from five cultures - Chinese, Malaysian, Australian, Tongan, and indigenous Fijian - surveyed previously using identical body image measures (Fuller-Tyszkiewicz et al., 2012). Japanese adolescents reported the highest levels of body dissatisfaction despite possessing among the lowest body mass index (BMI) and also reported among the highest levels of media influence on their body image. Subsequent path analyses revealed that for Japanese adolescents cultural identification with modern Japanese values were associated with increased body dissatisfaction, and that this association was mediated by level of media influence. These results highlight the importance of cultural influences, as well as individual differences in cultural values, in shaping Japanese adolescents' body image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined preferences for masculinity across faces, bodies, and personality traits in 462 homosexual and bisexual men in China. The impact of sexual self-labels (tops, bottoms, and versatiles) and attitude toward male masculinity on preferences for masculinity were also examined. Participants were asked to select the seven most desirable personality traits for a romantic partner from a list of 32 traits of gender roles. A series of 10 masculinized and feminized dimorphic images of male faces and bodies were then presented to participants, who were required to identify their preferred image. The results indicated that participants preferred more masculine faces, bodies, and personality traits. Significant differences in preferences for masculinity were found between tops, bottoms, and versatiles, with both bottoms and versatiles preferring more masculine faces, bodies, and personality traits than did tops. In addition, preferences for masculinity across faces, bodies, and traits showed a significant positive correlation with each other for all sexual self-labels, indicating a consistent preference for masculinity. Attitude toward male masculinity was significantly correlated with facial, body, and trait preferences; individuals with more rigid attitudes toward male masculinity (low acceptance of femininity in males) preferred more masculine characters. These results indicate a consistent preference for masculinity between both physical features (faces and bodies) and personality traits (instrumentality) that may be affected by observer perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore the enhancing effect of alcohol consumption on attractiveness ratings, in that few studies on the Beer Goggles effect control the stimuli attractiveness level and researchers have seldom considered extending the effect to stimuli other than faces. Methods: Male and female participants (n = 103) were randomly assigned to alcohol consumption or placebo groups. Both groups were asked to assess the attractiveness of two types of pictures (faces and landscapes) with three levels of attractiveness for each stimulus category (high, moderate and low). Results: We found significant interactions between beverage type and attractiveness level. Attractiveness ratings for moderate- and low-attractiveness faces were significantly higher in the alcohol compared with placebo condition, while there was no significant difference for high-attractiveness stimuli between these two conditions. As for landscapes, only low-attractiveness stimuli were rated significantly higher in the alcohol condition. Conclusion: Whether or not alcohol consumption leads to an increase in attractiveness ratings depends on the initial attractiveness of the stimulus materials. Alcohol consumption tends to affect ratings for stimuli with relatively low attractiveness. Furthermore, this effect is not limited to faces; it extends to other types of stimuli like landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the realization of eating disorders outside of westernized societies, it is clear that body image and western cultural ideals are not the only etiologies for anorexia nervosa across cultures. Using a retrospective chart review of a single medical record, a case study is presented to illustrate that eating disorders are context-bound with multiple factors playing a role in the pervasive existence of anorexia nervosa among various societies and cultures. As the existence of eating disorders across diverse cultures continues to be identified and recognized, it is necessary to consider family, developmental, social and cultural factors in order to accurately formulate and effectively treat anorexia nervosa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Photographs of 50 women were rated for attractiveness, health, and fertility recorded by four sets of participants—Rural-Chinese (n = 50), Chinese participants in Hong Kong (n = 50), Chinese participants living in the United Kingdom (n = 50), and participants self-identifying as “Caucasian” living in the United Kingdom. The results suggest that a polynomial function of Body Mass Index (kg/m2) is the best predictor of all three judgments in all four observer groups. In contrast, shape cues, such as the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), seem to play a relatively small role. Shape cues do consistently account for a greater proportion of the variance in all three Chinese groups than for the Caucasian participants, implying a greater role for shape in the Chinese participants’ judgments. This result may reflect the competing pressures between the healthy range for shape and body mass in the Chinese populations versus the role of visual diet in influencing body preferences in different cultural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from 1,261 Chinese Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) patients were evaluated and categorized into dysmorphic (10.79 %) and non-dysmorphic groups (89.21 %) upon physical examination by the presence of dysmorphic features. Abnormal MRI/CT result, IQ scores and epilepsy were significantly associated with the dysmorphic group of ASD children. However, gender, EEG abnormality and family history and recurrence of ASD were not found to be significantly different between group statuses. It is suggested that results collected from the Chinese population generally resembles that found in the Caucasians with ethnical differences still present. Current study supports the result shown in Miles' study (Miles et al. in Am J Med Genet 135A:171-180, ), in which heterogeneity subtypes of autism of different genetic origins which could be distinguished by presence of dysmorphic features on the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thin-ideal is becoming increasingly dominant among women in Eastern Asian countries such as China and South Korea. The internalization of the thin-ideal leads to body image disturbance and unhealthy weight-control behaviors. Based on the social networks and social norms approaches, this study tests the effectiveness of normative messages in reducing women's internationalization of the thin-ideal and weight-control intentions through an experiment among female college students in China. It investigates how the following three factors: content of normative message (psychoeducational or feminist), source of the message (strong ties or weak ties), and characteristics of the recipients (self-weight evaluations) influence women's body image and weight-control intentions. Results of this study suggest that normative messages with a psychoeducational approach delivered through strong ties are more effective in decreasing women's internalization of the thin-ideal than the same message delivered through weak ties. In contrast, normative messages with a feminist approach delivered through weak ties are more effective in reducing women's internalization of the thin-ideal and unhealthy weight-control intentions than the same messages delivered through strong ties. There is an interaction effect between message content and recipients' self-weight evaluation. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The present study investigated the moderating effect of patrilocality-whether a child's mother lives with paternal grandparents-on the relation between father-child resemblance belief and paternal investment. Design and Results. On the basis of 341 children and their parents from rural China, belief in paternal resemblance was found to be related to higher paternal warmth toward the child, higher paternal marital satisfaction, and stronger relations of perceived paternal autonomy granting and paternal psychological control to child life satisfaction. The differences between high and low paternal resemblance beliefs were attenuated by patrilocality. Conclusions. These findings demonstrate the compensatory roles of paternal resemblance belief (a behavioral adaptation) and patrilocal residence (a cultural adaptation) in serving the same function of calming paternity uncertainty and procuring paternal investment to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban Chinese women in the 1990s formulated their infant-feeding decisions in the context of a society undergoing radical transformation as the nation moved from a centrally planned socialist economy to a global, market-oriented one. Narratives of new mothers in Beijing in the 1990s provide insights into the multiple forces that shaped their infant-feeding practices. These personal histories also illustrate the limitations of multilateral breast-feeding programs that emphasize breast-feeding as a natural interaction between mother and infant. The cases I present here demonstrate instead that the material, bodily manifestations of breast-feeding require nursing mothers to continually renegotiate relations with husbands, coworkers, and family. Chinese women's accounts also add insight to theoretical deliberations on gender and the body, for they demonstrate that cultural expectations and the demands of the lactating body must be considered to understand fully the process of women's decisions in a social and not strictly reproductive context. On a larger scale, the data also illustrate how global intervention, in the form of the WHO-UNICEF-sponsored Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, promotes breast-feeding as a woman's primary duty at the same time that market forces counter this message as women redefine their individual expectations and social relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]