Under the influence of Facebook? Excess use of social networking sites and drinking motives, consequences, and attitudes in college students

Background and aims Excessive use of social networking sites (SNS) has recently been conceptualized as a behavioral addiction (i.e., “disordered SNS use”) using key criteria for the diagnosis of substance dependence and shown to be associated with a variety of impairments in psychosocial functioning, including an increased risk of problem drinking. This study sought to characterize associations between “disordered SNS use” and attitudes towards alcohol, drinking motives, and adverse consequences resulting from alcohol use in young adults. Methods Undergraduate students (n = 537, 64.0% female, mean age = 19.63 years, SD = 4.24) reported on their use of SNSs and completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Temptation and Restraint Inventory, Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol and Drinking Motives Questionnaires, and Drinker Inventory of Consequences. Results Respondents meeting previously established criteria for “disordered SNS use” were significantly more likely to use alcohol to cope with negative affect and to conform to perceived social norms, reported significantly more conflicting (i.e., simultaneous positive and negative) attitudes towards alcohol, and had experienced significantly more, and more frequent adverse consequences from drinking in their inter- and intrapersonal, physical, and social functioning, compared to individuals without problems related to SNS use. Discussion and conclusions Findings add to an emerging body of literature suggesting a link between excess or maladaptive SNS use and problems related to alcohol in young adults and point to emotion dysregulation and coping motives as potential shared risk factors for substance and behavioral addictions in this demographic

Towards a Socio-Cultural Model of Food Cravings: Evidence From the Case of Perimenstrual Chocolate Craving

Food cravings are a common, yet poorly understood phenomenon. Past attempts to explain them with a focus purely on physiological mechanisms have been unsuccessful. Four studies examine the hypothesis that food cravings are best conceptualized in terms of socio-cultural and psychological factors, looking specifically at the example of perimenstrual chocolate craving. Study 1 demonstrates that the word “craving” does not lexicalize in a majority of foreign languages, calling into question the idea that craving is a universally relevant concept. Instead, the notion of craving appears fundamentally culture-bound. Study 2 characterizes chocolate cravers in the United States, and finds that women who link craving temporally to their menstrual cycle are unique in several attributes, most notably in significantly more disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Differences between menstrual and other cravers and non-cravers hint at possible psychological characteristics associated with perimenstrual chocolate craving. Study 3 assesses the fate of perimenstrual chocolate craving in women post-menopause and finds that cravings remain prevalent, but in the absence of regular menstrual cycles are attributed in self-reports to stressors in the environment. This provides further evidence against a direct causal role of hormones in the etiology of perimenstrual chocolate craving, and gives rise to the hypothesis that cravings are a culturally sanctioned response to stress, and that menstruation is simply one highly salient stressor. Study 4 tests this stress-hypothesis by assessing the affective and physical correlates of chocolate craving in women diagnosed with premenstrual syndrome. Premenstrual chocolate craving, along with a range of affective symptoms, is shown to decrease significantly with the onset of menstruation, in the absence of significant changes in levels of hormones. It is furthermore reduced effectively with placebo treatment. This strongly suggests that perimenstrual chocolate craving is part of a cluster of affective symptoms that emerge prior to menstruation, probably in response to the subjective experience of stress. Results from these four studies constitute compelling new evidence against a physiological basis of food cravings. They provide the basis for a novel model of food cravings that emphasizes socio-cultural and psychological factors, including dietary restraint, ambivalence and culturally-promoted ways of coping with stress

The relationship of sex and sexual orientation to self-esteem, body shape satisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology

There is increasing interest in understanding what role, if any, sex and sexual orientation play in body dissatisfaction, its correlates to distress, and its relationship to disordered eating. The goals of the present study were to examine: (a) differences in sex and sexual orientation in internalization of societal pressure to modify physical appearance, components of body image dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and eating disorder symptomatology and (b) whether the internalization-eating disorder symptomatology was mediated by the different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. The present data support several key trends in the literature: men generally reported less body dissatisfaction, internalization of socio-cultural standards of beauty, drive for thinness, and disordered eating, but a greater drive for muscularity than women; results also indicated that different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between internalization and eating disorder symptomatology. Gay men reported significantly more body dissatisfaction, internalization, eating disorder symptomatology, drive for thinness, and drive for muscularity than heterosexual men. Compared to heterosexual women, lesbians reported increased drive for muscularity, lower self-esteem, and lower internalization; however, they did not significantly differ on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness or disordered eating. Correlation coefficients between body shape dissatisfaction and several aspects of mental distress were significantly larger for gay men than heterosexual men; the same coefficients did not differ between lesbian women and heterosexual women. Results of path analyses indicated that the relationship between internalization and disordered eating differs for gay and heterosexual men but not for lesbian and heterosexual women. These results call attention to lesbians as a generally understudied population

Reading a book can change your mind, but only some changes last for a year: food attitude changes in readers of The Omnivore's Dilemma

Attitude change is a critical component of health behavior change, but has rarely been studied longitudinally following extensive exposures to persuasive materials such as full-length movies, books, or plays. We examined changes in attitudes related to food production and consumption in college students who had read Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma as part of a University-wide reading project. Composite attitudes toward organic foods, local produce, meat, and the quality of the American food supply, as well as opposition to government subsidies, distrust in corporations, and commitment to the environmental movement were significantly and substantially impacted, in comparison to students who had not read the book. Much of the attitude change disappeared after 1 year; however, over the course of 12 months self-reported opposition to government subsidies and belief that the quality of the food supply is declining remained elevated in readers of the book, compared to non-readers. Findings have implications for our understanding of the nature of changes in attitudes to food and eating in response to extensive exposure to coherent and engaging messages targeting health behaviors

Measurement invariance of the short version of the problematic mobile phone use questionnaire (PMPUQ-SV) across eight languages

The prevalence of mobile phone use across the world has increased greatly over the past two decades. Problematic Mobile Phone Use (PMPU) has been studied in relation to public health and comprises various behaviours, including dangerous, prohibited, and dependent use. These types of problematic mobile phone behaviours are typically assessed with the short version of the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire (PMPUQ-SV). However, to date, no study has ever examined the degree to which the PMPU scale assesses the same construct across different languages. The aims of the present study were to (i) determine an optimal factor structure for the PMPUQ-SV among university populations using eight versions of the scale (i.e., French, German, Hungarian, English, Finnish, Italian, Polish, and Spanish); and (ii) simultaneously examine the measurement invariance (MI) of the PMPUQ-SV across all languages. The whole study sample comprised 3038 participants. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were extracted from the demographic and PMPUQ-SV items. Individual and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses alongside MI analyses were conducted. Results showed a similar pattern of PMPU across the translated scales. A three-factor model of the PMPUQ-SV fitted the data well and presented with good psychometric properties. Six languages were validated independently, and five were compared via measurement invariance for future cross-cultural comparisons. The present paper contributes to the assessment of problematic mobile phone use because it is the first study to provide a cross-cultural psychometric analysis of the PMPUQ-SV

Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research

Women in the United States experience an increase in food cravings at two specific times during their life, 1) perimenstrually and 2) prenatally. The prevalence of excess gestational weight gain (GWG) is a growing concern due to its association with adverse health outcomes in both mothers and children. To the extent that prenatal food cravings may be a determinant of energy intake in pregnancy, a better understanding of craving etiology could be crucial in addressing the issue of excessive GWG. This paper reviews the available literature to corroborate and/or dispute some of the most commonly accepted hypotheses regarding the causes of food cravings during pregnancy, including a role of 1) hormonal changes, 2) nutritional deficits, 3) pharmacologically active ingredients in the desired foods, and 4) cultural and psychosocial factors. An existing model of perimenstrual chocolate craving etiology serves to structure the discussion of these hypotheses. The main hypotheses discussed receive little support, with the notable exception of a postulated role of cultural and psychosocial factors. The presence of cravings during pregnancy is a common phenomenon across different cultures, but the types of foods desired and the adverse impact of cravings on health may be culture-specific. Various psychosocial factors appear to correlate with excess GWG, including the presence of restrained eating. Findings strongly suggest that more research be conducted in this area. We propose that future investigations fall into one of the four following categories: 1) validation of food craving and eating-related measures specifically in pregnant populations, 2) use of ecological momentary assessment to obtain real time data on cravings during pregnancy, 3) implementation of longitudinal studies to address causality between eating disorder symptoms, food cravings, and gestational weight gain, and 4) development of interventions to ensure proper prenatal nutrition and prevent excess GWG

The relationship of sex and sexual orientation to self-esteem, body shape satisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology

There is increasing interest in understanding what role, if any, sex and sexual orientation play in body dissatisfaction, its correlates to distress, and its relationship to disordered eating. The goals of the present study were to examine: (a) differences in sex and sexual orientation in internalization of societal pressure to modify physical appearance, components of body image dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and eating disorder symptomatology and (b) whether the internalization-eating disorder symptomatology was mediated by the different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. The present data support several key trends in the literature: men generally reported less body dissatisfaction, internalization of socio-cultural standards of beauty, drive for thinness, and disordered eating, but a greater drive for muscularity than women; results also indicated that different components of body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between internalization and eating disorder symptomatology. Gay men reported significantly more body dissatisfaction, internalization, eating disorder symptomatology, drive for thinness, and drive for muscularity than heterosexual men. Compared to heterosexual women, lesbians reported increased drive for muscularity, lower self-esteem, and lower internalization; however, they did not significantly differ on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness or disordered eating. Correlation coefficients between body shape dissatisfaction and several aspects of mental distress were significantly larger for gay men than heterosexual men; the same coefficients did not differ between lesbian women and heterosexual women. Results of path analyses indicated that the relationship between internalization and disordered eating differs for gay and heterosexual men but not for lesbian and heterosexual women. These results call attention to lesbians as a generally understudied population

Coping Mechanisms Used by Emerging Adults Affected by Parental Chronic Illness

Little is known about the impact of parental chronic illness on “emerging adults” between 18-29 year olds who may experience uncertainty about their identity and future (Munsey, 2006). This study examines coping mechanisms used by adult offspring of parents with a chronic illness (n = 118; 54.2% female; 98.3% between 18-24 years old; 60.2% white). Participants completed the COPE Inventory, a multidimensional measure of adaptive and maladaptive responses to stress. The most commonly endorsed coping strategies were mostly adaptive, including use of instrumental and emotional social support, active coping, and planning. There were significant multivariate main effects of gender [F(15, 83) = 3.22; Wilks’ λ = .63, p\u3c .001, ηp2= .37] and type of parental illness [F(15, 70) = 1.99; Wilks’ λ = .70, p= .03, ηp2= .30] on combined COPE subscales in MANOVA, with females scoring higher in venting and use of instrumental and emotional social support and offspring of parents with a non-terminal illness endorsing greater use of instrumental and emotional social support than those of parents with a terminal illness. There was also a significant main effect of GPA on COPE scores[F(15, 83) = 1.71; Wilks’ λ = .76, p= .06, ηp2= .24], where those with a GPA below 3.0 endorsed more maladaptive coping such as denial, behavioral disengagement, and substance use. Findings have important clinical implications for the development of interventions for emerging adults affected by parental chronic illness. Future research should consider longitudinal designs and explore coping mechanisms

Does culture create craving? Evidence from the case of menstrual chocolate craving

<div><p>Craving is considered a key characteristic of diverse pathologies, but evidence suggests it may be a culture-bound construct. Almost 50% of American women crave chocolate specifically around the onset of menstruation. Research does not support popular accounts implicating physiological factors in menstrual chocolate craving etiology. We tested the novel hypothesis that greater menstrual craving prevalence in the U.S. is the product of internalized cultural norms. Women of diverse backgrounds (<i>n</i> = 275) reported on craving frequency and triggers and completed validated measures of acculturation. Foreign-born women were significantly less likely to endorse menstrual chocolate craving (17.3%), compared to women born to U.S.-born parents (32.7%, <i>p</i> = .03) and second generation immigrants (40.9%, <i>p</i> = .001). Second generation immigrant and foreign-born women endorsing menstrual chocolate craving reported significantly greater U.S. acculturation and lower identification with their native culture than non-menstrual cravers (all <i>p</i> < .001). Findings inform our understanding of food cravings, with important implications for the study of cravings in other domains.</p></div