Bradley L. Goodnight

Body image flexibility moderates the association between disordered eating cognition and disordered eating behavior in a non-clinical sample of women: A cross-sectional investigation

Body image flexibility, a regulation process of openly and freely experiencing disordered eating thoughts and body dissatisfaction, has been found to be a buffering factor against disordered eating symptomatology. The present cross-sectional study investigates whether body image flexibility accounts for disordered eating behavior above and beyond disordered eating cognition, mindfulness, and psychological inflexibility in a sample of nonclinical women, and whether body image flexibility moderates the associations between these correlates and disordered eating behavior. Participants were 421 women, age 21±5.3 years old on average, who completed a web-based survey that included the self-report measures of interest. Results demonstrate the incremental effects of body image flexibility on disordered eating behavior above and beyond disordered eating cognition, mindfulness, and psychological inflexibility. Women with greater body image flexibility endorse disordered eating behavior less so than those with lower body image flexibility. Body image flexibility moderates the association between disordered eating cognition and disordered eating behavior; for women with greater body image flexibility, disordered eating cognition is not positively associated with disordered eating behavior.

Psychological Distress in Sexual Minorities: Examining the Roles of Self-Concealment and Psychological Inflexibility

The present cross-sectional study investigated whether self-concealment and psychological inflexibility were associated with a range of psychological distress in sexual minorities and whether the associations between self-concealment and distress were established, in part, though psychological inflexibility. Participants were 100 college students (nfemale = 74) who self-identified their sexual orientations as “homosexual” or “bisexual.” Both self-concealment and psychological inflexibility were significantly and positively associated with general psychological distress, somatization, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, results revealed that self-concealment is associated with these four distress variables at least partly through psychological inflexibility.

Justifying sexual assault: Anonymous perpetrators speak out online.

Objective: Researchers rarely have an opportunity to study first-person narratives of sexual assault perpetration. Because of a prompt anonymously posted to a popular online community, we were able to examine perpetrators’ own descriptions of, and justifications for, sexual assault. Method: Thematic analysis was conducted on a sample of 68 anonymous first-person accounts of sexual assault perpetration collected from Reddit.com. Results: Themes focus on sexual scripts, victim blame, hostile sexism, biological essentialism, objectification, and sociosexuality. Relationships among these themes are described. Conclusion: We contextualize our findings in the empirical literature on sexual assault and in earlier related feminist theory. Our goal is to use these novel data to further inform research and prevention efforts, making recommendations for policy and clinical efforts such as clinical intervention with perpetrators to decrease cognitive distortions of blame.

Perceived control and communication about sex: A study of South African families

Caregiver–youth communication about sex protects youth against HIV/AIDS, and caregivers who believe that sex knowledge is important are more likely to talk to their youth about sex. However, caregivers who experience barriers to communication about sex may not talk to their youth about sex even if the caregiver believes that sex education is important. The Theory of Planned Behaviour predicts that an actor has perceived control is necessary for behavioural change. This study therefore hypothesised that caregivers’ perceived control moderates the relationship between caregiver attitudes about youth sex knowledge and caregiver–youth communication about sex. Results from a sample of 99 female South African caregivers of adolescent (10–14 year old) youth supported our hypothesis, indicating that caregiver attitudes about providing youth with sex knowledge positively predict communication about sex only when caregivers have perceived control. This finding illustrates the importance of perceived control in predicting caregiver–youth communication, and therefore has implications for family-based interventions aimed at improving caregiver–youth communication about sex.

Evidence for multiple classes of sexually violent college men.

Objective: Research on college sexual violence (SV) perpetration suggests there are multiple groups of male perpetrators. It is important to understand distinctions between perpetrator subgroups to determine appropriate prevention strategies, as multiple strategies may be necessary to address multiple types of perpetrators. However, previous studies on subgroups of college perpetrators have relied on theoretically based distinctions, and there is currently no consensus on how to classify perpetrators based on their sexually violent behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to take a data-driven approach to identifying subgroups of sexually violent college men to help clarify (a) the number and size of cohesive subgroups of sexually violent college men and (b) the types of behaviors that characterize each group. Method: 1,982 college men across 5 universities in the United States self-reported their past sexually violent behaviors, using the Sexual Experiences Survey—Short Form Perpetration (Koss et al., 2007). Results: Latent class analysis uncovered evidence for 3 groups: (a) a group unlikely to perpetrate any SV (88.6%); (b) a group likely to perpetrate SV using coercive tactics (verbal coercion or victim intoxication), but unlikely to use force (9.8%); and (c) a group likely to perpetrate the full range of SV (1.5%). Although the coercive tactics group included men unlikely to use force, it included the majority who attempted or completed rape based on legal definitions. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there are multiple, distinct perpetrator subgroups and signal the need for multiple prevention approaches, including approaches that address campus social norms.

Childhood emotional abuse, self/other attachment, and hopelessness in African-American women

ABSTRACT There is evidence that individuals emotionally abused as children endorse more hopelessness, a precursor of suicidal behavior in adulthood. However, there has been little focus on this association among African-Americans or on factors that may mediate the childhood emotional abuse (CEA) – adult hopelessness link. The present study examined whether CEA is linked to hopelessness in adulthood in African-American women suicide attempters and if adult self and other attachment models mediate this association. Participants included 116 African-American women recruited from a large, urban hospital. Results revealed that CEA had no direct effect on hopelessness in adulthood, but did have an indirect effect on hopelessness through attachment models. Bootstrapping analyses showed that higher levels of CEA were related to more negative self and other attachment models, which were then linked to higher levels of hopelessness. Implications for targeting attachment in suicide intervention programs are discussed.