Kathleen Custers

Viewership of pro‐anorexia websites in seventh, ninth and eleventh graders

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of visiting pro-anorexia websites by 13-, 15- and 17-year old adolescents and to explore correlates of visiting such websites and predictors of anorexia nervosa (AN). METHOD Questionnaire in a sample of 711 secondary school children from the 7th, 9th and 11th grade in Flanders, Belgium. RESULTS 12.6% of the girls and 5.9% of the boys had visited such websites. In girls, visiting pro-anorexia websites was associated with a higher drive for thinness, worse perception of appearance and more perfectionism. CONCLUSION The prevalence of visiting pro-anorexia sites is non-trivial and the significant correlations between viewership of pro-ana sites and predictors of AN suggest a potential for negative impact of exposure to pro-ana sites. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the potential threat of the existence of pro-ana sites to organized health care.

The Cultivation of Fear of Sexual Violence in Women: Processes and Moderators of the Relationship Between Television and Fear

Even though sexual violence has become more prevalent on television and is the crime women fear most in real life, the association between viewing and fear of sexual violence has received scant attention. Structural equation modeling of data from a random sample of 546 Flemish women supported a model in which fear of sexual violence was predicted by perceived risk, perceived control, and perceived seriousness. Flemish crime drama viewing predicted higher perceived risk. This relationship was stronger in women with high socioeconomic status and in those with no direct experience with crime. This suggests that identification may be an important mediator. News viewing predicted lower perceived risk. It is hypothesized that the relative lack of exemplars in news and victim blaming gives viewers the impression that the risk of sexual victimization does not apply to them.

Television Viewing, Internet Use, and Self-Reported Bedtime and Rise Time in Adults: Implications for Sleep Hygiene Recommendations From an Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study

This study examined whether the availability of the Internet and TV in the bedroom and overall Internet use and TV viewing were related to sleep variables in a sample of 711 residents of Flanders, Belgium. Although the relations were small, there was some evidence of time shifting: Internet access in the bedroom predicted later bedtime (β = .12, p < .05) and later rise time (β = .11, p < .05) on weekdays and later bedtime (β = .10, p < .001) on weekends. Internet use volume predicted later bedtime (β = .10, p < .001) and rise time (β = .07, p < .05) on weekends, and TV viewing predicted later bedtime (β = .10, p < .05) on weekends. However, neither the availability of the Internet or TV in the bedroom, nor the volume of Internet use or TV viewing, was a significant predictor of reduced sleep window or tiredness. Reducing media use might not be important for sleep hygiene advice to adults.

The urgent matter of online pro-eating disorder content and children: clinical practice

AbstractDuring the last decade, much concern has been expressed about online pro-eating disorder communities (e.g., pro-anorexia websites and blogs) which encourage their users to engage in disordered eating behavior. The aim of the current paper is to reemphasize the importance of pro-eating disorder communities in light of the recent changes in the media landscape. With the increase of social networking sites, pro-anorexia messages have transplanted to more volatile and constantly changing media, such as Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and many others. Most parents, educators, and health professionals are unaware of the sheer scope and nature of such pro-anorexia messages in these new contexts. The current paper will provide a review of pro-eating disorder websites, overview the effects of such websites on young people’s health, examine the emergence of these messages on social media platforms, and highlight a number of guidelines for clinicians and parents. Conclusion: The dissemination of online pro-eating disorder content to different types of social networking sites is becoming an urgent issue.What is Known:•Existing research on pro-eating disorder websites examines the prevalence and the content of these websites, and the effects of pro-eating disorder content on both clinical (eating disordered individuals) and non-clinical samples (non-eating disordered individuals).•The scope and nature of such anorexia messages is unknown to most adults, and many people (including parents and medical professionals) are insufficiently aware of the ease with which young people access, navigate, and use a wide range of online platforms.What is New:•Pro-anorexia messages are no longer limited to websites that can be easily monitored, but instead have been transplanted to more volatile and constantly changing media such as Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr which makes pro-eating disorder content much more easily accessible.•This paper wants to emphasize the implications of the presence of pro-eating disorder content on websites and social media. A number of guidelines for parents and clinicians are provided.

Television exposure is related to fear of avian flu, an Ecological Study across 23 member states of the European Union

Abstract Background: A pandemic outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza is believed to coincide with large-scale panic. Even without an outbreak fear of infection may be widespread. Mass media coverage of the risks of a pandemic may lead to higher levels of fear. Methods: An ecological study looked at data from 23 member states of the European Union and controlled for population size, level of education, age distribution and income and wealth. Results: When the findings for Cyprus were excluded each additional hour of average TV viewing was associated with a 15.6% increase in the proportion of people worrying about the virus. TV viewing explained 52% of the variance. Conclusion: Fear of a pandemic precedes any real pandemic and may have to be dealt with separately. Exposure to television is highly associated with worrying about the virus. This relationship merits further study.

Belief in complementary and alternative medicine is related to age and paranormal beliefs in adults

BACKGROUND The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread, even among people who use conventional medicine. Positive beliefs about CAM are common among physicians and medical students. Little is known about the beliefs regarding CAM among the general public. Among science students, belief in CAM was predicted by belief in the paranormal. METHODS In a cross-sectional study, 712 randomly selected adults (>18 years old) responded to the CAM Health Belief Questionnaire (CHBQ) and a paranormal beliefs scale. RESULTS CAM beliefs were very prevalent in this sample of adult Flemish men and women. Zero-order correlations indicated that belief in CAM was associated with age (r = 0.173 P < 0.001) level of education (r = -0.079 P = 0.039) social desirability (r = -0.119 P = 0.002) and paranormal belief (r = 0.365 P < 0.001). In a multivariate model, two variables predicted CAM beliefs. Support for CAM increased with age (regression coefficient: 0.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.006 to 0.014), but the strongest relationship existed between support for CAM and beliefs in the paranormal. Paranormal beliefs accounted for 14% of the variance of the CAM beliefs (regression coefficient: 0.376; 95%: CI 0.30-0.44). The level of education (regression coefficient: 0.06; 95% CI: -0.014-0.129) and social desirability (regression coefficient: -0.023; 95% CI: -0.048-0.026) did not make a significant contribution to the explained variance (<0.1%, P = 0.867). CONCLUSION Support of CAM was very prevalent in this Flemish adult population. CAM beliefs were strongly associated with paranormal beliefs.

Television viewing, computer game play and book reading during meals are predictors of meal skipping in a cross-sectional sample of 12-, 14- and 16-year-olds

OBJECTIVE To examine whether television viewing, computer game playing or book reading during meals predicts meal skipping with the aim of watching television, playing computer games or reading books (media meal skipping). DESIGN A cross-sectional study was conducted using a standardized self-administered questionnaire. Analyses were controlled for age, gender and BMI. SETTING Data were obtained from a random sample of adolescents in Flanders, Belgium. SUBJECTS Seven hundred and ten participants aged 12, 14 and 16 years. RESULTS Of the participants, 11.8 % skipped meals to watch television, 10.5 % skipped meals to play computer games and 8.2 % skipped meals to read books. Compared with those who did not use these media during meals, the risk of skipping meals in order to watch television was significantly higher for those children who watched television during meals (2.9 times higher in those who watched television during at least one meal a day). The risk of skipping meals for computer game playing was 9.5 times higher in those who played computer games weekly or more while eating, and the risk of meal skipping in order to read books was 22.9 times higher in those who read books during meals less than weekly. The more meals the respondents ate with the entire family, the less likely they were to skip meals to watch television. CONCLUSIONS The use of media during meals predicts meal skipping for using that same medium. Family meals appear to be inversely related to meal skipping for television viewing.

The Relationship of Dispositional and Situational Fear of Crime with Television Viewing and Direct Experience with Crime

Considerable differences exist in the size and direction of the relationship between television viewing and fear of crime found by previous studies. This article argues that different types of fear exist and that fear should not be confused with perception of risk. A distinction was introduced between dispositional fear of crime and situational fear of crime. The relationship between television viewing and the two types of fear was examined and a distinction was made between direct, indirect, and mediated experience with crime. Hawkins and Pingree (1990) hypothesized that direct experience would interact negatively with television viewing, whereas cultivations resonance hypothesis assumed a positive interaction. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,394 adults in Flanders, Belgium. Television viewing was positively related to dispositional fear of crime, whereas direct experience with crime was not. Direct experience predicted situational fear of crime, whereas television did not. There were no interaction effects. This study suggests that the relationship between television viewing and fear of crime depends upon the operationalization of the concept of fear of crime. More research is needed to establish which types of fear exist and how they are related to television viewing and direct experience with crime.

The child-effect in the new media environment: Challenges and opportunities for communication research

Abstract Most studies on the uses and effects of media and communication by parents and children have focused on how parents influence their children. Socialization theory generally describes how children internalize the rules and norms from their parents, teachers, siblings, media, and others. Socialization is, however, a bidirectional process in which children socialize their parents as well. This “child-effect” is a perspective that has been largely ignored in the social science literature in general, and in media research, in particular. Given recent changes in the media landscape (such as the introduction of smartphones and tablets), we argue that this needs to be investigated now more than ever. In this paper, we aim (1) to give a brief theoretical overview of the “child-effect hypothesis” and (2) to discuss its challenges and opportunities for future research of the relationship between parents and children in media and communication research.

Hematite iron oxide nanorod patterning inside COK-12 mesochannels as an efficient visible light photocatalyst

The uniform dispersion of functional oxide nanoparticles inside ordered mesoporous silica to tailor optical, electronic, and magnetic properties for biomedical and environmental applications is a scientific challenge. Herein, we demonstrate for the very first time the morphological effect of platelet-driven confined growth of hematite iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) nanorods inside the mesochannels of ordered mesoporous silica COK-12 material denoted as α-Fe2O3@COK-12. The inclusion of the α-Fe2O3 nanorods in COK-12 particles is studied in detail using high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and electron tomography. High resolution imaging and EDX spectroscopy provide information about the particle size, shape and crystal phase of the loaded α-Fe2O3 material, while electron tomography provides detailed information on the spreading of the nanorods throughout the COK-12 host in three-dimension. This nanocomposite material, having a semiconductor band gap energy of 2.50 eV according to diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, demonstrates an improved visible light photocatalytic degradation activity with rhodamine 6G and 1-adamantanol model compounds.