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Recent U.S. studies of musculoskeletal pain have supported the structure and construct validity of the Pain Resilience Scale (PRS) as a pain-specific measure tapping capacities to regulate cognitions and emotions as well as behavioral perseverance despite ongoing pain. However, it is not clear whether psychometric support for the PRS extends to chronic musculoskeletal pain samples in other countries or whether PRS scores contribute to adaptation beyond the impact of general resilience. To address these gaps, the factor structure, construct validity, and incremental validity of the PRS were assessed in exploratory factor analysis (EFA; 417 women, 134 men) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; 421 women, 135 men) samples of Chinese adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain who completed back-translated versions of the PRS and a battery of self-report measures previously validated in Chinese samples. A 2-factor, EFA-derived version of the PRS featuring a 7-item cognitive/affective positivity subscale and a 3-item behavioral perseverance subscale had the best overall fit from several hypothesized alternatives. Derived PRS subscales had significant moderate correlations with conceptually related measures and low correlations with conceptually less-related background characteristics, respectively. PRS subscale scores, particularly cognitive and affective positivity, accounted for significant unique variance in functioning independent of general resilience.

Body surveillance and body shame are features of objectified body consciousness that have utility in predicting body image and eating disturbances but evidence is based largely on samples in developed Western nations and it is not clear whether these factors predict disturbances independent of conceptually-related factors emphasized in alternate sociocultural accounts. To address these issues, we assessed the impact of body surveillance and body shame as well as features of other sociocultural models (i.e. perceived appearance pressure, appearance comparisons, general negative affect) on disordered eating, fatness concerns, and body dissatisfaction among young Chinese adults. University-age women (n = 466) and men (n = 230) from Chongqing, China completed validated self-report measures of demographics and the above constructs. For women, objectified body consciousness measures explained significant variance in each measure of disturbances, beyond effects of other factors; body surveillance had a u...

This research examined predictors of willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among female sex workers (FSW) in Southwest China. The final sample included 395 women (mean age=26.73 years, SD=6.74 years) who were predominantly of Han majority ethnicity (84.6%) and had completed middle-school education or lower (63.0%). Participants were recruited initially from commercial sex venues (e.g., saunas, massage parlors) in the cities of Nanchang, Luizhou, Nanning, Urumqi, and Karamay as well as two districts of Chongqing municipality and subsequently via snowball procedures. They completed a battery of self-report measures assessing beliefs about HIV and PrEP, psychosocial influences, demographics and willingness to use HIV PrEP. Willingness to use HIV PrEP was predicted by high levels of trust in physicians and more reported unmet interpersonal belongingness needs. Beyond these factors, willing and unwilling groups were differentiated on the basis of intervention-specific beliefs (perceived stigma and self-efficacy in use of PrEP). Together, findings suggested interpersonal factors should be considered in concert with perceptions of intervention characteristics in assessing motivations to enroll in PrEP within this particular at-risk group.

This 18-month prospective study investigated factors that contributed to changes in eating disorder symptoms among adolescents living in the People's Republic of China. Five hundred forty-one Chinese middle school and high school students (182 boys, 359 girls) completed measures of eating disorder symptoms; body dissatisfaction; appearance ideal endorsements; negative affect; and appearance-based social pressure, teasing, and comparison. For girls, baseline levels of negative affect, preference for a thin appearance ideal, and fatness concern made unique contributions to reported eating disturbances at the 18-month follow-up. For boys, baseline body mass index and fatness concerns were the only significant univariate predictors of changes in eating pathology.

The authors examined the relationship between sociotropy and perceptions of interpersonal relationships and subsequent eating disorder symptoms among young women. In Study 1, 118 women from a liberal arts college in northern Wisconsin completed self-report measures of sociotropy, perceived close social support, and eating disorder symptoms. The women returned 6 weeks later to complete the same measures. After controlling for initial levels of reported eating disturbances, higher levels of Time 1 sociotropy and reductions in perceived social support at Times 1 and 2 made unique contributions to eating disturbances at Time 2, although the interaction of Time 1 sociotropy and Time 2 social support did not add to the model. In Study 2, 138 women completed measures of eating disturbances, sociotropy, and interpersonal hassles on two occasions, 10 weeks apart. Self-reported eating pathology at Time 1 accounted for most of the variance in Time 2 eating disorder symptoms, but increased eating disturbances also were predicted by measures of interpersonal hassles. A final regression analysis using combined samples indicated that both T1 and T2 measures of interpersonal functioning made unique contributions to changes in reported eating disturbances. In sum, the findings suggested that perceptions of reduced support in close relationships and increased interpersonal hassles contribute to increases in reported eating disturbances among college-aged women, independent of baseline levels of eating disturbances and a highly sociotropic personality style.

This study assessed the extent to which the mere presence of over-the-counter analgesics affected the perception of experimentally-induced pain in healthy adult samples. In Study 1, 68 college undergraduates participating in a cold pressor test (CPT) were randomly assigned to stimulus displays featuring either pain medication cues (i.e. bottles of aspirin and Tylenol) or cues with no obvious relation to pain (i.e. small elephant statue, soda can) and provided ratings of pain severity every 30 seconds for up to four minutes. Contrary to expectations, participants exposed to pain medication cues reported a significantly lower average rating of pain intensity after 30 seconds of exposure to ice water compared to those exposed to pain-irrelevant cues. This effect was relatively short term, as there were no differences between the two conditions on subsequent ratings of pain intensity or overall pain tolerance. These findings were replicated in a second sample ( n = 48) with slightly altered stimulus displays....