Maternal gaze to the infant face: Effects of infant age and facial configuration during mother-infant engagement in the first nine weeks.

BACKGROUND: Adult gaze plays an important role in early infant development, and infants are highly sensitive to its presence and direction. Little is known, however, about how adults look at infants while interacting with them. Using eye-tracking technology, this study investigated maternal gaze during naturalistic interactions, and how it was influenced by infant age, focusing on the transition from the first to the second month when social expressiveness emerges, and by infant facial configuration, focusing on the effect of cleft lip. METHODS: Thirty infants (10 with a cleft lip), and their mothers, were seen at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks. Mothers were asked to interact with their infants while wearing eye-tracking glasses. Fixation duration and count were calculated for general (infant face, body, and surrounding environment), and infant facial (eyes, mouth, other) areas. RESULTS: At all ages, mothers gazed almost exclusively towards their infant's face, but this was reduced in the presence of a cleft lip. Within the infant's face, the eyes attracted the greatest attention, for all mothers, at all ages. From the first to the second month, all mothers increased their visual attention towards their infant's mouth. Regardless of infant age, the presence of a cleft lip was associated with decreased maternal gaze to the infant's mouth. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel findings concerning maternal gaze to infant faces during naturalistic interactions. Maternal gaze changes with infant age, in line with established shifts in social development, and according to infant facial configuration. Decreased gaze to the mouth area associated with infant cleft lip might affect maternal responsiveness, and suggests new dimensions to target in supporting these mothers.

Validation of the factor structure of the Greek adaptation of the Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria-Short Form (SIBID-S).

PURPOSE: Body image is a psychological construct that refers to one's perceptions, feelings, and thoughts towards one's body and appearance. The intensity and frequency of dysphoric body-image emotions depend upon situational events (i.e., situations involving body exposure, social comparisons, wearing certain clothing, looking in the mirror, and so forth). The Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria-Short Form (SIBID-S; Cash, Manual for the situational inventory of body-image dysphoria, 2000) was originally developed to assess one's negative body-image emotions in certain situational events. The current study aimed to confirm the factor structure and reliability of the newly translated Greek version of the SIBID-S. METHODS: Participants consisted of a convenient sample of 2664 high school students (1119 males, 1545 females) who answered the measures of interest. RESULTS: Results indicated that the original one-factor structure of the SIBID-S was retained and fitted very well with the original model for both males and females. In addition, the Greek version had satisfactory reliability and convergent validity coefficients. Gender differences were also noted. CONCLUSION: The Greek SIBID-S has very good validity and reliability data and will serve as a useful measure of body-image dysphoria enabling research with the Greek-speaking population as well as cross-cultural research.

Predictive factors of disordered eating and body image satisfaction in cyprus.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess possible relationships and predictor variables between disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, the internalization of the thin ideal construct, body image satisfaction, body image investment, weight-related anxiety, and body mass index (BMI) among Greek-Cypriot female university students in Cyprus. METHOD: A total of 243 female university students responded to self-report measures assessing disordered eating, internalization of the thin ideal, body satisfaction, body image investment, and weight-related anxiety. RESULTS: Disordered eating was positively correlated to the internalization of the thin ideal, body image investment, weight-related anxiety, and BMI and negatively correlated with body image satisfaction. The internalization of the thin ideal was also positively correlated to weight-related anxiety and body image investment and negatively correlated to body image satisfaction. Furthermore, weight-related anxiety and internalization of the thin ideal have been found to be significant predictors of disordered eating attitudes. DISCUSSION: Possible explanations and vulnerability factors are addressed, as well as implication for prevention strategies and future research.

Validation of the factor structure of the Greek adaptation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3).

The current study aimed to confirm the factor structure and reliability of the newly translated Greek version of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) among 1753 Greek-Cypriot high school students. Results of the structural equation modeling indicated a very good fit with the original four-factor structure of the SATAQ-3 for both males and females. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the four subscales were .92 for 'Internalization-General', .82 for 'Internalization-Athlete', .94 for 'Pressure' and .88 for 'Information'. Further analyses showed no significant differences between BMI categories with respect to the Internalization-General, Internalization-Athlete and Information factors but there were significant differences on the Pressure factor. The findings of the current study support the existence of the original four-factor structure of the SATAQ-3. The validity and reliability results of the Greek version of the SATAQ-3 support its use in Greek-speaking countries or populations.

Multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire-appearance scales: psychometric properties of the Greek version.

The psychometric properties of a Greek version of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scales (MBSRQ-AS) were studied. A total of 1,312 high school students (463 boys, 849 girls) were administered the Greek MBSRQ-AS, the Greek Appearance Schemas Inventory-Revised (ASI-R) and the Greek Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3). An exploratory factor analysis revealed that the Greek MBSRQ-AS items significantly loaded with the scale's main factors. Internal consistencies of the subscales ranged from .76 to .86. Test-retest reliabilities ranged from .75 to .93. Convergent validity was also confirmed as the Greek MBSRQ-AS subscales correlated positively with the ASI-R and the SATAQ-3.