PEARCE, MICHELLE J., JULIE BOERGERS, AND MITCHELL J. PRINSTEIN. Adolescent obesity, overt and relational peer victimization, and romantic relationships. Obes Res. 2002;10:386 -393. Objective: To examine associations between obesity and peer relations in adolescents, specifically testing the hypotheses that obese adolescents are more frequent victims of peer aggression and are less likely to develop romantic relationships. Research Methods and Procedures:Measures of overt and relational victimization, as well as dating status and satisfaction, were collected for a group of 416 ninth-through twelfthgrade students (51.7% girls). Body mass index was computed for each teen based on self-reported height and weight data. Results: Results revealed that obese boys reported more overt victimization and obese girls reported more relational victimization compared with their average-weight peers. Obese girls were also less likely to date than their peers. However, both obese boys and girls reported being more dissatisfied with their dating status compared with average-weight peers. Discussion: The results suggest that obese adolescents are at greater risk for mistreatment by peers and may have fewer opportunities to develop intimate romantic relationships; this may contribute to the psychological and health difficulties frequently associated with obesity.

Background-For patients confronting a life-threatening illness such as advanced cancer, religious coping can be an important factor influencing their quality of life (QOL).

A substantial minority of patients did not receive the spiritual care they desired while hospitalized. When spiritual needs are not met, patients are at risk of depression and reduced sense of spiritual meaning and peace. Spiritual care should be matched to cancer patients' needs.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative illness with early onset, before the age of 65. This dementia syndrome has a more rapid decline than Alzheimer's disease (AD) [1][2][3] . Symptoms of FTD include marked behavioral, frontal executive, language, and motor changes. Caregivers at home with the patient often include school age children. There are currently no resources for older children, or for parents to know how to discuss the illness and its implications with their younger children.Previous studies have demonstrated that caregiving for a host of physical and mental illnesses as a child can have negative effects, including restrictions on peer relationships, health problems, educational achievement and emotional stability 4,5 . Luscombe et al. showed increased adverse psychological and physical effects, inversely related to age, in young carers of young-onset dementia patients 6 . Gelman and Greer suggested that children providing care for a younger dementia patient, as is often the case in FTD, are vulnerable because the experience occurs during key developmental years and can lead to feelings of loss and anxiety over the cognitive decline of the parent, shame from the parent's behavior, confusion caused by parent-ABSTRACT: Objective: To learn more about the needs and experiences of young carers for patients of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in order to create a relevant support website for young caregivers to dementia patients. Methods: Two focus groups were held with a total of fourteen young carers aged 11-18. The data corpus was collected through a semi-structured interview facilitated by a medical journalist who had prior experience as a caregiver to a patient with FTD. The transcripts were narrowed to a dataset for descriptive analysis using a coding scheme to reveal the main themes of their responses. Results: Seven overlapping theme areas were: emotional impact of living with a parent with FTD, caregiving, coping, symptoms, diagnosis, relationships, and support. Based on the participantsr esponses, a website was launched providing supportive information and counsel for young carers. Conclusion: Young carers saw the experience of caring for a parent with early-onset dementia as positive overall, but identified opportunities for professionals to assist them in overcoming stigma and the challenge of balancing childhood and adolescent development within this context. RÉSUMÉ: Présence de démence au domicile : enquête sur l'évaluation des besoins des soignants qui sont jeunes. Objectif : Le but de l'étude était d'en apprendre davantage sur les besoins et les expériences des soignants qui sont jeunes et qui aident aux soins de patients atteints de démence frontotemporale (DFT) afin de créer un site Internet de soutien qui soit pertinent pour les soignants qui sont jeunes et qui prennent soin de patients qui sont déments. Méthode : Deux groupes de discussion composés en tout de 14 jeunes se sont réunis pour en discuter. Les données a été recueillies au moyen d'une entrevue semi-structurée dont l...

Examined the relations between depressive symptoms and (a) 3 standard indicators of religiousness and (b) a potentially more age-specific indicator in a sample of 744 adolescents (M age = 13.06 years, SD = 0.45). Adolescents completed the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. Results indicate that several dimensions of religiousness are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms (i.e., attendance, self-ranking, and positive interpersonal religious experience), whereas negative interpersonal religious experience was associated with higher levels. These relations were not moderated by sex or ethnicity. Interpersonal religious experience had a stronger relation with depressive symptoms than did the standard dimensions of religiousness. The importance of social support during adolescence and future directions for this relatively new area of research are discussed.

There is growing recognition that persistent pain is a complex and multidimensional experience stemming from the interrelationship among biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors. Chronic pain patients use a number of cognitive and behavioral strategies to cope with their pain, including religious/spiritual forms of coping, such as prayer, and seeking spiritual support to manage their pain. This article will explore the relationship between the experience of pain and religion/spirituality with the aim of understanding not only why some people rely on their faith to cope with pain, but also how religion/spirituality may impact the experience of pain and help or hinder the coping process. We will also identify future research priorities that may provide fruitful research in illuminating the relationship between religion/spirituality and pain.

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This study examined the protective effects of religiousness and parent involvement for the development of conduct problems beyond the effects of risk factors. Measures of violence exposure, conduct problems, parent involvement, and religiousness, from the longitudinal Social and Health Assessment survey, were completed by 1,703 high-risk urban adolescents (12.5 +/- 1.7 years; 53% female). Witnessing of and victimization by community violence appeared to be significant risk factors for an increase in conduct problems over a 1-year period. Religiousness and parental involvement were each uniquely associated with a decrease in conduct problems. Moreover, several dimensions of religiousness moderated the relationship between violence exposure and conduct problems, buffering the negative effects of violence exposure. Implications of these findings for prevention efforts are discussed.