Eating disorder tendencies in 197 eleventh grade Japanese girls were examined to ascertain whether or not the reported correlates of eating disorder tendencies in North America would be replicated in Japan. The 26-item Eating Attitudes Test was administered along with a set of supplementary questions. As hypothesized, higher levels of eating disturbances were found in the students who: (1) perceived themselves as being overweight, (2) had been encouraged to diet, (3) reported engaging in frequent conversations with their mother about food and dieting. Implications for future cross-cultural research are discussed.

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Attempted to determine, using a sample of students in Grades 3, 5, and 7, whether parent-child communication about AIDS and parent knowledge of AIDS predict children's knowledge, social attitudes, and worry regarding AIDS, partially replicating tests by Sigelman, Derenowski, Mullaney, and Siders (1993) of main effects, interaction, and potentiation models of parent-child socialization. Most parents had talked to their children about AIDS but many were susceptible to myths about HIV transmission. Child age was the strongest predictor of accurate knowledge and positive attitudes, but gender, ethnicity, and parent education also made modest contributions. Consistent with the potentiation model, parent knowledge of common transmission myths predicted child knowledge of those same myths (and willingness to interact with individuals who have AIDS as well) only when parent-child communication about AIDS was relatively extensively (and only when child rather than parent reported it). Findings suggest that both the quantity and quality of parental messages must be considered by socialization researchers but that parents may not be the primary socializers of knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS and other health issues.

To investigate the relationship between premenstrual mood changes and maternal mental health in the perinatal period, a prospective questionnaire survey of 1,329 women was carried out. Women with a premenstrual mood changes (irritability) before pregnancy showed significantly higher Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores than those without it, throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period (6 time points: early, middle, and late pregnancy, 5 days, 1 month, and 6 months after childbirth). In addition, women with premenstrual irritability had greater anxiety about pregnancy and delivery, were more reluctant to accept mother roles, and felt their babies (fetuses or neonates) were more vulnerable. These findings suggest that premenstrual mood change is correlated with unstable mental health throughout the perinatal period.

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