Although our findings reveal that media-portrayed idealized images detrimentally affect the body image of young women, they highlight the individual differences in vulnerability and the different effects for different components of body image. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the prevention and early intervention of body image and dieting-related disorders. (

Our results have shown a surprisingly high level of weight-related concerns among schoolgirls across mainland China. There would seem to be few cases of anorexia or bulimia, although some girls satisfy criteria for partial diagnoses. Our findings highlight the difficulty of identifying girls who are underweight, at least by applying the standard Western procedure for categorizing body mass index.

Multiple questionnaires completed over the semester by 514 students enrolled in a first year psychology course reveal that no single pattern of reliance on print, online, or in-person resources guarantees a high mark. Analyses of the reported and measured frequency of use of various resources correlated against students', performance on both individual assessments and their final marks suggests that students employ a range of strategies in their use of class resources. They tend to rely on their textbooks, Web-based lecture notes, and online quizzes, but their final marks are more strongly determined by their university entrance scores than by their resource use strategy, their sex, or whether or not English is their first language. The data suggest that students adapt their learning strategies to the resources available, with an apparent emphasis on learning what will be assessed rather than exploring for understanding. Importantly, the results argue that investment in development of educational technologies -and students', use of educational technologies -must be informed by empirical data concerning its impact on the efficiency and quality of learning.

No abstract