Psychology Research and Behavior Management最新文献

Introduction: Competitive attitudes among college students in highly competitive academic environments have attracted increasing scholarly attention, yet the mechanisms linking competitiveness to depressive symptoms remain insufficiently understood. This study addresses this gap by examining the association between competitive attitudes and depressive symptoms among Chinese engineering college students, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of sleep quality and peer relationships.

Methods: The study employed a multi-stage stratified random sampling method to distribute electronic questionnaires to 692 undergraduate students from one of the top universities in China. Pearson correlation and regression analyses were conducted to assess these associations, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed mediating effects.

Results: Descriptive statistics show that students reported mild levels of depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality on average, with males demonstrating significantly stronger competitive attitudes across all three dimensions compared to females. Path analysis shows that feelings for competition were positively associated with depression, with sleep quality serving as a significant mediator that accounted for 39.15% of the total effect. In contrast, beliefs about competition were negatively associated with depression, with peer relationships acting as a significant mediator and explaining 17.09% of the total effect. No significant association was found between behavioral tendencies of competition and depression.

Conclusion: In general, feelings for competition exacerbated depressive disorders by negatively affecting their sleep quality. Conversely, beliefs about competition, which emphasizes personal development, alleviated depression by promoting positive peer relationships among students. These findings suggest that higher education institutions should encourage personal development-oriented competitive attitudes while implementing targeted interventions to reduce excessive competitive feelings, thereby promoting students' psychological well-being.

Purpose: Modern psychotherapy increasingly incorporates technology to support patients with mental disorders. Virtual reality (VR) enables realistic, controlled simulations, offering structured, time-limited interventions focused on present problems, which are highly valuable in clinical practice. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), one of the most widely used psychotherapeutic approaches, can be effectively enhanced by VR. This review aims to summarize the potential of VR as a support tool for CBT and to evaluate its effectiveness across selected mental disorders.

Methods: A narrative review of the literature published over the last 15 years was conducted. Searches were performed in five major databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Peer-reviewed studies involving VR as an integral component of CBT were included. The review focused on anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, addictions, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Results: Immersive VR appears to enhance the effectiveness of CBT across multiple mental disorders. In anxiety disorders, VR-based exposure closely replicates real-life situations and represents the most extensively studied application; meta-analytic evidence (eg, Wu et al, 11 studies, 626 participants) indicates that VR-assisted CBT is effective and comparable to traditional CBT. In depression, VR facilitates behavioral activation and positive experiential learning. In eating disorders, VR supports body image modification, including realistic correction in bulimia and anorexia and altered gratification processes in obesity. VR also enables controlled exposure to substance-related cues in addiction treatment and supports training in emotional regulation and social skills in individuals with ASD.

Conclusion: The available literature indicates that the strongest and most consistent evidence for VR-assisted cognitive-behavioral therapy concerns anxiety disorders, which represent the primary focus of existing research. In contrast, evidence for the use of VR in other mental disorders remains more limited, heterogeneous, and often based on smaller or more individualized interventions. This imbalance in the evidence base constitutes a key limitation of the current field and should be considered when interpreting the overall effectiveness and generalizability of VR-assisted CBT. Further high-quality research and continued technological development are required to strengthen the evidence for VR applications across a broader range of mental disorders.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescents represents a significant global public health challenge. Moreover, metacognitive dysfunction plays a critical role in its onset, progression, and prognosis, but research on the metacognitive characteristics of Chinese adolescents with MDD remains highly limited.

Methods: The study was conducted from January 2024 to January 2025 and employed a cross-sectional design with convenience sampling. The participants included 202 adolescents who were diagnosed with MDD, with a mean age of 15 years. All the subjects completed a self-administered general information questionnaire to collect demographic information. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire-Revised (ACE), Rumination Response Scale Chinese Version (RRS), and Metacognitive Questionnaire-30 (MCQ) were utilized to evaluate the psychological well-being of adolescents diagnosed with MDD.

Results: Multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated the potential of the RRS total score, reflective pondering and household dysfunction as predictors of metacognitive deficits in adolescents diagnosed with MDD, with statistical significance at p < 0.05. Furthermore, the total ACE scores of adolescents diagnosed with MDD were significantly positively correlated with the MCQ (β = 0.189, p < 0.001) and RRS (β = 0.380, p < 0.001) scores. Additionally, the total RRS score was positively correlated with the MCQ score (β = 0.675, p < 0.001). Mediation analyses demonstrated that rumination mediated the association between adverse childhood experiences and metacognitive deficits, with a mediating effect value of 1.136 and a 95% confidence interval of [0.639, 1.635], explaining 57.32% of the total effect.

Conclusion: Rumination mediates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and metacognitive deficits in adolescents with MDD. Rumination, reflective pondering and household dysfunction in adolescents with MDD can predict metacognitive dysfunction to varying degrees. Our study highlights that interventions targeting rumination may be particularly effective in mitigating the negative impact of ACEs on metacognitive functioning in adolescents with MDD.

Background: Despite prior studies have shown the impacts of different types of social media use on adolescent's mental health can vary, little is known about why and when these differences occur. Thus, this study investigated the effects of different types of social media use-public active use, private active use, and passive use-on adolescent mental health through Self-Determination Theory's three basic psychological needs (autonomy, relatedness, and competence), and how these effects are shaped by the quality of offline relationships.

Methods: A two-wave panel study with five-month interval was conducted among 343 randomly selected Chinese adolescents aged 11 to 17 (from grade 7 to grade 11).

Results: Findings showed that no direct effects of any type of social media use on mental health outcomes over time, while private active social media use significantly predicted the fulfillment of relatedness needs and positively contributed to subsequent life satisfaction. The "poor get richer" and "rich get richer" of social media use hypotheses were supported. Specifically, for adolescents with low-quality offline relationships, public active social media use promoted the satisfaction of competence needs and thus decreased depression, and promoted competence and autonomy satisfaction and thus increased life satisfaction. For adolescents with high-quality offline relationships, private active social media use facilitated relatedness satisfaction, subsequently enhancing life satisfaction.

Conclusion: This study introduces an explanatory boundary condition for the diversity of psychological reactions stemming from different types of social media use, and underscores the significance of personalized guidance for adolescents' social media use.

Adolescent Insomnia Disorder (ID) and Problematic Internet Use (PIU) represent a pressing global public health challenge, frequently co-occurring and synergistically impacting mental and physical well-being. Despite their high comorbidity, a comprehensive integrative model elucidating their shared pathophysiology is lacking. This review is the first to propose a Convergent Developmental Trajectory Model, which posits that ID and PIU in adolescents are sustained by a self-reinforcing cycle driven by the dynamic interplay of three core components: (a) a shared biological vulnerability stemming from adolescent-specific neurodevelopment and molecular genetics; (b) common environmental triggers, such as academic stress and adverse childhood experiences; and (c) neurocognitive reinforcement through impaired inhibitory control and dysregulated reward processing. We synthesize converging evidence from neuroimaging, molecular studies, and environmental psychology to demonstrate how these components interact within the adolescent developmental context to perpetuate a vicious cycle. The model underscores that effective interventions must target these shared pathways, for instance, by developing transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) protocols specifically designed for ID-PIU comorbidity. Future research should prioritize longitudinal neurodevelopmental studies and multi-omics profiling to enable early risk stratification and personalized approaches. Addressing this complex issue requires interdisciplinary collaboration to formulate precision therapies and evidence-based public health policies.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate parental knowledge, acceptability, and involvement in the use of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Jordan.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 157 parents of children with ASD who had been exposed to ABA. Data were collected using self-administered paper-based and online questionnaires, which included demographic characteristics and instruments measuring parental knowledge, involvement, and treatment acceptability.

Results: The majority of participants were mothers (73.5%). A significant proportion of participants' children exhibited problematic behaviors, with aggression being the most common issue (34.3%). Parental acceptability of ABA was generally high, with 96.4% reporting moderate to high acceptance. The study also found a positive correlation between ABA knowledge, acceptability, and parental involvement in ABA programs.

Conclusion: Enhancing parents' knowledge of autism and ABA is crucial for effective treatment. To increase parental acceptance and involvement in their child's ABA, practitioners should implement educational programs that provide parents with a deeper understanding of ABA principles and their practical benefits.

Objective: Adolescent depression poses a significant mental health challenge. Drawing on cognitive theories of depression and the anhedonia susceptibility model, this study examined whether future self-continuity is associated with depressive symptoms through pleasure experience (anticipatory and consummatory pleasure), and whether these pathways are moderated by school connectedness.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, self-report data were collected from 835 adolescents (mean age = 16.40 years; 67.4% female) in China. Participants completed the Future Self-Continuity Questionnaire, Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale, School Connectedness Scale, and Self-rating Depression Scale.

Results: (1) Future self-continuity positively predicted anticipatory pleasure (β = 0.181, P < 0.001) and consummatory pleasure (β = 0.166, P < 0.001). Both anticipatory pleasure (β = -0.231, P < 0.001) and consummatory pleasure (β = -0.141, P < 0.001) negatively predicted depression. (2) School connectedness moderated the paths from future self-continuity to anticipatory pleasure (β = -0.056, P = 0.017) and consummatory pleasure (β = -0.098, P < 0.001). (3) For depression prediction, the interaction between future self-continuity and school connectedness (Anticipatory model: β = -0.093, P < 0.001; Consummatory model: β = -0.107, P < 0.001) and the interactions between school connectedness and pleasures were significant (Anticipatory: β = -0.084, Consummatory: β = -0.063, Ps < 0.05). (4) The indirect effect via anticipatory pleasure was significant across all levels of school connectedness, whereas the indirect effect via consummatory pleasure was non-significant at high levels of school connectedness.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that a coherent and positive sense of the future self is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms in adolescents through greater pleasure capacity, particularly within supportive school environments. The results underscore the importance of integrating future-oriented self-concept interventions with school-based strategies to promote adolescent mental health.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S510544.].

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S508557.].

Purpose: This pilot randomized controlled trial examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a culturally optimized Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for perinatal depression among rural women in China. It was hypothesized that the adapted IPT would be feasible to deliver, acceptable to participants, and potentially effective in improving depressive symptoms, social support, and family functioning.

Patients and methods: A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted with 34 pregnant women recruited from two rural clinics in Hubei, China. Participants were randomized to treatment-as-usual (TAU) or culturally optimized IPT plus TAU. The IPT program comprised three face-to-face sessions and one online follow-up, tailored to rural family and cultural contexts. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess depressive symptoms, with social support and family functioning as secondary outcomes.

Results: Compared with TAU, participants receiving the adapted IPT showed suggested reductions in EPDS scores and improvements in social support and family functioning at postpartum follow-ups. Feasibility was demonstrated by high adherence (94.1%), low attrition, and strong satisfaction. Bayesian mixed-effects modeling confirmed the robustness of these trends.

Conclusion: Findings indicate that the adapted IPT was both feasible and well accepted within rural maternal care systems, suggesting potential psychosocial benefits aligned with the study's hypotheses. The culturally optimized IPT appears promising as a feasible, acceptable, and potentially effective approach for supporting maternal mental health in rural China. Larger trials with extended follow-up are needed to confirm these preliminary results.