Scandinavian journal of psychology最新文献

Digital platforms have grown in popularity among children, leading to increased screen time and new challenges for parents. Parents are often left in a void of overwhelming pressure and responsibility, tasked with managing children's screen use while navigating the complexities of balancing digital activities with other aspects of their children's well-being. This study examines how children's screen use functions as both a daily and persistent stressor for some parents and investigates the ways in which emotion-focused coping strategies are employed to manage the emotional strain arising from screen-related parenting practices. Between October and December 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 parents of 10-11-year-old children. The interviews were analyzed using abductive analysis, iteratively moving between empirical data and theory. The findings illustrate how parents employed emotion-focused coping strategies both in relation to the general presence of screens in their child's everyday life and in response to specific content the child engaged with. Strategies such as positive reappraisal were used to reframe the presence and content of digital activities as beneficial or valuable, helping parents manage emotional distress and maintain family harmony. This study highlights how some parents perceive children's screen use as an unchangeable reality, leading them to rely on emotion-focused coping strategies rather than pursuing change. Supporting parents in developing self-efficacy may help foster more constructive, mutually beneficial family dialogue, ultimately ensuring the health and well-being of children, parents and the family unit.

This study aimed to expand knowledge on the roles of psychological inflexibility and school friendship closeness in adolescents' loneliness during the transition to upper secondary education. The participants were 885 Finnish adolescents (mean age = 15.74, SD = 0.37, 56% girls). Loneliness was measured twice: in Grade 9 and at the beginning of upper secondary school in 10th grade. Psychological inflexibility and the closeness of friendships in school were measured in Grade 9. Results showed that a high level of psychological inflexibility in Grade 9 was associated with higher loneliness at the beginning of upper secondary education and increased loneliness during the educational transition. Furthermore, girls' (but not boys') friendship closeness in school partly mediated the association between psychological inflexibility and loneliness. The results suggested that psychological inflexibility is a social risk factor for loneliness among adolescents transitioning to upper secondary school. Enhancing psychological flexibility skills could thus make an important contribution to the promotion of adolescent peer relationships and prevention of loneliness.

Frontline police officers frequently face ambiguous and high-pressure situations requiring rapid decision-making under uncertainty. Traditional police training often emphasizes procedural and tactical skills, neglecting cognitive competencies such as situational awareness (SA) and shared mental models (SMM). This study investigates whether a brief, theoretically grounded decision-making training program can enhance SA and team behavior among regular and SWAT-type police officers during simulated arrest scenarios. A quasi-experimental 2 × 2 factorial design was employed, involving 166 police officers (category 3: SWAT-type; category 4: regular patrol). Participants were assigned to either a training group (n = 54) or a control group (n = 112). The training program consisted of three modules focusing on decision-making frameworks, scenario-based exercises, and group debriefings. SA was measured using the Situational Awareness Rating Scale (SARS), and team behavior was assessed by subject matter experts during ambiguous and non-ambiguous simulated scenarios. Statistical analyses included factorial ANOVAs and planned comparisons. Trained officers demonstrated significantly higher SA scores than untrained controls (F(1, 162) = 12.587, p < 0.000). SWAT-type officers outperformed regular officers in SA and team behavior across scenarios. A training effect on team behavior was observed only among regular officers in the ambiguous scenario (F(1, 81) = 6.66, p < 0.012). No training effect was found in the non-ambiguous scenario. Effect sizes ranged from small to medium, with the strongest impact observed in SA and ambiguous decision-making. Brief decision-making training improved SA across both officer categories and enhanced team behavior in ambiguous scenarios for regular officers. These findings support the integration of scenario-based, cognitively focused training in police education to better prepare officers for complex operational environments.

Online body shaming is common in adolescence and linked to a range of maladaptive outcomes. This study examined whether discrete cognitive-emotional responses to online body shaming are differentially associated with somatization, escaping behavior, eating-disorder behaviors, and substance use, and whether these associations vary by age or sex. In a cross-sectional, school-based survey, 2441 Czech adolescents (11-17 years) who reported online body shaming were analyzed. Cognitive-emotional responses were grouped into five categories (forceful, passive, uncontrollable emotions; negative thoughts; self-harm ideation). Behavioral outcomes were grouped into four categories (somatization, escaping behavior, eating-disorder behaviors, substance use). Multivariable logistic regressions estimated associations between emotions and behaviors; moderation by age (11-14 vs. 15-17) and sex was probed via z-tests on log-odds ratios. Two consistent patterns emerged. (1) Uncontrollable and forceful emotions were associated with higher odds of somatization and escaping behavior. (2) Self-harm ideation and negative thoughts were associated with higher odds of eating-disorder behaviors and substance use. Model fits were significant across outcomes. Associations were broadly similar across ages and sexes; formal comparisons detected no systematic moderation by age or sex. Distinct emotional reactions to online body shaming map onto specific maladaptive behavior risks in adolescents, largely independent of age and sex. Screening for high-arousal dysregulation (e.g., uncontrollable or forceful emotions) and self-focused despair (negative thoughts, self-harm ideation) may help schools and clinicians flag youth at risk for somatic complaints, withdrawal, disordered eating, or substance use. Findings reflect associations from cross-sectional data and should be tested longitudinally.

To investigate longitudinal relationships among psychological stress, inflammation biomarkers, and cognitive function over a 9-year period using data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was conducted on MIDUS Wave 2 data (M2, N = 790), incorporating biomarkers of stress (cortisol, norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine), inflammation (interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, soluble ICAM-1), and cognition (episodic memory, executive function), with follow-up cognitive outcomes from MIDUS Wave 3 (M3). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) assessed measurement validity, and key SEM assumptions were tested. CFA indicated acceptable model fit. SEM revealed significant cross-sectional associations among stress, inflammation, and cognitive variables at baseline. Baseline cognitive function strongly predicted follow-up cognition 9 years later, indicating high longitudinal stability. However, stress and inflammation biomarkers from M2 did not directly predict M3 cognition. Indirect effects emerged: M2 cognition influenced both M3 executive function and episodic memory through M3 global cognition. Multi-group analysis showed no gender-based differences in model paths. Stress and inflammation biomarkers were associated with cognition cross-sectionally but showed no direct long-term effects. Findings highlight the relative stability and predictive continuity of midlife cognition rather than substantial mean-level change, underscoring midlife as a critical window for sustaining cognitive health.

Previous research has shown that shyness is a risk factor for poor socio-emotional outcomes, although not all shy adults develop these problematic behaviors. Emotional intelligence (EI) may be one explanatory factor that helps facilitate adaptive social behaviors and buffers against developing internalizing behaviors in some shy individuals. Accordingly, this study investigated whether EI moderated the relation between shyness and social approach (i.e., sociability) and avoidance (i.e., internalizing behaviors) behaviors in emerging adulthood. Participants were 523 young adults (M = 18.65 years, SD = 0.90, 19.3% male) who completed online questionnaires related to shyness, EI, sociability, and internalizing behaviors. We found that the EI subfactor Others' Emotion Appraisal (OEA) moderated a negative relation between shyness and sociability. Specifically, shy women with higher OEA reported higher levels of sociability than those with lower levels of OEA. Notably, this effect was not observed in men. As well, contrary to our expectation, EI had no moderating effect on the relation between shyness and internalizing behaviors. Findings indicate that the ability to perceive others' emotions may help shy women navigate social situations more effectively. Moreover, they challenge the idea that EI uniformly moderates the effects of shyness, instead highlighting the different pathways through which specific emotional competencies interact with personality and sex.

The relation between sleep and irritable affect has been studied extensively. However, whether this relation is bidirectional remains unclear. Furthermore, less is still known about associations between sleep and interpersonal behaviors and perceptions during social interactions. The current study examined bidirectional within-person relations between actigraphy-based sleep, and irritable affect, quarrelsome behavior, and agreeable perceptions of others assessed using event-contingent recording of social interactions in a sample of n = 50 participants during either 20 or 40 days. We found that after a night of worse sleep than usual, participants reported more anger and frustration the next day (-0.12, p ≤ 0.01). The reverse was not found. There were no direct associations between sleep and quarrelsome behavior or between sleep and agreeable perceptions. However, worse sleep than usual was indirectly related to more quarrelsome behavior (-0.05, p ≤ 0.001) and less agreeable perceptions (0.06, p ≤ 0.001); that is, via increased irritable affect. These mediation effects imply that poor sleep may impair the quality of one's social interactions. Therefore, targeting sleep could be a means to improve personal and professional relationships.

This study aims to analyze the participatory profile of women and men, and to explore to what extent gender may moderate the associations between intrapersonal variables and social participation, considering also the potential socialization effects of university experiences. Two studies are presented. Study 1 analyzed 3856 university students who had completed at least the first year of their undergraduate degree. Study 2 analyzed 1061 young people who had just started their university studies. Both used online questionnaires to evaluate social participation and the intrapersonal variables internal efficacy, moral obligation, self-concept and social norms. The results indicated that women and men exhibited largely similar participatory profiles across both samples, although women reported higher levels in most of the behaviors examined. Moreover, the findings suggest that the moderating role of gender is not fixed but varies according to developmental stage and the socialization processes occurring within the university context. This underscores the importance of viewing gender not merely as a descriptive characteristic, but as a dynamic factor shaping the psychosocial processes underpinning youth participation. Such insights can inform the design of targeted interventions aimed at promoting more equitable participation and fostering critical reflection on the role of universities in strengthening civic engagement among young people.

Long-distance romantic relationships have become an increasingly common type of relationship. Especially among emerging adults, the preference for such relationships is increasing. This situation reveals the importance of analyzing how long-distance relationships are maintained and the quality that individuals perceive from these relationships. The study group of this research consists of emerging adults who have been in a long-distance romantic relationship for at least 6 months. The study examined the relationships between relationship maintenance behaviors, dyadic trust and relationship quality. The findings obtained using a serial mediation model show that relationship maintenance behaviors predict relationship quality both directly and indirectly through dyadic trust. In particular, openness and positivity play important roles in the formation of trust, which in turn increases overall relationship quality. The results emphasize that adaptive communication and relationship maintenance behaviors play a critical role in overcoming the difficulties encountered in long-distance relationships. The findings are discussed within the framework of family systems theory and the impact of stressors on the system and the role of effective relationship maintenance behaviors in maintaining relational balance and functioning are discussed. Finally, implications for practice and future research in the field of relationship counseling are discussed.

The negative relationship between math anxiety and mathematics performance is well established. However, factors such as how math anxiety is operationalized, the specific mathematical domain, gender, and cultural context may influence this relationship. Still, these factors have not been considered together and the results in primary school students have been inconsistent. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how math anxiety is related to arithmetic fluency and number processing in fourth-grade students across three cultural contexts (Finnish- and Swedish-speaking students from Finland and Swedish-speaking students from Sweden). In addition, we investigated the dimensionality of math anxiety (i.e., cognitive and affective dimensions) and gender differences in the level of and relations between math anxiety and mathematics performance. The sample included 1022 fourth-grade students (52.6% girls) from Finland and Sweden. The participants completed a survey measuring their math anxiety and a mathematics performance test (arithmetic fluency and number processing). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-dimensional math anxiety construct for the Finnish-speaking sample and a unidimensional math anxiety construct for the Swedish-speaking samples. The negative math anxiety-performance relationship was demonstrated in each sample, showing a slightly stronger association for arithmetic fluency than number processing. On average girls experienced higher levels of math anxiety and boys had better arithmetic fluency. The negative relationship between math anxiety and mathematics performance, especially for number processing, was stronger for boys. The results highlight the relationships between math anxiety and mathematics performance in fourth-grade students in Finland and Sweden. More research considering cultural (e.g., language) and gender differences is needed.