Journal of Genetic Psychology最新文献

This cross-sectional study examined the associations among physical activity, psychological resilience, emotional distress (anxiety and depression), and short video dependency in Chinese adolescents, with a particular focus on the potential chain mediating roles of psychological resilience and emotional distress. A total of 1,002 adolescents completed self-report measures assessing physical activity, psychological resilience, anxiety, depression, and short video dependency. Correlation analyses showed that physical activity was negatively associated with anxiety, depression, and short video dependency, and positively associated with psychological resilience. Psychological resilience was negatively related to emotional distress and short video dependency, while anxiety and depression were positively associated with short video dependency. Chain mediation analyses indicated that psychological resilience and emotional distress jointly mediated the association between physical activity and short video dependency. Overall, the findings suggest that higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower short video dependency, partly through greater psychological resilience and reduced emotional distress, highlighting the potential relevance of physical activity for adolescent mental well-being and healthier digital media use.

Parents play a crucial role in fostering children's emotion regulation skills during early childhood. The Parental Assistance with Child Emotion Regulation (PACER) Questionnaire was newly developed to assess how parents support their children's use of specific emotion regulation strategies. This study was aimed to validate the PACER in the Chinese context. Data were collected from 2002 mothers and 1069 fathers of preschool-aged children in China. The results supported the intended 10-factor structure of the PACER. All subscales demonstrated good to excellent internal consistencies. Measurement invariance was achieved across both child gender and parent gender. The study further explored how parent and child genders were related to parents' reports on the PACER. Using data from a subset of the families that provided both maternal and paternal reports (n = 507), we found that parents' responses generally did not differ between daughters and sons. However, significant gender differences among parents were found, albeit the effect sizes were small. Mothers were more likely to adopt adaptive strategies and less likely to rely on maladaptive strategies compared to fathers. These findings validated the applicability of the PACER in Chinese culture. The parental gender differences observed underscore the need to create tailored interventions for mothers and fathers regarding children's emotion socialization.

Alexithymia refers to difficulties in the expression of one's own emotions. The development of alexithymic traits and the associated risk factors have been extensively studied in primary-school children and adolescents. In contrast, few data are available concerning the preschool period. Therefore, in the present study we used a parent report instrument, the Children's Alexithymia Measure, to assess emotional expression difficulties in a sample of 130 children between 3 and 5 years of age. We also examined the relations of alexithymic scores with concurrent language and temperament measures. The results indicated that children's difficulties were negatively associated with social orientation and naming abilities but positively associated with negative emotionality. Furthermore, the significance of these relations differed across boys and girls. Overall, these data shed light on the factors that contribute to the development of emotional expression difficulties in the preschool period. Future studies should determine whether these same factors may be used to predict the emergence of alexithymic traits in later ages.

Positive peer relations are critical for successful social development, with sociability, aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors making particularly fundamental contributions. Traditionally, these sets of behaviors have been considered using a variable-centered approach. The present research, with 3rd through 5th graders, used a person-centered approach to empirically discover behavior profiles from peer behavior nominations. Using Latent Profile Analysis, three profiles were identified: High Social (high sociability, low aggressive, low withdrawn behaviors), Low Engagement (low sociability, low aggressive, high withdrawn behaviors), and High Visibility (moderate sociability, high aggressive, and low withdrawn behaviors). Relating these profiles to a variety of peer social competence measures, the High Social children had the most positive evaluations, the Low Engagement children had the most negative evaluations, and interestingly, the High Visibility children had a mix of both positive and negative evaluations. Results underscore the complexity of the relation between behaviors and peer social competence and highlight the value of a person-centered approach relating behaviors to peer social competence.

This study compares fluid intelligence and personality traits among children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds using twin data from the first wave of TwinLife. Utilizing a Constant Elasticity of Substitution production function approach, the study examines how parental skills, investments, and socioeconomic status influence children's intelligence and personality development. Results underscore that children from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds exhibit higher levels of intelligence, openness, extraversion, and emotional stability. The findings suggest that interventions targeting parental investments and fostering desirable personality traits could significantly enhance outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged children, thereby offering a promising avenue for improving child welfare and life outcomes.

The goal of the current study was to examine the links between academic stress, maternal support, and three different forms of prosocial behaviors (i.e. in-group prosocial behaviors, out-group prosocial behaviors, and civic engagement). Additionally, we also examined the interactive effect between academic stress and maternal support on prosocial behaviors. Participants were 142 young adult college students (M age = 20.82 years; range = 18-25 years; 81.7% women; 65.2% reported identifying as racially White; 9.9% Black; 7.8% Asian; 5.7% Native; and 49.3% identified their ethnicity as Latino/a). Participants reported on their academic stress levels, perceptions of their maternal support, and their tendencies to engage in the three forms of prosocial behaviors. The results (see Figure 1) demonstrated that academic stress was not associated with prosocial outcomes. Maternal support was positively associated with in-group prosocial behaviors. There was also one significant interaction that emerged. The interaction between academic stress and maternal support positively predicted civic engagement, such that when maternal support was low, academic stress was positively associated with civic engagement. The discussion focuses on the nuanced associations between these variables, with a focus on the potentially protective role of civic engagement specifically for young adults seeking social connection and belonging.

This study examines both implicit and explicit attitudes toward shyness among mothers of young children in mainland China. The participants were 391 mothers (M_age = 35 years, SD = 3.84 years) of preschool-aged children from one kindergarten in Shanghai, China. At two time points separated by eight months, participants completed the online version of the Implicit Association Test-Shy (IAT-Shy), self-assessed their own shyness and their explicit attitudes about shyness, and rated their children's shyness. Over the eight-month period, Chinese mothers displayed more negative implicit attitudes toward shyness compared with their attitudes toward non-shyness (sociability). Implicit attitudes toward shyness were significantly related to explicit attitudes about shyness but were not significantly associated with maternal or child shyness.

The purpose of this study was to use long-term longitudinal data to determine whether childhood shyness is associated with later negative social cognitions (rejection sensitivity and fear of negative evaluation) in emerging adulthood. Additionally, the prospective exacerbating roles of adolescent victimization and exclusion (self- and peer-reported) were examined. Participants were 119 Dutch individuals (50.5% male) from the Nijmegen Longitudinal Study, assessed at ages 9, 13, 16, and 21. Results showed a positive association between childhood shyness and emerging adult rejection sensitivity that was strengthened by high levels of peer-reported exclusion. There was also a positive association between childhood shyness and later fear of negative evaluation at high levels of exclusion, and a negative association at low levels of exclusion.

This study addressed associations of parents' socialization of children's positive and negative emotions with children's emotional skills and socio-emotional functioning in early childhood with families in Türkiye and the United States (U.S.). One hundred five parents (50 Turkish, 55 U.S.) and their 4- to 5-year-old children reminisced about family events. Videos were coded for parents' emotion coaching and dismissing. Parents self-reported expressiveness and reactions to children's emotions. Experimenters administered tasks assessing children's emotion masking and emotion understanding. Teachers reported children's social competence and behavior problems. Emotion socialization by Turkish and U.S. parents differed according to valence (positive, negative) and mode (expressiveness, reactions, discourse). For both Turkish and U.S. families, encouraging socialization of negative emotions related to children's better masking of negative emotions and poorer masking of positive emotions. For U.S. families, encouraging negative emotions related to children's poorer socio-emotional functioning. When parents encouraged positive emotions, Turkish children scored higher in masking negative emotions, whereas U.S. children scored higher in masking positive emotions and had better socio-emotional functioning. Results suggest that cultural values may influence emotion socialization and its relations to children's socio-emotional development. Particular attention should be paid to socialization modes and positive emotions.

Father absence is a pervasive issue with profound implications for the psychological well-being of individuals. It is associated with various adverse outcomes, including increased perceived stress, which can lead to a host of mental and physical health problems. Despite the well-documented effects of father absence, there is a critical need to understand the underlying mechanisms that mediate this relationship. This research highlights the importance of mindfulness and emotional factors in this dynamic from the perspective of the mindfulness reperceiving model. We conducted this exploration among 408 young adults. Results suggested that mindfulness and positive affect were associated with the relationship between father absence and perceived stress. The model also indicated that father absence was related to perceived stress through the potential chain mediating pathway of 'mindfulness-negative affect'. Individuals experiencing father absence may perceive more stress, potentially due to lower levels of positive affect and reduced mindfulness. Moreover, it highlights a possible pathway where father absence is linked to increased stress through a combination of reduced mindfulness and heightened negative affect. Understanding the mechanisms through which father absence influences perceived stress is crucial for developing effective interventions. The study offers valuable insights into potential therapeutic strategies that can alleviate stress in individuals affected by father absence.