Journal of Genetic Psychology最新文献

Peer reputation (PR) refers to how peer groups collectively view an individual in terms of socio-behavioral characteristics, such as aggression, social withdrawal, leadership, and prosociality. Despite considerable research on PR, few studies have considered PRs in relation to indices of friendship, particularly with a person-centered approach. The goal of the current study was to adopt such an approach and identify peer reputation configurations and their defining characteristics, and to examine how such configurations are linked to friendship prevalence and quality. Four hundred and twenty-six Italian seventh-grade students (57.3% male, M_age = 12.07) completed peer nomination measures of PR and reported on their friendships. Their mutual best friends were subsequently determined, and a friendship quality measure was completed. Teachers rated participants' problem behaviors and competencies. Cluster analytic methods produced four PR configurations that were defined by the following characteristics: (1) Shy/Excluded/Victimized, (2) Normative, (3) Aggressive/Arrogant, and (4) Prosocial/Popular. Teacher ratings supported these configurations such that Prosocial/Popular students were rated the lowest in problem behaviors and Shy/Excluded/Victimized and Aggressive/Arrogant were the highest in learning problems. Additional analyses showed numerous linkages between the configurations and friendship. For instance, Prosocial/Popular students were more likely to have mutual and satisfying friendships relative to students in the other groups. These findings provide new insights into the complex linkages between group- and dyadic-level peer experiences during early adolescence and may inform prevention and intervention efforts aimed at Shy/Excluded/Victimized youth struggling with peers.

Executive functions play an important role in various developmental aspects of children; however, environmental factors influencing individual differences in children's executive function and their neural substructures, particularly in middle childhood, are rarely investigated. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between the home executive function environment (HEFE) and screen time with the executive function of children aged 8-12 years by employing the mediating variables of alpha, beta, and theta waves. The parents of 133 normal children completed Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning, HEFE, and Screen Time Scales. Alpha, beta, and theta brain waves were also measured. Data were examined using correlational and path analysis. The results suggested a positive and significant relationship between home executive functions and the executive functions of children. Furthermore, the results indicated an inverse and significant relationship between screen time and executive function. The results also proved the mediating role of alpha, beta, and theta brain waves in the relationship between screen time and the children's executive function. Environmental factors (such as home environment and screen time) affect the function of brain waves and, thus, the daily executive function of children.

Parental emotional warmth plays a prominent role in adolescents' hope, but few studies have examined the underlying mechanism between parental emotional warmth and hope in rural adolescents, or have compared the gender differences in the mediation models between parental emotional warmth and hope. Based on the developmental contextualism theory and Bernardo's hope theory, this study examined the sequential mediating effect of perceived social support and prosocial behavior between parental emotional warmth and hope and test the gender differences between them. Seventeen hundred and one rural adolescents were surveyed with the Short-Form Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (s-EMBU-C), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Prosocial Tendency Measure (PTM), and Hope Scale (HS). Correlation analysis showed that there were positive correlations between parental emotional warmth, perceived social support, prosocial behavior, and hope. The structural equation model showed that parental emotional warmth indirectly affected hope through the separate and sequential mediation of perceived social support and prosocial behavior. Multi-group analysis showed that boys were significantly higher than girls in the relationship between perceived social support and prosocial behavior. The results emphasized that improving parental emotional warmth, perceived social support, and encouraging rural adolescents' prosocial behavior could effectively promote their hope.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the association of executive function (EF) based on performance-based measures and behavioral ratings (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2 [BRIEF-2]) with coping and social skills in children. To this end, we first examined the structure of EF based on performance-based measures in a Chilean sample of 275 girls and boys aged 8-12 years. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the best fit for the three-factor solution, with (1) working memory, (2) cognitive flexibility, and (3) inhibition as separate but related components. Selective associations were found between EF and coping and social skills, with differences according to the assessment method for EF. Specifically, only inhibitory control was related to the constructs when EF was assessed based on the performance-based measures. Meanwhile, EF assessed based on the behavioral ratings, including all dimensions of the BRIEF-2, were selectively associated with coping and social skills, mainly when the evaluation was performed by the teachers. Finally, structural equation models (SEM) showed that inhibitory control had direct effects on coping and social skills. However, when EF was assessed based on ratings, differences were observed between the teachers' and parents' reports. These results reveal the varying effects of EF on coping and social skills depending not only on the modality of assessment but also on the informant, emphasizing the relevance of comprehensive EF evaluation; they also provide relevant information regarding the relationship between EF and coping and social skills in children.

Helicopter parenting (HP) has become a common concept in families with young adults. A growing body of literature revealed negative consequences of perceived HP among young adults as its developmentally inappropriate parenting. However, there is still a limitation of an empirical study on the impact of HP on young adults' technology addiction. Accordingly, this study investigated possible relationships between HP, self-control, self-efficacy, and multi-screen addiction (MSA) among Turkish emerging adults. 556 college students (M_age=21.02) from two major universities in Turkey participated in the study. The results showed that mother helicopter parenting (MHP) and father helicopter parenting (FHP) related to MSA and a low level of self-control but not self-esteem. In addition, the results from a mediation analysis indicated that MHP had an indirect effect on MSA through a low level of self-control. The results of the study confirmed the importance of parenting in MSA among young adults.

The associations between the various dimensions of parenting and adolescent bullying have been widely studied, but it is unclear whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity and grade. The current study utilized the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children data in the United States for the investigation. The findings show that supportive parenting and permissive parenting were negatively associated with bullying victimization. However, controlling parenting and neglectful parenting were positively associated with bullying victimization. The results further revealed that the dimensions of parenting were similarly associated with bullying victimization across racial/ethnic groups. Parenting was also similarly associated with bullying victimization for both middle and high school students, except for supportive parenting, where middle school students with more parental support reported less bullying victimization. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Links between parental marital conflict and children's sibling conflict have been well examined; however, the underlying mechanism of this link needs to be further studied. This study investigated the mediating role of parental intervention styles (i.e. child-centered strategies, control strategies, and nonintervention strategies) and children's control behavior toward their sibling between parental marital conflict and children's sibling conflict. We recruited 689 Chinese children (53.7% girls) aged 8-13 years to participate in the study. Results indicated that parental marital conflict, control strategies, nonintervention strategies, and children's control behavior toward sibling were positively associated with sibling conflict among children. Child-centered strategies were negatively correlated with children's sibling conflict. Furthermore, control and nonintervention strategies of parents and control behavior of children toward sibling simultaneously partially mediated between parental marital and child-sibling conflict. The mediating role of child-centered strategies was not significant. These findings suggest that parental strategies of control and nonintervention and children's control behavior toward their sibling may increase the risk of sibling conflict among children after repeated exposure to parental marital conflict. In contrast, child-centered strategies may be a protective factor for children regarding sibling conflict. Current findings confirm the combined effects of parent and child behavior on child-sibling conflict. They also help parents deal with sibling conflict among their children and promote more positive relationships among siblings.

Community characteristics can explain differences in bullying rates between schools. Underpinned by the social-ecological model, this study examined the relationships among community violence exposure (CVE), moral emotions (guilt and sympathy), and bullying in adolescents. We also explored the moderating role of gender in these relationships. The sample included 915 adolescents (48.6% female and 51.4% male) aged 11-16 (M age = 13.76, SD = 0.82). Students responded to the self-report measures. We used a latent variable structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to examine the relationships between variables. The SEM indicated that CVE was negatively associated with moral emotions (guilt and sympathy) and positively associated with bullying. In addition, CVE had a negative indirect association with bullying through their negative relationship with moral emotions. The structural model is equivalent for both genders, suggesting gender does not moderate these relationships. These findings indicate that CVE are associated with differences in school bullying rates.

Bullying victimization is associated with sleep disturbance. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of bullying victimization on sleep disturbance, and the moderating effect of mindfulness on this association, also exploring differences across sex. A sample of 420 Chinese children (Mage = 9.60, SD age = 1.11, 48.10% girls) in grade 3 to grade 6 were recruited to complete the revised Bully/Victim Questionnaire, the Chinese version of Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, as well as the Family Affluence Scale. Results showed that bullying victimization was positively associated with sleep disturbance (β = 0.20, p < 0.001). And the effect of bullying victimization on sleep disturbance was moderated by mindfulness (β = -0.16, p < 0.001), and the effect was invalid for children with high mindfulness (β = 0.04, p > 0.05). Subgroup analyses indicated the buffering effect of mindfulness only existed among boys (β = -0.19, p < 0.01) but not girls (β = -0.11, p > 0.05), suggesting that mindfulness may buffer this association, mainly for boys.

Childhood is a period of pronounced improvements in children's ability to remember connections between details of an event (i.e. binding ability). However, the mechanisms supporting these changes remain unclear. Prior evidence is mixed, with some proposing that improvements in the ability to identify previous connections (i.e. increases in hits) account for memory changes, whereas other evidence suggests changes are additionally supported by the ability to identify inaccurate connections (i.e. decreases in false alarms). To disentangle the role of each process, we investigated changes in hits and false alarms within the same paradigm. The present study of 200 4-to-8-year-old children (100 female) used a cohort sequential design to assess longitudinal change in binding ability. Developmental trajectories of d', hit, and false alarm rates were examined using latent growth analysis. Findings demonstrated non-linear improvements in children's binding ability from age 4-to-8-years. Improvements were differentially supported by hits and false alarms. Hit rates improved non-linearly from 4-to-8-years, with greater growth from 4-to-6-years. False alarm rates did not significantly change from 4-to-6-years, but significantly decreased from 6-to-8-years. Overall, findings show improvements in binding ability are predominantly supported by increased hit rates between 4-to-6-years and by both increasing hit rates and decreasing false alarms rates between 6-to-8-years. Together, these results suggest that binding development is non-linear and that mechanisms underlying improvements differ across childhood.