Emotional regulation and emotional development

Relationships between gross motor skills, psychological resilience, executive function, and emotional regulation among Chinese rural preschoolers: A moderated mediation model

Background

Emotional regulation is a critical component of emotional intelligence, particularly during the preschool stage, a key period for children's development. Previous studies have demonstrated that executive function mediates the effect of gross motor skills on emotional understanding. However, studies specifically focusing on children from rural areas and investigating the role of psychological resilience are limited. The present study fills this knowledge gap by examining the effect of gross motor skills on emotional regulation and the roles of executive function and psychological resilience among Chinese rural preschool children.

Methods

This study included 430 children (aged 61.01 ± 6.98 months, 48.8 % boys) and their teachers from three rural preschools in China. Children's gross motor skills, including locomotor and object control skills, were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3. Executive function was measured using the Head-Toes-Knee-Shoulder task, and emotional regulation was assessed using the Emotional Regulation Checklist. Furthermore, psychological resilience was examined using the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment. Demographic information was collected, and the cross-sectional relationships between gross motor skills and emotional regulation were investigated through mediation and moderation analyses.

Results

Gross motor skills, executive function, and psychological resilience were associated with emotional regulation (p < 0.05), after controlling for sex, age, and only-child status. Executive function was found to mediate the relationship between gross motor skills and emotional regulation, with a mediation effect of 0.045. Psychological resilience moderated the relationship between executive function and emotional regulation (β = 0.078, p < 0.05). Simple slope analysis, based on categorizing psychological resilience into high, medium, and low groups, revealed that preschoolers with a higher level of psychological resilience exhibited a significantly stronger predictive effect of executive function on emotional regulation (β = 0.202, p < 0.01).

Conclusions

Gross motor skills significantly affect emotional regulation development in rural preschoolers, with executive function acting as a mediator in this relationship. Psychological resilience was found to moderate the effect of executive function on emotional regulation. The findings suggest that enhancing gross motor skills through physical activities can benefit children by promoting the development of executive function, which is crucial for emotional regulation. On the basis of our findings, we recommend focusing on cost-effective physical activity interventions for motor skills development among rural children while also addressing the development of executive function and psychological resilience. Future efforts should include workshops to improve physical literacy of parents and teachers regarding children's gross motor skills promotion.

Relationship between physical exercise, bullying, and being bullied among junior high school students: the multiple mediating effects of emotional management and interpersonal relationship distress

OBJECTIVE

This paper investigates the relationships between physical activity (PA), school bullying, emotion regulation self-efficacy (ERS), and interpersonal relationship distress (IRD) among junior high school students. It also examines the underlying mechanisms of school bullying to provide insights into reducing adolescent bullying and to lay the groundwork for preventing and controlling aggressive behaviors.

METHODS

A survey was conducted on 484 students (240 males, 12.18 ± 0.8 years) from 4 secondary schools using the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS), Emotional Management Self-Efficacy Scale (EMSS), Interpersonal Relationship Distress Scale (IRDS), and Campus Bullying Scale (CBS) to examine the effects among the variables. A stratified random sampling method was used to select the sample, and data were collected with a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 statistical software. The analysis included Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap methods.

RESULTS

(1) PA negatively predicts IRD, which in turn has an indirect effect on bullying (PA → IRD → Bullying), ES = -0.063. Additionally, EM and IRD act as mediators between PA and school bullying (PA → EM → IRD → Bullying), ES = 0.025. (2) PA negatively predicts IRD, which has an indirect effect on being bullied (PA → IRD → Being bullied), ES = -0.044. EM and IRD serve as chain mediators between PA and being bullied (PA → EM → IRD → Being bullied), ES = -0.071.

CONCLUSION

PA can positively predict bullying, but it can be mitigated through EM to reduce IRD, thereby decreasing the occurrence of campus bullying and being bullied.

Indirect effects of health-related quality of life on suicidal ideation through psychological distress among cancer patients

The interrelationships of suicidal ideation, psychological distress, and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in cancer patients are complex and multifaceted. Limited empirical evidence exists on the indirect effects of impaired HRQoL on suicidal ideation through psychological distress among cancer patients. To fill this research gap, 250 cancer patients were recruited through a cross-sectional hospital-based research design. Structural equation model (SEM) results indicated that impaired HRQoL is a predictor of psychological distress (β = 0.153; p < 0.05), and psychological distress positively predicts suicidal ideation (β = 0.647; p < 0.000). The study found no direct effects of impaired HRQoL on suicidal ideation (β = -0.05; p = 0.223). Indirect effects of HRQoL on suicidal ideation was confirmed, showing a full-mediation effect β = 0.099 (SE = 0.048, CI = [0.030, 0.189], p < 0.05) (i.e. the pathway impaired HRQoL predict suicidal ideation is through psychological distress). Cognitive-behavioral therapy and other emotional support programs should be considered for cancer patients to mitigate psychological vulnerabilities linking impaired HRQoL to suicidal ideation.

The association between emotional regulation dimensions and somatic symptom disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Clarifying the effect size of the association between somatic symptom disorders (SSDs) and defects in emotional regulation (ER) dimensions through a meta-analysis may improve ER-related treatment for SSD patients. SSDs exhibited a lower level of adaptive ER (overall Hedge's g = -0.618, 95 %CI [0.872, -0.365]; Hedge's g for ER dimensions of Awareness, Description, Clarity, Acceptance, Tolerance, Self-efficacy belief, and Cognitive Reappraisal ranged from -0.451 to -1.344). Maladaptive ER dimensions (catastrophizing and expressive inhibition) showed no significant associations with SSDs. Psychotherapy focusing on developing adaptive ER rather than reducing maladaptive ER may be a more promising approach for treating SSD patients.

Emotional regulation and Arnold's self-ideal: a way to flourishment

The convergence of researchers in the fields of flourishing, moral psychology, and social-emotional studies has reached a stage where developing a theory that connects emotional regulation and flourishing is meaningful. This theoretical investigation aims to uncover insights from the research of Magda B. Arnold, renowned for her theory of emotions, and lesser-known for her notion of the self-ideal, regarding the relationship between emotional regulation and flourishing. Our initial hypothesis posits that Arnold's concept of self-ideal provides a framework for understanding how to foster emotional regulation in individuals by directing it toward constructive life objectives. To achieve this, we explore the current state of emotional regulation and flourishing and the relationship between these concepts; we consider the interconnectedness of emotion and self-ideal within Arnold's theory and analyze its potential to serve as a foundation for building a theory relating flourishing and emotional regulation. We find in Arnold's theory substantial ideas about the relationship between emotional regulation, flourishing, and self-ideal, as well as emerging empirical research relating to these themes. We conclude that Arnold's research can serve as a catalyst for developing psychological intervention models that enhance emotional regulation and promote a flourishing life.

Does emotion regulation mediate the relationship between self-compassion and subjective well-being? A cross-sectional study of adults living in the United States

Subjective well-being influences mental and physical health. Fortunately, interventions exist to improve people's subjective well-being. Emotion regulation and self-compassion are two transdiagnostic factors that impact mental health and have been separately shown to be associated with subjective well-being. However, their combined relationship with subjective well-being has not yet been examined. To address this gap, the current novel study aimed to determine if there is a combined relationship between self-compassion, emotion regulation, and dimensions of subjective well-being cross-sectionally in adults living in the United States. Participants (n = 559; 50% female; Mage = 57.70 years) completed an online survey via Prime Panels from CloudResearch, capturing their responses on the interested constructs. Analyses showed that emotion regulation significantly mediated the relationships between self-compassion and various subjective well-being dimensions, specifically, positive affect (d = 0.32), negative affect (d = 1.17), and eudemonic well-being (d = 0.79). Our findings have both clinical and research implications.

Adaptive-to-maladaptive gradient of emotion regulation tendencies are embedded in the functional-structural hybrid connectome

BACKGROUND

Emotion regulation tendencies are well-known transdiagnostic markers of psychopathology, but their neurobiological foundations have mostly been examined within the theoretical framework of cortical-subcortical interactions.

METHODS

We explored the connectome-wide neural correlates of emotion regulation tendencies using functional and diffusion magnetic resonance images of healthy young adults (N = 99; age 20-30; 28 females). We first tested the importance of considering both the functional and structural connectome through intersubject representational similarity analyses. Then, we employed a canonical correlation analysis between the functional-structural hybrid connectome and 23 emotion regulation strategies. Lastly, we sought to externally validate the results on a transdiagnostic adolescent sample (N = 93; age 11-19; 34 females).

RESULTS

First, interindividual similarity of emotion regulation profiles was significantly correlated with interindividual similarity of the functional-structural hybrid connectome, more so than either the functional or structural connectome. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that an adaptive-to-maladaptive gradient of emotion regulation tendencies mapped onto a specific configuration of covariance within the functional-structural hybrid connectome, which primarily involved functional connections in the motor network and the visual networks as well as structural connections in the default mode network and the subcortical-cerebellar network. In the transdiagnostic adolescent dataset, stronger functional signatures of the found network were associated with higher general positive affect through more frequent use of adaptive coping strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, our study illustrates a gradient of emotion regulation tendencies that is best captured when simultaneously considering the functional and structural connections across the whole brain.

Influence of meaningfulness of work and leadership characteristics on customer-directed counterproductive work behavior resulting from customer mistreatment

This study explored the impact of customer mistreatment on counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and the moderating role of supervisor responses (self-sacrificial and self-serving leadership) to clarify why customer-directed CWB occurs and how it can be reduced. A sample of 392 customer-facing employees in the USA completed measures assessing the meaningfulness of work and self-sacrificial and self-serving leadership experiences. The meaningfulness of work moderated the relationship between customer mistreatment and employee anger, and a three-way interaction was found between employee anger and self-sacrificial and self-serving leadership on customer-directed CWB. Implications for managing customer mistreatment and fostering meaningful work to promote employee well-being are discussed.

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies as a mediator between cyber dating violence and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among college students

Objective: Cyber dating violence (CDV) is prevalent among emerging adults and could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, limited research has been conducted on potential mitigating (or exacerbating) factors, such as the use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CER). The present study examined whether CER strategies mediate the relationship between CDV and PTSD. Participants: Among a sample of 598 college students, the present study focuses on those who reported past-year CDV (56%; N = 335). Methods: An online survey was completed by college students to assess CDV, CER, and PTSD using validated self-report measures. Results: CDV was bivariately correlated with PTSD symptoms as well as adaptive and maladaptive CER. Within a mediation model, maladaptive (but not adaptive) CER mediated the relationship between CDV and PTSD. Conclusions: CDV is common among college students. Targeting maladaptive CER, such as self-blame and rumination, could lead to reductions in PTSD symptoms.

Childhood Maltreatment and Spiritual Well-Being: Intolerance of Uncertainty and Emotion Regulation as Mediators in Turkish Sample

Spiritual well-being is a phenomenon that enhances the quality of life and acts as a protective factor against stress and negative emotions. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether childhood psychological maltreatment is related to spiritual well-being and whether intolerance of uncertainty and emotion regulation serially mediate this relationship. The study sample comprised 330 participants aged between 18 and 55 years from 46 out of the 81 cities in Türkiye. The study participants completed the Psychological Maltreatment Questionnaire, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, Emotion Regulation Scale, and Spiritual Well-Being Scale, a scale derived from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being that measures spiritual well-being by using the conceptualization of meaning and peace. The data obtained were analyzed using a two-step structural equation modeling approach, which indicated that childhood psychological maltreatment has an association with spiritual well-being, and this relationship is mediated by both intolerance of uncertainty and emotion regulation. The findings are discussed in the context of the literature on spiritual well-being.

How adult children experience and cope with their parents' diagnosis of multiple myeloma: A qualitative exploration

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to understand and explore the caregiving experience of adult children of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) during diagnosis and initial treatment based in Chinese filial piety culture.

METHODS

A descriptive phenomenology study was conducted to investigate semi-structured interview responses from the adult children (N = 22) of MM patients within three months after diagnosis. Colaizzi's descriptive analysis framework was employed to analyze data. This study was reported following the COREQ checklist.

RESULTS

Four themes and twelve subthemes were identified from the interviews. (1) Commitment to filial piety. Participants subconsciously fulfilled their commitment to filial piety by supporting their parents, obeying their wishes, providing emotional comfort, and protecting them from harm. (2) Experiencing multiple dilemmas. They faced challenges such as difficult treatment decisions, insufficient caregiving preparation, emotional distress, and role conflict. (3) Benefiting from setbacks. The caregiving experience allowed participants to cherish the present more and to establish a new view of life. (4) Adaptive coping. Family supports and self-adaptation are effective coping strategies to achieve their good psychosocial adaptation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides a culturally sensitive perspective on the caregiving experience of adult children of patients with MM. This study found that Chinese culture, especially filial piety culture, influenced the experiences and coping strategies of MM caregivers. Healthcare providers should focus on the challenges faced by adult children and develop various strategies to help them cushion the burden and adjust to caregiving roles, such as supportive care programs, meaning-centered psychotherapy, and family-centered medical communication interventions.

The Emotional Content of Children's Writing: A Data-Driven Approach

Emotion is closely associated with language, but we know very little about how children express emotion in their own writing. We used a large-scale, cross-sectional, and data-driven approach to investigate emotional expression via writing in children of different ages, and whether it varies for boys and girls. We first used a lexicon-based bag-of-words approach to identify emotional content in a large corpus of stories (N>100,000) written by 7- to 13-year-old children. Generalized Additive Models were then used to model changes in sentiment across age and gender. Two other machine learning approaches (BERT and TextBlob) validated and extended these analyses, converging on the finding that positive sentiments in children's writing decrease with age. These findings echo reports from previous studies showing a decrease in mood and an increased use of negative emotion words with age. We also found that stories by girls contained more positive sentiments than stories by boys. Our study shows the utility of large-scale data-driven approaches to reveal the content and nature of children's writing. Future experimental work should build on these observations to understand the likely complex relationships between written language and emotion, and how these change over development.

Maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, maternal insensitivity to children's distress, and young children's blunted emotional reactivity

Maternal insensitivity to children's emotional distress (e.g., expressions of sadness or fearfulness) is one mechanism through which maternal alcohol dependence may increase children's risk for psychopathology. Although emotion dysregulation is consistently associated with psychopathology, it remains unclear how or why alcohol dependence's effects on caregiving responses to children's distress may impact children's emotion regulation over time, particularly in ways that may engender risks for psychopathology. This study examined longitudinal associations between lifetime maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, mothers' insensitivity to children's emotional distress cues, and children's emotional reactivity among 201 mother-child dyads (Mchild age = 2.14 years; 56% Black; 11% Latino). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a significant mediational pathway such that maternal alcohol dependence predicted increases in mothers' insensitivity to children's emotional distress across a one-year period (β = .16, p = .013), which subsequently predicted decreases in children's emotional reactivity one year later (β = -.29, p = .009). Results suggest that mothers with alcohol dependence symptoms may struggle to sensitively respond to children's emotional distress, which may prompt children to suppress or hide their emotions as an adaptive, protective strategy. The potential developmental benefits and consequences of early, protective expressive suppression strategies are discussed via developmental psychopathology frameworks.

Emotion Dysregulation Mediates the Relationship Between Sensory Processing and Behavior Problems in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study

Emotion dysregulation is one of the challenges that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families face. It is unclear whether emotion dysregulation plays a mediating role in the relationship between sensory processing patterns and problem behaviors among these children. This study examined the relations between emotion dysregulation, behavioral problems, and sensory processing patterns among fifty-seven young children with ASD. Behavioral problems and sensory processing patterns were moderately to strongly correlated with emotion dysregulation. The relationship between sensory processing patterns and behavioral problems was significant with emotion dysregulation as a mediator. These findings help identify the relationship between emotion dysregulation, sensory processing patterns, and behavioral problems to facilitate the planning of intervention strategies for young children with ASD.

Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire-short (CERQ-P-short): Reliability, validity, factor structure, treatment sensitivity, and measurement invariance

AIMS

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a widely-used measure of emotion regulation, the short version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-short), in the Persian language (CERQ-P-short) among Iranian populations.

METHODS

The CERQ-P-short was administered to 1825 participants (female = 974) including 436 adolescents, 834 adults from the general population, 45 patients each with generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, an additional 30 patients each with generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders receiving treatment, 45 patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) and an additional 360 adult psychiatric patients. We tested reliability, factor structure, measurement invariance, convergent and discriminant validity, and treatment sensitivity (i.e., intervention response) by age, sex, and diagnostic group. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 was also administered.

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest coefficients suggested good reliability. Fit indices suggested that the 9-factor CERQ-P-Short model was good across groups. The CERQ-P-Short showed good measurement invariance in all four models (configural, metric, scalar, and strict) in all groups. Both adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion-regulation strategies demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, treatment sensitivity of the CERQ-P-Short scale before and after the completion of treatment sessions was suggested for patients with generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

While the present study has some limitations, it represents a significant contribution because it supports CERQ-P-Short scales usefulness, validity, and reliability in the general population and among psychiatric patients. The results of the current study can be beneficial to the both clinicians and researchers.

Emotional Dysregulation and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms: Which Interaction in Adolescents and Young Adults? A Systematic Review

Emotional dysregulation (ED) has recently been conceptualized as a transnosographic entity in major mental disorders, and increasing evidence has suggested association between ED and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), though the nature of this association is unclear. The aim of the present review was to examine the possible interplay between ED and trauma exposure in the literature, as well as a possible role for the comorbidity of PTSD or PTSS in adolescents and young adults. In particular, we explored whether ED may represent a risk factor for PTSD or, conversely, a consequence of traumatic exposure. This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines in three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Embase). The 34 studies included showed a wide heterogeneity in terms of the populations selected and outcomes examined. Most studies used the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and examined the relationship between ED, trauma, and psychopathological manifestations after the occurrence of trauma, with a focus on child abuse. Although current data in the literature are heterogeneous and inconclusive, this research highlights the role of ED as a mechanism that may mediate vulnerability to PTSD, but also as a predictor of severity and maintenance of typical, atypical, or associated PTSD symptoms, suggesting prevention programs for PTSD and other mental disorders should support the development of emotion regulation strategies.

Experience of mental health in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: a descriptive phenomenological study

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the experiences, emotional coping strategies, and help-seeking needs of women with PCOS from their perspective, considering common psychological issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression that are prevalent among individuals with PCOS. Materials and Methods: The study recruited 14 women with PCOS for semi-structured interviews between October and November 2022, using a descriptive phenomenology method design. The interviews were analyzed using NVivo 12 software. Results: Four themes and eleven subthemes were derived from the semi-structured interviews: (1) Negative Mental Health Status; (2) Four Patterns of Emotion Regulation; (3) The Psychological Double-Edged Sword: Family Social Network; (4) Strong Demands for Psychological Counseling and Lifestyle Guidance. Conclusion: The study suggests that interventions should focus on fostering internalized self-efficacy and emotional expression, promoting constructive familial support, and providing psychological counseling and lifestyle recommendations to alleviate psychological distress experienced by women with PCOS.

Mindfulness Intervention Improves Coping and Perceptions of Children's Behavior among Families with Elevated Risk

Mindfulness-informed interventions (MIIs) are increasingly common but have not been extensively studied among families with elevated levels of risk (e.g., those involved in child protective services and/or receiving financial assistance). These families often experience high rates of stressors that can impact coping strategies, interpersonal dynamics, and relationships. Given that mindfulness has been shown to promote health and wellbeing, this study used a sample from two pilot randomized controlled trials to test the extent to which a mindfulness-informed intervention improved coping strategies and perceptions of children's behavior among 53 families with elevated risk. A principal components analysis with a direct oblimin rotation revealed that cognitive-emotion coping strategies could be characterized by three factors: positive adaptation, negative adaptation, and positive refocusing. Intention-to-treat analysis indicated significant group by time differences, with intervention participants demonstrating improvements in positive refocusing coping, positive adaptation coping, and perceptions of children's behavior problems compared to participants in the waitlist control group. No significant differences were found for negative adaptation coping strategies. Findings provide preliminary support for the benefits of mindfulness training in a sample generally underrepresented in the mindfulness intervention literature.

Parental sensitivity, family alliance and infants' vagal tone: Influences of early family interactions on physiological emotion regulation

In this study, we investigated the influence of parental sensitivity and family alliance on infants' vagal tone, considered as a physiological indicator of emotion regulation. Studies on mother-infant interactions have shown that vagal tone can be influenced by the quality of the interaction, such as interacting with a sensitive mother. To date, no study has investigated the influence of paternal sensitivity or family alliance on infants' vagal tone. We hypothesized that maternal sensitivity, paternal sensitivity, and family alliance would be associated with infants' vagal tone during dyadic and triadic interactions. We also explored if family alliance would act as a moderator on the association between parental sensitivity and vagal tone and if the sensitivity of both parents would act as a moderator on the association between family alliance and vagal tone. This study took place in Switzerland and included 82 families with their 3-4-month-old infants. Results showed that maternal sensitivity and family alliance were associated with infants' vagal tone, but paternal sensitivity was not. We found no significant moderation effect. However, result tendencies suggested that the contribution of paternal sensitivity to infants' emotion regulation could be influenced by family alliance, whereas maternal sensitivity and family alliance have a unique contribution.

Brief report: noise reduction in preschool from a self-regulated learning perspective-implementation of a game-based voice regulation training program

An 8-week voice regulation training program (VRTP) incorporating everyday activities was implemented in an experimental preschool classroom (EG; n = 34), which was compared with a control preschool classroom (CG; n = 31). The VRTP includes songs, games, and conversations aiming to raise children's awareness of noise levels and teach voice modulation skills. Grounded in the theoretical framework of self-regulated learning, the study's objectives were to evaluate the impact of the VRTP on noise levels, children's self-regulation, and pre-literacy skills. Noise levels were assessed weekly using an electronic noise meter before and during the program. The EG preschoolers demonstrated modest but significant improvements over their pre-VRTP levels of voice modulation, behavioral and emotional self-regulated learning, and pre-literacy skills, in contrast with the CG children. The findings provide evidence that young children's self-regulation may be enhanced in preschool, challenging the field of developmental-educational psychology to consider self-regulated learning during early childhood.

Emotional dysregulation as a part of the autism spectrum continuum: a literature review from late childhood to adulthood

The concept of emotional dysregulation (ED) has recently gained interest in the scientific literature and is commonly defined as the inability to use the modulatory mechanisms involved in emotion regulation, resulting in a functioning meaningfully below the baseline. Even though the data available are still limited, an increasing number of studies have hypothesized a promoting role for some of the core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the development of ED, in particular being repetitive behaviors, social difficulties and alexythimia. In this framework, the purpose of this study was to review the literature that is currently available about presence and correlates of ED in young adults with autism spectrum conditions as well as to offer some insights about possible implications for illness trajectories. The data reported seems to point to a shared etiology between ED and repetitive/restricted ASD symptoms, with perseveration features serving as the foundation for the inability to control one's emotions. In this context, a neurodevelopmental basis for ED could be consistent with the transnosographic conceptualization of ASD, which hypothesizes a potential neurodevelopmental basis for several psychiatric disorders, whose autistic traits would be the phenotypical presentation.

Protective Factors against Fear of Cancer Recurrence in Breast Cancer Patients: A Latent Growth Model

The current study aimed to examine the fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) trajectory and protective predictors in women coping with breast cancer (BC). The study's model investigated whether a higher coping self-efficacy and positive cognitive-emotion regulation at the time of the BC diagnosis would lead to reduced levels of FCR at six months and in later stages (12 and 18 months) post-diagnosis. The sample included 494 women with stages I to III BC from Finland, Italy, Portugal, and Israel. They completed self-report questionnaires, including the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI-SF), the Cancer Behavior Inventory-Brief Version (CBI-B), the Cognitive-Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ short), and medical-social-demographic data. Findings revealed that a higher coping self-efficacy at diagnosis predicted lower FCR levels after six months but did not impact the FCR trajectory over time. Surprisingly, positive cognitive-emotion regulation did not predict FCR levels or changes over 18 months. FCR levels remained stable from six to 18 months post-diagnosis. This study emphasizes the importance of developing specific cancer coping skills, such as coping self-efficacy. Enhancing coping self-efficacy in the first six months after BC diagnosis may lead to lower FCR levels later, as FCR tends to persist in the following year.

Contributions of socioeconomic status and cognition to emotion processes and internalizing psychopathology in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review

This systematic review evaluated evidence from 25 manuscripts regarding three possible relationships of socioeconomic disadvantage (SESD) and cognition to emotion knowledge (EK), emotion regulation (ER), and internalizing psychopathology (IP) across development; a) independent contributions of disadvantage and cognition; b) cognition mediates relations of disadvantage; or c) cognition moderates' relations of disadvantage. Results support associations between SESD and cognition to emotion that differ by cognitive domain and developmental epoch. For EK, in early and middle childhood language and executive functions contribute to EK independent of SESD, and early childhood executive functions may interact with socioeconomic status (SES) to predict prospective EK. Regarding ER, language contributes to ER independent of SES across development and may mediate associations between SES and ER in adolescence. Regarding IP, SES, language, executive function, and general ability have independent contributions to IP across development; in adolescence executive function may mediate or moderate associations between SES and IP. Findings highlight the need for nuanced and developmentally sensitive research on the contributions of SESD and domains of cognition to emotion.

The Inter-Relationship of Emotion Regulation, Self-Compassion, and Mental Health in Autistic Adults

Background

Emotion regulation is one of the key factors that influence mental health outcomes in autistic and nonautistic populations. Recent research has also identified self-compassion as a negative correlate of depression and positive correlate of psychological well-being in autistic adults. Empirical evidence from the general population supports the notion that being kind and compassionate toward oneself during stressful and difficult moments can help with one's ability to regulate negative emotions, which then has flow-on effects on mental health outcomes. However, the inter-relationship between self-compassion, emotion regulation, and mental health has not been examined in autistic samples. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if emotion regulation mediates the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety or depression in a sample of autistic adults.

Methods

Participants were 153 adults (meanage = 35.70, standard deviationage = 12.62) who had either self-reported a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or self-identified as autistic. They completed an online survey capturing self-compassion, emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression. We hypothesized that emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety or depression, and self-compassion would not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and anxiety or depression.

Results

As predicted, only emotion regulation mediated the relationship between self-compassion and mental health outcomes. Self-compassion did not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and mental health outcomes.

Conclusion

This study provides preliminary evidence for the role that self-compassion plays in improving emotion regulation and mental health in autistic adults. If this mechanism of emotion regulation mediating the relationship between self-compassion and mental health is consistently found in future studies, then it would be helpful for future research to examine the clinical benefits of including a self-compassion component in emotion regulation interventions to improve mental health outcomes of autistic adults.

Student Burnout in Children and Adolescents: The Role of Attachment and Emotion Regulation

In an effort to explain the factors contributing to the development of student burnout, a construct that has received attention in relation to academic outcomes, including burnout, is emotion regulation. Further, attachment theory has been used to explore the variations in the use of particular emotion regulation strategies, and attachment has received support as a contributing factor. The aim of the study is to explore the role of attachment security and emotion regulation strategies associated with student burnout symptoms in a sample of 602 Romanian children and adolescents (55% female) aged 8-16 (M = 10.45) from 18 schools. A secondary objective was to explore the gender differences in burnout symptoms. The results show that attachment security negatively predicts student burnout symptoms. Further, a higher attachment security positively predicts the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, which, in turn, are negatively related to student burnout. Emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationship between attachment and burnout symptoms. No gender differences have been identified. The study has practical implications for both parents and specialists, bringing to attention the importance of secure attachment in children, which could further encourage the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies.

Normative developmental vs. reverse developmental trends in memory distortion: a framework to investigate the impact of internal and external influences on memory and their relevance to legal decisions

There are two opposing positions regarding the development of memory: the normative developmental position, and the reverse developmental position. The normative position, which has long been the default presupposition, supports the notion that susceptibility to memory distortion, including false memories, decreases with age. In contrast, the concept of "developmental reversals" supports the notion that susceptibility to memory distortion and false memories increases with age. Each perspective finds support from existing theories as well as from research on endogenous and exogenous sources of influence. In a legal context, having an accurate understanding of the developmental course of false memory can contribute on the one hand to mitigating wrongful convictions and, on the other hand, to appreciating the accuracy of children's statements when warranted. This review aims to integrate the existing literature regarding these seemingly opposite developmental courses and construct a framework outlining the conditions under which we may observe one age trend over the other. This entails an examination of the paradigms that have been invoked to support these competing positions, specifically developmental responses to internal vs. external sources of distortion.

The effect of picture book reading on young children's use of an emotion regulation strategy

Picture book reading is an enjoyable everyday activity for many young children with well-known benefits for language development. The present study investigated whether picture book reading can support young children's social-emotional development by providing a learning opportunity for the usage of emotion regulation strategies. Three-year-old children participated in two waiting situations designed to elicit negative affect. Between these waiting situations they read a picture book. In two experimental conditions, the book depicted how a protagonist (same-aged peer or young adult, respectively) waited for a desired object and distracted herself with toys while waiting. Children in an additional control condition read a picture book that was unrelated to waiting. Use of distraction did not differ between conditions. Parents often read picture book interactively with their children. Therefore, in an additional condition (Exp. 2), the experimenter read the picture book featuring the same-aged peer protagonist in an interactive way intended to facilitate transfer. Apart from the reading style, the design was identical to experiment 1. Experiment 2 intended to test whether changes in reading style lead to differences in three-year old children's social-emotional learning from picture books. When controlling for the children's picture book experience, children in the experimental conditions exhibited an increase in distraction in contrast to children in the control condition. In sum, results suggest that picture book reading could be an ecologically valid and versatile method for supporting 3-year-old children in their use of an age-appropriate adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as distraction.

Risk Factors in Depression and Anxiety Disorders from the Framework of Developmental Psychopathology

Depression and anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders that negatively affect individuals’ life in many ways. Understanding how these highly comorbid emotional disorders develop and persist might guide prevention, intervention, and treatment studies. Some common vulnerability factors underlie depression and anxiety disorders. Developmental psychopathology deals with these vulnerabilities and risk factors from a lifetime perspective. The aim of this review is to present the risk factors associated with depression and anxiety from the perspective of developmental psychopathology. For this purpose, we discussed genetic and biological factors, temperament, negative childhood experiences, family and peer relationships, and some cognitive and emotional factors as risk factors. Also, we discussed how these risk factors lead to depression and anxiety disorders. This review emphasizes that some common transdiagnostic risk factors underlie emotional disorders and highlights the importance of a developmental psychopathology perspective to understand the developmental pathways of depression and anxiety disorders.

The relationship between self-esteem and aggressive behavior among Chinese adolescents: A moderated chain mediation model

This study aimed to examine the relationship between adolescent self-esteem and aggressive behavior. Specifically, a moderated chain mediation model was developed to investigate the mediating role of jealousy and self-control and the moderating role of gender. Data were collected from 652 Chinese adolescents who completed the Self-Esteem Scale, Self-Report Jealousy Scale, Self-Control Scale and Aggressive Behavior Questionnaire. Results showed that adolescent self-esteem may significantly negatively affect aggressive behavior by mediating with jealousy and self-control. Moreover, gender possibly moderates the serial mediating effect of jealousy and self-control between adolescent self-esteem and aggressive behavior. The results have important theoretical and practical implications in that these reveal the influencing factors of adolescent aggressive behavior and the pathways to reduce such behavior.

Differential Associations of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies with Depression, Anxiety, and Insomnia in Adolescence and Early Adulthood

While difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) are consistently linked to poor mental health in adulthood, findings in adolescence have been more mixed. Cognitive ER strategies, which involve the ability to manage emotions through mental processes, may be particularly important during different stages of development due to age-specific adjustments. We conducted two exploratory and cross-sectional studies to examine the relationships between cognitive ER strategies and mental health (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms) in two samples: 431 young adults (M_age = 20.66 ± 2.21; 70% women and 30% men) and 271 adolescents (M_age = 14.80 ± 0.0.59; 44.6% girls and 55.4% boys). The participants completed a group of questionnaires, including the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Youth Self Report. We employed hierarchical multiple regressions to assess the unique contribution of cognitive ER strategies to mental health outcomes. Maladaptive strategies (such as rumination and catastrophizing) were consistently associated with impaired mental health in both samples, while adaptive strategies (such as positive refocusing and positive reappraisal) were only associated with better mental health in young adults. These findings support the importance of cognitive ER strategies as potential risk factors for psychopathology and suggest that interventions aimed at improving emotion regulation may be beneficial. The age-specific differences in the relationship between cognitive ER strategies and mental health may reflect the refinement of emotion regulation abilities across the lifespan.

Relationship between Cognitive Strategies of Emotion Regulation and Dimensions of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomatology in Adolescents

Cognitive emotion regulation refers to the management of one's emotions through cognitive strategies. Studies have found that individuals with obsessive-compulsive symptoms utilize emotion regulation strategies differently compared to those without these symptoms. This study aims to investigate the relationship between cognitive strategies for emotion regulation and specific dimensions of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adolescents. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 307 adolescents between 12 and 18 years old. Associations between sociodemographic variables, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and emotion regulation strategies were examined using regression and network analyses. Regression results indicated that emotion regulation strategies and gender accounted for 28.2% of the variation in overall obsessive-compulsive symptoms (p < 0.001) and that emotion regulation explained most variance in the symptom dimension of obsessing. Network analysis showed that self-blame and catastrophizing were uniquely linked to overall obsessive-compulsive symptoms, while several strategies were uniquely linked to specific symptom dimensions. The adaptive strategy that demonstrated the strongest association with obsessive-compulsive symptoms was refocus on planning, while maladaptive strategies included catastrophizing, self-blame, and rumination. In conclusion, the results support the relationship between cognitive strategies for emotion regulation and dimensions of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adolescents, though these relations appear complex and require further investigation. Addressing emotion regulation in the prevention of obsessive-compulsive symptoms may be warranted, but prospective studies are needed.

Factorial Structure of the Emotional Beliefs Questionnaire: Testing Measurement Invariance and Competitive Models

The role of metacognitive beliefs towards positive and negative emotions has been stressed by several theoretical models. The Emotion Belief Questionnaire (EBQ) has been developed to assess these metacognitive beliefs. We administrated the Italian version of the EBQ, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the DERS-Positive and the short form of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) to a sample of Italian adults. (N = 516). Structural Equation Modelling testing the factorial structure of EBQ evidenced a good fit in the four-factor model compared to the three-factor model and model with two second order variables. The EBQ showed invariance across sex, and significant associations with validating variables. These results demonstrate the goodness of the four-factor structure for the EBQ and support its use for assessment of metacognition beliefs towards emotions.

Parenting stress in autism: do children's characteristics still count more than stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience higher levels of stress than parents of typically-developing (TD) children, due to differences in their children's emotional functioning. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the cognitive and practical demands on vulnerable populations and their families. The aim of this study was to examine parenting stress levels in parents of children ASD and TD children, considering the children's emotional functioning (i.e., anxiety and cognitive emotion regulation strategies), and stressful life events deriving from the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 64 parent-child dyads comprising children from 7 to 16 years old, divided into two groups: 32 (26 M) children and adolescents with ASD but no intellectual disability, and 32 (26 M) with typical development. Our results show that parents of children with ASD reported higher levels of stress, but factors relating to the child and the context had a different influence on parenting stress in the ASD and TD groups. The higher level of parenting stress in the ASD group seemed to relate more to the children's emotional characteristics, while the TD group was more affected by the unpredictable stressful events prompted by COVID-19. Families' mental health should be considered a core aspect of supporting parents having to deal with both their child's emotional adjustment and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The efficacy of mindfulness-based therapy for anxiety, social skills, and aggressive behaviors in children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic review

Introduction

The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions for improving anxiety, social skills, and aggressive behaviors in children and young people (CYP) with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); summarize the results across clinic, home, and school contexts; and evaluate the quality of these interventions for clinical practice.

Methods

A search of the PsycINFO, Medline (Ovid), Web of Science, and Scopus databases was conducted in June 2021, and no date restrictions were applied. Inclusion criteria were quantitative or qualitative research implementing a mindfulness-based intervention for CYP aged 6–25 years with a diagnosis of ASD, Pervasive Development Disorder, or Asperger’s Syndrome.

Results

We identified 23 articles for inclusion including within subject pre- and post-testing, multiple baselines, and randomized control trials, among other research designs. Of these, a quality analysis conducted using an ASD research-specific risk of bias tool found over half (14) were of weak methodological quality, whereas only four and five were found to be of strong and adequate quality, respectively.

Discussion

While the results of this systematic review suggest promising evidence for the use of mindfulness-based interventions to improve anxiety, social skills, and aggressive behaviors in CYP with ASD, results should be interpreted with caution due to the limitations resulting from the overall weak quality of the studies.

The review protocol was pre-registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021259125) and can be viewed at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=259125

Managing fear and anxiety in development: A framework for understanding the neurodevelopment of emotion regulation capacity and tendency

How we manage emotional responses to environmental threats is central to mental health, as difficulties regulating threat-related distress can blossom into symptoms of anxiety disorders. Given that anxiety disorders emerge early in the lifespan, it is crucial we understand the multi-level processes that support effective regulation of distress. Scholars have given increased attention to behavioral and neural development of emotion regulation abilities, particularly cognitive reappraisal capacity (i.e., how strongly one can down-regulate negative affect by reinterpreting a situation to change one's emotions). However, this work has not been well integrated with research on regulatory tendency (i.e., how often one spontaneously regulates emotion in daily life). Here, we review research on the development of both emotion regulation capacity and tendency. We then propose a framework for testing hypotheses and eventually constructing a neurodevelopmental model of both dimensions of emotion regulation. Clarifying how the brain supports both effective and frequent regulation of threat-related distress across development is crucial to identifying multi-level signs of dysregulation and developing interventions that support youth mental health.

Italian University Students' Resilience during the COVID-19 Lockdown-A Structural Equation Model about the Relationship between Resilience, Emotion Regulation and Well-Being

Over the past two years, the consequences of the severe restrictions imposed by the rapid spread of COVID-19 among the global population have been a central focus of scientific research. The pandemic has been a singular and unexpected event that found people unprepared and vulnerable in responding to its emergence, resulting in substantial psychological distress. Scientific evidence has highlighted that adolescents and emerging adults have been among those populations at greatest risk of adverse psychological outcomes, even in the long term. In particular, more than one-third of young adults reported high levels of loneliness, and nearly half of 18- to 24-year-olds felt lonely during the pandemic, experiencing both psychological and emotional distress. The lockdown, the consequent suspension of face-to-face academic activities and the severe restriction of social life have disrupted the daily routines of students already involved in coping with developmental tasks related to identity formation and the relational experience. Under such conditions, emotions and emotional regulation skills are crucial in adapting behavior to reach academic goals and face mounting levels of distress. Therefore, several studies have investigated resilience mechanisms and coping strategies of emerging adults during the pandemic. The present study focuses on university students and explores the impact of resilience and emotional regulation on adverse psychological outcomes related to persistent distress conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were administered a self-report assessment battery through an online platform at the beginning (T0) and the end of the lockdown (T1). A structural equation model (SEM) was used to explore the relationship between resilience, emotional regulation difficulties and psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress). The findings indicate that psychological resilience and emotion regulation are protective factors that buffer the extent of possible distress resulting from an adverse condition such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contrasting semantic and sentimental features between Chinese and American economic news discourse in the epidemic era: A corpus-based critical discourse analysis

The COVID -19 pandemic, as a global health emergency, has attracted a great deal of attention from the international community. In this context, China attaches great importance to economic development and news coverage because the economy concerns people's interests, while media coverage of the economy plays a crucial role in influencing citizens' attitudes and even social stability. While researchers from different disciplines are studying the epidemic, such as education, mental health, and vaccines, existing research into the media discourse of COVID-19 is limited, especially regarding its semantic and sentimental features, and it remains unclear whether the coverage of media news in different countries would draw on varying lenses. To this end, this study constructed a corpus of Chinese and American news reports from January 2020 to August 2021 and analyzed the meaning, lexicality, affective polarity, and theme extraction. Our results suggested that the mainstream media in China and the United States show opposite attitudes toward the same economic situation in China. Further, we interpreted this discrepancy in light of the "explanation" component of Fairclough's three-dimensional model. Such inconsistencies could relate to the differences in cultural backgrounds, modes of operation, and news philosophies between the two countries. Thus, by using a corpus-based approach combined with critical discourse analysis (CDA), our study not only broadens the scope of news discourse analysis, but also advances our understandings of the semantic and sentimental features of news coverage during COVID-19 and the possible reasons behind the differences between countries from a more macro perspective.

Child emotion inhibition mediates the effect of parent's adaptive cognitive emotion regulation on child frontal EEG asymmetry during reappraisal

Cognitive reappraisal is considered an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, but little is known regarding children's ability to effectively implement cognitive reappraisal. Some research indicates that parenting contributes to child cognitive reappraisal ability, with parent's own adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies playing a role. Minimal research attempts to examine how child and parenting factors work together to affect child cognitive reappraisal. We examined this association through mediation analyses to determine whether child emotion coping and emotion inhibition would mediate the relation between parent's adaptive cognitive emotion regulation and children's cognitive reappraisal implementation. Children were instructed to implement cognitive reappraisal during a sad film, while electroencephalogram (EEG) was collected. Left frontal EEG asymmetry was conceptualized as effective cognitive reappraisal implementation. Our model supported full mediation for child emotion inhibition. Parent's adaptive cognitive emotion regulation was positively associated with children's emotion inhibition, which was then positively linked to children's left frontal EEG asymmetry during cognitive reappraisal. The model with child emotion coping as a mediator was not supported. Our findings highlight the importance of examining multiple pathways that may impact children's adaptive cognitive reappraisal ability.

Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies as Mediators between Resilience and Stress during COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Background: Although there is accumulating evidence for the associations between resilience, emotion regulation and stress, little is known about the mechanisms of these relations. To extend the existing research, the present study examined cognitive emotion regulation strategies as one potential mechanism between trait resilience and perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: Young adults (N = 266; M = 20.05; SD = 3.93) were invited to fill out questionnaires that assessed trait resilience, cognitive emotion regulation strategies and perceived stress. (3) Results: The results showed that resilience was negatively associated with perceived stress and with self-blame, catastrophizing and rumination, and positively associated with positive reappraisal, focus on planning, positive refocus and putting into perspective. Stress was positively associated with self-blame, catastrophizing, rumination, other-blame and acceptance, and negatively associated with positive reappraisal and positive refocus. Moreover, positive refocus, rumination, catastrophizing and self-blame partially explained the associations between trait resilience and perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. (4) Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential utility of targeting cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the development and implementation of preventive interventions for reducing stress during highly challenging situations.

A pediatric near-infrared spectroscopy brain-computer interface based on the detection of emotional valence

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are being investigated as an access pathway to communication for individuals with physical disabilities, as the technology obviates the need for voluntary motor control. However, to date, minimal research has investigated the use of BCIs for children. Traditional BCI communication paradigms may be suboptimal given that children with physical disabilities may face delays in cognitive development and acquisition of literacy skills. Instead, in this study we explored emotional state as an alternative access pathway to communication. We developed a pediatric BCI to identify positive and negative emotional states from changes in hemodynamic activity of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). To train and test the BCI, 10 neurotypical children aged 8–14 underwent a series of emotion-induction trials over four experimental sessions (one offline, three online) while their brain activity was measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Visual neurofeedback was used to assist participants in regulating their emotional states and modulating their hemodynamic activity in response to the affective stimuli. Child-specific linear discriminant classifiers were trained on cumulatively available data from previous sessions and adaptively updated throughout each session. Average online valence classification exceeded chance across participants by the last two online sessions (with 7 and 8 of the 10 participants performing better than chance, respectively, in Sessions 3 and 4). There was a small significant positive correlation with online BCI performance and age, suggesting older participants were more successful at regulating their emotional state and/or brain activity. Variability was seen across participants in regards to BCI performance, hemodynamic response, and discriminatory features and channels. Retrospective offline analyses yielded accuracies comparable to those reported in adult affective BCI studies using fNIRS. Affective fNIRS-BCIs appear to be feasible for school-aged children, but to further gauge the practical potential of this type of BCI, replication with more training sessions, larger sample sizes, and end-users with disabilities is necessary.

Emotion Regulation and Job Satisfaction Levels of Employees Working in Family and Non-Family Firms

The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between employees working in family and non-family firms regarding their emotion regulation and job satisfaction levels. Moreover, focusing on family firms, we assess the relationship between the employees’ emotion regulation and job satisfaction levels. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of 178 Portuguese employees, 80 employees of family firms, and 98 non-family firms’ employees, who responded to a questionnaire that included emotion regulation and job satisfaction measures. All respondents work in small- and medium-sized private companies. Although the results do not confirm the first hypothesis, suggesting that employees working on family firms show higher levels of emotion regulation than those of non-family companies, the idea that employees of family companies show higher levels of job satisfaction than employees of non-family companies is confirmed (i.e., Hypothesis 2). Moreover, the results also support the third hypothesis, confirming that emotion regulation levels have a significant and positive relationship with the job satisfaction levels of employees working in family firms. This paper makes several contributions to the research literature by addressing two organizational aspects still under-addressed in the comparison between family and non-family firms, while pursuing to offer insights on the relationship between the emotion regulation and job satisfaction levels of employees working in family firms.

Emotional dysregulation as trans-nosographic psychopathological dimension in adulthood: A systematic review

Introduction

Emotional dysregulation (ED) is characterized by inappropriate emotional reactions related to environmental or cognitive stimuli. In most recent years, increasing interest has been devoted to its definition and detection across mental disorders for its detrimental role progressively highlighted in both neurodevelopment and adult mental disorders, with implications on the severity of clinical manifestations. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate and gather the scientific evidence about ED in adult psychiatric population to elucidate the concept of ED as trans-nosographic entity.

Methods

The electronics databases PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science was reviewed to identify studies in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines; at the end of the selection process a total of 29 studies (N = 709; N = 658; N = 1,425) was included. All studies included assessed the presence of ED symptoms, by means of a validate scale in adult (>18 years of age), in clinically diagnosed patients as well as healthy control participants.

Results

Our results suggest ED as a trans-diagnostic factor across multiple mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, personality disorders; a better definition of this concept could be helpful to interpret and clarify many clinical cases and improve their diagnostic and therapeutic management.

Emotion regulation among Chinese and German children and adolescents: a binational comparative study

Emotion regulation has been a central research topic in developmental psychology and psychopathology for several decades. Habitual use of adaptive (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) or maladaptive strategies (e.g., expressive suppression) may influence psychosocial adjustment in children and adolescents. Despite consensus on the influence of culture on emotion regulation, little is known about cultural differences in emotion regulation in children and adolescents. In this study, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA) was used and tested for its measurement invariance between Chinese and German children and adolescents. Cultural similarities and differences in the use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression were examined, as well as the associations of these strategies with behavior problems and prosocial behavior. The sample consisted of 765 Chinese and 431 German students (Mage = 12.46 years, SD = 1.12). Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis revealed partial scalar measurement invariance of the ERQ-CA. A latent mean comparison showed more frequent use of both strategies in Chinese compared to German students. The results of the multi-group structural equation model showed similar patterns of relationships between emotion regulation strategies and youth behavior across groups. Cognitive reappraisal was associated with fewer behavior problems and more prosocial behavior, whereas expressive suppression was related to more behavior problems. In summary, the current findings indicate that the ERQ-CA allows comparisons of emotion regulation between Chinese and German children and adolescents. Furthermore, the relevance of the cultural context for emotion regulation and the promotion of adaptive regulation strategies is highlighted.

How are you getting by? Coping in developmental coordination disorder versus attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Objective

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) persist into adulthood; however, little research exists to describe how adults with DCD and/or ADHD cope with their symptoms. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate coping mechanisms reported by adults with DCD, ADHD, or both conditions. We expected there would be strategies specific to each condition and a broader scope of mechanisms reported by those with co-occurring DCD+ADHD.

Method

N = 161 participants completed the online survey, including n = 31 with DCD only, n = 116 with ADHD only, and n = 14 with DCD+ADHD.

Results

Most participants reported adaptive strategies. Of these, behavioral adaptations were most relevant to ADHD, while environmental modifications were common in DCD. Cognitive reframing and social support were similarly relevant to those with DCD and DCD+ADHD. Coping strategy categories were most uniform for the DCD+ADHD group.

Conclusions

Coping profiles highlight several noteworthy differences between DCD and ADHD which may be relevant for treatment.

Trait Empathy Modulates Patterns of Personal and Social Emotions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound consequences on people's personal and social feelings worldwide. However, little is known about whether individual differences in empathy, a prosocial trait, may affect the emotional feelings under such threat. To address this, we measured 345 Chinese participants' personal emotions (e.g., active, nervous), social emotions (i.e., fearful and empathetic feelings about various social groups), and their empathy traits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the representational similarity analysis (RSA), we calculated the pattern similarity of personal emotions and found the similarity between the positive and negative emotions was less in the high vs. low empathy groups. In addition, people with high (vs. low) empathy traits were more likely to have fearful and sympathetic feelings about the disease-related people (i.e., depression patients, suspected COVID-19 patients, COVID-19 patients, flu patients, SARS patients, AIDS patients, schizophrenic patients) and showed more pattern dissimilarity in the two social feelings toward the disease-related people. These findings suggest a prominent role of trait empathy in modulating emotions across different domains, strengthening the polarization of personal emotions as well as enlarging social feelings toward a set of stigmatized groups when facing a pandemic threat.