Disengaged and highly harsh? Perceived parenting profiles, narcissism, and loneliness among adolescents from divorced families

Psychometric properties of the variants of the Chinese UCLA Loneliness Scales and their associations with mental health in adolescents

Loneliness is a pervasive and distressing emotional experience that affects individuals of all ages and can have significant consequences for both physical and mental health. The UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS) is widely used to assess the subjective feelings of loneliness, but concerns have been raised about its structure and applicability in diverse cultural contexts. This study analysed the reliability and validity of the five Chinese versions of the UCLA-LS in a representative sample of 2,643 adolescents and young adults with Chinese as their first language in Hong Kong. The results showed high internal consistency across all versions and content validity for most items. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure for the longer versions and a unidimensional structure for the shorter versions. However, the fit statistics suggested that the models did not meet good fit criteria, indicating item loading or model specification requires further review. The scales demonstrated strong associations with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as psychosocial factors like hopelessness and aggression. Notably, the 8-item version's total scores were associated with mental health and psychological attributes comparable to those of the 20-item version, suggesting its potential suitability as a screening tool in population settings. Future research is needed to improve the generalisability of these scales to other Chinese populations, particularly for items with lower content validity.

Analyzing the Relationship Between Self-Efficacy in Protecting Against Substance Use and Loneliness in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Survey

PURPOSE

To analyze the relationship between self-efficacy in protecting against substance use and loneliness in adolescents.

METHOD

This descriptive, cross-sectional study comprised 400 adolescents. A Sociodemographic Data Form, Self-Efficacy for Adolescents Protecting Against Substance Abuse Scale (SEAPSAS), and Short-Form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8) were used for data collection. Regression analysis and Pearson correlation analysis, as well as descriptive statistics, were used in data analysis.

RESULTS

Mean ULS-8 total score was 17.94 (SD = 5.07) and mean SEAPSAS total score was 68.78 (SD = 17.59). A weak significant negative relationship was found between mean ULS-8 total score and mean SEAPSAS subdimensions and total score. As a result of regression analysis, it was determined that ULS-8 total score negatively affected mean SEAPSAS total score by 24.9% (R2 = 0.249; B = -1.713; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Loneliness in adolescents, which was observed to negatively impact self-efficacy in protecting against substance use, should be addressed by psychiatric nurses through prevention activities and support programs and services, such as early detection and intervention. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 62(9), 29-36.].

Narcissism Moderates the Association Between Autonomy-Supportive Parenting and Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior

Prior research has separately investigated the associations of autonomy-supportive parenting and narcissism with adolescents' prosocial behavior, but their joint relationships with prosocial behavior have been rarely examined. The present research aimed to expand the existing literature by scrutinizing the main and interactive associations of autonomy-supportive parenting and narcissism with adolescents' prosocial behavior. In so doing, a series of four studies (collectively N = 2023), combining cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs, were conducted. The adolescents' mean age varied from 12.42 to 15.70 years, with a balanced representation of the sexes in those studies. Converging results across four studies showed that high narcissism magnified the positive association between autonomy-supportive parenting and adolescents' prosocial behavior. The interaction pattern presented also suggested adolescents with high narcissism scores were more affected than others-both for better and for worse-by autonomy-supportive parenting, although this interaction might be specific to particular facets of prosocial behavior. These results were robust after adjusting for a few key covariates and survived a set of additional analyses. The present findings provide a novel avenue to explain individual differences linking prosocial behavior with those two factors and further advance precise, individualized strategies to promote adolescents' prosocial behavior.

Teacher Autonomy Support and Internalizing Problems of Adolescents from Divorced and Intact Families: Moderation by Personality Typologies

The present research compared internalizing problems of adolescents who experienced parental divorce with those of adolescents who remained in intact families. Furthermore, this research investigated the association of teacher autonomy support with adolescents' internalizing problems for the whole sample and further ascertained whether this association was moderated by distinctive personality profiles using a person-centered approach and family structures (divorced vs. intact families). A sample of 2756 Chinese adolescents (8.5% from divorced families), aged 13-18 years, participated in the present research. They completed a set of self-reported questionnaires during school hours. Results based on ANCOVA showed that adolescents who experienced parental divorce reported higher internalizing problems than did those who remained in intact families. Moreover, latent profile analysis revealed three personality profiles: psychopathic (22.7%), normative (56.4%), and resilient (20.9%). In addition, teacher autonomy support was negatively related to adolescents' internalizing problems in the overall sample. However, interaction analyses further exhibited that this association was insignificant for psychopathic adolescents who experienced parental divorce. The current findings indicate that although teacher autonomy support may protect adolescents from internalizing problems, psychopathic adolescents whose parents got divorced should be paid exceptional attention by mental health professionals and school counselors.

Profiles of parents' emotion socialization within a multinational sample of parents

Introduction

Seminal emotion socialization theories classify parents according to two patterns of parent emotion socialization processes: 'emotion coaching' (i.e., parents validate and teach children about emotions) versus 'emotion dismissing' parenting (i.e., parents minimize and dismiss their children's emotions). However, empirical evidence supporting this binary distinction of parents remains limited. Our objective was to investigate whether parents can be differentiated by distinct patterns in their (1) beliefs about children's emotions, (2) emotion regulation, and (3) emotion-related parenting practices.

Method

Participants were parents of children aged 4-10 years from the Child and Parent Emotion Study (N = 869) (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e038124). Parents completed self-reported measures of emotion socialization processes via an online survey, which took 20-30 min to complete. Data included in the current study were collected May-August 2019. We conducted a latent profile analysis of parents' emotion socialization (13 indicators). To assess reliability of the profiles, we examined stability of the profiles across (1) parents of children in early versus middle childhood, and (2) fathers versus mothers, via measurement invariance testing. Further, to assess for construct validity of the profiles, we examined concurrent associations between six criterion constructs and parents' emotion socialization profiles.

Results

A three-profile model emerged characterizing parents by: (1) emotion coaching; (2) emotion dismissing; (3) emotion disengaged. There was strong support for construct validity and reliability.

Discussion

Our study provides empirical support for distinct differentiated classifications of emotion coaching and emotion dismissing parenting, aligned with emotion socialization theories. We further extend on extant theory and suggest a third 'emotion disengaged' classification, describing parents with moderate levels of emotion dismissing parenting and low levels of emotion coaching parenting. It should be noted that the profiles were derived with self-report data, therefore, data may have been biased by contextual factors. Furthermore, the study sample consisted of Western families from affluent backgrounds. The field should focus efforts on conducting person-centered studies with more diverse samples in future.

Peer Relationship Profiles among Early Adolescents from Low-Income Families: The Unique and Combined Effects of Attachment to Mothers and Conscientiousness

Using research data gathered from multiple sources, the current study explored positive aspects of peer relationship profiles (indexed by peer-nominated acceptance and self-reported friendships) in a person-centered approach among early adolescents from low-income families. Moreover, this study investigated the unique and combined associations of adolescents' attachment to mothers and parent-rated conscientiousness with emerging peer relationship profiles. A total of 295 early adolescents (42.7% girls; M_age = 10.94, SD = 0.80) were involved in this study. Latent profile analysis identified three empirically derived peer relationship profiles: "isolated" (14.6%), "socially competent" (16.3%), and "average" (69.1%). Moderation analyses further showed that adolescents with secure attachment to mothers tend to have group memberships in socially competent and average profiles than the isolated profile. Such an association pattern was more heightened for those with higher conscientiousness (versus lower conscientiousness).

Left-behind youth are not always bad! Relations between teacher autonomy support, narcissism, and prosocial behavior

Prior research has widely demonstrated that children who remain in their original communities after one or both biological parents migrated (i.e., left-behind children) confront salient emotional and behavioral difficulties; however, an insufficient amount of research has been devoted to understanding their prosocial behavior. The current study extended prior research by comparing the prosocial behavior between left-behind children and their non-left-behind peers. Subsequently, this study examined the individual variations (i.e., narcissism and left-behind status) of the correlation between teacher autonomy support and prosocial behavior in a combined sample of left-behind and non-left-behind children. 738 youth (Nleft-behind = 246, Meanage = 15.77, 53.6% girls; Nnon-left-behind = 492, Meanage = 15.91, 55.1% girls) participated in the present research and completed a packet of well-established questionnaires. The results, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, showed that the prosocial behavior of left-behind children did not significantly differ from that of non-left-behind children. Furthermore, the results based on linear regression analysis exhibited teacher autonomy support was positively related to prosocial behavior, and high narcissism buffered against the adverse effect of low teacher autonomy support on left-behind children’s prosocial behavior. The current study indicates that creating an autonomy-supportive atmosphere at school and facilitating left-behind children’s narcissism are paramount to promoting their prosocial tendencies.

A Comprehensive and Person-Centered View of the Association Between the Dark Triad and Youth Mental Health

Using a dual person-centered approach, the current study examined the Dark Triad profiles and mental health profiles among a large-scale sample of high school students. The study also simultaneously examined whether the emerging Dark Triad profiles could diverge in mental health profiles, delineating a thorough, and person-centered view of this association. To achieve these research aims, 1,640 Chinese high school students (M age = 16.78; SD = 0.68; 57.6% females) participated in this study, and they were uniformly instructed to complete a set of well-established questionnaires. Results from latent profile analyses revealed five Dark Triad profiles-low Machiavellianism-psychopathy (7.4%), benevolent (61.7%), highly malevolent (6.7%), low narcissism (8.8%), and malevolent (15.4%)-and the following four mental health profiles: flourishing (37.7%), vulnerable (16.4%), troubled (33.9%), and highly troubled (12.4%). Moreover, results from multiple multinomial regression analyses showed that, among all five empirically derived Dark Triad profiles, students with the low Machiavellianism-psychopathy profile exhibited the highest probability of being "flourishing," whereas those with the low narcissism profile showed the highest likelihood of being "highly troubled."

Parental Attachment and Problematic Internet Use among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender and Grit

Problematic Internet use (PIU) is currently becoming a more serious public health concern, representing a deleterious effect on adolescent adaptive emotional and behavioral patterns. Given the prevalence of PIU and its deleterious impact on adolescents' optimal functioning, it is valuable to investigate the risk and protective factors of PIU. Guided by a socio-ecological framework, the current study examines the associations of paternal attachment and maternal attachment with PIU among Chinese adolescents. Furthermore, this study investigates whether adolescents' gender and grit moderate this association. A total of 2677 Chinese adolescents (56.5% girls; Mage = 15.56; SD = 1.57) was involved in this study. Adolescents were uniformly instructed to complete a battery of self-reported questionnaires. The results of linear regression analyses showed that paternal attachment and maternal attachment security were negatively related to PIU. Moreover, moderation analyses revealed that higher levels of grit buffered against boys' PIU in the context of paternal attachment security and girls' PIU in the context of paternal attachment insecurity. The current study suggests that parental attachment security plays an important role in mitigating the likelihood of Chinese adolescents' PIU. Moreover, the buffering role of grit in PIU varies by the levels of paternal attachment security, depending on the adolescents' gender.