Regulating the interpersonal self: strategic self-regulation for coping with rejection sensitivity

Lesions to Different Regions of the Frontal Cortex Have Dissociable Effects on Voluntary Persistence in Humans

Deciding how long to keep waiting for uncertain future rewards is a complex problem. Previous research has shown that choosing to stop waiting results from an evaluative process that weighs the subjective value of the awaited reward against the opportunity cost of waiting. Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) tracks the dynamics of this evaluation, while activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and anterior insula (AI) ramps up before a decision to quit is made. Here, we provide causal evidence of the necessity of these brain regions for successful performance in a willingness-to-wait task. Twenty-eight participants (20 female and 8 male) with lesions to different regions of the frontal lobe were tested on their ability to adaptively calibrate how long they waited for monetary rewards. We found that participants with lesions to the vmPFC waited less overall, while participants with lesions to the dmPFC and anterior insula were specifically impaired at calibrating their level of persistence to the environment. These behavioral effects were accounted for by systematic differences in parameter estimates from a computational model of task performance.

Why rejection sensitivity leads to adolescents' loneliness: Differential exposure, reactivity, and exposure-reactivity models

INTRODUCTION

Rejection sensitivity is considered a risk factor for loneliness; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Adopting the constructs of exposure, reactivity, and exposure-reactivity from the personality framework, this study investigated three models of rejection sensitivity, bullying victimization, and loneliness to reveal why rejection sensitivity leads to loneliness among Chinese early adolescents.

METHODS

Using a longitudinal design, three-wave data were obtained (with approximately 6-month intervals) from 2381 Chinese early adolescents (51.2% boys at Time 1, Mage = 13.38, SD = 0.59) from 7 secondary schools. Students reported on their rejection sensitivity at Time 1, bullying victimization at Times 1 and 2, and their loneliness at Times 2 and 3. A longitudinal moderated mediation model was conducted to analyze the association between variables.

RESULTS

Path analyses demonstrated that rejection sensitivity was associated with greater loneliness for adolescents in which association was mediated by bullying victimization. High levels of rejection sensitivity exacerbate the adverse effect of bullying victimization on loneliness. Furthermore, in line with the differential exposure-reactivity model, the effect of rejection sensitivity on loneliness mediated by bullying victimization only existed for high rejection-sensitive adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings emphasize the dual role of rejection sensitivity in the development process of adolescents' loneliness and highlight the importance of identifying rejection-sensitive adolescents for intervention and prevention efforts.

The power of cultural habits: The role of effortless control in delaying gratification

What factors lead children to delay gratification, holding out for larger rewards later instead of taking smaller rewards now? Traditionally, delay of gratification has been associated with effortful control and willpower. However, we propose that delay of gratification may be partially supported by effortless control employed through habits shaped within sociocultural contexts. Specifically, in sociocultural contexts where waiting is rewarding and socially valued, children are more likely to wait for larger, delayed rewards and to form associations between these contexts and waiting for rewards. These acquired habits enable waiting for rewards without requiring substantial cognitive effort. Based on this novel framework, we reconsider why childhood delay of gratification predicts life outcomes, and the role of cognitive, social, and cultural factors.

Willingness to wait outperforms delay discounting in predicting drinking severity

Alcohol misuse ranks among the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. Therefore, discovering measures that can predict hazardous drinking is critical. The delay discounting paradigm-which assesses relative preference for immediate rewards over larger, later rewards-has frequently been used as a proxy for impulsive choice, but it does not capture how long someone is willing to wait for delayed rewards when the arrival time is uncertain. In contrast, a newer willingness-to-wait task measures how long someone is willing to wait for a delayed reward of uncertain timing before giving up. We hypothesized that performance in this willingness-to-wait task would be associated with drinking severity and that this task may even outperform delay discounting as a predictor of drinking severity. We pooled data from multiple studies of mostly college-aged adult participants. Drinking severity was assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Willingness to wait under temporal uncertainty, but not delay discounting, was associated with severity of alcohol problems among participants who drank (n = 212). Individuals engaging in hazardous drinking were less willing to wait for rewards when delays were unknown than were individuals with low-risk drinking habits. Thus, willingness to wait under temporal uncertainty may be an important predictor of problematic drinking.

Behavior and emotion regulation of socially inhibited individuals in uncomfortable social situations: A mixed methods study

The current study aimed to identify patterns of emotion regulation and behaviors in specific uncomfortable situations using a sequential exploratory mixed methods design and to examine how the trait social inhibition (SI) is related to these patterns. The sample (N = 451, 66% female, Mage = 34 (SD=17.2)) collected in 2016-2017 completed the social inhibition questionnaire (SIQ15) and open-ended questions on self-indicated uncomfortable situations and the regulation of emotions and behaviors in those situations. The open-ended questions were analyzed and coded into quantitative data, after which a latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed to (A) identify latent profiles of emotion regulation and behaviors in specific situations, and (B) to examine how SI and facets are related to these profiles. LPA revealed seven profiles that differed in the type of situation described and how people regulated their emotions and behaved in the situation. The results show that it is the type of situation which determines regulation style and behavior. Additionally, SI was found to rely on active avoidance to deal with uncomfortable social situations, while not using emotion regulation to modify how they feel in that situation. In conclusion, our findings show that context seems to be the most important factor that drives the choice or decision of how emotions are regulated. SI individuals tend not to use emotion regulation strategies but rely on active avoidance in dealing with uncomfortable situations. Importantly, the sample was mainly female and highly educated, suggesting that our results may not generalize to other populations.

The fable of state self-control

Trait self-control is highly valued, often equated with moral righteousness and associated with numerous positive life outcomes. This paper challenges the conventional conflation of trait self-control and state self-control. We suggest that while trait self-control is consistently linked to success, state self-control is not the causal mechanism driving these benefits. Trait self-control, sometimes also referred to as conscientiousness, grit, and the ability to delay gratification, predicts better health, wealth, and academic achievement. Conventional wisdom has it that people high in trait self-control reap all these benefits because they engage in more state self-control, defined as the momentary act of resolving conflict between goals and fleeting desires. Despite its intuitive appeal, there are problems with extolling state self-control because of our love for trait self-control. First, empirical evidence suggests that individuals high in trait self-control do not engage in more state self-control but engage it less. Second, changes to state self-control do not reliably and sustainably improve people's outcomes, as least in the long-term. And third, despite the possibility of dramatic improvements in trait self-control, these improvements are often short lived, with people returning to their baseline trait level over longer time horizons. The roots of this problem are numerous: Imprecise and inaccurate naming of our constructs that lead to construct drift and contamination; ignoring the numerous other facets of conscientiousness like orderliness or industriousness; and not appreciating that traits are sometimes not reducible to states. We suggest that the celebrated benefits of trait self-control arise from mechanisms beyond state self-control and highlight the need for a broader conceptualization of self-control in psychological research and practical interventions.

Problem solving is embedded in context… so how do we measure it?

Problem solving encompasses the broad domain of human, goal-directed behaviors. Though we may attempt to measure problem solving using tightly controlled and decontextualized tasks, it is inextricably embedded in both reasoners' experiences and their contexts. Without situating problem solvers, problem contexts, and our own experiential partialities as researchers, we risk intertwining the research of information relevance with our own confirmatory biases about people, environments, and ourselves. We review each of these ecological facets of information relevance in problem solving, and we suggest a framework to guide its measurement. We ground this framework with concrete examples of ecologically valid, culturally relevant measurement of problem solving.

Child inhibited temperament and caregiver distraction encouragement jointly predict children's delay of gratification competencies

A cool attentional focus during the classic delay of gratification (DG) task involves shifting attention away from the emotion-arousing features and is a key mechanism that underlies children's ability to resist temptation and wait. Yet, we know relatively little about what gives rise to individual differences in cool focus in the first place. The current study (N = 162, Mage = 6.86 years) addressed this question by focusing on key aspects of child temperament (i.e., behavioral inhibition, BI) and caregiver emotion socialization (i.e., distraction encouragement) as joint predictors of cool focus. We theorized that because children are left alone in an unfamiliar environment for an undefined duration, the DG task would be especially taxing for children higher in BI, hindering their ability to deploy a cool focus and wait. We also reasoned that caregiver encouragement of distraction would serve as a protective factor by allowing children higher in BI to more easily activate a cool focus even when experiencing a taxing task. Results were partially consistent with these hypotheses, shedding new light on precursors to a central ingredient of DG ability.

The Relationship of Rejection Sensitivity to Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Indirect Effect of Perceived Social Acceptance by Peers

Rejection sensitivity (RS), the tendency to expect, perceive and overreact to rejection from others, has been linked to children's and adolescents' increased vulnerability to depressive symptoms, negatively affecting their perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their peers. The aim of this study is to examine (a) the indirect effect of perceived peer social acceptance in the relationship between RS and depressive symptoms in a sample of Greek adolescents, (b) the differential effect of the different components of rejection sensitivity (angry and anxious RS) on the model, and (c) possible gender differences. The sample of the study consists of 295 adolescents (139 boys, 156 girls, Mage = 14.20, SD = 1.60) residing in the greater Heraklion Prefecture area. Data collection was carried out using self-report questionnaires that measured demographic characteristics, self-perceptions about their peer relationships (self-perception profile for adolescents/SPPA), susceptibility to rejection (children's rejection sensitivity questionnaire/CRSQ), and depressive symptoms (children's depression inventory/CDI). Results showed that (a) RS was positively related to depressive symptoms and negatively related to adolescents' perceptions of their relationships, (b) relationship perceptions were negatively related to depressive symptoms, and gender differences were also found, (c) perceived social acceptance by peers was found to have an indirect effect in the relationship between RS and depressive symptoms, with girls showing a greater effect, and (d) differences were observed in the mediating model between the components of RS, with the mediating effect of perceptions being higher in the model with anxious RS, which appears to confirm previous theoretical postulations. The results of this study highlight the importance of adolescents' perceptions of their peer relationships in the occurrence of depressive symptoms during this developmental period, especially in youths with anxious rejection sensitivity.

Lesions to different regions of frontal cortex have dissociable effects on voluntary persistence

Deciding how long to keep waiting for uncertain future rewards is a complex problem. Previous research has shown that choosing to stop waiting results from an evaluative process that weighs the subjective value of the awaited reward against the opportunity cost of waiting. In functional neuroimaging data, activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) tracks the dynamics of this evaluation, while activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and anterior insula (AI) ramps up before a decision to quit is made. Here, we provide causal evidence of the necessity of these brain regions for successful performance in a willingness-to-wait task. 28 participants with frontal lobe lesions were tested on their ability to adaptively calibrate how long they waited for monetary rewards. We grouped the participants based on the location of their lesions, which were primarily in ventromedial, dorsomedial, or lateral parts of their prefrontal cortex (vmPFC, dmPFC, and lPFC, respectively), or in the anterior insula. We compared the performance of each subset of lesion participants to behavior in a control group without lesions (n=18). Finally, we fit a newly developed computational model to the data to glean a more mechanistic understanding of how lesions affect the cognitive processes underlying choice. We found that participants with lesions to the vmPFC waited less overall, while participants with lesions to the dmPFC and anterior insula were specifically impaired at calibrating their level of persistence to the environment. These behavioral effects were accounted for by systematic differences in parameter estimates from a computational model of task performance: while the vmPFC group showed reduced initial willingness to wait, lesions to the dmPFC/anterior insula were associated with slower learning from negative feedback. These findings corroborate the notion that failures of persistence can be driven by sophisticated cost-benefit analyses rather than lapses in self-control. They also support the functional specialization of different parts of the prefrontal cortex in service of voluntary persistence.

Association between the behavioral response during social exclusion and recalled childhood maltreatment

Social exclusion is a critical event for mental health. Patients with interpersonal dysfunction, e.g., with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or persistent depressive disorder (PDD), are particularly vulnerable, often based on their experiences of early adversity in life. The etiological pathways from childhood maltreatment (CM) to current behavior during social exclusion are still underexplored. This cross-diagnostic study investigated the relationship between self-reported CM and behavioral reaction to social exclusion in an experimental paradigm (Cyberball). Data from 140 subjects including patients with BPD and PDD as well as healthy controls were analyzed. The effect of CM (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ) on behavior to social exclusion during Cyberball (ball tossing behavior) was analyzed including rejection sensitivity (RS) as a mediator. In the whole sample, the CTQ score (B = -.004, p < .05) as well as the emotional neglect subscore (B = -.016, p < .01) were associated with a reduced ball tossing behavior towards the excluder. There were no significant indirect effects involving RS. These current findings support the relationship between CM and an altered interpersonal response in critical interpersonal situations. Larger cohorts with multidimensional data in social domains are warranted to further investigate the link between CM and current interpersonal dysfunction.

Construction and validation of Rejection Sensitive Expectation, Perception, and Reaction Questionnaire-Partner (RSEPR-P)

The Rejection Sensitive Expectation, Perception, and Reaction Questionnaire-Partner (RSEPR-P) was developed to assess rejection expectation, perception of rejection, and reactions to perceived rejection among intimate partners. This article details the construction and validation procedures, including item pool generation, factor analysis, and the estimation of reliability and validity. The researchers examined the psychometric properties of RSEPR-P in a community sample of 151 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the final 24 items suggested four-factor loading with each subscale loading on a separate factor. The subscales had good to excellent internal consistency. In support of the convergent validity, RSEPR-P exhibited robust correlations with rejection sensitivity-personal, mindfulness, marital adjustment, and self-esteem measures. A 6-month test-retest reliability was established. RSEPR-P is proposed to have potential therapeutic and research utility.

Understanding a Mutually Destructive Relationship Between Individuals With Borderline Personality Disorder and Their Favorite Person

OBJECTIVE

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) commonly have a favorite person (FP), whom they are heavily emotionally attached to and dependent on. This study aims to identify and illustrate the patterns of destructive FP relationships based on actual experiences described by those with BPD.

METHODS

A data mining process was conducted using raw data collected from online communities, such as blogs and social networks. An in-depth review of the information to better understand the natural course of the FP relationship was also conducted.

RESULTS

Individuals with BPD form an intense and insecure attachment toward their FP, from which they enormously suffer. FPs can be their friends, romantic or life partners, or family members. As their feelings go beyond their control, being increasingly obsessed with their FP, they make their FP gradually lose hope in continuing the relationship and want to quit trying to fulfill their needs. The relationship finally ends when the FP stops being responsible for meeting their expectations and eventually drifts away.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that certain FPs, distinctively named Teddy Bear Person, may behave in a particular manner to increase the likelihood of the FP relationship becoming more destructive. Moreover, the rejection sensitivity model should be discussed to understand their dysfunctional interaction.

Time preference, illness, and death

This paper investigates the power of time preference to predict illness and premature mortality in adulthood. Using a unique Swedish cohort of 12,956 individuals born in 1953, interviewed in 1966, and followed with register data up to 2018, the paper reports that more patient adolescents are 17-21% less likely to die before the age of 65 years. More patient adolescents have fewer hospitalizations and diagnoses in their adult life and are less likely to be diagnosed with conditions associated with lifestyle risk factors. The investigated channels for the relationship between time preference and future health include lifestyle, education attainment, and future income. Controlling for education and income reduces the coefficient for time preference on premature mortality by one-fourth.

Resilient entrepreneurs? - revisiting the relationship between the Big Five and self-employment

The Big Five personality traits and their influence on entrepreneurial action have been repeatedly studied using a trait-based approach. The present paper partly deviates from this perspective by analysing the role of personality prototypes in relation to entrepreneurship. This person-centred approach suggests that combinations of Big Five traits form individual personalities. By using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that at least three prototypes can be identified, one of which - the resilient type - can be hypothesized to significantly increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial action. Our regression results provide evidence of a positive impact of this prototype on the likelihood of and transitioning into self-employment but not the likelihood of exit. We also show that the prototyping approach explains individual self-employment decisions over and above what can already be explained by the profiling approach, another person-centred Big Five approach. The paper concludes with implications for policy and research.

The Relationship between Father–Child Rough-and-Tumble Play and Children’s Working Memory

Rough-and-tumble play (RTP) between fathers and children has been linked to many social, emotional, and behavioural child outcomes, such as reduced aggression and increased self-regulation. This study extends our understanding of the importance of RTP to the development of the executive function, working memory. Father–child dyads (N = 30) were asked to play two RTP games that were videorecorded for later observational coding. Fathers were also asked to report the frequency with which they play RTP games with their child. Two measures of working memory were also collected. The working-memory index of the Wechsler Preschool and the Primary Scale of Intelligence—Fourth Edition were used to measure working-memory ability, and the working-memory subscale of the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function was used as a measure of working-memory problems. RTP frequency was associated with improved working-memory ability and fewer working-memory problems. RTP quality was associated with higher working-memory ability. This study adds to the growing evidence of the importance of father–child RTP for child development.

Cultures Crossing: The Power of Habit in Delaying Gratification

Resisting immediate temptations in favor of larger later rewards predicts academic success, socioemotional competence, and health. These links with delaying gratification appear from early childhood and have been explained by cognitive and social factors that help override tendencies toward immediate gratification. However, some tendencies may actually promote delaying gratification. We assessed children's delaying gratification for different rewards across two cultures that differ in customs around waiting. Consistent with our preregistered prediction, results showed that children in Japan (n = 80) delayed gratification longer for food than for gifts, whereas children in the United States (n = 58) delayed longer for gifts than for food. This interaction may reflect cultural differences: Waiting to eat is emphasized more in Japan than in the United States, whereas waiting to open gifts is emphasized more in the United States than in Japan. These findings suggest that culturally specific habits support delaying gratification, providing a new way to understand why individuals delay gratification and why this behavior predicts life success.

Self-Control and Problematic Internet Use in College Students: The Chain Mediating Effect of Rejection Sensitivity and Loneliness

Purpose

To explore the relationship between self-control, rejection sensitivity, loneliness, and problematic internet use in college students.

Patients and Methods

A total of 725 college students were investigated using Self-control Scale, Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire, Loneliness Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale.

Results

① Correlation analysis showed that self-control was negatively related to rejection sensitivity, loneliness, and problematic internet use; rejection sensitivity was positively related to loneliness and problematic internet use; loneliness was positively related to problematic internet use. ② Chain mediating effect analysis showed that self-control can not only affect problematic internet use in college students, but also through three indirect paths, as follows: the mediating role of rejection sensitivity and loneliness, the chain mediating roles of rejection sensitivity and loneliness, and the mediating effect size, accounting for 9.76%, 20.73%, and 4.88% of the total effect, respectively.

Conclusion

Rejection sensitivity and loneliness played a chain mediating role in the relationship between self-control and problematic internet use in college students.

Delta-beta correlation predicts adaptive child emotion regulation concurrently and two years later

Emotion regulation (ER), the ability to flexibly monitor and modify emotions, is related to positive adjustment throughout the lifespan. Biological indexes of ER in childhood that predict behavior are valuable for clinical applications and our understanding of affective neurodevelopment. Delta-beta correlation (DBC), or the coupling between resting state slow-wave (delta) and fast-wave (beta) neural oscillations derived from EEG, may be a metric of the functional coherence between subcortical and cortical neural circuitry implicated in ER. Yet, little is understood about how DBC corresponds to observed ER during emotional challenges. To address this question, in the present study, resting-state EEG was recorded to generate DBC when children were 5-7 years old (T1) and again two years later (T2). Children also completed two emotionally challenging behavioral tasks [delay of gratification (DoG) task and waiting task (WT)] from which observed ER strategies were subsequently coded. Results showed that higher DBC was associated with greater use of adaptive, and relatively active, ER strategies. Specifically, higher frontal DBC at T1 longitudinally predicted greater use of the ER strategy alternative activity engagement and greater parent-reported positive ER at T2. These findings add to growing evidence supporting the use of resting state DBC as a neurophysiological index of ER with clinically and developmentally relevant predictive power.

Hot Executive Function Assessment Instruments in Preschool Children: A Systematic Review

The study aimed to systematically analyze the empirical evidence that is available concerning batteries, tests or instruments that assess hot executive functions (EFs) in preschoolers, identifying which are the most used instruments, as well as the most evaluated hot EFs. For the review and selection of articles, the systematic review methodology PRISMA was used. The article search considered the EBSCO, Web of Science (WoS), SciELO and PubMed databases, with the keywords "Hot executive function", "Assessment", "test", "evaluation", using the Boolean operators AND and OR indistinctly, between 2000 and April 2021. Twenty-four articles were selected and analyzed. The most commonly used instruments to assess hot EFs in preschool children were the Delayed Gratification Task, the Child's Play Task, and the Delayed Reward Task. Amongst those analyzed, 17 instruments were found to assess hot EFs in preschoolers. The accuracy and conceptual clarity between the assessment of cognitive and emotional components in EFs is still debatable. Nevertheless, the consideration of affective temperature and reward stimulus type, could be an important influence when assessing EFs in this age range. Evidence of the possible involvement of cortical and subcortical structures, as well as the limbic system, in preschool executive functioning assessment has also been incorporated.

Executive Functions in Social Context: Implications for Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Supporting Developmental Trajectories

Success in life is linked to executive functions, a collection of cognitive processes that support goal-directed behaviors. Executive functions is an umbrella term related to cognitive control, self-control, and more. Variations in executive functioning predict concurrent success in schooling, relationships, and behavior, as well as important life outcomes years later. Such findings may suggest that certain individuals are destined for good executive functioning and success. However, environmental influences on executive function and development have long been recognized. Recent research in this tradition demonstrates the power of social contextual influences on children's engagement of executive functions. Such findings suggest new interpretations of why individuals differ in executive functioning and associated life outcomes, including across cultures and socioeconomic statuses. These findings raise fundamental questions about how best to conceptualize, measure, and support executive functioning across diverse contexts. Future research addressing real-world dynamics and computational mechanisms will elucidate how executive functioning emerges in the world.

Waiting for the better reward: Comparison of delay of gratification in young children across two cultures

Delay of gratification-a form of self-control-is the ability to forsake immediately available rewards in order to obtain larger-valued outcomes in future, which develops throughout the pre-school years. The majority of previous research in this area has been conducted with Western populations, therefore knowledge of Eastern children's performance is scarcer. Here, utilising on a recently published dataset of British children (n = 61), we further tested delay of gratification in 3 to 5-year-old Chinese children (n = 75) using Bramlett et al.'s (2012) delay choice paradigm. The paradigm was previously used in non-human primates and it featured a mechanized rotating tray that sequentially moves rewards within reach. Additionally, we administered 3 inhibitory control tasks and 1 standardised delay choice task to Chinese pre-schoolers (British children were not tested). We aimed to investigate the influence of culture, reward type and reward visibility on pre-schoolers' ability to delay gratification. We found significant age-related improvements in delay of gratification ability in both countries and children performed better when presented with rewards varying in quality than quantity. Consistent with previous cross-cultural literature, Chinese children showed better overall performance than their British peers when reward visibility was manipulated (though reward visibility itself had no significant effect on performance). There were significant correlations in Chinese children's performance in Bramlett et al.'s (2012) delay choice paradigm and performance in some (though not all tested) inhibitory control tasks. We discuss these results in relation to task demands and the broader social orientation of self-control. We concluded that the intuitive comparative assessment of self-control task taps into children's delay of gratification ability. Our results emphasize the importance of testing for socio-cultural influences on children's cognitive development.

Breaking Beyond the Borders of the Brain: Self-Control as a Situated Ability

“I just couldn’t control myself” are the infamous last words of a person that did something that they knew they should not have done. Consistent self-control is difficult to achieve, but it is also instrumental in achieving ambitious goals. Traditionally, the key to self-control has been assumed to reside in the brain. Recently, an alternative has come to light through the emergence of situated theories of self-control, which emphasize the causal role of specific situated factors in producing successful self-control. Some clinical interventions for motivational or impulse control disorders also incorporate certain situated factors in therapeutic practices. Despite remaining a minority, situated views and practices based on these theories have planted the seeds of a paradigm shift in the self-control literature, moving away from the idea that self-control is an ability limited to the borders of the brain. The goal of this paper is to further motivate this paradigm shift by arguing that certain situated factors show strong promise as genuine causes of successful self-control, but this potential role is too often neglected by theorists and empirical researchers. I will present empirical evidence which suggests that three specific situated factors – clenched muscles, calming or anxiety-inducing environmental cues, and social trust – exhibit a specialized effect of increasing the likelihood of successful self-control. Adopting this situated view of the ability to regulate oneself works to reinforce and emphasize the emerging trend to design therapies based on situated cognition, makes self-control more accessible and less overwhelming for laypeople and those who struggle with impulse control disorders, and opens a new avenue of empirical investigation.

Critical incidents in anorexia nervosa: perspectives of those with a lived experience

BACKGROUND

Although social-emotional difficulties are believed play a key role in anorexia nervosa (AN), there is uncertainty regarding what these difficulties might look like. Previous research has largely focused on a "disease model" of social-emotional processing in AN with little attention paid to positive emotions and experiences. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to obtain a fuller picture of critical life events as identified by those with lived AN experience.

METHODS

Thirty-four participants aged 16-48 with current or past AN completed an online survey describing self-defined positive and difficult critical events. Thematic analysis was used to assess patterns in participants narrative responses.

RESULTS

Two major themes were identified in the descriptions of positive critical events: Moments of celebration and Unexpected positive outcomes. These major themes revealed increased external focus and some corrective experiences that challenged the participants pre-existing expectations leading to new positive outcomes. Difficult events clustered into life events that were identified as Eating disorder (ED) related and Non-ED related and included the dimensions of relational conflict and feeling unsupported.

DISCUSSION

The findings suggest that although negative emotionality was identified in the accounts of those with lived experience of AN capacity for "big-picture" thinking with and explicit focus on others was also identified. Moreover, an openness to corrective experiences that worked to challenge negative expectations was evident for some participants. Together these findings have scope as targets for further clinical research and treatment interventions.

Rejection sensitivity and adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: Mediation through depressive symptoms and moderation by fear of self-compassion

OBJECTIVES

Rejection sensitivity is a risk trait that contributes to the relationships between rejection experiences in various domains and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, research about the association between rejection sensitivity and NSSI has still been understudied. This study sought to examine the mediating role of depressive symptoms and the moderating role of fear of self-compassion in the association between rejection sensitivity and adolescent NSSI.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional correlational design was employed through which rejection sensitivity, depressive symptoms, fear of self-compassion, and NSSI experiences in the past year were measured.

METHODS

Seven-hundred twenty-eight Chinese secondary school students (51.1% females; mean age = 14.07, SD = 0.75) were included by convenient sampling.

RESULTS

Regression analyses revealed that depressive symptoms worked as a mediator in the association between rejection sensitivity and NSSI. It was also found that fear of self-compassion acted as a moderator, such that a higher level of fear of self-compassion strengthened the link between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms and the direct link between rejection sensitivity and NSSI.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the need to address adolescents' rejection sensitivity, depressive symptoms, and fear of self-compassion in preventing and intervening NSSI.

PRACTITIONER POINTS

Focusing on rejection sensitivity might help understand the relationships between intra- and interpersonal distress and NSSI. The findings of this study evidenced the risk effect of adolescents' rejection sensitivity on NSSI and the partial mediation of depressive symptoms in the link. Targeting adolescents' rejection sensitivity will be beneficial in developing NSSI-related prevention and intervention programs. This study also found that adolescents' fear of self-compassion magnified the associations between rejection sensitivity, depressive symptoms, and NSSI. It suggests that targeting adolescent's fear of self-compassion will also be beneficial.

Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Adapted and Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation is a human adaptation process with important implications for daily life. Two specific emotion regulation strategies were the principle areas of study: reappraisal (cognitive change in which individuals adapt their state of mind about a given situation) and expressive suppression (response modulation in which individuals change their emotional response after its initiation). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), that captures individual tendencies to reappraise and to suppress the expression of emotions, was also developed. Response modulation strategy was analyzed by considering two distinct processes: expressive suppression (down-regulation) and expressive enhancement (up-regulation). This latter modulation process has been less frequently studied by researchers. The present study investigates the psychometrical properties, individual differences and correlates of a French adapted version of the ERQ, which comprises reappraisal and the two response modulation tendencies - expressive suppression and expressive enhancement. Based on the initial ERQ, new items were created and added to the scale. The three-factor structure of the ERQ adapted was confirmed. As expected, emotion regulation is linked to individual differences: the tendency to reappraise has a positive low correlation with age; and men are significantly more disposed to suppress and to enhance than women. Finally, the tendency to suppress the expression of emotions is negatively correlated with extraversion, and the disposition to enhance the expression of emotions is negatively correlated with conscientiousness.

Culture moderates the relationship between self-control ability and free will beliefs in childhood

We investigate individual, developmental, and cultural differences in self-control in relation to children's changing belief in "free will" - the possibility of acting against and inhibiting strong desires. In three studies, 4- to 8-year-olds in the U.S., China, Singapore, and Peru (N = 441) answered questions to gauge their belief in free will and completed a series of self-control and inhibitory control tasks. Children across all four cultures showed predictable age-related improvements in self-control, as well as changes in their free will beliefs. Cultural context played a role in the timing of these emerging free will beliefs: Singaporean and Peruvian children's beliefs changed at later ages than Chinese and U.S. children. Critically, culture moderated the link between self-control abilities and free will beliefs: Individual differences in self-control behaviors were linked to individual differences in free will beliefs in U.S. children, but not in children from China, Singapore or Peru. There was also evidence of a causal influence of self-control performance on free will beliefs in our U.S. sample. In Study 2, a randomly assigned group of U.S. 4- and 5-year-olds who failed at two self-control tasks showed reduced belief in free will, but a group of children who completed free will questions first did not show changes to self-control. Together these results suggest that culturally-acquired causal-explanatory frameworks for action, along with observations of one's own abilities, might influence children's emerging understanding of free will.

The role of self-control and regulatory foci in money-saving behaviours among children

The studies aimed to discover if it is possible to increase children’s ability to defer consumption in favour of saving money by drawing attention to the importance of self-control and by inducing regulatory focus of promotion or prevention. The first study confirmed that economic behaviours of children are connected to their level of self-control. Next, in two experimental studies, self-control and regulatory focus were experimentally induced in 9- to 11-year-old children. The second study (n = 158) showed that self-control activation results in preference of saving over immediate consumption for boys but not for girls. The third study (n = 144) showed that promotion regulatory focus activation results in preference of saving over immediate consumption, while after the activation of prevention regulatory focus, children prefer immediate consumption. The results indicate that sole activation in children’s thinking about the importance of self-control or about specific self-regulation motivations may influence saving behaviours. Nevertheless, due to the fact that males and females differ in self-control levels and in motivation for goal pursuit, inducing self-control or specific regulatory focus in children may have different effects on economic decisions, depending on a child’s gender.

Predicting mid-life capital formation with pre-school delay of gratification and life-course measures of self-regulation

How well do pre-school delay of gratification and life-course measures of self-regulation predict mid-life capital formation? We surveyed 113 participants of the 1967-1973 Bing pre-school studies on delay of gratification when they were in their late 40's. They reported 11 mid-life capital formation outcomes, including net worth, permanent income, absence of high-interest debt, forward-looking behaviors, and educational attainment. To address multiple hypothesis testing and our small sample, we pre-registered an analysis plan of well-powered tests. As predicted, a newly constructed and pre-registered measure derived from preschool delay of gratification does not predict the 11 capital formation variables (i.e., the sign-adjusted average correlation was 0.02). A pre-registered composite self-regulation index, combining preschool delay of gratification with survey measures of self-regulation collected at ages 17, 27, and 37, does predict 10 of the 11 capital formation variables in the expected direction, with an average correlation of 0.19. The inclusion of the preschool delay of gratification measure in this composite index does not affect the index's predictive power. We tested several hypothesized reasons that preschool delay of gratification does not have predictive power for our mid-life capital formation variables.

The Rejection Sensitivity Model as a Framework for Understanding Sexual Minority Mental Health

Sexual minorities are disproportionately affected by mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, suicidality). Minority stress theory and the psychological mediation framework have become the predominant conceptual models used to explain these disparities, and they have led to substantial advances in research on stigma-related stress and mental health. However, the field's reliance on these models has limited the extent to which other theories have been considered as potential frameworks for further advancing our understanding of sexual minority mental health. In this article, I discuss how the rejection sensitivity (RS) model can be used to complement and extend minority stress theory and the psychological mediation framework by: (1) emphasizing the role of perception in stigma-related experiences; (2) acknowledging the unique consequences of different anticipatory emotions; (3) describing additional mechanisms linking proximal minority stressors to mental health; and (4) further specifying the temporal order of these processes. I conclude by discussing the importance of attending to developmental processes in research on sexual orientation-related RS and describing important directions for future research.

Early delay of gratification predicts later inhibitory control and academic performance in children with prenatal alcohol exposure

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) affects 2-5% of the children in the United States. In the preschool age-range, inhibitory deficits frequently manifest as impaired ability to delay gratification, which is associated with deficits in cognitive flexibility in these children. The goal of this longitudinal study was to determine whether the ability to delay gratification in preschool children with FASD is (1) associated with broader manifestations in temperament and behavior; (2) predictive of later inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory in middle childhood; and (3) predictive of later parent-reported behavioral problems and school functioning in middle childhood. Forty-seven children with FASD, ages 2.5-5 years were administered a delay of gratification task in which they chose between receiving 2 snacks immediately or 10 snacks after waiting for 10 min. Two groups were defined based on a median split of waiting time. Four years later, 29 children completed measures of inhibitory control (Flanker task), cognitive flexibility (Dimensional Change Card Sort Test), and working memory (Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales), and their parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist as a measure of the child's behavioral problems and school functioning. Children with longer wait times on the delay of gratification task in preschool showed better inhibitory control on the Flanker task in middle childhood and better parent-reported school functioning in English. These findings indicate that early inhibitory capacity persists into middle childhood in those with FASD, and may be a promising target for early intervention to improve later cognitive outcomes in these children.

A family-centered prevention ameliorates the associations of low self-control during childhood with employment income and poverty status in young African American adults

OBJECTIVE

Children with low self-control who grow up in poverty are at elevated risk for living in poverty when they are adults. The purpose of this study was to further understanding of the intergenerational continuity of poverty by (a) examining the likelihood that children with low levels of self-control at age 11 earn less employment income and are more likely to live in poverty 14 years later, at age 25; and (b) determining, via a preventive intervention, whether enhancing supportive parenting during childhood will ameliorate these associations.

METHODS

Parents and their 11-year-old children from 381 families participated in the Strong African American Families (SAAF) program or a control condition. Teachers assessed children's self-control at 11 years; parents reported their use of supportive parenting when children were 11 and 13 years; emerging adults provided data on cognitive and emotional self-control at 19, 20, and 21 years; and young adults indicated their employment income at 25 years.

RESULTS

Significant two-way interactions were detected between children's self-control and prevention condition for employment income (b = -183.18, 95% CI [-363.82, -2.53], p < .05) and poverty status (b = 0.257, 95% CI [0.018, 0.497], p < .05). Low self-control at age 11 forecast less employment income and a greater likelihood of living in poverty among children in the control condition, but not among low self-control SAAF participants. Mediated moderation analyses confirmed that enhanced supportive parenting accounted for SAAF's effects on employment income (indirect effect = 63.057, 95% BCA [19.385, 124.748]) and poverty status (indirect effect = -0.071, 95% BCA [-0.165, -0.016]).

CONCLUSIONS

This study is unique in using a randomized controlled trial to show that preventive interventions designed to enhance parenting and strengthen families can buffer the long-term economic consequences of low self-control.

The influence of environmental reliability in the marshmallow task: An extension study

This study is an extension of an experiment where the reliability of children's environment was manipulated before children completed the Marshmallow Task (Cognition, 2013, Vol. 126, pp. 109-114). In that experiment, Kidd, Palmeri, and Aslin found a significant difference in waiting time between two conditions in which the experimenter demonstrated reliability (by returning with promised reward) or unreliability (by not returning with rewardP). Children who had an unreliable experimenter did not wait as long during the Marshmallow Task, suggesting that delay gratification performance may be, in part, based on a rational decision. Due to the important theoretical and practical implications of this finding, we repeated the procedure of this experiment with 60 3- to 5-year-old children (twice as many as in the original study), but in a more familiar context (e.g., children's school instead of a lab). Using Bayesian analyses, we found an effect (albeit smaller than in the original study) of experimenter reliability as well as a significant gender by condition interaction effect.

Group Influences on Children’s Delay of Gratification: Testing the Roles of Culture and Personal Connections

Delaying gratification can be difficult, especially for children. Social factors such as group norms influence whether children delay gratification and may shape their life trajectories. However, such influences have been tested experimentally only in American contexts and may not generalize, given differences among cultures in personal connections and group dynamics. We tested the influences of groups and personal connections on delaying gratification in 106 Japanese preschoolers. Extending previous findings with American preschoolers, Japanese children also delayed gratification and valued delaying gratification more if they believed that their group delayed gratification (and an outgroup did not) than if they believed that their group did not delay gratification (and an outgroup did). Group identity shifted toward the outgroup when Japanese children had a personal connection to the outgroup, but they nonetheless followed the behavior of their ingroup in delaying gratification. These findings highlight similarities and potential differences in social influences across cultures, and underscore the importance of cross-cultural work for theories of development.

Self and Others in Adolescence

Research has demonstrated that adolescence is an important time for self- and other-oriented development that underlies many skills vital for becoming a contributing member of society with healthy intergroup relations. It is often assumed that these two processes, thinking about self and thinking about others, are pitted against each other when adolescents engage in social decision making such as giving or sharing. Recent evidence from social neuroscience, however, does not support this notion of conflicting motives, suggesting instead that thinking about self and others relies on a common network of social-affective brain regions, with the medial prefrontal cortex playing a central role in the integration of perspectives related to self and others. Here, we argue that self- and other-oriented thinking are intertwined processes that rely on an overlapping neural network. Adolescents’ motivation to contribute to society can be fostered most when self- and other-oriented motives align.

Behavioral trainings and manipulations to reduce delay discounting: A systematic review

In everyday decision-making, individuals make trade-offs between short-term and long-term benefits or costs. Depending on many factors, individuals may choose to wait for larger delayed reward, yet in other situations they may prefer the smaller, immediate reward. In addition to within-subject variation in the short-term versus long-term reward trade-off, there are also interindividual differences in delay discounting (DD), which have been shown to be quite stable. The extent to which individuals discount the value of delayed rewards turns out to be associated with important health and disorder-related outcomes: the more discounting, the more unhealthy or problematic choices. This has led to the hypothesis that DD can be conceptualized as trans-disease process. The current systematic review presents an overview of behavioral trainings and manipulations that have been developed to reduce DD in human participants aged 12 years or older. Manipulation studies mostly contain one session and measure DD directly after the manipulation. Training studies add a multiple session training component that is not per se related to DD, in between two DD task measurements. Ninety-eight studies (151 experiments) were identified that tested behavioral trainings and manipulations to decrease DD. Overall, results indicated that DD can be decreased, showing that DD is profoundly context dependent and changeable. Most promising avenues to pursue in future research seem to be acceptance-based/mindfulness-based trainings, and even more so manipulations involving a future orientation. Limitations and recommendations are discussed to identify the mechanistic processes that allow for changes in discount rate and behavior accordingly.

Social-Experience and Temperamental Predictors of Rejection Sensitivity: A Prospective Study

Rejection sensitivity (RS) is the tendency for individuals to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to interpersonal rejection. Existing theory presumes that early experiences of rejection cause RS, although few studies have assessed this prospectively. Also relatively unstudied are individual differences in temperament that may contribute to RS. In a longitudinal study, we examined whether early social experiences and individual differences in temperament predict RS assessed subsequently. Results showed that positive early social experiences (ages 6 and 9 parents’ relationship quality and age 9 peer support) negatively predicted RS at age 12 and that negative affect (ages 6 and 9) positively predicted age-12 RS. These findings may have important implications for RS-reduction efforts and for understanding the many domain-specific manifestations of RS.

Allocation of attention to scenes of peer harassment: Visual-cognitive moderators of the link between peer victimization and aggression

As approximately one-third of peer-victimized children evidence heightened aggression (Schwartz, Proctor, & Chien, 2001), it is imperative to identify the circumstances under which victimization and aggression co-develop. The current study explored two potential moderators of victimization-aggression linkages: (a) attentional bias toward cues signaling threat and (b) attentional bais toward cues communicating interpersonal support. Seventy-two fifth- and sixth-grade children (34 boys; Mage = 11.67) were eye tracked while watching video clips of bullying. Each scene included a bully, a victim, a reinforcer, and a defender. Children's victimization was measured using peer, parent, and teacher reports. Aggression was measured using peer reports of overt and relational aggression and teacher reports of aggression. Victimization was associated with greater aggression at high levels of attention to the bully. Victimization was also associated with greater aggression at low attention to the defender for boys, but at high attention to the defender for girls. Attention to the victim was negatively correlated with aggression regardless of victimization history. Thus, attentional biases to social cues integral to the bullying context differentiate whether victimization is linked to aggression, necessitating future research on the development of these biases and concurrent trajectories of sociobehavioral development.

Incentive salience attribution, "sensation-seeking" and "novelty-seeking" are independent traits in a large sample of male and female heterogeneous stock rats

There are a number of traits that are thought to increase susceptibility to addiction, and some of these are modeled in preclinical studies. For example, "sensation-seeking" is predictive of the initial propensity to take drugs; whereas "novelty-seeking" predicts compulsive drug-seeking behavior. In addition, the propensity to attribute incentive salience to reward cues can predict the propensity to approach drug cues, and reinstatement or relapse, even after relatively brief periods of drug exposure. The question addressed here is the extent to which these three 'vulnerability factors' are related; that is, predictive of one another. Some relationships have been reported in small samples, but here a large sample of 1,598 outbred male and female heterogeneous stock rats were screened for Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior (to obtain an index of incentive salience attribution; 'sign-tracking'), and subsequently tested for sensation-seeking and novelty-seeking. Despite the large N there were no significant correlations between these traits, in either males or females. There were, however, novel relationships between multiple measures of incentive salience attribution and, based on these findings, we generated a new metric that captures "incentive value". Furthermore, there were sex differences on measures of incentive salience attribution and sensation-seeking behavior that were not previously apparent.