Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: a bioecological model

Psychological Pathways Linking Neighborhood Socioeconomic Factors to Cognitive Health in Black and White Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

Both the level and distribution of neighborhood-level socioeconomic resources are associated with cognitive health in later life. This study examined psychological mechanisms underlying these associations for Black and White older adults.

METHODS

Data from 591 (50% Black, 43% White) older adults from the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project were linked to census tract-level information on neighborhood disadvantage, affluence, and racial income inequality from the National Neighborhood Data Archive. Global cognition was a z-score composite of 5 domains from a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Psychological mediators were external perceived control and depressive symptoms measured with self-report questionnaires. Simultaneous mediation models accounting for neighborhood clustering examined associations between neighborhood factors and cognition through external perceived control and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

External perceived control, but not depressive symptoms, mediated the negative association between neighborhood disadvantage and cognition in the whole sample. Moderated mediation models showed a stronger neighborhood disadvantage-cognition association independent of the psychological mediators among Black participants and stronger associations between affluence and both psychological mediators among White participants.

DISCUSSION

Psychosocial stress may be one pathway linking neighborhood disadvantage to dementia risk among diverse older adults. Future studies should characterize additional modifiable pathways, particularly for Black older adults, who also live in neighborhoods with greater disadvantage than White older adults, on average. Future studies should also investigate why neighborhood affluence may have stronger positive psychological and cognitive effects among White older adults than Black older adults, which could involve discrimination and racially patterned barriers to accessing neighborhood resources.

Parental psychological control and depressive symptomatology in Chinese junior middle school students: a moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

This study examines the mechanisms linking parental psychological control and depressive symptomatology among Chinese junior middle school students, focusing on the mediating role of psychological resilience and the moderating role of school climate.

METHOD

A questionnaire survey was conducted among 1991 middle school students using a depressive symptomatology scale, the psychological control sub-questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Perceived School Climate Scale. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and tests of the moderated mediation model.

RESULTS

(1) parental psychological control positively predicts depressive symptomatology (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), with psychological resilience mediating this relationship (β = 0.02, 95% Bootstrap CI= [0.01, 0.04]); (2) in the mediation model, school climate moderates the first and second half pathways (βparental psychological control× school climate = -0.03, 95% Bootstrap CI= [-0.07, -0.00]; βpsychological resilience × school climate = -0.08, 95% Bootstrap CI= [-0.11, -0.05]) and the mediating effect. Specifically, under a high-level school climate, the effect of parental psychological control on psychological resilience, and the effect of psychological resilience on depressive symptomatology were significantly stronger than those in a low-level school climate. The indirect effect of psychological resilience was also stronger in a high-level than a low-level school climate (Contrast high minus low level = 0.03, 95% CI [0.01, 0.05]. Psychological resilience could not moderate the psychological control-depressive symptomatology relationship.

CONCLUSION

Parental psychological control indirectly affects depressive symptomatology through psychological resilience, with school climate moderating the mediating effect. The findings show how family and school environments, along with individual traits, collectively influence adolescents' depressive symptomatology. The study has the following application implications. Interventions such as the resilience-building program and the mindfulness program could improve parents' educational styles and students' psychological resilience respectively. Educators can strengthen school climate through learning guidance and game activities and so on. Courses such as teacher training should incorporate methods of family-school collaboration. Further longitudinal studies could explore the development of the relationships between the main variables. Objective measurements could also be incorporated for more accurate measurement.

Ageing in place or stuck in place: A critical qualitative study on older adults' independence across six municipalities in Norway

The concept of ageing in place (AIP) has garnered substantial international attention, especially with the global rise in the ageing population. Despite extensive research and policy support, the practical complexities of implementing AIP policy, particularly in diverse living situations, places, social contexts and evolving family structures, remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to critically examine the key factors influencing experiences of AIP among older individuals, family caregivers and municipal health and social care employees across six diverse Norwegian municipalities. This qualitative study utilised an explorative interpretative design, involving focus group interviews with municipal employees (N = 36) and semi-structured individual interviews with older persons (N = 17) and family caregivers (N = 18). The municipalities varied in several key dimensions, including population size, geographic extent, centrality, demographics and the economy. The reflexive thematic analysis identified four themes: i) Ageing-Related Preparation: Balancing Personal and Municipal Responsibility, ii) Access to Proper Services: Aligning the Person-Environment Fit, iii) Family Caregiving: Bridging the Gap between Services and Actual Needs, and iv) Transitional Housing: Supporting Aging in Place with Dignity. Together, these themes highlight the need to promote 'independence literacy' for older adults, ensuring they have the necessary knowledge, access, and support to live independently and maintain their quality of life while AIP. The findings urge a re-evaluation of local factors shaping safe and proper person-environment fit, emphasising access to proper services, caregiver support, housing options, resource allocation and the enhancement of skilled healthcare staff to optimise safe AIP. The findings may be relevant for policy makers, municipal leaders and health service employees in developing equitable AIP policies tailored to the local context.

Gendered differences and strategies for work-life balance: Systematic review based on social ecological framework perspective

This paper systematically reviews gender-based work-life balance (WLB) studies conducted during pandemic times. It outlines potential problems and solutions for effectively managing work and non-work commitments. Using the Socio-ecological system theory, the study makes a significant contribution by identifying the root causes of gender disparities across four levels of inquiry: the micro, meso, exo, and macro system, based on themes that directly emerge from analysing the previous 109 articles published between till 2024. A conceptual framework is developed to understand various factors that explain why women are at high risk of experiencing gender disparity. However, we complement and populate the model with pioneering and insightful instances of gender inequalities from the literature to provide richer insights into gender-based WLB. Drawing from our research findings, we propose specific strategies to achieve WLB without reinforcing traditional gender roles. These strategies have practical implications for policymakers and human resources departments, providing them with a roadmap to design and implement work-life-friendly policies differentiated by gender to generate overall well-being.

Multi-Level Factors Impacting Implementation of Outpatient Palliative Care: Perceptions of VA Providers

To develop strategies to better meet palliative needs for older adults, it is critical to understand what factors influence the implementation and sustainability of palliative care (PC) in the outpatient setting. This study explored provider perceptions about multi-level factors impacting implementation of outpatient PC. Applying an implementation science framework, barriers and facilitators were identified for key implementation and sustainability concepts within the provider, organizational context, and external levels. Provider perceptions were explored using semi-structured group interviews (n = 11) with 9 outpatient specialty PC teams. Participants (n = 26) included outpatient PC team members and team leaders. Key considerations for health systems seeking to implement or expand outpatient PC include addressing misperceptions, co-location with referring clinical teams, and building the PC workforce to support interdisciplinary PC teams. To address challenges communicating benefits of PC, improved performance measures are needed to document and incentivize appropriate referral and use of PC throughout the continuum of care.

Reconfiguring Pain Interpretation Within a Social Model of Health Using a Simplified Version of Wilber's All Quadrant All Levels Framework: An Integral Vision

Despite the proliferation of biomedical and psychological treatments, the global burden of chronic intractable (long-term) pain remains high-a treatment-prevalence paradox. The biopsychosocial model, introduced in the 1970s, is central to strategies for managing pain, but has been criticised for being decontextualised and fragmented, compromising the effectiveness of healthcare pain support services and patient care. The aim of this study was to apply a simplified version of Ken Wilber's All Quadrant All Levels (AQAL) framework to pain in a healthcare context to advance a biopsychosocial understanding. Utilising domain knowledge, the author mapped features of pain and coping to intrasubjective, intraobjective, intersubjective, and interobjective quadrants (perspectives), as well as levels of psychological development. Narratives were crafted to synthesize the findings of mapping with literature from diverse disciplines within the contexts of salutogenesis and a social model of health. The findings showed that AQAL-mapping enhanced contextual biopsychosocial coherence and exposed the conceptual error of reifying pain. Its utility lay in highlighting upstream influences of the painogenic environment, supporting the reconfiguration of pain within a social model of health, as exemplified by the UK's Rethinking Pain Service. In conclusion, a simple version of the AQAL framework served as a heuristic device to develop an integral vision of pain, opening opportunities for health promotion solutions within a salutogenic context.

Connecting in a Disconnected World: Tools for Health Professionals to Assess and Expand Adolescent Patients' Connectedness and Webs of Support

Most health care professionals can help clients connect with others and expand their support networks, and this is within their professional role. For many professionals, we suggest that being able to size up the available sources of support in patients' lives is critical to their overall well-being and creating post-treatment conditions that achieve the greatest health outcomes. This may be especially true for adolescents who often turn to peers and adults outside the home for support. However, identifying potential health care allies in a patient's life can be daunting, and one for which there are few tools or guides. Here we describe several benefits to health care providers from assessing a patient's web of support and their connectedness. We present 2 assessment strategies that can be used by lifestyle medicine practitioners to both assess and expand their patients' webs of support and connectedness to others; these small efforts, we argue, can yield major health benefits, in part, by increasing patient compliance with physician directives.

Suicide and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal study based on the social ecological perspective

OBJECTIVE

To explore the impact of social ecological risk factors (SERFs) from seven dimensions of individual, family, school, community, policy, culture, and chronosystem on suicide-related behavior (SRB) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents.

METHODS

A longitudinal study was conducted in China. A total of 2114 adolescents (aged 15.25 ± 1.99 years, 48.5 % males) completed questionnaire at baseline and follow-up. Restricted Cubic Spline and logistic regression was performed to identify the association of SERFs with suicidal ideation (SI), suicidal plan (SP), suicidal attempt (SA) and NSSI. Back-propagation artificial neural network was used to test the importance values of SERFs for SRB and NSSI.

RESULTS

RCS showed the risk of SI, SP, SA and NSSI among adolescents increased with the increase of cumulative social ecological risk when the risk score exceeded the median (All P for overall<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed the high cumulative social ecological risk was associated with SI (OR = 3.028, 95 % CI:2.192-4.183), SP (OR = 2.672, 95 % CI:1.738-4.109), SA (OR = 6.267, 95 % CI:3.087-12.723) and NSSI (OR = 3.541, 95 % CI:2.528-4.971). The similar results were also found in the individual, family, school, community, and culture dimensions (All P < 0.05). The individual dimension of social ecological risk was the most important for predicting SRB and NSSI.

CONCLUSION

Adolescents with high culminative social ecological risk had higher SRB and NSSI risks. Schools and families could strengthen adolescents' self-efficacy and cultivate positive coping styles on the basis of exerting their own functions. Shaping optimistic personality characteristics and correct cultural values may effectively reduce the risk of SRB and NSSI among adolescents.

Raising the Floor? Genetic Influences on Educational Attainment Through the Lens of the Evolving Swedish Welfare State

Interest in the role of genetics in influencing key life outcomes such as educational attainment has grown quickly. However, the question of whether genetic influences on educational attainment, on average as well as in conjunction with socioeconomic circumstances, are moderated by macro-level factors has not yet received sufficient attention. This study combines polygenic indices for educational attainment (EA PGI) with high-quality register data in a large sample of Swedish twins of European ancestry born 1920-1999. Employing both conventional between-family and within-family models, the analyses suggest that the influences of education-related genetic propensities on educational attainment have increased in Sweden during the twentieth century, a period featuring major expansions of the Swedish educational system, and decreasing economic inequality. The analyses also suggest that the degree to which socioeconomic background enhances genetic influences on education has decreased across cohorts. Genetic influences on education do not appear to have translated into increased genetic influences on income. Additionally, there is some evidence of floor and ceiling effects in the analyses of dichotomous educational outcomes.

Statistical learning as a buffer: Investigating its impact on the link between home environment and reading achievement

The current study investigated the association between home environment and children's reading outcomes, with a focus on the mediating roles of vocabulary and morphological awareness (MA) and the moderating roles of statistical learning (SL). A sample of 191 8-year-old Chinese children (92 girls) with diverse socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds completed assessments of vocabulary knowledge, MA, nonlinguistic visual and auditory SL, Chinese positional and phonetic SL, reading tasks, nonverbal reasoning, and verbal working memory. Results showed that both vocabulary and MA mediated the relationship between SES and reading, but only vocabulary mediated the relationship between home literacy environment (HLE) and reading. Importantly, children who were better in domain-specific SL, particularly those with strong Chinese radical positional SL, were less affected by SES disparities in reading outcomes. However, SL did not moderate the associations between HLE and reading outcomes.

Manifold Learning Uncovers Nonlinear Interactions Between the Adolescent Brain and Environment That Predict Emotional and Behavioral Problems

BACKGROUND

To progress adolescent mental health research beyond our present achievements-a complex account of brain and environmental risk factors without understanding neurobiological embedding in the environment-we need methods to uncover relationships between the developing brain and real-world environmental experiences.

METHODS

We investigated associations between brain function, environments, and emotional and behavioral problems using participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (n = 2401 female). We applied manifold learning, a promising technique for uncovering latent structure from high-dimensional biomedical data such as functional magnetic resonance imaging. Specifically, we developed exogenous PHATE (potential of heat-diffusion for affinity-based trajectory embedding) (E-PHATE) to model brain-environment interactions. We used E-PHATE embeddings of participants' brain activation during emotional and cognitive processing tasks to predict individual differences in cognition and emotional and behavioral problems both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

RESULTS

E-PHATE embeddings of participants' brain activation and environments at baseline showed moderate-to-large associations with total, externalizing, and internalizing problems at baseline, across several subcortical regions and large-scale cortical networks, compared with the zero-to-small effects achieved by voxelwise data or common low-dimensional embedding methods. E-PHATE embeddings of the brain and environment at baseline were also related to emotional and behavioral problems 2 years later. These longitudinal predictions showed a consistent moderate effect in the frontoparietal and attention networks.

CONCLUSIONS

The embedding of the adolescent brain in the environment yields enriched insight into emotional and behavioral problems. Using E-PHATE, we demonstrated how the harmonization of cutting-edge computational methods with longstanding developmental theories advances the detection and prediction of adolescent emotional and behavioral problems.

Mass Trauma, Multiple Losses, and the Application of the Two-Track Model of Bereavement in the Context of War: Assessment From a Systemic-Ecological Perspective

Multiple losses in wartime, both death-related and non-death-related, require multidimensional assessment to encompass both the event and the multiple levels of interpersonal and societal involvements within which individuals are embedded. We present a case study in which the traumatic death of a family member is a central, but not exclusive, element in understanding the bereavement process. The traumatic death originated with the events of October 7, 2023 and the ensuing war which were part of an overwhelming surge of traumatic losses in Israel. The bereaved's response met the criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). We recommend that multiple losses and their unique significance for the bereaved should be directly addressed in the assessment and formulation of therapeutic interventions. Therefore, we propose an approach to clinical assessment in cases of mass trauma and multiple losses, grounded in the Two-Track Model of Bereavement and the Systemic-Ecological Perspective.

Experiences and needs of patients with sarcoma: a qualitative meta-synthesis

PURPOSE

To systematically identify, summarize, and synthesize qualitative evidence on the experiences and needs of patients living with sarcoma, providing insights into their multidimensional challenges.

METHODS

This qualitative meta-synthesis follows the ENTREQ guidelines. Seven electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PsycINFO) were searched up to November 2024. Two reviewers independently conducted the study screening and data extraction. The quality was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Qualitative Research Standard Assessment tool. Thematic analysis was used for data synthesis.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven studies were included in this meta-synthesis. Three analytical themes emerged: (1) "Self-perceived health challenges after diagnosis" highlighting the physical and emotional challenges faced by patients; (2) "Mixed experiences during social interactions" reflecting the complex dynamics in relationships with friends, family, and healthcare providers; and (3) "Unfriendliness in the society towards sarcomas" emphasizing societal barriers such as employment limitations, financial burdens, and stigma.

CONCLUSIONS

Sarcoma patients face significant challenges that extend beyond the individual health condition, impacting their interpersonal relationships and social wellbeing. A comprehensive understanding of the experiences and needs of sarcoma patients on their disease journey can help provide effective management for patients with this rare disease. Addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach involving healthcare providers management, organizational change, community support, and public policy reform.

Scoping Review of Socio-Ecological Factors Contributing to Sleep Health Disparities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Given the high prevalence of sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a critical need to examine how sleep problems may be exacerbated for children exposed to social and environmental adversity. Guided by the socio-ecological model, this review aimed to evaluate factors linked to sleep health disparities (SHDs) in children with ASD, determine possible gaps/limitations in existing literature, and identify possible solutions. A scoping review was selected to ascertain what is known about SHDs in ASD. Four databases identified articles from 2004 to 2023. Included articles were those conducted in children with ASD that focused on sleep and examined socio-ecological factors (i.e., individual, family, neighborhood and socio-cultural) possibly contributing to SHDs. 41 studies were extracted; 31 (75.6%) focused on individual factors, 27 (65.9%) focused on family factors, 11 (26.8%) focused on neighborhood and/or socio-cultural factors; 3 (7.3%) focused on factors across all three socio-ecological levels. Six studies included interventions that found improvements in child sleep, behavior, and quality of life. Representation of racial and ethnic minoritized groups was limited across studies. Most studies focused on individual child factors associated with sleep problems, with less research focused on family factors, and very few studies examining broader neighborhood and socio-cultural factors. Only about half of studies reported race and ethnicity data, with sparse representation of racial and ethnic minoritized children and families overall. These findings highlight the need for future research on modifiable socio-ecological factors to guide equitable sleep interventions for children with ASD.

A wave of COVID-19 related PTSD? Disentangling the impact of exposure to COVID-19 related events on probable posttraumatic stress disorder in the general Dutch population

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a critical gap in our knowledge on the impact on mental health, especially trauma-related disorders like PTSD. With future pandemics anticipated due to global health risks, it is essential to rigorously study the prevalence of PTSD resulting from COVID-19. Such research will help us understand the psychological effects of pandemics and develop better strategies for mental health support in future crises.

METHODS

This study uses data from the Dutch Public Health Monitor Adults and Elderly 2022, consisting of 365,000 Dutch adults recruited using random sampling. Pandemic-related and non-COVID related potentially traumatic events were assessed and anchored to a validated screening instrument for PTSD, the Dutch version of the PCL-5.

RESULTS

Two-thirds of participants reported experiencing traumatic events during the pandemic. Exposure to pandemic-related traumatic events was reported more frequently than non-COVID related traumatic events. Overall probable PTSD prevalence due to these events was 2.4%, evenly split between pandemic-related and non-COVID related traumatic events. Among exposed individuals, probable PTSD prevalence was 3.7%. The risk was higher for exposure to non-COVID related events such as sexual violence, physical violence and life-threatening accidents than exposure to pandemic-related traumatic events like hospitalization or death of someone significant. Risk factors for developing probable PTSD after exposure to a traumatic event during the pandemic were younger age, financial difficulties, loneliness, low resilience, and experiencing multiple events.

DISCUSSION

Exposure to traumatic events during the pandemic influenced the prevalence of probable PTSD. Despite the lower relative impact of pandemic-related traumatic events compared to non-COVID related traumatic events, exposure to pandemic-related traumatic events accounted for 1.1% of probable PTSD in the population and is thereby comparable in impact to five commonly occurring traumatic events. This emphasizes the need to address mental health consequences and risk factors during pandemics and, potentially, other crises with population-wide exposure to events.

Protective and risk factors of anxiety in children and adolescents during COVID-19: A systematic review and three level meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

In order to gain a deepened understanding of the impact of public health emergency and to develop effective interventions and preventions, this study aimed to evaluate risk and protective factors associated with anxiety in children and adolescents and to explore potential moderators in the background of COVID-19 within the framework of socio-ecological model.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted in Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, ScienceDirect, Emerald, and CNKI for studies published from early 2020 to early 2023 that examined factors associated with anxiety among children and adolescents with age range of 6 to 17 years old. Random effects models and a three-level meta-analytic approach were used.

RESULTS

In total, 141 articles and 1,018,171 subjects were included, with 1002 effect sizes extracted. 32 protective factors and 48 risk factors were examined, yielding significance for 14 protective factors and 29 risk factors, including individual factors (e.g., gender, logOR = -0.37, 95 % CI [-0.47, -0.27], p < 0.001; age, logOR = -0.12, 95 % CI [-0.22, -0.02], p = 0.02; emotional functioning, logOR = -1.45, 95 % CI [-1.84, -1.05], p < 0.001; pre-existing condition logOR = 0.94, 95 % CI [0.58, 1.30], p < 0.001; electronic device or internet addiction, logOR = 1.81, 95 % CI [0.74, 2.88], p < 0.001), family factors (e.g., family socioeconomic status, logOR = -0.25, 95 % CI [-0.39, -0.10], p < 0.001; family functioning, logOR = -1.31, 95 % CI [-1.60, -1.02], p < 0.001; anxiety level of caregiver, logOR = 1.06, 95 % CI [0.75, 1.37], p < 0.001), community factors (e.g., overall social support, logOR = -0.93, 95 % CI [-1.84, -1.05], p < 0.001; school burden, logOR = 0.56, 95 % CI [0.21, 0.90], p = 0.002), and COVID-19-related factors (e.g., higher exposure risk in local community or city, logOR = 0.48, 95 % CI [0.17, 0.78], p = 0.002; distant learning, logOR = 0.73, 95 % CI [0.19, 1.28], p = 0.008; COVID-19-related distress, logOR = 1.42, 95 % CI [0.55, 2.29], p = 0.001;). The majority of studies showed no publication bias. Age group moderated the relationship between gender and level of anxiety (F (1,96) = 4.42, p = 0.038), and no other moderator showed significance.

LIMITATIONS

This study does not reveal causality but correlation in nature, and our findings should be interpretated with caution.

CONCLUSIONS

Public health emergencies could bring challenges to the mental health of children and adolescents. Prevention and intervention strategies for children and adolescents with high risks, and family-based and community-based programs should be encouraged to buffer the adverse impact on children and adolescents. This study has been prospectively registered at PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42022316746).

Determinants of digital health literacy among older adult patients with chronic diseases: a qualitative study

Objective

This study aimed to identify the factors influencing digital health literacy in older adult patients with chronic diseases.

Methods

A descriptive qualitative approach incorporated purposive and snowball sampling methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 older adult patients with chronic diseases from three hospitals in Anhui Province between October 2023 and May 2024. Data were coded and analyzed using Nvivo 12.0 software and content analysis.

Results

Two main themes and nine subthemes emerged: driving factors: these include the accessibility of digital health resources, perceived value and management needs, family economic and social benefits, and social network support systems. Restricting factors: These include cognitive blind spots and understanding biases, basic skills and challenges in digital adaptation, psychosocial limitations, issues with health information quality, and concerns about digital security risks.

Conclusion

The digital health literacy of older adult patients with chronic diseases is generally low, characterized by cognitive blind spots, and influenced by various personal and social factors. It is recommended to engage social forces, optimize the accessibility and applicability of digital health resources, create a supportive digital health environment, and help older adult patients improve their digital health literacy to enhance chronic disease self-management through digital health technology.

Multiple attachment perspectives: the relationship between interpersonal attachment from family and school environments and children's learning engagement

OBJECTIVES

Abundant evidence has demonstrated that positive interpersonal relationships promote children's learning engagement. However, most existing studies only focus on the role of one or two attachment relationships, and few studies examine the relationship between multiple positive interpersonal relationships from family and school environments and children's learning engagement. The purpose of this study is to simultaneously examine the effects of father-child and mother-child attachment from the family environment and teacher-student relationship and peer attachment from the school environment on learning engagement of Chinese boys and girls.

METHODS

Participants (N = 702; 51.6% male, Mage = 10.39, SDage = 0.49) were recruited from seven primary schools in Guizhou province, China. Participants completed five self-report questionnaires assessing children's learning engagement, father-child attachment, mother-child attachment, teacher-student relationship and peer attachment.

RESULTS

The results displayed that only mother-child attachment and teacher-student relationship significantly predicted boys' learning engagement. In addition, we also found that only teacher-student relationship and peer attachment positively predicted girls' learning engagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight that teacher-student relationship promotes learning engagement in both boys and girls, and in addition, mother-child attachment from the family environment enhances boys' learning engagement and peer attachment from the school environment promotes girls' learning engagement. This study's results suggest that future attachment-based interventions aimed at contributing to children's academic development should focus on teacher-student relationships for both boys and girls, on mother-child relationships for boys, and on peer relationships for girls.

Cognitive-Affective Factors Linking Experiences of Daily Discrimination with Adult Psychopathology and Risky Health Behaviors

Although a growing literature describes an association between experiences of discrimination and health behaviors, the factors that help maintain this relationship remain incompletely characterized. The current study investigated how interpersonal discrimination relates cross-sectionally to cognitive-affective processes and health behaviors in a diverse sample of 250 community adults aged 18-54 (M/SD = 30.47/9.67). A path analysis revealed that, as the frequency of discrimination increased, so did disruptions in emotional processes, current symptoms of psychopathology, and risky health behaviors. Moreover, relatively greater emotion dysregulation, higher perceived stress, and poorer impulse control during negative and positive emotional states partially accounted for the associations between discrimination, current psychopathology symptoms, and recent risky behavior. Associations between discrimination and these health behaviors remained after accounting for history of trauma exposure. These findings implicate discrimination as a key correlate of health behaviors and provide new insights into cognitive-affective constructs that partially account for the apparent increase in psychopathology symptoms and risky behavior that occurs with greater exposure to discrimination. Together, results underscore the importance of further clarifying how discrimination impacts health behaviors.

Paradoxes in pediatric rehabilitation: building an interdisciplinary, total-child framework to promote effective interventions and life course well-being

In this paper, we identify major paradoxes that have emerged from randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies of diverse groups of young children with identified disabilities and risk conditions. We concentrate on the first three years of life because these coincide with a period of rapid changes in brain structure and function as well as dramatic expansion of a child's skills in motor, language, social-emotional, and cognitive domains. The paradoxes support a major revision in hypotheses about how effective interventions can alter a child's functioning and life course. The following conclusions derive from the paradoxes: (1) the intertwined biological and environmental influences on a child's well-being contribute more to functional outcomes than do the primary medical diagnoses and biological risks alone; (2) high-intensity, high-cost interventions that are well-timed, wholistic, and multi-domain can be more powerful and economical (i.e., yield higher "returns on investment") than many treatments that initially appear less costly and easier to implement; (3) treatments that are individualized to the child and family, while adhering to evidence-backed treatment protocols, are among the most likely to result in large and long-lasting benefits compared to those that are solely individualized or adherent to a treatment protocol that does not make adjustments for the child; and 4) a clearly presented conceptual theoretical framework about human development can be a remarkably practical and informative tool in maximizing benefits of pediatric rehabilitation. We propose an interdisciplinary "total-child" platform - named the Interdisciplinary Monitoring, Planning, and Caring for the Total-Child - Together (IMPACT2) Developmental Framework - to support forming strong partnerships to facilitate informed clinical and family decision-making as well as the design and conduct of scientific investigations. We encourage others to consider these paradoxes and the IMPACT2 framework to stimulate conversations and promote innovative family and community partnerships to realize greater impact from delivering effective pediatric rehabilitation interventions to all eligible children.

Sibling similarity in education and employment trajectories at ages 16-19 in the UK: The role of parental influence and individual experiences in early adolescence

Young people's early education and employment trajectories (EET) hold profound implications for either perpetuating or alleviating social inequalities across the life course. Family background plays an instrumental role in shaping these trajectories, but we have little understanding of how similar or different these trajectories are between siblings and which early adolescent experiences are associated with individual trajectories. Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study, this paper explored how individual early adolescent experiences (ages 10-15) influence siblings' EET in late adolescence (ages 16-19). We used a combination of sequence and cluster analysis to create a typology of trajectories, compare these outcomes on three analytic samples - the related siblings, conditionally assigned unrelated peers and randomly matched unrelated peers - and then used a multivariable regression approach to determine the extent to which trajectories among siblings are shaped by individual early adolescent experiences. Siblings exhibited a greater tendency to follow similar post-16 EET compared to unrelated peers, including those coming from similar backgrounds, highlighting persistent effects of the family of origin. However, siblings often diverge onto different trajectories, pointing to the role of individual experiences in the process of status attainment within the family. Thus, adolescents' positive educational aspirations and feeling of family support emerged as significant predictors of favourable EET outcomes. Overall, this study highlights that early life course trajectories and the process of status attainment within the family are shaped by a complex interaction of family circumstances and individual experiences.

Influence of family socioeconomic status on academic buoyancy and adaptability: Mediating effect of parental involvement

Prior studies highlight the importance of academic buoyancy and adaptability in educational trajectories, yet the influence of family-related factors remains less explored. Anchored in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this research examines how family socioeconomic status (SES) influences academic buoyancy and adaptability, the predictive relation between family SES and parental involvement, and whether parental involvement mediates the impact of family SES on academic outcomes. We surveyed 1164 junior high school students from China. Controlling for gender and attendance type, structural equation modelling revealed a positive correlation between family SES and students' academic buoyancy and cognitive-behavioural adaptability; however, this correlation did not extend to affective adaptability. Parental involvement was significantly linked to family SES and fully mediated the relation between family SES and both academic buoyancy and cognitive-behavioural adaptability. Based on these findings, practical implications are discussed.

Association of maternal and paternal adverse childhood experiences with emotional and behavioral problems among preschool children

Although maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to be related to the emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) of offspring, few studies have surveyed the intergenerational effects of paternal ACEs. In addition, no study has yet explored the combination and interaction effects of maternal and paternal ACEs on preschool children's EBPs in China, and the gender differences in these relationships also remain to be explored. A total of 3,575 preschool children from 12 preschools from Hefei city of Anhui province were included in this study. We used a binomial logistic regression to examine the relationship between maternal ACEs, paternal ACEs and children's EBPs. Logistic regression analysis indicated that maternal and paternal ACEs were significantly related to EBPs in children, respectively. The high maternal ACEs + high paternal ACEs group had the greatest association with children's EBPs. Interaction analysis results showed that, compared with the reference group (low maternal ACEs×low paternal ACEs), the other group (high maternal ACEs×high paternal ACEs ) were significantly related to children's EBPs (OR = 1.84, 95%CI: 1.55-2.19). We found that there were no gender differences in the combination and interaction effects (P>0.05). When fathers and mothers were jointly exposed to high levels of ACEs, children had a higher risk of developing EBPs than when they were exposed independently. Future studies should fully explore the intergenerational health effects of parental ACEs so that references for promoting the physical and mental health of preschool children can be developed.

Processes and Manifestations of Digital Resilience: Video and Textual Insights From Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Minority stressors harm sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). This may be mitigated by promotive and protective factors and processes that manifest resilient coping. SGMY increasingly interact with information communication technologies (ICTs) to meet psychological needs, yet research often problematizes youths' ICT use, inhibiting understanding about ICTs' potential resilience-enhancing utilities. This study analyzes text and video responses of 609 SGMY aged 14 to 29 residing in Canada or the United States to an open-ended survey question about the benefits of using ICTs. Constructivist grounded theory integrating multimodal coding was used to analyze the data, producing a framework of digital resilience-digital processes and actions that generate positive growth-with four themes: Regulating Emotions and Curating Microsystems; Learning and Integrating; Advocating and Leading; and Cultivating Relationships and Communities of Care. Implications for clinical practice, survey innovation, and application of findings in fostering affirming digital microsystems for SGMY are discussed.

Latent profile and determinants of self-management behaviors among older adult patients with chronic diseases: a cross-sectional study

Objective

To explore latent profiles of self-management behaviors in older adult patients with chronic diseases and identify the factors that influence different profiles, guiding targeted interventions.

Methods

This study used convenience sampling to recruit 536 older adult patients with chronic diseases from three tertiary hospitals in Anhui Province between October 2023 and May 2024. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (aCCI), the Chronic Disease Self-Management Behavior Scale, the Chronic Disease Management Self-Efficacy Scale, the Psychological Status Scale, the Digital Health Literacy Scale, and the Social Support Scale. Latent profile analysis was conducted using Mplus 8.3, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0.

Results

Three profiles of self-management behaviors emerged: "Low Self-Management" (50.2%), "High Exercise and Cognitive Management" (8.6%), and "Moderate Management with Enhanced Communication" (41.2%). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that residence, aCCI, number of digital devices used, perceived usefulness of digital health information, digital health literacy, social support, chronic disease management self-efficacy, and psychological status were significant factors affecting self-management profiles (all p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Self-management behaviors in older adult patients with chronic diseases were generally low, with substantial heterogeneity across profiles. Healthcare providers should tailor interventions based on the characteristics of each group to enhance self-management in digital health contexts.

Intersecting factors of disadvantage and discrimination and their effect on daily life during the coronavirus pandemic: the CICADA-ME mixed-methods study

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing societal inequities. Our study addresses the dearth of studies on how intersecting factors of disadvantage and discrimination affected pandemic daily life for disabled people from minoritised ethnic groups, aiming to improve their experiences and social, health and well-being outcomes.

Objectives

Through an intersectionality lens, to: explore and compare, by location and time, survey and qualitative data on changing needs for social, health and well-being outcomes relate coping strategies/solutions to these explore formal and informal network issues/affordances gain insights from synthesising our data contextualise and explore transferability of findings co-create outputs with stakeholders.

Design

Mixed-methods, asset-based, underpinned by embodiment disability models and intersectionality, integrating three strands: (secondary): analysis of existing cohort/panel data, literature review (primary: quantitative): new survey (n = 4326), three times over 18 months (primary: qualitative): semistructured interviews (n = 271), interviewee co-create workshops (n = 104) 5 and 10 months later, mixed stakeholder co-design workshops (n = 30) for rapid-impact solutions to issues, key informant interviews (n = 4).

Setting

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Participants

Strand 2: community-dwelling migrants, White British comparators, with/without disability. Strand 3: focus on Arab, South Asian, African, Central/East European, or White British heritage with/without disability.

Results

We found strong adherence to pandemic restrictions (where accommodation, economic situations and disability allowed) due to COVID-19 vulnerabilities. High vaccine hesitancy (despite eventual uptake) resulted from side-effect concerns and (mis)trust in the government. Many relied on food banks, local organisations, communities and informal networks. Pandemic-related income loss was common, particularly affecting undocumented migrants. Participants reported a crisis in mental health care, non-holistic social and housing care, and inaccessible, poor-quality and discriminatory remote health/social care. They preferred private care (which they could not easily afford), community or self-help online support. Lower socioeconomic status, mental health and mobility issues reduced well-being. Individual and community assets and coping strategies mitigated some issues, adapted over different pandemic phases, and focused on empowerment, self-reflection, self-care and social connectivity. Technology needs cut across these.

Limitations

We could not explore area-level social distancing and infection rates. Data collection was largely online, possibly excluding some older, digitally deprived or more disabled participants. Participants engaged differently in online and face-to-face co-create workshops. Our qualitative data over-represent England and South Asian people and use contestable categories.

Conclusions

Different intersecting factors led to different experiences, with low socioeconomic status particularly significant. Overall, disability and minoritised ethnic identities led to worse pandemic experiences. Our co-design work shows how to build on the assets and strengths; simple changes in professional communication and understanding should improve experience. Minoritised groups can easily be involved in policy and practice decision-making, reducing marginalisation, with better сare and outcomes.

Future work

More research is needed on: (1) the impact of the post-pandemic economic situation and migration policies on migrant mental health/well-being; (2) supporting empowerment strategies across disadvantaged intersecting identities; and (3) technological deprivation and the cultural and disability-relevant acceptability of remote consultations. We found some differences in the devolved nations, which need elucidation.

Study registration

This study is registered as ISRCTN40370, PROSPERO CRD42021262590 and CRD42022355254.

Funding

This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (NIHR award ref: NIHR132914) and is published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 13, No. 2. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

The Genetics of Intelligence

BACKGROUND

Intelligence is defined as general mental capacity, which includes the abilities to reason, solve new problems, think abstractly, and learn quickly. Genetic factors explain a considerable fraction of inter-individual differences in intelligence. For many years, research on intelligence was limited to estimating the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors, without identifying any individual causal factors.

METHODS

This review of the literature is based on pertinent original publications and reviews.

RESULTS

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown that certain gene loci are associated with intelligence, as well as with educational attainment, which is known to be correlated with intelligence. As each individual gene locus accounts for only a very small part of the variance in intelligence ( < 0.02%), so-called "polygenic scores" (PGS) have been calculated in which thousands of genetic variants are summarized together. On the basis of the largest GWAS performed to date, it is estimated that 7-15% of inter-individual differences in educational attainment and 7-10% in intelligence among persons of European descent can be explained by genetic factors. These genetic effects are partly indirect. At the same time, the relative importance of genetic factors in determining complex features such as intelligence and educational attainment must always be seen against the background of individual environmental conditions. In the presence of difficult social conditions, for example, the influence of genetic factors is typically lower.

CONCLUSION

At present, the polygenic scores generated from genome-wide association studies are primarily of scientific interest, yet they are becoming increasingly informative and valid for individual prediction. There is, therefore, a need for broad social discussion about their future use.

Effects of parental psychological control on mobile phone addiction among college students: the mediation of loneliness and the moderation of physical activity

OBJECTIVE

Prior studies have shown that parental psychological control is linked to an increased risk of mobile phone addiction. Nevertheless, few studies have analyzed the potential mechanisms that may mediate or moderate this association. This study aims to investigate the role of loneliness as a mediator in the relationship between parental psychological control and mobile phone addiction, as well as the potential moderating effect of physical activity on this mediation process.

METHODS

A survey involving 268 Chinese college students (mean age = 20.58 years, SD = 5.23) utilized the Parental Psychological Control Questionnaire, Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale, Physical Activity Level Scale, and Loneliness Scale. In terms of data analysis, descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and moderated mediation effect tests were conducted sequentially.

RESULTS

The results indicated that, after controlling for gender and age, parental psychological control positively predicted mobile phone addiction among college students (B = 0.083, p = 0.034). Loneliness played a partial mediating role in the association between parental psychological control and mobile phone addiction among college students. Additionally, physical activity moderated the impact of loneliness on mobile phone addiction in college students (B = -0.010, p = 0.035).

CONCLUSION

This study deepens our understanding of how parental psychological control leads to mobile phone addiction. Concurrently, it underscores the importance of enhancing physical activity to mitigate the adverse effects of loneliness.

Long-Term Outcomes of Intentional Head Trauma in Infants: A Comprehensive Follow-Up of Medical, Developmental, Psychological, and Legal Perspectives

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to determine the initial clinical characteristics of children diagnosed with intentional head trauma (IHT) to obtain information about the long-term developmental, psychological, and psychosocial status of these children, to detect delayed sequelae, and to find out information about their judicial processes. Materials and Methods: Fourteen children who were followed up with the diagnosis of IHT in the Ankara Child Protection Unit between 2010 and 2021 were included in the study. These cases were evaluated in terms of physical, developmental, psychological, and visual findings. A complete physical examination was performed on the patients and their anthropometric measurements were taken. Anterior and posterior segment evaluations and visual field examinations were conducted in the visual assessment. The Expanded Guide for Monitoring Child Development and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale Third Edition was used in the developmental assessment. A psychiatric evaluation was performed using the Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory, Crowell observation, Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Form, and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Results: Of the patients diagnosed with IHT, 71.4% were male and the mean age was 8.39 ± 5.86 (1.27-22.30; IQR: 3.55-11.96) months. In the long-term follow-up, cerebral palsy was detected in three of the children, epilepsy in one, optic atrophy and deviation due to this in one, and deviation due to brain trauma in one. Motor delay was detected in 50.0% of the patients, language delay in 37.5%, cognitive delay in 37.5%, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder in 25%. It was observed that the people who caused the injuries of two patients were punished. Conclusions: Children diagnosed with IHT should be monitored with transdisciplinary methods in terms of physical and mental health throughout childhood, starting from the first intervention. Awareness of IHT diagnosis should be increased with training in social service approaches and judicial authorities providing services for child neglect and abuse.

Community Threat, Positive Parenting, and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging: Longitudinal Links from Childhood to Adolescence

Early Life Adversity (ELA) has been linked to accelerated epigenetic aging. While positive parenting is hypothesized to buffer the detrimental effects of ELA on child development, its role in mitigating epigenetic age acceleration remains unclear. Data from 2,039 children (49.7% female) in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were included in the current study (46.7% Black, 26.5% Hispanic, 19% White non-Hispanic). Home and community threat and observed parenting were measured from ages 3 to 9. Salivary epigenetic age acceleration was measured at ages 9 and 15. Positive parenting reduces the pace of epigenetic aging in low, but not high, community-threat environments. Interventions across home and community environments may be necessary to prevent ELA's biological embedding.

The association of personal, parental, school and community factors with depressive symptoms among a sample of Colombian students of ages 9 to 12 years

Few studies have examined how the personal characteristics of students, together with factors from their local social environments and communities, affect students living in generally high levels of social disruption. We examined the influence that personal characteristics as well as factors from the local social environments and communities may have on Colombian students' levels of depressive symptoms shortly after the end of the of armed conflict. Data were collected from 710 students attending the fifth grade in a random sample of elementary schools in the province of Sucre in Colombia. Information was gathered on the students' ages and gender as well as characteristics of their parents, school factors, and community factors. A five-level hierarchical regression model was used to determine the extent to which all these variables predicted depression scores, as measured by the Adolescent Depression Rating Scale. While personal, parental, school and community factors were all found to predict depression scores, the category, parental factors had the most impact. That was followed by school factors, community factors and finally personal characteristics. Multiple social and environmental factors were associated with the level of depression experienced by Colombian students.

Three-year-old development: The relationship of child health and parenting stress to neurocognition

PURPOSE

This study examined parenting stress and child special healthcare needs to child neurocognitive development (NCD).

DESIGN AND METHODS

This secondary analysis used data from the primary study, a longitudinal cohort study of mother-child dyads. Multivariable regression models examined the associations between parenting stress and child special healthcare needs with NCD. Mothers completed the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The outcome, child NCD, was evaluated using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III) Cognitive and Language Scales. Covariates included maternal and child sociodemographic factors and maternal knowledge of child development, depression, and IQ.

RESULTS

Of the 1040 mother-child dyads in this analysis, 171 (16.4 %) mothers reported that their child had one or more special healthcare needs and reported higher levels of parenting stress (PS) compared to those not experiencing health needs. Models including clinically significant PS along with identified child health needs showed the effect of 0.515 reduction (CI = 0.11, 0.92, p = .013) in Bayley-III Receptive Scaled scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinically significant parenting stress and the presence of child special healthcare needs were associated with lower child NCD, specifically receptive communication skills.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Healthcare providers, including pediatric nurses, should support NCD in young children by identifying children with special healthcare needs early on, recognizing and providing support to decrease parenting stress, and delivering needed medical and developmental support to young children and their families.

The Relationship Between Family Communication and Adolescent Problematic Internet Use: The Chain Mediation Effects of Loneliness and Depression

Introduction

Problematic internet use (PIU) is a significant issue during adolescence. It is recognized as a condition for further study in the DSM-5 and may also be a consequence of underlying psychopathologies, as suggested by previous studies. Poor family communication is an important predictor of adolescent PIU. However, it remains unclear how family communication impacts adolescent PIU from the perspective of underlying psychopathologies. This study tested the chain mediating effect of loneliness and depression as well as the moderating effect of developmental stage in this chain mediation model to uncover the mechanisms underlying this association.

Methods

This cross-sectional study recruited a total of 1,377 participants (53% male) from 23 provinces across China, all aged 12 to 17. Family communication was assessed using the FCS-10, which measures aspects such as openness, emotional expression, and problem-solving abilities within family interactions. PIU was assessed using the PIUQ-SF-6, loneliness was measured by the T-ILS, and depression was assessed using the PHQ-9. The chain mediating effects were tested using bias-corrected percentile bootstrap (sample = 5000).

Results

The results indicated that (a) poor family communication was positively associated with adolescent PIU; (b) loneliness and depression mediated the link between family communication and adolescent PIU; (c) loneliness and depression sequentially mediated the link between family communication and adolescent PIU; (d) the developmental stage of adolescence (early vs late) moderated the relationship between depression and PIU in the chain mediation model.

Conclusion

This study reveals that depression, as a potential underlying psychopathology, may precede PIU. It also establishes a link between family communication and PIU, showing that loneliness resulting from poor family communication contributes to the development of depression in adolescents. The connection between depression and PIU is particularly pronounced in late adolescence. These findings highlight the importance of addressing underlying psychopathologies when screening and treating adolescent PIU.

Parental Psychological Control and Interpersonal Trust in Junior High School Students: Serial Mediating Roles of Shyness and Interpersonal Self-Support

Purpose

Long-term parental psychological control tends to cause adolescents to become oversensitive in interpersonal relationships, and there is a gap in the mechanism of action between parental psychological control and the interpersonal trust of junior high school students. This study intends to analyze the relationship between parental psychological control and interpersonal trust in middle school students and explore the sequential mediation role of shyness and interpersonal self-support.

Methods

Based on self-determination theory and object-relations theory, this study administered questionnaires to 542 Chinese junior high school students using the Psychological Control Scale, Interpersonal Trust Scale, Shyness Scale, and Interpersonal Self-support Scale. Afterwards, structural equation modelling was used for testing.

Results

The findings revealed that (1) parental psychological control significantly and negatively predicted interpersonal trust and that (2) shyness and interpersonal self-support sequentially mediated the association between parental psychological control and interpersonal trust.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that parental psychological control can not only directly influence the interpersonal trust of junior high school students but also indirectly act on interpersonal trust through shyness and interpersonal self-support. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of the relationship between parental psychological control and the interpersonal trust of junior high school students, which is important for increasing the level of interpersonal trust of junior high school students.

Factors related to help-seeking and service utilization for professional mental healthcare among young people: An umbrella review

The aim of this umbrella review is to summarize evidence on factors that influence help-seeking and service utilization for professional mental healthcare among young people ages 0-30. The CINAHL, Cochrane, Epistemonikos, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched in December 2023 for systematic reviews in English. The search yielded 26 eligible reviews, all of which are medium or high quality. Primary study overlap was rare. Using an established framework, we organize intrapersonal (n = 37), interpersonal (n = 14), institutional (n = 9), community (n = 7), and public policy (n = 6) factors. The most frequently reviewed factor at each level is trust of professionals (intrapersonal), close others' support for treatment (interpersonal), cost (institutional), availability (community), and insurance (public policy). Stigma is widely referenced (18 reviews) and classified as multi-dimensional. Narrative synthesis reveals population-specific variability (e.g., rural, racial/ethnic minority, refugees, immigrants) in the importance of many factors. To develop interventions and healthcare systems sensitive to young people's needs, we recommend promoting stigma-reduction campaigns, and targeting trustworthiness, affordability, anonymity, accessibility, and mental health literacy. Identifying commonalities and differences across populations and contexts assists in the design of nuanced and efficient treatment delivery systems for young people, who are at a critical time for their mental health.

The nature of nurture: Darwinian and mendelian perspectives

Two perspectives on the nature of nurture are reviewed, one Mendelian and the other Darwinian, in an effort to draw links between the two and, thereby, integrate them in a developmental modern synthesis, mirroring the one that took place in biology early in the last century. Thus, the heritability of environmental measures and gene-X-environment interaction are discussed with respect to Mendelian nature before turning attention to Darwinian nature and thus the development of reproductive strategies and differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Conclusions are drawn with respect to both frameworks indicating that it is time to abandon the biology-is-destiny resistance to both approaches to studying and thinking about development, especially when it comes to the nature of nurture. Implications for the future development of the field of developmental psychopathology are highlighted.

Contributions to inclusive and impactful development and psychopathology science: interrogating ecology-linked vulnerability and resilience opportunities

Since its launch in a 1984 Special Issue of Child Development, significant contributions and insights have followed that have expanded our understanding of psychopathology and normal human growth and development. Despite these efforts, there are persistent and under-analyzed skewed patterns of vulnerability across and within groups. The persistence of a motivated forgetfulness to acknowledge citizens' uneven access to resources and supports, or as stated elsewhere, "inequality presence denial," is, at minimum, a policy, social and health practice problem. This article will examine some of these issues from the standpoint of a universal human vulnerability perspective. It also investigates sources of resistance to acknowledging and responding to the scholarship production problem of uneven representations of basic human development research versus psychopathology preoccupations by race. Collectively, findings suggest interesting "patchwork" patterns of particular cultural repertoires as ordinary social and scholarly traditions.

The future of neuroscience in developmental psychopathology

Developmental psychopathology started as an intersection of fields and is now a field itself. As we contemplate the future of this field, we consider the ways in which a newer, interdisciplinary field - human developmental neuroscience - can inform, and be informed by, developmental psychopathology. To do so, we outline principles of developmental psychopathology and how they are and/or can be implemented in developmental neuroscience. In turn, we highlight how the collaboration between these fields can lead to richer models and more impactful translation. In doing so, we describe the ways in which models from developmental psychopathology can enrich developmental neuroscience and future directions for developmental psychopathology.

Parental rejection and internalizing/externalizing problems among left-behind children: the moderating role of interpersonal harmony in class

Background and objectives

Left-behind children are characterized by prolonged separation from one or both parents, which exposes them to a constant lack of good parenting, leading to increased risk of internalizing and (or) externalizing problems. This study explored the effects of parental rejection on internalizing and externalizing problems, and examined the moderating role of interpersonal harmony in class.

Methods

The sample comprised 3,473 left-behind children (aged 6 ~ 15; 54.1% girls) in a rural area of southwest China. Self-reported measures including Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, Class Interpersonal Harmony Questionnaire and Child Behavior Scale were administrated. Regression analysis was employed and Hayes PROCESS macro was utilized to test the moderation effect.

Results

The analysis showed that parental rejection had a significant predictive effect on both internalizing problems (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) and externalizing problems (β = 0.40, p < 0.001) of the left-behind children. Teacher interpersonal climate (β = -0.05, p < 0.001) and peer interpersonal climate (β = -0.04, p < 0.01) significantly moderated the relationship between parental rejection and externalizing problems for children with both parents absence, but not for children with single parent absence.

Conclusion

Benign teacher interpersonal climate and peer interpersonal climate may buffer the detrimental effect of parental rejection on left-behind children's externalizing problems.

On the margins of suicide: everyday horizons, turning points and trajectories of protection in peripheral young women

Suicidal behavior and non-suicidal self-harm in vulnerable groups and population minorities pose a challenge for suicidology, complicating the universality of suicide. The goal of this paper is to analyze the lives of young women from marginalized communities, considering their experiences with suicidality and their relational and violent horizons. Nine women who took part in the fifth wave of a cohort on mental health and violence (2005-2022) in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, were interviewed (2022) about the contexts that kept them from committing suicide despite significant emotional distress from childhood through youth. From theme-based content analysis, three categories stood out and may contribute to an intersectional, decolonial and socially relevant approach to preventing self-destructive behavior. In the first, views on self-inflicted violence, better explained by the cores concepts of "sin" and "illness" than by the general violence they experienced. In the second, indirect references to self-harm behavior, where it was recognized that the use of euphemisms reflects not only the taboo but also the silencing of and discrimination against minorities. In the third, layers of protection and turning points, where "spirituality", "occupation" and "motherhood" were interpreted as the main associations between factors of protection and resilience in the trajectories and daily lives of these young women. A closer look that acknowledges the humanity, rights and psychological distress of groups subjected to violence and discrimination not only enhances care and prevention of suicidal behavior but also deepens understanding of this human and universal phenomenon.

Headgear safety attitudes among women's lacrosse stakeholders: Qualitative results

OBJECTIVE

To explore diverse stakeholders' perceptions of headgear use in collegiate women's lacrosse.

PARTICIPANTS

189 collegiate women's lacrosse stakeholders (players: n = 87; coaches: n = 71; officials: n = 32).

METHODS

Participants completed online open-ended qualitative questions surrounding headgear use in the sport. Responses were coded by the research team via inductive reasoning.

RESULTS

Stakeholders felt that incorporating headgear use into women's lacrosse would increase aggression and change the nature of the sport. Some felt that headgear was important for injury risk mitigation and invoked a need for research and development. Stakeholders raised the need for coaching and officiating improvement as primary injury prevention measures. Players were concerned about esthetics and performance limitations. Finally, many felt that it should be left to player choice to wear headgear or not.

CONCLUSION

Most stakeholders invoke concerns of risk compensation and changing the nature of the sport of women's lacrosse, and are in favor of headgear remaining optional.

A 30-nation investigation of lay heritability beliefs

Lay beliefs about human trait heritability are consequential for cooperation and social cohesion, yet there has been no global characterisation of these beliefs. Participants from 30 countries (N = 6128) reported heritability beliefs for intelligence, personality, body weight and criminality, and transnational factors that could influence these beliefs were explored using public nation-level data. Globally, mean lay beliefs differ from published heritability (h2) estimated by twin studies, with a worldwide majority overestimating the heritability of personality and intelligence, and underestimating body weight and criminality. Criminality was seen as substantially less attributable to genes than other traits. People from countries with high infant mortality tended to ascribe greater heritability for most traits, relative to people from low infant mortality countries. This study provides the first systematic foray into worldwide lay heritability beliefs. Future research must incorporate diverse global perspectives to further contextualise and extend upon these findings.

Defining childhood disability: ICF-CY developmental code sets

PURPOSE

This study describes the development of four age-based item code sets from WHO's International classification of functioning disability and health, children and youth version (ICF-CY). Given the continuing goal of universal implementation of the ICF-CY, a reduced set of codes was identified from more than 1600 codes to facilitate the use of the classification for clinical, research and policy applications of the ICF-CY.

METHODS

The ICF-CY developmental code sets were developed by consensus using the Delphi method. A multi-disciplinary group of international experts representing 27 countries from 5 WHO world regions completed a series of iterative online surveys to rate categories of child functioning essential for inclusion in the respective age-based code set.

RESULTS

Four age-based code sets covering 37, 52, 60 and 57 codes across four domains of the ICF-CY were successfully derived with a high level of participant consensus. The code sets align with developmental theory and represent essential indicators of functioning defining key stages of child development.

CONCLUSION

The ICF-CY developmental code sets offer a common, universal language of childhood functioning and disability with global application for multidisciplinary research, clinical practice and policy.

Intellectual Differences Between Boys and Girls, 35 Years of Evolution in France from WISC-R to WISC-V

The French adaptation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale of Children, 5th edition (WISC-V) was an opportunity to examine if some common representations of gender differences in intellectual abilities are supported by empirical evidence. The WISC-V standardization sample provided data on a wide range of cognitive tests in a large sample of 6- to 16-year-old children representative of the French population. This sample included 517 boys and 532 girls. The WISC-V data were compared to those of the French standardization samples of three previous versions of the WISC (WISC-R, WISC-III, and WISC-IV). These four standardization samples span a 35-year period. The data analysis of the WISC-V standardization sample and the three previous versions of this intelligence scale showed that the performance gaps on intellectual tests between girls and boys have gradually narrowed over time. Almost no gender differences were observed in the WISC-V standardization sample, not only in IQ but also in key facets of intelligence. Data do not support the stereotype that girls are better at verbal tasks and boys are better at visuospatial tasks. However, some statistically significant differences remain, but the magnitude was generally small with no practical implications. The only important difference is in favor of girls and concerns performance on processing speed tasks that require visual discrimination, attentional control, and writing.

Context-Specific Resilience Through a Cultural Lens: Social-Ecological Factors Among Chinese Families of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities

With the rise in attention towards Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Hong Kong and worldwide, understanding the role of social ecological resilience in reducing parenting stress and enhancing child outcomes is crucial, particularly within the unique cultural context of Chinese families. This study utilized a social ecological model to examine resilience factors at individual and interpersonal levels among Hong Kong parents of children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. It also compared the stress and resilience conditions and differential functions of social ecological resilience between parents with and without children diagnosed with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. A sample of 447 parents of children with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders were assessed by a newly developed Social Ecological Resilience Scale, along with measures of parenting stress and the internalizing and externalizing behaviors of their children. Independent sample t-tests showed that Chinese parents of children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders report significantly higher parenting stress and more internalizing and externalizing difficulties in their children compared to those without Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that enhanced social ecological resilience among parents predicted improved parenting stress and better outcomes in children's behaviors. Notably, social ecological resilience factors showed varying effects between parents with and without children diagnosed with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. These findings highlight that both individual and interpersonal resilience factors among parents predicted improved parenting stress and better outcomes in children's behaviors and certain resilience factors may be contextually motivated. Policy makers and practitioners should consider developing context-specific strategies and programmes to help the focal target group.

Identified needs to enhance life for people with spinal cord injury: a part of the Swedish Needs Assessment Project

PURPOSE

To identify factors that contribute to the enhanced life of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Sweden.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study combined workshops (n = 38) and survey data (n = 243) from people living with SCI and their relatives, health professionals, and personal care assistants working with people living with SCI. The data were first categorized using Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model, followed by a conventional content analysis.

RESULTS

The factors that contribute to an enhanced life for people living with SCI are similar to those of the general population, including relationships, leisure activities, and occupation within the mesosystem. However, the unique components of the exosystem and macrosystem are specifically associated with people living with SCI. The exosystem, particularly in healthcare, plays a major role for medical reasons but also tends to obtrude and minimize the mesosystem. The macrosystem is essential, as it sets the rules that govern the actors in the other layers, creating prerequisites for meeting the needs of the mesosystem and exosystem.

CONCLUSIONS

The needs that contribute to an enhanced life are multifaceted and individualized. Therefore, these systems must be flexible throughout the lifespan of individuals with SCI.

Multi-dimensional predictors of first drinking initiation and regular drinking onset in adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

Early adolescent drinking onset is linked to myriad negative consequences. Using the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) baseline to year 8 data, this study (1) leveraged best subsets selection and Cox Proportional Hazards regressions to identify the most robust predictors of adolescent first and regular drinking onset, and (2) examined the clinical utility of drinking onset in forecasting later binge drinking and withdrawal effects. Baseline predictors included youth psychodevelopmental characteristics, cognition, brain structure, family, peer, and neighborhood domains. Participants (N=538) were alcohol-naïve at baseline. The strongest predictors of first and regular drinking onset were positive alcohol expectancies (Hazard Ratios [HRs]=1.67-1.87), easy home alcohol access (HRs=1.62-1.67), more parental solicitation (e.g., inquiring about activities; HRs=1.72-1.76), and less parental control and knowledge (HRs=.72-.73). Robust linear regressions showed earlier first and regular drinking onset predicted earlier transition into binge and regular binge drinking (βs=0.57-0.95). Zero-inflated Poisson regressions revealed that delayed first and regular drinking increased the likelihood (Incidence Rate Ratios [IRR]=1.62 and IRR=1.29, respectively) of never experiencing withdrawal. Findings identified behavioral and environmental factors predicting temporal paths to youthful drinking, dissociated first from regular drinking initiation, and revealed adverse sequelae of younger drinking initiation, supporting efforts to delay drinking onset.

Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development

Non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are partly heritable and predict academic achievement beyond cognitive skills. However, how the relationship between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement changes over development is unclear. The current study examined how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are associated with academic achievement from ages 7 to 16 years in a sample of over 10,000 children from England and Wales. The results showed that the association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement increased across development. Twin and polygenic scores analyses found that the links between non-cognitive genetics and academic achievement became stronger over the school years. The results from within-family analyses indicated that non-cognitive genetic effects on academic achievement could not simply be attributed to confounding by environmental differences between nuclear families, consistent with a possible role for evocative/active gene-environment correlations. By studying genetic associations through a developmental lens, we provide further insights into the role of non-cognitive skills in academic development.

Distal-to-proximal etiologically relevant variables associated with the general (p) and specific factors of psychopathology

BACKGROUND

The general factor of psychopathology, often denoted as p, captures the common variance among a broad range of psychiatric symptoms. Specific factors are co-modeled based on subsets of closely related symptoms. This paper investigated the extent to which wide-ranging genetic, personal, and environmental etiologically relevant variables are associated with p and specific psychopathology factors.

METHODS

Using data from four waves (ages 11-19) of TRAILS, we modeled a bifactor model of p and four specific factors [internalizing, externalizing, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)]. Next, we examined the associations of 19 etiologically relevant variables with these psychology factors using path models that organized the variables according to the distal-to-proximal risk principle.

RESULTS

Collectively, the etiologically relevant factors, including temperament traits, accounted for 55% of p's variance, 46% in ADHD, 35% in externalizing, 19% in internalizing, and 7% in ASD. The low 7% is due to insufficient unique variance in ASD indicators that load more strongly on p. Excluding temperament, variables accounted for 29% variance in p, 9% ADHD, 14% EXT, 7% INT, and 4% ASD. Most etiologically relevant factors were generic, predicting p. In addition, we identified effects on specific factors in addition to effects on p (e.g., parental SES, executive functioning); only effects on specific factors (e.g., parental rejection); opposite effects on different factors [e.g., diurnal cortisol (high INT but low EXT, p); developmental delay (high ASD and p but low EXT)]. Frustration, family functioning, parental psychopathology, executive functioning, and fearfulness had strong effects on p.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) Strong generic effects on p suggest that etiologically relevant factors and psychopathology tend to cluster in persons. (2) While many factors predict p, additional as well as opposite effects on specific factors indicate the relevance of specific psychopathology factors in understanding mental disorder. (3) High frustration, neurodevelopmental problems, and a disadvantaged family environment primarily characterize p.