Sleep Time and Depression Symptoms as Predictors of Cognitive Development Among Adolescents: A Cross-Lagged Study From China

Unpacking the underachievement of gifted students: A systematic review of internal and external factors

In recent years, there has been a substantial research and numerous reviews on the subject of gifted students. The current systematic review is dedicated to explore the underachieving in gifted students, aiming to identify and classify the internal and external factors contributing to this phenomenon. In this study, 282 research articles published from 2010 to 2024 were reviewed using three databases including Google Scholar, ERIC, and Science Direct. Applying specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 articles were selected among the total ones and then a narrative synthesis approach was applied. In this regard, a theoretical model was developed, the observed patterns were described, intersections among studies were explored, and the synthesis was evaluated in light of the theoretical background. The analysis revealed that internal factors such as motivational, emotional-social, and demographic factors, as well as external factors including environmental perception, family, peers, and socio-economic/cultural factors, play significant roles in the underachievement of gifted students. The study underscores the importance of understanding and addressing these factors in all stages of a gifted student's educational journey, from screening and assessment to identification, planning, and rehabilitation. It highlights the need for a comprehensive strategy that goes beyond solely focusing on the psychological empowerment of students. The study emphasizes the critical role of considering contextual factors, including the influence of the parents, teachers, and peers relationships. Recognizing the multifaceted nature of underachievement in gifted students is essential to prevent this phenomenon and by considering a holistic approach that considers both internal and external factors, educational stakeholders can develop more effective interventions and support systems.

A bibliometric analysis of anxiety and depression among primary school students

Background

Rising anxiety and depression in primary school students adversely affect their development and academics, burdening families and schools. This trend necessitates urgent, focused research within this young demographic. This alarming trend calls for a systematic bibliometric analysis to develop effective preventative and remedial strategies.

Objectives

This study aims to identify and analyze the prevailing research hotspots and emerging trends concerning anxiety and depression in primary school students, thereby furnishing a foundational reference for future academic endeavors in this area.

Methods

This study uses the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database as the data source, focusing on literature published between 2013 and 2023 concerning anxiety and depression in primary school students. An initial search identified 1852 articles, which were then manually screened to exclude duplicates, conferences, announcements, and unrelated literature, resulting in 1791 relevant articles. The analysis, executed on December 31, 2023, employed CiteSpace and Vosviewer tools to assess various bibliometric indicators including authorship, country, institutional affiliations, publication trends, keyword frequency, and citation analysis.

Results

The analysis revealed a corpus of 1,791 English-language articles, with a discernible upward trend in publications over the decade. The USA and China were the leading countries in this field, with 482and 272 papers, respectively. The research predominantly addresses the etiological factors of anxiety and depression, various intervention strategies, and the comorbidities associated with these conditions in the target population. Key research focuses have been identified in areas such as suicidal thoughts, bullying in schools, the impact of COVID-19, mindfulness interventions, and anxiety related to mathematics. Future research is projected to increasingly focus on the effects of mathematics anxiety on the psychological and behavioral outcomes in students.

Conclusion

This study provides a critical visual and analytical overview of the key research areas and trends in the field of anxiety and depression among primary school students. It underscores the necessity of concentrating on the underlying causes and potential interventions. Such focused research is imperative for mitigating the mental health challenges faced by young students and enhancing their educational and developmental outcomes.

Prevalence of subthreshold depression and its related factors in Chinese college students: A cross-sectional study

Objective

To investigate the prevalence of subthreshold depression among Chinese college students and to explore the related factors.

Methods

The research subjects were Chinese college students participating in the "2022 Psychology and Behavior Investigation of Chinese Residents (PBICR-2022)". Data on respondents' general characteristics, quality of life, perceived pressure, family communication, perceived social support, self-efficacy, and depression status were gathered. To investigate the association between each variable and the risk of subthreshold depression, statistical analyses, including chi-square tests and rank sum tests were conducted. Furthermore, a binary stepwise logistic regression was employed to establish the regression model of the factors related to subthreshold depression among Chinese college students.

Results

A prevalence of subthreshold depression of about 39.7 % was found among the 8934 respondents. Logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents who are female, have chronic diseases, are in debt, experience significant impacts from epidemic control policies, have lower self-assessed quality of life, experience challenges in family communication, perceive lower social support, have lower self-efficacy, and feel higher perceived pressure are more likely to develop subthreshold depression compared to the control group. (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The prevalence rate of subthreshold depression among Chinese college students was found to be approximately 40 %. Female college students suffering from chronic diseases, with households in debt, greatly impacted by epidemic control policies, and experiencing high perceived stress, may be at risk for subthreshold depression among Chinese college students. On the other hand, strong family communication, perceived social support, and self-efficacy were identified as potential protective factors. In order to facilitate timely screening, diagnosis, and treatment of subthreshold depression in Chinese college students, it is crucial for the government, local communities, colleges, and families to prioritize the mental health of college students and implement targeted measures accordingly.

The relationship between boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety in college students: variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches

Objective

To explore the relationship among boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety among college students based on variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches.

Methods

A questionnaire survey was conducted on 1,102 college students from a university in Hebei Province using the Boredom Proneness Questionnaire (BPQ) for College Students, the Behavioral Inhibition System Scale (BIS), and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7).

Results

The results reveal that boredom proneness was negatively correlated with scores on the behavioral inhibition system (r = -0.100, p < 0.01), and positively correlated with anxiety (r = 0.457, p < 0.001), while the behavioral inhibition system was positively correlated with anxiety (r = 0.086, p < 0.01). In the variable-centered analyses study, it was found that the behavioral inhibition system partially mediated the association between boredom proneness and anxiety. In the person-centered analyses study, three subtypes were identified: the high boredom-low inhibition group (9.35%), the moderate boredom-inhibition group (66.70%), and the low boredom-high inhibition group (23.95%). Individuals in these subtypes showed significant differences in anxiety scores (F = 4.538, p < 0.05), with the low boredom-high inhibition group scoring the highest.

Conclusion

The results showed that the behavioral inhibition system partially mediates the relationship between boredom proneness and anxiety in college students; boredom proneness and the behavioral inhibition system exhibit group heterogeneity, with distinct classification features closely related to anxiety.

More romantic or more realistic: trajectories and influencing factors of romantic love among Chinese college students from entering college to graduation

College is a significant transition in the growth of individuals, and romantic relationships play an important role in the future development of individuals. Understanding young people’s attitudes toward love is helpful for formulating strategies to guide them to form correct attitudes toward love, promote the formation of positive and healthy attitudes toward marriage and life. This study aimed to explore the trajectories of college students’ attitudes toward love, reveal the development law of their attitudes toward love, and identify the influencing factors that lead to changes in their attitudes toward love. Descriptive and correlation analyses were performed on participants’ attitudes toward love, followed by utilization of a growth mixture model to explore latent trajectory classes and a multinomial logistic regression model to analyze influencing factors across trajectories.The results indicated that romantic attitudes could be divided into three groups: “high-increasing”, “low-decreasing” and “low-increasing”, and realistic attitudes could be divided into three groups: “high-increasing”, “low-increasing” and “high-decreasing”. Gender, major, extroversion, and hometown location were factors influencing whether students fell into different trajectory classes. Overall, society and colleges should pay more attention to changes in college students’ attitudes toward love, provide timely intervention and guidance, and prevent them from suffering from behavioral, physical, and psychological problems.

Impact of emotional intelligence and academic self-concept on the academic performance of educational sciences undergraduates

Over the last few years, the inclusion of psychosocial factors in the teaching and learning processes has become increasingly important due to their proven influence on students' academic performance, especially at the university stage. In this regard, the aim of this study is to analyse the impact of emotional intelligence and academic self-concept on the students' academic achievement. The results obtained revealed some differences according to gender in all the variables considered. Specifically, women presented higher levels of emotional attention, academic self-concept and performance, while men stood out in emotional clarity and emotional repair. The findings obtained show the importance of including psychosocial factors in university training plans.

Bidirectional reduction effects of perceived stress and general self-efficacy among college students: a cross-lagged study

Perceived stress and general self-efficacy are important issues closely related to the mental health and academic performance of college students. Previous studies have explored the correlation between perceived stress and general self-efficacy, but the understanding of the reciprocal effects of these two factors is still limited. Based on two-wave longitudinal data, this study investigated the bidirectional relationship between perceived stress and general self-efficacy in a sample of Chinese college students. The correlation results showed that perceived stress was significantly negatively correlated with general self-efficacy. Furthermore, by cross-lagged analysis, it was found that perceived stress can significantly negatively predict subsequent general self-efficacy and that general self-efficacy can significantly negatively predict subsequent perceived stress. Bidirectional reduction effects between perceived stress and general self-efficacy are observed among Chinese college students. The results emphasize the necessity of timely stress intervention for college students and the establishment of measures to enhance general self-efficacy.

Perceived discrimination, anxiety and mood disorders among university students during the COVID-19 era: evidence from a cross-sectional survey in a Ghanaian public university

Introduction

Before 2020 and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental disorders, including anxiety and mood disorders, were considered the leading causes of the global disease burden. There is evidence from multiple countries and social contexts that suggest the high risk of anxiety and mood disorders among students. Yet, there is a knowledge gap concerning understanding the association between the experience of discrimination and the risk of anxiety and mood disorders. We examined the association between the experience of discrimination and the risk of anxiety and mood disorders among university students.

Methods

This study is a cross-sectional survey among university students in Ghana. A quota sampling technique was used to recruit 1,601 students. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. All data were analyzed using Stata. Binary logistic regression model was used to examine the significant association between the outcome variable and the explanatory variables.

Results

The prevalence of anxiety disorder among the respondents was 67 per cent. Students who had experienced discrimination or had any member of their family experienced discrimination had higher odds (OR = 4.59, Cl = 2.64, 7.96) of anxiety and mood disorder compared to those who had not experienced any form of discrimination. Respondents aged 20-24 years had higher odds (OR = 1.47, Cl = 1.16, 1.85) of anxiety and mood disorder than those aged 15-19. Students with a high perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 had a higher odd (OR = 1.52, CI = 1.10, 2.10) compared to those with a low perceived risk.

Conclusion

The findings underscore a need for university authorities to lay out clear initiatives that will reinforce and meet the mental health needs of university students during and after periods of crisis, such as returning from COVID-19 lockdown. There must be a conscious effort to advocate and raise students' awareness of anxiety disorders. Also, it is imperative to create support groups within the university set up to address the mental health needs of all students. Younger students should be the primary focus of these interventions.

Examining social anxiety and dual aspects of social comparison orientation: the moderating role of self-evaluation of social skills

Introduction

Social comparison orientation comprises ability comparison, which entails superior and inferior ratings; and opinion comparison, which does not include such ratings. Previous research on negative emotions and the social rank theory of social anxiety indicates that social anxiety is positively associated with ability comparison. This is particularly true of individuals with a stronger sense of inferiority (e.g., lower self-evaluation of their social skills). Nevertheless, the relationship between the two aspects of social comparison orientation and social anxiety remains unclear.

Methods

Two hundred thirty-eight individuals (Mage = 40.53 ± 9.78 years, 50.4% men) participated in an online cross-sectional survey questionnaire.

Results

Social anxiety was positively correlated with ability comparison but not opinion comparison. The relationship between social anxiety in situations observed by others and ability comparison was stronger for individuals with lower (vs. higher) self-rated social skills.

Discussion

This study showed that the two types of social comparison are differentially related to social anxiety. The findings support the social rank theory of social anxiety, which states that social comparisons involving superior and inferior ratings lead to social anxiety owing to the perception of one's inferiority. Making such social comparisons can result in heightened social anxiety, particularly for individuals with low self-evaluations of social skills. The results indicate the importance of these social comparisons in the emergence and persistence of social anxiety. Furthermore, the potential of interventions based on mindfulness, compassion, social media, and video feedback in mitigating the negative effects of such social comparisons is discussed.

Potential and limitations of ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence in medical safety education

The primary objectives of medical safety education are to provide the public with essential knowledge about medications and to foster a scientific approach to drug usage. The era of using artificial intelligence to revolutionize medical safety education has already dawned, and ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence models have immense potential in this domain. Notably, they offer a wealth of knowledge, anonymity, continuous availability, and personalized services. However, the practical implementation of generative artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT in medical safety education still faces several challenges, including concerns about the accuracy of information, legal responsibilities, and ethical obligations. Moving forward, it is crucial to intelligently upgrade ChatGPT by leveraging the strengths of existing medical practices. This task involves further integrating the model with real-life scenarios and proactively addressing ethical and security issues with the ultimate goal of providing the public with comprehensive, convenient, efficient, and personalized medical services.

The role of personality traits in mediating the relation between fear of negative evaluation and social interaction anxiety

Introduction

Social interaction anxiety and fear of negative evaluation have many maladaptive outcomes and, in order to counteract their effects, it is essential to identify those psychological or social factors that make people vulnerable to them. One of these factors is the individual's personality structure: some personality traits increase the individuals' vulnerability to symptoms of social anxiety, while others protect them.

Methods

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of HEXACO personality traits in mediating the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and social anxiety, in a sample of 352 cadets from the Land Forces Academy of Sibiu. The relationships between these concepts were analysed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in several hypothetical models, two of which were ultimately validated.

Results

In the first model, the fear of negative evaluation has an indirect effect on social interaction anxiety through the mediation of extraversion, conscientiousness, and altruism, separately. Furthermore, extraversion, conscientiousness, and altruism play a serial mediating role in the association between the fear of negative evaluation and social interaction anxiety. In the second model, the fear of negative evaluation has an indirect effect on social interaction anxiety through the mediation of social boldness, liveliness, and organization, separately, but not through altruism. Social boldness, liveliness, and organization played a serial mediating role in the relationship between the two constructs, while altruism moderated the relationship between liveliness, organization, and social interaction anxiety.

Discussion

Analysing the relationship between the individuals' personality traits, social anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation facilitated the identification of ways to cultivate desirable behaviours in social environments typified by compliance, discipline, uniformity, and rigor.

Delivering substance use prevention interventions for adolescents in educational settings: A scoping review

Currently, a proportion of adolescents use alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, which inevitably harms their health and academic progress. Adolescence is a peak period for substance use initiation and a critical time for preventing substance use problems. Various entities, such as families, schools, and communities, have implemented a variety of interventions to alleviate adolescent substance use problems, and schools play a unique role. To explore the types, characteristics, and effectiveness of substance use interventions in educational settings for adole-scents, we conducted a scoping review and identified 32 studies after screening. We divided the 32 studies according to intervention type, including curriculum interventions focusing on cognitive-behavioral skill enhancement, exercise interventions, peer interventions and family-school cooperation, and electronic interventions. Except for the mixed results on electronic interventions, the results showed that the other interventions were beneficial to different extents in alleviating adolescent substance use problems. In addition, we analyzed and summarized the advantages and challenges of intervening in adolescent substance use in educational settings. Schools can use equipment and human resources to provide adolescents with various types of intervention measures, but they also face challenges such as stigmatization, ineffective coordination among multiple resources, and poor implementation effects. In the future, school-based intervention measures can fully utilize big data and artificial intelligence technology and collaborate with families and communities to intervene appro-priately while paying attention to the comorbidity risks of substance use disorders and psychological health issues.

Professional Identity and Career Adaptability among Chinese Engineering Students: The Mediating Role of Learning Engagement

Due to the rapid development of science and technology, economic development has changed dramatically, resulting in the transformation of career characteristics. Individuals need to convey a higher career adaptability than ever before in order to face the rapid changes brought by development. Especially for college students in the critical period of career development, having good career adaptability is of great significance to their future career choice and development. This study conducted a cross-sectional survey of 692 engineering undergraduates at a top engineering university in China and used the data to investigate the relationship between the professional identity (professional interest, professional strength, career prospects, and professional satisfaction) and career adaptability of college students, as well as to discuss the mediating role of learning engagement in the relationship between professional identity and career adaptability. The results of the correlation analysis showed that professional identity was positively correlated with career adaptability. The mediation effect model indicated that learning engagement played a mediating role in the relationship between the professional identity and career adaptability of Chinese college students. In other words, professional identity had a direct positive impact on career adaptability, while professional identity, mediated by learning engagement, had a positive impact on career adaptability. The study recommends that colleges provide students with a more conducive academic environment and more opportunities for career practice. We also encourage educators to provide more emotional support and identity for students to enhance students' career adaptability by creating a favorable academic and emotional atmosphere.