The Big Five Inventory-2 in China: A Comprehensive Psychometric Evaluation in Four Diverse Samples

Though Forced, Still Valid: Examining the Psychometric Performance of Forced-Choice Measurement of Personality in Children and Adolescents

Unveiling the roles personality plays during childhood and adolescence necessitates its accurate measurement, commonly using traditional Likert-type (LK) scales. However, this format is susceptible to various response biases, which can be particularly prevalent in children and adolescents, thus likely undermining measurement accuracy. Forced-choice (FC) scales appear to be a promising alternative because they are largely free from these biases by design. However, some argue that the FC format may not perform satisfactorily in children and adolescents due to its complexity. Little empirical evidence exists regarding the suitability of the FC format for children and adolescents. As such, the current study examined the psychometric performance of an FC measure of the Big Five personality factors in three children and adolescent samples: 5th to 6th graders (N = 428), 7th to 8th graders (N = 449), and 10th to 11th graders (N = 555). Across the three age groups, the FC scale demonstrated a better fit to the Big Five model and better discriminant validity in comparison to the LK counterpart. Personality scores from the FC scale also converged well with those from the LK scale and demonstrated high reliability as well as sizable criterion-related validity. Furthermore, the FC scale had more invariant statements than its LK counterpart across age groups. Overall, we found good evidence showing that FC measurement of personality is suitable for children and adolescents.

Personality Traits and Family SES Moderate the Relationship between Media Multitasking and Reasoning Performance

The prevalence of media multitasking has raised concerns regarding its potential impact on cognitive abilities. Despite increasing attention given to this topic, there remains no consensus on how media multitasking is related to cognitive performance. This study aims to shed light on this issue by examining whether and how personality traits and family socioeconomic status (SES) moderate the relationship between media multitasking and reasoning performance. To this end, a large sample of university students (n = 777) completed a battery of measures, including the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, the Media Multitasking Inventory, the Big Five Inventory, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Grit Scale, and the Family SES Questionnaire. Results revealed a negative correlation between media multitasking and reasoning performance. However, this relationship was substantially moderated by conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and family SES. Specifically, media multitasking was more detrimental to reasoning performance among individuals with lower levels of conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and family SES, whereas it was less detrimental to counterparts with higher levels of these personality traits and family SES. The proposed moderation model, for the first time, not only offers novel insights into the theoretical accounts regarding how media multitasking relates to cognitive abilities, but also identifies the protective factors that may buffer the negative impacts of media multitasking.

Moving beyond Likert and Traditional Forced-Choice Scales: A Comprehensive Investigation of the Graded Forced-Choice Format

The graded forced-choice (FC) format has recently emerged as an alternative that may preserve the advantages and overcome the issues of the dichotomous FC measures. The current study presented the first large-scale evaluation of the performance of three types of FC measures (FC2, FC4 and FC5 with 2, 4 and 5 response options, respectively) and compared their performance to their Likert (LK) counterparts (LK2, LK4, and LK5) on (1) psychometric properties, (2) respondent reactions, and (3) susceptibility to response styles. Results showed that, compared to LK measures with the same number of response options, the three FC scales provided better support for the hypothesized factor structure, were perceived as more faking-resistant and cognitive demanding, and were less susceptible to response styles. FC4/5 and LK4/5 demonstrated similarly good reliability, while LK2 provided more reliable scores than FC2. When compared across the three FC measures, FC4 and FC5 displayed comparable psychometric performance and respondent reactions. FC4 exhibited a moderate presence of extreme response style, while FC5 had a weak presence of both extreme and middle response styles. Based on these findings, the study recommends the use of graded FC over dichotomous FC and LK, particularly FC5 when extreme response style is a concern.

Interpersonal Problem Profiles of Personality and Psychopathology Constructs in Chinese Undergraduates and Offenders

The interpersonal problem circumplex is extensively used in the field as an assessment framework for understanding the interpersonal implications of a range of personality and psychopathology constructs. The vast majority of this large literature has been conducted in Western convenience and clinical samples. We computed interpersonal problem structural summary parameters for a range of personality and psychopathology variables in two Chinese offender samples (N = 424 and N = 555) and one undergraduate sample (N = 511) to test how well findings from Western samples generalize to Chinese undergraduates and offenders. The results showed that findings in Western samples generalized reasonably well to Chinese young adult and forensic contexts, although the interpersonal profiles of external variables were less specific in Chinese samples. Compared with undergraduates, interpersonal distress has stronger associations with the mental health of offenders. This study further elaborates the interpersonal correlates of individual differences in personality and psychopathology across cultures and assessment contexts, and it also extends the literature examining interpersonal problems in forensic settings.

Exploring self-esteem and personality traits as predictors of mental wellbeing among Chinese university students: the mediating and moderating role of resilience

Introduction

The mental health of university students is influenced by a variety of factors, including self-esteem and personality traits, with resilience playing a crucial role in mediating and moderating these relationships. This study investigates the intricate dynamics affecting mental well-being in Chinese university students, focusing on the roles of self-esteem, personality traits, and the interventional effects of resilience.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 689 students, aged on average 20.3 years, between April and July 2022. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was used to assess mental well-being, while resilience, personality traits, and self-esteem were evaluated using the revised Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Chinese version of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2), and the Texas Social Behavior Inventory (TSBI), respectively.

Results

Analysis revealed significant correlations between self-esteem, personality traits, and both resilience and mental well-being. Resilience was found to partially mediate the relationship between self-esteem and mental well-being and fully mediate certain aspects of the relationship between personality traits and mental well-being. Additionally, tenacity and autonomy were identified as moderators in the link between specific personality traits and mental well-being.

Discussion

The findings highlight the complex interplay between self-esteem, personality traits, resilience, and mental well-being, underscoring the critical role of resilience. This insight is pivotal for developing targeted interventions to bolster mental well-being among university students, emphasizing the need for multifaceted support strategies to enhance student mental health.

Protective factors for children with autism spectrum disorder during COVID-19-related strict lockdowns: a Shanghai autism early developmental cohort study

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 lockdowns increased the risk of mental health problems, especially for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, despite its importance, little is known about the protective factors for ASD children during the lockdowns.

METHODS

Based on the Shanghai Autism Early Developmental Cohort, 188 ASD children with two visits before and after the strict Omicron lockdown were included; 85 children were lockdown-free, while 52 and 51 children were under the longer and the shorter durations of strict lockdown, respectively. We tested the association of the lockdown group with the clinical improvement and also the modulation effects of parent/family-related factors on this association by linear regression/mixed-effect models. Within the social brain structures, we examined the voxel-wise interaction between the grey matter volume and the identified modulation effects.

RESULTS

Compared with the lockdown-free group, the ASD children experienced the longer duration of strict lockdown had less clinical improvement (β = 0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.19-0.79], p = 0.001) and this difference was greatest for social cognition (2.62 [0.94-4.30], p = 0.002). We found that this association was modulated by parental agreeableness in a protective way (-0.11 [-0.17 to -0.05], p = 0.002). This protective effect was enhanced in the ASD children with larger grey matter volumes in the brain's mentalizing network, including the temporal pole, the medial superior frontal gyrus, and the superior temporal gyrus.

CONCLUSIONS

This longitudinal neuroimaging cohort study identified that the parental agreeableness interacting with the ASD children's social brain development reduced the negative impact on clinical symptoms during the strict lockdown.

Interpersonal prior information informs ensemble coding through the co-representation process

Humans have the ability to rapidly extract summary statistics from object groupings through a specific capability known as ensemble coding. Previous literature has reported that this ability can become biased by prior perceptual experiences at the individual level. However, it remains unknown whether interpersonal prior information could also bias ensemble perception through a co-representation process. Experiment 1 found that participants' summary estimations were biased toward their co-actor's stimuli. Experiment 2 confirmed a causal relationship between the bias effect and the co-representation process by showing a reduction in biased estimation after pairing participants with an out-group partner. These findings extend the sources of prior information exploited by humans during perceptual average from individual-level information (i.e., self-tasks) to interpersonal-level information (i.e., co-actor's tasks). More specifically, interpersonal prior information is shown to act in a top-down and implicit manner, biasing ensemble perception.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of 20-Item Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (C-ZTPI-20) in Chinese Adolescent Population

Background

This study assesses the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (C-ZTPI-20) in an adolescent population.

Methods

The investigation encompasses a sample of 2634 middle school students from China and aims to evaluate the instrument's reliability, structural validity, measurement invariance, criterion validity, and network structure attributes.

Results

First, descriptive analysis revealed satisfactory reliabilities for four out of five C-ZTPI-20 dimensions, with Present Fatalistic (PF) exhibiting relatively low reliability. Moreover, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported the 5-dimensional structure across all samples and sexes, albeit with a modest Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) for girls. Furthermore, measurement invariance analysis underscores unbiased assessment across sexes. Sex differences emerge in the Present Hedonistic (PH) dimension, where boys showed higher scores. Furthermore, criteria validity analysis revealed that Past Positive (PP) and Future (F) were positively associated with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, grit, and mental health, while they were negatively associated with neuroticism. Past Negative (PN) and PF showed inverse trends, while PH perspective demonstrated complex, varied correlations with these psychological traits, underscoring the multifaceted nature of time perspectives. Finally, network analysis revealed positive inter-correlations within dimensions and significant edge differences between sexes, particularly in inter-dimension connections. Despite differing rankings, the most central and marginal items remained consistent between boys and girls in network models.

Conclusion

These findings contribute to understanding the C-ZTPI-20's effectiveness in assessing adolescent time perspectives and inform interventions promoting psychological well-being and coping strategies.

The influence of big five personality traits on anxiety: The chain mediating effect of general self-efficacy and academic burnout

BACKGROUND

As an important factor affecting personal health, anxiety has always been valued by people. Prior research has consistently shown that personality traits is associated with anxiety level,but little is known about the inner mechanism of this relationship. To fill the gap, the present research aims to explore the chain mediating role of general self-efficacy and academic burnout in the relationship between big five personality and anxiety.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was performed from September to November 2022. Self-reported questionnaires including the Big Five Personality Questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Scale, College Student's academic burnout Scale, Generalized Anxiety Scale and demographic characteristics were distributed to 2505 college students in a university in Hebei Province, of which 2,471 were valid. Statistical analysis was carried out through SPSS26.0 and SPSS PROCESS macro.

RESULTS

Results showed four of the big five personality characters (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) were negatively correlated with anxiety. Neuroticism was positively correlated with anxiety. Moreover, general self-efficacy was found to be negatively correlated with academic burnout and anxiety; academic burnout was positively correlated with anxiety. Finally, general self-efficacy and academic burnout mediated the relationship between personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness) and anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

Personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness) could influence anxiety through the chain mediating effects of general self-efficacy and academic burnout. Interventions focusing on anxiety reduction may be successful in increasing general self-efficacy and decreasing students' academic burnout.

Emotional involvement matters, too: Associations among parental involvement, time management and academic engagement vary with Youth's developmental phase

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have emphasized the importance of parents' educational involvement (a type of cognitive involvement) to academic engagement, although little is known about emotional involvement.

AIMS

This study investigated whether and how different facets of involvement (cognitive vs. emotional, paternal vs. maternal) are differentially related to academic engagement and whether and how the associations among parental involvement, time management and academic engagement vary by adolescents' developmental phases.

SAMPLES

The participants of this large national survey were students in elementary, middle and high school across different regions of mainland China. A total of 2687 adolescents (52.7% females, Mage  = 14.07 ± 2.47) participated in this study.

METHODS

Structural equation models and multigroup analysis were conducted.

RESULTS

We found that the total effect of paternal and maternal emotional involvement on academic engagement was positive in elementary-, middle- and high school students, and an indirect effect of time management underlying the above paths was found in all three groups. In contrast, the positive effect of maternal cognitive involvement on academic engagement as well as the indirect effects underlying the above pathways was established only in high school students.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the necessity of parents' emotional involvement and the consideration of adolescent developmental characteristics in the design of interventions.

The Big Five model in rural Southeast Asia: Validation, stability, and its role in household income

OBJECTIVE

We investigate the applicability of the Big Five model in rural Southeast Asia and thereby challenge recent concerns about the validity of the model in developing countries.

METHOD

We use a novel data set on personality traits from rural Thailand and Vietnam (N = 3811 individuals). In our analysis, we (i) assess the factor structure of the data, (ii) test the internal consistency of the items, (iii) compare the traits across two consecutive survey waves, and (iv) employ regressions to demonstrate the economic relevance of the traits.

RESULTS

The results demonstrate a five-factor structure that fits the Big Five model. We observe changes in personality traits over time but Cohen's d coefficients only range between 0.06 and 0.21. The average rank-order stability, measured by the test-retest correlation of the Big Five between the two consecutive waves, lies at 0.21. Individual changes in personality traits over time relate to experienced shocks and appear to be largely independent of age, gender, and education. We further find that openness and emotional stability positively correlate with rural incomes.

CONCLUSIONS

While there is skepticism, pertaining to the use of personality trait models in developing countries, our study demonstrates that their importance and usage cannot be rejected.

Mapping Chinese Personality: An Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of the NEO-PI-3 in Monolingual and Bilingual Studies

The NEO-PI-3 is a fourth-generation instrument that has been shown to improve the psychometrics and readability of its immediate precedent, the NEO-PI-R. We examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of the NEO-PI-R and NEO-PI-3 using three datasets (Ns = 913, 299, 403) collected using both monolingual and bilingual designs. The Chinese NEO-PI-3 scales displayed a five-factor structure in which the facets had the highest loadings on their intended factors. The structure demonstrated strong invariance across both languages (English vs. Chinese) and gender groups, maintained high test-retest reliability, and attained slightly better internal consistency than the NEO-PI-R. We also examined the affective underpinnings of personality factors and well-being measures using the Chinese Circumplex Model of Affect. Consistent with past findings, Neuroticism and Extraversion were most related to affect, while Satisfaction with Life and Subjective Happiness shared the affective core of pleasant feelings and medium arousal. Based on these results, the Chinese NEO-PI-3 appears to be a sound instrument to measure personality in Chinese communities and to compare personality across cultures.

Effects of Neuroticism on Differences in Symptom Structure of Life Satisfaction and Depression-Anxiety among College Students: A Network Analysis

Object: Numerous studies show that depression and anxiety have an adverse effect on life satisfaction among college students. Moreover, neuroticism affects depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Comparing the low-neuroticism and high-neuroticism groups, the current study used network analysis to examine the relationship between depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction among college students. Methods: A sample consisted of 1233 college students from China who completed the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).All students were divided into two groups according to levels of neuroticism. Depression-anxiety symptom networks and flow networks were formed. Results: "Insomnia" (SAS19) and "Sleep disturbance" (SDS4) are bridge symptoms of groups with varying neuroticism. In addition, compared to the group with low levels of neuroticism, the group with high levels of neuroticism showed more depression symptoms in bridge symptoms and greater global strength. Many depression-anxiety symptoms are negatively associated with life satisfaction, and "Emptiness" (SDS18) is an important symptom in the high-neuroticism group's flow network. Conclusion: This study contributes to our understanding of the connection between depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and life satisfaction. In addition, the current study identified the essential symptoms to target in depression and anxiety intervention and life satisfaction enhancement among college students.

Assessing Eysenck's PEN model to describe personality in chimpanzees

Questionnaires adapted from human models can be used to reliably assess personality also in non-human primates. In this study, we used an adapted version of Eysenck's Psychoticism-Extraversion-Neuroticism (PEN) model that focuses on three higher-order personality traits. Extending previous work on a small group of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), we tested 37 chimpanzees housed at Fundació Mona (Girona, Spain) and the Leipzig Zoo (Germany). We assessed personality with a 12-item questionnaire, which raters scored using a 7-point Likert scale. To identify the personality traits, we conducted data reduction with Principal Components Analysis and Robust Unweighted Least Squares. The ICCs for the single (3, 1) and average (3, k) ratings indicated substantial agreement between raters. Parallel analyses identified two factors to retain, whereas the scree plot inspection and eigenvalues larger than one rule identified three factors. Factor 1 and 2 in our study were identical to the ones previously described for this species (labelled Extraversion and Neuropsychoticism, respectively) and we also obtained a third factor that could be related to Dominance (Fearless Dominance). Thus, our results confirm the potential of the PEN model to describe chimpanzee personality structure.

What Drives Daily Perseverance and Passion? Grit, Conscientiousness, and Goal Pursuit Experiences

Two studies were conducted to further the understanding of daily experiences of perseverance and passion and the influences of personality traits (e.g., grit and conscientiousness) and contextual factors. Study 1 applied the experience sampling method (n = 116; observations = 5,187) and found that perseverance of effort (PE) predicted passion when controlling for conscientiousness. Study 2 used the day reconstruction method (n = 468; observations = 1,872) and found that both PE and consistency of interest (CI) had effects, although CI was a stronger predictor than PE. In both studies, PE was moderated only by instrumentality of the activity, whereas CI was moderated only by perceived difficulty. We also found mediating effects of instrumentality, (lower) perceived difficulty, and (fewer) intrusive thoughts on the pathways between traits and perseverance and passion. These results deepen our knowledge on why and how perseverance-related traits impact daily experiences of perseverance and passion.

Conflict with children, psychological depression, and problematic internet use among Chinese older adults: The moderating effect of sociability and living situation

Introduction

Problematic internet use among the elderly is an emerging area as previous studies focused more among the young people. Only a few studies focused on problematic internet use at the level of individual characteristics of older adults or on mitigating factors at the level of the older adult's family, ignoring family-level disruptive factors.

Objective

The purpose of study is to investigate the relationship between conflict with children and problematic internet use among the elderly, as well as the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions of the relationship.

Methods

The valid sample of study composed of 428 older adults from 39 different villages and communities in central China. Data analyses were conducted by SPSS, MPLUS, and SmartPLS software. To test our hypotheses, we implement several quantitative methods, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlations analysis, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Also, we employed partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for robustness testing.

Results

The results indicated that conflict with children was positively associated with problematic internet use of old people; psychological depression mediated the relationship between conflict with children and old adults' problematic internet use; sociability moderated the effect of conflict with children on psychological depression; and living situation moderated the effect of psychological depression on problematic internet use among the elderly.

Conclusion

The current research improved the understanding of the mechanisms that produce problematic internet use among the elderly and helped prevent or reduce problematic internet use in older adults in terms of family support systems and individual ability characteristics.

Good Personality and Subjective Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in Chinese Contexts

Numerous studies have emphasized the importance of examining psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to identify the factors that affect the influence of COVID-19 on people's mental health. The present research was a three-wave longitudinal study (N = 1495) examining the concurrent and prospective relations of good personality with subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed that good personality positively predicted the subsequent well-being after controlling for the respective autoregressive effects and Big Five personality traits. Specifically, individuals who scored higher on measures of good personality tended to maintain higher well-being in the face of COVID-19. However, subjective well-being could positively predict subsequent personality only at the first time point. In addition, the prospective effect of good personality on subjective well-being was greater than the reverse effect. These findings support the opinion that as a positive value orientation in personality, good personality has a significant positive impact on the response to the pandemic situation.

A validation of the Japanese adaptation of the Big Five Inventory-2

The purpose of this study was to adapt a Japanese version of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-J) to examine its factor structure, reliability, validity, and measurement invariance. The BFI-2-J assesses five domains and 15 facets of the Big Five personality traits. We analyzed two datasets: 487 Japanese undergraduates and 500 Japanese adults. The results of the principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the domain-facet structure of the BFI-2-J was similar to that of other language versions. The reliability of the BFI-2-J is sufficient. The correlation coefficients between the BFI-2-J and the other Big Five and self-esteem measures supported convergent and discriminant validity. Moreover, we confirmed measurement invariance across age and sex groups in domain-level and facet-level models. The results suggest that the BFI-2-J is a good instrument for measuring the Big Five personality traits and their facets in Japan. The BFI-2-J is expected to be useful in Japanese personality research and international comparative research.

The role of family functioning: How the Big Five affect metacognitions about smartphone use

The present study aimed to explore the relationship between the Big Five and metacognitions about smartphone use and the mediating role of family functioning. A cohort of 470 Chinese college students was selected as subjects based on the second edition of the Big Five Inventory-2, the Chinese version of the Metacognitions about Smartphone Use Questionnaire, and the general functioning subscale of Family Assessment Device. The results showed that only neuroticism was significantly and positively correlated with positive metacognition, while the correlation between other personality traits and positive metacognition was not statistically significant. Except for openness, the correlation between other personality traits and negative metacognition was statistically significant. In addition, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism were found to directly affect negative metacognitions about smartphone use and indirectly affect the negative metacognitions about smartphone use through family functioning. Findings provide insights into the design of interventions aimed at improving metacognitions about smartphone use and preventing smartphone addiction among college students.

Unpacking the effects of personality traits on algorithmic awareness: The mediating role of previous knowledge and moderating role of internet use

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the integration of algorithms in online platforms to facilitate people’s work and life. Algorithms are increasingly being utilized to tailor the selection and presentation of online content. Users’ awareness of algorithmic curation influences their ability to properly calibrate their reception of online content and interact with it accordingly. However, there has been a lack of research exploring the factors that contribute to users’ algorithmic awareness, especially in the roles of personality traits. In this study, we explore the influence of Big Five personality traits on internet users’ algorithmic awareness of online content and examine the mediating effect of previous knowledge and moderating effect of breadth of internet use in in China during the pandemic era. We adapted the 13-item Algorithmic Media Content Awareness Scale (AMCA-scale) to survey users’ algorithmic awareness of online content in four dimensions. Our data were collected using a survey of a random sample of internet users in China (n = 885). The results of this study supported the moderated mediation model of open-mindedness, previous knowledge, breadth of internet use, and algorithmic awareness. The breadth of internet use was found to be a negative moderator between previous knowledge and algorithmic awareness.

The association between ballroom dance training and empathic concern: Behavioral and brain evidence

Dance is unique in that it is a sport and an art simultaneously. Beyond improving sensorimotor functions, dance training could benefit high-level emotional and cognitive functions. Duo dances also confer the possibility for dancers to develop the abilities to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of their dance partners during the long-term dance training. To test this possibility, we collected high-resolution structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 43 expert-level ballroom dancers (a model of long-term exposure to duo dance training) and 40 age-matched and sex-matched nondancers, and measured their empathic ability using a self-report trait empathy scale. We found that ballroom dancers showed higher scores of empathic concern (EC) than controls. The EC scores were positively correlated with years with dance partners but negatively correlated with the number of dance partners for ballroom dancers. These behavioral results were supported by the structural and functional MRI data. Structurally, we observed that the gray matter volumes in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and EC scores were positively correlated. Functionally, the connectivity between ACC and occipital gyrus was positively correlated with both EC scores and years with dance partners. In addition, the relationship between years with dance partners and EC scores was indirect-only mediated by the ACC-occipital gyrus functional connectivity. Therefore, our findings provided solid evidence for the close link between long-term ballroom dance training and empathy, which deepens our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.

The Relation between Neuroticism and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Behavior among College Students: Multiple Mediating Effects of Emotion Regulation and Depression

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior among college students is a focus of attention in current society. In the information era, the Internet serves as a public health concern and as an effective pathway for prevention. In order to reduce NSSI behavior, we explore its influence factors, especially the relations between neuroticism, emotion regulation (ER), depression, and NSSI behavior. Methods: A total of 450 college students were surveyed with the Big Five Inventory-2, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Self-Rating Depression Scale, and Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Assessment Questionnaire. Results: Regression analysis showed that neuroticism significantly negatively predicted emotion regulation, while it positively predicted depression and NSSI. Multiple mediation modeling demonstrated that neuroticism and emotion regulation had no significant direct effects on NSSI. However, neuroticism could indirectly affect NSSI through four pathways of multiple mediating effects, including depression, cognitive reappraisal-depression, expressive suppression-depression, and cognitive reappraisal-expressive suppression-depression. Conclusions: Neuroticism positively predicts depression and NSSI behavior, and affects NSSI through the mediating effect of ER and depression. Therefore, amelioration of neuroticism from the perspectives of emotion regulation and depression is recommended, so as to reduce NSSI behavior among college students with highly neurotic personalities.

Mental states and personality based on real-time physical activity and facial expression recognition

INTRODUCTION

To explore a quick and non-invasive way to measure individual psychological states, this study developed interview-based scales, and multi-modal information was collected from 172 participants.

METHODS

We developed the Interview Psychological Symptom Inventory (IPSI) which eventually retained 53 items with nine main factors. All of them performed well in terms of reliability and validity. We used optimized convolutional neural networks and original detection algorithms for the recognition of individual facial expressions and physical activity based on Russell's circumplex model and the five factor model.

RESULTS

We found that there was a significant correlation between the developed scale and the participants' scores on each factor in the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and Big Five Inventory (BFI-2) [r = (-0.257, 0.632), p < 0.01]. Among the multi-modal data, the arousal of facial expressions was significantly correlated with the interval of validity (p < 0.01), valence was significantly correlated with IPSI and SCL-90, and physical activity was significantly correlated with gender, age, and factors of the scales.

DISCUSSION

Our research demonstrates that mental health can be monitored and assessed remotely by collecting and analyzing multimodal data from individuals captured by digital tools.