Potential contributing roles of early affiliative memories, social safeness and body appreciation to adolescents' well-being

Positive self-beliefs mediate the association between body appreciation and positive mental health

Previous work has supported direct, positive associations between body appreciation and positive mental health, but has largely neglected to examine possible indirect mechanistic pathways. Here, we propose one relevant mediational pathway, wherein body appreciation is associated with positive mental health via positive self-beliefs (i.e., cognitions that lead individuals to view themselves, their lives, and/or their futures under a positive outlook). To test this hypothesis, we asked an online sample of 496 adults (249 women, 247 men) from the United Kingdom to complete measures of body appreciation, positive self-beliefs, and positive mental health. Participants also completed measures of self-efficacy and resilience, and provided their demographic information. Correlational analysis revealed significant, positive, and strong associations between body appreciation and facets of positive self-beliefs and positive mental health, respectively. Structural equation modelling showed that positive self-beliefs mediated the association between body appreciation and positive mental health after controlling for self-efficacy and resilience. This model was robust across women and men separately, and the mediational effects remained intact in sensitivity and robustness analyses. We discuss ways in which greater body appreciation may help individuals develop and maintain positive self-beliefs, which in turn shape mental health outcomes.

Inhabiting the body: Exploring the link between embodiment and identity in community adolescents

The intricate relationship between the body and identity has been highlighted in previous studies. However, a holistic approach to the body that focuses on embodiment is lacking in research examining body - identity linkages. The current study (N = 917 adolescents; 58% female; Mage = 16.17, range = 14-19 years) examined the psychometric properties of a Dutch translation of the Experience of Embodiment Scale (EES) and explored the link between embodiment and personal identity. First, confirmatory factor analysis revealed a second-order factor structure for the EES and adequate reliability coefficients were obtained. Metric invariance across gender was demonstrated for the first- and second-order factors. Second, path analysis demonstrated that experiencing embodiment was positively associated with adaptive identity work. Third, five identity statuses emerged using cluster analysis. Adolescents in statuses reflecting less adaptive identity functioning displayed lower levels of embodiment. The EES shows promising indications of reliability and factor structure for assessing adolescents' Experience of Embodiment, and the present study demonstrates that embodiment is meaningfully related to identity functioning. These findings support the call for the adoption of a positive psychology framework within this research field, with attention given to more broadly defined body-related concepts such as embodiment.

Dynamic developmental changes in neurotransmitters supporting infant attachment learning

Infant survival relies on rapid identification, remembering and behavioral responsiveness to caregivers' sensory cues. While neural circuits supporting infant attachment learning have largely remained elusive in children, use of invasive techniques has uncovered some of its features in rodents. During a 10-day sensitive period from birth, newborn rodents associate maternal odors with maternal pleasant or noxious thermo-tactile stimulation, which gives rise to a preference and approach behavior towards these odors, and blockade of avoidance learning. Here we review the neural circuitry supporting this neonatal odor learning, unique compared to adults, focusing specifically on the early roles of neurotransmitters such as glutamate, GABA (Gamma-AminoButyric Acid), serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, in the olfactory bulb, the anterior piriform cortex and amygdala. The review highlights the importance of deepening our knowledge of age-specific infant brain neurotransmitters and behavioral functioning that can be translated to improve the well-being of children during typical development and aid in treatment during atypical development in childhood clinical practice, and the care during rearing of domestic animals.

Early Emotional Experiences and Prosocial Behavior among Chinese Adolescents: The Roles of Psychological Suzhi and Subjective Socioeconomic Status

Prosocial behavior plays a vital role in adolescents’ well-being and social functioning, with the recall of early emotional experiences being a major influence. Positive experiences such as early memories of warmth and safeness (EMWS) contribute to prosocial interpersonal characteristics, whereas adverse experiences such as child psychological abuse and neglect (CPAN) lead to social withdrawal or behavioral problems. The direct effects of EMWS and CPAN on prosocial behavior were investigated in this study, along with the mediation effect of psychological suzhi and the moderation effect of subjective socioeconomic status (SSS). A sample of 948 adolescents (Mage = 14.05 years, SD = 1.68 years; 43.6% females) was randomly recruited to complete self-report questionnaires. Correlation results indicated that EMWS promoted prosocial behavior, whereas CPAN was negatively associated with prosocial behavior. Path analyses confirmed the mediating role of psychological suzhi on the effects of EMWS and CPAN on prosocial behavior. SSS was shown to moderate the effects of EMWS on prosocial behavior and CPAN on psychological suzhi. Compared to lower SSS, higher SSS would reinforce the positive impact of EMWS on prosocial behavior and exacerbate the negative impact of CPAN on psychological suzhi. The current study provided new insight into understanding the underlying mechanisms of prosocial behavior from the perspective of early emotional experiences.

Dimensionality and measurement invariance of the Social Safeness and Pleasure Scale in adolescents from community and residential youth care

BACKGROUND

Social safeness has been proposed as the individual's perception of the social world as being warmth and soothing. The lack of social safeness has been suggested as a transdiagnostic socio-emotional vulnerability for several mental health difficulties. To date there was no study addressing experiences of social safeness in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

To validate and study the psychometric properties of the Social Safeness and Pleasure Scale to Portuguese adolescents from community and residential care homes.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A total of 731 Portuguese adolescents from community and residential youth care homes participated on this study. The community sample was composed of adolescents recruited from regular schools (208 boys; 224 girls). The residential youth care sample was composed of adolescents placed in residential care homes (145 boys; 154 girls).

METHODS

A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, and measurement invariance investigated.

RESULTS

A one-factor solution presented a good fit across all samples and proved to be invariant (configural, metric, scalar and strict measurement invariance). Moreover, internal consistency values were excellent for all samples (α > 0.93) and evidence for construct validity in relation to external variables was found. Means comparisons revealed significant differences between all tested groups. Community adolescents reported higher social safeness in comparison to the adolescents placed in residential care. Within both samples, boys scored higher in the SSPS-A when compared to girls.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide evidence on the SSPS-A validity and its use across diverse adolescent samples.