Associations between interconnectedness, compassion, and participation in collective action for people with mental illness: A random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling approach

The present study aims to prospectively investigate the relationships between interconnectedness, compassion, and participation in private and public forms of collective action for people with mental illness. Public form refers to collective action at the macrolevel such as large-scale protests and demonstrations going on in the communities. Private form refers to collective action happening at the microlevel that targets promoting awareness of social inequalities and positive changes among personal social circles, such as calling out microaggressions or correcting others' stigmatizing language. Eligible responses from 501 participants were collected at baseline, with 345 and 318 participants retained at 6-month and 12-month follow-up assessments, respectively. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were conducted to investigate the mediating role of compassion in the relationships between interconnectedness and participation in private and public forms of collective action. Interconnectedness was consistently associated with a higher frequency of participation in private form, but not public form, of collective action at subsequent time points. Contrary to the hypothesis, results showed the nonsignificant mediating effect of compassion between interconnectedness and participation in both forms of collective action. The present study highlights the potential of interconnectedness in promoting a private form of collective action for the rights of people with mental illness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Going beyond Mindfulness: How Concentration and Tranquility Commonly Co-Arising with Mindfulness Account for Mental Health

Concentration and tranquility usually co-arise with mindfulness during mindfulness practice and in daily life and may potentially contribute to mental health; however, they have rarely been studied in empirical research. The present study aimed to examine the relationship of concentration and tranquility with mindfulness and indicators of mental health. With no existing self-report measure assessing concentration and tranquility, the Concentration Scale and Tranquility Scale were first developed and validated. Items were developed based on the extant literature, rated by a group of experts, and selected according to their ratings. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA; n = 384) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA; n = 384) were employed in separate samples of university students and community adults to establish the factor structure of both scales. Their construct validity was established in another similar sample (n = 333) by examining their correlations with variables including (a) concentration-related concepts, (b) tranquility-related concepts, (c) mindfulness-related concepts, and (d) perceived stress and psychological distress. The relationships between concentration, tranquility, mindfulness, perceived stress and psychological distress were then examined by hierarchical multiple regressions, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. A single-factor structure was found by the EFA and confirmed by the CFA for both scales. Concentration and tranquility were significantly and positively associated with (a) attentional control and (b) mindfulness and nonattachment; and negatively associated with (c) irritability and (d) perceived stress and psychological distress. Concentration and tranquility were found to have a significant incremental value over the effect of mindfulness on indicators of mental health. Concentration and tranquility can incrementally explain mental health above and beyond the effect of mindfulness.

Associations between public and self-stigma of help-seeking with help-seeking attitudes and intention: A meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach

The present study examined the association between help-seeking public stigma and help-seeking self-stigma (i.e., internalization of stigma) and the relative association of both types of stigma with help-seeking attitude and intention using a full-information meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach. We also investigated the moderating effect of gender, age, collectivism, and social group in the internalization process. Results from 115 independent samples containing data from 54,793 individuals showed that public stigma of help-seeking was strongly and positively associated with self-stigma of help-seeking. Moreover, after controlling for the effect of each other, self-stigma, but not public stigma, remained significantly associated with help-seeking attitude and help-seeking intention. Gender, age, collectivism, and social group did not significantly moderate the association between public and self-stigma. The findings highlight that people who perceive more stigma of help-seeking from others tend to have higher levels of self-stigma. Compared with help-seeking public stigma, help-seeking self-stigma might have a larger impact on one's help-seeking attitude and intention. Help-seeking promotion campaigns should be devised to tackle both types of stigma to foster positive help-seeking attitude and intention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Nonattachment mediates the associations between mindfulness, well-being, and psychological distress: A meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach

Research on nonattachment, a Buddhist psychological construct closely related to mindfulness, has burgeoned since the development of the Nonattachment Scale. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to investigate the mediating role of nonattachment in the relationship between mindfulness and well-being and psychological distress using a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach. The respective associations of nonattachment and mindfulness with well-being and psychological distress, after controlling for each other, were also examined. Forty-one independent cross-sectional data sets with 24,704 individuals were coded. Results showed that nonattachment partially mediated the associations between mindfulness and well-being and psychological distress. Nonattachment and mindfulness were both significantly positively associated with well-being and negatively associated with psychological distress after controlling for each other. Given the present findings were based on cross-sectional data, more studies with rigorous research design, such as longitudinal, experimental, and intervention studies, should be conducted to further investigate the mediating effect of nonattachment between mindfulness with well-being and distress outcomes and establish causal relations between them. Future research directions regarding nonattachment and its application in mindfulness-based interventions were discussed.

Interconnectedness Is Associated with a Greater Sense of Civic Duty and Collective Action Participation through Transcendental Awareness and Compassion during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has a unprecedented impact on the way individuals make sense of the interconnected nature of themselves in relation to the world. This study investigated the mediating role of transcendental awareness and compassion in the association of interconnectedness with a sense of civic duty and collective action participation during COVID-19 using a longitudinal design. A total of 336 young adult participants were recruited at baseline and were asked to complete measures of interconnectedness, transcendental awareness, compassion, civic duty, and collective action participation at three time points over a 6-month period. Path analysis was used to test the hypothesized mediation model. The results showed that compassion fully mediated the positive association between interconnectedness and collective action participation and partially mediated the positive association between interconnectedness and civic duty. Transcendental awareness also partially mediated the positive association between interconnectedness and civic duty but not collective action participation. This study highlighted the potential of interconnectedness in promoting civic duty and engagement in collective action through transcendental awareness and compassion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Internalization process of stigma of people with mental illness across cultures: A meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach

This meta-analytic study synthesized findings from 108 independent data sets across 22 cultures to investigate whether the stigma internalization model (the internalization of experienced stigma and perceived stigma to self-stigma) is associated with well-being and recovery of people with mental illness. We also examined the moderating role of collectivism in the internalization process. Results of the meta-analytic structural equation modeling suggested that self-stigma is a significant mediator in the relationships between experienced stigma and perceived stigma with well-being and recovery variables (indirect effects = 0.02 to -0.16). Experienced and perceived stigma had significant direct effects on well-being and recovery variables (Bs = 0.07 to -0.21, p < 0.05), suggesting that both external (e.g., public stigma) and internal (i.e., self-stigma) influences of stigma work concurrently to affect recovery and well-being of people with mental illness. The results of the mixed effect three-level meta-analytic models showed that collectivism significantly moderated the relationship between experienced and perceived stigma with self-stigma (Bs = 0.06 to 0.11, p < 0.05). This implied that the more collectivistic a culture is, the stronger the correlation between experienced and perceived stigma with self-stigma. Implications to stigma reduction approaches were discussed.

Meta-analytic review on the differential effects of self-compassion components on well-being and psychological distress: The moderating role of dialecticism on self-compassion

Although self-compassion has been extensively studied in the recent decades, the representation of self-compassion as a unitary measure or the presence of self-warmth (i.e., presence of the positive components: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness) and self-coldness (i.e., presence of the negative components: self-judgment, isolation, and mindfulness) remains controversial. Moreover, the differential effects of the six components of self-compassion on mental well-being and psychological distress have not been systematically investigated. To synthesize the differential effects of the six components of self-compassion and to examine how people in different cultures may associate the positive and negative components of self-compassion differentially, the present meta-analysis synthesized 183 effect sizes across 27 cultures. Results showed that the negative components of self-compassion (rs = 0.44 to 0.45) showed greater effect sizes with psychological distress than the positive counterparts (rs = -0.17 to -0.29) whereas the positive components of SCS (rs = 0.29 to.39) showed greater effect sizes with mental well-being than the negative counterparts (rs = -0.29 to -0.36), with the exception of common humanity and isolation (r = 0.29 and - 0.36). Cultural orientation of dialecticism moderated the association between the positive and the negative components of self-compassion, with dialectical cultures showing lower associations between the two opposing components. Findings have implications on the design and implementation of self-compassion interventions cross-culturally.

Family involvement moderates the relationship between perceived recovery orientation of services and personal narratives among Chinese with schizophrenia in Hong Kong: a 1-year longitudinal investigation

PURPOSE

Family has been found to have an influential role on clinical and recovery outcomes of people with schizophrenia. While recovery-oriented services can facilitate service users to develop a rich and positive identity, it is unclear how different levels of family involvement may interact with recovery-oriented services in affecting personal recovery. The present study aimed to examine how family involvement moderates the relationship between perceived recovery-orientation of services and personal narratives of Chinese people in Hong Kong who had recent onset of schizophrenia spectrum disorder longitudinally.

METHOD

Multi-method approach (semi-structured interview, researcher ratings, self-report measures) was adopted. 167 participants completed assessments at baseline; 93 and 68 of them were retained at 6-month and 12-month follow-up assessment, respectively.

RESULTS

Baseline perceived recovery orientation of services significantly predicted richer personal narratives at 6-month follow-up when baseline family involvement was optimal (B = 0.26, p = 0.03, 95% CI [0.02-0.48]). As to 12-month assessment, baseline perceived recovery orientation of services significantly predicted poorer personal narratives when family was perceived as under-involved at baseline (B = - 0.45, p = 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.88 to - 0.07]).

CONCLUSION

Without proper family involvement, recovery-oriented services could be ineffectual in facilitating the development of rich personal narratives for Chinese people in Hong Kong.