Does Worrying Mean Caring Too Much? Interpersonal Prototypicality of Dimensional Worry Controlling for Social Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms

Worry, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms are dimensions that have each been linked to heterogeneous problems in interpersonal functioning. However, the relationships between these symptoms and interpersonal difficulties remain unclear given that most studies have examined diagnostic categories, not accounted for symptoms’ shared variability due to general distress, and investigated only interpersonal problems (neglecting interpersonal traits, interpersonal goals, social behavior in daily life, and reports of significant others). To address these issues, students (Study 1; N = 282) endorsed symptoms and interpersonal circumplex measures of traits and problems, as well as event-contingent social behaviors during one week of naturalistic daily interactions (N = 184; 7,036 records). Additionally, depressed and anxious patients (N = 47) reported symptoms and interpersonal goals in a dyadic relationship, and significant others rated patients’ interpersonal goals and impact (Study 2). We derived hypotheses about prototypical interpersonal features from theories about the functions of particular symptoms and social behaviors. As expected, worry was uniquely associated with prototypically affiliative tendencies across all self-report measures in both samples, but predicted impacting significant others in unaffiliative ways. As also hypothesized, social anxiety was uniquely and prototypically associated with low dominance across measures, and general distress was associated with cold-submissive tendencies. Findings for depressive symptoms provided less consistent evidence for unique prototypical interpersonal features. Overall, results suggest the importance of multimethod assessment and accounting for general distress in interpersonal models of worry, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms.     

Psychosocial correlates of depressive rumination

The study examined the relationship between brooding, the maladaptive sub-component of depressive rumination, an important cognitive mechanism implicated in the aetiology of depression, and a range of depressogenic psychosocial factors, including insecure attachment styles and maladaptive interpersonal behaviours. It was hypothesised that brooding (but not the more adaptive reflection component) is associated with an attachment pattern characterised by fear of rejection, and an interpersonal style characterised by submissiveness. Currently depressed (n = 29), previously depressed (n = 42) and never-depressed (n = 32) adults completed self-report measures assessing depressive symptoms, rumination (brooding and reflection), attachment orientation and maladaptive interpersonal behaviours. The study hypotheses were partially supported: After controlling for gender and depressive symptoms, brooding was significantly associated with one indicator of underlying rejection concerns (rejection sensitivity, p = .05), but was not associated with another indicator of underlying rejection concerns (anxious attachment style) or with avoidant attachment style. After controlling for depressive symptoms, brooding was uniquely associated with the submissive interpersonal style (p < .01). Brooding was not correlated with needy or cold interpersonal styles after controlling for depressive symptoms.     

越“八卦”越沉迷:人际好奇与大学生社交网站成瘾倾向的关系

本研究基于“使用与满足”理论和有限自制力理论,探讨人际好奇与大学生社交网站成瘾倾向的关系,并在此基础上建构了一个有调节的中介模型,考察错失恐惧的中介作用和特质自我控制的调节作用。采用方便抽样法对湖北省和河南省各一所综合性大学621名使用微信朋友圈或QQ空间的学生进行问卷调查,结果显示：（1）人际好奇与错失恐惧、社交网站成瘾倾向显著正相关,与特质自我控制显著负相关;错失恐惧与特质自我控制显著负相关,与社交网站成瘾倾向显著正相关;特质自我控制与社交网站成瘾倾向显著负相关;（2）错失恐惧在人际好奇与大学生社交网站成瘾倾向之间起中介作用,特质自我控制调节该中介路径的后半段。具体而言,相对于高特质自我控制的大学生,间接效应对于低特质自我控制的大学生更加显著。本研究结果揭示了人际好奇对大学生社交网站成瘾倾向的影响及其作用机制,对大学生社交网站成瘾的干预具有一定的指导意义。     

Life skills development in physical education: A self-determination theory-based investigation across the school term

ObjectivesGrounded in self-determination theory (SDT), the main aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations between teacher autonomy support, students’ basic psychological need satisfaction and life skills development in physical education (PE).DesignThis study employed a two-wave longitudinal research design.MethodStudents (N = 266, Mage = 12.94 years, SD = 0.70) completed measures assessing perceived autonomy-supportive teaching, need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and life skills development in PE (teamwork, goal setting, social skills, problem solving and decision making, emotional skills, leadership, time management, and interpersonal communication). Data collections took place during week 6 (timepoint 1; T1) and week 15 (timepoint 2; T2) of the autumn school term.ResultsCross-lagged panel analyses showed that T1 teacher autonomy support did not significantly predict students’ three basic psychological needs, total need satisfaction or life skills development at T2. Students’ T1 total need satisfaction positively predicted their development of all eight life skills at T2. Additionally, students’ T1 autonomy satisfaction positively predicted their teamwork, social skills, emotional skills, leadership, and interpersonal communication skills at T2, T1 competence satisfaction positively predicted students’ teamwork skills at T2, and students’ T1 relatedness satisfaction positively predicted their social skills at T2.ConclusionsProviding partial support for SDT, the findings highlighted that satisfaction of students’ three basic psychological needs had some positive effects on students’ life skills development in PE. As such, a climate that satisfies students’ basic psychological needs should help to develop their life skills in PE.     

大学生宿舍人际关系与抑郁的关系:宿舍冲突应对方式的中介作用和性别的调节作用

本研究使用宿舍人际关系问卷、抑郁自评量表和宿舍冲突应对方式问卷,采取整群随机抽样的方法,从武汉市三所大学抽取了876名大一至大四的本科生进行调查,旨在考察宿舍冲突应对方式在大学生宿舍人际关系与抑郁之间的中介作用以及性别的调节作用。结果表明：（1）宿舍人际关系与抑郁显著负相关;宿舍冲突应对方式中的竞争、回避与抑郁显著正相关,合作与抑郁显著负相关;（2）竞争与合作在大学生宿舍人际关系与抑郁之间中介效应显著;（3）性别调节了宿舍人际关系通过竞争影响抑郁的中介过程的前半段路径。本研究以宿舍人际关系和宿舍冲突应对方式为切入点考察它们对抑郁的影响机制,这为预防和干预大学生抑郁提供了新的视角。     

Coping and Positive Affect in Adolescents of Mothers With and Without a History of Depression

The adolescent children of depressed mothers are at increased risk for depression, but little is known about protective factors for these children. Maintenance of positive affect in a stressful context may be an important marker of resilience. Mothers with (n = 34) and without (n = 38) a history of depression and their adolescent children completed questionnaires regarding adolescents’ coping and depressive symptoms and engaged in a 15 min videotaped interaction about family stress. Adolescents’ observed behaviors were coded using the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales. No significant differences emerged in observed behavior between adolescents of mothers with and without a history of depression. Higher levels of primary and secondary control coping and lower levels of disengagement coping were related to higher levels of observed positive mood and fewer depressive symptoms in adolescents. Observed positive mood was related to fewer depressive symptoms in adolescents, even after accounting for maternal history of depression and current maternal depressive symptoms. Results suggest the importance of considering positive affect in the context of family stress as a marker of resilience in adolescents at risk for depression. The current study provides evidence for coping as a protective factor, related to higher levels of positive affect and fewer depressive symptoms, in adolescents exposed to maternal depressive symptoms.     

Depressive Tendencies and Susceptibility to Anxiety: Differential Personality Correlates

Although the constructs of depression and anxiety are conceptually and clinically separable, they have been difficult to separate psychometrically. The present study is an attempt to statistically disentangle the two constructs and to evaluate their differential correlates. A common factor analysis of the items in a depression and an anxiety inventory was conducted using data collected from two samples—208 college students and eighty-seven 18-year-olds participating in the Block Longitudinal Study. In both samples two factors, interpreted as depressive tendencies and susceptibility to anxiety, were found; the factor loadings on each factor were highly correlated across the two samples. No sex differences were found in these factor structures. Factor-based scores comprised of well-differentiating items were computed for participants in the Block sample. Using partial correlation analyses, observer-measured as well as self-report-based personality correlates of the specific variance associated with depressive tendencies and with susceptibility to anxiety, respectively, were contrasted. The results indicated that a strong interpersonal component discernible in depression was less noticeable in anxiety.     

Mindfulness and reduced cognitive reactivity to sad mood: Evidence from a correlational study and a non-randomized waiting list controlled study

Cognitive Reactivity (CR) refers to the degree to which a mild dysphoric state reactivates negative thinking patterns, and it has been found to play a key causal role in depressive relapse. Although Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) directly aims to address this mechanism of CR, the relationship between mindfulness and CR has not been tested to date. Using a cross-sectional design (Study 1; n = 164) and a non-randomized waiting list controlled design (Study 2; MBCT [n = 18] vs. waiting list [n = 21]), the authors examined the relationship between naturally occurring levels of mindfulness (Study 1) and MBCT (Study 2) on the one hand, and CR on the other hand. In line with predictions, it was found that (a) trait mindfulness is significantly negatively correlated with CR, even when controlled for current depressive symptoms and prior history of depression (Study 1), and that (b) MBCT, compared to a matched control group, significantly reduces CR, and that this effect of MBCT on reduction of CR is mediated by a positive change in mindfulness skills (Study 2). Results provide first evidence for the claim that mindfulness practices in MBCT are designed to address the process of CR.     

Why do Women get Depressed and Men get Drunk? An Examination of Attributional Style and Coping Style in Response to Negative Life Events Among Canadian Young Adults

Gender differences in alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms are well known. This study focused on the associations of gender with attributional style, coping style, and negative life events in explaining these differences. The association of gender with each of the predictor and outcome variables was examined. One hundred eight (51 men, 57 women) undergraduate university students, ages 18–21, completed validated measures of depression, alcohol consumption, attributional style, coping style, and negative life events. Participants reported mild-moderate levels of depressive symptoms, similar to comparable samples. In contrast, alcohol consumption was lower than expected. Depressive symptoms were associated with negative events and rumination among both men and women. Pessimism and wine consumption were correlated with depression among women only. Although men consumed more alcohol than did women, a gender difference in depressive symptoms was not found. Potential implications of these findings are discussed.     

Does System Justification Promote Establishment Voting? Mainstream Politics in France,Germany, and the United Kingdom

Throughout Europe and North America, mainstream political parties have ceded electoral support to antiestablishment parties from the far left and far right. We investigate the hypothesis that individual differences in system justification—the psychological tendency to defend and justify the overarching social system—would be negatively associated with antiestablishment voting, even among citizens who would otherwise be inclined to support radicalism. In three large, nationally representative surveys conducted in France (N = 14,432), Germany (N = 1,168), and the United Kingdom (N = 2,337), we observed that system justification was positively associated with voting for establishment parties and negatively associated with antiestablishment voting. System justification was associated with reduced support for antiestablishment parties on the right and left—even among respondents who were high on ethnic intolerance, opposition to the European Union, economic distress, and support for income redistribution. Thus, all other things being equal, system-justification tendencies reinforce political moderation, establishment voting, and therefore social stability.     

Parental Interpersonal Sensitivity and Youth Social Problems: A Mediational Role for Child Emotion Dysregulation

We examined the relations between parental interpersonal sensitivity and youth social problems and explored the mediational role of child emotion dysregulation. Mothers (N = 42; M age = 39.38) and fathers (N = 41; M age = 39.38) of youth aged 7–12 (N = 42; M age = 9.12) completed measures of their own interpersonal sensitivity and reported on their child’s emotion regulation skills and social functioning. Maternal interpersonal sensitivity was positively associated with child social problems, and this relationship was fully mediated by child emotion dysregulation. A bootstrapping technique provided evidence for the significance of the mediation. For fathers, only the association between child emotion dysregulation and child social problems was significant. Our findings suggest one potential mechanism through which maternal behaviors relate to youth psychosocial functioning. Identification of such mechanisms contributes to the development of conceptual models of youth functioning and suggests specific targets for prevention and intervention efforts.     

The Adolescent Religious Coping Scale: Development,Validation, and Cross-Validation

Research literature on adolescent coping is growing, but typically such studies have ignored religious coping strategies and their potential impact on functioning. To address this lack, we developed the Adolescent Religious Coping Scale and used its seven subscales to examine the relationship between religious coping and emotional functioning. A cross-sectional research design was used with both a validation sample of Christian school students (Sample 1, N = 500, ages 12–19) and a cross-validation sample of Christian youth group attenders (Sample 2, N = 62, ages 11–18). Emotional functioning was assessed positively (life satisfaction) and negatively (hopelessness). Factor analyses supported factorial validity, and alpha levels supported reliability of the seven religious coping subscales (Positive God-Focused Coping, Seeking Religious Support, Constructive Distraction, Questioning, Avoidance, Denial, and Deferring). For both samples, religious coping was significantly related (unique variance) to religious support, parental support, and emotional functioning, respectively. In general, positive religious coping strategies were related to more support and better functioning, whereas the reverse was true for negative religious coping strategies. Moreover, many of these results were maintained even after controlling for variance due to age, gender, and religious attendance. As such, clinicians working with religious adolescents should consider encouraging these teens to optimize use of positive religious coping strategies and minimize reliance on negative ones as part of a holistic approach to handling stress. Religious coping findings are discussed regarding their comparison to general adolescent coping and with respect to future research directions.     

Relationship of Adult Representations of Childhood Parenting and Personality Tendencies to Adult Stressors and Political Ideology

Undergraduate students in a Southeastern US University (n = 232) responded to an inventory that included retrospective measures of their parents’ style of parenting (authoritarian vs. authoritative) and their own childhood psychological tendencies (insecurity vs. confidence), as well as their adult stressors and political orientation. Authoritative parenting positively correlated with childhood confidence and negatively correlated with both childhood insecurity and adult stressors. Conversely, authoritarian parenting was positively associated with childhood insecurity and adult stressors but was not significantly correlated with childhood confidence. For the most part, parenting styles, early childhood tendencies, and adult stressors were unrelated to adult political ideology, contrary to previous longitudinal research reporting these connections.     

Passive coping response to depressive symptoms among low-income homebound older adults: Does it affect depression severity and treatment outcome?

Due to their homebound state, lack of financial resources, and/or other life demands, a significant proportion of depressed, low-income homebound older adults experience depression. Because of their limited access to psychotherapy, most of these older adults self-manage their depressive symptoms. The purposes of this study were to examine (1) the relationship between homebound older adults' coping responses to depressed mood and the severity of their depressive symptoms at baseline (n = 121), and (2) the moderating effect of passive coping responses on the relationship between participation in problem-solving therapy (PST: in-person or telehealth delivery) and depressive symptoms at 12- and 24-week follow-ups. Controlling for the effects of demographic and disability characteristics, cognitive passive coping was significantly associated with baseline depressive symptoms, while behavioral passive coping was not. The main effect of baseline cognitive passive coping response was also significant in mixed-effects regression analysis, but the interaction between coping pattern and group was not significant. The results point to a possibility that cognitive passive copers may have benefited as much from PST as the rest of the PST participants. Further research needs to examine the moderating effect of coping responses to depressive symptoms on treatment efficacy of PST and other psychosocial interventions for late-life depression.     

The associations between Self-Criticism and Dependency and incidental learning of interpersonal and achievement words

Personality trait-congruent implicit content processing was studied experimentally. In Experiment-1 (N = 132), individual differences in Self-Criticism were most strongly associated with incidental learning of negative achievement words, whereas individual differences in Dependency were most strongly associated with incidental learning of negative interpersonal words. In Experiment-2 (N = 172), individual differences interacted with processing tendencies in predicting negative affect. Highly dependent and highly self-critical individuals experienced higher negative affect if they were low in incidental learning of positive interpersonal words. Overall, these findings indicate that Self-Criticism and Dependency have significantly differential impacts on implicit cognitive processes.     

Risk perception of a chronic threat of terrorism: Differences based on coping types,gender and exposure

High levels of risk perception of terrorism (RPT) may impair an individual's quality of life and welfare. To understand the mechanisms responsible for RPT, this study investigated the association of gender and coping styles with individual differences in two key elements of RPT: perceived control and perceived vulnerability. A convenience sample of 400 Israelis (181 men and 219 women) filled out questionnaires on sociodemographic background, RPT and coping. Employing a multidimensional approach for coping, we divided participants into four coping types: problem-focused (n = 65), emotion-focused (n = 70), mixed (n = 122) and minimal (n = 142). The results indicate that problem-focused coping is associated with higher levels of perceived control than other types of coping and mixed coping is associated with higher levels of perceived vulnerability than other coping strategies. Also, interactions between gender and exposure to terrorism contributed to understanding the differences in perceived control. The discussion addresses gender differences in RPT and coping in the context of traditional gender roles. The study concludes with implications for risk management and therapeutic interventions regarding high levels of fear of terrorism.     

Effects of intergroup contact and relative gratification vs. deprivation on prejudice on both sides of the U.S./Mexico status divide

A study in the U.S.–Mexican intergroup context examined how collective relative gratification (RG) versus deprivation affects the relationship between intergroup contact and interpersonal closeness and subtle prejudice towards an out-group. Participants were Mexican university students in Mexico (N = 239) and non-Mexican students in California (N = 90). As predicted, Mexicans experienced less gratification/higher relative deprivation (RD), and low quality intergroup contact and expressed lower interpersonal closeness and higher subtle prejudice than U.S. Americans. Differences between countries were larger amongst participants reporting higher RD. Second-stage moderated mediation analysis showed that the mediating effects of contact between country and interpersonal closeness and subtle prejudice, respectively, were larger amongst participants who felt relatively gratified than those who felt relatively deprived. These findings underline the importance of recognizing the moderating effect of differences in the RG versus RD levels of minority and majority groups when anticipating the potential benefits of intergroup contact for prejudice reduction.     

大学生生命愿景、自我效能感与应对方式的关系

采用问卷法以377名大学生为被试研究了生命愿景、一般自我效能感及应对方式的关系。研究结果为:1)大学生生命愿景整体水平较高,存在着性别和年级差异,女生的生命愿景显著高于男生;大一学生显著高于大四;2)生命愿景不同水平的大学生在一般自我效能感上存在显著性差异(t=7.35,p<0.001);在积极应对与消极应对因子上有显著性差异。3)大学生生命愿景与一般自我效能感呈显著正相关,并对自我效能感具有良好的预测作用;4)大学生生命愿景与积极应对方式呈显著正相关,与消极应对方式呈显著负相关;5)大学生生命愿景通过一般自我效能感对应对方式产生间接影响。结论为生命愿景作为应对源对大学生应对校园压力发挥积极作用。     

The mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between big five personality traits and depressive symptoms among Chinese undergraduate medical students

The objectives of this study were to examine the correlations between big five personality traits and depressive symptoms among Chinese undergraduate medical students, and to explore the mediating role of self-esteem on the correlations. Self-reported questionnaires, including Big Five Inventory, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem scale, and socio-demographic section were distributed to 2000 undergraduate medical students at four medical colleges and universities in Liaoning province, China, in June 2014. 1738 students became the final subjects. After adjustment for age and gender, agreeableness (β = −0.329) and openness (β = −0.096) were negatively related to depressive symptoms, while neuroticism (β = 0.245) was positively related to the symptoms. Self-esteem functioned as a mediator in the relationship between agreeableness (a * b = −0.154, 95% CI: −0.182, −0.127)/openness (a * b = −0.097, 95% CI: −0.124, −0.069)/neuroticism (a * b = 0.031, 95% CI: 0.007, 0.058) and depressive symptoms. Therefore, identifying at-risk students and undertaking appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both personality traits and self-esteem may be effective in preventing and reducing depressive symptoms among Chinese medical students.     

Social anxiety and depressive symptoms mediate instrumentality and maladaptive interpersonal styles

This study sought to examine the relationships between stereotypically masculine (instrumentality) and feminine (expressiveness) personality traits, social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and three interpersonal styles of relating: destructive overdependence (DO), dysfunctional detachment (DD), and healthy dependence (HD). Based on theories of social anxiety and recent research on social anxiety and close relationships, it is argued that individuals with higher levels of social anxiety would display greater detachment and overdependence in their interpersonal relationships. Students at an Australian university (n = 524) completed a battery of online self-report measures. The findings suggest that low levels of instrumentality are related to social anxiety and depressive symptoms, which both mediate the relationship between instrumentality and the two maladaptive interpersonal styles of relating: DO and DD.