Creativity in Middle Childhood: Influence of Perceived Maternal Sensitivity,Self-esteem,and Shyness

This study aimed to examine the relationship between maternal sensitivity and affect, as perceived by the child, and childhood creativity. Self-esteem and shyness were considered mediating factors. A total of 151 elementary school pupils were tested on verbal and pictorial creativity, self-esteem, and perceived maternal affect and sensitivity. Their teachers assessed each child’s shyness in their relations at school. A Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model of the causal relationships among the study’s variables was tested. Results supported this theoretical model of causality. Maternal sensitivity had a significant, direct, positive effect on self-esteem, and a direct negative effect on shyness. In addition, self-esteem had a direct positive effect on verbal creativity and shyness had a negative direct effect on verbal and pictorial creativity. The indirect effect of maternal sensitivity on verbal creativity was significant via both self-esteem and shyness. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for child development.     

Sensory-processing sensitivity moderates the association between childhood experiences and adult life satisfaction

There are few studies testing the differential susceptibility hypothesis (DSH: hypothesizing that some individuals are more responsive to both positive and negative experiences) with adult personality traits. The current study examined the DSH by investigating the moderating effect of sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) on childhood experiences and life satisfaction. A total of 185 adults completed measures of SPS, positive/negative childhood experiences and life satisfaction. SPS did moderate the association between childhood experiences and life satisfaction. Simple slopes analysis compared those reporting high and low SPS (+/− 1 SD) and revealed that the difference was observed only for those who reported negative childhood experiences; with the high SPS group reporting lower life satisfaction. There was no difference observed in those reporting positive childhood experiences, which supported a diathesis-stress model rather than the DSH.     

A bifactor model of negative affectivity: fear and distress components among younger and older youth

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) is a 27-item youth-report measure of positive affectivity and negative affectivity. Using 2 large school-age youth samples (clinic-referred sample: N = 662; school-based sample: N = 911), in the present study, we thoroughly examined the structure of the PANAS-C NA and PA scales and fit a bifactor model to the PANAS-C NA items. Our exploratory factor analytic results demonstrated that negative affectivity is comprised of 2 main components-NA: Fear and NA: Distress-specifically among older youth. A bifactor model also evidenced the best model fit relative to a unidimensional and second-order factor structure of the PANAS-C NA items. The NA: Fear group factor evidenced significant correspondence with external criterion measures of anxiety. However, the original PANAS-C NA scale evidenced equal (and in some cases greater) correspondence with criterion measures of anxiety. We thus recommend continued usage and interpretation of the full PANAS-C NA scale despite the identification of the fear and distress group factors underlying general negative affectivity. The identification of these fear and distress group factors nonetheless suggest that negative affectivity may be comprised largely of a fear and distress component among older youth. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to better understanding the structure of psychopathology across childhood development and informing the development of future treatments of negative emotions.     

Structural relations between borderline personality disorder features and putative etiological correlates

This study assessed the structural relations between borderline personality disorder (BPD) features and purported etiological correlates. Approximately 5,000 18-year-old nonclinical young adults were screened for BPD features, and 2 cohorts of participants (total N = 421; approximately one half of whom endorsed significant borderline features) completed the laboratory phase of the study. Measures included self-report and interview-based assessments of BPD psychopathology, personality, psychopathology in biological parents, and childhood physical and sexual abuse. Significant relations between BPD features and purported etiological correlates of BPD were found. A multivariate model that included parental psychopathology, childhood abuse, and personality factors provided an adequate fit to the data and supported the contention that the personality traits disinhibition and negative affectivity underlie BPD features.     

3～8年级学生羞怯与心理适应之关系:一个有中介的调节模型检验

以1485名3-8年级学生为研究对象,借助同伴评价和自我报告,考察性别对羞怯和心理适应关系的调节效应以及同伴关系不良在上述调节效应中的中介作用。研究结果表明:(1)羞怯、同伴关系不良、孤独和抑郁的性别差异显著。女孩的羞怯水平显著高于男孩,而同伴关系不良、孤独、抑郁水平则显著低于男孩;(2)羞怯与同伴关系不良、孤独、抑郁呈较弱的正相关,而与自尊呈较弱的负相关;(3)羞怯与孤独、抑郁、自尊的关系受性别因素的调节,羞怯男孩面临的心理适应风险高于羞怯女孩;(4)性别对羞怯和孤独、抑郁、自尊关系的调节通过同伴关系不良这一中介因素而实现,间接效应占总效应的比例在25%至47%之间。这一结果表明,羞怯的适应价值存在性别差异,而同伴关系在其中扮演着重要的中介角色。     

Social interpretation bias and generalized social phobia: the influence of developmental experiences

Patients with generalized social phobia (N = 42) and non-phobic community controls (N = 42) engaged in a social interaction with an experimental assistant whose behavior was used to create either a positive or an ambiguous social environment. Participants then rated their own performance and their partner's behavior. As a group, social phobic patients displayed negatively biased self-judgments, but failed to display biased social interpretations. Among the social phobia group, a social developmental history marked by parental hostility was associated with negative interpretations of partner behavior and a history of parental overprotection was associated with less sensitivity to partner behavior. The results supported cognitive models of social phobia, which implicate negative learning experiences in the development of information processing biases.     

Negative Affectivity and Drinking in Adolescents: An Examination of Moderators Predicted by Affect Regulation Theory

This investigation examined potential moderators of the longitudinal relation between negative affectivity and drinking. Specifically tested was the degree to which alcohol expectancies and coping styles moderate the relation between negative affectivity in early adolescence and drinking in middle and late adolescence. Four hundred ninety nine early adolescents completed inventories of negative affectivity, coping style, and tension reduction expectancies, and were followed up with inventories of drinking in middle and late adolescence. Constructive coping moderated the relation between negative affectivity and drinking in middle adolescence, such that only those with poor coping skills exhibited this positive relation. Although early negative affectivity was directly related to drinking in late adolescence, no interactions between negative affectivity and expectancies or coping were detected for drinking at that age. This absence of consistent moderating effects indicates significant limitations in the ability of the traditionally-conceived affect regulation model to reliably predict adolescent drinking. This research was conducted at the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research (CEDAR) which is located in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and is supported by grant P50-DA-05605 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.     

A mediational model of trait negative affectivity, dispositional thought suppression, and intrusive thoughts following laboratory stressors

Two studies examined the relationships among trait negative affectivity, dispositional thought suppression, and intrusions in non-clinical samples. In Study 1 (N=87), participants were presented with a series of emotionally evocative images and intrusions were examined 48 h after presentation via self-report. In Study 2 (N=118), intrusions were examined using a behavioral Key-press and self-report at two time points (5 and 20 min) following exposure to a series of emotionally evocative images. In each study, participants were assessed for trait negative affectivity and the tendency to engage in thought suppression in response to unpleasant cognitions. Results from both studies support a model in which chronic thought suppression fully mediates the relationship between negative affectivity and the frequency of intrusions.     

Childhood Temperament and Family Environment as Predictors of Internalizing and Externalizing Trajectories From Ages 5 to 17

Childhood temperament and family environment have been shown to predict internalizing and externalizing behavior; however, less is known about how temperament and family environment interact to predict changes in problem behavior. We conducted latent growth curve modeling on a sample assessed at ages 5, 7, 10, 14, and 17 (N = 337). Externalizing behavior decreased over time for both sexes, and internalizing behavior increased over time for girls only. Two childhood variables (fear/shyness and maternal depression) predicted boys' and girls' age-17 internalizing behavior, harsh discipline uniquely predicted boys' age-17 internalizing behavior, and maternal depression and lower family income uniquely predicted increases in girls' internalizing behavior. For externalizing behavior, an array of temperament, family environment, and Temperament × Family Environment variables predicted age-17 behavior for both sexes. Sex differences were present in the prediction of externalizing slopes, with maternal depression predicting increases in boys' externalizing behavior only when impulsivity was low, and harsh discipline predicting increases in girls' externalizing behavior only when impulsivity was high or when fear/shyness was low.     

Emotional-vulnerability and mindfulness: a preliminary test of associations among negative affectivity, anxiety sensitivity, and mindfulness skills

This study evaluated associations between general (negative affectivity) and specific (anxiety sensitivity) factors that may relate to the mindfulness skill domains assessed by the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills. Participants were 154 young adults (88 females; M(age) = 22.4 years, SD = 7.9) recruited from the community. Partially consistent with predictions, higher levels of negative affectivity were significantly associated with lower levels of Awareness, Acceptance, and Describe mindfulness skills, and higher levels of anxiety sensitivity were significantly associated with lower levels of Awareness and Acceptance mindfulness skills. Additionally, negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity each demonstrated unique relations to participants' ability to experience the present state without evaluating or judging its content (Accept factor), after accounting for their shared variance, but only anxiety sensitivity demonstrated a unique association to the Act with Awareness factor independent of variance explained by negative affectivity. Findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on mindfulness processes.     

人们为什么会羞怯：认知机制及神经基础

羞怯指个体在社交情境下的抑制, 是个体参与社交的阻碍。近年来, 关于羞怯的认知神经科学研究增多, 学者基于元认知模型、社会适应模型、侧化脑-体情绪模型等理论, 探讨了大脑结构和功能以及几种与感知觉和注意相关的ERP成分与羞怯的关系。但当前关于羞怯认知神经科学的理论和实证研究尚处于起步阶段。基于上述提出羞怯的心理发展模型; 未来应从人格和情绪双角度研究羞怯, 并在开发研究范式的基础上, 加大羞怯认知神经机制的探讨。     

Executive self, self-esteem, and negative affectivity: relations at the phenotypic and genotypic level

Complementary approaches examined the relations among executive self, self-esteem, and negative affectivity. A cross-sectional (N = 4,242) and a longitudinal (N = 158) study established that self-esteem mediated the relation between executive self and negative affectivity. A 3rd study (N = 878 twin pairs) replicated this pattern and examined genetic and environmental influences underlying all 3 phenotypes. Covariation among the 3 phenotypes reflected largely common genetic influences, although unique genetic effects explained variability in both executive self and negative affectivity. Executive self was influenced by shared environmental influences unique from those affecting self-esteem and negative affectivity. Non-shared environmental influences accounted for the majority of variance in each construct and were primarily unique to each. The unique genetic and non-shared environmental influences support the proposition that the executive self, self-esteem, and negative affectivity capture distinct and important differences between people.     

Family Environments and Children's Executive Function: The Mediating Role of Children's Affective State and Stress

There is increasing evidence that inadequate family environments (family material environment and family psychosocial environment) are not only social problems but also factors contributing to adverse neurocognitive outcomes. In the present study, the authors investigated the relationship among family environments, children's naturalistic affective state, self-reported stress, and executive functions in a sample of 157 Chinese families. These findings revealed that in inadequate family material environments, reduced children's cognitive flexibility is associated with increased naturalistic negative affectivity and self-reported stress. In addition, naturalistic negative affectivity mediated the association between family expressiveness and children's cognitive flexibility. The authors used a structural equation model to examine the mediation model hypothesis, and the results confirmed the mediating roles of naturalistic negative affectivity and self-reported stress between family environments and the cognitive flexibility of Chinese children. These findings indicate the importance of reducing stress and negative emotional state for improving cognitive functions in children of low socioeconomic status.     

愉快的人更易体验公正？——员工的情绪特质对组织公正感的影响研究

摘要：情绪和公正感之间的关系一直以来颇受研究者的关注。本研究通过对260名组织员工的取样调查,探讨了情绪特质对各层面组织公正感的影响。相关分析及多元调节回归分析结果表明：积极情绪特质（TPA） 对公正感存在显著的主效应,消极情绪特质（TNA）则与工作环境特征形成交互作用,共同影响对组织（或主管）实体的公正感。文章也讨论了这一研究结论对现实管理的意义。关键词：积极情绪特质 消极情绪特质 组织公正感     

羞怯对小学中高年级学生学业求助的影响：有调节的中介

采用问卷调查法,以936名小学生为被试,探究了羞怯对小学生学业求助的影响机制。结果发现：（1）羞怯显著正向预测小学生的执行性求助和回避性求助,显著负向预测工具性求助（老师/同学）;（2）自尊在羞怯与小学生学业求助各维度的关系中都起到了中介作用;（3）班级环境在羞怯和自尊,自尊和工具性求助（老师）的关系中起着调节作用。研究结果揭示了羞怯影响学业求助的作用机制,对教育者引导学生形成适应性学业求助具有启示意义。     

Phobic dimensions: IV. The structure of animal fears

Research designed to determine the number and kind of dimensions underlying self-reports of animal fears is relatively rare. To contribute further knowledge to this area of study, Davey's methodology [Davey, G. C. L. (1994a). Self-reported fears to common indigenous animals in an adult UK population: the role of disgust sensitivity. British Journal of Psychology, 85, 541-554.] was improved. Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation of the self-ratings to items of Davey's Animal Fears Questionnaire returned by Ss from a Dutch community sample (N = 214) revealed four reliable, relatively independent dimensions: (1) fear-relevant animals, (2) dry or non-slimy invertebrates, (3) slimy or wet looking animals and (4) farm animals. Replicating Davey (1994a), females, relative to males, reported higher levels on most fear items. Principal components analysis with Oblimin rotation involving animal fears scales (derived from the dimensions identified in the present study), dimensions of non-animal fears, disgust sensitivity, sex-role orientation and the major dimensions of personality from the Eysenckian system revealed 4 higher-order factors, namely specific animals fears, positive affectivity, toughmindedness and negative affectivity. At an even higher level, these 4 higher-order factors merged into two factors: (1) a bipolar positive affectivity versus neuroticism/general emotionality/negative affectivity factor and (2) a toughmindedness dimension. Studies such as these contribute in helping provide the elements of the hierarchical model of fears proposed by Taylor [Taylor, S. (1998). The hierarchic structure of fears. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 205-214.]. Findings across different studies suggest that there are at least 5 first-order dimensions of animal fears, the above 4 and predatory (fierce) animals, that may be included in such a model.     

Pain anxiety among chronic pain patients: specific phobia or manifestation of anxiety sensitivity?

Rather than viewing anxiety among chronic pain patients as simply a component of negative affectivity, investigators have developed a model of "pain anxiety" in which patients develop fear and avoidance of activity linked to pain. We examined whether pain anxiety can be conceptualized as a specific phobia, or whether evidence supported the notion that pain anxiety is better understood as a manifestation of anxiety sensitivity in the context of chronic pain. Chronic musculoskeletal pain patients (N=70) underwent cold pressor and mental arithmetic tasks while cardiovascular, self-report, and behavior indexes were recorded. They completed measures of pain anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, depression and trait anxiety. Correlation analyses showed pain anxiety was related to pain-relevant responses during cold pressor, but it was also related to evaluation-relevant responses during cold pressor, and to pain- and evaluation-relevant responses (including subtraction accuracy) during mental arithmetic. Regression analyses showed that almost all effects of pain anxiety on task responses were accounted for by anxiety sensitivity. Fear of negative evaluation, in contrast, correlated only with evaluation-relevant responses, and mostly during mental arithmetic. These effects remained significant when depression, trait anxiety, or anxiety sensitivity were statistically controlled. Pain anxiety may be an expression of anxiety sensitivity rather than a circumscribed phobia; a distinction that could profitably guide treatment strategies.     

A New Perspective on Temperamental Shyness: Differential Susceptibility to Endoenvironmental Influences

In this review, we adapt and extend a model recently used to account for differences in risk and resiliency outcomes to explain individual differences in temperamental shyness. The differential susceptibility to environmental influences model posits that heightened biological sensitivity and reactivity in the individual can predict different outcomes for better or for worse, depending on environmental influences outside (i.e., exogenous) of the individual. In this article, we extend this existing model and argue that the environment can also be conceptualized as a unique set of dynamic conditions and influences operating within (i.e., endogenous) the individual that are orthogonal to some biological sensitivity factors. In this new model, continuous brain electrical activity at rest constitutes one endogenous environmental condition that can vary (leftward to rightward) and influence gene expression to confer different outcomes, for better (sociability) or for worse (shyness). We then discuss how this model can be tested, as well as its potential implications for theory, development, and practice.     

On the Nature of Embarrassabllity: Shyness, Social Evaluation, and Social Skill

In this study, the correlates of embarrassability, or chronic susceptibility to embarrassment, were examined. Competing theoretical models suggest either that embarrassable people should be especially concerned about others' evaluations of them or that they should lack social skills. Further, shyness and embarrassment are typically considered to be closely related states. To test these propositions, 310 participants provided extensive self-reports of social skill, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, self-consciousness, and negative affectivity. Regression and factor analyses indicated that, compared to those of low embarrassability, highly embarrassable people are particularly concerned with the normative appropriateness of behavior and are more motivated to avoid rejection from others. In contrast, shyness was best predicted by low social self-confidence and low social skill. The data best support a social-evaluation model of embarrassment and argue that embarrassability is linked to the appropriateness of social behavior, and shyness to its effectiveness.