Perfectionism,burnout and engagement in youth sport: The mediating role of basic psychological needs

Recent research indicates perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings share divergent associations with athlete burnout and athlete engagement. Guided by self-determination theory, the present study examined whether these associations were explained by basic psychological needs. Youth athletes (n = 222, M age = 16.01, SD = 2.68) completed measures of multidimensional perfectionism, athlete burnout, athlete engagement, basic psychological need satisfaction and thwarting. Structural equation modelling revealed that basic psychological need satisfaction and thwarting mediated the perfectionism–engagement and perfectionism–burnout relationships. Perfectionistic concerns shared a negative relationship (via need satisfaction) with athlete engagement and a positive relationship (via need satisfaction and thwarting) with athlete burnout. In contrast, perfectionistic strivings shared a positive relationship (via need satisfaction) with athlete engagement and a negative relationship (via need satisfaction and thwarting) with athlete burnout. The findings highlight the role of basic psychological needs in explaining the differential associations that perfectionistic concerns and strivings share with athlete burnout and engagement.     

Supernatural beliefs: Considered adaptive and associated with psychological benefits

Supernatural beliefs include peculiar beliefs, which are often considered a sign/symptom of psychopathology (e.g., Psi, remote viewing), religious/spiritual beliefs (e.g., angels), and fate beliefs (e.g., everything happens for a reason). We addressed limitations in the empirical literature by investigating, among a psychologically healthy community sample (n = 189) the perceived adaptivity of supernatural peculiar, religious/spiritual and fate beliefs. Results demonstrated that supernatural beliefs were considered adaptive (important, having a positive impact, serving understanding and hedonic functions). Perceived adaptivity, especially the understanding function, was consistently associated with psychological benefits (more life satisfaction, emotional clarity and positive affect, less negative affect, depression and perceived stress). Perceived adaptivity and associations with psychological benefits did not differ by belief type. The current study suggests that supernatural beliefs, broadly, and peculiar beliefs, specifically, are potentially adaptive in several ways, and associated with psychological benefits.     

The Confounding Role of Basic Needs Satisfaction Between Self-Determined Motivation and Well-Being

In this study three different theories grounded on Self-determination macro-theory (Basic Psychological Needs Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, and Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation) were combined into a single structural model to evaluate its goodness-of-fit to empirical data. It consisted on a model where basic psychological needs satisfaction was associated directly to well-being, and indirectly through the mediation of self-determined motivation. Since in this model the satisfaction of basic psychological needs would predict positively both self-determined motivation and well-being, basic psychological needs is considered to function as a confounding variable. The participants of the study consisted of 673 Spanish secondary education students (334 girls and 339 boys) with a mean age of 14.0 years (SD = 1.4). The model was confirmed partially. Direct associations between basic psychological needs satisfaction and psychological consequences were found and in the expected directionality. On the contrary, indirect associations between basic psychological needs satisfaction and psychological consequences were found, but generally with the opposite expected directionality. The sign of these indirect associations depended on whether components involved on the associations (basic psychological needs satisfaction, self-determined motivation and psychological consequences) were measured at the same or at different levels. Finally, the results found evidence of the confounding role of basic psychological needs between self-determined motivation and psychological consequences. Implications of these results for Basic Psychological Needs Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, and Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation are discussed.     

Nature connectedness: Associations with well-being and mindfulness

Wilson’s (1984)biophilia hypothesis predicts that people’s psychological health is associated with their relationship to nature. Two studies examined associations among nature connectedness, well-being, and mindfulness in samples of undergraduate students while socially desirable responding was controlled. Significant associations emerged among measures of nature connectedness and indices of well-being (in Study 1 and Study 2) and mindfulness (in Study 2). Results are discussed in relation to possible mediators and moderators of the association between nature connectedness and mental health.     

Testing a holistic conceptual framework for early childhood teacher well-being

Using a holistic conceptualization of teacher well-being in concert with the Job Demands and Resources (JD-R) framework, our interdisciplinary study examined associations among various job demands and resources and whole teacher well-being (i.e., professional, psychological, and physical well-being) in early care and education settings. First, we investigated direct associations of job demands and resources with teachers' professional well-being. Second, we tested two models of potential mediation for the relationship of job demands and resources to well-being using structural equation modeling techniques: (a) that psychological and physical well-being mediate the relationship between demands, resources, and professional well-being; and (b) that professional well-being mediates the relationship between demands, resources, and psychological and physical well-being. Although our sample of early childhood teachers (n = 262) reported high levels of professional well-being (i.e., work commitment, self-efficacy), a substantial number of them experienced challenges in both psychological (e.g., perceived stress, depressive symptoms) and physical (e.g., ergonomic pain) well-being. As expected, teachers' work-related stressors and work resources (positive work climate, quality of the physical environment) were directly associated with teachers' professional well-being. Contrary to our expectations, however, instrumental resources (i.e, wages, health insurance) did not predict any aspects of teachers' professional well-being. Our data only supported the first of the two tested mediation hypotheses (i.e., that psychological and physical well-being mediated the associations between working conditions and professional well-being), but with one caveat: physical well-being preceded psychological well-being in mediating the associations. These results advance our understanding of the challenges present in the early childhood workforce and have implications for policies and programs to improve teacher working conditions and well-being.     

The p factor in children: Relationships with executive functions and effortful control

Lower levels of self-regulation have been implicated in multiple psychological disorders. Despite conceptual overlap (broadly reflecting self-regulatory functions), executive functions (EF) and effortful control (EC) are rarely jointly studied in relation to broadband psychopathology. The present study investigated associations of correlated factors (internalizing-externalizing) and bifactor psychopathology models with EF and EC in a large (N = 895) childhood community sample (M_age = 11.54, SD_age = 2.25). Associations between both self-regulation constructs (EF and EC) with psychopathology were largely accounted for via a general psychopathology factor. However, EC evidenced stronger associations, questioning the utility of task-based EF measures to inform self-regulatory psychopathology.     

Examining mindfulness and psychological inflexibility within the framework of Big Five personality

Psychological inflexibility and mindfulness represent two constructs that have garnered a great deal of interest in recent years as central components in the conceptualization of many new cognitive and behavioral therapies. Nonetheless, though theoretically related, relatively little is known regarding associations between these two constructs and consensus models of trait personality such as the Big Five. The current study therefore aimed to more fully elucidate associations among these three domains within a relatively large, diverse undergraduate sample (N = 429). Mindfulness was negatively associated with Neuroticism and positively associated with Conscientiousness while psychological inflexibility was positively associated with Neuroticism and negatively associated with Conscientiousness. Further, while Conscientiousness evidenced the strongest contribution to mindfulness, Neuroticism evidenced the strongest contribution to psychological inflexibility. Better elucidating how psychological inflexibility and mindfulness differentially relate to Big Five personality traits expands the nomological network surrounding these constructs and begins to reveal common processes underlying psychopathology and health behaviors.     

Changes in within- and between-person associations between basic psychological need satisfaction and well-being after retirement

Satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness is associated with higher well-being. However, little is known about change or stability in this association over the life span. We therefore investigated changes in the association between well-being and basic psychological need satisfaction in the retirement transition. Data was drawn from four waves of the Health, Aging, and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study (N = 5,074, M (age) = 63.16; 53.61% female). Multi-level models were conducted and the analyses revealed evidence for continuity as well as systematic changes in within- and between-person associations across the retirement transition. Our findings demonstrate the benefits of applying a longitudinal design and a life span perspective on basic psychological need satisfaction.     

The Associations between Perceived Maternal Psychological Control and Academic Performance and Academic Self-Concept in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

This study examined the associations between perceived maternal psychological control and adolescent academic functioning in terms of academic performance and academic self-concept. The study also tested the possible mediating role of basic psychological needs to investigate how parental psychological control is related to child academic functioning. A sample of Chinese adolescents (N?=?338) completed a self-administered questionnaire on maternal psychological control, academic self-concept, academic performance and basic psychological needs satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used for data analyses. Findings of this study revealed that Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of maternal psychological control were associated with their academic self-concept, and furthermore this association was mediated by adolescents’ basic psychological needs satisfaction on autonomy, relatedness and competence. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research directions were discussed.     

Posttraumatic Cognitions and Depressive Symptoms in War and Disaster Affected Widows in Sri Lanka: The Role of Community Support

In this study the authors evaluated the associations between war- and disaster-related problems and indicators of psychological distress (posttraumatic cognitions and culturally-specific symptoms of depression) among a sample of Tamil widows in the Eastern Provence of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, community support was evaluated as a mediator of these associations. Surveys were administered to women (N?=?156) in an interview format by trained research assistants who were native Tamil speakers. Mediation hypotheses were evaluated using path analysis. Results showed that war-related problems, but not disaster-related losses, was significantly associated with community support and posttraumatic cognitions, such that higher number of war-problems was associated with lower community support and more posttraumatic cognitions. Community support had a significant negative association with posttraumatic cognitions and depression. Additionally, we found evidence that war-related problems was indirectly associated with depression through community support. Although the magnitude of associations was small, results suggest that contextual problems resulting from years of armed conflict may be associated with less support from one’s community which, in turn, is associated with increased psychological distress. Limitations and implications for intervention and future research are discussed.     

Psychologically Controlling Parenting and Personality Vulnerability to Depression: A Study in Peruvian Late Adolescents

This study examined associations between two domain-specific manifestations of perceived psychologically controlling parenting (i.e., dependency oriented and achievement-oriented), dimensions of personality vulnerability to depression (i.e., dependency and self-criticism), and depressive symptoms in Peruvian late adolescents (N = 292, 60 % female). Structural equation modeling showed that perceived dependency-oriented psychological control was related specifically to dependency and that perceived achievement-oriented psychological control was related specifically to self-criticism. Both dimensions of personality vulnerability played an intervening role in associations between the domains of psychologically controlling parenting and depressive symptoms. In addition, dependency-oriented psychological control interacted with perceived parental responsiveness in the prediction of depressive symptoms, such that responsiveness exacerbated effects of psychological control on depressive symptoms. Results were similar across maternal and paternal ratings of parenting. Findings are interpreted in light of the debate about the cross cultural generalization of the effects of psychologically controlling parenting.     

Consequences of ‘tiger’ parenting: a cross‐cultural study of maternal psychological control and children's cortisol stress response

Parenting strategies involving psychological control are associated with increased adjustment problems in children. However, no research has examined the extent to which culture and psychological control predict children's stress physiology. We examine cultural differences in maternal psychological control and its associations with children's cortisol. Chinese (N = 59) and American (N = 45) mother‐child dyads participated in the study. Mothers reported on psychological control. Children's cortisol was collected during a stressor and two indices of Area Under the Curve (AUC) were computed: AUCg which accounts for total output, and AUCi, which captures reactivity. Results indicate that Chinese mothers reported higher levels of psychological control and Chinese children had higher levels of AUCg than their American counterparts. Across both cultures, psychological control was significantly associated with increased cortisol levels as indexed by AUCg. There were no associations for AUCi. Finally, mediation analyses demonstrated that psychological control fully explained cultural differences in children's cortisol stress response as indexed by AUCg.     

The Role of Generativity in Psychological Well-Being: Does it Differ for Childless Adults and Parents?

Given that parenthood is considered a central adult status with developmental implications, and an increasing number of adults are childless, we assessed whether adult development is structured differently for parents and non-parents. This study’s main goal was to assess and compare the connection between generativity development—a key task of middle adulthood—and psychological well-being for childless adults (N = 289) and parents (N = 2,218), ages 35–74, using the 1995 MIDUS dataset. We also examined differences in these associations for women and men by parental status, because childlessness is often assumed to be more critical for females’ than males’ development. Structural equation modeling indicated a positive association between generativity and psychological well-being. Differences in this association for parents and childless adults were not evident, nor were there significant differences for childless women and mothers, and childless men and fathers. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Parameters of Aggressive Behavior in a Treatment-Seeking Sample of Military Personnel: A Secondary Analysis of Three Randomized Controlled Trials of Evidence-Based PTSD Treatments

Aggressive behavior is prevalent among veterans of post-9/11 conflicts who have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, little is known about whether PTSD treatments reduce aggression or the direction of the association between changes in PTSD symptoms and aggression in the context of PTSD treatment. We combined data from three clinical trials of evidence-based PTSD treatment in service members (N = 592) to: (1) examine whether PTSD treatment reduces psychological (e.g., verbal behavior) and physical aggression, and; (2) explore temporal associations between aggressive behavior and PTSD. Both psychological (Estimate = -2.20, SE = 0.07) and physical aggression (Estimate = -0.36, SE = 0.05) were significantly reduced from baseline to posttreatment follow-up. Lagged PTSD symptom reduction was not associated with reduced reports of aggression; however, higher baseline PTSD scores were significantly associated with greater reductions in psychological aggression (exclusively; ß = -0.67, 95% CI = -1.05, -0.30, SE = -3.49). Findings reveal that service members receiving PTSD treatment report substantial collateral changes in psychological aggression over time, particularly for participants with greater PTSD symptom severity. Clinicians should consider cotherapies or alternative ways of targeting physical aggression among service members with PTSD and alternative approaches to reduce psychological aggression among service members with relatively low PTSD symptom severity when considering evidence-based PTSD treatments.     

Assessing Psychological Inflexibility Pertaining to Self in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Using an Indirect Measure of (Nonassociative) Propositions

Relational frame theory (RFT) is a modern behavioral account of human language and cognition, which focuses on relations or propositions, rather than associations, as core explanatory constructs. In an attempt to measure such propositions, RFT researchers have developed the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP). It has been argued that the size of an IRAP effect may provide a metric for psychological inflexibility. The current study aimed to determine whether psychological inflexibility, as measured by the self-focused Natural Language-IRAP (NL-IRAP), would be higher in a clinical sample of individuals with a diagnosis of PTSD (N = 29) when compared to a nonclinical sample. Subsequently, the study investigated whether the self-focused NL-IRAP could be used to predict the presence of a clinical diagnosis, using a ROC analysis. As predicted, higher levels of psychological inflexibility were observed for the clinical group. The self-focused NL-IRAP also correctly classified the presence of PTSD (AUC = 76%) with a sensitivity level of 79.3% and a specificity level of 59.2%. Overall, the use of the IRAP as a nonassociative clinical measure appears promising.     

Mother–infant interaction and maternal postnatal psychological distress are associated with negative emotional reactivity among infants and toddlers— A FinnBrain Birth Cohort study

Studies have reported mixed findings regarding the effects of mother-infant interaction and maternal distress on children’s negative emotional reactivity. In the current study (N = 134 and 107), we examined the effects of maternal Emotional Availability (sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness and non-hostility) and maternal psychological distress on negative reactivity among children in the FinnBrain birth cohort study. In addition, the possible moderating effect of mother-infant interaction on the associations between maternal psychological distress and children's negative reactivity was examined. We used questionnaires to asses maternal psychological distress, observations of mother-infant interaction and observations as well maternal reports of child temperament to overcome the key limitations of many studies relying on single-method assessments. Our results showed that higher maternal sensitivity and structuring at 8 months of child’s age were associated with lower mother-reported negative reactivity among children at 24 months. Higher maternal postnatal distress associated with higher parent-reported negative reactivity in children at 12 and 24 months of age when the effects of prenatal distress and the quality of mother-infant interaction were controlled for. Mother-infant interaction and maternal psychological distress did not associate with observations of child negative reactivity. We found no moderation effects of mother-infant interaction regarding the associations between maternal distress and children’s negative emotional reactivity. Our findings reflect the importance of developing interventions to reduce the maternal distress symptoms while enhancing maternal sensitivity and structuring to prevent the possible harmful effects of these on child negative reactivity.     

A Further Examination of the Distinction Between Dependency-Oriented and Achievement-Oriented Parental Psychological Control: Psychometric Properties of the DAPCS with French-Speaking Late Adolescents

Psychological control refers to parental behaviors that intrude on the psychological and emotional development of the child. In 2010, Soenens et al. proposed a distinction between two domain-specific expressions of psychological control, that is, Dependency-oriented Psychological Control (DPC) and Achievement-oriented Psychological Control (APC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the French form of the Dependency-oriented and Achievement-oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS; Soenens et al. in J Pers 78(1):217–256, 2010) in a sample of late adolescents (N?=?291, mean age?=?21.65). Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized two-factor solution of the DAPCS for paternal as well as for maternal ratings. Moreover, high indices of internal consistency indicated that both subscales produced reliable scores. Further, convergent validity was confirmed by theoretically consistent associations between the DAPCS’ subscales and well-established assessments of general parenting style dimensions. Finally, results evidenced gender specific patterns supporting the relevance of domain differentiation in the assessment of psychological control. Overall, the results of this study indicated that the French form of the DAPCS might be a useful instrument to assess two domain-specific types of parental psychological control among French-speaking adolescents.     

The relationship between children's overweight and quality of life: A comparison of Sizing Me Up,PedsQL and Kid-KINDL

Background/Objective: Overweight and obese children are likely to encounter negative impact on psychological well-being and quality of life (QoL). Hence, for overweight and obese children, measuring QoL could go beyond simply assessing objective medical parameters and cover their physical health, psychological well-being, and social interaction. Generic (Kid-KINDL and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory [PedsQL]) and weight-related (Sizing Me Up) measures are two major types of QoL measurement instruments; however, little is known about the differences between them. Method: We recruited 569 3rd to 6th graders from eleven schools in Southern Taiwan. In addition to the three QoL questionnaires, the Child Depression Inventory and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were applied. Results: Depression had significantly negative associations with all three QoL questionnaires. Self-esteem was only associated with Kid-KINDL. Body mass index had a significantly stronger relationship with Sizing Me Up than its relationships with PedsQL and Kid-KINDL. In other words, the items related to body size concerns in Size Me Up significantly contributed to impaired overweight/obese children’s QoL. Conclusions: The study further identified the characters and strength of these QoL measures for better suggestions on evaluating physical and psychological issues for overweight/obese children.     

Autobiographical Memory and Depression: Identity‐continuity and Problem‐solving Functions Indirectly Predict Symptoms over Time through Psychological Well‐being

The aim of this study was to assess the longitudinal associations between adaptive autobiographical memory functions and depressive symptoms. Consistent with the proposed mechanisms of change underpinning cognitive‐reminiscence therapy (CRT), it was hypothesised that more frequent adaptive reminiscence would lead to increases in psychological resources over time and indirectly affect depressive symptoms through this pathway. A sample of 171 young adults (mean age = 25.9 years, SD = 3.5) completed measures of how frequently they utilised autobiographical memory for identity‐continuity and problem‐solving purposes, depressive symptoms and personal resources (self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, meaning in life and optimism) at two time‐points. The results of structural equation modelling supported the model of indirect influence between reminiscence functions and depression through these psychological resources. These findings clarify the effects of adaptive autobiographical memory on depressive symptoms in young adults and indicate potential benefits of interventions such as CRT. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do the colors of your letters depend on your language? Language-dependent and universal influences on grapheme-color synesthesia in seven languages

Grapheme-color synesthetes experience graphemes as having a consistent color (e.g., “N is turquoise”). Synesthetes’ specific associations (which letter is which color) are often influenced by linguistic properties such as phonetic similarity, color terms (“Y is yellow”), and semantic associations (“D is for dog and dogs are brown”). However, most studies of synesthesia use only English-speaking synesthetes. Here, we measure the effect of color terms, semantic associations, and non-linguistic shape-color associations on synesthetic associations in Dutch, English, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. The effect size of linguistic influences (color terms, semantic associations) differed significantly between languages. In contrast, the effect size of non-linguistic influences (shape-color associations), which we predicted to be universal, indeed did not differ between languages. We conclude that language matters (outcomes are influenced by the synesthete’s language) and that synesthesia offers an exceptional opportunity to study influences on letter representations in different languages.