ADHD symptoms and callous‐unemotional traits as predictors of violent media use in adolescence

We investigated ADHD symptoms and CU traits as predictors of violent media use in adolescence, controlling for delinquency and ODD symptoms. The effects on of disinhibition and arousal to negative stimuli, core characteristics of ADHD symptoms and CU traits, and of gender were investigated. At age 15, 88 adolescents, 50 % boys reported on CU traits, ADHD symptoms and delinquency. Parents rated the adolescents’ CU traits, ADHD‐ and ODD symptoms. At age 16, adolescents reported on their media habits and performed tests of disinhibition and arousal to negative stimuli. Boys had higher levels of CU traits and violent media use and girls had higher levels of arousal to negative pictures. CU traits and inattention symptoms predicted violent media use, the latter association applying only to boys, with CU traits being the strongest predictor. Low arousal to threat pictures explained variance in violent media use, above CU traits. Attraction to violent media seems affected by problem behaviors, with CU traits coming forth as especially important.     

Students’ individual interest in physical education: Development and validation of a questionnaire

Identifying the specificity of students’ individual interest in physical education is necessary to capture the different facets of this construct. In contrast to existing questionnaires in education which assess the multidimensionality of individual interest, the current scale used in physical education consists of a single‐item measurement which rates students’ individual interest for multiple physical activities taught during lessons. Even if this single‐item rating provides a basis for classifying interest relative to others, it does not provide information about the nature and internal components of individual interest. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire measuring the multidimensionality of students’ individual interest in physical education. Four stages were followed: (1) the development of a preliminary version based on the findings of a literature review on individual interest and a committee process validation; (2) a first study conducted on 481 secondary school students to establish the factor structure, and internal reliability of this questionnaire; (3) a second study based on 243 secondary school students to confirm its factor structure and to test its temporal stability; and finally, (4) a third study with 253 students to test its concurrent validity. The final form of the questionnaire consists of a three‐factor structure based on 14 items that measure students’ individual interest in physical education: positive affect and willingness to reengage (five items), stored utility value (four items), and stored attainment value and knowledge‐seeking intentions (five items).     

Close‐knit ties through thick and thin: Sharing social exclusion and acceptance enhances social bond

Three experiments investigated whether and why sharing experiences of social exclusion or social acceptance with others strengthens social bonds. Participants experienced either social exclusion or social acceptance alongside another co‐participant who either also experienced the same outcome, or experienced a different outcome, as them. Multilevel modeling results showed that participant dyads who shared the experience of social exclusion or social acceptance felt closer to each other than those who experienced different outcomes, and that perceived similarity mediated the effect of shared experiences on social bonds. Interestingly, participants felt closer to one another after having shared social acceptance, more so than when they have shared social exclusion. Implications of the present findings are interpreted in light of theories of social exclusion, shared experiences, and social bonding.     

Adverse caregiving in early life: The trauma and deprivation distinction in young children

Knowledge and understanding about the impact of cumulative adverse experiences on the health and wellbeing of children, adolescents, and adults has rapidly expanded over the past 30 years. Despite the invaluable attention and support this proliferation has drawn to the importance of early childhood experiences, we believe that it is time to move beyond broad indices of risk and toward more specific and individualized understanding of how risk exposures are linked to clinical outcomes in young children. Within infant and early childhood mental health, there is a need for greater specificity in linking adverse caregiving experiences in early life to psychopathology in children. We highlight a framework distinguishing experiences of trauma from experiences of deprivation and use the examples of posttraumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder to demonstrate how greater specificity in our understanding of early adverse caregiving can lead to more accurate and targeted diagnosis and treatment for young children. Both researchers and clinicians benefit from an approach to gain a greater appreciation of the links between specific types of experiences and outcomes in the children that we serve.     

Internal and External Validity of Self-Report and Parent-Report Measures of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in South Korean Adolescents

This study evaluated the internal and external validity of self-report and parent-report measures of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) in South Korean adolescents. Adolescents (N =?469, ages 13–17 years; 50.2% boys) completed self-report measures of SCT and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattention (ADHD-IN) in addition to measures of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, social problems, and grades. Parents rated adolescents on SCT, ADHD-IN, internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, and social problems. Using adolescent self-report, 11 of 15 SCT symptoms showed convergent and discriminant validity with ADHD-IN. Using parent-report, all 15 SCT symptoms showed convergent and discriminant validity with ADHD-IN. For within source analyses, SCT showed unique and stronger associations than ADHD-IN with internalizing psychopathology whereas ADHD-IN showed unique and stronger associations than SCT with externalizing psychopathology. SCT and ADHD-IN showed similar unique associations with social problems, whereas ADHD-IN was more strongly related than SCT to grades. Across source analyses also supported the differential unique associations of SCT and ADHD-IN with internalizing and externalizing psychopathologies. This study provides initial evidence for the internal and external validity of SCT with South Korean adolescents, extending support for the transcultural validity of SCT to the important developmental period of adolescence.

     

Prepared to fake? The relationship between applicants’ job interview preparation and faking

Multiple frameworks and models postulate an effect of job interview preparation on faking. Two studies were conducted to examine if applicants’ interview preparation is correlated with higher faking. Besides analyzing the general extent of preparation, we also distinguished between different preparation categories. In Study 1 (N = 237), a presented preparation video led to higher intentions on image protection but did not increase overall faking intentions. Study 2 (N = 206) focused on past preparation and impression management (IM). The total time spent on preparation was positively correlated with faking. Applicants’ preparation via online videos and professional interview preparation was correlated with higher deceptive and honest IM. Preparation via online videos was additionally correlated with a higher perceived interview difficulty.     

Inhibitory control and set shifting describe different pathways from behavioral inhibition to socially anxious behavior

Individuals with a behaviorally inhibited (BI) temperament are more likely to develop social anxiety. However, the mechanisms by which socially anxious behavior emerges from BI are unclear. Variation in different forms of top‐down control, specifically executive functions (EF), may play distinct roles and characterize differential pathways to social anxiety. Here 291 children were assessed for BI in toddlerhood (ages 2 and 3), parent‐reported inhibitory control and set shifting during middle childhood (age 7), and multidimensional assessment of socially anxious behavior completed during late childhood and early adolescence (ages 9 and 12). Structural equation modeling revealed that early variation in BI predicted the development of socially anxious behavior through either higher levels of parent‐reported inhibitory control or lower levels of parent‐reported set shifting. These data reinforce the notion that top‐down control does not uniformly influence relations between temperament and socially anxious behavior. These data suggest novel approaches to thinking about the role of EFs and social anxiety outcomes as children approach adolescence.     

Effects of containment and closure policies on controlling the COVID‐19 pandemic in East Asia

Growing efforts have been made to pool coronavirus data and control measures from countries and regions to compare the effectiveness of government policies. We examine whether these strategies can explain East Asia’s effective control of the COVID‐19 pandemic based on time‐series data with cross‐correlations between the Stringency Index and number of confirmed cases during the early period of outbreaks. We suggest that multidisciplinary empirical research in healthcare and social sciences, personality, and social psychology is needed for a clear understanding of how cultural values, social norms, and individual predispositions interact with policy to affect life‐saving behavioural changes in different societies.