Cortisol Awakening Response as an Index of Mental Health and Well-Being in Adolescents

Physiological measures provide a useful complement to self-report indices of mental health and well-being. The cortisol awakening response (CAR) has been associated with mental distress, but less consistently so with positive functioning. In this study, the utility of two CAR indices as a measure of the full spectrum of mental health and well-being in a sample of healthy adolescents was explored. Forty-seven adolescents (14M, 33F; mean age 13.89, SD = .73) completed questionnaires on mental distress and positive functioning, and provided three saliva samples for cortisol analysis as well as demographic and life event information. Correlational analyses revealed that both absolute CAR (CARi) and area under the curve during awakening (CAR_AUC) indices correlated positively with measures of mental distress, and inversely with measures of positive functioning. When the significant life events score was controlled, moderate to strong effects were maintained with negative and positive affect, mental well-being, satisfaction with life and perceived social support from significant others. These findings provide the first data confirming that CAR is a reliable index of positive functioning in healthy adolescents.     

Upsetting others and provoking ridicule: Children's reasoning about the self‐presentational consequences of rule violation

This study examined children's understanding of the distinctive ‘self‐presentational’ impacts of moral and social‐conventional rule violations. A sample of 80 children aged 7–8 and 9–10 years generated examples of interpersonal events that would upset others and events that would elicit social attention to the self. As expected, both age groups consistently identified moral violations as leading to the former, and deviations from social norms as leading to the latter. Crucially, when children were asked to identify the social‐evaluative consequences of those breaches, they exhibited a significant increase with age in recognizing the self‐presentational risks of social‐conventional deviations.     

Children's reasoning about the self‐presentational consequences of apologies and excuses following rule violations

The accounts given by those who have violated a rule are likely to have important self‐presentational consequences, potentially reducing the negative impact of the breach on social evaluations of transgressors. However, little is known about young children's self‐presentational reasoning about such accounts. In the present study, a sample of 120 4‐ to 9‐year‐olds responded to rule violation stories where the transgressor uses either an apology, an excuse, or no account. Results showed that whereas children rated both account types similarly in terms of their impact on punishment consequences, even the youngest saw apologies as leading to significantly more positive social evaluation than excuses. Correspondingly, children were more likely to identify prosocial motives for apologies than for excuses, and more likely to identify self‐protective motives for excuses than for apologies. Explicit references to self‐presentational motives when explaining the accounts increased significantly with age, and were more likely following social‐conventional rather than moral rule violations.     

Maltreated Children’s Social Understanding and Empathy: A Preliminary Exploration of Foster Carers’ Perspectives

Previous research suggests that parental abuse and neglect can have adverse effects on children’s peer relationships and self-perceptions. Emerging theoretical and empirical work suggests that children’s social understanding and empathy could play a key role as mediators of these effects, but we have little knowledge about the viability of such a model in explaining the everyday experiences of children in care. Thus, in order to gain an in-depth insight into the potentiality of this conceptual model, a focus group and detailed semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with a total of 10 foster carers. First, a thematic analysis revealed that problematic self-perceptions and peer relationships were indeed commonplace. Crucially, in line with our theoretical model, carers readily identified children’s difficulties with social understanding and empathy as relevant explanations for their socio-emotional problems. Carers reported using a variety of strategies to help children, but expressed a need for a clearer training package of practical strategies that could be used to encourage social understanding and empathy in children, with the aim of improving their social relationships.     

Feeling left out? The mediating role of perceived rejection on workgroup mistreatment and affective,behavioral, and organizational outcomes and the moderating role of organizational norms

This two‐study paper examines the detrimental impact of workgroup mistreatment and the mediating role of perceived rejection. In Study 1, perceived rejection emerged as a mediator between workgroup mistreatment and depression, organization‐based self‐esteem, organizational deviance, and organizational citizenship behaviors. In Study 2, the role of organizational norms was examined. Employees who experienced supportive organizational norms reported lower levels of perceived rejection, depression and turnover intentions, and higher levels of organization‐based self‐esteem and job satisfaction. Employees in the supportive norms condition reported that they were more likely to seek reconciliation after experiencing mistreatment than those who experienced low support. Perceived rejection also emerged as a mediator. Results, practical implications, and future research directions are discussed.     

The moderating role of pessimism in the association between retrospective relational peer victimization,interpersonal risk factors,and suicide ideation

Peer victimization (PV) is a serious concern for youth and is associated with subsequent suicide ideation in young adulthood. The interpersonal theory of suicide may provide a framework for understanding suicide ideation in this population. Specifically, thwarted belongingness (TB) and perceived burdensomeness (PB) have been significantly associated with suicide ideation among young adults with a history of peer victimization. Additionally, the personality trait of pessimism is associated with elevated suicide ideation. Thus, this study tested the association between self-reported frequency of retrospective relational (i.e., verbal and indirect) PV in primary and secondary school, thwarted interpersonal needs (TB and PB), and current suicide ideation, as well as how these relations may vary based on current pessimism. Participants were 330 undergraduate students. Nonparametric bootstrap moderated mediation procedures were used to test hypotheses. Results indicated significant indirect effects of frequency of retrospective relational PV and suicide ideation through PB and TB. Contrary to predictions, results did not indicate significant moderated mediation; however, the association between PB and suicide ideation was stronger at lower pessimism levels. We also provide supplemental analysis with optimism as the moderator. These findings suggest that clinicians may consider targeting TB, PB, as well as pessimism and optimism among those with a history of relational PV when assessing and intervening on current suicide ideation. Implications, limitations, and future directions are further discussed.     

The Measurement of Subjective Wellbeing: Item-Order Effects in the Personal Wellbeing Index—Adult

When multi-item questionnaires are included in psychological research, many factors can influence the response given. One such factor that has traditionally been overlooked is the potential impact of item-order effects. This paper extends upon the work of Kaplan et al. (J Happiness Stud 14:1443–1458, 2013. doi:  10.1007/s10902-012-9388-5) who explored item-order effects in measures of job satisfaction, and applies similar principles to the measurement of life satisfaction, or subjective wellbeing, by exploring item-order effects within the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI; IWBG in Personal Wellbeing Index, 5th edn. Australian Centre on Quality of Life, Deakin University, Melbourne, 2013. http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/acqol/intruments/wellbeing-index/index.php). In a preliminary study, participants completed the PWI in its standard format (general-specific) and psychometric properties were compared to those who completed the PWI in an alternate format (specific-general). Analyses revealed that the PWI performed adequately for both groups, though there were subtle indications of item-order effects. In a second study, the order of the PWI domains was randomised (random-order) and compared to the standard format (fixed-order). Results revealed lower mean scores and more variation in scores when items were randomised. Overall, the PWI performed as expected for most interrogative analyses. It achieved a single factor solution, no matter the order of items, and the same domains emerged as significant unique predictors of general life satisfaction. The study highlights the importance of exploring item-order effects as part of the psychometric validation procedure, and it is recommended that all new scales be subject to this investigation to reduce measurement error and improve accuracy in psychological assessment.     

Differentiated associations between childhood maltreatment experiences and social understanding: A meta-analysis and systematic review

The extreme parenting experiences encountered by children who are physically abused or neglected place them at increased risk for impaired socio-emotional development. There is growing evidence that maltreated children may apprehend interpersonal encounters in different ways from children without such traumatic histories. This systematic review examines the links between childhood physical abuse and neglect and various constituent skills of social understanding (including emotion recognition and understanding, perspective taking, false belief understanding, and attributional biases) in 51 empirical studies. The review incorporates a meta-analysis of 19 studies on emotion recognition and understanding in this population. This showed an overall negative effect of maltreatment, but moderation analyses revealed that significantly stronger effects were found for measures of emotion understanding rather than recognition, and for younger rather than older age groups. The broader review also reveals a complex and differentiated profile of social understanding among maltreated children. Directions for future research that addresses individual differences in children’s experiences, both within and outside the maltreatment context, are discussed.