Pinyin and English Invented Spelling in Chinese-Speaking Students Who Speak English as a Second Language

This study examined pinyin (the official phonetic system that transcribes the lexical tones and pronunciation of Chinese characters) invented spelling and English invented spelling in 72 Mandarin-speaking 6th graders who learned English as their second language. The pinyin invented spelling task measured segmental-level awareness including syllable and phoneme awareness, and suprasegmental-level awareness including lexical tones and tone sandhi in Chinese Mandarin. The English invented spelling task manipulated segmental-level awareness including syllable awareness and phoneme awareness, and suprasegmental-level awareness including word stress. This pinyin task outperformed a traditional phonological awareness task that only measured segmental-level awareness and may have optimal utility to measure unique phonological and linguistic features in Chinese reading. The pinyin invented spelling uniquely explained variance in Chinese conventional spelling and word reading in both languages. The English invented spelling uniquely explained variance in conventional spelling and word reading in both languages. Our findings appear to support the role of phonological activation in Chinese reading. Our experimental linguistic manipulations altered the phonological awareness item difficulties.     

Stressors and Stressor Appraisals: the Moderating Effect of Task Efficacy

Employees’ cognitive appraisals play important roles in determining how they perceive and react to challenge and hindrance stressors. This study examined the stress process by studying employees’ cognitive appraisals using time-lagged data collected with a time interval of 4 months. There were three major findings. First, challenge appraisals mediated the relationship of job complexity with work motivation and task persistence. Hindrance appraisals mediated the relationship of role conflict with work motivation and task persistence. Second, task efficacy significantly moderated the relationship between job complexity and challenge appraisal, as well as the relationship between role conflict and hindrance appraisal. Employees high in task efficacy were more likely to report challenge appraisals of job complexity than employees low in task efficacy. Employees low in task efficacy were more likely to report hindrance appraisals of role conflict than employees high in task efficacy. Finally, data supported the moderated mediation model in which task efficacy moderated the indirect effect of job complexity on motivation via challenge appraisal. Our study provided important input to the development of stress management interventions.     

The Brief Problem Monitor (BPM-Y/BPM-P) Among Chinese Youth: Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance

The Brief Problem Monitor (BPM) is a 19-item instrument newly developed for screening children and adolescents for emotional and behavioral problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the youth-report and parent-report versions of the BPM (BPM-Y and BPM-P) among Chinese youth. Data was collected from two samples: a middle school student sample (n?=?1,246, girls?=?516 [41.4%]) and a community youth sample from families suffering adversity (n?=?383, girls?=?143 [37.3%]). We conducted a series of confirmatory factor analyses to test and compare the latent structures of the BPM-Y and BPM-P. Results suggested that the three-factor model of the BPM-Y and BPM-P fit the data best. And based on the omnibus fit indices and difference between them, the items of the BPM-Y and BPM-P support measurement invariance across informants (both youth- and parent-report) for the three-factor model. Internal consistency coefficients were satisfactory (Cronbach's α?=?.73?~?.90). In terms of convergent validity, BPM factors and BPM scores showed expected correlations with strength and difficulties behavior, callous–unemotional traits, psychopathic traits, and social competence. In sum, our findings supported that the three-factor structuure of BPM-Y and BPM-P could be a promising instrument to screen emotional and behavioral problems in Chinese youth.

     

Parental Corporal Punishment,Peer Victimization,and Aggressive Adolescent Behavior: The Moderating Effect of Parent-Adolescent Relationship

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Numerous studies have indicated an association between parental corporal punishment and aggressive adolescent behavior. However, there is a significant gap in...     

留守儿童心理虐待与攻击行为：心理弹性和人际敏感的链式中介作用

为探究留守儿童心理虐待与攻击行为之间相关关系,采用修订后的儿童心理虐待量表、留守儿童心理弹性问卷、SCL-90中的人际关系敏感分量表和Buss-Perry攻击行为量表对754名留守儿童进行调查。结果发现：（1）心理虐待对留守儿童心理弹性具有显著负向预测作用,对人际敏感和攻击行为具有显著正向预测作用。（2）心理弹性和人际敏感分别在心理虐待与攻击行为之间起到部分中介作用。（3）心理弹性和人际敏感在心理虐待与攻击行为之间起到链式中介作用。     

The Impact of Household Assets on Child Well-being: Evidence from China

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study examined the impact of household assets on multiple dimensions of child well-being using data on 2,583 children aged 10–15 years and...     

Subjective Social Status of High School Freshmen in the Transitional Period: the Impact of Extraversion

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Most adolescents successfully adjust to common school transitions, but face some psychological risks. We explored the subjective social status trajectory of...     

Structural Social Capital,Household Income and Life Satisfaction: The Evidence from Beijing,Shanghai and Guangdong-Province,China

Although the positive associations between social capital, household income and life satisfaction are well documented, little is known about how income actually shapes the relation between structural social capital and life satisfaction. This study investigates the roles of economic condition in determining the relationships between life satisfaction and three aspects of structural social capital, namely network size, neighborhood interaction and social participation. This study uses a random sample of 6002 adults nested in 2365 families from three regions in China: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong-province and applies multilevel linear regression models. The results firstly show that household income and structural social capital are positively associated with life satisfaction. Further analyses on the interaction effects find that household income substantively reduces the association between a social network size and life satisfaction but increases the relationship between social participation and life satisfaction. In addition, the differences between families explain about 25 % unexplained variances of life satisfaction.     

Gait speed measure: the effect of different measuring distances and the inclusion and exclusion of acceleration and deceleration

The purposes of this study were to examine the effects of different distances and the inclusion and exclusion of acceleration and deceleration distances on the measurement of self-paced and fastest gait speeds in younger and older adults. The self-paced and fastest gait speeds of younger and older adults were measured over 4-m and 10-m walkways with the acceleration and deceleration distances included and excluded in the measuring distance. The results indicated gait speeds (both self-paced and fastest) measured over different distances were comparable only if a distance for acceleration and deceleration was excluded from the measuring distance to obtain stable and comparable gait speeds. Similar results were found for younger and older groups.