When is search for meaning in life beneficial for well-being? A cross-national study

Previous research has found cross-national variations in the association between search for meaning in life (SMIL) and well-being (i.e. SMIL–WB link). This study extended and tested a “self-improvement hypothesis” that accounts for such cross-national variations based on an international database—the sixth wave of World Values Survey. SMIL represents a self-improvement effort which is more demanded in contexts with stronger external constraints. Thus, we expected a stronger positive SMIL–WB link in such contexts. A series of multilevel analyses was used to verify this hypothesis. The results showed that the SMIL–WB link varied across different societies, with well-being indexed by happiness, life satisfaction and subjective health. Moreover, external constraints from cultural, social-institutional, economic and ecological contexts (collectivism, peace threats, economic scarcity and environmental threats) moderated the SMIL–WB links. We thus call for advancing SMIL theory by considering person–context interaction.     

性别比与童年经济状况对女性长短期择偶偏好的影响：“暖男”需求变化的进化分析

基于进化领域的生命史理论,采用两种实验启动的途径探讨性别比、童年经济状况和女性长短期择偶偏好间的关系。结果表明：女性在长期择偶中更为重视男性的“好爸爸”和“好资源”,在短期择偶中更为重视男性的“好基因”;性别比在女性长期择偶的“好爸爸”偏好上具有显著主效应,在“女多男少”情境下女性对“好爸爸”的偏好水平会较“男多女少”时明显提高;性别比和童年经济状况在女性长期择偶“好爸爸”偏好上的交互效应显著：童年贫穷女性在“女多”情境下会明显提高对长期择偶“好爸爸”的偏好水平,童年富裕女性在性别失衡情境下对长期“好爸爸”的偏好保持相对稳定。     

冲动性特质对高中生自杀意念的影响:校园排斥与生命意义感的作用

采用冲动性特质量表、青少年遭受校园排斥问卷、生命意义感量表、自杀意念量表对633名高中生进行调查。结果表明:(1)冲动性特质对高中生自杀意念有显著的正向预测作用;(2)校园排斥在冲动性特质与高中生自杀意念间起部分中介作用;(3)冲动性特质经由校园排斥影响高中生自杀意念的中介作用受生命意义感的调节,随着生命意义感的增加,校园排斥对自杀意念的效应逐步减弱。冲动性特质可以通过校园排斥增加高中生自杀意念强度,而生命意义感能有效降低校园排斥对自杀意念的消极影响。     

Struggle with ultimate meaning: Nuanced associations with search for meaning,presence of meaning,and mental health

Struggle with ultimate meaning reflects concerns about whether one’s life has a deeper meaning or purpose. We examined whether this construct could be distinguished from presence of meaning in life and search for meaning. In two US samples – a web-based sample (N = 1047) and an undergraduate sample (N = 3978) – confirmatory factor analyses showed that struggle with ultimate meaning loaded on a factor that was distinct from but related to presence (negatively) and search (positively). Moderated regression analyses showed that people with low levels of presence combined with high levels of search for meaning were particularly likely to struggle with ultimate meaning. Additionally, when compared to presence and search, struggle with ultimate meaning related more strongly to depressive symptoms than presence or search. These results suggest that struggle with ultimate meaning represents a distinct component of how people grapple with meaning that has implications for mental health.     

NR3C1基因Bcl1多态性与青少年抑郁：压力性生活事件的调节作用

迄今,有关抑郁的基因×环境交互研究多数基于“单胺缺陷假说”,相对较少有研究以“HPA轴假说”为框架考察抑郁的遗传机制,且忽视了基因-环境相关的影响。本研究对1081名青少年进行追踪研究,考察NR3C1基因Bcl1多态性与压力性生活事件对抑郁的影响。结果发现,经历较多压力性事件时,C等位基因携带者的抑郁水平显著高于GG纯合子携带者;经历较少压力性事件时,不同基因型携带者的抑郁水平无差异。此外,通过区分独立性压力性事件和预测早期抑郁进一步排除了基因-环境相关的影响,在一定程度上验证了结果的可靠性。     

A pilot randomised controlled trial of a home-based writing intervention for individuals with seizures

Objective: We investigated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a writing intervention for individuals with epilepsy or psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Methods: Individuals were randomised to write about potentially ‘therapeutic’ topics (n = 43) or about their daily events (n = 25). Participants were asked to write on four separate occasions for at least 20 min. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to investigate change in measures of health-related quality of life (NEWQoL-6D), depression (NDDI-E), anxiety (GAD-7) and illness perception (B-IPQ) from baseline to one and three-month follow-ups. Qualitative and quantitative data taken from a Writing Task Questionnaire was analysed between the two conditions.

Results: Recruitment was acceptable with 52% of those randomised completing the full writing intervention. In both conditions, participants wrote for longer than 20 min suggesting those who completed the study engaged well with the procedure. Greater benefits were observed in the ‘therapeutic’ condition (p < 0.05), which was associated with an improvement in health-related quality of life at one-month follow-up (p = 0.02). No differences were found in the other measures.

Conclusions: A writing intervention is acceptable in this population. Self-reported benefits were modest, suggesting therapeutic writing may be more suitable as a supplement to other therapies rather than a stand-alone therapeutic intervention.     

Being an optimist or a pessimist and its relationship with morning cortisol release and past life review in healthy older people

Objective: Investigate the relationship between optimism and pessimism and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and past life review in healthy older people.

Design: 76 older volunteers summarised their lives, highlighting the most important events, impressions and experiences. Cortisol saliva samples were collected on two consecutive weekdays. High and low optimism and pessimism groups were computed by mean split.

Main Outcome Measures: Percentages of positive (PE) and negative events (NE) and positive (PCE) and negative cognitions and emotions (NCE) were obtained. Optimism and pessimism were measured with the Life Orientation Test Revised. The areas under the curve with respect to the ground and with respect to the increase were computed, with the latter understood as the CAR.

Results: The high pessimism group reported more NE and NCE and less PE and PCE (p’s < 0.041). No significant differences in CAR were found between high and low optimism and pessimism groups after removing suspected non-adherent participants (p’s > 0.116). Higher CAR was related to lower PCE, but higher NCE (both p < 0.008).

Conclusion: Pessimism seems to increase the focus on negative aspects of the past, which may lead to a worse perception of life in ageing, whereas optimism contributes to a healthier CAR.     

CREATIVE MUTUAL INTERACTION IN ACTION

In this article, I describe a multidisciplinary project at the interface of philosophy, science, and theology. The project is the product of an ongoing collaboration between the author and Christopher Southgate, to whom this special issue of Zygon is dedicated. At the philosophical core of the project is a development of C. S. Peirce's semiotics (theory of signs). The scientific branch of the project involves the application of semiotic theory to the problem of the origin of life, and to questions about human evolution and human distinctiveness. The theological branch of the project involves the articulation of a semiotic approach to the Christian concepts of Incarnation and Trinity, and to the ideas of vestiges of the Trinity in creation and of participation in God's life. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the project in terms of Robert John Russell's model of ‘creative mutual interaction’ between science and theology.     

Evaluation of a French parent-training program in young children with autism spectrum disorder

Parent training programs (PTs) in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are known to reduce parenting stress and improve child's behavior and parent-child interactions. Few PTs are available to French speaking families. In order to provide them with this type of intervention, we developed a French parent-training program of 12 bimonthly sessions and three individual home visits based on applied behavior analysis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the social validity and efficacy of this new PT on eighteen parents who have a child with ASD and developmental delay. For 16 parents, the PT was considered effective, the objectives targeted important and the strategies learned acceptable for use with children. They have significantly improved their knowledge in ASD and behavioral intervention strategies and their children's socialization skills, and reduce their parental stress. This new French PT program seems to be a promising intervention.