Non-verbal and verbal parental mentalization as predictors of infant attachment security: Contributions of parental embodied mentalizing and mind-mindedness and the mediating role of maternal sensitivity

Interest in studying the relative contributions of verbal (e.g., maternal mind-mindedness [MM]) and non-verbal dimensions (i.e., parental embodied mentalizing [PEM]) of parental mentalization to child socio-emotional development is relatively recent. To date, only one study has addressed this issue in relation to child attachment security, suggesting a complementary and unique contribution of each one. The purpose of the present study was to further examine the specific contribution of PEM to infant attachment security by considering MM. In addition, this study aimed to explore the mediating role of maternal sensitivity linking PEM, MM to infant attachment security within 110 mother-infant dyads at moderate psychosocial risk. The two dimensions of parental mentalization (PEM and MM) were assessed on the basis of observations made during a videorecorded sequence of mother-child interactions in a context of free play with and without toys when the infants were 8 months old. The Maternal Behavior Q-Sort was used to measure the mothers’ sensitivity in a natural setting based on observations of daily mother-child interactions, also when the infants were about 8 months old. Attachment security was measured using The Strange Situation Procedure at infant age 16 months. The results showed positive correlations between maternal sensitivity and both verbal and non-verbal measures of parental mentalization. The mediation analyses first revealed that PEM had a significant indirect effect on attachment security, with sensitivity being identified as a mediator in this association. No indirect effect linking MM and attachment security via sensitivity was observed. These results highlight the contribution of PEM to maternal sensitivity and show maternal sensitivity to be a factor that partly explains the influence of PEM on attachment security in children.     

Sensory Processing Sensitivity Moderates the Relationships Between Life Skills and Depressive Tendencies in University Students1

University students often experience depressive symptoms, and strengthening of life skills may be beneficial for improving their mental health. Several studies have suggested that life skills effective in reducing depressive tendencies vary by individuals depending on differences in sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). SPS is a genetically determined trait characterized by sensitivity and reactivity to environmental stimuli. This study investigated the relationship between life skills and depressive tendencies based on individual differences in SPS. A total of 868 Japanese university students (mean age = 19.8 years, SD = 1.3 years) completed a questionnaire measuring levels of SPS—decision-making, interpersonal relationships, effective communication, and emotional coping skills—and depressive tendencies. Hierarchical multiple regression and simple slopes analyses indicated that interpersonal relationship skills were negatively correlated with depression regardless of SPS levels. Furthermore, decision-making skills were negatively correlated with depressive tendencies only in low-SPS students. Emotional coping skills were negatively correlated with depressive tendencies in high-SPS students. These results may help universities incorporate SPS levels when creating life-skills-based interventions for students.     

受害者公正敏感性对生活满意度的影响:上行社会比较和妒忌的中介作用

采用整群抽样法对福建省三所大学的638名大一至大四学生进行问卷调查,探讨受害者公正敏感性与生活满意度的关系,以及上行社会比较和妒忌在二者关系中的作用机制。结果表明： （1）在控制了性别、年龄后,受害者公正敏感性、上行社会比较和妒忌两两之间呈显著正相关,且三者均与生活满意度呈显著负相关;（2）受害者公正敏感性主要通过妒忌的单独中介作用对生活满意度产生影响,同时还会通过上行社会比较和妒忌的链式中介作用对其生活满意度产生影响,但该链式中介作用微弱。本研究揭示了受害者公正敏感性与生活满意度的关系及其作用机制,为引导大学生降低因受害者公正敏感性而对生活满意度产生的负面影响,更好地促进自身心理健康发展提供了建议。     

基于三元精神病态模型的精神病态认知-情感加工框架

精神病态作为暴力犯罪、累犯和青少年犯罪的重要预测变量, 在临床心理学和司法领域受到了广泛重视。三元精神病态模型通过大胆、卑劣和去抑制三个维度对精神病态进行了操作化定义, 反映了精神病态在神经生物学维度上存在的认知情感加工缺陷。其中, 低威胁敏感性是精神病态大胆的主要病因学基础; 而执行功能受损, 尤其是注意调节缺陷则导致了精神病态的去抑制倾向; 而与情绪识别存在联系的共情缺陷可能是卑劣的深层原因。未来研究中仍需关注精神病态的概念化问题, 以及不同精神病态特质之间是否存在共同的潜在病因学基础, 探索精神病态特质在生命早期阶段的体现从而进行及时有效的干预。     

PARENTAL CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY,DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS,AND PARENTING QUALITY: EFFECTS ON TODDLER SELF‐REGULATION IN CHILD WELFARE SERVICES INVOLVED FAMILIES

Parents who are involved with child welfare services (CWSI) often have a history of childhood adversity and depressive symptoms. Both affect parenting quality, which in turn influences child adaptive functioning. We tested a model of the relations between parental depression and child regulatory outcomes first proposed by K. Lyons‐Ruth, R. Wolfe, A. Lyubchik, and R. Steingard (2002). We hypothesized that both parental depression and parenting quality mediate the effects of parental early adversity on offspring regulatory outcomes. Participants were 123 CWSI parents and their toddlers assessed three times over a period of 6 months. At Time 1, parents reported on their childhood adversity and current depressive symptoms. At Time 2, parents’ sensitivity to their child's distress and nondistress cues was rated from a videotaped teaching task. At Time 3, observers rated children's emotional regulation, orientation/engagement, and secure base behavior. The results of a path model partly supported the hypotheses. Parent childhood adversity was associated with current depressive symptoms, which in turn related to parent sensitivity to child distress, but not nondistress. Sensitivity to distress also predicted secure base behavior. Depression directly predicted orientation/engagement, also predicted by sensitivity to nondistress. Sensitivity to distress predicted emotion regulation and orientation/engagement. Results are discussed in terms of intervention approaches for CWSI families.     

Does an attention bias to appetitive and aversive words modulate interference control in youth with ADHD?

Interference control refers to the ability to selectively attend to certain information while ignoring distracting information. This ability can vary as a function of distractor relevance. Distractors that are particularly relevant to an individual may attract more attention than less relevant distractors. This is referred to as attention bias. Weak interference control and altered reward sensitivity are both important features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, interference control is typically studied in isolation. This study integrates both. Youths (aged 9 to 17 years) with ADHD (n = 37, 25 boys) and typically-developing controls (n = 38, 20 boys) completed a Stroop task using appetitive words and matched neutral words to assess whether appetitive distractors diminished interference control more in youths with ADHD than controls. In order to test for specificity, aversive words were also included. As expected, appetitive words disrupted interference control but this effect was not stronger for youths with ADHD than the controls. Aversive words, on the other hand, facilitated interference control. Dimensional analyses revealed that this facilitation effect increased substantially as a function of ADHD symptom severity. Possible mechanisms for this effect include up-regulation of interference control as a function of induced negative mood, or as a function of increased effort. In conclusion, appetitive words do not lead to worse interference control in youths with ADHD compared with controls. Interference control was modulated in a valence-specific manner, concurrent with mood-induced effects on cognitive control.     

消极家庭表征与青少年网络人际关系成瘾：归属感需求和社交敏感的中介作用

本研究基于情绪不安全感理论,采用问卷法对湖北省两个城市的两所中学共4476名学生进行调查,探究了消极家庭表征和青少年网络人际关系成瘾的关系,并进一步考察了归属感需求和社交敏感的链式中介作用。结果显示:(1)青少年消极家庭表征能显著正向预测其网络人际关系成瘾;(2)归属感需求和社交敏感在消极家庭表征与网络人际关系成瘾的关系中均起显著的中介作用;(3)归属感需求和社交敏感在消极家庭表征和网络人际关系成瘾的关系中起链式中介作用。本研究为开发针对性的青少年网络人际关系成瘾的预防和干预方案提供了理论基础。     

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。     

Semantic and Moral Luck

The similarities between the philosophical debates surrounding assessment sensitivity and moral luck run so deep that one can easily adapt almost any argument from one debate, change some terms, adapt the examples, and end up with an argument relevant to the other. This article takes Brian Rosebury's strategy for resisting moral luck in “Moral Responsibility and ‘Moral Luck' ” (1995) and turns it into a strategy for resisting assessment sensitivity. The article shows that one of Bernard Williams's examples motivating moral luck is very similar to one of the examples John MacFarlane uses to motivate the assessment sensitivity of epistemic modals, and in particular the assessment sensitivity of the auxiliary verb “might.” This means that, if Rosebury is right and we do not actually need moral luck to explain Williams's example, we may not need assessment sensitivity to account for the semantic behaviour of the epistemic modal verb “might” either.