The role of parents’ autonomy support and psychological control in sibling relationship functioning through children’s need-based experiences

This study aimed to examine whether parents’ autonomy support and psychological control during sibling conflict would relate to children’s need-based experiences and relationship functioning within the sibling relationship. Two siblings (M_age = 8.61 years, SD = 0.91 and M_age = 10.50 years, SD = 0.94) of 205 families filled out questionnaires. Results showed that parental autonomy support related positively to siblings’ relationship satisfaction via children’s need satisfaction. Additionally, fathers’ psychological control related negatively to provided autonomy support and positively to provided psychological control from one sibling to the other (as reported by the other sibling) and negatively to satisfaction with this relationship via need frustration. These findings highlight the importance of the quality of parents’ involvement during sibling conflict.     

The Short-Term Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Psychiatric Patients: Evidence for Differential Emotion and Symptom Trajectories in Belgium

The spread of COVID-19 and the implementation of various containment strategies across the world have seriously disrupted people’s everyday life, and it is especially uncertain what the psychological impact of this pandemic will be for vulnerable individuals, such as psychiatric (ex-)patients. Governments fear that this virus outbreak may prelude a major mental health crisis, and psychiatrists launch critical calls to flatten an upcoming mental ill-health surge. Here, we aim to add nuance to the idea that we are heading towards a mental health pandemic and that psychiatric populations will unavoidably (re)develop psychopathology. Despite being subjected to the same challenges posed by COVID-19, we argue that people with a history of psychiatric illness will psychologically deal with this adversity in different ways. To showcase the short-term differential impact of COVID-19 on patients’ mental health, we present the day-to-day emotion and symptom trajectories of different psychiatric patients that took part in an experience sampling study before, during, and after the start of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and associated lockdown measures in Belgium. Piecewise regression models show that not all patients’ psychological well-being is affected to a similar degree. As such, we argue that emphasizing human resilience, also among the more vulnerable in society, may be opportune in these unsettling times.     

Psychological aspects of childbirth: Evidence for a birth‐related mindset

Psychological research on childbirth is rare, even though research from other scientific fields such as obstetrics or midwifery highlights the importance of psychological factors in childbirth. In this article, the theoretical construct of a birth‐related mindset and direct and indirect measures for assessing the mindset are proposed. It is assumed that childbirth can be mentally presented as a rather natural (natural mindset) or a rather medicalized (medicalized mindset) event. In three online studies (Study 1: N = 117, Study 2: N = 206, Study 3: N = 192), we aimed to explore whether the proposed birth‐related mindset is related to the retrospectively reported process of labor and birth (operationalized, e.g., by performed interventions, duration of birth, place of birth). For this, the relation between the mothers’ birth‐related decisions and outcomes of childbirth and the mothers' birth‐related mindsets were analyzed. Results indicated that (1) birth‐related criteria such as place of birth, epidural anesthesia, and C‐sections were associated with the birth‐related mindset, (2) these aspects of the delivery were related to the evaluation of the birth (birth experience), (3) the birth‐related mindset moderated the relationship between C‐section and birth experience, and (4) the indirect measures had little to no added explanatory value to the developed Mindset and Birth Questionnaire. Thus, the results indicate that the birth process experienced by the women and the mental representations of birth (birth‐related mindset) are closely related. Future studies need to investigate to what extend the experienced birth process influences the mindset of birth, or the mindset the experienced birth process, or both.     

父母自主支持对青少年积极情绪适应的影响:基本心理需要满足的中介与调节作用模型

本研究旨在考察父母自主支持对青少年积极情绪适应的影响及其作用机制。采用生活满意度问卷、积极情感消极情感量表、父母自主支持量表、自尊量表以及基本心理需要量表对1912名初中生被试进行调查。结果表明：（1）父母自主支持对青少年生活满意度、积极情绪、自尊和基本心理需要满足有显著正向预测作用;（2）基本心理需要满足在父母自主支持对青少年生活满意度、自尊和积极情绪影响中的中介作用显著;（3）基本心理需要满足在父母自主支持与积极情绪、生活满意度之间起着调节作用。本研究结果揭示了基本心理需要满足在父母自主支持和积极情绪适应之间的“双重作用”。     

基于网络干预的心理健康素养提升有效性研究

研究旨在探索中国文化背景下心理健康素养干预的有效性,以及心理健康素养的提升对专业心理求助意愿、心理健康和幸福感的影响。研究采用实验组对照组前后测设计。结果表明:1.基于网络教育的干预方法能够有效提升心理健康素养,进而促进专业心理求助意愿,改善心理健康状况。但是对大学生的幸福感没有产生明显影响; 2.心理健康素养可以通过专业心理求助意愿分别影响心理健康状况和幸福感,且专业求助意愿和心理健康在心理健康素养和幸福感之间起着完全链式中介作用。总的来说,心理健康素养的有效提升不仅可以改善专业心理求助意愿,提高人们的心理健康水平,还可能增添生活幸福感。     

Autonomy support and control within mother-father parenting structures: A person-centered approach in youth sport

In the youth sport context, parents play an important role in the motivation of adolescent athletes. From a self-determination theory viewpoint, the provision of autonomy support versus control by parents is an essential part of this socialization process. The purpose of the present study was threefold: (a) identify distinct mother-father parenting profiles of autonomy support and control based on perceptions of adolescent athletes, (b) examine the unique influence of mother-father parenting profiles on adolescent athletes' motivational responses (i.e., parent-to-child effects), and (c) understand the contribution of adolescent athletes' motivation to the emergence of these mother-father parenting profiles (i.e., child-to-parent effects). To test our hypotheses, a person-centered approach (latent profile analysis) was employed to analyze data collected from a sample of high school athletes (N = 264; Mage = 15.7 years, 64% female). Results provided evidence supporting a four-profile solution: Strong Autonomy Support Dominant: Both Parents (n = 26, 9.8%), Weak Control Dominant: Both Parents (n = 111, 42.0%), Moderate Autonomy Support and Control: Both Parents (n = 21, 8.0%), and Weak Autonomy Support Dominant: Both Parents (n = 106, 40.2%). The four mother-father parenting profiles were found to be differentially predicted by, and predictive of, adolescent athletes' adaptive and maladaptive motivational responses (i.e., basic psychological needs satisfaction, autonomous and controlled motivation). This study illuminated a general pattern of congruency in the provision of autonomy support and control by parents within mother-father parenting structures and contributed empirical evidence pointing to the reciprocal nature of interpersonal processes in parent-athlete relationships.     

A longitudinal examination of thriving in sport performers

To sustain success in sport, athletes need to function effectively in their competitive encounters and maintain this level over repeated events. Yet, to date, little is known about how athletes can continue to fully function (i.e., thrive) in their sporting encounters. Equally, there is a lack of research in relation to the factors that predict thriving. Testing the premise that basic psychological needs (i.e., for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) predict optimal functioning, the aim of this study was to provide the first longitudinal examination of thriving in sport. Sport performers (N = 268) completed questionnaires assessing thriving and basic psychological need satisfaction on three occasions across 28 days. Longitudinal structural equation modeling showed thriving to be highly predicted by both the experience of recent thriving and the perceived satisfaction of basic psychological needs. These findings highlight an important mechanism through which coaches and practitioners can initiate and maintain thriving in the athletes that they work with across a series of sporting encounters.     

新世纪20年国内心理统计方法研究回顾

新世纪头20年, 国内心理学11本专业期刊一共发表了213篇统计方法研究论文。研究范围主要包括以下10类(按论文篇数排序)：结构方程模型、测验信度、中介效应、效应量与检验力、纵向研究、调节效应、探索性因子分析、潜在类别模型、共同方法偏差和多层线性模型。对各类做了简单的回顾与梳理。结果发现, 国内心理统计方法研究的广度和深度都不断增加, 研究热点在相互融合中共同发展; 但综述类论文比例较大, 原创性研究论文比例有待提高, 研究力量也有待加强。     

认知固执导致持续应激的认知与神经机制

认知固执(Perseverative Cognition, PC)是一种重复或长期的消极认知表征,既能够使用量表测量,也可以通过实验诱发。认知固执会导致持续应激反应,进而影响个体的身心健康。其导致持续应激反应的认知机制体现在个体难以识别安全信号,高认知固执个体会表现出低心率变异性的显著特征;在脑机制方面主要表现为前额叶的抑制控制功能失调、杏仁核与前扣带回的病理性改变以及前额叶-杏仁核的连接减弱。未来研究应深入探讨认知固执的影响因素以及干预措施,同时需要进一步分析内隐认知固执的测量方式及其对个体的影响。     

催产素调控心理韧性:基于对海马的作用机制

心理韧性指个体面对逆境、挫折或重大威胁等应激情境下的有效且灵活适应的能力, 促进机体恢复正常的生理和心理功能。研究表明海马是调控心理韧性的重要脑区, 且催产素可能通过作用于海马增强心理韧性。海马内部环路内嗅皮层-齿状回-CA3可能调节恐惧记忆的泛化和消退以增强心理韧性; 海马外部环路齿状回-杏仁核-伏隔核及海马-伏隔核环路调节情绪, 可能分别通过促进奖赏和带来厌恶进而增强或降低心理韧性。催产素作用于海马增强心理韧性的可能途径有:催产素促进海马神经发生, 降低海马腹侧成熟神经元对应激的敏感性, 提高海马“模式分离”功能, 降低应激记忆泛化; 催产素恢复海马谢弗侧枝-CA1突触长时程增强, 促进机体适应应激; 催产素降低海马糖皮质激素受体水平, 重新建立机体稳态。