Parents’ postnatal depressive symptoms and their children's academic attainment at 16 years: Pathways of risk transmission

The aim of the study was to examine whether parents’ increased postnatal depressive symptoms predicted children's academic attainment over time and whether the parent–child relationship, children's prior academic attainment, and mental health mediated this association. We conducted secondary analyses on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data (12,607 mothers, 9,456 fathers). Each parent completed the Edinburgh-Postnatal Depression Scale at 8 weeks after the child's birth (predictor) and a questionnaire about the mother–child and father–child relationship at 7 years and 1 month (mediator). The children's mental health problems were assessed with the teacher version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 10–11 years (mediator). We used data on the children's academic attainment on UK Key Stage 1 (5–7 years; mediator) and Key Stage 4 (General Certificate of Secondary Education 16 years) (outcome). We adjusted for the parents’ education, and child gender and cognitive ability. The results revealed that parents’ depressive symptoms at 8 weeks predicted lower academic performance in children at 16 years. Mothers’ postnatal depressive symptoms had an indirect effect through children's mental health problems on academic outcomes at 16 years via negative mother–child relationship, and prior academic attainment. There was a significant negative indirect effect of fathers’ postnatal depressive symptoms on academic attainment at 16 years via negative father–child relationship on child mental health. The findings suggest that the family environment (parental mental health and parent–child relationship) and children's mental health should be potential targets for support programmes for children of depressed parents.     

不确定是坏的么?不确定状态中的错误加工特点及其解释机制

错误是人类决策和行为过程中在所难免的。然而, 错误常常带来不利后果甚至危及生命(如高危作业时的失误)。如何有效监控错误并优化行为对于个体生存和发展至关重要。错误的发生受到内部心理状态影响, 个体常在不确定的情境中做出判断, 不确定状态增强还是削弱错误监控, 是一个重要科学问题, 却存在矛盾结果。在前期积累和理论分析基础上, 本项目拟从人格差异角度探索不确定容忍度的调节作用。不确定容忍度的差异意味着个体对于模糊情境的耐受性和错误的敏感性不同, 因而可能调节不确定状态中的错误加工过程。研究1采用行为实验, 揭示多种不确定情境中(如奖赏/惩罚)错误监控和错误后调整的认知特点, 考察不确定容忍度的调节作用; 研究2通过考察电生理表征、时间加工进程和神经振荡机制等进一步解释这些现象。本项目对于探明不确定状态中的错误加工规律及其人格调节机制具有重要理论价值, 对于促进个体的环境适应、目标达成等具有较好现实意义。     

二胎环境下小学高年级“脱独”儿童父母教养方式与同胞关系:心理理论的中介作用

研究采用问卷集体施测,收集了788名小学高年级“脱独”儿童的父母教养方式、同胞关系以及心理理论的状况,探讨小学高年级“脱独”儿童父母教养方式对同胞关系的影响及心理理论作为中介变量的影响。结果表明:心理理论在父母教养方式中的父亲过分干涉、母亲情感温暖理解、母亲惩罚严厉、母亲过分干涉与同胞关系之间起完全中介作用; 心理理论在父亲情感温暖理解、父亲偏爱与同胞关系之间起部分中介作用。研究认为,良好的父母教养方式,有助于个体提高心理理论,并可能在一定程度上改善同胞关系。     

和谐医患命运共同体建设的思考

医患关系作为医疗诊治活动中最主要的关系,是以医护人员为核心的群体与以患者为核心的群体之间的关系。近来,医患关系在一定程度上的对立以及由此引发的社会公共事件激起了广泛的社会反响。旨在通过构建人类命运共同体对医患关系的启示,结合社会现实和医患关系实际,从医患双方生命至重的理念统一、防病治病的过程统一、平等尊重的人文情怀统一以及权利义务的关系统一等方面,对当前医患关系进行深入分析,对“和谐医患命运共同体”的建设加以阐释,以期对医患关系的深入探讨提出可行性的建议和支持。     

负性生活事件对初中生自我伤害行为的影响:有调节的中介效应

采用负性生活事件量表、自我批评量表、亲子关系量表和青少年自我伤害行为问卷对333名初中生进行测查,探讨负性生活事件对初中生自我伤害行为的影响及作用机制。结果表明:(1)负性生活事件对初中生的自我批评和自我伤害行为均有显著的正向预测作用;(2)自我批评在负性生活事件与初中生自我伤害行为之间起着部分中介作用;(3)负性生活事件和自我批评的关系(中介效应的前半段路径)受到亲子关系的调节,即负性生活事件对自我批评的正向影响随着父子关系和母子关系的增强而减弱。因此,负性生活事件和初中生自我伤害行为之间存在有调节的中介效应。     

Influence of Social Perception and Social Monitoring on Structural Priming

Although structural priming has been considered to be an independent cognitive process, recent evidence suggests that structural priming is modulated by sociocognitive factors such as social perception; speakers are more likely to mimic the sentence structure of a socially desirable interlocutor than the structure of a less desirable interlocutor. This study aims to further address the role of sociocognitive factors in language use by investigating how individual differences in social perception and tendency to align with others (i.e., social monitoring) modulate same‐verb structural priming. In particular, we investigate how likely students are to repeat a sentence structure of a teacher depending on their perception of the teacher and their social monitoring tendency. Our results demonstrate that students’ tendency to imitate a sentence structure of the teacher is positively influenced by their perception of the teacher but negatively by social monitoring. We suggest that the effects may be accounted for in terms of their influence on attention and memory encoding.     

Gender Differences in the Association of Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Values among College Students

Although research has indicated that cognitions and situational factors play a role in relationship satisfaction and aggression, few studies have investigated the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and relationship values. We addressed this gap by measuring college students’ perpetration of and victimization by four types of IPV; namely, physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and psychological aggression over the past year. One-way ANOVAs and multiple regression analyses were used to measure the association between IPV and the endorsement of relationship values. The results suggest that past IPV perpetration and victimization correlated with the current endorsement of relationship values for males more than females. In general, male perpetrators rated relationship values such as security, investment, others’ approval, and daily conflict as less important than non-perpetrators. Although male victimization explained significant variance in security, investment, and others’ approval, the results were somewhat mixed as to whether victimization related to higher or lower ratings of relationship values, with the majority of the results suggesting an inverse correlation between relationship value endorsement and IPV experience. Future research can investigate mediating factors in the relationship between IPV and relationship value endorsement, as well as look at how IPV and relationship values influence decisions concerning relationship maintenance.     

The use of multiple reference points in risky decision making

Among psychologists and economists, prospect theory continues to be one of the most popular models of decision making. The theory's key property is reference dependence; specifically, how an individual's perception of loss or gain is dependent upon their starting point (i.e., the status quo). Although prospect theory is widely accepted, other authors have sought the inclusion of reference points besides the status quo. Initially these extensions focused on the importance of single reference points such as goals. More recently, authors have explained choice data by including multiple reference points within the value function. Multiple‐reference‐point theories generally assume that many choice situations possess an implicit or explicit goal, or point an individual will strive to obtain, and/or a minimum requirement (i.e., a “lower bound”) above which an individual will strive to stay. In two experiments, we present evidence that individuals can utilize the minimum requirement, status quo, and goal within a single risky decision task. Participants most often chose to maximize their chance of reaching reference points even when that decision was riskier, resulted in lower expected value, resulted in lower expected utility, or ran contrary to the predictions of prospect theory. Furthermore, salience and uncertainty moderated the use of goals and minimum requirements as reference points. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Individual Differences in the Predictions of Behavioral Intentions

Abstract

We examined individual differences in the formation of behavioral intentions by American female students. Within the frameworks of the Fishbein-Ajzen and Triandis models of behavioral intentions, we measured the relative emphasis given to intention predictors for 40 behavioral intentions and examined how this emphasis was related to authoritarianism. In addition, empirical evidence was sought for the conceptual distinction between a personal norm (internalized norm) and a subjective norm (perceptions of significant other' opinions concerning a given action). Relative to low authoritarians, high authoritarians took subjective norms less into account, placed greater emphasis on personal norms, and emphasized less the consequences of action in forming behavioral intentions. The results suggest that subjective and personal norms can be distinguished empirically.