The self-reference effect refers to the fact that establishing a connection between specific information and oneself can promote processing. For middle-aged Chinese adults, the self-concept typically encompasses not only themselves but also their children and their mothers. However, whether the newly established connections related to children and mothers can rapidly influence perceptual processing has not been studied. By using a modified perceptual matching paradigm with a 4 (identity labels: self, child, mother, stranger) × 2 (matching status: match, no match) within-subjects design, the present study examined the above question by selecting middle-aged adults between the ages of 43 and 57 as participants. The results showed that the accuracy in the self- and mother-reference condition was significantly higher than that in the stranger-reference condition. The d’ in the self-reference condition was significantly higher than that in the stranger-reference condition. Additionally, reaction times in the self- and child-reference conditions were significantly shorter than that in the stranger-reference condition. These findings indicate that self, child, and mother can quickly establish associations with geometric shapes and facilitate perceptual processing, which result in self, mother, and child referencing effects. This study provides empirical evidence for the inclusion of “mother” and “child” components in the self-structure of middle-aged Chinese adults from the perceptual processing perspective.

To investigate the impact of voluntary choice on the subjective experience and autonomic nervous system responses to positive and negative emotions, this study employed a situational selection paradigm with 41 college students recruited via randomly recruiting. Participants were exposed to positive and negative images under both voluntary and forced choice. The findings revealed that in positive situations, the subjective experience of positive emotion under voluntary choice was significantly higher compared to forced choice condition, with HF-HRV being marginally greater than under forced choice, and LF/HF was significantly lower than under forced choice. In negative situations, the subjective experience of negative emotions under voluntary choice was marginally lower than under forced choice, with HF-HRV being marginally greater than under forced choice, and LF/HF was significantly lower than under forced choice. These findings indicate that voluntary choice enhances participants’ positive emotional experience, attenuates participants’ negative emotional experience, and simultaneously decreases participants’ physiological arousal levels, which, thereby, helps maintain an optimal emotional state.

To investigate the relationship between awe and wise reasoning, as well as the differential mechanism of their positive and negative valences, this study employed both questionnaire survey and experimental designs. By examining these relationships and mechanisms from the perspectives of trait and state, we found that trait positive awe (Study 1) and induced state positive awe (Study 2a) positively predicted wise reasoning and also enhanced wise reasoning through a balanced time perspective. In contrast, trait negative awe (Study 1) and induced state negative awe (Study 2b) neither predicted nor enhanced wise reasoning via a balanced time perspective, which suggests limited effects of negative awe on wise reasoning. The findings reveal a distinct mechanism through which awe influences wise reasoning. Specifically, positive awe can directly promote wise reasoning, or indirectly do so through a balanced time perspective. However, negative awe does not exhibit the same pattern. In doing so, the present study offers a comprehensive understanding of how awe can foster wise reasoning.

Phonological awareness plays an important role in children’s reading development. This study explored the development of English phonological awareness in Chinese elementary school students. We found that: 1) children performed significantly better in phonological perception, manipulation, and memory tasks on syllable units than on other phonological units such as phonemes; 2) they were in the midst of noticeable development in the partial tasks for initial/final sound and in tasks for up to three phonological units; 3) they showed difficulty and delayed development in elision task on consonant clusters and in manipulation and memory tasks for more than three phonological units. The results reveal the characteristics of asymmetrical development of English phonological awareness among elementary school students across phonological units, unit quantity, and phonological processing abilities.

This study examined the influence of continuous L2 learning on auditory attention in Chinese learners of English. A total of 236 undergraduates, who were divided into two groups (i.e., an English minor group: consisting of students pursuing a second degree in English, and a general student group: composed of non-English majors), were recruited. Results showed that although the two groups were comparable in background measures and fundamental cognitive abilities, the English minor group outperformed the general student group in the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA). This suggests that continuous L2 learning enhances inhibitory control and attentional switching in the auditory modality. Taken together, the results suggest that continuous L2 learning improves cognitive functions in the auditory domain in adulthood unbalanced L2 learners.

To explore the role of inter-word spacing in Chinese reading of Uyghur college students under different text presentation directions, this study used an eye tracker to record eye movements of participants during their reading. In specific, we manipulated the text presentation direction (left-to-right vs right-to-left), word segmentation cues (inter-word spacing vs no spacing), and the word frequency of target words (high frequency vs low frequency). The results showed that inter-word spacing promoted the sentence reading of Uyghur college students under both text presentation directions. Moreover, such promoting effect of inter-word spacing was greater in the reading of right-to-left presented text on total number of fixations. The fixation time on target words under the inter-word spacing condition was significantly shorter than that under the no spacing condition, though no significant interaction between word segmentation cues and word frequency was found. These findings indicate that inter-word spacing, as a word segmentation cue, enhances the efficiency of Chinese reading and lexical processing among Uyghur college students.

The study used Latent Transition Analysis to examine the categories of sleep quality transformation and their influencing factors among primary school students under the “double reduction” policy. A total of 722 primary school students were longitudinally tracked to assess their sleep quality before (T1) and after (T2, T3) the promulgation of the “double reduction” policy. The results showed that: 1) before and after the promulgation of the “double reduction” policy, there was heterogeneous differentiation in the sleep quality among primary school students, with three categories identified at each time point; 2) after the promulgation of the “double reduction” policy, the good-sleep group had a strong stability, while the other subgroups with sleep problems were more likely to transit to the good sleep category; the transition probability of T2~T3 was higher than that of T1~T2; 3) nine months after the promulgation of the “double reduction” policy, positive emotions had a protective effect on transitions in sleep quality of primary school students, whereas negative emotions posed a risk for decline. This study not only helps to deepen the understanding of the developmental changes and the influence of emotion of primary school students’ sleep quality, but also provides empirical evidence for verifying the implementation effect of the “double reduction” policy and the classification management of primary school students’ sleep quality.

In the modern era, with the extensive use of social media, individuals are constantly evaluating their own or others’ appearances. This phenomenon is even more prevalent among adolescent middle school students. Based on the objectification theory, the present study adopted a longitudinal study design to explore the longitudinal relationship and internal mechanisms between body surveillance and depressive symptoms among junior school students. Two-wave follow-up surveys on a sample of 756 junior school students over a period of six months were conducted. The results showed that: 1) T1 body surveillance significantly predicted T2 depressive symptoms. 2) There were significant gender differences in the cross-lagged model between body surveillance and depressive symptoms. Specifically, T1 body surveillance did not significantly predict T2 depressive symptoms in boys, while T1 body surveillance positively predicted T2 depressive symptoms in girls. 3) Regression analysis showed that subjective well-being played a longitudinal mediating role between body surveillance and depressive symptoms. These findings reveal the relationship and internal mechanism between body surveillance and depressive symptoms among junior school students, providing suggestions for enhancing the mental health status of junior school students.

Previous studies have shown that young children are capable of experiencing flow which enhances their concentration and promotes their holistic development. However, the conditions and influencing factors of flow in young children remain under explored. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of game challenge on children’s flow and explored whether goal orientation moderates this relationship. The results showed that: 1) children experienced higher levels of flow during high-challenge games compared to low-challenge game conditions; 2) goal orientation played a moderating role in the association between game challenge and children’s flow, such that children with a mastery goal orientation were more likely to experience higher levels of flow in high-challenge game settings. These findings indicate that game challenge enhances the flow levels in 5- to 6-year-old children, with goal orientation playing as a moderating role between game challenge and children’s flow levels. Our findings suggest that parents and teachers can design challenging learning and gaming environments to cultivate children’s mastery goal orientation, thereby promoting their flow levels and facilitating holistic development.

The study aimed to examine the relationship between parenting stress and young children’s self-regulation, as well as the chain mediating effect of parental mediation and children’s screen exposure. Four hundred and thirty-one children aged 2~7 years and their parents were surveyed by using questionnaires. Results showed that: 1) parenting stress was negatively correlated with both children’s self-regulation and parental mediation, while parental mediation was positively correlated with children’s self-regulatory ability; 2) educational screen content was positively related to children’s self-regulation; 3) instructive mediation and educational screen content played a chain mediating role in the relationship between parenting stress and children’s self-regulation. The findings reveal the complex relationship between parenting stress and young children’s self-regulation, providing practical implications for guiding preschool family education in the digital age.

This study examined the relationship between childhood trauma and psychological distress among college freshmen and explored the mediating role of a sense of security and the moderating effect of friendship quality. A survey was conducted on 710 college freshmen by using measures such as the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, the Sense of Security Questionnaire, the Friendship Quality Inventory and the short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. The results revealed that the severity of childhood trauma was significantly positively correlated with psychological distress. A sense of security mediated the impact of childhood trauma on psychological distress. Friendship quality moderated the relationships between childhood trauma and sense of security, as well as between childhood trauma and depression. The findings indicate that the loss of a sense of security is an important mediating mechanism through which childhood trauma leads to various psychological distress among college freshmen. High friendship quality can mitigate the impact of childhood trauma on depression but is insufficient to buffer the negative effects of childhood trauma on a sense of security.

The study aimed to explore the mediating effect of coping style and resilience between peer attachment and adolescent internet addiction. A total of 936 adolescents were recruited in the study to complete the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents, and Chen Internet Addiction Scale. The results revealed that: 1) peer attachment significantly negatively predicted adolescent internet addiction; 2) negative coping style mediated the effect of peer attachment on adolescent internet addiction; 3) resilience mediated the impact of peer attachment on adolescent internet addiction; 4) coping style and resilience played a chain mediating effect between peer attachment and adolescent internet addiction. These findings hold significant practical implications for understanding the influencing factors of adolescent internet addiction and promoting their mental health.

To explore the influence and mechanism of school climate on adolescents’ non-suicidal self-injury, a total of 1894 students in three middle schools in Fujian were investigated by using the Perceived School Climate Scale, Self-Compassion Scale, Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire and Adolescents Self-Harm Scale. The results showed that: 1) school climate had a negative predictive effect on adolescents’ non-suicidal self-injury; 2) self-compassion played a partial mediating role between school climate and non-suicidal self-injury; 3) mental health literacy moderated the relationship between school climate and non-suicidal self-injury in the direct effect of mediation model; 4) mental health literacy moderated the relationship between the self-compassion and non-suicidal self-injury in the indirect effect of mediation model. This study uncovered the mechanism of the influence of school climate on adolescents’ non-suicidal self-injury, and highlighting the need to prioritize school climate development and create a supportive environment for students that promote self-compassion and reduce self-injury.

By using an experimental design and drawing on the EASI (emotion as social information) model, this study examined how the need for cognitive closure, objective time pressure, and appropriateness of teachers’ emotional expressions influence preschool children’s misbehavior in response to teachers’ expressions of angry emotions. The results showed that the main effects of need for cognitive closure, objective time pressure and appropriateness of teachers’ emotional expression on preschool children’s misbehavior were significant. Furthermore, the frequency of misbehavior was affected by the interaction of objective time pressure and appropriateness of teachers’ emotional expression. The results revealed that when objective time pressure was low, preschool children exhibited fewer misbehaviors in response to appropriate versus inappropriate teacher emotional expression; when objective time pressure was high, the difference of misbehavior frequency between appropriate and inappropriate expression conditions was not significant. Need for cognitive closure, objective time pressure, and appropriateness of teachers’ emotional expression each served as independent predictors of children’s feedback types as acceptance and acceptance after rejection.

The present research employed a longitudinal, five-wave design to examine the developmental trajectories of future occupation planning. Furthermore, the current research examined the influence of just world belief. The sample comprised 1646 high school students, who were followed up for two years from their first to third year of high school. The just world belief was initially assessed at Time 1, and future occupation planning was evaluated from Time 1 to Time 5. The results of the unconditional latent growth model indicated that the high school student’s future occupation commitment was heterogeneous, with both decline and rise groups. Furthermore, the future occupation exploration among high school students exhibited a piecewise trend. A significant decline was observed during the first and second years of high school, while a significant increase was observed during the second and third years of high school. The results of the conditional latent growth model demonstrated that: 1) personal just world belief could predict the subgroup of future occupation commitment development trajectories among high school students; 2) general just world belief could both predict the initial levels and the rates of development of future occupation exploration among high school students. The present study has revealed the developmental trajectories of future occupation planning among high school students. The findings indicate that the just world belief plays an important role in the development of future occupation planning among high school students, which support the just world theory.

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a key strategy for promoting the construction of ecological civilization. To explore the effect of ESD curriculum on college students’ pro-environmental willingness and behaviors, a quasi-experimental design was used. Ninety-eight college students were randomly assigned to a training group and a control group. The participants assessed their pro-environmental willingness and behavior levels through self-reporting at three time points, that is, before the training, immediately and one month after the training. The results showed that: 1) in the pre-test, there was no significant difference in pro-environmental willingness and behavior between the training group and the control group; 2) the post-test and follow-up data indicated that the pro-environmental willingness and behavior levels of the training group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Our findings indicate that the ESD curriculum positively impacts college students’ pro-environmental willingness and behaviors, with a stable effect over time.

A study was conducted on 1004 adolescents using the Family Socioeconomic Status Scale, Parent-Child Attachment Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, and Adolescent Prosocial Behavior Scale. The research examined the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescent prosocial behavior, exploring its underlying mechanisms and differences between only children and those with siblings. The results showed that: 1) SES was significantly positively correlated with adolescents’ prosocial behavior; 2) the impact of SES on adolescents’ prosocial behavior was mediated by parent-child attachment and self-esteem through independent and chain mediation pathways; 3) mediation models varied by only-child status. Among adolescents with siblings, all three mediation pathways (parent-child attachment, self-esteem, and their combined chain mediation) were significant, with self-esteem being the strongest mediator. However, for only children, parent-child attachment was the sole significant mediator.

This study examined the underlying mechanism and boundary condition of personal control on preferences for multifunctional product. Through three experiments, the results revealed that, compared with the high personal control, low personal control increased consumers’ willingness to purchase multifunctional products. This was because multifunctional products help consumers cope with a lack of personal control by increasing a sense of efficiency. Additionally, the study found that this effect was moderated by the salience of multifunctional features. Specifically, when the multifunctional features were less prominent, the promoting effect of personal control on product preference was diminished.