A survey was conducted on the development status of mental health education in 812 universities nationwide using self-developed survey criteria, aiming to reveal the development characteristics and practical challenges of mental health education in universities in the new era, and to put forward some suggestions for its development. Study 1 established a set of survey criteria for university mental health education work, comprising 8 first-level indicators, 19 second-level indicators, and 53 third-level indicators. Study 2 revealed that the construction goals of “the 2011 standards” were generally well achieved, and the main tasks proposed in “the 2018 guidelines” were also largely completed. The results indicate that the construction of mental health education systems in Chinese universities has been highly effective, particularly in terms of education and teaching, practical activities, and curriculum development, showcasing Chinese characteristics. However, significant shortcomings remain in the construction of counseling systems, collaboration between schools, medical professionals, families, and communities in crisis intervention, as well as funding and facility investments, which require improvement and enhancement.

Deepening the construction of an independent knowledge system for mental health education in China requires focusing on three key concepts: “integration, innovation, and empowerment”. Integration serves as the foundation, guided by policy and institutional frameworks, strengthening top-level design, breaking down knowledge barriers across education, health, and social sectors, and promoting the integration and development of mental health knowledge and applications to ensure coverage of all populations and scenarios. Innovation is the core, rooted in cultural self-consciousness, subjectivity, and originality, moving away from reliance on Western theories, focusing on the generative logic of theories and terminology, and extracting new theories and constructing local terminology from Chinese culture and practice to ensure reflection of Chinese cultural genes and practical characteristics. Empowerment is the goal, achieved through innovating empirical research paradigms and constructing practice paradigms that integrate knowledge and action, realizing the implementation and feedback of knowledge, and ensuring the transition from theory to practice and from practice back to theory. It can be said that “integration, innovation, and empowerment” essentially represent the deepening process of constructing an independent knowledge system for mental health education in China.

Existing research has shown that eye contact influences object-based attention, but the underlying mechanism that is, whether it primarily captures or maintains attention, remains unresolved. This ambiguity arises from differences in object processing styles (holistic vs. feature-based) across studies. Therefore, this study included four experiments by using the two-rectangle cueing paradigm and manipulating SOAs (300 ms, 600 ms, and 900 ms) to investigate this issue in holistic processing (Experiments 1 and 2) and feature-based processing (Experiments 3 and 4). The results of the four experiments consistently demonstrated that, at the 600 ms SOA, direct gaze elicited a larger object-based effect compared to averted gaze, indicating that eye contact’s influence on object-based attention is universal. However, in holistic processing, direct gaze enhanced attentional capture (supporting the sensory enhancement hypothesis), whereas in feature-based processing, it facilitated attentional maintenance (supporting the attention shift hypothesis). These findings suggest that eye contact’s impact on object-based attention also exhibits specificity, depending on the object processing style.

This study employed the metaphor production task to investigate the interaction mechanism between prototype types and the incubation effect. Study 1 adopted a 3 (prototype types: known-uninteresting, incongruity-resolving, unknown-strange)×2 (paradigm category: no-incubation, with-incubation) mixed design. Results showed that the incongruity-resolving prototype significantly enhanced originality and flexibility under the no-incubation condition. However, the other two prototypes performed better under the with-incubation condition. To further explore the interaction between prototype types and the incubation effect, Study 2 utilized a classic incubation paradigm, employing a 3 (prototype types: known-uninteresting, incongruity-resolving, unknown-strange)×3 (incubation paradigm: immediate-incubation, delayed-incubation, no-incubation) mixed design. The findings confirmed that immediate incubation strengthened the role of prototype inspiration, with the incongruity-resolving prototype demonstrating the best creative thinking performance under the immediate-incubation condition.

Personal growth initiative (PGI) is crucial for enhancing well-being and alleviating depression and anxiety, with wisdom potentially playing a latent role. This study surveyed 1,528 early-adult college students, by employing necessary condition analysis, network analysis, and mediation analysis to examine how PGI promotes psychological health. The results showed that: 1) PGI was a necessary condition for wisdom, well-being, depression, and anxiety; 2) planning dimension of PGI was at the core of the network; 3) PGI could mitigate depression and anxiety by fostering wisdom, but had no indirect effect on boosting well-being. These findings offer a new positive psychology perspective and practical approach to fostering college students’ psychological health.

Do individuals choose “sustained social engagement” or “social withdrawal” after experiencing social exclusion? Existing research has not reached a consensus. To explain the mechanisms underlying these discrepancies, this study conducted two progressive investigations exploring the moderating role of negative perfectionism and its mediating path through attentional bias. Study 1 revealed that negative perfectionism amplified the positive effect of social exclusion on social withdrawal behaviors. Study 2 further demonstrated that attentional bias towards acceptance-related emotional faces mediated the relationship between social exclusion and social withdrawal behaviors, specifically in individuals with high negative perfectionism. This research not only clarified the trait-situation interactions but also revealed the dynamic processes in attentional processing, thereby providing an integrated framework to reconcile existing theoretical disagreements.

A total of 646 adolescents in Liaoning province were followed up for three consecutive times using a longitudinal design to investigate the relationship between cyber-ostracism and online deviant behaviors and its mechanism. The results showed that: 1) Cyber-ostracism at the pretest (T_n) significantly and positively predicted online deviant behaviors at the posttest (T_n+1), while online deviant behaviors at the pretest failed to predict cyber-ostracism at the posttest. 2) Hostile attribution bias played a longitudinal mediating role between cyber-ostracism and online deviant behaviors. 3) The mediating effect of hostile attribution bias between cyber-ostracism and online deviant behaviors varied across different genders of adolescents. Boys were more likely to stimulate hostility attribution after experiencing cyber-ostracism, and then produced online deviant behaviors, while this mediating mechanism was not significant among girls. Moreover, a reciprocal relationship between cyber-ostracism and online deviant behaviors was only found in girls. The results of this study reveal the psychological mechanism of the formation of online deviant behaviors, and have implications for the prevention and intervention of adolescent online deviant behaviors.

Based on the cumulative risk model, this study aimed to evaluate the association between childhood cumulative trauma and depressive symptoms and to examine the mediating role of perceived stress in emerging adulthood. A total of 548 emerging adults were followed, with survey data collected over a one-year period. The results revealed that: 1) A linear relationship was found between cumulative childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood, such that individuals with more cumulative traumatic experiences were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms. 2) The direct predictive effect of cumulative childhood trauma on depressive symptoms was significant, whereas that of single childhood trauma was not significant. 3) Perceived stress was found to partially mediate the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. It also mediated the predictive effects of both single and cumulative trauma on depressive symptoms.

The current study investigated the impact of the cumulative score of HPA-axis-related multilocus genetic profile scores (MGPS) and parent-child relationships on the developmental trajectory of adolescent depression. The sample consisted of 594 first-year students from a middle school in Hunan Province, China, collected through a longitudinal study design. Three waves of questionnaire data and genetic information were gathered. By using a latent growth curve model (LGCM), the initial levels and growth rates of adolescent depression were analyzed, with a particular focus on the interaction between genetic factors and parent-child relationships, as well as gender differences. Results indicated a linear increase in adolescent depression over time, and parent-child relationships significantly predicted the initial level of adolescent depression. Furthermore, the interaction between HPA-axis MGPS and parent-child relationships notably influenced the initial level of adolescent depression, but was not significantly associated with its growth rate over time. Gender analysis revealed that female adolescents were more susceptible to the combined influence of parent-child relationships and genetic factors, impacting both the initial levels and the developmental trajectory of adolescent depression. These findings suggest that intervention strategies should prioritize the roles of parent-child relationships and genetic vulnerability.

To explore the effect of parental psychological control on malevolent creativity and its psychological mechanism, 623 vocational school students were investigated by questionnaire survey. The results showed that: 1) parental psychological control positively predicted malevolent creativity; 2) anger rumination partially mediated the relationship between parental psychological control and malevolent creativity; 3) resilience significantly moderated the relationship between parental psychological control and anger rumination in the indirect effect of mediation model; resilience significantly moderated the relationship between parental psychological control and malevolent creativity in the direct effect of mediation model. The results suggest that reducing parental psychological control and decreasing anger rumination, as well as enhancing resilience, are all effective ways to reduce malevolent creativity among vocational school students.

In this study, 1590 primary and middle school students were tested by questionnaire method to explore the relationship between parental psychological control and short video addiction, and the mediating role of autonomy and reverse psychology. The results indicated that: 1) parental psychological control was significantly negatively correlated with the autonomy, and was significantly positively correlated with reverse psychology and short video addiction; 2) the autonomy played a mediating role between parental psychological control and short video addiction; 3) reverse psychology played a mediating role between parental psychological control and short video addiction; 4) the autonomy and reverse psychology played a chain mediating role between parental psychological control and short video addiction.

This study aimed to develop a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) platform for assessing problematic mobile phone use (PMPU), implemented using the Java programming language. The platform integrated the Bayesian expected a posteriori method for latent trait estimation, the maximum Fisher information criterion for item selection, and a standard error threshold as the termination criterion. To evaluate the platform’s performance, a series of simulation studies were conducted by comparing the PMPU-CAT platform with both an R-based CAT implementation and the conventional paper and pencil PMPU assessment. The comparison focused on item usage, measurement error, and test reliability. The results indicate that the PMPU-CAT platform achieves high measurement precision while maintaining superior testing efficiency. Overall, the platform provides an effective technical tool for applications in educational and psychological assessment.

The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a home literacy environment scale suitable for Chinese primary school students. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 1,654 parents of primary school students using the self-developed scale, followed by item analysis and reliability and validity testing. The results indicated that the scale consists of 7 dimensions with 30 items. The internal consistency reliability, structural validity, and criterion-related validity of the scale met psychometric requirements. The scale demonstrated measurement invariance across boys and girls and was significantly correlated with reading behaviors. The Home Literacy Environment Scale developed in this study exhibits good reliability and validity, making it an effective tool for assessing the home literacy environment of primary school students in China.

From the perspective of process-tracing, this study used eye-tracking technique to explore the mechanism underlying the impact of anxiety on choice deferral, as well as the mediating effect of information processing time, and the moderating effect of task framing. The results showed that: 1) Compared to non-anxious participants, anxious participants were more likely to delay their choices. 2) Information processing time mediated the effect of anxiety on choice deferral. 3) Task framing moderated the effects of anxiety on processing time and choice deferral respectively. 4) Task framing moderated the mediating effect of processing time on the relationship between anxiety and choice deferral, which was a moderated mediation model. Specifically, under a positive framing, anxious participants were inclined to spend more processing time, so they were more likely to delay the choice, however, under a negative framing, the mediating effect of processing time was not significant.

To explore the relationship and mechanism between awe and prosocial behavior among junior high school students, three studies were conducted, which included questionnaire survey, experimental manipulation and educational interventions. Results showed that: 1) meaning in life mediated the relationship between trait awe and prosocial behavior; 2) meaning in life mediated the relationship between state awe and prosocial behavior; 3) meaning in life mediated the relationship between awe intervention and prosocial behavior. These findings are of significant reference value for identifying factors influencing junior high school students’ prosocial behavior and exploring paths to enhance such behavior.

Cheating is a prevalent form of unethical behavior in school settings. This study investigated the formation mechanism of students’ cheating intention by examining both situational and individual factors. Study 1 used questionnaire to measure 413 junior high school students, examining the relationship between school moral atmosphere, moral disengagement, and junior high school students’ cheating intention; Study 2 adopted scenario-based experimental design to manipulate school moral atmosphere and further examine its causal effect on students’ cheating intention, as well as the mediating role of moral disengagement. The results consistently showed that school moral atmosphere predicted middle school students’ intention to cheat, and moral disengagement mediated the relationship between school moral atmosphere and cheating intention. These findings suggest that efforts to reduce students’ cheating behavior and prevent the formation of cheating intentions should adopt a multifaceted approach, such as fostering a positive school moral atmosphere and diminishing the influence of moral disengagement.