Bullying victimization and suicide attempts among adolescents in 41 low- and middle-income countries: Roles of sleep deprivation and body mass.

Background: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for adolescents, and globally, over 75% of completed suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Bullying has been proven to be closely related to suicide attempts. However, further understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between bullying and adolescents' suicide attempts is urgently needed. Methods: We used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) (2010-2017) from 41 LMICs or regions. This study was based on questions assessing bullying victimization, suicide attempts, sleep deprivation, and body mass. Chi-square tests were used to explore the correlations among the main variables. The mediating role of sleep deprivation and the moderating role of body mass index (BMI) were analyzed using PROCESS. Results: The results showed a positive association between bullying victimization and suicide attempts. Sleep deprivation partially mediated the relationship between the frequency of being bullied and suicide attempts. In addition, sleep deprivation played a full or partial mediating role in the relationship between different types of bullying and suicide attempts. BMI moderated the relationships between the frequency of being bullied and suicide attempts, between being made fun of about one's body and sleep deprivation, and between sleep deprivation and suicide attempts. Conclusion: Being bullied has a positive effect on suicide attempts, which is mediated by sleep deprivation and moderated by body mass. The results of this study are consistent with the stress-diathesis model of suicide, suggesting that being bullied is one of the stressors of suicide in adolescents, while sleep deprivation and body mass are susceptibility diatheses of suicide. The results are conducive to identifying adolescents at a high risk of suicide, suggesting that there is a need to pay more attention to bullied adolescents, especially their sleep quality and body mass, and design effective intervention measures to improve the current situation of adolescent suicide in LMICs.

Parental care and depressive symptoms among Chinese medical students: roles of empathy and gender.

BACKGROUND: Medical students in China who face the dual pressure of study and employment tend to experience subclinical depressive symptoms. Parental care plays an important direct and indirect role in the psychological development of medical students, and the extent and mechanism of this role urgently need to be studied and discussed. METHODS: After simple random sampling and screening of valid questionnaires, data from a total of 924 people were used. The participants completed the parental bonding instrument, self-rating depression scale, Chinese version of the Jefferson empathy scale-medical student edition and self-rating anxiety scale to evaluate parental care, empathy, depressive symptoms and anxiety. The data were statistically processed using a descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and test of moderated mediation. RESULTS: Maternal care had a significant negative predictive effect on depressive symptoms among medical students. Strong maternal care can reduce the occurrence of depressive symptoms in medical students. Empathy played a positive mediating role such that both types of empathy could alleviate the effect of weak maternal care on the depressive symptoms of medical students. However, neither cognitive empathy nor affective empathy played a mediating role in the relationship between paternal care and depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, the relationship between maternal care and empathy was moderated by the medical students' gender. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of this relationship on female medical students deserves special attention. The results of this study provide a reference and basis for the adjustment of medical education. This study could also help in the design of effective psychological intervention measures to reduce the degree of depressive symptoms and enhance personal empathy.

Association between relational trauma and empathy among male offenders in China.

BACKGROUND: Offenders are more likely than the general population to have experienced relationship trauma. They are also more likely to have lower empathy. To date, relationships between historical trauma and later empathic states have not been examined among offenders. AIMS: To explore the association between history of trauma in close personal relationships and empathy among offenders. Our research question is: Is such relational trauma associated with self-rated impairments in empathy? METHODS: All men with a primary school education and above at a single all-male prison in Jiangsu Province in China were invited to participate. The self-reported Interpersonal Reactivity Index was used to evaluate empathy, and the Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey was to explore interpersonal trauma and classify such experiences. RESULTS: Interpersonal trauma was associated with higher personal distress and lower empathic concern among men reporting relational trauma in adulthood, but only higher personal distress when the trauma reported was in childhood. Non-relational trauma was associated with higher empathic concern. Cognitive aspects of empathy varied little between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings add to the existing literature by making distinctions between the types of trauma and the age of key experience in its relationship to self-reported empathy. The differences found suggest that it may be helpful to consider planning any trauma-related interventions differently according to the type and age of trauma experiences.

Associations of affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms among a sample of Chinese college freshmen.

BACKGROUND: College freshmen are at high risk for mental and socioemotional problems after entering a new environment. However, few investigators have evaluated the associations between empathy and depressive symptoms among college freshmen. The present study examined the presence and associations of affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms among college freshmen in China. METHODS: In total, 4297 college freshmen completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as an assessment of empathy and the University Personality Inventory to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The empathy scores of females were higher than that of males, and approximately 18.4% of freshmen had high-depressive symptoms (HDS). Freshmen with a higher positive component of affective empathy (empathic concern (EC)) experienced fewer HDS. In contrast, freshmen with a higher negative component of affective empathy (personal distress (PD)) and lower cognitive empathy (perspective taking (PT)) experienced more HDS. EC was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, PD was positively related to depressive symptoms, and PT was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Males with a higher degree of PT experienced fewer HDS, while females with a higher degree of PT experienced more HDS. CONCLUSION: Affective empathy was positively associated with depressive symptoms, while cognitive empathy was negatively related to depressive symptoms. The association between affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms may add some support to the detection of clinical depressive symptoms. These findings call for the necessity of considering the characteristics of affective and cognitive empathy as a crucial concern in the prevention of depressive symptoms.

Association between parental control and subclinical depressive symptoms in a sample of college freshmen: Roles of empathy and gender.

BACKGROUND: College freshmen are at high-risk for depressive symptoms after experiencing drastic transitions in a new environment. Perceived parental control has proved as a prominent role in an adolescent's mental health. However, the further understandings of the mechanisms underlying the relation between perceived parental control and freshmen's depressive symptoms are urgent. METHODS: A total of 4,297 Chinese freshmen (57% female) were recruited. They completed the self-report Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and University Personality Inventory (UPI), which assess parental control, empathy and depressive symptoms, respectively. The data were analysed using correlation analysis and a test of moderated mediation. RESULTS: The results showed positive association between parental control and depressive symptoms, partially mediated by empathy. The relation between parental control and affective empathy, was moderated by gender. Specifically, maternal control had a more significant positive effect on males' personal distress. Moreover, the influence of paternal control was also greater for males, with a negative effect on empathic concern and positive on personal distress. CONCLUSIONS: Parental control significantly positively predicted college freshmen's depressive symptoms, and empathy played a partially mediating role. In addition, the relations between parental control and affective empathy were moderated by freshmen's gender. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of how parental control is related to freshmen's depressive symptoms, offering a theoretical basis for promoting the development of adolescents' mental health and supporting the design of effective psychological interventions to relieve their depressive symptoms.

The Hidden Danger in Family Environment: The Role of Self-Reported Parenting Style in Cognitive and Affective Empathy Among Offenders.

Parenting styles are considered to have an important influence on the development of individuals and have been associated with empathy. The present study aimed to investigate the self-reported different parenting styles in childhood and adolescence and associated cognitive and affective empathy among offenders. Men incarcerated in prison in Jiangsu Province in China were invited to participate. Each consenting participant was asked to complete the Parental Bonding Instrument to collect information regarding the parenting styles they experienced in childhood and adolescence and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to evaluate their empathy. A multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted to explore the associations between different parenting styles and the empathy of offenders, and a one-way multivariate analysis of variance and a t-test were used to explore the differences in cognitive and affective empathy with different degrees of parenting styles. The parental care and control factors in childhood and adolescence were significantly more strongly associated with empathy among offenders than the parental encouragement factor. There were different associations between the parental care and control factors and offenders' empathy depending on whether the parenting styles were consistent or inconsistent. When the parenting styles were consistent, different degrees of parental care had a significant predictive effect on cognitive and affective empathy, while different degrees of parental control were only significantly associated with affective empathy among the offenders. When the parenting styles were inconsistent, different degrees of paternal and maternal control were associated with cognitive and affective empathy among the offenders. Our findings suggest that not only different parenting styles experienced in childhood and adolescence had different predictive effects on empathy among offenders but also the degrees of parenting styles and whether the paternal and maternal parenting styles were consistent or inconsistent may affect the patterns of parenting styles and empathy. Moreover, the parental control factor had a particular influence on empathy among the offenders. Our findings underscore the pressing need for adopting preventive monitoring measures or developing policies to improve parenting styles.