Internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents following an earthquake: Codevelopment and temporal association.

Chinese adolescents who experience potentially traumatic events may develop posttraumatic internalizing and externalizing problems. However, it remains controversial whether interventions should focus first on internalizing or externalizing problems (or simultaneously on both). Previous studies have attempted to elucidate the developmental trajectories of posttraumatic internalizing and externalizing problems, temporal associations between them, and the between-person effects on this association to identify appropriate primary interventions. However, these studies overlooked the potential codevelopment of internalizing and externalizing problems along with the within-person effects on this association. To address these gaps, this study examined the codevelopment of and within-person temporal association between internalizing and externalizing problems. Participants were 391 Chinese adolescents who completed self-report questionnaires at 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 years after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Parallel latent growth curve modeling and random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that both internalizing and externalizing problems were stable over time following the earthquake. Moreover, internalizing problems positively predicted externalizing problems at the within-person level and showed a positive between-person relationship with externalizing problems. These findings suggest that internalizing and externalizing problems may codevelop, and internalizing problems are risk factors for externalizing problems in adolescents following trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The reciprocal relations among self-compassion, and depression among adolescents after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake: A three-wave cross-lagged study.

BACKGROUND: Previous cross-sectional studies have examined the relationship between self-compassion and depression. Although it is often implicitly assumed that self-compassion may increase the vulnerability of an individual to depression, only a few studies have assessed whether self-compassion is a cause or a consequence of depression or both. METHOD: To examine such reciprocal effects, we assessed self-compassion and depression via self-report measures. At the baseline assessment (Time 1, T1), 450 students (M = 13.72, SD = 0.83, 54.2% females) participated 10 months after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. We reassessed the T1 sample after 6- and 12-month intervals. At Time 2 (T2) assessment, 398 (56.0% female participants) of the Wave 1 participants were retained, and at Time 3 (T3) assessment, 235 (52.5% female participants) of the T1 and T2 participants were retained. RESULTS: Cross-lagged analyses indicated that positive self-compassion could significantly reduce subsequent depression. However, depression did not significantly predict later positive self-compassion. Negative self-compassion at T1 increased depression at T2, but negative self-compassion at T2 did not significantly predict depression at T3. In addition, positive self-compassion significantly reduced subsequent negative self-compassion. CONCLUSIONS: Positive self-compassion appears to protect adolescents against depression and maintain this protection over time, whereas negative self-compassion may worsen depression in adolescents during the initial stages of traumatic events. Additionally, positive self-compassion may decrease the level of negative self-compassion.

Sometimes Less is More: Switching Influence of Social Support on Posttraumatic Growth over Time after a Natural Disaster.

Few studies have investigated the causal link between social support and posttraumatic growth. Using a four-wave longitudinal design, the present study examined the reciprocal relationship between posttraumatic growth and social support in family and school contexts. A total of 285 adolescents (61.3% female) were recruited to complete self-report questionnaires 12, 18, 24, and 30 months after the Wenchuan earthquake. The data were analyzed using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Results revealed a trend for total social support initially promoting posttraumatic growth, followed by no influence, and finally a hindering of growth. This pattern varied between different sources of support. Specifically, the influence of support from parents and peers was consistent with the pattern for total support, whereas that from teachers and others prevented posttraumatic growth during later stages. These results suggest that timing is an important issue in posttraumatic growth and that providing more support for a prolonged period following a traumatic event constrains adolescents' autonomy and thus inhibits posttraumatic growth.

The reciprocal relations among self-compassion, posttraumatic stress disorder, and posttraumatic growth among adolescents after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake: a three-wave cross-lagged study.

BACKGROUND: Previous cross-sectional studies have examined the relationship between self-compassion, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and post-traumatic growth (PTG). But no study has tested whether self-compassion is a cause or a consequence of PTSD, PTG, or both. AIMS: The cross-lag analysis was used to examine the reciprocal effects among self-compassion, PTSD, and PTG. METHOD: We used data from 244 adolescents who had experienced earthquakes. We assessed self-compassion, PTSD, and PTG via self-report measures after the earthquake in Jiuzhaigou, as well as 6 and 12 months later. RESULTS: Cross-lagged analyses indicated that positive self-compassion could significantly predict subsequent PTSD and PTG. Meanwhile, PTSD and PTG also predicted later positive self-compassion. Negative self-compassion at T1 increased PTSD at T2, and neither PTSD nor PTG significantly predicted subsequent negative self-compassion. In addition, negative self-compassion at T1 significantly predicted positive self-compassion at T2, while positive self-compassion at T2 significantly predicted negative self-compassion at T3. CONCLUSIONS: Positive self-compassion is a protective factor of post-traumatic psychological response, and it is maintained for a long time, while negative self-compassion may aggravate the negative psychological outcomes of adolescents in the early stage of experiencing traumatic events. In addition, positive and negative self-compassion can influence each other over time.

The integral contributions of parental involvement and parenting style to adolescent adjustments: a regression mixture analysis.

The integrative model of parenting has highlighted the integral contributions of parental involvement (quantity) and parenting style (quality) to adolescent psychological adjustments. The first aim of this study was to adopt the person-centered approach to identify profiles of parental involvement (quantity) and parenting styles (quality). The second purpose was to examine the associations between different parenting profiles and adolescent psychological adjustments. A cross-sectional online survey with families (N = 930) that included fathers, mothers, and adolescents (50% female, M age = 14.37 ± 2.31) was conducted in mainland China. The fathers and mothers reported their level of parental involvement; the adolescents rated fathers' and mothers' parenting styles, as well as their own levels of anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and loneliness. Latent profile analysis was adopted to identify parenting profiles using the standardized scores of fathers' and mothers' involvement and style (warmth and rejection). The regression mixture model was used to examine the relationships between different parenting profiles and adolescent psychological adjustments. Four classes best characterized the parenting behaviors: warm involvement (52.6%), neglecting noninvolvement (21.4%), rejecting noninvolvement (21.4%), and rejecting involvement (4.6%). Adolescents in the warm involvement group scored lowest on anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and loneliness. Adolescents in rejecting involvement group scored highest on psychological adjustment indicators. Adolescents in neglecting noninvolvement group scored lower on anxiety symptoms than those in rejecting noninvolvement group. Adolescents in the warm involvement group adjusted best, while adolescents in the rejecting involvement group adjusted worst among all groups. To promote adolescents' mental health, intervention programs need to consider both parental involvement and parenting styles simultaneously.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and growth: Examination of joint trajectories in children and adolescents.

Positive health endpoints are not the opposite of negative endpoints. Previous studies examining posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) trajectories have overlooked the co-existence of PTSD and PTG, making it difficult to accurately distinguish individuals with various posttraumatic presentations, causing the effects of targeted interventions to be discounted. To fill this gap, the current study sought to examine joint PTSD and PTG trajectories in children and adolescents. Eight hundred and seventy-six Chinese children and adolescents were recruited to complete self-report questionnaires 6, 12, and 18 months after the Ya'an earthquake. Multiple-process growth mixture modeling analysis was used to test the study proposal. Five distinct joint PTSD and PTG trajectory types were found: recovery, growth, struggling, resistant, and delayed symptoms. Female students and students who felt trapped or fearful were more likely to be in the struggling group, and students who experienced injury to themselves or family members were more likely to belong to the delayed symptom group. These findings suggest that postdisaster psychological services should be provided to relieve delayed symptoms in individuals who experience injury to themselves or their family members, and individuals in the struggling group should be supported to achieve growth.

Adolescent problematic Internet use and parental involvement: The chain mediating effects of parenting stress and parental expectations across early, middle, and late adolescence.

Problematic Internet use (PIU), a common phenomenon, has negative effects on adolescents, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents with PIU pose great challenges to parenting. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms underlying this relationship. The study examines the chain mediating roles of parenting stress and parental expectations between PIU and parental involvement across early, middle, and late adolescence. Families (N = 1206) that included fathers, mothers, and adolescents (48.9% females, Mage  = 13.86 ± 2.48) participated in the study. Adolescents provided a rating of PIU, and fathers and mothers reported their own parenting stress, parental expectations, and parental involvement. The results showed that paternal parenting stress and then expectations mediated the association between PIU and paternal involvement, and maternal parenting stress and then expectations mediated the association between PIU and maternal involvement, indicating a spillover effect. By contrast, the crossover effect was established only in that maternal parenting stress was negatively related to paternal expectations in middle adolescents. Moreover, maternal expectations showed the strongest association with maternal involvement in middle adolescents, whereas paternal expectations were most associated with paternal involvement in late adolescents. These findings underline the necessity of understanding parenting by assessing adolescent developmental stages and paternal and maternal parenting separately. Furthermore, the mediators of parenting stress and parental expectations can be the focus on facilitating parental involvement; the effect of maternal parenting stress on paternal expectations may suggest that intervention programs for fathers should consider more contextual factors.

Contribution of Linguistic Skills to Word Reading in DHH Students.

This study aims to examine the relative contributions of phonological awareness (PA), orthographical awareness (OA), morphological awareness (MA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) to word reading accuracy and fluency in Chinese deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. Measures of PA, OA, MA, RAN, word reading accuracy, and word reading fluency were administered to 133 DHH and 127 hearing students in Grades 4-6. After controlling for chronological age, hierarchical regression analysis showed that PA made an independent contribution to word reading accuracy and fluency among the DHH students. The unique effect of OA was significant on word reading accuracy in DHH students; whereas, its predictive role was played on word reading fluency in hearing students. RAN accounted for additional variance only in word reading accuracy in DHH students. MA significantly explained the variance in both reading abilities and in both groups. This suggests that for DHH students, they use nonphonological clues (MA and OA) to learn to read. To a lesser degree, however, they do rely on PA to reading words. For hearing students, they mainly rely on MA to their word reading. There are some similarities and differences in the mechanisms underlying word reading in DHH and hearing children.

Insecure Attachment to Parents and PTSD among Adolescents: The Roles of Parent-Child Communication, Perceived Parental Depression, and Intrusive Rumination.

Based on attachment theory and a social-cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this study examined the roles of parent-child communication, perceived parental depression, and intrusive rumination in the association between insecure attachment to parents and PTSD among adolescents following the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. In this study, 620 adolescents were recruited to complete self-report questionnaires. The results showed that the direct association between anxious attachment and PTSD was significant, but that between avoidant attachment and PTSD was non-significant. In addition, both anxious and avoidant attachment had indirect associations with PTSD via the mediating effects of parent-child communication openness and problems, perceived parental depression, and intrusive rumination. However, the specific paths between anxious and avoidant attachment and PTSD were different. The findings indicated that insecure attachment among adolescents following the earthquake was predictive for their PTSD, and the mechanisms underlying the association between anxious attachment and PTSD and the association between avoidant attachment and PTSD were distinct. To alleviate PTSD, more attention should be paid to improving the quality of parent-child communication for adolescents with avoidant attachment to parents, and to reducing negative cognition in adolescents with anxious attachment.

Changes in the Network Structure of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Earthquake Exposed Adolescents in China: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study.

Despite considerable studies focused on the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), little is understood about how symptoms of PTSD naturalistically change over time. Using network analyses approaches, the current study aimed to understand the nature of the association between PTSD symptoms at different time points among adolescents who experienced an earthquake. This study enrolled 900 youth survivors who completed 3 assessments with the Child PTSD Symptom Scale at 1 year, 1.5 years, and 2 years after the Wenchuan earthquake. A graphical Gaussian model (GGM) was used to investigate how symptom networks changed across these time points and to identify the symptoms that were the most central within the network. Results from GGM indicated that different symptoms were observed to have highest centrality at different time points. Feeling distant or cut off from others, avoid thoughts and feelings about the trauma, and feeling irritable or having angry outbursts appeared as the node with highest centrality at 1 year (T1), 1.5 years (T2), and 2 years (T3) post-earthquake, respectively.

Relationship Between Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students.

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students face great challenges in becoming proficient readers. Vocabulary knowledge is consistently considered to be an important factor affecting DHH students' reading ability. However, the mechanism that underlies the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in DHH students remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the roles of word segmentation and reading fluency in the contribution of vocabulary knowledge to Chinese DHH students' reading comprehension. A battery of tasks were administered to 116 Chinese DHH students from Grades 4 to 6 (mean age = 14.66 years). The results showed that vocabulary knowledge contributed to reading comprehension significantly in Chinese DHH students, and word segmentation and reading fluency played mediating roles in this relationship. Besides, the chain mediation effect of word segmentation and reading fluency was also significant. Revealing these mechanisms, which underlie the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, is helpful to tailor remediation for DHH students.

The Wnt3a/ß-catenin/TCF7L2 signaling axis reduces the sensitivity of HER2-positive epithelial ovarian cancer to trastuzumab.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most common and lethal gynecological cancers. Novel therapeutic agents have been developed for EOC, but patient survival remains poor. Trastuzumab has been approved for breast and gastric cancers with high expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), but it has not achieved any clinical success in EOC. Dysregulated Wnt/ß-catenin signaling is involved in cancer development, but whether it plays a role in EOC resistance to trastuzumab remains largely unknown. Here, we observed that high expression of Wnt3a, ß-catenin and TCF7L2, which can form a signaling axis in the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway, commonly existed in HER2-positive EOC tissue samples and was correlated with a poor patient prognosis. Cell proliferation and migration assays and nude mouse xenograft model experiments demonstrated that the Wnt3a/ß-catenin/TCF7L2 signaling axis promoted tumor cell growth and metastasis and reduced tumor sensitivity to trastuzumab. Analysis of downstream Akt signaling suggested that the function of the Wnt3a/ß-catenin/TCF7L2 signaling axis was mediated, at least in part, through increasing Akt phosphorylation. Overall, this study reveals a crucial role for the Wnt3a/ß-catenin/TCF7L2 signaling axis in EOC resistance to trastuzumab and the potential application of HER2-targeted drugs combined with inhibitors of this signaling axis for EOC treatment.

Coparenting Conflict Behavior, Parent-Adolescent Attachment, and Social Competence with Peers: An Investigation of Developmental Differences.

Coparenting conflict, which refers to the conflict between parents regarding parenting, has played a central role in children's development and adjustment. The perspective of family and peer systems linkage has suggested that coparenting conflict is linked to peer-related development, but this view has yet to be clarified. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among coparenting conflict behavior, parent-adolescent attachment, and social competence with peers as well as the developmental differences of these relationships in early, middle, and late adolescence within Chinese families. Families (N = 808) that included fathers, mothers, and focal adolescents (53% female, Mage = 13.66 ± 2.53) participated in this study. Fathers and mothers reported their coparenting conflict behaviors separately, and the adolescents rated parent-adolescent attachment and social competence with peers. Results showed that fathers' overt coparenting conflict behavior was related to social competence with peers through the indirect effects of father- and mother-adolescent attachments, whereas mothers' covert coparenting conflict behavior was related to social competence with peers through the indirect effect of mother-adolescent attachment in the total sample. The multigroup analysis revealed that these relationships were significant in early and late adolescence. In addition, fathers' covert coparenting conflict behavior was related to mother-adolescent attachment in late adolescence and all the relationships were insignificant in middle adolescence. The findings support the systematic perspective of family-peer system linkage and highlight the gender differences of parents in the effects of coparenting conflict on social competence with peers and the developmental differences during adolescence.

Coparenting Behavior, Parent-Adolescent Attachment, and Peer Attachment: An Examination of Gender Differences.

Coparenting relationship has been linked to the development and adaptation of adolescents. However, whether and how fathers and mothers' individual behaviors in coparenting relationships are linked to peer outcomes of boys and girls during adolescence have yet to be clarified. The present study addresses this gap in knowledge by examining the relationships among coparenting behavior, parent-adolescent attachment, and peer attachment of adolescents and the gender differences of these relationships. Families (N= 820) that included fathers, mothers, and focal adolescents (53% female, Mage = 13.70 ± 2.51) participated in this study. The fathers and mothers reported their coparenting behavior to their spouse and the adolescents completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Structure equation modeling in the total sample revealed that maternal positive and paternal negative coparenting behaviors were related to peer attachment through the indirect effects of father- and mother-adolescent attachments. Multi-group analysis revealed that father- and mother-adolescent attachments had strong predicting effects on the peer attachment of offsprings with the same sex. Maternal positive coparenting behavior was related to the peer attachment of boys and girls through the indirect effects of the father- and mother-adolescent attachments. Paternal negative coparenting behavior had a double-edged effect on girls' peer attachment and was not related to boys' peer attachment. This study extended the perspective of a family-peer system linkage by providing evidence that parents' individual behavior in the coparenting process was linked to adolescents' peer outcome. Moreover, this research suggested that encouraging mothers to enhance their positive relationship with fathers and preventing fathers from overtly pursuing conflicts and covertly disparaging mothers may be effective methods to promote adolescents' peer relationships.

Trajectories of posttraumatic growth among adolescents over time since the Wenchuan earthquake.

INTRODUCTION: Studies have found that posttraumatic reactions show heterogeneous trajectories, but few studies have assessed the heterogeneous trajectories of posttraumatic growth (PTG) among adolescents. This study examined trajectories of PTG among adolescents following the Wenchuan earthquake, analyzing the relationships between PTG trajectories and gender, age, traumatic exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder. METHODS: Adolescents were surveyed 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 years after the earthquake. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 391 participants ranging in age from 12 to 19 years. RESULTS: Four PTG trajectories were found: high, decreasing, low-stable, and increasing. High PTG group respondents were older and had more intrusive symptoms. In addition, having more symptoms in the hyperarousal symptom cluster was associated with the development of high PTG. In contrast, the presence of fewer symptoms in the avoidance symptom cluster increased the likelihood of high or increasing PTG. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated that adolescents exhibit heterogeneous PTG trajectories and that age and posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters differentiate distinct PTG trajectories.

The effects of amplitude and duration on the perception of English statements vs questions for native English and Chinese listeners.

The current study investigated whether amplitude and duration cues were salient for signaling English questions versus statements for native Mandarin Chinese listeners. The F0 contours of the final word were manipulated continuously from falling to rising patterns with the amplitude or duration varied. English-native and Chinese-native (EN and CN) listeners identified whether they heard a statement or a question. Results showed that the performance of EN listeners was influenced by the change of amplitude and duration in question-statement identification, while CN listeners' performance was not, suggesting possible differences of cue weighting between the two groups in distinguishing English sentence types.

Temporal Transitions in Patterns of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression Among Adolescents Following the Wenchuan Earthquake.

Posttramatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are persistent disorders with heterogeneous comorbidity. Cross-sectional design limitations have prevented previous studies from examining symptom pattern transitions, which limits the understanding on the change of mental health over time since trauma. This study examined transition patterns of PTSD and depression comorbidity and assessed the role of personality. PTSD, depression, and personality scales were used to assess 619 adolescents 1 year after the Wenchuan earthquake and then to longitudinally assess 332 adolescents 2 years post-earthquake. Data were analyzed using latent transition analysis and logistic regression. Four PTSD and depression comorbidity patterns were identified at both times: moderate comorbidity, high comorbidity, no symptoms, and depression. Patterns of PTSD and depression changed in 23.4% of adolescents: 4.4% and 7.1% transitioned from no symptoms to depression and from depression to moderate comorbidity, respectively; 7.5% transitioned from moderate comorbidity to depression. Extraversion and conscientiousness were more likely and openness was less likely to be associated with moderate comorbidity symptoms transitioned to depression symptoms. These findings indicated that patterns of PTSD and depression in adolescents are heterogeneous and show temporal change.

Patterns of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Growth Among Adolescents After the Wenchuan Earthquake in China: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) often coexist in the survivors of traumatic events. The current study examined the coexisting patterns of PTSD and PTG using latent profile analysis in a sample of 591 adolescent survivors of the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effects of traumatic exposure on specific coexisting patterns. A three-class solution characterized by a growth group (39.6%), a low symptoms group (10.3%), and a coexistence group (50.1%) fitted the data best. Members of the low symptoms group were more likely to be male, odds ratio (OR) = 2.67, 95% CI [1.48, 4.81]; and adolescents in the coexistence group were more likely to be older, OR = 1.22, 95%CI [1.09, 1.37], and to have had experienced serious indirect exposure, OR = 1.07, 95% CI [1.02, 1.12], and posttraumatic fear, OR = 1.20, 95% CI [1.11, 1.31].

Dyadic effects of marital satisfaction on coparenting in Chinese families: Based on the actor-partner interdependence model.

Based on the actor-partner interdependence model, this study explored the spillover and crossover effects of marital satisfaction on coparenting in Chinese nuclear and extended families. Spillover and crossover effects refer to the transfer of experiences, affects or behaviors, focusing on the intra-personal and inter-personal transfer of a marital subsystem to a coparenting subsystem. The participants comprised 279 couples with children ranging in age from 3 to 7 years old. The marital satisfaction and extent of coparenting of both the fathers and the mothers was tested to examine the dyadic interaction. Structural equation modeling results revealed significant intra-personal and inter-personal correlations between marital satisfaction and coparenting, indicating spillover and crossover effects in nuclear and extended families, and there were no differences between the two family structures. The results indicated that fathers' marital satisfaction influenced both fathers' and mothers' coparenting practices.

The role of posttraumatic fear and social support in the relationship between trauma severity and posttraumatic growth among adolescent survivors of the Yaan earthquake.

Middle school students in Lushan county (N = 315) were assessed 6 months after the Yaan earthquake using a trauma severity questionnaire, a posttraumatic fear questionnaire, a social support questionnaire and a posttraumatic growth inventory to examine the effects of posttraumatic fear and social support in the relationship between trauma severity and posttraumatic growth (PTG). The results showed that posttraumatic fear mediated the relationship between trauma severity and PTG, and social support moderated the relationship between posttraumatic fear and PTG. These findings suggested that trauma severity could be positively associated with PTG in a direct way or in an indirect way through posttraumatic fear. Moreover, posttraumatic fear had a positive relation to PTG under the condition of high social support level, whereas the relation was non-significant when the level of social support was low. These results were discussed in terms of their implications for adolescents after trauma.