Mediating roles of sleep quality and resilience in the relationships between chronotypes and mental health symptoms.

Sleep and mental health are intrinsically intertwined, but not every individual with problems sleeping develops a mental health disorder. This study examined the association among chronotypes, resilience, sleep quality and mental health symptoms amongst otherwise healthy individuals. Two hundred adults (Mage = 27.75 ± 5.11, 68% female) with no previous diagnosis of mental illness were recruited and filled in a set of questionnaires measuring chronotypes, sleep quality, depression and anxiety symptoms. The findings from the path analysis showed that the morning type had a statistically significant direct effect on a range of sleep quality indices. These included better subjective sleep quality, shortened sleep latency, and fewer daytime dysfunctions, as well as a higher level of resilience. However, it did not significantly affect depression and anxiety symptoms. In addition, the morning type had statistically significant indirect effects on a higher level of resilience and fewer depression and anxiety symptoms through the mediating effect of sleep quality indices. Findings from this study support that morning type is associated with better resilience and psychological health, which is mediated through better sleep quality.

A Review of the Literature on the Multiple Forms of Stigmatization of Caregivers of Children with Autism Among Ethnic Minority Groups.

Multiple forms of stigmatization are experienced by caregivers of children with autism among ethnic minority (EM) groups in various countries. Such forms of stigmatization can lead to delayed assessment and services for mental health among children and caregivers. This review identified the research literature on the types of stigmatization experienced by caregivers of children with autism with an EM background. A total of 19 studies published after 2010 (i.e., 12 from the USA, 2 from the UK, 1 from Canada, and 1 from New Zealand) of caregivers of 20 ethnicities were identified and reviewed, and their reporting qualities systematically also assessed. Four main themes: (1) self-stigma, (2) social stigma, (3) stigma towards EM parents of children on the autism spectrum, and (4) service utilization stigma, and nine sub-themes were identified. The discrimination experienced by caregivers were extracted, synthesized, and further discussed. While the reporting quality of the studies included is good, the depth of the understanding of this under-researched yet important phenomenon is very limited. The multiple forms of stigmatization experiences are complex, and it may be difficult to disentangle whether the causes of stigmatization were autism and/or EM related, and the types of stigmatization can vary enormously among different ethnic groups in different societies. More quantitative studies are needed to quantify the impacts of multiple forms of stigmatization on families of children with autism in EM groups so that more socially inclusive support for caregivers with an EM background in host countries can be developed.

Brief Report: The Impact of COVID-19 on Parental Stress and Learning Challenges for Chinese Children with SpLD.

The pandemic induced a radical shift to online learning with increased parental involvement. This study investigates the challenges that students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) encountered during the pandemic and the mediating role of parental stress. A total of 294 parents of children with SpLD (mean age = 10.6; SD = 1.5) were recruited. Parents reported concerns over their children's difficulties maintaining learning routines, lack of suitable environment for online classes, and ineffective remote learning. Results of mediation analysis showed that online learning challenges, SpLD symptoms, and emotional and behavioral difficulties positively predicted parental stress. In turn, parental stress negatively predicted children's self-esteem and family quality of life. The study implies that parents of children with SpLD need both psychological and technical support under suspension of face-to-face teaching.

Executive functions as mediators between socioeconomic status and academic performance in Chinese school-aged children.

Background: It is well-documented that socioeconomic status (SES) and academic performance in school-aged children are closely related. However, little is known about how the three core executive functions (EFs), inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, mediate the association between the two. Moreover, most previous studies examined SES disparities in Western countries, how such disparities in EF and academic performance manifest in the Chinese context, where a distinctive EF profile and learning experience are observed, remains uncertain. The current study explored: (1) the mediating effects of the three core EFs in the association between SES and academic performance; and (2) the differences in EF and academic performance in three core subjects between Chinese children who are below and above the poverty line. Methods: Of the 385 students sampled, 205 are in the low-SES group and 180 are in the middle-high SES group. Results: A structural equation model showed that the SES-academic performance relationship was fully mediated by cognitive flexibility and working memory but not inhibition. Working memory was a much stronger mediator than cognitive flexibility, suggesting that working memory may correlate with childhood SES and academic performance in Chinese children. An analysis of covariance suggested that compared to the middle-high SES group, the low-SES group demonstrated poorer working memory and academic performance in all three subjects after controlling for age and IQ. Interestingly, children with low-SES were found to have better cognitive flexibility than children with middle-high SES. Conclusions: These findings suggest that interventions targeting working memory may be an important area to improve children's academic performance.

Examining Distinctive Working Memory Profiles in Chinese Children With Predominantly Inattentive Subtype of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and/or Reading Difficulties.

Although evidence has shown that both RD and ADHD-I children suffer from working memory problems, inconsistencies in impaired modalities have been reported. This study aimed to (1) compare the three WM domains (i.e., verbal WM, visual-spatial WM, and behavioral WM) among pure ADHD-I, pure RD, comorbid ADHD-I+RD, and typical control groups and (2) examine the impact of comorbidity on the three WM domains. A Chinese sample of participants from Hong Kong included 29 children in the ADHD-I group, 78 children in the RD group, 31 children in the comorbid group (ADHD-I+RD), and 64 children in the TD control group. All participants completed the assessments individually. The findings showed that the children with ADHD-I and/or RD exhibited diverse cognitive profiles. In particular, RD was associated with verbal and visual-spatial working memory deficits, while ADHD-I was associated with behavioral working memory deficits. Interestingly, the comorbid condition demonstrated additive deficits of the two disorders but with greater deficits in behavioral working memory. These findings support the cognitive subtype hypothesis and provide a clearer picture of the distinctive working memory profiles of different groups, allowing for the development of intervention programs in the future.