Emotion Dynamics among Late Adolescents and Emerging Adults: The Role of Maternal Privacy Invasion Perceptions.

Prior research suggests that youth experience immediate emotional distress following privacy invasion, but it is unclear whether and how persistent privacy invasion over longer periods destabilizes the intrapersonal emotional regulatory functions that privacy serves. This study investigated whether late adolescents and emerging adults who reported different patterns of maternal privacy invasion over a full academic year showed differences in emotion regulation, as reflected by the frequency and lability of negative and positive emotional experiences. Participants were first-year university students (n = 349; 60.2% female) in Hong Kong, aged 17 to 24 (MT1 = 18.20, SDT1 = 1.10). They self-reported maternal privacy invasion perceptions and negative and positive emotions 16 times, at bi-weekly intervals. Latent class growth analyses divided participants into a Higher Invasion Perceptions group (24.9%), a Moderate Invasion Perceptions group (46.4%), and a Lower Invasion Perceptions group (28.7%). A one-way MANCOVA examined potential differences in negative and positive emotion dynamics across groups, indexed by frequency (means) and instability (mean square of successive differences and probability of acute change). In line with predictions, both the Higher Invasion and Moderate Invasion groups reported higher negative emotion frequency and instability, compared to the Lower Invasion group. However, groups showed no significant differences regarding positive emotion frequency and instability. The findings indicate that perceptions of maternal privacy invasion predict youth's negative emotion regulation processes over their first collegiate year. Prolonged, higher levels of maternal privacy invasion may disrupt the intrapersonal regulatory functions that privacy serves over time.

Adolescent-Mother Agreements and Discrepancies in Reports of Helicopter Parenting: Associations with Perceived Conflict and Support.

Adolescents' and parents' similar and/or divergent perceptions of parental behaviors may be associated with youth-parent relationship quality. This study examined adolescents' and mothers' perceptions of helicopter parenting, and whether (dis)agreements between these views were associated with perceived conflict and support. Participants were 349 late adolescents (MT1age = 18.20; 39.8% male) and their mothers (MT1age = 49.10) in Hong Kong who completed four assessments over one year. Results suggested that youth-mother agreements regarding helicopter parenting were positively associated with both conflict and support. Additionally, discrepancies between their reports were positively related to adolescent-reported conflict. These findings highlight the importance of examining multiple perspectives when studying helicopter parenting dynamics, and suggest both positive and negative aspects of these practices in Chinese families.

"Youth-focused" versus "whole-family" screen rules: Associations with social media difficulties and moderation by impulsivity.

Many parents attempt to limit adolescents' screen time without changing their own habits. We examined whether "whole-family" versus "youth-focused" restrictions differentially predict social media-related difficulties (procrastination and problematic use), and whether adolescents' impulsive social media behaviors moderated these relationships. Among 183 Chinese early adolescents (58.5% female), whole-family rules negatively predicted procrastination. Impulsivity moderated associations between rulemaking approaches and social media difficulties; youth-focused rules negatively predicted procrastination and problematic use for highly impulsive adolescents, while whole-family rules held no associations or predicted increased difficulties. For less impulsive adolescents, however, whole-family rules negatively predicted social media difficulties and youth-focused rules positively predicted problematic use. Results suggest that setting the implementation of screen rules should involve parental participation and consideration of individual differences.

Perceptions of Parental Privacy Invasion and Information Management among Chinese Adolescents: Comparing Between- and Within-Family Associations.

The traditional Chinese conceptualization of family privacy is interdependent and hierarchically structured, but mounting evidence suggests that contemporary Chinese youth hold strong desires for individual privacy and respond defensively to perceived parental privacy invasions. The current research examined within-person associations among adolescents' perceptions of parental privacy invasion, secrecy, and disclosure to parents in the Chinese context. This study collected data from 289 Chinese youth (MageT1 = 13.57, SD = 0.63, 50.30% male) at six-month intervals over one year. Random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) showed that stronger perceptions of parental invasion predicted later within-person decreases in adolescents' disclosure and increases in secrecy. Disclosure and secrecy did not predict later perceptions of parental invasion at the within-person level. The findings suggest that Chinese youth manage privacy reactively and defensively when feelings of invasion occur, by decreasing disclosure and increasing secrecy. Stereotypes portraying Chinese youth as highly deferential to parents' demands for informational access might not be representative of adolescents in contemporary society.

Longitudinal links between expressive flexibility and friendship quality in adolescence: The moderating effect of social anxiety.

INTRODUCTION: Expressive flexibility, or the ability to both up- and down-regulate emotional expressions in social interactions, is thought as an indicator and a consequence of healthy interpersonal relationships. The present longitudinal study examined bidirectional associations between expressive flexibility and friendship quality in early adolescence. Since prior research found inconsistent results regarding the adaptiveness of expressive flexibility, which indicated the necessity to consider individual variability in the process, we further tested the potential moderating effect of social anxiety in the links from expressive flexibility to friendship quality. METHODS: Participants from two junior high schools in eastern China (N = 274; 50.4% female; Mage = 13.56) were surveyed at three time points with 6-month intervals. Expressive flexibility, friendship quality, and social anxiety were all assessed via self-reported scales. RESULTS: According to the cross-lagged model results, friendship quality significantly predicted increased expressive flexibility over time. Conversely, the longitudinal association from expressive flexibility to friendship quality was not significant, but the interaction between expressive flexibility and social anxiety significantly predicted later friendship quality. Further analyses via the Johnson-Neyman technique revealed that expressive flexibility only positively predicted friendship quality for adolescents with lower levels of social anxiety. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that expressive flexibility is not always socially adaptive, so practical interventions that aim to improve youths' social adjustment via expressive flexibility training might need to consider the role of individual characteristics.

What Should I do and Who's to blame? A cross-national study on youth's attitudes and beliefs in times of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth's attitudes towards their government's response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth's social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found.

Bidirectional effects between expressive regulatory abilities and peer acceptance among Chinese adolescents.

The current study examined potential bidirectional effects between adolescents' expressive regulation (the ability to enhance and suppress overt emotional behavior in line with situational demands) and peer interactions via two experiments. Experiment 1 tested the hypothesis that adolescents' expressive regulation affects their social acceptance from peers. Participants (N = 147) were randomly divided into three conditions and watched video clips in which a same-sex partner differed in his or her levels of expressive enhancement and suppression abilities. Results showed that participants reported greater liking of the partner when he or she was able to flexibly enhance and suppress emotional expressions in line with situational demands compared with when either one of these abilities was impaired. Experiment 2 then examined whether peer rejection reduced participants' enhancement and suppression abilities. We manipulated participants' feelings of rejection through a virtual Cyberball game. Following this manipulation (N = 100; Inclusion vs. Exclusion), we tested participants' expressive enhancement and suppression abilities, as well as their natural expressivity, via an observational task. Peer exclusion resulted in lower levels of enhancement ability and natural expressive behaviors but did not impair suppression ability. The results of these experiments suggest that both expressive enhancement and expressive suppression are important for adolescents to obtain higher peer acceptance. In addition, peer exclusion also caused impairments in expressive regulation, specifically reduced enhancement abilities. In summary, these results evidenced the bidirectional effects between expressive regulation and peer acceptance.

"Me", "We", and Materialism: Associations between Contingent Self-Worth and Materialistic Values across Cultures.

Individuals with high levels of externally contingent self-worth tend to base their self-esteem on factors such as appearance, competitive success, and others' approval. Such tendencies might also elevate people's focus on material possessions. However, cultural moderation of these associations has yet to be explored. A cross-cultural survey among Chinese and Dutch college students examined the link between externally-based contingent self-worth and materialistic values, as well as the mediating roles of need to belong and need for self-enhancement. An initial multi-group path analysis indicated a stronger link between externally contingent self-worth and materialism for Chinese students than for Dutch students. For both Chinese and Dutch students, externally contingent self-worth was positively related to materialistic values, need to belong, and need for self-enhancement. Need to belong and need for self-enhancement were positively linked with materialism, and need to belong and need for self-enhancement mediated the link between externally contingent self-worth and materialism. Though the indirect effect via self-enhancement was somewhat stronger among Chinese participants, this research demonstrates that people's externally contingent self-worth might be a factor predicting materialism across cultures, with need to belong and need for self-enhancement playing similar roles as underlying processes in different societies.

Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Flexible Expressiveness (CAFE) Scale.

Expressive flexibility, or the ease with which one can switch between enhancing and suppressing emotional behavior in line with situational demands, appears to be an adaptive skill for promoting psychological well-being for adults. However, this construct has rarely been explored among children and adolescents. To facilitate such investigations, the present study developed and validated a scenario-based, self-reported measurement tool that tests youth's expressive flexibility, namely the Child and Adolescent Flexible Expressiveness (CAFE) Scale. Results from Study 1 (N = 549) and Study 2 (N = 248) supported a two-factor structure (expressive enhancement and expressive suppression), identifying eligible items through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The measurement invariance of the scale was also evidenced via a series of multigroup tests across sex and age groups. Additionally, both subscales showed adequate internal consistencies, and the CAFE scores related to most theoretically similar measures (emotion expressivity and internal emotion regulation) and clinical outcome variables (e.g., depression, problem behavior), as expected. Study 3 (N = 199) further compared CAFE scores to children's observed emotion expressivity in a standardized laboratory task. Results indicated that CAFE enhancement and suppression scores significantly predicted respective performances in the task. Finally, Study 4 (N = 48) demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability of the CAFE Scale by retesting a subsample of participants from Study 1. Generally, the CAFE Scale appears to be a reliable and valid measurement in the area of emotion regulation, which allows convenient clinical assessment of children's and adolescents' expressive flexibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Expressive enhancement, suppression, and flexibility in childhood and adolescence: Longitudinal links with peer relations.

The ability to flexibly enhance or suppress emotional expressions in accordance with contextual demands is regarded as a marker of better adjustment among adults. Within a longitudinal framework, the present study explored levels of expressive flexibility in late childhood and early adolescence, as well as their potential bidirectional links with friendship quality and peer status. Participants (N = 368) were recruited from 2 primary schools and 2 junior high schools in China. They were tested across 2 waves with a 6-month interval. Expressive enhancement, suppression, and flexibility were measured by a laboratory task. Friendship quality and peer status were measured by self-reports and peer nomination, respectively. Results indicated that: (a) children's expressive enhancement, suppression, and flexibility significantly increased from Wave 1 to Wave 2, but there were no significant differences between primary and junior high school students; (b) females showed a trend toward higher suppression ability, compared with males, but there were no gender differences in expressive enhancement or flexibility; (c) greater friendship quality at Wave 1 predicted greater expressive enhancement, suppression, and flexibility at Wave 2, but none of these components predicted later friendship quality; (d) Wave 1 peer status positively predicted later suppression and expressive flexibility scores, while Wave 1 suppression significantly predicted higher Wave 2 peer status. The consistent associations from earlier social adjustment to later expressive flexibility components suggest that children's positive peer relations might be beneficial for their abilities to regulate emotional expressions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Considering the Self in the Link Between Self-Esteem and Materialistic Values: The Moderating Role of Self-Construal.

Studies consistently show that materialism might be a strategy people use to cope with low self-esteem. This link might differ among people holding different definitions of the "self" in terms of their relationships with others, however. This research examined the link between self-esteem and materialistic values from the perspective of how people define the self, or their self-construal. In three studies, we explored the moderating role of self-construal in the link between Chinese participants' self-esteem and materialistic values. Through a self-report survey (Study 1, N = 422), experimental manipulation of self-construal (Study 2, N = 151), and experimental manipulation of both self-esteem and self-construal (Study 3, N = 123), results indicated that self-esteem and self-construal interacted in predicting materialistic values. Specifically, self-esteem negatively predicted materialistic values when interdependent self-construal was low, but not when it was high. We suggest that individuals' pursuit of materialism under conditions of low self-esteem might depend on how they define the "self."

Living Slow and Being Moral : Life History Predicts the Dual Process of Other-Centered Reasoning and Judgments.

Drawing from the dual process model of morality and life history theory, the present research examined the role of cognitive and emotional processes as bridges between basic environmental challenges (i.e., unpredictability and competition) and other-centered moral orientation (i.e., prioritizing the welfare of others). In two survey studies, cognitive and emotional processes represented by future-oriented planning and emotional attachment, respectively (Study 1, N = 405), or by perspective taking and empathic concern, respectively (Study 2, N = 424), positively predicted other-centeredness in prosocial moral reasoning (Study 1) and moral judgment dilemmas based on rationality or intuition (Study 2). Cognitive processes were more closely related to rational aspects of other-centeredness, whereas the emotional processes were more closely related to the intuitive aspects of other-centeredness (Study 2). Finally, the cognitive and emotional processes also mediated negative effects of unpredictability (i.e., negative life events and childhood financial insecurity), as well as positive effects of individual-level, contest competition (i.e., educational and occupational competition) on other-centeredness. Overall, these findings support the view that cognitive and emotional processes do not necessarily contradict each other. Rather, they might work in concert to promote other-centeredness in various circumstances and might be attributed to humans' developmental flexibility in the face of environmental challenges.

The cost of empathy: Parent-adolescent conflict predicts emotion dysregulation for highly empathic youth.

Empathy plays a key role in maintaining close relationships and promoting prosocial conflict resolution. However, research has not addressed the potential emotional cost of adolescents' high empathy, particularly when relationships are characterized by more frequent conflict. The present 6-year longitudinal study (N = 467) investigated whether conflict with parents predicted emotion dysregulation more strongly for high-empathy adolescents than for lower-empathy adolescents. Emotion dysregulation was operationalized at both the experiential level, using mood diary data collected for 3 weeks each year, and at the dispositional level, using annual self-report measures. In line with predictions, we found that more frequent adolescent-parent conflict predicted greater day-to-day mood variability and dispositional difficulties in emotion regulation for high-empathy adolescents, but not for average- and low-empathy adolescents. Mood variability and difficulties in emotion regulation, in turn, also predicted increased conflict with parents. These links were not moderated by empathy. Moreover, our research allowed for a novel investigation of the interplay between experiential and dispositional emotion dysregulation. Day-to-day mood variability predicted increasing dispositional difficulties in emotion regulation over time, which suggests that experiential dysregulation becomes consolidated into dispositional difficulties in emotion regulation. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that, for high-empathy adolescents, conflict was a driver of this dysregulation consolidation process. Finally, emotion dysregulation played a role in overtime conflict maintenance for high-empathy adolescents. This suggests that, through emotion dysregulation, high empathy may paradoxically also contribute to maintaining negative adolescent-parent interactions. Our research indicates that high empathy comes at a cost when adolescent-parent relationships are characterized by greater negativity. (PsycINFO Database Record

The effects of affective and cognitive empathy on adolescents' behavior and outcomes in conflicts with mothers.

The current study investigated whether manipulations of affective and cognitive empathy have differential effects on observed behavior and self-reported outcomes in adolescent-mother conflict discussions. We further examined how these situational empathy inductions interact with preexisting empathic dispositions. To promote ecological validity, we conducted home visits to study conflict discussions about real disagreements in adolescent-mother relationships. We explored the roles of sex, age, and maternal support and power as covariates and moderators. Results indicated that the affective empathy manipulation had no significant effects on behavior, although a trend in the hypothesized direction suggested that affective empathy might promote active problem solving. The cognitive empathy manipulation led to lower conflict escalation and promoted other-oriented listening for adolescents low in dispositional cognitive empathy. State-trait interactions indicated that the empathy manipulations had significant effects on self-reported outcomes for adolescents lower in dispositional empathic concern. For these adolescents, both manipulations promoted outcome satisfaction, but only the cognitive manipulation promoted perceived fairness. This suggests that cognitive empathy, in particular, allows adolescents to distance themselves from the emotional heat of a conflict and listen to mothers' point of view, leading to outcomes perceived as both satisfying and fair. These findings are relevant for interventions and clinicians because they demonstrate unique effects of promoting affective versus cognitive empathy. Because even these minimal manipulations promoted significant effects on observed behavior and self-reported outcomes, particularly for low-empathy adolescents, stronger structural interventions are likely to have marked benefits.

Chinese adolescents' reports of covert parental monitoring: Comparisons with overt monitoring and links with information management.

This study compared Chinese adolescents' reports of covert parental monitoring with the overt strategies of solicitation and control. We investigated these behaviors in terms of unique associations with adolescents' perceived privacy invasion and the information management behaviors of disclosure and secrecy. High school students (N = 455, 61.5% female; Mage = 17.39, SD = 0.83) from a predominantly rural province of Mainland China reported a high incidence of covert monitoring (60.40%). Covert monitoring predicted privacy invasion more strongly than solicitation or control. Solicitation positively predicted disclosure, while covert monitoring negatively predicted disclosure and positively predicted secrecy. Privacy invasion fully mediated links between covert monitoring and information management. These latter effects were significantly stronger for girls than for boys. Similar to Western adolescents, Chinese youth might apply selective resistance when parents violate their personal domain. The findings suggest linkage between some parental monitoring behaviors and disruptions in Chinese family communication.

Attitudes toward Same-Sex Attraction and Behavior among Chinese University Students: Tendencies, Correlates, and Gender Differences.

The present study examined Chinese university students' attitudes toward same-sex attraction and behavior, the socio-demographic correlates of these attitudes, and the potential gender differences in both tendencies and correlates. A total of 2,644 Chinese university students (49.7% male, mean age = 20.27 years) indicated generally negative attitudes toward same-sex attraction and behavior, with males reporting more negative attitudes than females. More years in university (i.e., higher grade levels), higher levels of maternal education, growing up in an urban area, and more frequent Internet use significantly predicted more positive attitudes. Gender significantly moderated one correlate: For female participants, a higher university grade was related to more positive attitudes; this correlation was not significant for male participants. The findings suggest valuable directions for related intervention practices for young people in China.

Chinese Preservice Teachers' Professional Identity Links with Education Program Performance: The Roles of Task Value Belief and Learning Motivations.

Professional identity is a key issue spanning the entirety of teachers' career development. Despite the abundance of existing research examining professional identity, its link with occupation-related behavior at the primary career stage (i.e., GPA in preservice education) and the potential process that underlies this association is still not fully understood. This study explored the professional identity of Chinese preservice teachers, and its links with task value belief, intrinsic learning motivation, extrinsic learning motivation, and performance in the education program. Grade-point average (GPA) of courses (both subject and pedagogy courses) was examined as an indicator of performance, and questionnaires were used to measure the remaining variables. Data from 606 preservice teachers in the first 3 years of a teacher-training program indicated that: (1) variables in this research were all significantly correlated with each other, except the correlation between intrinsic learning motivation and program performance; (2) professional identity was positively linked to task value belief, intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations, and program performance in a structural equation model (SEM); (3) task value belief was positively linked to intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivation; (4) higher extrinsic (but not intrinsic) learning motivation was associated with increased program performance; and (5) task value belief and extrinsic learning motivation were significant mediators in the model.

Common and unique associations of adolescents' affective and cognitive empathy development with conflict behavior towards parents.

Adolescents' development of two empathy dimensions, affective empathic concern and cognitive perspective taking, may be associated with shifts towards more constructive behaviors in conflict with parents. This six-year longitudinal study (ages 13-18) used multivariate latent growth curve modeling to investigate correlations between the developmental trajectories of adolescents' (N = 497) empathic dispositions and trajectories of their conflict behaviors towards both parents. There were some similarities between the associations of both empathy dimensions with conflict behaviors. Both empathy dimensions were associated with reduced conflict escalation with mothers, and increased problem solving with both parents. However, these associations were consistently stronger for perspective taking than for empathic concern. Furthermore, higher levels of compliance with mothers in early adolescence were uniquely associated with over-time increasing empathic concern. Perspective taking was uniquely associated with decreased withdrawal from conflicts. Perspective taking thus appears to be more strongly associated with a pattern of constructive conflict behaviors.

"Snooping" as a Distinct Parental Monitoring Strategy: Comparisons With Overt Solicitation and Control.

Parents can use solicitation (asking questions) and control (disclosure rules) to obtain information about adolescents, but only if youths comply. Snooping might uncover additional information, but also strongly violates privacy expectations. Three studies of parents and adolescents examined distinctions between snooping, solicitation, and control. Differences existed in terms of factor structure and frequency (Studies 1-2), links to perceived invasion (Study 1), correlations with problematic communication, behavior, and relationships (Study 2), and parent-adolescent (dis)agreement about acceptability (Study 3). Snooping is a relatively infrequent monitoring behavior, compared to solicitation and control, but appears to be a stronger indicator of problems in adolescent and family functioning. We discuss implications regarding the necessity and appropriateness of particular parental monitoring behaviors.

Problematic internet use and social networking site use among Dutch adolescents.

Problematic Internet use (PIU), defined as Internet use that is risky, excessive, or impulsive in nature and leads to adverse life consequences, is an emerging health concern among adolescents worldwide. Social networking site (SNS) use is among the most popular and common Internet use activities for youth; however, risks of SNS use for PIU remain unexplored. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of adolescents at risk for PIU within a national school-based sample of Dutch adolescents and to explore associations between SNS use and PIU. Adolescents were recruited from six public schools in the Netherlands to complete a survey, which included SNS use questions and the Problematic and Risky Internet Use Screening Scale (PRIUSS). Logistic regression models were used to test associations between risk for PIU and demographic or SNS use variables. A total of 474 adolescents participated (98% response rate), and 11% (n=51) of adolescents were at risk for PIU. Risk for PIU was significantly associated with gender (p=0.015), increased age (p=0.034), and posting on SNS more than four times a day (p=0.003). Risk for PIU was not associated with number of SNS profiles, SNS preference or the number of online friends. Findings illustrate high risk groups for PIU includes males and older teens. Findings also illuminate that risk for PIU related to SNS was not associated with a specific SNS or number of SNSs used but was related to one's personal investment in SNSs by posting four or more times a day.