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Social avoidance refers to active non-participation in social activities, which is detrimental to healthy interpersonal interaction for emerging adults. Social rejection is a kind of negative social evaluation from others making people feel social pain. However, how socially avoidant emerging adults process social feedback information after experiencing social rejection has received less attention. The current study aimed to explore the differences in social interaction feedback processing after social rejection between a socially avoidant group (n = 16) and a comparison group (n = 16) in a human-to-human interaction context. Computer game tasks with two types of interaction (cooperation and competition) were used to record the event-related potentials when receiving social interaction feedback in two conditions (social rejection and control condition). The results showed that (1) the socially avoidant group had lower reward positivity amplitudes than the comparison group when receiving social feedback; (2) the socially avoidant group presented larger P300 amplitudes in the social rejection condition than in the control condition, but the comparison group did not; and (3) social rejection evoked more negative N1 amplitudes in the socially avoidant and comparison groups. The findings suggest that socially avoidant emerging adults may have flaws in reward sensitivity during interpersonal interaction, and they might also exert more attentional and emotional resources to social feedback after social rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building evaluation and guidance for naturally ventilated buildings rely on adaptive comfort models and standards. This study aims to establish an analytical and predictive thermal sensation and adaptation method. The proposed approach is based on the Griffiths method, which reveals a sinusoidal pattern in the neutral temperature and Griffiths coefficient throughout the year. Calculating the daily neutral temperature and evaluating thermal sensitivity through the Griffiths method highlight the delayed response of neutral temperature to outdoor temperature. With the input of operative and outdoor temperature, the Griffiths method predicts adaptive thermal sensation better than the PMV model. The regular fluctuations of neutral temperatures and Griffiths coefficients provide new research ideas and references for designing naturally ventilated buildings. Further research works are still required to check the method's applicability in the presence of various climate characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural differences in desirable emotions powerfully impact brain activation and responses to specific stimuli. However, how people from different cultures process emotions in social contexts similarly and differently have not been adequately studied. Therefore, the present study examined cross-cultural differences in emotional processing of positive emotions in social contexts by using event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavior measurements. A total of 29 Chinese and 23 white Caucasians participants were recruited. A 2 (culture) X 2 (stimuli type) ANOVA was employed for both the neuro and behavioral data. The results showed P2 amplitudes were larger for Chinese than for Caucasians in the positive emotion in the social context condition. There were no significant differences in P2 amplitudes when processing positive emotion and neutral stimuli. For Chinese, the amplitudes of LPP 600–1000 of Chinese positive emotion in the social context stimuli were larger than positive emotion stimuli. For Caucasians, there was no significant difference among different stimuli. The higher P2 and LPP 600–1000 amplitudes suggested the salience and significance of positive emotions in social contexts for Chinese. Findings indicated that neural activation occurring during the processing of different positive emotions is moderated by participants' own cultural background. Further implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The interaction between parent and adolescent is more challenging than in other age periods. Family cohesion seriously impacts parent-adolescent emotional interactions. However, the underlying neural mechanism has not been fully examined. This study examined the differences in the neural synchrony in response to emotional film clips between high and low family cohesion adolescent-parent dyads by using the electroencephalograph (EEG) hyperscanning. Results: Simultaneously electroencephalograph (EEG) was recorded while 15 low family cohesion parent-adolescent dyads (LFCs)and 14 high family cohesion parent-adolescent dyads (HFCs)received different emotional induction when viewing film clips. Interbrain phase-locking-value (PLV) in gamma band was used to calculate parent-adolescent dyads' interbrain synchrony. Results showed that higher gamma interbrain synchrony was observed in the HFCs than the LFCs in the positive conditions. However, there was no significant difference between the HFCs and LFCs in other conditions. Also, the HFCs had significantly higher gamma interbrain synchrony in the positive conditions than in the negative conditions. Conclusion: Interbrain synchrony may represent an underlying neural mechanism of the parent-adolescent emotional bonding, which is the core of family cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study identified career-development profiles in a sample of 4815 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 16.19 years, SD = 0.67) and examined their associations with academic self-efficacy and academic motivation. The latent profile model was built on four facets of career development (career feeling, career belief, career exploration, and career planning). The results identified three profiles: high career exploration and planning (N = 225, 6.00%), low career development (N = 907, 22.13%), and average career development (N = 3224, 71.91%). Those showing high career exploration and planning showed significantly higher levels of academic self-efficacy and academic motivation than those showing the other two profiles. The results indicated non-monotonous patterns and asynchronous associations and developmental trajectories among the facets of career development among adolescents. Important implications for career education can be drawn based on the findings from the relations among career-development profiles, academic self-efficacy, and academic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little neurological evidence linking sensation seeking and emotion regulation in adolescence, which is characterised as an emotionally fluctuant period. The present study examined the relationship between sensation seeking and emotion regulation in adolescents. Electroencephalograms were recorded from 22 high sensation‐seeking adolescents (HSSs, Mage = 12.36) and 24 low sensation‐seeking adolescents (LSSs, Mage = 12.84) during the reactivity and regulation‐image task. Group differences in event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) associated with the regulation of negative and neutral stimuli were analysed. The results showed that (a) the P2 of HSSs were larger than LSSs during emotion regulation; (b) in down‐regulation conditions, the LPP in all time windows were smaller than no‐regulation in LSSs. However, there was no significant difference in HSSs; (c) the LPP 300–600 and LPP 1000–1500 of down‐regulation were smaller in LSSs than HSSs; (d) for LPP 600–1000, HSSs induced larger LPP than LSSs in the negative down‐regulation and negative no‐regulation conditions. The results provide neurological evidence that higher sensation seeking is related to the high reactivity to emotional stimuli and poor cognitive control during the regulation of emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Mindfulness improves psychological and mental health by reducing negative emotional experiences and facilitating attentional processes and cognitive control during emotion regulation. However, little neurological evidence links mindfulness and emotion regulation in adolescence, which is often described as an emotionally turbulent period. Methods: Forty-three adolescents (Mage = 12.02, SD = 0.63) were recruited to examine the relationship between trait mindfulness of negative emotion regulation and event-related potentials (ERPs) in the brain. Results: (1) The amplitudes of P2, N2, late positive potential (LPP) 600–1000 ms, and LPP 1000–1500 ms recorded during the negative no regulation condition negatively correlated with observing. (2) The amplitude of LPP 600–1000 ms recorded during the negative downregulation condition also negatively correlated with observing. (3) The amplitudes of N2 and LPP 600–1000 ms recorded during the negative no regulation condition positively correlated with nonjudging. Conclusions: The results provide neurological evidence that trait mindfulness influences the regulation of negative emotions and affects how negative emotions are processed. Different facets of trait mindfulness have different impacts on adolescents during emotion regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to empirically examine different conceptual mechanisms previously postulated to underlie the development of social avoidance in childhood. Participants were N = 601 children (321 boys, 280 girls) attending elementary schools (Mage = 10.21 years) and middle schools (Mage = 12.77 years) in Shanghai, P.R. China. Measures of motivations for social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability, social avoidance) and socio-emotional adjustment were collected using self-reports and peer nominations at two time-points separated by 9 months. Results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that: (1) social avoidance and symptoms of social anxiety were not reciprocally related over time; (2) Time 1 social avoidance predicted incremental change in Time 2 peer problems (whereas Time 1 peer problems did not predict incremental change in Time 2 social avoidance); and (3) Time 1 symptoms of depression significantly predicted incremental change in Time 2 social avoidance (whereas Time 1 social avoidance did not predict incremental change in Time 2 symptoms of depression). These results provide evidence in support of depressive symptoms (but not symptoms of social anxiety or peer problems) as a salient predictor of social avoidance. Results are discussed in terms of the development and implications of social avoidance in Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a multi‐ethnic country that is comprised of diverse cultural systems, there has been little research on the subcultural differences in emotional preferences in China. Also, little attention has been paid to examine how explicit and implicit attitudes towards emotions influence emotional preferences interactively. In this study, we manipulated explicit attitudes towards emotions among Han (N = 62) and Mongolian Chinese individuals (N = 70). We assessed participants' implicit attitudes towards emotions to explore their contributions to emotional preferences. (a) Han Chinese had lower preferences for pleasant emotions than Mongolian Chinese after inducing contra‐hedonic attitudes towards emotions, and (b) after priming contra‐hedonic attitudes towards emotions, the more Han Chinese participants evaluated pleasant emotions as negative implicitly, the less they preferred to engage in pleasant emotional activities. These findings contribute to the growing literature of subcultural differences and demonstrate that explicit and implicit attitudes towards emotions interactively influence individuals' emotional preferences between different subculture groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have suggested that academic stress has negative impact on adolescents’ psychological function, few of those studies, however, considered whether and how the impact of stress on adolescents’ emotional states is moderated by corresponding regulation. This study aimed to examine the fluctuation of emotional states before and after the mid-term examination and the influence of different emotional regulatory strategies. In the present study, 72 adolescents aged 12–18 reported their emotional states and corresponding regulation before and after mid-term examination up to six times over a period of two weeks. Results showed that: (a) On the sampling day, the participants reported increasingly emotional states as time went by. Improvement of adolescents’ daily emotional states was more significant after the mid-term examination. Participants reported decreasingly positive emotional states and increasingly negative ones as time went by before mid-term examination. (b) Adolescents who used down-regulation at a certain sampling moment reported more pleasant emotional states at the subsequent sampling moment than those who used up-regulation. Adolescents who used more up-regulation in a negative emotional event reported more negative emotional states at the subsequent sampling moment after the mid-term examination. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is growing interest in understanding how beliefs about emotion regulation are related to individual emotional experiences. Extant studies have mainly focused on explicit beliefs about emotion regulation among individuals in Western societies. The current study examined implicit emotion regulation and explored their contributions to emotional outcomes in 147 Chinese adolescents. Participants were tested on their implicit beliefs about emotion regulation and their negative emotion experiences. Results showed that the down-regulation was implicitly evaluated as more positive than up-regulation. Moreover, positive implicit beliefs about down-regulation increased with age. Among younger adolescents, those who evaluated down-regulation more positively had less negative emotional experiences. These results suggest that down-regulation may have important implications in Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing interest in emotion regulation is reflected in the studies of cognitive and social development. However, the extant studies mainly highlight how emotion regulation develops based on a western value system. This study utilised a longitudinal design to examine the development of emotion regulation and explored the contributions of different regulatory strategies to emotion experience regarding the early adolescent development period in a Chinese population. A total of 303 Chinese adolescents (age range = 10-14 years) were followed up in a three-phase longitudinal study for 3 years. In each phase of the study, participants completed Adolescents Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Daily Emotion Scale. Results of hierarchical linear regressions revealed that Chinese adolescents reported more down-regulation. Down-regulation is more effective than up-regulation in enhancing desirable emotion experience and reducing undesirable emotion experience during adolescents' development. Also, the adaptive functions of emotional regulatory strategies in Chinese background were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late positive potential (LPP) has been well documented in predicting the effect of emotion regulation in previous developmental literature. However, few studies have examined age-related changes in emotion regulation from adolescence to adulthood using this biomarker. To test this, Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task was used to test 18 young adolescents and 22 adults to examine the modulation of LPP during emotion regulation. Results revealed that (a) on the behavioral level, adults reported higher intensity of emotional experience than adolescents when they were asked to use up-regulation. Down-regulation showed no age effect for self-reported rating; (b) adolescents showed higher amplitudes of LPP than adults when using different regulatory strategies in all windows; (c) In late time window, regulation effect was larger when using up-regulation strategy than down-regulation strategy for adolescents, while the difference between the two strategies was negligible for adults. (d) In early time window, reactivity effect was larger in negative conditions than in positive conditions for adolescents, while the difference between the two conditions was again negligible for adults. Differences in the amplitudes and time courses of LPP during emotion regulation between adolescents and adults suggested that age-related changes in emotion regulation may occur during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]