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Social aggression referred to the intentionally antisocial behavior directed to damage others' social reputations or interpersonal relationships through socially manipulative tactics. Sufficient evidence demonstrated the potential role of personality traits such as Machiavellianism in increasing social aggression. However, little was known about the brain structure basis of social aggression and how Machiavellianism and the underlying neuroanatomical mechanisms linked to social aggression. In this investigation, we examined these issues in a sample of 176 undergraduate students via voxel-based morphometry (VBM). The whole-brain regression analyses indicated that the regional gray matter volume (rGMV) in the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) was linked to both Machiavellianism and social aggression. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that the rGMV of the overlapping SFG mediated the relationship between Machiavellianism and social aggression, as well as Machiavellianism mediated the relation between the rGMV of the overlapping region in the SFG and social aggression. These results indicated that Machiavellianism and social aggression shared the common brain correlates in left SFG and provided two possible mediation models regarding the relationship among Machiavellianism, the feature of brain structure and social aggression. Taken together, our study provided the first anatomical evidence that the SFG as the key region related to social aggression, and discovered the possibly underlying brain-personality mechanism behind the development of social aggression., Author(s): Xinyu Gong [sup.1] [sup.2] , Fangying Quan [sup.3] [sup.4] , Liang Wang [sup.1] , Wenfeng Zhu [sup.5] , Danhua Lin [sup.2] , Ling-Xiang Xia [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/01kj4z117, [...]

Before herd immunity is reached, preventive practices still play an important role in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Adherence to preventive behaviors could be determined by individuals' health beliefs, which would be influenced by antecedent factors such as previous exposure to pandemic stressors. Applying the health belief model (HBM), this study aims to examine the mediation association among COVID-19 stressors, HBM constructs, and preventive behaviors. Longitudinal data were collected from 1225 Chinese college students using web-based surveys at wave 1 (w1; between January 31 and February 11, 2020) and wave 2 (w2; between March 20 and April 3, 2020). Participants reported their COVID-19 stressors (w1), five HBM constructs (w2), and preventive behaviors (w1 and w2). Paired t-tests suggested that social distancing and self-quarantine behaviors decreased while precautionary behaviors increased from w1 to w2. Path analysis indicated that two HBM constructs (perceived barriers and self-efficacy) mediated the association between COVID-19 stressors and precautionary behaviors. These findings suggested that tailored prevention intervention for college students should attend to perceived barriers and self-efficacy. Individuals who exposed to multiple pandemic stressors merit particular attention and intervention should account for their early pandemic stress experiences., Author(s): Cheuk Chi Tam [sup.1] , Xiaoyan Li [sup.2] [sup.3] , Xiaoming Li [sup.1] , Yuyan Wang [sup.2] [sup.3] , Danhua Lin [sup.2] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.254567.7, 0000 0000 [...]

Previous studies indicate that parental psychological control and behavioral control play crucial roles in the positive development of adolescents. However, little is known about the underlying mechanism of the associations between parental psychological control and behavioral control and positive youth development (PYD). The present study sought to examine the role of basic psychological needs satisfaction as a mediator of the association between parental psychological control and behavioral control and PYD. Two-wave longitudinal data were collected from a sample of 783 young Chinese adolescents (427 boys, M.sub.age = 10.87, SD.sub.age = .94) who enrolled in three primary schools in Beijing, China. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that basic psychological needs satisfaction mediated the associations between parental psychological control and behavioral control and PYD six months later. Moreover, results of multiple-group invariance analysis indicated no gender differences in the indirect effects of parental psychological control and behavioral control on PYD six months later through basic psychological needs satisfaction. Implications for future research and practices for parents and school practitioners are discussed., Author(s): Juan Cao [sup.1] , Xiaoyan Li [sup.1] , Zhi Ye [sup.2] , Mingjun Xie [sup.1] [sup.3] , Danhua Lin [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.20513.35, 0000 0004 1789 9964, Institute [...]

Drastically disrupting daily routines, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has posed critical mental health threats to adolescents and young adults worldwide. Many of the extant empirical findings, however, have focused on individuals' psychological adjustment during the initial phase of the pandemic. It is less clear how COVID-19 stressful experiences impact young people's daily lives in the post-pandemic "new normal." Drawing on 7-day diary reports, the present study fills this gap by examining: (1) how daily perceived stress impacted daily emotional adjustment; and (2) the moderating effects of COVID-19 stressful experiences on these associations among 582 Chinese young adults (Mage = 18.12, SD =.65; 69% females). Results indicated that higher levels of both trait (i.e., average levels) and state (i.e., daily fluctuations) perceived stress were associated with greater negative and anxious moods, and that prior pandemic-related experiences exacerbated the adverse impact of both trait and state perceived stress on daily moods. Specifically, young adults reporting greater COVID-19 stressful experiences demonstrated poorer emotional adjustment (i.e., lower levels of positive mood and higher levels of negative mood) on days when they had more fluctuations in perceived stress; the aggravating impact was stronger when the average levels of perceived stress were higher. By illuminating the moderating effects of COVID-19 stressful experiences, this study contributes to the limited, but burgeoning, research examining the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on daily emotional adjustment in post-pandemic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience-based interventions can improve positive psychosocial resources for vulnerable children. However, it is unclear about the neural mechanism of how psychosocial resources are enhanced by resilience-based intervention in AIDS orphans. To fill this gap, we designed a six-week resilience-based intervention for twenty AIDS orphans raised in institutions (age:15.75 ± 1.97). The efficacy of the intervention was evaluated by employing a pre- and post-intervention study design, with multilevel estimations at the baseline and completion phase, and a follow-up behavioral estimation 8 months afterward. We found that AIDS orphans' optimism about the future (p =.01) and perceived teachers' support (p =.02) increased significantly after resilience-based intervention, these gains were still maintained after 8-months. Moreover, the changes in optimism about future could be predicted by both intervention-caused alterations and baselines of the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations in putamen; the changes in perceived teachers' support could be predicted by both intervention-caused alterations and baselines of the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations in postcentral gyrus. These findings indicated the potential intervention-specific neural changes in AIDS orphans along with the improvement of psychosocial resource. Our study contributed to optimizing the person-centered treatment and advancing the precision mental health of vulnerable children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal growth initiative has been regarded as a protective factor for depression, but until now, the mediating mechanism is not precise. The present study investigated the role of need for cognition (NFC) and need for affect (NFA) (i.e., approach and avoidance) in the relationship between personal growth initiative and depression. We investigated 1652 senior school students (aged 14 to 18) to construct structural equation models. We uncovered two key findings. First of all, the NFA approach and the need for cognition mediated the effect of personal growth initiative on depression independently. More importantly, personal growth initiative influenced depression through the chain mediating effect of "NFA approach-NFC" and "NFC-NFA approach". These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the links between these factors and suggest that high personal growth initiative may reduce depression from the need perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]