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Research has shown that Chinese students outperform students from several Western countries on mathematics performance while some evidence has suggested that Western students perform more strongly on tests of creativity. One potential mechanism for these differences may be a higher need for cognitive closure among Chinese students. The current research compared performance on tests of mathematics and creativity among 50 students of Chinese background and 49 Australian students of Anglo-Saxon background. As predicted, Chinese students performed better on mathematics while Australian students performed better on the measure of creativity. Australian students also had a lower score on one subscale of the need for cognitive closure, preference for predictability. Across the sample, preference for predictability showed small but significant negative correlations with several measures of creativity and positive correlations with several measures of mathematics. These findings were interpreted with respect to characteristic educational practices in both nations.

The current study examined the associations between perceived actual-ideal discrepancies in facial and bodily attributes and adolescent girls' appearance satisfaction and whether these relationships were moderated by the importance associated with the attributes and/or the country of the participants. A multilingual survey was completed by 900 girls aged 12–18 years old living in Australia, China, India, and Iran. Girls in India and Iran were most satisfied with their appearance followed by girls in China and Australia. Iranian girls had the highest perceived actual-ideal discrepancies in facial and bodily attributes. Chinese and Indian girls perceived their facial attributes to be more important to their overall sense of appearance than their bodily attributes, whereas Australian and Iranian girls valued them equally. Higher perceived actual-ideal facial discrepancies were related to lower appearance satisfaction only for Iranian girls and higher perceived bodily discrepancies were linked to lower appearance satisfaction only for Australian girls. The importance associated with physical attributes and/or the country of participants did not moderate the relationship between perceived discrepancies and appearance satisfaction for facial or bodily attributes. Findings underscore the critical role of cultural nuances in understanding body image among adolescent girls and determinants of appearance satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the tripartite influence model of body image and disordered eating among 12-18-year-old girls (N = 900) living in Australia (n = 184), China (n = 293), India (n = 223), and Iran (n = 200). Participants completed measures about appearance pressures from family, peers, and media, thin-ideal internalization, appearance comparisons, appearance satisfaction, and disordered eating. Results indicated that media- pressures were most salient in Australia, whereas Iranians perceived family pressures to be the strongest. Indians felt the most pressure to look attractive from their family and peers, whereas Chinese felt similar levels of pressure from family, peers, and media. Path analyses suggested direct associations from one or more sociocultural factors to appearance satisfaction or disordered eating, with indirect paths via thin-ideal internalization and appearance comparisons emerging in all countries. Certain sociocultural factors contributed more strongly to the internalization of ideals and appearance comparisons within some countries. Multigroup path analyses demonstrated some cross-cultural variations in the strength of the pathways. Findings extend cross-cultural support for a modified tripartite influence model emphasizing culture-based specificities that can further guide preventative efforts to improve body image and eating attitudes among young girls in these four countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS) is a 40-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure children's negative thoughts. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese translation of the CATS. Participants included 1,993 students (average age = 14.73) from three schools in Mainland China. A subsample of the participants was retested after 4 weeks. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the original structure with four first-order factors loading on a single higher-order factor. The convergent and divergent validity of the CATS were good. The CATS demonstrated high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Boys scored higher on the CATS-hostility subscale, but there were no other gender differences. Older adolescents (15-18 years) reported higher scores than younger adolescents (12-14 years) on the total score and on the physical threat, social threat, and hostility subscales. The CATS proved to be a reliable and valid measure of automatic thoughts in Chinese adolescents.