Search

The life history model of psychopathology provides an alternate framework for understanding the development and etiology of psychopathology; however, presently there is minimal empirical support for this perspective. The current study (N = 343) replicated and extended previous research, investigating the associations between life history traits, including demographic indicators, attachment, and psychopathology, in a mental health and general population sample. The study specifically aimed to explore whether life history traits were associated with a general factor of psychopathology or whether they could also predict specific symptom groups, with results suggesting that life history traits could predict both. Furthermore, results revealed that people who expressed faster life history traits reported elevated general psychopathology; however, symptoms were in fact associated with traits of both slow and fast life history strategies. Specifically, interpersonal sensitivity and depression were experienced at higher rates for people who express higher levels of traits reflective of a faster life history strategy; whereas, somatization and anxiety were experienced at higher rates for people who express more traits typical of a slower strategy. Interestingly, paranoid ideation was experienced at higher rates for males who express faster life history traits. This research has several theoretical and practical implications, in replicating and extending previous studies, providing insight into psychopathological symptomatology, including variation in individuals' risks for developing a range of mental disorders., Author(s): Bianca L. Kahl [sup.1] , Phillip S. Kavanagh [sup.1] [sup.2] , David H. Gleaves [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1026.5, 0000 0000 8994 5086, University of South Australia, Justice and [...]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionEvaluate evidence for the effects of exercise on psychological health in adults diagnosed with cancer. Investigate the effects of different exercise frequencies, intensities, durations, and types on specific psychological health outcomes measuring depression, anxiety, mood, or quality of life.Six electronic databases searched from inception to May 2024. Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) evaluating effects of exercise on psychological health in adults diagnosed with cancer were included. A random-effects meta-analysis was completed to evaluate effect. Separate meta-analyses were conducted, with subgroups, to evalutate effect of exercise frequency, intensity, duration, and type.Eighty-one studies were included, yielding 205 individual effect sizes across various psychological health outcomes. Exercise interventions demonstrated small to moderate positive effects on psychological health outcomes (combined effect size: d = 0.32, 95%CI 0.22; 0.42). Subgroup analysis revealed positive effects across specific outcomes (depression, anxiety, mood, quality of life). Notably, effect sizes varied between specific outcome measures and exercise variable subgroups.To achieve optimal positive outcomes for psychological health, exercise dosages should consider psychological symptom profile alongside patient characteristics and physical capacity. This meta-analysis provides robust evidence to support the effectiveness of various exercises dosages targeting specific psychological health conditions and symptoms among individuals diagnosed with cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caregivers play an integral role in supporting children's development, not only through their individual parenting practices but also how they work together as coparents. The literature on coparenting is extensive; however, most of the research has relied on global measures to assess the quality and functioning of the coparenting relationship. Examining the coparenting relationship with domain‐specific measures enables a deeper understanding of this complex family process. One domain of particular interest is emotion socialization given the vast and long‐term consequences emotion socialization has on children's emotional, social, behavioral, and psychological functioning. Emotion socialization literature would benefit from a domain‐specific coparenting measure, as researchers have rarely explored how coparents work together when responding to their children's emotions (i.e., coparenting children's emotions). As such, an emotion‐focused coparenting measure could address gaps in both coparenting and emotion socialization literature. This study outlines the development and psychometric evaluation of a domain‐specific measure of coparenting, the Coparenting Children's Emotion Scale (CCES), which assesses how parents work together when responding to their children's emotions. In the current study, the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the CCES were examined in an Australian sample. Findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the CCES comprises two subscales that capture coparents' levels of support/cooperation and undermining. In the current sample, both CCES subscales demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency, and good convergent and concurrent validity. The CCES will provide researchers and practitioners with a domain‐specific measure to use in exploratory and intervention research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common conceptions of romantic love suggest that romantic love is associated with increased sexual activity with more frequent sex in the earlier stages of a romantic relationship. To our knowledge, no studies have investigated individual-level factors and sexual frequency using a validated measure of romantic love. This study tested a number of hypotheses about the factors associated with sexual frequency among 720 sexually active young adults experiencing romantic love from the Romantic Love Survey 2022. We hypothesized that relationship duration, the intensity of romantic love and obsessive thinking about a loved one, commitment, and hypomanic-like features would be associated with sexual frequency. Using hierarchical linear regression, controlling for known covariates, we found no significant associations between any of our variables of interest and the sexual frequency and our entire model of 14 well-reasoned predictors explained only 4.06% of the variation in sexual frequency. The findings are surprising and highlight how little is currently known about sexual activity and sexual desire among individuals experiencing romantic love. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise in working university students is a global phenomenon with more than half of the student population working while studying at university. Within this trend of dual participation, working students face unique stressors such as work-study conflict and facilitation. Work-study conflict drives students' poor health, whereas work-study facilitation drives positive academic outcomes. In this article, we review and critique several work-study interface models proposed to explain the development and consequences of these stressors. The review uncovers important omissions and limitations of the models, reducing their utility and generalizability. Therefore, we propose a new work-to-study model, which addresses the omissions of the previous models. The work-to-study model builds on the current literature and models and integrates psychosocial safety climate theory, as it relates to the extended job demands-resources model to advance our understanding of the development and consequences of work-study conflict and facilitation.

Objective: There is emerging research demonstrating relationships between specific Early Maladaptive Schemas and self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in young people. Evidence also highlights the importance of conceptualising SIB in terms of its motivating function, differentiating between intrapersonal and interpersonal functions of the behaviour. Despite this, there is a relative absence of evidence linking schemas and functions of SIB. The current study sought to explore the relationship between schemas and motivations for self-injury in a community sample of young people with a history of self-injury. Method: 125 Australian secondary and university students aged between 16 and 25 years who reported SIB history completed the Young Schema Questionnaire and the Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury. Results: Multiple regression analyses found that the schemas of Abandonment/Instability and Entitlement significantly predicted intrapersonal functions of self-injury. In contrast, Insufficient Self-Control significantly predicted interpersonal functions. Defectiveness/Shame and Entitlement predicted self-injury with suicidal intent. Conclusions: We discuss the findings regarding distinct patterns in the associations between schemas and the functions of self-injurious behaviour among youth with self-injury history. The present study also highlights how schemas may help to understand the motivations behind self-injury and assist clinicians in the assessment of risk for self-injury and suicide among youth, as well as to formulate plans for treatment and early intervention. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: Young people are motivated to self-injure for a variety of reasons, including to manage internal distress (intrapersonal) and influence their external environment (interpersonal). Alongside these motivating functions, vulnerability factors, such as childhood maltreatment and intense negative emotions, predispose a young person to self-injury when confronted with stress. Early maladaptive schemas are also increasingly being identified as vulnerability factors for self-injury, particularly Defectiveness/Shame and Abandonment/Instability. What this topic adds: Young people's motivations to self-injure are influenced by their early maladaptive schemas. Young people who self-injure for intrapersonal motivations report schemas of Abandonment/Instability, those who self-injure for interpersonal motivations report an Insufficient self-control schema, and those who self-injure with some suicidal intent report schemas of Defectiveness/Shame. This highlights that the importance of understanding both the function and the schema when working with young people who self-injure. Youth whose self-injurious behaviour is interpersonally motivated may require interpersonal skill-building. For youth who self-injure for intrapersonal or suicidal motivations, a treatment such as schema therapy may be warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies (Ns = 80 and 108) tested hypotheses derived from Kirkpatrick and Ellis's (2001) extension and application of sociometer theory to mating aspirations. Experiences of social rejection-acceptance by attractive opposite-sex confederates were experimentally manipulated, and the impact of these manipulations on self-esteem, mating aspirations, and friendship aspirations was assessed. Results indicated that social rejection-acceptance by members of the opposite sex altered mating aspirations; that the causal link between social rejection--acceptance and mating aspirations was mediated by changes in state self-esteem; and that the impact of social rejection--acceptance by members of opposite sex was specific to mating aspirations and did not generalize to levels of aspiration in approaching potential same--sex friendships. This research supports a conceptualization of a domain-specific mating sociometer, which functions to calibrate mating aspirations in response to experiences of romantic rejection and acceptance. Keywords: sociometer theory, evolutionary psychology, self-esteem, social rejection, mate choice Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/l0.1037/a0018188.supp DOI: 10.1037/a0018188

Group-based parenting programs can effectively improve parenting and child wellbeing; however, these programs are predominantly attended by mothers. Actively involving both parents has the potential to maximize program outcomes, as it allows the coparenting relationship to be targeted alongside parenting practices. Researchers suggest that one way of achieving this is to integrate coparenting content into existing, evidence-based parenting programs. Tuning in to Kids is an emotion-focused parenting program that provides an effective foundation for adaptation, given the benefits of the program and the nature of the content (i.e., parents learn the skill of emotion coaching that may also benefit the coparenting relationship). This paper outlines the process of adapting Tuning in to Kids through the integration of coparenting content and increased focus on the family system. The process was guided by the Medical Research Council framework for complex intervention development (i.e., identifying the evidence, developing a theoretical model, modeling the intervention process) and resulted in the development of Tuning in to Kids Together (TIK-Together). The program adaptation was designed to target Australian coparents and was informed by Australian evidence. TIK-Together aims to improve the coparenting relationship, in addition to supporting parenting practices and child emotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]