This study investigated the developmental characteristics of social mindfulness in 4- to 7-year-old children, its relationship with prosocial behavior, and the influence of decision-making contexts on its expression. Through two interconnected experiments, we compared children’s performance in a dyadic interaction context versus an individual choice baseline context to examine their social mindfulness and its relationship with prosocial behaviors such as helping and sharing. The results revealed that: (1) Children’s social mindfulness followed a non-linear developmental trajectory, with age 6 emerging as a key developmental period; 6- to 7-year-olds demonstrated significantly higher levels of social mindfulness than their 4- to 5-year-old counterparts; (2) Compared to the baseline context reflecting only individual preferences, children exhibited higher levels of social mindfulness in the dyadic interaction context, confirming the activating effect of social situations; (3) A one-year longitudinal study found a significant bidirectional predictive relationship between social mindfulness and prosocial behavior, with the predictive effect of social mindfulness on prosocial behavior being stronger than the reverse effect. These findings elucidate the age-related characteristics of social mindfulness development and its dynamic relationship with prosocial behavior, offering important insights into the mechanisms of early social-cognitive development.

The purpose of this study is to explore the development trajectory of school-age children’s nature connectedness and its dynamic correlation with creative tendency, exploring whether the initial level and growth rate of nature connectedness contribute to creative tendencies in a cumulative or interactive way. Using the Connection to Nature Index and the Williams Creativity Scale, this study conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey over two years among 281 third-grade students from three public elementary schools in Shandong Province (140 boys; M_age=11.10±0.02). The results revealed that: (1) Nature connectedness in school-aged children exhibited a linear decline over time, with stable inter-individual differences; (2) The interaction between initial level and the rate of decline in nature connectedness influenced children’s creative tendencies. Specifically, when the nature connectedness declines rapidly, the creative tendency level of children with lower initial level is significantly lower, and the negative impact of the initial level is further amplified. This discovery reveals the key role of natural connection in the formation of school-age children’s creative tendency from a dynamic perspective. The theoretical level provides longitudinal evidence for the theory of developmental contextualisms, and the practical level provides scientific basis for strengthening the curriculum design of nature education in the lower grades of primary schools and slowing down the negative impact of the decline of natural connection on creative tendency.

Against the backdrop of the comprehensive two-child policy, the present study aimed to explore the effects of paternal and maternal parenting on the social development of preschool children, as well as the potential role of sibling relationships. A follow-up survey was conducted among 352 families of preschool children. In this study, the Child-Rearing Practices Report, Child Behavior Checklist, Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales, and Sibling Relationship Scale were utilized to assess parenting practices, problem behaviors, social skills, and sibling relationships, respectively. The results were as follows: (1) Sibling warmth mediated the relationships between maternal and paternal positive parenting and both children’s social skills and problem behaviors; (2) Sibling conflict mediated the relationship between maternal and paternal negative parenting and children’s problem behaviors, but not their social skills; (3) Maternal positive parenting directly predicted children’s social skills, whereas paternal positive parenting showed no significant predictive effect. The present study further revealed the underlying mechanisms linking paternal and maternal positive parenting to social adjustment among preschool children. Specific practical implications and directions for future research were discussed.

This study examined the day-to-day dynamics between parental parenting anxiety and children’s prosocial behavior, as well as the role of mindful parenting, using a dailydairy method. Additionally, we explored whether mindful parenting, a higher-order parenting attitude, influenced both children’s daily prosocial behaviors and parents’ daily parenting anxiety. Parents of 71 children aged 7~13 (M = 9.99, SD = 1.49; 50.7% boys, 49.3% girls) completed a one-time measure of mindful parenting and subsequently reported their daily parenting anxiety and children’s prosocial behavior for 15 consecutive days. The findings revealed that: (1) There are significant daily variations in children’s prosocial behaviors, and higher than usual prosocial behavior on day t-1 predicted lower parenting anxiety on day t; (2) Mindful parenting, assessed as a between-person variable, was associated with higher within-person mean levels of prosocial behavior across the 15 days and lower within-person mean levels of parenting anxiety. Greater mindful parenting attitudes were also linked to less fluctuation in parenting anxiety. These findings highlight the predictive role of children’s prosocial behavior in reducing subsequent parenting anxiety and suggest that mindful parenting attitudes are associated with daily patterns of both constructs.

Forgiveness is a traditional virtue in Chinese culture, and understanding its developmental characteristics and underlying mechanisms during adolescence holds significant theoretical and practical implications. Drawing on the developmental model of forgiveness and trait activation theory, the present study employed a three-wave longitudinal design to track 385 seventh-grade students (199 boys, 186 girls) over two years. Latent growth modeling and latent class growth analysis were employed to examine overall developmental trends, identify distinct trajectory profiles, and explore the predictive role of the Big Five personality traits. The results revealed that: (1) Three heterogeneous trajectory classes of forgiveness development were identified, including High-Stable Forgiveness (28.31%), Low-Stable Forgiveness (13.77%), and Moderate-Declining Forgiveness (57.92%); (2) Neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness significantly predicted trajectory membership, whereas conscientiousness and extraversion did not. The findings contribute to the forgiveness development model and extend trait activation theory, and provide practical implications for designing individualized forgiveness education tailored to personality traits.

To uncover the psychological mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of “involution” and intense academic competition, the present research conducted two studies (comprising three sub-studies, N=571) to examine how undergraduates’ academic zero-sum beliefs (i.e., the extent to which one endorses the idea that one student’s academic success necessarily means another student’s failure) shape their interpretations of others’ academic efforts (aiming at surpassing others or improving themselves), as well as the emotional and behavioral consequences of such interpretations. Study 1 preliminarily found that the stronger the academic zero-sun beliefs held by individuals, the more they tended to interpret peers’ academic efforts as competitive attempts to surpass others rather than as efforts aimed at self-improvement. Study 2 employed experimental methods to examine the causal relationships between academic zero-sum beliefs and the interpretation of others’ efforts. Specifically, after being primed with high academic zero-beliefs, participants were more likely to view peers’ academic efforts as aiming at surpassing others rather than improving themselves. This interpretation, in turn, led to higher levels of academic anxiety (Study 2a) and over-effort behaviors (Study 2b). Overall, the present research identifies academic zero-sum beliefs and interpretations of others’ efforts as key cognitive factors driving intense academic competition, and highlights that competitive interpretations serve as a crucial psychological mechanism linking zero-sum beliefs with adverse outcomes such as academic anxiety and over-effort. These findings shed light on psychological processes underlying intense academic competition, providing insights for improving the educational environment and promoting students’ mental health.

College students, as the main force in future societal construction, represent a unique social group whose levels of achievement motivation can significantly impact the development of society. Previous research has primarily focused on the micro-level relationships between achievement motivation and other psychological variables, with limited attention to its changing trends and macro-level influencing factors. This study conducts a cross-temporal meta-analysis of research using the Achievement Motivation Scale from 2000 to 2022 to examine the trend in achievement motivation level among college students and its relationship with social support. The results indicate that: (1) The achievement motivation level of Chinese college students has shown a decreasing trend over the years, with the level of avoidance of failure increasing; (2) The decline in social support during societal development significantly and positively predicts the rising trend of failure-avoidance motivation.

In interactions with the learning environment, prior academic performance is considered a crucial factor in shaping a growth mindset in adolescents. Existing research largely focuses on the role of subjective evaluations based on learners’ academic performance by others (such as praise), neglecting the potential impact of objective academic performance itself on growth mindset. Study 1 used a questionnaire to track the academic performance and growth mindset of 3571 adolescents in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. Cross-lag analysis revealed that prior academic performance had a stable positive predictive effect on subsequent growth mindset, and this effect was stronger than the predictive effect of growth mindset on academic performance. Study 2 used an experimental method with 95 sixth-grade students as participants, inducing high/low academic performance through virtual tasks and examining its impact on adolescents’ growth mindset. Repeated measures ANOVA results showed that adolescents with high academic performance had relatively higher levels of growth mindset compared to those with low academic performance. These results reveal the significant impact of academic performance on growth mindset, providing evidence for understanding the shaping role of academic performance in adolescents’ growth mindset.

This three-year longitudinal study tracked 154 Chinese first-grade children to examine the developmental trajectories of multi-dimensional reading fluency during the initial year of formal schooling and their unique predictive effects on third-grade reading comprehension. Results of latent growth modeling revealed: (1) Character reading fluency (focusing on decoding speed) exhibited a non-linear pattern characterized by rapid initial growth followed by deceleration, whereas passage reading fluency (focusing on connected text) demonstrated an accelerating progression over time. In contrast, one-minute character reading fluency (emphasizing both decoding speed and accuracy) progressed linearly; (2) After controlling for reading-related cognitive skills, character recognition ability, and oral vocabulary, only the initial level and growth rate of one-minute character reading fluency uniquely predicted third-grade reading comprehension. These findings underscore the critical role of decoding accuracy in early Chinese reading development, indicating that faster reading rates do not necessarily portend superior future outcomes. This carries pedagogical implications for first-grade literacy instruction.

A tracking investigation was conducted on 1040 junior high school students. The response surface analysis of polynomial regression was used to explore the impact of the consistency between parents’ educational anxiety and educational involvement on junior high school students’ learning engagement, as well as the role of learning motivation. The results showed that: (1) Regarding congruence, when both parents were highly congruent (high anxiety-high involvement), junior high school students’ learning engagement was significantly higher. However, when examined separately, for the father group, the relationship presented an inverted U-shaped curve, with excessive levels leading to diminishing returns, while the mother group maintained a linear positive relationship; (2) Regarding incongruence, when both parents were at the “low anxiety-high involvement” level, junior high school students’ learning engagement was higher; (3) The learning motivation of junior high school students played a partial mediating role between mothers’ educational anxiety and educational involvement on one side and learning engagement on the other; no such mediating effect was found for fathers. The research results provide a new perspective for family education intervention and have important implications for promoting junior high school students’ learning engagement.

Parenting practices serve as the foundation for children’s positive development and play a critical role in their mental health. This study employed a three-level meta-analysis and relative weight analysis to investigate the relationships between parenting practices and children’s mental health and relative importance of parenting practices. A total of 170 studies comprising 823 effect sizes, 174 samples, and 142830 participants were included. Results revealed that warmth, structure and autonomy support were positively correlated with children’s positive mental health (r_warmth = 0.40; r_structure=0.15; r_{autonomy support}=0.30), and negatively correlated with negative mental health (r_warmth=-0.29; r_structure=-0.20; r_{autonomy support}=-0.20). Rejection, psychological control and harsh punishment were negatively correlated with children’s positive mental health (r_rejection=-0.25; r_{psychological control}=-0.09; r_{harsh punishment}=-0.17), and positively correlated with negative mental health (r_rejection =0.30; r_{psychological control} =0.24; r_{harsh punishment} =0.25). Among positive parenting practices, the ranking of variance explained in children’s mental health was: warmth>autonomy support>structure. Among negative parenting practices, the ranking of variance explained in children’s mental health was: rejection>psychological control>harsh punishment. These findings underscored the pivotal roles of warmth (as a protective factor) and rejection (as a risk factor) in shaping children’s mental health outcomes. The study systematically investigated the relationship between parenting practices and children’s mental health, as well as the relative importance of different parenting practices, thereby providing a scientific basis for family-based interventions.

To investigate the reciprocal relations between corporal punishment from both fathers and mothers and adolescent aggression at the between-person and within-person levels, the present study conducted a three-wave longitudinal assessment of 738 middle school students and their parents in Jinan. Results from the cross-lagged panel model revealed significant child-driven effects: adolescents’ aggression at T1 and T2 significantly and positively predicted paternal and maternal corporal punishment one year later. In addition, there were significant reciprocal associations between paternal and maternal corporal punishment. Results from the random intercept cross-lagged panel model indicated that, at the between-person level, paternal corporal punishment, maternal corporal punishment, and adolescent aggression were all significantly and positively associated with each other. At the within-person level, increases in adolescent aggression significantly predicted subsequent increases in paternal, but not maternal, corporal punishment. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents with higher levels of aggression are at dual risk of being punished by both parents, with paternal punishment playing a particularly important and unique role as adolescent aggression increases.

To investigate the developmental trajectory of left-behind children’s non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), as well as the impact of different peer victimization patterns on them and gender differences, this study conducted a 1-year, 3-time points follow-up study on 539 left-behind children. The results showed that: (1) Left-behind children’s NSSI showed a linear downward trend from late childhood to early adolescence; (2) Peer victimization patterns had a significant effect on the initial level and developmental trajectory of left-behind children’s NSSI. The initial level of NSSI was highest in the High Physical-Verbal Victimization group and lowest in the Low School-Cyber Victimization group. The developmental trajectory of NSSI in the High School-Cyber Victimization group showed an upward trend, and the developmental trajectory in the Low School-Cyber Victimization group showed a downward trend; (3) In terms of gender differences, the initial level of NSSI among girls in the High Physical-verbal Victimization group is higher than that of boys, and their rate of decline is slower than that of boys, In the High School-Cyber Victimization group, the initial level of NSSI among boys is higher than that of girls. The research findings are supportive in revealing the influence of peer victimization patterns on the development of NSSI among left-behind children.

To examine the impact of cumulative family risk on externalizing problems of children from low-income families, the cumulative family risk index based on Cumulative Risk Theory, Parental Psychological Distress Scale, Children’s Hope Scale, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were longitudinally administered to 815 children from low-income families (M_age=11.31±2.45) twice within a year. Two mediation-moderation models have been constructed to explore both the immediate and delayed effects of cumulative family risk on children’s externalizing problems, and to further investigate the mediating role of parental psychological distress and the moderating role of children’s hope. The results showed that cumulative family risk could significantly predict children’s externalizing problems in both immediate and delayed effect models. Parental psychological distress mediated the effects in both models. Children’s hope served as a moderator only in the immediate effect model, influencing the pathway through which parental psychological distress affects children’s externalizing problems. Conclusion: The impact of cumulative family risk on children’s externalizing problems from low-income families was primarily mediated by parental psychological distress whereas children’s hope acted as a protective factor specifically in the immediate effect model.