Table of Content

15 March 2023, Volume 39 Issue 2

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Age Differences in Perceptual Metacognition and Higher-order Metacognition among Children, Youth and Older Adults

DONG Xiaoxiao, LIU Yan, HU Yaxin

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  153-160.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.01

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Metacognition is a dynamic regulatory activity centered on monitoring and control. The current study examined the characteristics of metacognitive monitoring and control and their relationship with age at two levels: perceptual metacognition and higher-order metacognition, using a point-choice task and a word pair learning task in 9-year-old children, young adults and older adults. The results were as follows: (1) Children’s perceptual and higher-order metacognitive abilities were mostly lower than those of young adults; (2) Older adults had similar perceptual metacognitive abilities to younger adults, but lower higher-order metacognitive abilities than younger adults; (3) Older adults were as capable as younger adults of using control cues in memory monitoring, whereas 9-year-olds had not yet shown this ability. The present study supports the theoretical hypothesis that perceptual metacognition and higher-order metacognition are domain-specific from a developmental perspective. Furthermore, the development of the relationship between monitoring and control is discussed.

A Longitudinal Study of Mastery Motivation and Competence in Early Childhood: The Moderating Effects of Types of Task and Temperament

LIU Shuang, LI Mei, FENG Xiaohang, ZHANG Xiangkui

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  161-172.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.02

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The study investigated the longitudinal relation between mastery motivation and competence, and the moderating effects of types of task and temperament. Children who had been examined of mastery motivation using structured tasks at 3.5 years old were assessed of competence (skills for school readiness) using the School Readiness Test Battery-Comprehensive Version at 5.5 years old. Meanwhile, their temperament was rated using the Questionnaire of Temperament for Children Aged 3~9 by teachers. Hierarchical regressions were employed to analyze the moderating effects of types of task and temperament in motivation-competence relations. The results showed that: (1) The moderating effects of Activity-Attention were significant in the Effect-producing Task. For children of Activity Type, time of exploration predicted cognition and general knowledge negatively, and the sense of mastery predicted fine motor and approaches to learning negatively, whereas these relations were not significant for children of Attention Type; (2) The moderation effect of Reactivity-Inhibition was significant for children succeeding in Difficult Task. For children of Inhibition Type, the sense of mastery predicted fine motor positively, whereas the relation was not significant for children of Reactivity Type; (3) The moderation effect of Activity-Attention was significant for children failing in Difficult Task. For children of Attention Type, the persistence predicted approaches to learning positively, whereas the relation was not significant for children of Activity Type.

The Moral Obligation of Helping Each Other within Social Groups at Children Aged 7~9

HE Xiaoyan, HUA Rui, DUAN Jipeng, LUO Runfeng, YIN Jun

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  173-183.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.03

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The social groups play a vital role in organizing our social experiences. It has been suggestedthe foundational role of social groups is to mark people as intrinsically obligated to one another (i.e., moral obligation). About this moral obligation, previous studies mainly focused on the interactive behavior with negative effects (i.e., harming), while the social interaction could be also positive (i.e., helping). Hence, the current study was aimed to explore whether children aged 7~9 years old would view people as morally obligated to help persons belonging to their own group. To examine the belief of moral obligation toward group members, we examined judgments about whether the wrongness of violations of obligations depends on the presence of explicit rules. Using this method, when children maintain that an action (e.g., do not help someone or harm someone) is unacceptable, even if there are no explicit rules in the agent’s environment prohibiting the action (e.g., no rules against unhelping), it suggests that they view the action as an intrinsically moral obligation. As to the current settings, comparing with between-group unhelping condition, if children still believe that the harming or unhelping behavior within within-group members is more unacceptable when explicit rules do not exist, it would indicate that children hold the corresponding moral obligation for ingroup members. The results found that: (1) The difference of rated scores of acceptability between whether the explicit rule information was present or not in the between-group unhelping condition was significantly higher than that in the within-group unhelping condition; (2) Teenagers aged 13~15 years old also showed the same evaluation differences about unhelping behaviors between within-group and between-group conditions, as 7~9 years old children reported. The above results indicate that the explicit rule has a greater impact on the acceptability about mutually unhelping behaviors when two interactive persons are from the same social group than when two interactive persons are from the different social groups. Hence, children aged 7~9 years old view social groups as marking patterns of intrinsic moral obligations that the ingroup members should help each other, and this belief maintains across ages (at least 13~15-years old).

The Relationship between Maternal Mindfulness and Child Problem Behaviors: The Chain Mediating Effect of Mindful Parenting and Parent-child Relationship

WANG Yingjie, ZHANG Yi, ZHANG Meixia, LI Yan

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  184-191.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.04

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To explore the relationship between mother’s mindfulness and preschool children’s problems behaviors, and the role of mindful parenting and parent-child relationship in it, we surveyed 480 4~6 years old children and their mothers, mothers complete the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Mindful Parenting Scale, Parent-child Relationship Scale, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the results show that:(1) maternal mindfulness can significantly and negatively predict children’s problem behaviors; (2)mindful parenting plays an independent mediating role between maternal mindfulness and child problem behaviors; (3)parent-child conflict plays an independent mediating role between mother’s mindfulness and child’s problem behavior; (4)mindful parenting, parent-child conflict and parent-child closeness play chain mediating roles between maternal mindfulness and children’s problem behaviors.The results of this study reveal the mechanism of maternal mindfulness on children’s problem behaviors.

Parent-child Attachment Avoidance and Smartphone Dependency for Junior School Students in Rural Areas: The Mediating Role of Social Anxiety and the Moderating Role of Family Financial Difficulty

CHU Xiaoyuan, CHU Ziqiang, WANG Qi, JI Shutian, LEI Li

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  192-199.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.05

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The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between parent-child attachment avoidance and smartphone dependency for junior school students in rural areas as well as to identify the roles that social anxiety and family financial difficulty played in this relationship. Based on the attachment theory, evolutionary model of trait social anxiety, the theory of compensatory Internet use, and the social cognitive theory of social class, the present study constructed a theoretical model. A sample of 285 junior school students (male=179) from rural area completed a battery of questionnaires measuring their smartphone addiction, parent-child attachment avoidance, social anxiety and family financial difficulty. The average age of participants was 15.80 (SD = 0.71, with 14 the youngest and 18 the oldest). The results indicated that: (1) Parent-child attachment avoidance was positively correlated with smartphone dependency for the students; (2) Social anxiety played a mediating role; (3) The second stage of the indirect effect of social anxiety was moderated by family financial difficulty, and the effect was stronger for the students in higher family financial difficulty. Results from this study provide practical implications to reduce smartphone dependency for junior school students.

The Relationship between Sleep Quality and Family Communication and Its Mechanism among the Older Adults

LIN Yao, ZHANG Baoshan, XU Ran, ZHANG Heyating

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  200-209.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.06

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In this study, 1188 older adults who are over 55 years old were recruited for the questionnaire survey. The participants were asked to anonymously complete the questionnaires, and the researchers assured the participants that the study was conducted purely for research purposes and their participation was voluntary. The collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and PROCESS. The effect of sleep quality on family communication in older adults was investigated by using a moderated mediation model. Meanwhile, the mediating role of sense of coherence and the moderating role of whether to live with children were also examined. The results indicated that: (1) sleep quality of the older adults significantly predicted family communication; (2) the older adults’ sense of coherence played a partial mediating role between sleep quality on family communication among older adults; (3) living arrangement of older adults moderated the second path of the mediated effect of sense of coherence. To be more specific, the moderated effect was stronger for the older adults who live with their children than those who do not live with their children. Thus, both mediating and moderating effects existed in the association between sleep quality of older adults and family communication. The results of the current study could enrich the research on the effect of sleep quality on psychological factors in older adults and help to reveal the mechanism of the effect of sleep quality on family communication in older adults. In practice, the results of this study provide intervention insights for the family communication problems of older adults.

The Developmental Trajectories of Reading Abilities in Chinese Lower Graders and the Predictability of Early Reading-related Cognitive Skills

ZHANG Yuping, DONG Qiong, SONG Shuang, SHU Hua

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  210-218.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.07

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The present study followed a group of 264 typical developing children to explore their developmental trajectories on both reading accuracy and reading fluency from grade 1 to grade 3 and the predicting effects of kindergarten reading-related cognitive skills (phonological awareness, rapid naming, and morphological awareness). Results from Hierarchical Linear Modeling showed: (1) reading accuracy showed a linear growth trend and individual differences among children significantly increases from grade 1 to grade 3. Phonological awareness and naming speed at age 4 significantly predicted initial performance of reading accuracy, and only morphological awareness positively predicted its developmental speed; (2) Reading fluency also showed a linear growth trend, with individual differences significantly increases from grade 1 to grade 3. Phonological awareness and rapid naming at age 4 both significantly predicted initial performance of reading fluency, but only rapid naming significantly predict its developmental speed.

The Effects of Second Language Learning on Cognitive Control and Lexical Access in School-age Children: The Influence of Age and Second Language Proficiency

LI Jun, WANG Yue, CHEN Xiani, LI Ying

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  219-227.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.08

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It is a research focus in the bilingual field currently that what the effects of learning a second language among children will be on cognitive ability and mother tongue development. This study explored the behavioral responses to cognitive control and lexical access among primary school children of different school ages and English proficiency. The experimental results showed that the second graders with high English proficiency showed smaller switching cost and Simon effect size than the same graders with low English proficiency. However, there was no significant difference in cognitive control tasks among the fourth graders and the sixth graders with different English proficiency. Then, children with high English proficiency produce fewer words than children with low proficiency. And the fourth graders and the sixth graders with high English proficiency showed longer picture naming reaction time than those with low English proficiency. Overall, these results indicate that second language learning has a promoting effect on the cognitive control of school-age children. But this effect tends to decrease gradually as children get older. In addition, second language learning also can affect children’s lexical access performance in their mother tongue. But this effect increases gradually as children get older.

Life Events and Academic Procrastination among Middle School Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

YUE Pengfei, ZHANG Jiaxin, BAI Xuejun

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  228-235.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.09

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between proximal stress (life events) and academic procrastination, and to examine the mediating role of state anxiety and the moderating role of distal stress (childhood maltreatment). A total of 750 junior high school students were tested with Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist, State-trait Anxiety Inventory, Aitken Procrastination Inventory (middle school version) and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. The results show that: (1) After controlling for grades, life events positively predicted academic procrastination; (2) State anxiety played a mediating role in the relationship between life events and academic procrastination; (3) The first half of the mediating effect of “life events→state anxiety→academic procrastination” was moderated by childhood maltreatment. To be specific, life events had a greater positive predictive effect on state anxiety in individuals with lower levels of childhood maltreatment than in individuals with higher levels of childhood maltreatment.

Interparental Conflict, Adolescents' Daily Self-efficacy and Daily Learning Engagement: The Mediating Roles of Daily Negative Emotion and Daily Rumination in the Moderating Effects of Interparental Conflict Influence

LI Cirong, YANG Yanyu, LI Chunxuan

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  236-246.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.10

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This study tends to explore how the interparental conflict moderate the relationship between self-efficacy and learning engagement at the intra-individual level and whether negative emotion and rumination mediate the moderating relationship by a mediated moderation model. In this study, the sample included 175 middle school students who have filled in all questionnaires across five measurement occasions over 5 days (T1~T5) including the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Global Rumination Scale, Self-efficacy scale and Engagement in Learning Scale. Finally, this study collected 875 valid intensive sampling data. The result showed that the negative emotion mediated the moderating effect of interparental conflict on the relationship between self-efficacy and learning engagement. Similarly, the rumination mediated the moderating effect of interparental conflict on the relationship between self-efficacy and learning engagement. The findings of our study are important to understanding how interparental conflict influences the growth and development of adolescents, and the implications for school and family are discussed.

Relationship between Parents’ Resilience and Emotional/Behavioral Problems in Children with ASD: A Moderated Mediation Model

LU Minghui, WANG Rong, ZHANG Limin

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  247-254.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.11

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A questionnaire survey was conducted on 306 parents of children with ASD in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, to investigate the effects of parents’ resilience on emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) of children with ASD, the mediating role of parenting sense of competence, and the moderating role of self-esteem in the direct and indirect relationship between resilience and EBPs of children with ASD. The results showed that: (1) Resilience negatively directly predict EBPs of children with ASD; (2) Resilience influenced EBPs of children with ASD through the partial mediating effect of parenting sense of competence; (3) The relationship between resilience and parenting sense of competence is moderated by self-esteem, that is, the predictive effect of resilience on parenting sense of competence is greater in the subjects with higher self-esteem level.

Effects of Violence Exposure on School Bullying among Early-age Adolescents of Different Genders: Based on Latent Profile Analysis

LI Xiaoqing, LIU Yinzhang, WANG Yue, JIANG Suo

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  255-265.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.12

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The current study aimed to explore the latent constructs of school bullying among early adolescence in different gender group. It also investigated the association between violence exposure and the latent constructs of school bullying among male and female students respectively. By cluster sampling, the Bully/Victim Scale, the Multiple Forms of Violence Scale, and demographic questionnaire were administered to 2462 adolescents in Zhejiang province. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to construct typologies of bullying involvement in different gender group. The results showed that: (1) Four latent classes were identified for boys, including the low involvement class (61.90%), the moderate involvement class (16.49%), the high involvement class (5.05%) and the victimization class (16.56%). For girls, three latent classes were identified such as the low involvement class (74.16%), the moderate involvement class (14.29%) and the victimization class (11.55%); (2) The association between violence exposure and school bullying varied based on the nature of the violence exposure (witnessing and victimization) and the contexts of exposure to violence (community, family and school). Specially, being a victim was a risk factor of bully involvement both for boys and girls. And violence exposure at school and family contributed more to boy’s bullying involvement, whereas violence exposure in the community was more related to girl’s bullying behavior. These results suggested gender differences in school bullying patterns, and the link between violence exposure and school bullying varied by the contexts and forms. The implication of prevention and intervention of school bullying were discussed.

The Relationship between Callous-unemotional Traits and School Bullying of Junior High School Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

ZHANG Lin, CHEN Yanling, HONG Xinwei, ZHAO Mingyu, FAN Hang, LIU Shen

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  266-275.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.13

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In order to examine the relationship between callous-unemotional traits of junior high school students and bullying behaviors, the current study explored whether moral disengagement and guilt played the mediating roles, and whether this mediation process was moderated by the class climate. Taking 522 junior high school students as participants by cluster sampling method, the current study was conducted using the Callous-unemotional Traits Scale, the Moral Disengagement Scale, the Middle School Students’ Guilt Feeling Scale, the Perceived Classroom Climate Scale, and the Bullying Questionnaire. Results indicated that: (1) The callous-unemotional Traits significantly positively predicted bullying. Moral disengagement and guilt both played a part of the mediating role in the process; (2) A good class climate could reduce the positive predictive effect of the callous-unemotional trait on bullying behaviors, and increase the level of guilt to reduce bullying behaviors, and could also inhibit the inducing effect of moral disengagement on bullying behaviors. These results confirmed that callous-unemotional traits were important risk factors for bullying behavior in junior high school students, and suggested that school educators could reduce the incidence of bullying behaviors by creating a good class climate and changing the moral cognition of students with high callous-unemotional trait.

The Effect of Childhood Maltreatment on College Students’ Depressive Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Subjective Well-being and the Moderation Role of Gene

ZENG Zihao, PENG Liyi, ZHAN Lin, LIU Shuangjin, OUYANG Xiaoyou, DING Daoqun, LI Zhihua, HU Yiqiu, FANG Xiaoyi

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  276-285.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.14

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The current study constructed a moderated mediation model exploring the relationship among childhood maltreatment on college students’ depressive symptoms. A total of 301 college students (74 boys and 227 girls) participated in this investigation. After given informed consents, they completed Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, The Chinese Version of Childhood Trauma and Questionnaire and Subjective Well-being Scale. Professional nurses extracted 2.5-ml venous blood in EDTA anticoagulant tube (blood∶EDTA = 5∶1) from the participants in the study, then placed it in the refrigerator (-70 ℃), and extracted DNA and parting after three months. The results indicated that: (1) Childhood maltreatment was significantly positively correlated with college students’ depressive symptoms, and subjective well-being was significantly negatively correlated with childhood maltreatment and college students’ depressive symptoms; (2) Subjective well-being played a mediating role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college students’ depressive symptoms; (3) MAOA gene rs6323 homozygous G/G than G/T and T/T carriers reduced suffering from depression. MAOA gene rs6323 and TPH2 gene rs17110747 polymorphism moderated the indirect path from subjective well-being and college students’ depressive symptoms. Compared with rs6323 polymorphism G/G and T/T (rs17110747 polymorphism G/G and G/T) genotypes, subjective well-being of individuals with G/T (A/A) genotype had a stronger negative prediction of depressive symptoms.

Relationship between Gratitude and Internet Addiction among College Students: The Mediating Role of Core Self-evaluation and Meaning in Life

CAO Ruilin, MEI Songli, LIANG Leilei, LI Chuanen, ZHANG Ying

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  286-294.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.15

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To investigate the mediating effects of core self-evaluation and meaning in life in the relationship between gratitude and Internet addiction, we recruited 1072 college students between first-year college students and third-year postgraduate students from three universities in Jilin Province to complete the Gratitude Questionnaire-6, Core Self-evaluation Scale, Meaning in Life Test and Young Diagnostic Questionnaire. The results revealed that: (1) Gratitude, core self-evaluation and meaning in life were significantly and positively correlated with each other respectively. Gratitude, core self-evaluation and meaning in life were significantly and negatively correlated with Internet addiction respectively; (2) Gratitude not only had a direct effect on Internet addiction, but also had an indirectly effect on Internet addiction through two ways: through meaning in life and through the chain mediating effect of core self-evaluation and meaning in life. In summary, the present study revealed the mechanisms underling the relation between gratitude and Internet addiction, which had certain practical significance for preventing and intervening Internet addiction among college students.

The Relationship between Need for Uniqueness and College Students’ Mobile Phone Addiction: The Chain Mediating Role of Anxiety and Effortful Control

WEI Hua, DING Huimin, HUANG Feng, HE Anming

Psychological Development and Education. 2023, 39(2):  295-304.  doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.02.16

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Based on the optimal distinctiveness theory and the interaction of the Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model for internet addiction (I-PACE), this study examined the relationship between need for uniqueness and mobile phone addiction of college students and explored its mechanism (the chain mediating effect of anxiety and effortful control). In this study, 826 college students (Female=526, M_age=19.93, SD =1.38) were tested by the Need for Uniqueness Scale, Anxiety Scale, Effortful Control Scale and Mobile Phone Addiction Scale. The results showed that:(1) Need for uniqueness was positively correlated with anxiety and mobile phone addiction, negatively correlated with effortful control; anxiety was negatively correlated with effortful control, positively correlated with anxiety and mobile phone addiction; effortful control was negatively correlated with mobile phone addiction; (2) Anxiety and effortful control had significant mediating effects between need for uniqueness and mobile phone addiction. The chain mediating effect of anxiety and effortful control was also significant. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that the need for uniqueness can not only be directly associated with college students’ mobile phone addiction but also through anxiety, effortful control, and their chain mediating effect, respectively. The results of this study support and expand the I-PACE model and provide a new direction for the prevention and intervention of mobile phone addiction.