Examining the relationship between trait self-control and stress: Evidence on generalizability and outcome variability

Longitudinal Relations Between Adolescent Self-Esteem and Mental Health Concerns: The Mediation of Self-Control and Moderation of Parental Autonomy Support

INTRODUCTION

Adolescents' self-esteem is often associated with their mental health, and believed to be a protective factor against depression, anxiety, and stress. However, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship warrant further exploration. Employing a longitudinal design, this study investigates the relations between self-esteem and mental health in adolescents, considering the mediating influence of self-control and the moderating effect of parental autonomy support.

METHODS

A total of 1260 adolescents from China (45.9% male, 54.1% female, Mage = 15.98, SDage = 0.97) participated in this study, completing self-reported questionnaires assessing self-esteem, self-control, parental autonomy support, and mental health issues (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) across three time points over a 6-month period (with a 3-month interval between assessments).

RESULTS

Controlling for baseline levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, adolescents' self-esteem reported at wave 1 positively correlated with depression (β = -0.17, p < 0.001), anxiety (β = -0.17, p < 0.001), and stress (β = -0.17, p < 0.001) in wave 3. Furthermore, self-control reported at wave 2 mediated these relations. Besides, perceived parental autonomy support was associated with a stronger link between self-esteem and self-control.

CONCLUSION

The present study indicates the protective roles of self-esteem and self-control in relation to adolescents' mental health problems, while emphasizing the potential of a supportive family environment to strengthen these associations. The findings hold implications for the development of prevention and intervention strategies targeting adolescents' mental well-being.

Transitioning from perceived stress to mental health: The mediating role of self-control in a longitudinal investigation with MRI scans

Background

The neural mechanisms and long-term effects of perceived stress (PS) and self-control (SC) on mental health (MH) are not fully understood. This study seeks to investigate the influence of PS and SC on MH and to identify their neural correlates using fMRI.

Methods

A total of 817 college students participated in behavioral assessments, including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Self-Control Scale (SCS), and Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF). Among them, 371 underwent fMRI scans to calculate zfALFF and whole-brain functional connectivity. Additionally, their behavioral measures were reassessed two years later.

Results

Longitudinal behavioral data revealed significant fixed effects of perceived stress and self-control on mental health. Perceived stress significantly predicted decreased mental health at Time 2, and self-control acted as a mediator in such relationship. The results of the behavioral and brain model analyses found that zfALFF in the right temporal region negatively predicted self-control. Functional connectivity between the right temporal region and the right precentral gyrus was also found to negatively predict self-control.

Conclusion

This study highlights the mediating role of self-control in the relationship between perceived stress and mental health. It also identifies specific brain regions and functional connectivity associated with self-control, providing new neurobiological evidence for mental health interventions.

Self-control as mediator and social support as moderator in stress-relapse dynamics of substance dependency

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) present a significant challenge to global public health, with prolonged drug use not only impairing individual health but also hindering social development. Despite various interventions aimed at addressing drug abuse and dependence, a high relapse rate remains a prominent issue. In light of this, this study aims to explore the impact of perceived stress on the relapse of individuals with SUDs, as well as the mediating role of self-control and the moderating role of social support, in hopes of providing new perspectives for interventions to reduce the risk of relapse among individuals with SUDs. By utilizing a convenience sampling method, 420 male individuals with SUDs were recruited from detoxification centers in Guangxi, China. They completed questionnaires on perceived stress, self-control, social support, and tendencies towards relapse. A total of 401 valid datasets were obtained and analyzed using the SPSS Process plugin to conduct a moderated mediation model analysis. Results: (1) Perceived stress had a positive impact on the relapse of individuals with SUDs, (2) Self-control played a partial mediating role between perceived stress and the relapse, (3) The direct effect of perceived stress on the relapse and its first half of the indirect effect were moderated by social support. The research emphasize the critical importance of learning stress management strategies, enhancing self-control, and receiving comprehensive social support in the prevention and treatment of substance dependence. By strengthening self-control and social support as both internal and external resources, the likelihood of relapse among individuals with SUDs can be reduced, contributing to more effective and comprehensive drug rehabilitation strategies.

Negative emodiversity is associated with emotional eating in adolescents: An examination of emotion dynamics in daily life

INTRODUCTION

Emotional eating is a mental health concern, common in adolescents, that develops as a result of their tendency to use high-energy food to regulate their fluctuating emotions. Due to their highly fluctuating emotional life, adolescents tend to have unique within-person profiles of emotional experiences that change across moments and days, often lost in global assessments of emotions. Hence, it is imperative to examine individual differences in dynamics of emotions, as experienced in daily life, in relation to emotional eating in adolescents.

METHODS

In an Ecological Momentary Assessment study, we examined individual differences in three within-person dynamic characteristics (baseline levels, intraindividual variability, and emodiversity) of emotions in 158 dominantly Hispanic adolescents in the United States, aged 14-17 years old, predicting trait-level emotional eating.

RESULTS

Results indicated that higher negative emodiversity, baselines, and variability in stress were predictive of emotional eating in adolescents. When all considered together, negative emodiversity (i.e., variety of the types of negative emotions experienced in one's daily life) remained the only significant predictor of emotional eating.

CONCLUSIONS

This study affirms the importance of diversity in emotional experiences in relation to emotional eating, particularly in daily contexts of adolescents' lives. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between diversity (i.e., variety in types) in positive versus negative emotional experiences with regard to emotional eating. By taking into account the ecological validity of adolescents' daily lives and individual differences in dynamical changes in emotions, we are taking a step forward by shedding light on how the dynamics of negative emotions-in terms of within-person baselines, variability, and diversity-might be related to general levels of emotional eating in adolescents.

The role of fear of negative evaluation on the effects of self-control on affective states and life satisfaction: a moderated mediation analysis

Previous studies have found a robust positive relationship between trait self-control and life satisfaction mediated by both positive and negative affect, but the simultaneous inclusion of the effect of apprehension of being evaluated by others is less commonly investigated. The present study aimed to examine (1) whether the relationship between self-control and life satisfaction was mediated by positive affect and negative affect in parallel, and (2) whether fear of negative evaluation would moderate the strengths of the mediational pathways. With a sample of two hundred fifty university students in Hong Kong, mediational analysis (ME) revealed that both positive affect and negative affect were the mediators between self-control and life satisfaction. Subsequent moderated mediation analysis (moME) supported the moderating role of fear of negative evaluation on the mediational pathway through positive affect, but not on the pathway through negative affect. In particular, higher scores on fear of negative evaluation would attenuate the strength of association between self-control and positive affect. Therefore, to optimize university students' well-being and mental health functioning, treatment modalities should target both behavioral (i.e., self-control) and socio-emotional (i.e., apprehension of being evaluated critically from others) aspects.

Does dispositional self-control moderate the association between stress at work and physical activity after work? A real-life study with police officers

Background

Psychosocial stress is a major health threat in modern society. Short-term effects of stress on health behaviors have been identified as relevant processes. This article examines the moderating effect of dispositional self-control on the association between stress at work and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) after work.

Methods

In a sample of 153 police officers (103 men, 50 women, mean age = 39.3 ± 10.4 years), daily occupational stress and hours worked were assessed via ecological momentary assessment (smartphone-based single item) in real-life. Dispositional self-control was assessed via an online questionnaire, whereas physical activity was assessed via accelerometry. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was performed to test main and interaction effects.

Results

Bivariate correlations showed that perceived stress at work was positively correlated with hours worked (r = 0.24, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.09, 0.39]), whereas a negative association was found with dispositional self-control (r = −0.27, p < 0.001, 95% CI [−0.41, −0.12]). After-work MVPA was neither associated with stress at work nor with dispositional self-control. The regression analysis yielded no significant interaction between stress at work and dispositional self-control on after-work MVPA.

Conclusion

Using a state-of-the-art ecological momentary assessment approach to assess feelings of stress in real-life, stress at work did not seem to impact after-work MVPA in police officers. More research is needed to establish whether this finding is specific to police officers or whether it can be generalized to other populations.

Sleep Satisfaction May Modify the Association between Metabolic Syndrome and BMI, Respectively, and Occupational Stress in Japanese Office Workers

The association between obesity and psychological stress is ambiguous. The aim is to investigate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and body mass index (BMI), respectively, with occupational stress among Japanese office workers. The study is a secondary analysis of the intervention group from a randomized controlled trial. There are 167 participants included in the analysis. Occupational stress is self-reported using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ). BMI and the classification of MetS/pre-MetS was based on the participants’ annual health check-up data. The primary exposure is divided into three groups: no MetS, pre-MetS, and MetS in accordance with Japanese guidelines. The secondary exposure, BMI, remains as a continuous variable. Multiple linear regression is implemented. Sensitivity analyses are stratified by sleep satisfaction. Pre-MetS is significantly associated with occupational stress (7.84 points; 95% CI: 0.17, 15.51). Among participants with low sleep satisfaction, pre-MetS (14.09 points; 95% CI: 1.71, 26.48), MetS (14.72 points; 95% CI: 0.93, 28.51), and BMI (2.54 points; 95% CI: 0.05, 4.99) are all significantly associated with occupational stress. No significant associations are observed in participants with high sleep satisfaction. The findings of this study indicate that sleep satisfaction may modify the association between MetS and BMI, respectively, and occupational stress.

Trait self-control mediates the association between resting-state neural correlates and emotional well-being in late adolescence

Trait self-control (TSC), defined as the capacity to alter predominant response to promote desirable long-term goals, has been found to facilitate emotional well-being (EWB). However, the neural correlates underlying this association remain unclear. The present study estimated resting-state brain activity and connectivity with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) among late adolescents. Whole-brain correlation analysis showed that higher TSC was associated with increased ALFFs in regions within the executive control network (inferior frontal gyrus, IFG) and the salience network (anterior insula, AI) and decreased ALFF in regions (e.g. medial frontal gyrus, MFG; posterior cingulate, PC) within the default-mode network (DMN). TSC was also linked with the integration (e.g. increased IFG-PC connectivity) and segregation (e.g. decreased AI-MFG connectivity) among brain networks. Mediation analysis indicated that TSC totally mediated the links from the IFG and the precuneus, FC of the AI and regions of the DMN (e.g. bilateral PC and MFG), to EWB. Additionally, ALFF in the IFG and the MFG could predict negative affect in the pandemic through TSC. These findings suggest that TSC is involved in several regions and functional organizations within and between brain networks and mediated the association between neural correlates and emotional wellness in adolescence.

Flexibility in using self-regulatory strategies to manage self-control conflicts: The role of metacognitive knowledge, strategy repertoire, and feedback monitoring

For regulating emotion, it has been shown that people benefit from being flexible in their use of emotion regulation strategies. In the current study, we built on research focused on regulatory flexibility with respect to emotions to investigate flexibility in the use of self-regulatory strategies to resolve daily self-control conflicts. We investigated three components of flexibility: (1) metacognitive knowledge, (2) strategy repertoire, and (3) feedback monitoring. In a 10-day experience sampling study, 226 participants reported whether they had, within the past hour, experienced a self-control conflict of initiating an aversive activity, persisting in it, or inhibiting an unwanted impulse in response to a temptation. Results support the hypothesis that higher levels of all three components of flexibility are associated with higher levels of success in managing daily self-control conflicts, except for strategy repertoire and feedback monitoring in conflicts of persistence. Results also support the hypothesis that higher levels of trait self-control are associated with higher levels of metacognitive knowledge and feedback monitoring for conflicts of initiation, but not for conflicts of persistence and inhibition. We found no evidence of an association between trait self-control and strategy repertoire. These findings demonstrate the importance of flexible strategy use during daily self-control conflicts.

Chronic stress, executive functioning, and real-life self-control: An experience sampling study

OBJECTIVE

To test the hypothesis that chronic stress impairs the use of cognitive control for self-control, we examined how chronic stress affects the relation between individual differences in general executive functioning (GEF) and self-control in real-life situations.

METHOD

About 338 young adults with varying degrees of chronic stress underwent experience sampling of real-life self-control for 7 days and completed a battery of nine executive function tasks from which a latent variable representing individual differences in GEF was derived.

RESULTS

Structural equation models showed that higher levels of chronic stress were associated with stronger desires and a less negative relationship between GEF and desire strength. Chronic stress and GEF did not predict desire enactment in situations where effortful resistance was attempted.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that chronic stress may impair self-control by reducing the use of cognitive control for "early" desire regulation strategies while leaving "late" resistance strategies unaffected. That relationships between executive functioning and real-life self-control can be moderated by third factors such as chronic stress may to some extent explain the common finding of weak or missing associations between laboratory measures of executive functioning and real-life self-control.