A longitudinal model of rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms: Testing emotion regulation deficits as a mechanism and outcome of symptoms

Subclinical Psychiatric Symptomatology and a Proposed Diagnostic Criterion Separating Psychopathological Procrastinators From Trait Procrastinators

Procrastination trait describes irrational delays of scheduled tasks despite clear awareness of the adverse consequences of doing so. Although procrastination is well-known to be linked to psychiatric or pathological processes, the criterion for "psychopathological procrastination" distinguishing from the procrastination trait is understudied. This is a 5-year longitudinal observational study. Participants (N = 464) completed measures of trait procrastination in 2018, with a follow-up conducted in 2023 (N = 267) collecting subclinical symptomatology. A constrained multivariate direct gradient model (cmDGM) was employed to prospectively predict subclinical psychiatric symptomatology formulated by the DSM-5 framework. The two-stage psychopathological connectome model was then constructed to constitute a "diagnostic criterion" reflecting "psychopathological procrastination." Procrastination prospectively predicted subclinical psychopathological symptoms and unhealthy lifestyles. Subclinical bridge hubs of "failure to self-regulate delays," "failure to control adverse consequences," "useless to self-change," "out-of-control irruptions," "poor sleep quality," and "negative emotional reactions" were identified in the two-stage psychopathological network. These hubs constituted the 9-item pathological procrastination diagnostic criterion (3PDC) with good diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.82, p < 0.01). The present study revealed the predictive role of procrastination for subclinical psychiatric symptomatology and further established the subclinical 3PDC to lay the foundation for the "diagnostics of psychopathological procrastinators."

Prevalence and correlates of emotion dysregulation among children and adolescents in Lebanon: results from a National Survey

BACKGROUND

Data on Emotion Dysregulation among youth in Lebanon is scarce. Given that Emotion Dysregulation is associated with psychopathology and has a negative impact on youth outcomes, there is a need to better understand the prevalence, clinical and demographic correlates of Emotion Dysregulation.

METHODS

This study is a secondary analysis of the Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents in Lebanon Study which recruited 1517 youth and one parent from a nationally representative sample. Participants completed The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Peer Relations Questionnaire, Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ).Parents completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Dysregulation Profile was used to measure Emotion Dysregulation.

RESULTS

The prevalence of Emotion Dysregulation was 11.26% among children aged 5 to < 8 years, 9.40% among children aged 8 to < 12 years and 6.60% among those older than 12 years. Emotion Dysregulation was associated with psychopathology across age groups and a number of correlates were identified. In the final regression models, among children aged 5 to < 8 years; Emotion Dysregulation was associated with lower odds of father employment (OR = 0.235;CI[0.078,0.704]). For those aged 8 to < 12 years old, Emotion Dysregulation was associated with acceptable school performance (OR = 2.246,CI[1.209,4.173]) as opposed to a good school performance, having a chronic physical illness (OR = 2.962; CI [1.495,5.867)], and higher parental GHQ scores (OR = 1.034;CI [1.010,10.58)] indicating worse parental mental health. Adolescents aged 12 years and older who screened positive for Emotion Dysregulation were more likely to be younger (OR = 0.688, CI[0.527,0.899]), be a bully (OR = 2.467;CI[1.036,5.875] and to have higher parental CBQ scores (OR = 1.092;CI [1.011,1.180]), indicating worse parent-child conflict. Youth who screened positive for emotion dysregulation were more likely to seek psychiatric care than their counterparts who screen negative for emotion dysregulation.

CONCLUSION

Age, school performance, parental mental health, parental conflict, chronic physical illness and bullying emerge as important correlates of Emotion Dysregulation. Findings add to the limited data on Emotion Dysregulation in Lebanon and the region and are a first step towards developing intervention and prevention strategies.

Social rejection sensitivity and its role in adolescent emotional disorder symptomatology

BACKGROUND

Most emotional disorders first emerge during adolescence, a time characterized by heightened sensitivity to social information, especially social rejection. Social rejection sensitivity (SRS), then, may be a promising intervention target.

METHODS

To explore this, 357 participants (M (SD) age = 19.40 (4.18), 63% female) completed self-report measures of SRS, its proposed antecedent, perceived parenting style, its proposed behavioral correlate, negative interpretation bias, and its proposed  clinical correlate, emotional disorder symptoms. Participants additionally completed a single session of a social interpretation bias modification task, the ambiguous social scenarios task (ASST).

RESULTS

SRS was associated with perceived parental rejection, while controlling for other types of maladaptive parenting. SRS partially accounted for variance in the relationship between perceived parental rejection and emotional disorder symptomatology, as well as the relationship between negative interpretation bias and emotional disorder symptoms. Learning rates (i.e., change in reaction time across the task) on the ASST differed as a function of age and SRS, such that younger participants with higher SRS showed the slowest rate of learning. Moreover, individual differences in SRS accounted for the magnitude of change in negative interpretation bias before and after the ASST. Individuals with greater SRS showed less change in interpretation bias.

CONCLUSIONS

SRS appears strongly associated with emotional disorder symptoms in adolescents. Importantly, SRS was associated with the malleability of negative interpretation bias, which may help account for the mixed findings on the effectiveness of interpretation-bias-modification-paradigms in adolescents.

Positive classroom climate buffers against increases in loneliness arising from shyness, rejection sensitivity and emotional reactivity

Loneliness is detrimental to well-being, particularly during the transition into and early years of adolescence when peer relations are ascendant. Shy and emotionally sensitive youth, who often spend considerable time alone, have known vulnerabilities to loneliness. Studies of young children suggest that a supportive classroom context may mitigate adjustment risks, reducing victimization and improving a sense of belonging. Herein we extend this work to older students, testing the hypothesis that a positive classroom climate protects temperamentally vulnerable children (i.e., those who are shy, emotionally reactive, or sensitive to rejection) from escalating levels of loneliness across the course of a school year. A community sample of 540 (277 boys, 263 girls) Lithuanian students in grades 5-7 (10-14 years old) completed identical surveys twice, 4-5 months apart. Self-reports assessed shyness, emotional reactivity, and rejection sensitivity, as well as perceived positive classroom climate and loneliness. Path analyses indicated that longitudinal associations from shyness, emotional reactivity, and rejection sensitivity to increased loneliness were mitigated by positive classroom climate. In each case, temperamental vulnerability anticipated greater loneliness for youth reporting low but not high positive classroom climate. The results held after accounting for several potential confounding variables. The findings have practical implications, suggesting that scholars and practitioners redouble efforts to improve classroom support, particularly for temperamentally vulnerable children who are at elevated risk for solitude, loneliness, and attendant mental health challenges.

A multifaceted study of interpersonal functioning and cognitive biases towards social stimuli in adolescents with eating disorders and healthy controls

BACKGROUND

Cognitive biases towards social stimuli have been identified as one of the putative modifiable mechanisms to remediate interpersonal difficulties in adolescents with mental disorders. However, evidence for these biases in adolescents with eating disorders is scarce.

METHODS

This study assessed interpersonal sensitivity, cognitive biases towards social stimuli, and quantity and quality of social group memberships in adolescents with eating disorders (n = 80), compared to healthy controls (n = 78), and examined whether a negative interpretation bias would mediate the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity, eating disorder symptoms and positive group memberships.

RESULTS

Adolescents with eating disorders displayed greater interpersonal awareness, negative interpretation biases of ambiguous social information and poorer quality relationships with their social groups compared to healthy controls. In a simple mediation model, interpersonal awareness predicted eating disorder symptoms, and this effect was partially mediated by a negative interpretation bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychological interventions which aim to reduce a negative interpretation bias might help to reduce the severity of eating disorder symptoms in adolescents with eating disorders.

Longitudinal Relations between Rejection Sensitivity and Adjustment in Chinese Children: Moderating Effect of Emotion Regulation

The goal of the present study was to examine the moderating effect of emotion regulation in the longitudinal relations between rejection sensitivity and indices of adjustment among Chinese children. Participants were N = 590 children (M_age= 11.25 years, SD = 1.33) attending public elementary and middle schools in Shanghai, P.R. China. Measures of anxious rejection sensitivity and socio-emotional functioning were collected via self-reports and peer nominations. Among the results, rejection sensitivity significantly predicted higher levels of later internalizing problems. Moreover, emotion regulation significantly moderated (i.e. buffering effect) the relations between rejection sensitivity and later peer and emotional difficulties. The current findings suggest that rejection sensitivity poses developmental risk over time, but emotion regulation may serve as a protective factor for Chinese youth. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of rejection sensitivity and emotion regulation in Chinese culture.