Sensory processing sensitivity and culturally modified resilience education: Differential susceptibility in Japanese adolescents

The role of individual differences in environmental sensitivity in teachers' stress and burnout at work

School teachers are among workers most exposed to stress and burnout-a relevant occupational phenomenon leading to psychological and economic costs. The Environmental Sensitivity individual trait-as captured by the psychological marker of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS)-has been found to have a relevant role in stress and emotional exhaustion at work. Yet, little is still known about heightened SPS in the educational field and on underlying mechanisms occurring in the relationship between SPS, stress and burnout. The current work aimed to explore the association between SPS and burnout among teachers as well as the moderating role of perceived stress and school climate in this association. One hundred and ninety eight teachers (44.3 years; SD = 9.7, 94% F) reported on their levels of SPS, occupational burnout, perceived stress and school climate quality. In line with a vulnerability effect, we found heightened SPS largely associated with burnout. This was particularly evident in a context of high-perceived stress, suggesting that teachers high on SPS may experience more challenges in the face of elevated stress with the need of more support. When exposed to positive and supportive school climate, highly sensitive teachers showed a decrease in burnout, suggesting high SPS as a valuable strength for benefiting from positive experiences. Findings have the potential to inform the customisation of support programs, assisting both schools and work agencies in increasing their awareness of the role of individual differences in responding to both work-demand-related stress and to positive work environments.

Affording Social Experience for Adolescents Using Immersive Virtual Reality: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

BACKGROUND

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) serves as a promising tool to provide adolescents with enriched social experience due to its high-fidelity simulations and multimodal interaction. This study aims to design and develop a multi-user IVR collaborative game utilizing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)-based inside-out tracking technique to foster social experience among students. Also, this study explored the mechanism by which technology acceptance affected social experience in the IVR collaboration game, focusing on the mediating effects of presence, collective efficacy, and group effectiveness, as well as the moderating effect of social-emotional competence (SEC).

METHODS

A total of 104 seventh graders from a middle school in Central China participated in this study and completed the questionnaire. Finally, 87 valid questionnaire responses were retrieved.

RESULTS

The results revealed that technology acceptance both directly and indirectly influenced social experience. The mediation analysis revealed a key pathway influencing social experience: technology acceptance → presence → collective efficacy → group effectiveness → social experience. However, no moderating effect of SEC was found in the relationship between technology acceptance and social experience, group effectiveness, and social experience.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on these results, more appropriate IVR interventions could be developed for social-emotional learning among children and adolescents.

A review of the impact of sensory processing sensitivity on mental health in university students

Introduction

The concept of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) was first introduced by Aron and Aron (1996) as an innate trait characterized by heightened processing of sensory, emotional, and physical stimuli. Since the concept's introduction in 1996, high SPS has been shown to be associated with poor physical and mental health. It is possible that this is especially true in university students, who are frequently faced with numerous stressors, such as intense workloads and test anxiety.

Methods

This article is a systematic literature review conducted through EBSCOHost using the following databases: Academic Search Complete, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, Education Research Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE Complete, and SocINDEX. Search terms included terms regarding high sensory processing sensitivity, university or professional students, and mental health.

Results

A total of 6 studies were included. University students with high SPS experienced heightened reactions to sensory, emotional, and physical stimuli. The studies demonstrate correlations of high SPS with outcomes such as depressive tendencies and difficulty adjusting to college.

Discussion

These findings highlight that SPS is associated with poor mental health outcomes. The results underscore the importance of developing support methods for students with high SPS. Future studies should further explore SPS in university students to develop targeted support methods and programs.

Individual differences in environmental sensitivity: associations between cognitive emotion regulation and mental health

Introduction

Environmental sensitivity is defined as the ability to perceive and process internal and external information. Previous studies have suggested that mental health-related factors differ by sensitivity level. This study aimed to investigate whether environmental sensitivity moderates the associations between cognitive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., rumination and blaming others) and mental health.

Materials and methods

In this three-wave longitudinal study, participants (N = 1,233, 585, and 349 at Times 1, 2, and 3, respectively) completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-short and Kessler 10 scale at all the measurement points as well as the 10-item version of the Highly Sensitive Person scale and some covariates only at Time 1.

Results

Latent growth model analyses indicated that the blaming others strategy had contrastive effects on changes in mental health by sensitivity level; the increase in refocusing on planning was associated with improved mental health over time only for highly sensitive individuals; and the rumination and catastrophizing strategies were the most important risk factors for mental health problems, although their effects differed slightly by sensitivity level.

Conclusion

The associations between some of the cognitive strategies and mental health differ by environmental sensitivity level. Future investigations based on individual differences in sensitivity could provide innovative insights into practices.

Investigating sensitivity through the lens of parents: validation of the parent-report version of the Highly Sensitive Child scale

Children differ in their environmental sensitivity (ES), which can be measured observationally or by self-report questionnaire. A parent-report scale represents an important tool for investigating ES in younger children but has to be psychometrically robust and valid. In the current multistudy, we validated the parent-report version of the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC-PR) scale in Italian children, evaluating its factorial structure (Study 1, N = 1,857, 6.2 years, age range: 2.6-14 years) through a multigroup Confirmatory Factory Analysis in preschoolers (n = 1,066, 4.2 years) and school-age children (n = 791, 8.8 years). We then investigated the HSC-PR relationship with established temperament traits (Study 2, N = 327, 4.3 years), before exploring whether the scale moderates the effects of parenting stress on children's emotion regulation (Study 3, N = 112, 6.5 years). We found support for a bi-factor structure in both groups, though in preschoolers minor adaptations were suggested for one item. Importantly, the HSC-PR did not fully overlap with common temperament traits and moderated the effects of parenting stress on children emotion regulation. To conclude, the HSC-PR performs well and appears to capture ES in children.

Interactions between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota are associated with biomarkers of stress-related psychiatric symptoms

BACKGROUND

Humans vary in their sensitivity to stressful and supportive environments and experiences. Such individual differences in environmental sensitivity are associated with mechanisms of stress-related psychiatric symptoms. In recent years, researchers have focused on bidirectional interactions in the brain-gut-microbiota axis as a neurophysiological pathway contributing to the mechanisms of stress-related psychiatric symptoms, and evidence is rapidly accumulating.

METHODS

Data on environmental sensitivity, gut microbiota, gut permeability (lipopolysaccharide-binding protein; LBP) and inflammation (C-reactive protein; CRP) were collected from 90 adults (50 % female; Mage = 42.1; SDage = 10.0). Environmental sensitivity was measured using a self-report questionnaire. Study participants' feces were analyzed, and observed operational taxonomic units for richness, Shannon's index for evenness, and phylogenetic diversity for biodiversity were evaluated as indicators of gut microbiota. In addition, participants' serum was analyzed for CRP and LBP. We investigated whether the interaction between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota is associated with biomarkers of inflammation and gut permeability.

RESULTS

The interaction between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota (excluding the Shannon's index) explained the levels of these biomarkers. Individuals with high environmental sensitivity displayed higher levels of CRP and LBP, when the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota was low. However, even highly susceptible individuals had lower levels of CRP and LBP, when the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota was high.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study indicates that high environmental sensitivity can be a risk factor for inflammation and gut permeability, when the gut microbiota diversity is low, suggesting a brain-gut-microbiota axis interaction.

SPARK Resilience in the workplace: Effectiveness of a brief online resilience intervention during the COVID-19 lockdown

Science asserts that resilience at work can be developed, with evidence pinpointing to multiple resources that can be built through deliberate coaching, training and interventions. This paper presents a mixed-methods study exploring the effectiveness of group coaching using SPARK Resilience training, a model and a structured coaching protocol that have been administered in educational and workplace settings in face-to-face format and remotely. The study used a non-randomised controlled design with a pre-test and a post-test in a sample of French adults (N = 101 in the intervention group and N = 86 in the waitlist control group). The SPARK Resilience programme was administered online with 8 sessions spanning 4 weeks in April 2020, during the very early stage of the pandemic and lockdown in France. The results indicate beneficial effects of the intervention on meaning, resilience, positive affect, and perceived stress outcomes (d in the .40-.56 range), as well as weaker effects on negative affect (d = .35) and work engagement (d = .21). Moderator analyses suggest that the effects of the intervention on perceived stress and negative affect tended to be stronger for older adults. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention and provided 151 responses to three open-ended questions that were coded using thematic analysis, revealing specific benefits of the intervention. The findings are interpreted within the pandemic context, showing the way resilience interventions can help people overcome unprecedented challenges.

Environmental Sensitivity in Adults: Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale 10-Item Version

Environmental Sensitivity, which explains individual differences in the tendency to respond more to both positive and negative environmental influences, can be measured by the self-reported Highly Sensitive Person scale. This paper introduced psychometric properties of a brief Japanese version of a 10-item measure of sensitivity (HSP-J10) developed by four studies involving 2,388 adults. The results showed that (1) the newly created HSP-J10 supported the bifactor structure (i.e., Ease of Excitation, Low Sensory Threshold, Esthetic Sensitivity, plus General Sensitivity factor), (2) the HSP-J10 correlated with but discriminated against other personality traits and affects, (3) it had high temporal stability, and (4) participants who scored higher on the HSP-J10 showed significant increases in positive emotion from before watching a video with positive content to after, while those who scored low showed no significant change in positive emotion. It demonstrated the new scale's good psychometric properties in that it moderated outcomes as theoretically expected when the environment was experimentally manipulated. The four studies suggested that the newly created HSP-J10 might adequately measure individual differences in adults' Environmental Sensitivity.

Do highly sensitive persons display hypersensitive narcissism? Similarities and differences in the nomological networks of sensory processing sensitivity and vulnerable narcissism

BACKGROUND

Individuals with high sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) ("highly sensitive persons") are thought to be easily excitable and overwhelmed, highly attentive to aesthetic impressions, and particularly sensitive to sensory stimulation. Public discourse suggests that those who describe themselves as highly sensitive see themselves as fundamentally different from others, and view their personality as a gift and a burden. From a clinical personality perspective, high sensitivity could be considered to have substantial overlaps with hypersensitive narcissism, or generally vulnerable narcissism.

METHOD

We investigated the associations and shared nomological networks between high sensitivity and hypersensitive narcissism in two studies using convenience and representative samples (n₁  = 280, n₂  = 310).

RESULTS

There is evidence for replicable associations between SPS and hypersensitive (.53 ≤ r ≤ .54) as well as vulnerable narcissism (.44 ≤ r ≤ .54), associations were not attributable to general neuroticism. Nomological networks were similar and pointed to a neurotic-introverted personality profile with reduced personality functioning. Latent class analyses further pointed to substantial and practically relevant person-level covariance.

CONCLUSION

Sensory processing sensitivity and hypersensitive narcissism are substantially related constructs. For clinicians, this points to the importance of being attentive to narcissistic self-regulatory strategies in individuals presenting as highly sensitive.

HSPS-10-Short Version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale for Students Aged 12-25 Years

The aim of the article is to present a short version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS-10) as a useful tool for the assessment of adolescents and young adults and to improve their self-awareness. (1) Background: The original American HSPS was developed as a tool for the assessment of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), which is understood to be an inherited temperamental trait. The basis for the research is the concept of SPS, which may be included within the broader construct of the Environmental Sensitivity (ES) model. (2) Methods: The research used a Polish-language, short version developed on the basis of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, where the respondents answered 10 questions in a 7-point Likert scale. (3) Results: The test results show that the Polish, HSPS-10 is a reliable and valid measurement of the SPS construct and that the results obtained using the abbreviated version indicate a three-factor structure. The structure and psychometric properties of the tool are consistent across different age groups. (4) Conclusions: HSPS-10 is a simple and quick tool for group screenings as well as the individual assessment of school students and adults aged 12-25. The developed standardized procedure allows for the early recognition and identification of changes in the SPS over the course of life.

Neurocognitive correlates of psychological resilience: Event-related potential studies

BACKGROUND

There is a growing interest in exploring the neurocognitive mechanisms that may underlie psychological resilience. However, how the bottom-up automatic information processing relates to trait resilience has received less attention. We aimed to explore the relationship between trait resilience and trait-like automatic information processing in healthy adults.

METHODS

Eighty-four healthy adults were recruited to explore whether and how resilience was related to sensory sensitivity by event-related potentials (ERPs). Resilience was measured by Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Sensory sensitivity, more specifically, sensitivity of automatic mismatch detection was measured by two ERPs components, i.e., the mismatch negativity (MMN) with a passive auditory oddball paradigm and the error-related negativity (ERN) with an auditory Go/NoGo task. Using the multiple linear regression analyses, the relationship between self-reported resilience and the sensitivity of automatic mismatch detection (MMN/ERN amplitude/latency) was explored.

RESULTS

The results showed that psychological resilience was positively correlated with both MMN and ERN latencies, i.e., higher resilience scores were associated with delayed MMN and ERN latencies. However, resilience was not significantly correlated with MMN and ERN amplitudes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggested that relatively higher resilience might link with less sensory sensitivity as reflected by slower automatic detection to mismatch information in the environment.

Beyond the diathesis-stress paradigm: Effect of the environmental sensitivity × pubertal tempo interaction on depressive symptoms

Based on the Differential Susceptibility Theory, we examined whether the relationship between pubertal maturation and depressive symptoms can be moderated by individual differences in environmental sensitivity. The current article used the three-wave data collected from Japanese adolescents aged from 12 to 15 years (girls = 111, boys = 98). Consequently, a significant Sensitivity × Pubertal Development interaction was observed in 12- to 13-year-old boys, but not girls. Sensitive boys who experienced accelerated physical maturation reported decreased depressive symptoms, while those who experienced less maturation had increased depressive symptoms. The shape of the interaction supported both the Differential Susceptibility Theory and the Diathesis-Stress Model. Our findings suggest that sensitivity during early puberty among boys could be reconsidered as susceptibility rather than vulnerability.

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Highly Sensitive Child Scale: The Parent Version

Environmental sensitivity is the ability to perceive, register and process information about the environment, which differs among children and adolescents. The Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale has been used to assess environmental sensitivity in youngsters. The HSC scale is a short and 12-item adapted version of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) scale. The aim of this pilot study is to transculturally adapt the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale, and to analyze its factorial structure, reliability and validity. First, a transcultural adaptation was conducted by bilingual experts. Second, once the questionnaire was translated, the psychometric properties were analyzed. The Spanish version of the HSC scale was administered to parents answering about information of 141 children between 6 and 10 years old. The Spanish version of the Emotionality, Activity and Sociability Survey (EAS) was also applied. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of sensitivity in our Spanish sample. This structure included the following dimensions: (1) Ease of Excitation (EOE), (2) Low Sensory Threshold (LST), and (3) Aesthetic Sensitivity (AES). Moreover, both Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω values indicated that the Spanish version of the HSC scale was a reliable measure of environmental sensitivity, as a general factor of sensitivity (α = 0.84), and even in its three dimensions: EOE (α = 0.86), LST (α = 0.77) and AES (α = 0.73). Finally, the correlations for convergent validity showed positive associations, especially among the three dimensions of SPS and Emotionality (EOE r = 0.351; LST r = 0.274; AES r = 0.259), which was one of the domains of the EAS survey. The pilot study provided interesting results, which showed a reliable and valid replication of the original structure of sensitivity in the Spanish samples.

Sensory-Processing Sensitivity and Pathways to Depression and Aggression: The Mediating Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence and Decision-Making Style-A Pilot Study

While the link between sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) and internalizing symptoms has been well-established, a link to externalizing problems is still to be explored. This study aimed to further examine the relation between SPS and behavioral problems by testing the potential mediating roles of trait emotional intelligence (TEI) and decision-making styles. Pathway analyses were conducted on data from 268 community sample participants (M_age = 25.81, SD = 2.41, 61.2% females). Results indicated gender differences in the pathway level outcomes of SPS, as well as potential partial mediators in men and women. SPS both directly and via the mediating effects of the well-being factor (TEI) and avoidant decision-making influenced depression, regardless of gender. Direct effects on aggression were, however, obtained only in the male sample. Indirect effects of SPS on aggression were found in spontaneous decision-making for men and in the self-control and sociability factors of TEI for women. Directions for future research were discussed.

Sensory-processing sensitivity and COVID-19 stress in a young population: The mediating role of resilience

Psychologists worldwide are becoming increasingly concerned about the negative impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on adolescents' mental health. However, compared to studies involving adults, research using a young population is limited. To further understand the mental health of older adolescents and young adults during the pandemic, the present study examined whether resilience, as a protective factor, buffers the relationship between the personality trait of environmental sensitivity and COVID-19-related distress. In total, 441 older adolescents and young adults (53.7% women, M_age = 18.91 years, SD_age = 0.82 years) living in urban Japan completed an online cross-sectional survey in October 2020. The results showed that sensitivity was positively, though weakly, correlated with COVID-19 stress and negatively correlated with resilience. Resilience was negatively correlated with COVID-19 stress. Mediation analysis showed that resilience buffered the negative relationship between sensitivity and COVID-19 stress, and its indirect effect was statistically significant, albeit close to zero. These results suggest that higher sensitivity is not necessarily a vulnerability factor, if resilience can be enhanced.