Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills: Age and Gender Differences at 12 to 19 Years Old

Longitudinal Relationship between Aggressive Behavior and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Mediating Role of Peer Victimization

Although a large body of research has found associations between aggressive behavior and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), evidence for the directionality, underlying mechanisms, and potential gender differences in their associations remain unclear. To address the gaps, this study investigated the bidirectional relationship between aggressive behavior and NSSI, the mediating role of peer victimization (physical and relational victimization), and gender differences in these associations among a sample of Chinese adolescents. Using a longitudinal design, a total of 1394 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.39, SD = 0.59, 43.3% girls) completed surveys across three waves, with intervals of nine and six months, respectively. The results revealed that within the total sample, T1 aggressive behavior positively predicted T2 physical victimization, and T2 physical victimization positively predicted T3 NSSI. T1 NSSI positively predicted T2 relational victimization, and T2 relational victimization positively predicted T3 aggressive behavior. However, the indirect effect of T1 aggressive behavior on T3 NSSI mediated by T2 physical victimization was significant only for boys. The indirect effect of T1 NSSI on T3 aggressive behavior mediated by T2 relational victimization was significant only for girls. These findings highlighted the importance of considering the gender-specific process underlying the relationship between aggressive behavior and NSSI, thus guiding the development of gender-informed prevention and intervention strategies.

The impact of electronic health literacy on emotional management ability among college students: the mediating roles of peer relationships and exercise self-efficacy

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to explore electronic health literacy's impact on college students' emotional management ability and analyze the chained mediating effects of peer relationships and exercise self-efficacy.

METHODS

The study used stratified, cluster, and staged sampling methods to collect demographic information. Electronic health literacy, peer relationships, exercise self-efficacy, and emotional management ability data were collected among college students using the Questionnaire Star software. A total of 30,105 valid questionnaires were obtained, with a valid response rate of 98.7%. Using Process Model 6, investigated how electronic health literacy sequentially influences emotional management ability through mediators such as peer relationships and exercise self-efficacy.

RESULTS

There was a significant positive correlation between electronic health literacy and emotional management ability (r = 0.496, P < 0.01), between electronic health literacy and peer relationships (r = 0.226, P < 0.01), and between electronic health literacy and exercise self-efficacy (r = 0.180, P < 0.01). Peer relationships were significantly positively correlated with exercise self-efficacy (r = 0.142, P < 0.01) and emotional management ability (r = 0.396, P < 0.01). Exercise self-efficacy was significantly positively correlated with emotional management ability (r = 0.339, P < 0.01). Electronic health literacy significantly and positively predicted emotional management ability (β = 0.254, P < 0.001). There was a mediating effect of peer relationships between electronic health literacy and emotional management ability, accounting for 58.2% of the impact, 95%CI: [0.036,0.042]. Exercise self-efficacy also mediated the relationship between electronic health literacy and emotional management ability, accounting for 61.5% of the effect, 95%CI: [0.022,0.027]. Moreover, a chained mediating effect of peer relationships and exercise self-efficacy was observed between electronic health literacy and emotional management ability, accounting for 17.1% of the effect, 95%CI: [0.004,0.005].

CONCLUSION

Electronic health literacy among college students can positively predict emotional management ability. Both peer relationships and exercise self-efficacy play a chained mediating role between electronic health literacy and emotional management ability.

The Italian Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI-I)

The importance of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills is recognized worldwide, but their measurement has always been a challenge. The BESSI measures 32 SEB skills, divided into five domains (social engagement, cooperation, self-management, emotional resilience, and innovation), but its validity must be expanded to new languages and contexts. Across two studies (N1 = 990, N2= 824) we developed the Italian version of the BESSI, provided further support for its convergent and discriminant validity with the Big Five, and expanded its nomological network to procrastination, self-efficacy, and emotion regulation. The BESSI-I showed excellent internal reliability and satisfactory fit indices at the facet, domain, and overarching framework level. We also confirmed the correlations between the SEB skills and the Big Five personality traits and found meaningful correlations with the selected external outcomes. Overall, we confirm that the BESSI-I is a valid and useful instrument to assess SEB skills for research and clinical purposes.

The role of social-emotional competencies in interpersonal relationships: a structural equation modeling approach

Social-emotional competencies, a crucial non-academic factor for K-12 students to be competent 21st century citizens, are receiving increasing research attention. Based on the 2,801 self-reports of grades 4-8 students from four schools in China, this study scrutinized the associations between adolescents' five core competencies and their interpersonal relationships. Results indicated that five competencies acted as mediators between parent-child relationships and students' relationships with teachers and peers. In addition to the girls' advantage in five competencies, the results also demonstrated the gender and grade differences in the association. Boys had more indirect links and girls had both direct and indirect associations. There were grade differences in the mediating role of social awareness. The study's findings may advance our understanding of the parental influence on Chinese students' social-emotional competencies and provide a more nuanced picture of the conditions and interplay that foster or hinder students' proficiency in these competencies in schools and families.

Happy children! A network of psychological and environmental factors associated with the development of positive affect in 9-13 children

To deepen the development of positive affect during early adolescence and shed new light on its predictors, this study adopts an exploratory network approach to first identify the main domains that describe the variability of children's psychological, environmental, and behavioral characteristics, and then use these domains to longitudinally predict positive affect and its development within a latent growth framework. To this aim, we considered 10,904 US participants (9 years old at baseline; 13 years old 42 months later), six measurement occasions of positive affect, and 46 baseline indicators from the ABCD study. Our results not only confirm that positive affect declines between 9 and 13 years old, but also show that among the five domains identified (behavioral dysregulation, cognitive functioning, psychological problems, supportive social environment, and extracurricular activities), only a supportive social environment consistently predicts positive affect. This is crucial for practitioners and policymakers, as it can help them focus on the elements within our complex network of psychological, social, and environmental variability.

The new social landscape: Relationships among social media use, social skills, and offline friendships from age 10-18 years

Social media has created a new social landscape for adolescents. Knowledge is needed on how this landscape shapes adolescents' social skills and time spent with friends, as these outcomes are important to mental health and psychosocial functioning. Using five waves of biennially collected data from a birth cohort assessed throughout age 10-18 years (n = 812), we found that increased social media use predicted more time with friends offline but was unrelated to future changes in social skills. Age and sex did not moderate these associations but increased social media use predicted declined social skills among those high in social anxiety symptoms. The findings suggest that social media use may neither harm nor benefit the development of social skills and may promote, rather than displace, offline interaction with friends during adolescence. However, increased social media use may pose a risk for reduced social skills in socially anxious individuals.