In recent years, the application of attachment theory in nursing education has attracted increasing attention. Despite the growing use of bibliometric tools such as VOSviewer and CiteSpace in literature analysis, there have been no prior studies combining these methods to investigate this specific research area. This study includes a bibliometric analysis of articles related to attachment theory and nursing education published between January 1, 1981, and January 28, 2025. Data were retrieved from five major databases: Embase, Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science. The analysis examined publication trends, contributing countries and institutions, research disciplines, and frequently used keywords. Results indicated that most publications originated from the United States, with Radboud University Nijmegen being the leading institution. Research primarily focused on fields such as nursing, educational sciences, psychiatry, healthcare services, and public health. Common keywords included attachment, adolescents, mental health, peer attachment, and self‐esteem. The study underscores the increasing relevance of attachment theory in nursing education and highlights the need for further interdisciplinary research that expands beyond the scope of medical education.
As future contributors to innovation and economic growth, college students represent a key investment in national human capital and long-term development. Perceived stress and self-esteem are directly linked to healthy growth and human capital accumulation among college students globally. However, existing literature remains unclear about the direction of the relationship between perceived stress and self-esteem, which leads to a lack of empirical basis for targeted interventions. The present study empirically examines the bidirectional relationship between perceived stress and self-esteem among Chinese college students (mean age = 21.55 years) using a two-wave cross-lagged model. Correlation analysis results indicate a stable and significant negative correlation between perceived stress and self-esteem. Results of the cross-lagged model reveal a bidirectional negative predictive relationship between perceived stress and self-esteem among college students within the context of Chinese educational culture. Higher perceived stress levels among Chinese college students are a significant predictor of subsequent reductions in self-esteem, while diminished self-esteem is also a significant predictor of subsequent increases in perceived stress. This deepens the understanding of the relationship between perceived stress and self-esteem, offering actionable insights for refining educational intervention strategies.
Regulatory flexibility, the ability to adapt emotion regulation strategies to contextual demands, is considered a key component of adaptive functioning, yet its developmental emergence in childhood remains insufficiently understood. The present two-study investigation examined whether children exhibit context-sensitive (adult-like) patterns of regulatory strategy selection and how individual differences shape this pattern. In Study 1, we developed and validated a set of ecologically relevant stimuli varying in emotional intensity among 10-12-year-old children (N = 30). In Study 2 (N = 58), children selected between cognitive reappraisal and distraction in response to low- and high-intensity situations. Results indicated a context-sensitive pattern of regulatory selection, reflected in greater use of reappraisal in low-intensity contexts and distraction in high-intensity contexts. This pattern reflects a stimulus-driven operationalization of regulatory flexibility, defined as a systematic association between emotional intensity and strategy choice. Furthermore, individual differences were associated with variability in this pattern: Higher academic achievement was linked to a more pronounced context-sensitive profile, whereas higher anxiety was associated with reduced use of reappraisal in low-intensity contexts. These findings suggest that context-sensitive regulatory selection is evident in late childhood and is shaped by cognitive and emotional characteristics.
BackgroundWorking memory updating is crucial in bilingual children ' s second language (L2) reading comprehension. A robust updating ability is a cognitive key for children to successfully master L2 reading comprehension.ObjectiveThis study is aimed at investigating the effect of updating ability on the L2 Chinese reading comprehension among Uyghur-Chinese bilingual primary school students in Grades 4-6.MethodsUyghur-Chinese bilingual primary school students from grades four to six in China were recruited. The Chinese N-back task and Primary Scholar ' s Chinese Reading Ability Scales (PSCRAS) were used.ResultsWorking memory-updating capacity emerged as a significant, specific predictor of participants ' performance in macro comprehension.ConclusionInsufficient updating ability hinders the ability of Uyghur-Chinese upper-grade primary school students to process complex Chinese reading comprehension tasks.
Since family is the first relational context experienced by the child, and the relationship between the child and the primary caregivers is a main aspect in the child ' s development, the present study delves into the application of Adultcentrism (AD)-the implicit adult-centered paradigm of thought-and Black Pedagogy (BP)-its practical, coercive derivation in disciplinary practices-in the context of the parent-child relationship, similarly to what has been already done in respect to the pupil-teacher relationship for both constructs.Specifically, the objectives were to assess the suitability of the AD and BP scales on a sample of parents, to compare the positions of mothers and fathers on the two constructs, and to analyze the association between them. To achieve the objectives of this study, the AD and BP Scales were administered to a sample of 3448 parents. The main analyses show the overall validity and usability of both measurements: CFA confirmed the factorial structure of the BP Scale (RMSEA = 0.073, CI 0.072-0.075, SRMR = 0.076); in contrast, the AD Scale exhibited a better fit with a bifactorial structure (RMSEA = 0.062, CI 0.060-0.063, SRMR = 0.068). A SEM analysis revealed that AD is associated with BP in its values and methods. Moreover, the model tested proved to be invariant for territorial areas and parents ' gender.Results are discussed in light of their implications for new research lines and for deepening our understanding of AD and BP constructs; in fact, a new label is proposed for the latter one: "Bleak Pedagogy." Limitations and applications of the study are also presented.
Facial emotion recognition (FER) is a critical sociocognitive ability that underpins successful social interactions and undergoes developmental changes during adolescence. Since biopsychosocial factors influencing FER in adolescence have been under-researched concurrently, and past literature has utilised emotion recognition tasks with psychometric limitations, this cross-sectional study examined associations between FER (accuracy and speed) measured on the Penn Emotion Recognition Task (Penn-ER-40) and a verbal intelligence proxy (Wide Range Achievement Test-4 word reading subtest), sex, wellbeing (COMPAS-W scale) and social connectedness (Social Connectedness Scale) in 12-13-year-olds (N = 99, 52.5% female). Multiple regressions revealed a significant association between verbal intelligence and accuracy and sex differences for reaction time. A post-hoc MANOVA found females were faster in correct responses of happiness, fear and sadness, but not anger or neutral expressions. Exploratory ANOVAs investigating FER differences by pubertal stage (n = 28) were nonsignificant. The results contribute novel findings to the field of FER research. Future longitudinal studies may utilise this biopsychosocial approach to investigate the interrelated and diverse factors impacting FER development during adolescence.
ObjectiveThis study is aimed at exploring the core symptoms of adolescents ' internalizing and externalizing problems and their network relationships with parental psychological control, basic psychological needs, and psychological resilience.MethodA questionnaire survey was conducted among 738 middle school students to measure their parental psychological control, basic psychological needs, psychological resilience, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Network analysis methods were employed to investigate the core symptoms of adolescents ' internalizing and externalizing problems and the relationships among the variables.Results(1) The core symptoms of adolescents ' internalizing and externalizing problems were "I feel like I am about to break down," "I feel uneasy and worried," "I find it hard to relax," and "I feel melancholy and depressed." (2) The central node of the network was autonomy need. (3) Family support, autonomy need, depression, and emotional control were bridging nodes connecting parental psychological control, basic psychological needs, psychological resilience, and adolescents ' internalizing and externalizing problems. This study reveals the close relationship between parental psychological control, basic psychological needs, psychological resilience, and adolescents ' internalizing and externalizing problems, which has implications for preventing internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents.
School is an environment that helps shape attitudes and beliefs forming the body image. The topic is very relevant in the context of adolescents ' well-being and their involvement in education. Many studies highlight the importance of well-being, positive body image, and levels of experienced happiness during adolescence and its effects on personality and ability development. Higher levels of personal well-being in adulthood act as a protective factor against the development of psychological disorders, and individuals are characterized by higher levels of resilience. High levels of well-being and positive body image are also predictors of better academic performance and social relationships and have a positive effect on an individual ' s overall self-concept. Low levels of personal well-being at school age significantly affect creativity, intelligence, personality development, and school performance. Using a quantitative methodology with a research cohort (n = 1200 high school students aged 15-18), this study analyzes students ' body satisfaction, their body care, and their perceptions of sociocultural body ideals. The results indicate that 51% of high school students are dissatisfied with their own bodies, 31% declare the need to change their body weight, 79% of adolescents care about their health, and 82% care about their appearance. At the same time, they compare their body shape with an ideal that less than half of the students believe exists.
ObjectiveThis study examined the relationship between cumulative environmental risks and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents, investigating the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of positive development qualities.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2196 adolescents using the Cumulative Environmental Risks Questionnaire, Self-Injury Questionnaire, Rumination Questionnaire, and the short version of the Chinese Adolescent Positive Development Scale.Results(1) Cumulative environmental risk was positively associated with adolescent NSSI, with rumination mediating this relationship. (2) The mediating effect of rumination on the relationship between cumulative environmental risks and adolescent NSSI was moderated by positive development qualities, such that the effect was stronger among adolescents with lower levels of these qualities. (3) Positive development qualities moderated the relationship between cumulative environmental risks and NSSI; higher levels of these qualities weakened the association between environmental risk and NSSI.
The transition from late adolescence to early adulthood is a critical developmental turning point, where sports skills as a key dimension of physical activity exert long-lasting impacts on youth ' s health, social adaptation, and developmental trajectories. To clarify the inequality in sports skills development during this transitional stage, this study examines how family capital shapes sports skills development among college students (a typical group in early adulthood) and the underlying mechanisms. Using data from the Beijing College Students Panel Survey and ordinary least squares regression models, we find that family economic capital, family social capital, and family cultural capital are each positively associated with sports skills. Family cultural capital fully mediates the associations of family economic capital and family social capital with sports skills, suggesting that both cultural reproduction and capital conversion operate through family cultural capital. We also identify significant cumulative advantage effects: Family capital contributes to higher sports skills in college partly by fostering a stronger skill foundation during high school (late adolescence). The findings reveal that sports skills disparities during the late adolescence to early adulthood transition are shaped by three interrelated mechanisms: cultural reproduction, capital conversion, and cumulative advantage, through which class-based differences in family resources translate into stratified opportunities for developing sports skills. From an equity perspective, policymakers and educational institutions should strengthen targeted support for disadvantaged students to narrow early skill gaps, ensuring that transitional stage inequalities do not persist into adulthood as disadvantages in health, social participation, and educational attainment.
This study investigates tic-tac-toe as an innovative methodological strategy in semistructured interviews with 15 adolescents (mean age 16.6 years; 40% female/60% male) in socioeducational measures in open environments (LA/PSC) at the CREAS in Ponta Grossa/PR. Approved by COEP/UEPG (Opinion 5.717.992), the research was analyzed via Bardin ' s content analysis (2011), medium ludic representations of social representations (Moscovici, 2012), and personal/common/collective memories (S & aacute;, 2015/2018). Results reveal 92% approval, communication facilitation (67%), anxiety reduction (80%), and enhanced narrative depth, anchoring positive perceptions of sports/leisure in the measures. The semistructured interviews, lasting 35-40 min, form a replicable protocol that demonstrates efficacy for both qualitative research and socioeducational practice, recommending ludic integration in CREAS for inclusive and transformative listening.
The university stage is a critical transitional period for individuals transitioning from late adolescence to early adulthood. During this transition, the supportive environment provided by universities plays a pivotal role in shaping students ' further education decisions. Supervisor and peer support, course quality, and institutional support are key dimensions that determine students ' intentions for postgraduate study. Based on 2025 microlevel survey data from 1760 undergraduate and master ' s education students across Chinese universities, this study employs the causal forest algorithm to quantitatively evaluate the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and students ' intentions for postgraduate study. By incorporating multiple dimensions of the university ' s supportive environment as heterogeneity feature variables and estimating conditional average treatment effects (CATEs), the study uncovers the heterogeneous treatment effects (HTEs) of SES across different support contexts. Findings revealed significant individual-level HTEs of SES on students ' intentions for postgraduate study. Moreover, intentions for postgraduate study were jointly shaped by both SES and the university ' s supportive environment. For the undergraduate cohort, the university ' s supportive environment was of significant value in bridging disadvantages in social capital, whereas course quality and institutional support were instrumental in bridging the disadvantages in comprehensive SES and regional economic capital. For the master ' s cohort, the course quality and the institutional support effectively counteracted economic capital barriers, whereas the frequency of supervisor guidance and opportunities for domestic and international exchanges effectively bridged the gap in intentions for postgraduate study for those with insufficient cultural capital. However, other supportive environments amplified the intentions for postgraduate study among students with high SES. Additionally, for the undergraduate cohort, the heterogeneity was primarily driven by access to institutional resources, specifically domestic and international exchange programs and robust career development support. For the master ' s cohort, the key drivers of heterogeneity shifted toward academic integration, including the frequency of supervisor guidance and course quality. The study suggests that the pathway to the highest degree is still largely shaped by family background and the supportive environment, highlighting serious challenges to educational equity.
This study investigates parental decision-making processes in infant formula selection through an innovative mixed-methods approach combining eye-tracking technology, surveys, and retrospective interviews. Data were collected from 42 Taiwanese parents, examining their attention patterns to various product attributes including nutritional attributes, environmental sustainability information, and price considerations. Eye-tracking metrics and decision tree analysis revealed a hierarchical decision-making process where price and product familiarity serve as initial screening factors, followed by sustained attention to nutritional attributes, particularly sugar content and genetically modified (GM) status. Statistical analyses, including MANOVA, confirmed significant differences in visual attention patterns across areas of interest (AOIs). The decision tree analysis identified key pathways in purchase decisions, with product familiarity emerging as the primary filter, followed by price considerations and health perceptions. Integration of quantitative and qualitative data demonstrates that although parents initially screen products based on familiarity and price, their sustained attention focuses predominantly on nutritional attributes. These findings have important implications for manufacturers in product development and marketing strategies, as well as for policymakers in developing guidelines for infant formula labeling and consumer education.
Introduction: Building on a recent study that identified five health risk behavior profiles among males and six profiles among female adolescents from 43 European countries, this study aims to explore the youth’s perceived support from family, peers, and teachers in relation to these profiles. Despite the emphasis on adolescent health-risk behaviors and perceived social support systems in previous literature, limited research has examined how these support domains intersect with person-centered patterns of co-occurring health-risk behaviors. Methods: Using the most recent data from the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey (N = 68,688), this study used the Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars (BCH) method to assess differences in perceived family, peer, and teacher support across the profiles identified from eleven health-risk behaviors among 15-year-old adolescents based on latent profile analysis (LPA), separately for males and females. Results: The results revealed that adolescents in the Low-Risk profile reported the highest family and teacher support. Peer support was highest among males in the Poor Lifestyle–Smoking profile. The lowest support levels across all three domains were observed in the Poor Lifestyle–High Substance Use profile. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that social support patterns vary systematically across health-risk profiles, underscoring the importance of tailoring intervention strategies to adolescents’ specific needs. Since each profile represents a unique pattern of perceived support, a one-size-fits-all approach may be insufficient. Instead, prevention efforts that simultaneously strengthen family dynamics, peer and teacher relationships may offer the greatest benefits for adolescents who demonstrate multiple risk behaviors across different areas.Keywords: health-risk behavior, adolescence, latent profile analysis, social support, protective factors
BackgroundAcademic performance is closely linked to mental health, with psychopathology and subjective well-being (SWB) being significant predictors. While the individual relationships between these factors have been studied, their simultaneous influence on academic performance remains underexplored.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 2951 high school students from public, subsidized, and private schools across Chile. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms (DS), SWB, emotional problems (EP), and behavioral problems (BP). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships among these variables and their impact on academic performance, measured by grade point average (GPA).ResultsThe findings revealed significant correlations between DS, SWB, EP, and BP. Specifically, SWB was negatively associated with EP and BP, with a stronger correlation observed for EP. SEM analysis indicated that BP had a greater negative impact on GPA compared with EP. Positive associations were found between SWB and GPA, but these were weaker than the negative associations with EP and BP.ConclusionsMental health, particularly BP, plays a critical role in academic performance. Enhancing SWB and addressing EP and BP through targeted interventions could improve academic outcomes. The study highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to adolescent mental health that considers both positive and negative aspects to support academic success.
Innovative integrative approaches are needed to address the current child and adolescent mental health crisis. This review presents a new transdiagnostic preventative framework for conceptualising mental health and wellbeing (MHW) neurodevelopment in childhood and adolescence - The Neurodevelopmental Theory of Mental Health and Wellbeing Capacities (NDeTeC). The NDeTeC specifies two key neuro-cognitive-affective capacities underpinning MHW, together with their associated brain networks, positioned in a developmentally fine-grained and socially-contextualised perspective on MHW. The first capacity focuses on self-regulation and identifies neurodevelopmental processes underlying adaptive managing of thoughts, emotions and behaviours - including emotional awareness and regulation of distractions, reactivity, rumination and worry. This capacity is associated with adaptive patterns of connectivity in salience-executive-default mode networks, reward network and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary Axis. The second capacity, called the self-world capacity, specifies and integrates relational processes of MHW underpinning a connected, flexible, ethically-grounded and purposeful sense of self, which are associated with shared humanity, connectedness and prosocial agency. This capacity is linked to adaptive connectivity patterns in mentalizing, empathy, prosociality and default mode networks. The review outlines how the NDeTeC framework can enable integration of different MHW constructs and associated approaches to guide improvements in long-term MHW support for children and adolescents.
This qualitative study explores how academic self-efficacy shapes the construction of academic identity among doctoral students in China. Drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with doctoral students from diverse disciplines, the study identifies four primary sources of academic self-efficacy: past successful experiences, academic ability mirroring, feedback from significant others, and physical and psychological states. The findings reveal that academic self-efficacy plays a dual role in the identity formation process. On the one hand, a stable sense of academic self-efficacy functions as a pulling force, encouraging students to internalize the role of researcher and to align psychologically with the academic community. On the other hand, insufficient self-efficacy acts as a pushing force, leading to academic identity confusion and emotional struggles resembling impostor syndrome. These findings underscore the importance of fostering supportive yet autonomy-enhancing academic environments. The study contributes to the understanding of academic identity development by highlighting the psychological mechanisms through which self-efficacy influences identity construction.
The growing emphasis on family education has drawn increasing scholarly attention to parental involvement and family education choices, yet prior literature remains limited in its systematic analysis of their relationship. This study uses large-scale survey data to empirically uncover the basic characteristics and relationships of parental involvement behaviors and family education choices, with a particular focus on differences in these behaviors across children of different genders and grades, thereby enriching the existing literature with valuable evidence from China. Descriptive statistical results reveal that Chinese parents score relatively high on overt behaviors related to their children's academic and school social relationships, as well as active home-school communication while family discussion on children's internal emotional needs requires strengthening. Difference tests show parental involvement behaviors and family education choices exhibit significant differences across child gender and grade levels. Specifically, parents allocate greater resources to family supervision and home-school communication for males and invest more in family discussion for females. Parents prioritize family supervision and family discussion more for children in grade 7, and they allocate more resources to extracurricular tutoring choices and home-school communication behaviors for children in grade 9. Model estimation results indicate that giving instruction on homework and discussing children's worries and troubles are linked to a lower probability of enrolling children in extracurricular tutoring. These findings deepen the understanding of the relationships between parental involvement and family education variables within China's educational context, providing guidance for formulating rational strategies in family education practices.
The study was aimed at identifying the trajectory patterns of academic efficacy among Chinese college students, analyzing the factors related to different trajectory subgroups, and discussing the impact of different trajectory subgroups on anxiety symptoms. We used data from a 4-year longitudinal survey of Chinese college students to collect students ' academic self-efficacy and anxiety symptoms. Data analysis methods included the quadratic growth mixture model, the multinomial logistic regression model, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The results showed that we identified three trajectory patterns of college students ' academic self-efficacy: resilient (78.8%), growing (19.7%), and declining (1.5%). Gender, perceived health status, family social status, and family economic status were associated with different trajectory groups. In addition, the average scores of anxiety symptoms among different trajectory groups were significantly different, and the changes in anxiety subgroups showed an overall opposite trend to the academic self-efficacy subgroups. Lastly, we believed that identifying trajectory groups of academic self-efficacy and related factors of different subgroups was meaningful for educational reforms. In particular, educators should pay more attention to the academic self-efficacy and mental health of students in the declining and growing groups.
BackgroundThe transition from doctoral student to independent scholar represents a critical developmental turning point in emerging adulthood. Knowledge production serves as the central vehicle for validating identity during this phase, yet achieving such output is an inherently social endeavor. From a social network perspective, academic ties function as essential developmental scaffolds. However, access to these relational resources is often stratified. Currently, limited empirical evidence exists regarding whether and how relational structures shape the stratification of knowledge production.PurposeThis interdisciplinary mixed-methods study examines how the status and organizational attributes of alters in academic networks function as pathways to distinction. Specifically, we answer the following two questions: (1) How do diverse academic networks stratify doctoral students ' knowledge production? (2) How do the interactive mechanisms facilitate or constrain students ' knowledge production and developmental trajectories?Research DesignThis study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design guided by Biglan ' s widely cited framework, distinguishing between "soft" and "hard" disciplines. We first analyzed survey data applying zero-inflated negative binomial regression to identify structural patterns, followed by semistructured interviews to unpack the mechanisms of network utility.FindingsThe analysis reveals a "Matthew Effect" of cumulative advantage, where access to superior social capital creates widening gaps in academic advancement. Specifically, pathways to distinction are context-dependent. In soft disciplines, both status and organizational heterogeneity significantly enhance knowledge production, primarily driven by external faculty ties. In contrast, in hard disciplines, only organizational heterogeneity demonstrates a significant positive effect, with external peer relationships serving as the key channel. Qualitative evidence illuminates the complex interactions among doctoral training environments, disciplinary epistemological traits, and the effectiveness of different relational ties. The disciplinary context determines which ties are important, but individual and group dynamics decide whether network resources translate into realized professional distinction.ConclusionsGrounded in social network theory, we argue that the stratification of knowledge production is significantly shaped by the unequal distribution of relational resources. Academic networks are not merely indicators of individual social competence but structural foundations for developmental trajectory. When institutions delegate network-building solely to students, they may unintentionally reinforce structural isolation and create new forms of inequality amidst global doctoral enrollment expansion. These findings demand institutional investment in collaborative, justice-oriented doctoral training frameworks.
