The alleviating effect of positive youth development (PYD) on psychopathological symptoms (PS) represents the less vulnerability hypothesis, while the damaging effect of PS on PYD represents the competitional hypothesis or the scar hypothesis. This study aims to explore which hypothesis is more dominant and which component of PYD plays the central role across developmental stages and environmental adversity. Two longitudinal waves of 40,473 Chinese adolescents (48.4% girls, M age  = 12.67 ± 2.28) were analysed via a cross-lagged network panel model. The results showed that competition indeed exists between the PYD and PS systems, while the alleviating effect of the PYD is greater than the damaging effect of the PS system, but less than the self-loop effect within the PS system. The PYD components with the most alleviating effects are self-esteem, emotion regulation and self-regulation. With adolescents maturing (early, middle and late adolescence), the alleviating effect surpasses the damaging effect and self-loop effect in the PS system. When adversity (low, moderate and high) increases in severity, the alleviating effect also surpasses the damaging effect and self-loop effect in the PS system. In addition, resilience plays a central role in alleviating the PS system only when adversity is high. Compared with the scar hypothesis, the less vulnerability hypothesis showed a more powerful impact. Early and adversity-aimed interventions aimed at promoting adolescents' positive attributes are the most beneficial. The central PYD components should be treated as core targets in future intervention programs.

Introduction Network theory conceptualizes psychopathology as dynamic interactions among symptoms within interconnected networks. The network dynamics of psychopathological symptoms among adolescents may vary substantially across individuals, yet this heterogeneity remains underexplored. Depression, anxiety, and problematic smartphone use (PSU) are common and frequently co-occurring indicators of psychopathology during adolescence and may mutually reinforce one another over time. Based on these three indicators, this study investigated distinct developmental trajectories of adolescent psychopathology and characterized their heterogeneous network structures, longitudinal associations, and core symptoms. Methods 9653 Chinese fifth-grade students (49.7% female; Mage = 10.14 ± 0.36 years) completed self-reported measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and PSU across four waves with one-year intervals. Group-based multi-trajectory modeling was used to identify heterogeneous developmental trajectories of psychopathological symptoms, and cross-lagged panel network analysis was applied to examine network dynamics of each group. Results Three developmental trajectories were identified: a low-risk group (34.8%), a potential-risk group (49.9%), and a high-risk group (15.2%). Network structures differed substantially across subgroups: the low-risk group showed a stable resilient network with low connectivity, the potential-risk group exhibited a transitional and highly spreading network with weak connections, and the high-risk group demonstrated a stable active network with strong connectivity. Comparison worry, depressed mood, and worthlessness emerged as central symptoms, especially in the potential- and high-risk groups. Conclusions These findings enhance understanding of how symptoms spread and sustain in adolescent psychopathology, highlight heterogeneity in network dynamics, and offer implications for explaining comorbidity, and informing risk identification and targeted prevention strategies.

IntroductionAlthough peer victimization is a known risk factor for depression, the specific mediating and moderating processes need further study.MethodsThis research used self-report data from 58,753 fourth graders to measure peer victimization, selfesteem, resilience, and depression.ResultsThe analysis showed that peer victimization was associated with depression both directly (71.92%) and indirectly (28.08%). The relationship between peer victimization and depression was partially mediated by self-esteem. Resilience exhibited a protective-enhancing effect in the relationship between peer victimization and depression: its role strengthened as peer victimization worsens. Whereas, resilience demonstrated protective-reactive effect of both peer victimization on self-esteem and self-esteem on depression, its protective effect attenuated when high victimization coincided with very low self-esteem. Clarified that protective-enhancing applies only to the direct path, while protective-reactive applies to the two indirect paths.ConclusionAlthough peer victimization is a crucial predictor of depression, effective interventions for depression must extend beyond fostering supportive peer environments by also targeting key internal processes—specifically, by building resilience and disrupting the internalization of victimization into negative self-esteem.

BACKGROUND:Although prior studies have examined developmental trajectories of adolescent self-harm in terms of frequency and severity, a fundamental gap remains: we lack a dynamic, state-specific understanding of how self-harm ideation and behavior develop during early adolescence. Moreover, few studies have prospectively examined how baseline predictors relate to subsequent self-harm pathways. METHODS:Using four annual waves of data from a large-scale Chinese adolescent cohort (N = 11,366; 48.6% female; T1: Mage = 10.72 ± 0.29 years), this study used a person-centered approach to delineate distinct self-harm trajectories and interpretable machine learning methods to identify their baseline predictors. RESULTS:Five heterogeneous trajectories were identified: persistently low-risk, persistent ideation, ideation remission, behavior-to-ideation, and ideation-to-behavior. Although depressive symptoms, self-blame, family stress, and gender emerged as the most influential predictors overall, the predictors varied substantially across trajectories, indicating meaningful differences in their developmental drivers. CONCLUSIONS:These findings demonstrate the heterogeneous developmental trajectories of self-harm states in early adolescents and reveal trajectory-specific risk predictors, underscoring the importance of prevention efforts that should consider both shared and distinct factors across pathways.

BACKGROUND:The alleviating effect of positive youth development (PYD) on psychopathological symptoms (PS) represents the less vulnerability hypothesis, while the damaging effect of PS on PYD represents the competitional hypothesis or the scar hypothesis. This study aims to explore which hypothesis is more dominant and which component of PYD plays the central role across developmental stages and environmental adversity. METHOD:Two longitudinal waves of 40,473 Chinese adolescents (48.4% girls, Mage = 12.67 ± 2.28) were analysed via a cross-lagged network panel model. RESULTS:The results showed that competition indeed exists between the PYD and PS systems, while the alleviating effect of the PYD is greater than the damaging effect of the PS system, but less than the self-loop effect within the PS system. The PYD components with the most alleviating effects are self-esteem, emotion regulation and self-regulation. With adolescents maturing (early, middle and late adolescence), the alleviating effect surpasses the damaging effect and self-loop effect in the PS system. When adversity (low, moderate and high) increases in severity, the alleviating effect also surpasses the damaging effect and self-loop effect in the PS system. In addition, resilience plays a central role in alleviating the PS system only when adversity is high. CONCLUSIONS:Compared with the scar hypothesis, the less vulnerability hypothesis showed a more powerful impact. Early and adversity-aimed interventions aimed at promoting adolescents' positive attributes are the most beneficial. The central PYD components should be treated as core targets in future intervention programs.

Parental educational anxiety (PEA) has become an increasingly salient issue in global educational systems, especially in East Asian societies where academic competition is intense. Although previous studies have identified associations between parental educational anxiety and negative adolescent outcomes, the mechanisms underlying this association remain inadequately understood. Guided by family systems theory, this cross-sectional study investigated the pathways linking parental educational anxiety to adolescent problem behaviors, using survey data from 1131 Chinese adolescents and their parents. Results revealed four key findings: First, parental educational anxiety was weakly but statistically correlated with adolescent problem behaviors. Second, psychological control partially mediated this relationship. Third, a serial mediation pathway was identified in which psychological control negatively affected the parent-child relationship. Fourth, gender differences were observed. For boys, psychological control and parent-child relationship acted as independent mediators. For girls, only the serial mediation effect was significant. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the "anxiety-control-estrangement" pathway in Chinese families and provide a theoretical basis for family-oriented interventions aimed at reducing adolescent behavioral problems.

Unsatisfactory peer relationships are crucial predictors of internet addiction (IA) among children. However, the manner in which they bidirectional influence one another remains unclear. This study explored the mediating and moderating mechanisms of peer relationship that affect IA. Data were obtained from 65,868 fourth-grade students using four questionnaires. Results of the moderated mediation model demonstrated that peer victimization partially mediated the negative association between peer relationship and IA. The protective effect of resilience was universal across all three mediation pathways, offering particularly strong protective benefits for children in the high-resilience group. Hence, resilience can offer adequate protection for children to buffer the effects of adversities, indicating that addressing intrinsic factors may be crucial in overcoming the detrimental effects of external peer environments on their addictive behaviors.

Although many studies have indicated that problematic smartphone use and depressive symptoms are closely associated and frequently co-occur in adolescence, little is known about their heterogeneous co-occurrence profiles and how these profiles evolve over time. Using person-centered approaches (LPA and RT-LTA), this study identified the co-occurrence patterns of problematic smartphone use and depressive symptoms, examined their transitions, and investigated the roles of social support and self-control on transitions. A total of 8969 Chinese adolescents (49.3

Introduction:Mental health issues frequently cluster during adolescence, necessitating a deeper understanding of their developmental trajectories and their impact on behavioral outcomes like smartphone addiction. Based on diathesis-stress model and I-PACE model, this study examined the joint trajectories of depressive symptoms, family stress perception, and academic stress perception among adolescents and their relationship with smartphone addiction. Methods:12,074 Chinese adolescents (47.9% girls; M age = 12.28 ± 0.45 years) were assessed for depressive symptoms, perceived family stress and academic stress from seventh to ninth grade, with smartphone addiction measured in the final year. Results:Using a group-based multi-trajectory model, five distinct trajectories were identified: Low-Stable (23.8%), Moderate-Stable (45.9%), Moderate-Increasing (14.8%), High-Decreasing (11.2%), and High-Stable (4.3%). Gender differences were evident, as girls were more likely than boys to belong to higher stress or depressive symptoms trajectories compared to the low-stable group. Smartphone addiction scores differed significantly across trajectory groups, ranging from high-stable to low-stable. Girls consistently showed higher smartphone addiction scores, although the interaction between gender and trajectory group was not significant. Conclusion:These findings highlight the importance of recognizing both shared and individual patterns of adolescent mental health development. Schools and families should implement tailored interventions to address depression and stress, particularly for vulnerable groups such as girls, to mitigate the risk of smartphone addiction and promote overall mental well-being.

Family income is an important factor that affects depression in children and can indirectly be associated with children’s development through family and individual factors. However, few studies have examined the mechanism of multiple risk factors. Therefore, this study focused on the relationship between family income and child depression, as well as the chain mediating the roles of parental involvement and children’s self-esteem both in single-parent families and intact families. A total of 1355 primary school students completed questionnaires that assessed family income, parental involvement, children’s self-esteem, and depression. The results showed that family income influenced child depression through both the mediating roles of parental involvement and children’s self-esteem and the chain mediating role of parental involvement and children’s self-esteem. Meanwhile, family income only influenced child depression through chain mediation in single-parent families. The group differences in the mechanism of depression provide a reference for empirical research on depression intervention in children from different family structures.

Background: The alleviating effect of positive youth development (PYD) on psychopathological symptoms (PS) represents the less vulnerability hypothesis, while the damaging effect of PS on PYD represents the competitional hypothesis, or the scar hypothesis. From a dynamically systematic perspective, this study examines the two hypotheses across adolescents’ developmental stages and environmental adversity.Method: Two longitudinal waves of 40473 adolescents (48.4% girls, Mage=11.73±2.29; Nearly-adolescence=20272, Nmiddle-adolescence=13405, Nlate-adolescence=6796) were analysed via a cross-lagged network panel model. Results: The results showed that competition indeed exists between the PYD and PS systems, while the alleviating effect from PYD (effect=0.163) is greater than the damaging effect from the PS system (effect=0.081) but lower than the self-loop effect within the PS system (effect=0.176). The PYD components with the most alleviating effects are self-esteem (effect =0.055), emotion regulation (effect =0.039), and self-regulation (effect =0.018). With adolescents maturing (early, middle, and late adolescence), the alleviating effect surpasses the damaging effect (p<0.001) and self-loop effect (p <0.001) in the PS system. When adversity (low, moderate, and high) increases in severity, the alleviating effect also surpasses the damaging effect (p <0.001) and self-loop effect (p<0.001) in the PS system. In addition, resilience plays a central role in alleviating the PS system only when adversity is high. Conclusion: Compared with the scar hypothesis, the less vulnerability hypothesis showed a more powerful impact. Early and adversity-aimed interventions aimed at promoting adolescents’ positive attributes are the most beneficial. The central PYD components should be treated as core targets in future intervention programs.

Adverse perinatal factors can interfere with the normal development of the brain, potentially resulting in long-term effects on the comprehensive development of children. Presently, the understanding of cognitive and neurodevelopmental processes under conditions of adverse perinatal factors is substantially limited. There is a critical need for an open resource that integrates various perinatal factors with the development of the brain and mental health to facilitate a deeper understanding of these developmental trajectories. In this Data Descriptor, we introduce a multicenter database containing information on perinatal factors that can potentially influence children's brain-mind development, namely, periCBD, that combines neuroimaging and behavioural phenotypes with perinatal factors at county/region/central district hospitals. PeriCBD was designed to establish a platform for the investigation of individual differences in brain-mind development associated with perinatal factors among children aged 3-10 years. Ultimately, our goal is to help understand how different adverse perinatal factors specifically impact cognitive development and neurodevelopment. Herein, we provide a systematic overview of the data acquisition/cleaning/quality control/sharing, processes of periCBD.

Adolescents frequently encounter elevated levels of digital stress by exposure to digital media (e.g., smartphone stress). Their ongoing brain development increases adolescents' susceptibility to digital stress, making them more vulnerable to its adverse effects. Among digital devices, smartphones are the most widely used ones by adolescents and a primary source of digital stress. The current study aims to investigate the robust association between digital stress, specifically smartphone stress, and adolescent mental health. The study also aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of this association. In Study 1, a multiverse-style analysis was employed to investigate the robust relationship between smartphone stress and mental health (depression and well-being) in a large sample of adolescents (N = 74 182, male = 39 192). This method was chosen for its robustness of various data manipulations to test the effect of interest, and median beta and NSRPD (number of significant results in predominant direction) were used as statistical inference indicators of the effect. In Study 2, we conducted an intensive longitudinal design to examine the mechanism of how smartphone stress affects mental health among adolescents (N = 477, female = 214, M-age = 12.67 +/- 0.31). Before intensive longitudinal design, we assessed smartphone stress, well-being, and depression (T1). Subsequently, daily rumination (consecutive 17 days, T2) and daily negative mood (consecutive 18 days, T3) were assessed over a 35-day period. Upon intensive longitudinal design, we once again measured well-being and depression (T4). We found that rumination, negative emotion ( NE), and rumination-NE (serial mediation) mediate the link between smartphone stress and mental health ( smartphone stress-depression model, smartphone stress-well-being model). Study 1 indicated that over half of adolescents (52.6% of grade 4 students and 78.2% of grade 8 students) experienced smartphone stress. Furthermore, smartphone stress strongly and robustly predicted depression (Median beta = 0.37, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 160/160, p < 0.001, partial r(2) = 0.172) and well-being (Median beta = -0.14, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 160/160, p < 0.001, partial r(2) = 0.011). Effect sizes from both outcomes (partial r(2) > 0.010) are capable to inform policy and the public sphere. Study 2 revealed that rumination intensity, negative emotion intensity, and rumination-negative emotion intensity mediate the relationship between smartphone stress and depression. However, no mediation was found for rumination or negative emotion fluctuation. In smartphone stress-well-being model, negative emotion intensity and rumination-negative emotion intensity, but not rumination intensity, mediated the association between smartphone stress and well-being. Moreover, negative emotion and rumination-negative emotion fluctuation, but not rumination fluctuation, mediated the association between smartphone stress and well-being. Therefore, the intensity and fluctuation of rumination and negative emotion are common mediators in the relationship between smartphone stress and depression/well-being, while the effects of mechanisms are outcome-dependent. The findings pinpoint the significant and robust effect of smartphone stress on depression and well-being among adolescents. The mediation of rumination and negative emotion in the relationship between smartphone stress and mental health probes into the mechanism of this relationship. These results support classic theories (e.g., the Emotional Cascade Model) and confirm and enrich the recent Media use-Digital stress-Mental health model. These findings could also inform future interventions for mental health problems related to smartphone stress.

Purpose:A considerable body of evidence indicated that interpersonal relationships were significantly associated with short-form video addiction (SFVA) among adolescents, but how they are related on a symptom level at different ages remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the central symptoms of SFVA and distinct associations between three primary interpersonal relationships (ie, teacher-student relationships, parent-child relationships, peer relationships) and SFVA symptoms in early and middle adolescence. Participants and Methods:After completing scales of SFVA, teacher-student relationship, parent-child relationship and peer relationship in 2022, a sample of 1579 fourth-grade students (age range: 10-12; M age = 10.91, SD = 0.48; 38.6% females) and 2229 eighth-grade students (age range: 13-15; M age = 14.82, SD = 0.36; 44.5% females) who were at high risk of SFVA were included in this study. A network analysis approach was conducted to analyze the data. Results:SFVA3 hard to control and SFVA2 increasing time for satisfaction were the most central symptoms of SFVA in both early and middle adolescence. Among interpersonal relationships, teacher-student relationships and peer relationships were the most influential bridge nodes that exerted the largest impact on SFVA in early and middle adolescence, respectively. Comparison of the networks indicated no significant differences in overall network structures, global strength and most edge connections between early and middle adolescence. Conclusion:These findings uncover the interconnections between heterogeneous SFVA symptoms and underscore the unique importance of teacher-student relationships and peer relationships on SFVA in different stages of adolescence, which can be harnessed in the design of future preventive interventions.

ObjectiveAccording to Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development, focus on exploring the mechanism of person characteristics (achievement motivation) in their own development (improvement of educational practice ability).MethodA survey was conducted on 1,225 pre-service teachers in Anhui Province, China, using the Achievement Motivation Scale, Professional Identity Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, and Educational Practice Ability Scale.Results(1) Achievement motivation can significantly and positively predict pre-service teachers’ educational practice ability; (2) Achievement motivation can indirectly affect pre-service teachers’ educational practice ability through the mediating effects of professional identity and learning engagement; (3) Professional identity and learning engagement play a chain mediated role in the impact of achievement motivation on pre-service teachers’ educational practice ability.

Purpose:With the increasing ubiquity of smartphones in our daily lives, technoference has emerged as a novel threat to family relationships and child development. This study explored the impact of parent-child technoference on child problematic smartphone use and its underlying mechanism and potential gender difference among children.Participants and Methods:The participants were 3032 fourth-grade students (42.6% female; 80.6% one-child families; 32.9% lower income level families, 33.3% middle income level families; Mage = 10.59 years, SD=0.32) from 535 primary schools. Students in the target classes were invited to participate anonymously in the questionnaire survey in classrooms. Then, SPSS, AMOS and other software were used to analyze the data.Results:1) Parent-child technoference, negative parenting styles and child problematic smartphone use were positively correlated with each other, while they were negatively correlated with parent-child relationship; 2) Parent-child technoference can not only directly and positively predict child problematic smartphone use, but also indirectly and positively predict child problematic smartphone use through parent-child relationship and negative parenting styles respectively; 3) Parent-child relationship and negative parenting styles play a chain mediating role between parent-child technoference and child problematic smartphone use; 4) There are significant gender differences in the chain mediation model.Conclusion:The results showed that parent-child technoference significantly affected child problematic smartphone use through a chain mediation of parent-child relationship and negative parenting styles. Gender differences were observed, with girls experiencing a more pronounced disruption in the parent-child relationship, while boys were more likely to develop problematic smartphone use. In cases of strained parent-child relationships due to technoference, girls also tended to perceive more negative parenting styles. These findings promote parents' understanding of the influencing factors and mechanisms of child problematic smartphone use, especially helpful for follow-up measures to prevent and intervene child problematic smartphone use from the perspective of families and parents.