The importance of "willingness to communicate" (WTC) in foreign language learning has been widely discussed. However, the current research on WTC mainly focuses on traditional classrooms, and there is insufficient attention to WTC in L3 online learning. This study explored the psychological process among motivation, WTC, foreign language enjoyment (FLE), foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), and perceived positive language interaction (PPLI). Based on data collected from 492 college students who were taking the online L3 course, results showed that: (1) L3 learners were somewhat willing to use L3 for communicating in online classes; (2) motivation was positively related to WTC; (3) FLE and FLCA mediated the relationship between motivation and WTC differently; (4) PPLI had moderating effects on both the relationship between FLE and WTC and between FLCA and WTC. Implications of online foreign language learning were discussed.

This meta-analysis explores the impact of informal science education experiences (such as after-school programs, enrichment activities, etc.) on students' attitudes towards, and interest in, STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The research addresses two primary questions: (1) What is the overall effect size of informal science learning experiences on students' attitudes towards and interest in STEM? (2) How do various moderating factors (e.g., types of informal learning experience, student grade level, academic subjects, etc.) impact student attitudes and interests in STEM? The studies included in this analysis were conducted within the United States in K-12 educational settings, over a span of thirty years (1992–2022). The findings indicate a positive association between informal science education programs and student interest in STEM. Moreover, the variability in these effects is contingent upon several moderating factors, including the nature of the informal science program, student grade level, STEM subjects, publication type, and publication year. Summarized effects of informal science education on STEM interest are delineated, and the implications for research, pedagogy, and practice are discussed.

With increasing research attention on digital game use for purposes of both entertainment and nonentertainment (e.g., education and learning, training), more empirical studies have been conducted to explore various issues related to digital games and their uses and applications. Given the background of gender difference related to technology in general, gender difference in attitudes toward digital game use has been a topic in many research studies. However, findings from previous research studies on gender difference in attitudes toward digital game use were inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to address this issue. From the research literature up to January of 2023, 41 studies were identified as useable, thus included in this study. From these 41 studies, the cumulative sample size was 35,348, and a total of 133 effect sizes were obtained. Using a three-level random-effects meta-analytic model, a significant effect size of gender difference in attitudes toward digital game use (g = 0.21, 95 % CI: [0.10, 0.32]) was found. Moderator analyses showed that study features of game type (entertainment games vs. serious games) and sub-types of attitudes (self-efficacy, affect, and belief) contributed to the heterogeneity of the results across the studies. The implications of the findings, and the limitations and future research considerations were discussed.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of feedback on students' academic achievement in a technology-rich environment through a systematic and quantitative synthesis of the studies conducted over several decades. We focused on three issues: (a) the effectiveness of feedback in enhancing learning performance; (b) possible factors (feedback characteristics and study features) associated with different studies that could have resulted in the inconsistent findings across the studies; and (c) how different types of feedback differed in their effect in enhancing academic achievement. Based on 182 effect sizes extracted from 61 studies, we found that, compared with no feedback condition, feedback had at least a medium effect (g = 0.44, 95%CI [0.324, 0.555]) in enhancing academic achievement, and the effect of explanation feedback was the strongest compared to other types of feedback. The study further revealed that the feedback in blended learning was more effective than that in online learning. Possible explanations and implications of these findings, as well as limitations and future research directions were discussed.

The increasing prevalence of problematic internet use has heightened concerns about its adverse impact on internet users’ mental health. Despite reviews investigating the associations between problematic internet use and mental health outcomes, there is a lack of understanding of various aspects of students’ mental health. This study aimed to bridge this gap by providing a more comprehensive overall picture of this issue through a quantitative synthesis based on three-level random-effects meta-analytic models. In total, 223 studies with a cumulative total of 498,167 participants and 512 effect sizes were included in this synthesis. The results showed that problematic internet use was moderately and positively associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, and other mental health outcomes, and negatively related to subjective well-being. Moderator analyses revealed that several study features (i.e., school grade, region, measure of problematic internet use, publication year, and gender) could explain the variations in the findings across individual studies. These research results provide solid evidence for the link between problematic internet use and different mental health outcomes and have implications for future research and interventions on students’ problematic internet use.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and disordered eating by proposing and testing the mediating roles of body dissatisfaction and body image inflexibility. A total of 500 Chinese adults (48.8 % women) completed questionnaires for assessing trait emotional intelligence, body dissatisfaction, body image inflexibility, and disordered eating. Correlation analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationships between the study variables. Mediation analysis was performed to examine the mediating roles of body dissatisfaction and body image inflexibility in the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and disordered eating. Multi-group analysis was further conducted to assess the invariance of the mediation model across men and women. Correlation analyses revealed significant bivariate relationships among the four study variables. In both men and women, the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and disordered eating was fully mediated by body dissatisfaction and body image inflexibility. Multi-group invariance analysis showed that this mediation model was invariant across men and women. The findings shed light on the potential mechanisms in the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and disordered eating. In developing in-terventions for reducing disordered eating, the findings of the current study may be considered to improve intervention effectiveness.

Previous empirical studies on the effect of scaffolding in game-based learning environments have shown inconsistent findings. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effect of scaffolding in digital game-based learning (DGBL) and to explore a range of moderating factors that may have contributed to the inconsistencies of primary studies. We used the three-level meta-analysis method to analyze the data for handling data non-dependency issues of multiple effect sizes in one study. A total of 49 primary studies and 154 effect sizes were identified through systematic literature search. The results show that scaffolding in DGBL could effectively improve learning (g = 0.43, 95% CI: [0.30, 0.56]), and the heterogeneity among studies was significant (Q = 708.99, p < 0.001). Furthermore, our results indicate that the studies involving elementary school students and university students showed larger effect sizes of scaffolding than those involving secondary school students. Scaffolding also appeared to be differentially effective in different types of games: more effective in adventure, puzzle, and simulation games than in role-playing and strategy games. Future studies should pay attention to the design of scaffolding mechanisms in educational digital games and to the influence of scaffolding on behavioral patterns and learning processes of learners engaged in DGBL.

Despite numerous studies involving personality traits and second language (L2) learning achievement over many years, there is a lack of an overall picture about how personality traits are related to L2 learning achievement. This study aims to conduct a systematic quantitative synthesis of the studies that examined the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and L2 learning achievement. A total of 137 correlation coefficients from 31 primary studies conducted in 24 countries, with a total cumulative sample size of 8853 and published between 1982 and 2020, were included in this synthesis. The findings showed that openness to experience (r = .23; 95% CI: .15, .30; p < .001), conscientiousness (r = .18; 95% CI: .08, .28; p = .002), extraversion (r = .12; 95% CI: .02, .21; p = .017), and agreeableness (r = .10; 95% CI: .01, .18; p = .025) had positive correlations with L2 learning achievement, while neuroticism (r =  − .04; 95% CI: − .09, .02; p = .227) had a negative yet statistically non-significant correlation with L2 learning achievement. More specifically, openness to experience and conscientiousness were the stronger correlates with L2 learning achievement, followed by more moderate correlates of extraversion and agreeableness, while neuroticism was the weakest among the five. Furthermore, several study features (i.e., study region, age of participants, L1 and L2 similarities, and schooling levels) were shown to explain the variations in the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and L2 learning achievement across individual studies. Implications for L2 teaching and future research are discussed.

The psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Body Image Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (C-BI-AAQ) and its short form (C-BI-AAQ-5) were examined with a sample of Chinese undergraduates (n = 1,068, 52.6% female). The factor structure, measurement reliability, measurement invariance across gender, and latent gender mean difference of the two scales were explored. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the C-BI-AAQ and the C-BI-AAQ-5. The original one-factor structure was replicated for both the C-BI-AAQ and the C-BI-AAQ-5. Both the C-BI-AAQ and C-BI-AAQ-5 showed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity (e.g., relationship patterns in the expected directions with theoretically similar psychological flexibility, and with theoretically dissimilar body dissatisfaction, and psychological distress). The C-BI-AAQ-5 was shown to be equivalent to the C-BI-AAQ. Furthermore, strict measurement invariance across gender was confirmed for both the C-BI-AAQ and C-BI-AAQ-5, and latent mean difference tests showed that men had higher levels of body image flexibility than women. Thus, both the C-BI-AAQ and C-BI-AAQ-5 appear to be psychometrically sound instruments for use in the Chinese young adult population. In addition, body image flexibility measured by both the C-BI-AAQ and the C-BI-AAQ-5 fully mediated the relationship between body dissatisfaction and psychological distress.

The current study examined the factor structure, measurement reliability, measurement invariance across genders, and latent gender mean differences, of a new Chinese translation of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (C-AEBQ) in a Chinese young adult sample (n = 1,068, 52.57% women). The associations between the appetitive traits assessed by the AEBQ and body mass index were also explored. The previously established eight-factor model of the AEBQ was supported in the present sample. The C-AEBQ had strong measurement invariance between genders. Cronbach's alpha estimates of the eight subscales of the C-AEBQ ranged from 0.76 to 0.97, and the test-retest reliability coefficients of the subscales ranged from 0.50 to 0.77. The C-AEBQ had adequate convergent and divergent validity, as supported by the theoretically expected correlations between C-AEBQ and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. Furthermore, Satiety Responsiveness, Slowness in Eating, and Food Fussiness were inversely associated with body mass index. Overall, the C-AEBQ appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument as a comprehensive measure for appetitive traits for Chinese young adults.

Science education is attracting increasing attention and many researchers focus on the issue about the attitude-achievement relationship in science, but there is still no consistent conclusion. By using a three-level meta-analytic approach, the aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between attitude toward science and academic achievement in learning science among primary and secondary school students, and to explore if some study characteristics could have contributed to the inconsistent findings with regard to this relationship as observed in the research literature. A total of 37 studies with 132 effect sizes involving a total of 1,042,537 participants were identified. The meta-analytic results revealed that there was an overall positive and moderate relationship between attitude toward science and learning achievement in science ( r = 0.248, p < 0.001). The results further found that this association was moderated by the type of attitude and larger effect sizes were shown in self-efficacy than in interest, societal relevance of attitude toward science, and mixed attitude. Moreover, the effect sizes of studies with unstandardized measure to assess science achievement were larger than those with standardized measure. Possible explanations for these findings and its implications for future research directions were also discussed in this review.

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study employed multiple approaches to examine the stability of teacher–child interaction quality in Chinese preschools. Teacher–child interaction quality was measured using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) on five observational cycles within a school day. Several different metrics of stability were examined: (1) standard deviation; (2) correlation; (3) measurement invariance; (4) mean-level change, and (5) state–trait framework. Overall, results suggested that children in Chinese classrooms experienced the same facets of quality as measured by the CLASS as has been found in other countries. Furthermore, results indicated consistent quality levels of Emotional Support and Classroom Organization, and relatively inconsistent quality levels of Instructional Support within a school day. Practice or Policy: Building on previous work, this study contributed to the field by enhancing our understanding related to the dynamics of within-day variability of teacher-child interaction quality. Chinese teachers could benefit from evidence-based professional development guided by the CLASS framework. Tools such as the CLASS could be used to guide teachers to improve their instructional interactions in both quality level and stability.

Objective: The current study aimed to provide initial psychometric evidence for a Chinese version of the Nine-Item ARFID Screen (C-NIAS), which measures the symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), including picky eating, poor appetite/limited interest in eating, and fear of aversive consequences from eating. Method: The NIAS was translated into Chinese according to standard procedures. A total of 1,069 college students from mainland China responded to the C-NIAS. The factor structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed using regression analyses. Finally, measurement invariance was tested, and latent mean differences were compared, between Chinese and American college samples. Results: The measure’s original three-factor structure was confirmed. Strong measurement invariance between college samples of the United States and China was supported, and Chinese students had significantly higher latent mean scores on all three factors. The subscales showed the expected patterns of correlations with other validity constructs. Conclusions: The C-NIAS shows good psychometric characteristics and holds promise to facilitate much-needed research on subclinical symptoms of this understudied eating disorder in Chinese-speaking adult populations. Moreover, Chinese college students demonstrate greater potential ARFID symptomatology than American counterparts. More attention to ARFID should be called for in China.

We examined early trajectories for academic and social skills among four groups of rural, preschool-attending, children in the Guangdong province of China: Village children (N=176) who remained in a rural village and lived with both parents, Migrant children (N = 79) who migrated with their work-seeking parents to live in an urban area, Partially-left-behind children (N= 63) who lived with one parent in a rural village while the other parent migrated to the city for work, and Completely-left-behind children (N= 57) who stayed in a rural village with relatives while both parents migrated to the city for work. Children (n = 375) were individually assessed for social skills, vocabulary, executive functioning, Chinese character reading, and math at four time points over their last two years before formal schooling. For all academic outcomes at exit of preschool, completely-left-behind children showed the lowest performance compared to other groups. Children who remained at home with their parents did better than completely-left-behind children on all outcomes at the final time point except for vocabulary. Migrant children generally performed better than other groups. Partially-left-behind children showed strong growth and final performance in executive functioning compared to other groups. In sum, while migration to the city appears to be associated with enhanced early academic learning for rural children, completely-left-behind children appeared to be at greatest risk. Results are interpreted in terms of current policies in China aimed at improving early childhood services in rural areas. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

There is ample evidence suggesting that negative emotional eating is closely related to disordered eating behaviors. However, most previous studies on the topic focused only on emotional over-eating, but neglected emotional under-eating. Moreover, previous studies also mainly used variable-oriented methods by reducing negative emotional eating to a single dimension, which limits our understanding of individual differences in negative emotional eating. In this study, we used a person-oriented approach, latent class analysis (LCA), to examine the negative emotional eating patterns and to characterize these patterns in a sample of 1,068 Chinese young adults (52.6% females, aged 17-24 years). Negative emotional eating was measured by the Emotional Over-Eating and Emotional Under-Eating subscales of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Four patterns, namely, "non-emotional eating" (38.9%), "emotional over- and under-eating" (15.4%), "emotional over-eating" (14.7%), and "emotional under-eating" (31.0%), were identified. Sex and BMI were found to be statistically significant predictors for negative emotional eating patterns. The identified four patterns showed significant differences in eating disorder symptoms and psychological distress. Particularly, participants in emotional over- and under-eating exhibited the highest level of eating disorder symptoms and psychological distress. Overall, this study identified four distinct negative emotional eating patterns, among which, the emotional over- and under-eating was the most problematic. Future studies regarding negative emotional eating and its impact on mental health may benefit from focusing not only on individuals with emotional over-eating, but also on those showing a mixed pattern of negative emotional eating.

The negative effect of mother-daughter relationship on female's eating behaviors has been widely reported; however, few studies examined how other family members-child relationships might be related to children's eating behaviors, especially for male children. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether child abuse by family members (parents and others) was related to overeating (four levels of eating disorder symptoms) among Chinese adolescents. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a school-based sample of 4346 middle school students in China, and the participants completed self-report measures for child abuse, overeating, and demographic variables. Bivariate correlation analyses and ordinal logistic regression analyses (adjusting for potential confounding variables) were performed to estimate the association between childhood abuse by different family members and overeating. Boys and girls who reported higher levels of child abuse perpetrated by their father, mother, and other family members showed higher levels of overeating. These three sources (father, mother, other members) of family member abuse were differentially associated with overeating between boys and girls. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, boys who experienced child abuse by fathers (OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.14-1.98) and by other family members (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.00-2.71) were more likely to have overeating. However, for girls, experiences of child abuse by fathers (OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.31-2.31) and by mothers (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.03-1.83) were significant predictors for overeating. The results not only replicated previous findings that child abuse could contribute to overeating, but also extended previous findings by showing that the sources of family abuse could influence overeating differently for boys and girls.

Objective Picky eating (PE) is common across the lifespan and related to psychosocial impairment and limited dietary variety. However, research about PE in non-Western countries is limited. Because eating behaviors may differ by culture, operationalizing PE in non-Western countries (e.g., China) is needed. The present study aimed to replicate two previous studies identifying PE profiles in Western countries by using latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify and characterize adults reporting picky eating in a Chinese sample. Method A sample of 1,068 Chinese young adults completed a battery of questionnaires including the adult eating behavior questionnaire (AEBQ). LPA was utilized to identify eating profiles. The three-step approach was used to examine predictors of latent memberships and profile differences on various self-reported measures. Results The best fit was a four-profile solution, with two picky eating profiles emerging: picky eating and severe picky eating. Compared to those in the other two profiles, participants in the picky eating profile (19.4%) and severe picky eating profile (3.3%) had significantly higher scores on self-reported eating disorder symptoms and psychological distress, and lower scores on self-reported food-related life satisfaction. Relative to the picky eating profile, participants in the severe picky eating profile reported significantly greater self-reported eating disorder symptoms, psychological distress, and food-related dissatisfaction. Discussion Characterizing PE profiles is an important step toward understanding eating behaviors among Chinese young adults. Identifying various eating profiles has implications for future research related to PE, including the development of diagnostic tools and interventions to address PE in a Chinese context.

Previous research studies on the relationship between body dissatisfaction and sexual orientation in men and women showed inconsistent results. To better understand this body of research, we conducted a quantitative synthesis based on a three-level random-effects meta-analytic model. In total, we analyzed 229 effect sizes from 75 primary studies published between 1986 and 2019. Results showed that sexual minority men had a higher level of body dissatisfaction than heterosexual men (57 studies, 128 effect sizes), with a small to medium effect size (d = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.39). Other comparisons-bisexual men vs. gay men (6 studies, 9 effect sizes), sexual minority women vs. heterosexual women (36 studies, 85 effect sizes), and bisexual women vs. lesbian women (6 studies, 7 effect sizes)-showed smaller and statistically insignificant differences. Moderator analyses revealed that the inconsistency in previous studies comparing sexual minority men and heterosexual men could be partially explained by specific study features, including publication year, survey method, participants' age, participants' BMI, and measures used to assess body dissatisfaction. The inconsistent findings in comparing sexual minority women and heterosexual women could be partially explained by the different survey methods used in previous studies. Explanations and implications are discussed.