Pilyoung Kim

Positive childhood experiences are increasingly recognized as important correlates of adult mental health, yet measurement tools developed in Western contexts have rarely been validated in East Asian populations. This study examined the psychometric properties of two versions of the Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) scale—the 10-item (BCEs-10) and the expanded 20-item (BCEs-20) version—in South Korea. A nationwide sample of 600 South Korean unmarried adults aged 19–30 (58% female) completed online questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analyses and nomological network analyses evaluated structural and discriminant validity, while regression-based moderation and person-centered cluster analyses examined how BCEs and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) jointly relate to mental health. Both versions showed a unidimensional structure. The BCEs-10 demonstrated stronger model fit and superior discriminant validity from ACEs, while the BCEs-20 accounted for somewhat greater variance in mental health outcomes. The links between BCEs, ACEs, and mental health followed nuanced rather than uniformly protective patterns, with cluster analyses identifying distinct profiles linked to differential mental health risk. Findings support the BCEs-10 as a parsimonious instrument with stronger conceptual separation from adversity, while highlighting the BCEs-20's enhanced model fit, and contribute cross-cultural evidence on early-life predictors of adult mental health.

1. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has improved rapidly in its ability to hold natural, multi-turn conversations. Conversational agents powered by generative AI models, such as ChatGPT and ...

Introduction: Robots are increasingly implemented across diverse social contexts. Empathy is one construct that has gained focus in human-robot interaction (HRI) research. While previous studies have demonstrated neural activation for explicit depictions of robot pain, this work has primarily used a limited range of human and robot stimuli, and it is less clear how humans perceive a broader range of faces. Methods: The current study examined the neural correlates of human empathy for robot pain using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and a diverse range of human and robot face stimuli. In Study 1, we conducted an online survey with N = 63 adults to identify and validate photo stimuli of subtle depictions of robot pain. In Study 2, N = 39 adults completed an fNIRS task in which they viewed and rated human and robot photos in a painful touch and neutral conditions. Results: In Study 1, results found that the painful touch condition stimuli successfully elicited the intended emotion. In Study 2, there were no significant differences in brain responses to human pain in comparison to robot pain, though results demonstrated behavioral sensitivity to both the touch and face conditions. Neuroimaging analyses also suggest that individual differences in self-oriented empathy is linked to neural activation for human and robot pain. Discussion: The current work contributes our understanding of the role of individual differences in self-rated empathy in shaping neural responses to robot pain and highlights the importance of tailoring HRI to the emotional and empathetic responses of users. We did not find evidence for significant differences in neural responses to human pain stimuli in comparison to robot pain stimuli, despite significant differences in behavioral pain ratings. This suggests a discrepancy between brain and behavior necessitating further inquiry.

While prior research has linked brain responses in late pregnancy to caregiving quality, no study has examined how neural responses to infant cues change across gestation and relate to postpartum parenting. Using fNIRS, we measured prefrontal responses to infant cues each trimester in 76 birthing parents (M = 29.49 years; 62.2% White, 14.9% Black, 16.2% other). Greater increases in right DLPFC and VMPFC responsivity to infant cries predicted more sensitive parenting, while increases in DLPFC responses to happy faces predicted greater parental structuring. Findings suggest a gradual, lateralized tuning of prefrontal systems to emotionally salient infant cues beginning early in gestation. Results highlight pregnancy as a sensitive window to support emerging caregiving capacities and inform early interventions for expectant parents.

This study developed and validated the Multidimensional Short-Form Video Use Motivation Scale to examine the multidimensional motivations underlying short-form video use. An initial pool of 33 items was generated through literature reviews and focus group interviews (FGIs), followed by content validation. Both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor (CFA) analyses were conducted with heavy users aged 19-40 who watch short-form videos for more than 2 hours daily. A 22-item, five-factor structure was finalized following EFA: Fun Seeking, Information Seeking, Convenience, Escapism, and Social Disconnection Avoidance. CFA supported both the multidimensional and higher-order two-factor models. Theoretical considerations supported adoption of the higher-order structure distinguishing Instrumental Motives (Fun Seeking, Information Seeking, Convenience) from Avoidance Motives (Escapism, Social Disconnection Avoidance). Criterion validity was supported by significant correlations with boredom, self-control, loneliness/social isolation, and behavioral activation/inhibition systems (BAS/BIS). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that Avoidance Motives accounted for substantially more variance in intensive short-form video use than Instrumental Motives when examined simultaneously. Findings reveal that short-form video use encompasses both instrumental and avoidance-oriented motivations, extending beyond traditional addiction frameworks and reflecting a nuanced spectrum of digital engagement in contemporary media ecologies.

Infant crying is a fundamental communication signal that captures caregiver attention and elicits caregiving responses. Executive function (EF) is critical in managing the cognitive and emotional demands of parenting, particularly in processing infant cues. This study explored the relationship between experienced EF difficulties and neural responses to infant crying among biological birthing parents. Participants were pregnant individuals from the Relationships of Parent–Infant Social, Emotional, and Brain Development project who completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Adult Version during the third trimester. Postpartum, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging measured brain activation in response to their own and other infants’ cries, as well as control sounds. Greater experienced EF difficulties during pregnancy were prospectively associated with increased cry-evoked activation in lateral temporal regions, including a conjunction cluster in the left middle temporal gyrus shared across all four EF subdomains, and overlapping recruitment of regions such as the left superior temporal gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus across multiple subdomains. These findings suggest that caregivers who report greater EF difficulties engage heightened auditory–temporal and control-related neural responses when processing infant distress signals, underscoring the relevance of EF-related individual differences for early parenting neurobiology.

General-purpose conversational AI chatbots and AI companions increasingly provide young adolescents with emotionally supportive conversations, raising questions about how conversational style shapes anthropomorphism and emotional reliance. In a preregistered online experiment with 284 adolescent-parent dyads, youth aged 11-15 and their parents read two matched transcripts in which a chatbot responded to an everyday social problem using either a relational style (first-person, affiliative, commitment language) or a transparent style (explicit nonhumanness, informational tone). Adolescents more often preferred the relational than the transparent style, whereas parents were more likely to prefer transparent style than adolescents. Adolescents rated the relational chatbot as more human-like, likable, trustworthy and emotionally close, while perceiving both styles as similarly helpful. Adolescents who preferred relational style had lower family and peer relationship quality and higher stress and anxiety than those preferring transparent style or both chatbots. These findings identify conversational style as a key design lever for youth AI safety, showing that relational framing heightens anthropomorphism, trust and emotional closeness and can be especially appealing to socially and emotionally vulnerable adolescents, who may be at increased risk for emotional reliance on conversational AI.