Martijn Van Heel

Interpersonal contact is essential for cooperation and care, but it also provides a route for pathogen transmission between individuals. Hence, a key challenge for social organisms involves maintaining beneficial social contact while also limiting exposure to infection risks. Existing proposals suggest that this trade-off is guided by the interpersonal value of specific social targets. In addition, ecological and cultural factors including historical pathogen prevalence, individualism-collectivism, tightness-looseness, and relational mobility might also shape how people avoid pathogens. To test whether and how infection-risky social contact varies with individual-level interpersonal value and these societal-level factors, we collected data from 61 societies (n = 42,756). Participants were randomly assigned to imagine targets who varied in interpersonal value, then rated their comfort with infection-risky contact with that target (e.g., drinking from the same water bottle) and whether they would touch the target when greeting them. In all societies, participants were more comfortable with infection-risky contact and more likely to engage in physical contact during greetings with targets of higher interpersonal value. Such associations varied only modestly across societies. Notably, the associations between infection-risky contact and societal-level factors depended on target interpersonal value and were concentrated among high-value targets – contact was lower where historical pathogen prevalence and tightness were greater, and higher where individualism and relational mobility were greater. These findings suggest that infection-risky contact is primarily guided by the value of social targets, with ecological and cultural factors playing a lesser role.

Interpersonal contact is essential for cooperation and care, but it also provides a route for pathogen transmission between individuals. Hence, a key challenge for social organisms involves maintaining beneficial social contact while also limiting exposure to infection risks. Existing proposals suggest that this trade-off is guided by the interpersonal value of specific social targets. In addition, ecological and cultural factors, including historical pathogen prevalence, individualism-collectivism, tightness–looseness, and relational mobility, might also shape how people avoid pathogens. To test whether and how infection-risky social contact varies with individual-level interpersonal value and these societal-level factors, we collected data from 47,756 participants across 61 societies. Participants were randomly assigned to picture a social target - either a friend, acquaintance, stranger, or enemy. They then rated their comfort with infection-risky contact with that target (e.g., drinking from the same water bottle) and whether they would touch the target when greeting them. In all societies, participants were more comfortable with infection-risky contact and more likely to engage in physical contact during greetings with targets of higher interpersonal value. Such associations varied only modestly across societies. Notably, the associations between infection-risky contact and societal-level factors depended on target interpersonal value and were concentrated among high-value targets—contact was lower where historical pathogen prevalence and tightness were greater and higher where individualism and relational mobility were greater. These findings suggest that infection-risky contact is primarily guided by the value of social targets, with ecological and cultural factors playing a lesser role.

This study examined psychosocial profiles of Tanzanian primary school children and their associations with school refusal, absenteeism, and academic performance using a person‐centered approach. Guided primarily by Bronfenbrenner's bioecological PPCT model, and secondarily by Kearney's functional model of school refusal, school functioning was conceptualised as shaped by child vulnerabilities and proximal relational contexts. Participants were 496 pupils (58.6% female, 41.4% male; ages 9–15 years, M = 11.97, SD = 1.28) from Grades 4–7 in 10 government primary schools. Gaussian finite mixture modeling supported a six‐profile solution based on separation anxiety, externalising and attention symptoms, and perceived parent and peer support. Multilevel analyses accounting for school‐level clustering showed no statistically significant overall profile differences in absenteeism or academic performance. However, pairwise comparisons indicated that pupils in the Anxious and Socially Unsupported profile reported significantly higher school refusal than those in the Low Psychosocial Risk profile (estimate = 0.43, p < 0.001). Descriptively, the higher‐risk profile also showed more unexcused absenteeism ( M = 8.42 vs. 2.14 days over 3 months) and lower academic performance ( M = 52.34% vs. 68.92%). Findings highlight school refusal as a salient behavioral indicator of psychosocial risk in Tanzanian primary schools and support targeted identification and response strategies.

Previous cross‐sectional studies have linked over‐parenting to adolescent non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI), but within‐person associations, especially across cultures, remain unexplored. This study investigated the transactional association between over‐parenting and NSSI among Chinese ( N = 596, M _age = 15.05, SD _age = 1.27) and Belgian ( N = 213, M _age = 14.22, SD _age = 1.57) adolescents using a random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel model (RI‐CLPM) across three waves with a 3‐month interval. The results revealed no significant within‐person predictive effects between over‐parenting and NSSI over time in either the Chinese or Belgian subsample. However, a significant between‐person association was observed in the Chinese sample, but not in the Belgian sample. Multi‐group RI‐CLPM analysis indicated no significant cross‐cultural differences in autoregressive and cross‐lagged paths, nor in between‐ or within‐person associations, suggesting cultural similarities. Potential mechanisms linking over‐parenting to NSSI and directions for future research are discussed.

Although instant messaging (IM) is generally perceived as beneficial for adolescents, the effects seem to be individual‐specific. Building on the poor‐get‐richer and rich‐get‐richer hypotheses that theorize about whom benefits from IM, we constructed dispositional profiles and compared them in terms of perceived IM social support and mental health correlates. A latent profile analysis (n = 1014) identified four dispositional profiles on the basis of adolescents' big five personality traits, social anxiety level, and social comparison orientation (SCO). Adolescents with average scores (+0.5SD to −0.5SD) on all three indicators (32.90%) were labeled ‘average’ A second group (45.44%) showed average to moderate scores (±0.51SD to ±1SD) with a trend toward low social anxiety, low neuroticism, and low SCO. Hence, this profile was named ‘average‐resilient’. Third, highly socially anxious (±1.01SD to ±2SD), moderately neurotic, and moderately introvert adolescents with a moderately high SCO (18.36%) received the label ‘sensitive’. A fourth group (3.31%) included highly extravert, highly emotionally stable adolescents with a low SCO who were not open for new experiences. They were extremely unfriendly (>+2SD or >−2SD), moderately unconscientious, and moderately socially fearless. These individuals were denoted ‘extravert‐indifferent’. Average‐resilient adolescents experienced less loneliness and depressive symptoms compared to the group with an average profile. Although sensitive individuals perceived more IM informational and instrumental support than the average(−resilient) group, they showed an increased vulnerability to loneliness, depression, and past and prospective nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) compared to the same group(s). While extravert‐indifferent adolescents generally reported less IM emotional and instrumental support than the other profiles, they indicated that they were less lonely than average and sensitive individuals. Remarkably, they previously engaged in NSSIs more often than all other groups. Given the mixture of advantageous and disadvantageous effects, we conclude that research on the basis of the poor‐get‐richer and the rich‐get‐richer hypothesis overrates the decisive impact of singular characteristics. Instead, the combination of different dispositional traits determines whether or not the individual is capable of achieving beneficial IM effects.

The rapid rise of esports has prompted growing concern for the mental health of esports athletes. Gaining a better understanding of the mental health status of esports athletes is crucial to recognize the health risks associated with the industry, as well as inform targeted mental health interventions. Thus, the aim of the current study was to examine the mental health status of a large sample of esports athletes, spanning different performance levels and esports titles. Using a cross-sectional survey, we examined the well-being and symptoms of common mental disorders, in an international sample of 1,105 esports athletes. Overall, 36.7% of participants reported low well-being, 44.7% experienced symptoms of depression, 33.4% experienced anxiety, and 69.3% experienced sleep disturbance. The findings suggest that the mental health burden of esports athletes may be greater than previously reported. Moreover, esports athletes of higher competitive levels and females reported higher symptoms of mental ill-health but also higher well-being, relative to esports athletes of lower competitive levels and males, respectively. Future research is needed to better understand and explain this mental health burden within esports. Additionally, this study highlights the urgent need for the design, implementation, and evaluation of context-specific targeted mental health interventions in esports.