Yanzhen Zhang

Academic procrastination is common in late elementary school and is associated with lower academic achievement and poorer well-being. Drawing on achievement motivation theory, the Study Demands-Resources (SD-R) framework, academic buoyancy theory, and Conservation of Resources theory, this three-wave longitudinal study examined reciprocal associations among fear of failure, academic buoyancy, and academic procrastination in Grade 5–6 students ( N = 542). Participants completed self-report measures of fear of failure, academic buoyancy, and academic procrastination at three time points across one academic year, with approximately 3 months between adjacent waves. Covariate-adjusted cross-lagged panel models were estimated to examine reciprocal prospective associations among the three constructs. In the covariate-adjusted traditional CLPM, fear of failure and academic buoyancy prospectively predicted each other in negative directions, and academic buoyancy and academic procrastination also showed negative reciprocal prospective associations. Fear of failure predicted later procrastination from T1 to T2, whereas the direct T2-to-T3 path was not significant. Academic buoyancy showed significant longitudinal indirect associations linking fear of failure with later procrastination and procrastination with later fear of failure. A supplementary RI-CLPM indicated that the within-person cross-lagged effects were not uniform across intervals and that the within-person indirect effects were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that academic buoyancy may function as a modifiable adaptive coping capacity that helps students cope with fear of failure and is associated with lower subsequent academic procrastination during the transition from late primary school to middle school.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a dimensional approach to understanding mental health, addressing limitations of categorical systems such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD). This study aimed to validate a Mandarin version of the HiTOP Self-Report (HiTOP-SR), with a focus on the Internalizing, Detachment, and Somatoform spectra among a Chinese population. A translation and back-translation process was followed by collaborative item refinement from a team of bilingual and monolingual scholars to ensure both linguistic equivalence and cultural relevance. The final 213-item scale was administered to 1,999 undergraduate students across four Chinese universities, with follow-up assessments conducted five weeks later. The Mandarin HiTOP-SR demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including high internal consistency (α > .70 for 45 scales/subscales), good test-retest reliability (r > .70 for 32 scales/subscales), adequate model fit for 45 scales/subscales, and acceptable discriminant validity (only 13 pairs showed a latent correlation of > .90). Convergent validity was supported by strong correlations with corresponding DSM-5-TR symptom domains. These findings confirm the structural and conceptual alignment of the Mandarin HiTOP-SR with the HiTOP framework. This culturally informed adaptation advances the development of evidence-based, dimensional assessment tools in Chinese contexts and contributes to the global applicability of transdiagnostic models of psychopathology.

Previous studies have found that adverse childhood experiences can lead to depressive symptoms. But the underlying mechanisms have not been determined. Guided by the 3-P model of insomnia and acceptance and commitment therapy, this study examined the mediating role of poor sleep quality and psychological inflexibility in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 996 senior high school students in China (Mage = 16.57 years; SD = 1.03) completed the self-report measures of adverse childhood experiences, depressive symptoms, poor sleep quality, and psychological inflexibility. Multiple mediation analysis revealed that adverse childhood experiences were related to depressive symptoms through poor sleep quality and psychological inflexibility, serially. These findings point to potential targets in the prevention of and intervention in adolescent depressive symptoms.

The current study examined the mediating roles of emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and resilience in the relationship between perceived parental support and depressive symptoms among college students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. A large sample of Chinese college students (N = 2, 423) participated in this investigation. Results indicated that perceived parental support was negatively related to depressive symptoms. The two emotion regulation strategies and resilience partially and serially mediated the relation between perceived parental support and depressive symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Family plays a pivotal role in individuals' mental health. During the COVID-19 epidemic, people were being quarantined at home to prevent the further spread of the virus. Therefore, the influence of family on individuals is more significant than usual. It is reasonable to assume that family cohesion can effectively alleviate the stress consequences during the COVID-19 epidemic. In the present study, a moderated mediation model was constructed to examine the mechanisms underlying the association between family cohesion and stress consequences among Chinese college students. A large sample of Chinese college students (N = 1,254, M_age = 19.85, SD_age = 1.29) participated in the study. Results indicated that family cohesion was negatively related to stress consequences. Fear of COVID-19 partially mediated the link between family cohesion and stress consequences. Excessive affective empathy reported by participants served to aggravate the relation between fear of COVID-19 and stress consequences. The study helps us understand how internal and external factors affect individual mental health that provides meaningful implications for promoting mental health.

The present study mainly focused on college students amidst the COVID-19 outbreak and aimed to develop and examine a moderated mediation model between access to epidemic information and life satisfaction. Friendship quality as a moderator, and perceived stress as a mediator. A sample of 1032 college students participated in this study and completed questionnaires regarding access to epidemic information, perceived stress, friendship quality, and life satisfaction. Findings indicated that 1) access to epidemic information was strongly related to life satisfaction; 2) perceived stress acts as a mediator in the positive relationship between access to epidemic information and life satisfaction; 3) friendship quality moderated the relationship between access to epidemic information and perceived stress as well as perceived stress and life satisfaction, and such that there was a stronger association between access to epidemic information and perceived stress for college students with high friendship quality. But the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction became weaker for college students with high friendship quality. The results illuminate the mechanism to theoretical and practical implications for improving college students’ life satisfaction during the pandemic.