Juan Wang

Purpose: Engagement in self‐injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) is associated with low help‐seeking intentions. Nevertheless, prior research has primarily relied on cross‐sectional data, leaving uncertainties about the longitudinal dynamics between SITBs and help‐seeking intentions. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal relationship between SITBs and help‐seeking intentions for them.Method: A one‐year interval follow‐up investigation was conducted among 1788 Chinese students (71.5% girls, M_age = 19.5). Changes in help‐seeking intentions were initially analyzed among four SITBs transition groups. Subsequently, a cross‐lagged model was employed to explore the possible bidirectional associations.Results: 232 participants (12.90%) experienced changes in SITBs, while 65 participants (3.60%) exhibited sustained SITBs between two measurement time points. Changes in help‐seeking intentions varied across SITBs transition groups. Participants whose SITBs faded 1 year later showed a significant increase in help‐seeking intentions, whereas those who experienced newly developed SITBs across two measurement time points demonstrated a significant decline. The cross‐lagged analysis revealed that help‐seeking intentions negatively predicted the subsequent risk of experiencing SITBs.Conclusions: Greater help‐seeking intentions predicted decreased SITBs 1 year later. Changes in help‐seeking intentions serve as a valuable indicator for distinguishing between different types of SITBs transition. These findings underscore the importance of implementing prevention and intervention strategies targeted at enhancing help‐seeking intentions to reduce SITBs.

Emotional intelligence, or the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions, has been identified as a protective factor for one's adaptation. Measuring emotional intelligence using performance-based approach is thought to be objective and effective. However, performance-based emotional intelligence instruments for non-Western adolescents are rarely available. To facilitate research on emotional intelligence, the present study developed and validated the emotional intelligence test for adolescents (A-EIT) using a Chinese sample. Study 1 (N = 1,536) showed that emotional intelligence consists of three subabilities (i.e., emotion perception, emotion understanding, and emotion regulation) and identified eligible items for each subtest through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Study 2 (N = 2,568) confirmed the three-factor structure and its measurement invariance across gender and age groups by (multiple-group) confirmatory factor analyses. Both the full test and its three subtests showed acceptable internal consistencies, and their scores increased with age and showed female advantage. Also, the A-EIT scores were significantly correlated with indicators related to emotional and cognitive skills (convergent validity) and were independent of personality (discriminant validity). Additionally, higher scores on the A-EIT were related to better intrapersonal, interpersonal, and academic adaption (criterion validity), as expected. Study 3 (N = 163) provided further convergent validity evidence for each subtest by using validity tools not based on an emotional intelligence framework. Additionally, the A-EIT displayed satisfactory test-retest reliability. Generally, the A-EIT appears to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess adolescents' emotion intelligence, especially those with relatively low level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).