Observing Change Over Time in Strength-Based Parenting and Subjective Wellbeing for Pre-teens and Teens.

The focus of this study was on adolescent mental health. More specifically, the relationship between strength-based parenting (SBP) and subjective wellbeing (SWB) during adolescence was examined at three time points over 14 months (N = 202, M age = 12.97, SD age = 0.91, 48% female). SBP was positively related to life satisfaction and positive affect at each of the three time points, and was negatively related to negative affect. SBP and SWB both declined significantly over time. When examining the causal relationships between SBP and SWB, two different statistical models were applied: latent growth-curve models (LGM) and random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM). The LGM revealed a strong positive relationship between changes in SBP and SWB. Specifically, this model showed that SBP at one time point predicted adolescent SWB at future time points. However, when the more stringent statistical test was completed through RI-CLPMs, no cross-lagged paths reached significance. Thus, while parenting is a significant predictor of wellbeing for pre-teens and teens in real time, it is not predictive of wellbeing at future time points. Parents, thus, cannot assume that their current levels of SBP are 'banked' by their children to support future wellbeing. Instead, SBP needs to be an ongoing, contemporary parenting practice. Furthermore, the fact that perceptions of SBP decline in this age bracket suggest that SBP interventions may be helpful in supporting adolescent mental health.

Costs and benefits of acting extraverted: A randomized controlled trial.

Evidence suggests that extraverted (i.e., bold, agentic) behavior increases positive affect (PA), and could be targeted in wellbeing interventions. However, this evidence is either causally ambiguous or has questionable ecological validity, and the potential costs of sustained extraverted behavior have received minimal attention. To address these limitations, we conducted a randomized controlled trial examining the wellbeing benefits and costs of an extraverted behavior intervention conducted in everyday life. Participants (n = 147) were randomly assigned to an "act-extraverted" intervention or a "sham" (active control) intervention for 1 week in everyday life. Additional data for a contact control condition were obtained from a previous study (n = 76). Wellbeing outcomes included PA and negative affect (NA), feelings of authenticity, and tiredness-assessed both in the moment and retrospectively. There was a positive overall effect of the acting extraverted intervention on PA and authenticity. However, wellbeing outcomes also depended on dispositional extraversion: more introverted participants had weaker PA increases, experienced increased NA and tiredness, and decreased feelings of authenticity. Implications for wellbeing interventions and personality theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Personality and innate immune defenses in a wild bird: Evidence for the pace-of-life hypothesis.

We tested the two main evolutionary hypotheses for an association between immunity and personality. The risk-of-parasitism hypothesis predicts that more proactive (bold, exploratory, risk-taking) individuals have more vigorous immune defenses because of increased risk of parasite exposure. In contrast, the pace-of-life hypothesis argues that proactive behavioral styles are associated with shorter lifespans and reduced investment in immune function. Mechanistically, associations between immunity and personality can arise because personality differences are often associated with differences in condition and stress responsiveness, both of which are intricately linked with immunity. Here we investigate the association between personality (measured as proactive exploration of a novel environment) and three indices of innate immune function (the non-specific first line of defense against parasites) in wild superb fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus. We also quantified body condition, hemoparasites (none detected), chronic stress (heterophil:lymphocyte ratio) and circulating corticosterone levels at the end of the behavioral test (CORT, in a subset of birds). We found that fast explorers had lower titers of natural antibodies. This result is consistent with the pace-of-life hypothesis, and with the previously documented higher mortality of fast explorers in this species. There was no interactive effect of exploration score and duration in captivity on immune indices. This suggests that personality-related differences in stress responsiveness did not underlie differences in immunity, even though behavioral style did modulate the effect of captivity on CORT. Taken together these results suggest reduced constitutive investment in innate immune function in more proactive individuals.

Altered reproductive behaviours in male mosquitofish living downstream from a sewage treatment plant.

Freshwater environments are common repositories for the discharge of large volumes of domestic and industrial waste, particularly through wastewater effluent. One common group of chemical pollutants present in wastewater are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which can induce morphological and behavioural changes in aquatic organisms. The aim of this study was to compare the reproductive behaviour and morphology of a freshwater fish, the mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), collected from two sites (wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and a putative pristine site). The mosquitofish is a sexually dimorphic livebearer with a coercive mating system. Males inseminate females using their modified anal fin as an intromittent organ. Despite this, females are able to exert some control over the success of male mating attempts by selectively associating with, or avoiding, certain males over others. Using standard laboratory assays of reproductive behaviour, we found that mosquitofish males living in close proximity to WWTP showed increased mating activity compared to those inhabiting a pristine site. More specifically, during behavioural trials in which males were allowed to interact with females separated by a transparent divider, we found that WWTP-males spent more time associating with females. Concordant with this, when males and females were subsequently allowed to interact freely, WWTP-males also spent more time chasing and orienting towards the females. As a result, females from both sites showed more interest towards the WWTP-site males. Male anal fin morphology, however, did not differ between sites. Our study illustrates that lifetime exposure to WWTP-effluents can greatly affect male behaviour. The results underscore the importance of behaviour as a potential tool for investigating unknown contaminants in the environment.