Phonological awareness and RAN contribute to Chinese reading and arithmetic for different reasons.

The present study investigated how phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (hereafter, RAN), simultaneously contributed to Chinese reading and arithmetic fluency. Specifically, we proposed a new hypothesized mechanism that processing speed would mediate the relations of RAN with Chinese reading and arithmetic fluency. One hundred and forty-five Chinese children at the fifth grade were administered with a battery of measures, including three phonological processing measures, character reading, and whole number computation, as well as nonverbal IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. Path analyses revealed that phonological awareness and RAN were uniquely related to character reading and arithmetic fluency, while phonological memory was not significantly correlated to either character reading or arithmetic fluency, after controlling for age, nonverbal IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. Further analysis indicated that processing speed demonstrated a mediating effect on the importance of RAN in character reading, rather than in arithmetic fluency. Results underscore the potential importance of phonological awareness and RAN in character reading and arithmetic fluency, and the mediating role of processing speed in RAN to promote Chinese character reading fluency.

Effects of 7-minute practices of breathing and meditation on stress reduction.

We compared the effects of 7-min practices of breathing and meditation on perceived stress reduction and related affective outcomes (active emotion, serenity, anxiety, and fatigue) during micro-breaks. Undergraduates from two classes (N = 59) completed the 7-point online surveys. Results supported the effects of both practices.

How active coping influences school-aged children's rapid automatized naming: A chain mediation model involving subjective vitality and aerobic fitness.

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) has been proven to be important for students' academic performance, but it remains unclear whether and how dealing with stressors (e.g., active coping) is associated with children's development of RAN. To examine this question, this research views the growth of RAN as a cross-stressor adaptation process and proposes that school-aged children may build up adapted and modified stress response systems through active coping in dealing with stressors and cognitive tasks. Based on the broaden-and-build theory and the mind-body unity theory, we explored the impact of active coping on RAN and hypothesized that subjective vitality and aerobic fitness chain mediated the relationship between active coping and RAN. We used two Likert-like scales to measure active coping and subjective vitality, used a number-reading task to measure RAN, and used the progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run (PACER) test to measure aerobic fitness. We recruited 303 elementary students in grades 3-5 in China. Results showed that both subjective vitality and aerobic fitness mediated the impact of active coping on time for RAN. Further, the chain indirect effect of active coping→subjective vitality→aerobic fitness→time for RAN was significant, but the reversed chain mediation was not significant. General resources (e.g., subjective vitality) have been shown to be relatively more important than simple physical resources (e.g., aerobic fitness) for RAN. These preliminary findings may contribute to both the cross-stressor-adaptation and active coping literature and have potential implications for improving RAN in school-aged children.

Relationship Between Mindfulness and Physical Activity in College Students: The Mediating Effect of Eudaimonic Well-Being.

Previous research has shown many benefits of mindfulness for physical and psychological health, including its link to such health behaviors as increased physical activity (PA). We re-examined the association between mindfulness and PA to better understand a possible mediating role of eudaimonic well-being in this association, while controlling for participants' age, gender, and affect. We had 738 undergraduate student participants (45.0% females; M age = 19.58 years) complete measures of trait mindfulness, eudaimonic well-being, and PA, and we used age, gender, and affect as covariates in a single-wave assessment. We conducted this mediation analysis with a bootstrapping technique to produce 10,000 resamples. We replicated findings of a significant relationship between mindfulness and enhanced eudaimonic well-being (ß = 0.474, p < 0.001), which in turn contributed to increased PA (ß = 0.193, p < 0.001). The bootstrapping method indicated a significant indirect effect of eudaimonic well-being (ß = 0.092, 95% CI = [0.043, 0.142]) in the relationship between mindfulness and PA through eudaimonic well-being. Thus, eudaimonic well-being may mediate the connection between mindfulness and PA. College administrators should consider incorporating mindfulness into health promotion programs as a means of enhancing college students' well-being and health behaviors.

How and when institutional trust helps deal with group crisis like COVID-19 pandemic for Chinese employees? A social perspective of motivation.

Social factors cannot be neglected in predicting individual psychological health during a group crisis. Grounded in Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation, the present research explores how and when institutional trust influences crisis related worries and griefs. Both the survey study (N = 234) and the experimental study (N = 111) were conducted to examine our hypothesized moderated mediation model. Multiple waves of surveys were delivered in Study 1 and participants were requested to rate their experiences and responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 2, participants from both the collectivism manipulation group and the control group were requested to rate their psychological responses in an imagined group crisis. Regression analyses showed that institutional trust reduced worries and griefs by improving personal resilience, which is more significant for individuals with high levels of collectivism. These findings point to the importance of understanding individual psychological health in a social perspective of motivation.

Can Physical Exercise Help Deal With the COVID-19 Stressors? Comparing Somatic and Psychological Responses.

This research aims to explore whether physical exercise can buffer the impact of the COVID-19 stressors. Based on the cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis, we proposed a moderated mediation model relating the COVID-19 stressors to sleep disorder via somatic and worry complaints, depending on the amount of physical exercise. A sample of working adults in Beijing (N = 207) filled surveys in two waves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural regression analysis showed that physical exercise moderates the impact of the COVID-19 stressors on sleep disorder via somatic complaints (index = -0.11, 95% CI [-0.22, -0.01]), rather than psychological worry complaints (index = -0.01, 95% CI [-0.07, 0.04]). Specifically, the COVID-19 stressors increase somatic complaints for people with a low amount of physical exercise (b = 0.17, p = 0.01]), while the COVID-19 stressors are not significantly related to somatic complaints for people with a high amount of physical exercise (b = -0.06, p = 0.33). This research extends the cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis and provides evidence on an individual intervention of physical exercise to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The immediate and durable effects of yoga and physical fitness exercises on stress.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the effects of yoga and physical fitness exercises on stress and the underlying mechanisms. Participants: Healthy undergraduates from four yoga and four fitness classes participated in Study 1 (n = 191) and Study 2 (n = 143), respectively (in 2017 Fall). Methods: Study 1 evaluated the immediate effect (a 60-minute practice) while Study 2 evaluated the durable effect (a 12-week intervention). Results: Results showed that immediate stress reduction was more salient in the yoga group than that in the fitness group in Study 1. Yoga group had a greater increase in mindfulness, which predicted stress reduction. Similar observations were made in Study 2 showing the durable effect of yoga on stress reduction through mindfulness. Conclusions: Yoga intervention is better than fitness exercises in helping undergraduates cultivate mindfulness and reduce stress. These findings may guide future interventions in stress management in college students.

Comparing the Psychological Effects of Meditation- and Breathing-Focused Yoga Practice in Undergraduate Students.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to compare the psychological effects of meditation- and breathing-focused yoga practice in undergraduate students. METHODS: A 12-weeks yoga intervention was conducted among a group of undergraduate students enrolled in four yoga classes at an academically prestigious university in Beijing, China. Four classes were randomized to meditation-focused yoga or breathing-focused yoga. A total of 86 participants finished surveys before and after the 12-weeks intervention, measuring work intention, mindfulness, and perceived stress. The repeated-measure multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) followed by univariate analyses were conducted to examine the differences in work intention, mindfulness, and stress between the two yoga intervention groups over the semester, after controlling for age and gender. RESULTS: The repeated-measure MANCOVA revealed significant group differences with a median effect size [Wilks' lambda, Λ = 0.90, F(3, 80) = 3.10, p = 0.031, η2 = 0.104]. Subsequent univariate analyses showed that students in the breathing-focused yoga group had significant higher work intentions [F (1, 82) = 5.22; p = 0.025; η2 p = 0.060] and mindfulness [F (1, 82) = 6.33; p = 0.014; η2 p = 0.072] but marginally lower stress [F (1, 82) = 4.20; p = 0.044; η2 p = 0.049] than students in the meditation-focused yoga group. CONCLUSION: Yoga practice with a focus on breathing is more effective than that with a focus on meditation for undergraduates to retain energy for work, keep attention and awareness, and reduce stress.

Taking a Stand for Office-Based Workers' Mental Health: The Return of the Microbreak.

There is evidence that movement-based microbreaks can improve the cardiovascular health of desk-based employees, but their effect on mood states is yet to be investigated. As daily work tasks can potentially result in the loss of physical and psychological resources, the objective of this study was to measure the effect of movement microbreaks during formal work time on mood states. In a randomized-controlled pilot study with repeated measures (baseline, post-test, washout) of self-reported job stress and mood states (fatigue and vigor), police officers (N = 43) were exposed to movement microbreaks during work hours. A multivariate significant difference between groups was noted after the intervention period. Further analysis revealed that the experimental group reported a latent reduction in job-related stress after the 3-months washout period. Although the study was conducted with a small sample, our preliminary findings suggest that interrupting sedentary work with movement microbreaks may have beneficial effects on employee mental health. The implications of movement microbreaks for mitigating work-related stress of first responders, including police, is discussed, along with directives for future research.

A Comparison of Frequency- and Agreement-Based Response Formats in the Measurement of Burnout and Engagement.

The present research compares and contrasts frequency versus agreement response formats, two approaches to measuring job burnout and work engagement. Construct-based and measurement-based arguments for the superiority of the frequency response format in measuring burnout/engagement are provided, demonstrating that frequency-based measurements will explain relatively more variance in outcome variables. Fair comparison, time order counterbalance, and multiple measuring waves justify the comparison and reduce common method errors of self-report measures. Sample 1 (N = 242) was composed of employees from multiple organizations, while the participants in Sample 2 (N = 281) were employees from one company. Relative importance analysis showed that frequency outperforms the agreement response format in measuring burnout and engagement in both samples. These findings suggest that the frequency response format provides a more valuable method of detecting the dynamic nature of burnout/engagement, which offers methodological guidance for future research involving dynamic constructs. These findings can lead to improvements in the measurement of the dynamic experiences of burnout and engagement. This is one of the first studies to provide evidence whether the dynamic nature of the constructs would have any bearing on the response formats.

Work locus of control and its relationship to stress perception, related affections, attitudes and behaviours from a domain-specific perspective.

This research aims to examine the value of applying the Work Locus of Control Scale in predicting work-related outcomes. Study 1 surveyed 323 employees from different companies in China and found that the domain-specific scale was more predictive than the general scale in predicting perceived stressors, rather than in predicting organizational affective commitment and altruistic behaviour. Study 2 applied a multi-wave and multi-source design and used commensurate Likert scales to measure work and general locus of control. Participants were 344 employees from one corporation. Work locus of control was found to be more useful in predicting supervisor-rated job performance, conscientious and altruistic behaviours. These findings help understand the theory-based and measurement-based reasons for the advantages of using domain-specific measures. They claim the importance for employing the domain-specific measure to predict work-related perceptions and behaviours. Implications for the theory and practice are discussed.

Further validating the two-factor structure of the personal need for structure scale: comment on Shi, Wang, and Chen (2009).

Shi, Wang, and Chen's 2009 study validated the Personal Need for Structure Scale in Chinese. The two-factor structure can be further validated by examining the different functions of its components, i.e., "Desire for Structure" and "Response to Lack of Structure". This validation will help researchers and practitioners explore the different attributes, functions, and foundations of the two factors, and also help cultivate the use of the scale in the most appropriate situations.

Validation of the Psychological Work Maturity Scale in Chinese employees.

Psychological work maturity is an important concept in situational leadership theory. The present research revised the Psychological Work Maturity Scale for use in Chinese organizations. Three samples of full-time employees (Ns = 205, 266, and 283) from different companies and industries participated in the present study. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that a single-factor structure fit the data. The scale had acceptable reliabilities, convergent and criterion-related validities, and was shown to be an appropriate measure of psychological work maturity in Chinese employees. Maturity differences in several demographic variables were not found, but employees with longer tenure in Sample 2 scored higher on maturity, which shows that psychological work maturity may be dependent on personal development in the interaction with the varying situational factors, especially in the work domain. Implications for research and practice on psychological work maturity in China are discussed.