Sensitivity and specificity in affective and social learning in adolescence.

Adolescence is a period of heightened affective and social sensitivity. In this review we address how this increased sensitivity influences associative learning. Based on recent evidence from human and rodent studies, as well as advances in computational biology, we suggest that, compared to other age groups, adolescents show features of heightened Pavlovian learning but tend to perform worse than adults at instrumental learning. Because Pavlovian learning does not involve decision-making, whereas instrumental learning does, we propose that these developmental differences might be due to heightened sensitivity to rewards and threats in adolescence, coupled with a lower specificity of responding. We discuss the implications of these findings for adolescent mental health and education.

Sometimes "we" can help: parents' pronoun use buffers fear and anxiety transmission.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Parents' natural language when describing health-related threats reflects parents' cognitions that may shape their transmission of anxiety and fear. Parents' greater communal focus (i.e., higher we-talk) and less self-focus (i.e., lower I-talk) may buffer against intergenerational fear/anxiety transmission. The current study investigated whether the relation between parents' and children's anxiety and pandemic-related fear differed by parent we- and I-talk. DESIGN AND METHODS: Parents of 114 children (2-19 years; M = 9.75, SD = 3.73) completed online measures assessing children's and parents' anxiety and COVID-19-related fears, and engaged in a written reflection on their early pandemic experiences. The proportion of parents' we-talk and I-talk during the reflection was obtained using Linguistic Inquiry Word Count software. RESULTS: Results of multilevel structural equation models were partially consistent with expectations: The protective effect of we-talk was only observed for parents with lower fear/anxiety. For parents with higher fear/anxiety, higher I-talk was associated with lower child fear/anxiety. At higher levels of parent we-talk and at lower levels of I-talk, there was an unexpectedly positive association between parents' and children's fear/anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The concordance between parents' and their children's fear/anxiety differs depending on parents' natural language when reflecting on the pandemic.

Curiosity: The effects of feedback and confidence on the desire to know.

In 10 experiments, we investigated the relations among curiosity and people's confidence in their answers to general information questions after receiving different kinds of feedback: yes/no feedback, true or false informational feedback under uncertainty, or no feedback. The results showed that when people had given a correct answer, yes/no feedback resulted in a near complete loss of curiosity. Upon learning they had made an error via yes/no feedback, curiosity increased, especially for high-confidence errors. When people were given true feedback under uncertainty (they were given the correct answer but were not told that it was correct), curiosity increased for high-confidence errors but was unchanged for correct responses. In contrast, when people were given false feedback under uncertainty, curiosity increased for high-confidence correct responses but was unchanged for errors. These results, taken as a whole, are consistent with the region of proximal learning model which proposes that while curiosity is minimal when people are completely certain that they know the answer, it is maximal when people believe that they almost know. Manipulations that drew participants toward this region of "almost knowing" resulted in increased curiosity. A serendipitous result was the finding (replicated four times in this study) that when no feedback was given, people were more curious about high-confidence errors than they were about equally high-confidence correct answers. It was as if they had some knowledge, tapped selectively by their feelings of curiosity, that there was something special (and possibly amiss) about high-confidence errors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Virtual social interaction and loneliness among emerging adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many social activities moved online during the global COVID-19 pandemic, yet research investigating whether virtual social interactions facilitate social connectedness has been inconclusive. In this study, participants completed online questionnaires assessing objective social isolation, loneliness, mental health, and virtual social interactions. There was clear evidence for worsening mental health among emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic characterized by large increases in depressive symptoms (mean increase = 8.35, 95% CI [6.97, 9.73], t(118) = 118, p < .001), and large decrements in happiness (mean decrease = -0.71, 95% CI [-0.84, -0.57], t(118) = 10.09, p < .001) and social satisfaction (mean decrease = -0.81, 95% CI [-1.00,-0.62], t(115) = 8.28, p < .001) post-pandemic onset. In line with expectations, those living in larger households amid the pandemic reported lower levels of loneliness and higher levels of happiness. A negative association was found between household size (an index of objective social isolation) and loneliness, b = -3.01, t(79) = 2.60, p = .011, 95% CI [-5.32, -0.71], and a positive association was found between household size and happiness, b = 22.86, t(75) = 3.30, p = .001, 95% CI [9.06, 36.65]. However, contrary to expectations, there was no association between loneliness and frequency of virtual social interactions. There was also no association between frequency of virtual social interactions and either happiness or depression. More research investigating social connectedness in the context of virtual social interactions is warranted.

Parenting under pressure: Parental transmission and buffering of child fear during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current study investigated the impacts of parental behaviors (threat communication and comforting) on children's COVID-19 fears and whether effects differed by age. Caregivers of 283 children (5.5-17 years, M = 10.17, SD = 3.25) from 186 families completed online measures assessing children's and parents' COVID-19-related fears, children's sources of COVID-19 threat information, and parents' engagement in behaviors to reduce child distress (i.e., comfort behaviors). Higher COVID-19 fear in parents was associated with greater communication of COVID-19 threat information, which was associated with higher COVID-19 fear in younger, but not older, children. Over and above parental fear and threat communication, greater exposure to COVID-19 threat information from community sources (e.g., media, school, friends) was associated with greater COVID-19 fear in children, regardless of age. Greater engagement of parental comfort behaviors buffered the association between community sources of COVID-19 threat information and COVID-19 fears in older, but not younger, children. These findings suggest that younger children might be more vulnerable to developing heightened COVID-19 fears as a result of increasing sources of COVID-19 threat information in their lives. This study highlights the importance of supporting the socioemotional well-being of children and families through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Revealing the self in a digital world: A systematic review of adolescent online and offline self-disclosure.

Adolescence is an important stage of social development. While adolescents are prominent adopters of social media, little is known about whether digital interactions can fulfil the social needs of this age group. Here, we focus on one component of social interaction: self-disclosure. In a systematic review, we investigate the role of self-disclosure in adolescent relationships and the differences between online and offline self-disclosure. The results suggest that self-disclosure is associated with higher relationship quality and well-being. Online self-disclosure appears to be less fulfilling and beneficial for relationship quality than face-to-face self-disclosure. However, certain populations appear to benefit more from online than offline self-disclosure - such as highly anxious adolescents and boys aged 12-13 years, who prefer to first self-disclose online before engaging in offline self-disclosure. This suggests that both online and offline self-disclosure can play a role in fulfilling adolescent social needs.

Revealing the self in a digital world: a systematic review of adolescent online and offline self-disclosure.

Adolescence is an important stage of social development. While adolescents are prominent adopters of social media, little is known about whether digital interactions can fulfil the social needs of this age group. Here, we focus on one component of social interaction: self-disclosure. In a systematic review, we investigate the role of self-disclosure in adolescent relationships and the differences between online and offline self-disclosure. The results suggest that self-disclosure is associated with higher relationship quality and well-being. Online self-disclosure appears to be less fulfilling and beneficial for relationship quality than face-to-face self-disclosure. However, certain populations appear to benefit more from online than offline self-disclosure - such as highly anxious adolescents and boys aged 12-13 years, who prefer to first self-disclose online before engaging in offline self-disclosure. This suggests that both online and offline self-disclosure can play a role in fulfilling adolescent social needs.

Parenting under pressure: A mixed-methods investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on family life.

BACKGROUND: development and implementation of effective family-based psychosocial intervention and treatment strategies during COVID-19 will require a detailed understanding of how the virus has impacted the lives of families. METHODS: written reports on the life impacts of COVID-19 for parents (n = 56) and their children (n = 43), and a questionnaire assessing parent positive and negative affect, were collected between April and May 2020. An inductive approach was used to identify themes in written reports, followed by statistical analysis to explore associations between themes and changes in parent positive and negative affect pre- and post-writing. RESULTS: parents and children reported both positive and negative psychosocial impacts of the virus, though parents expressed a greater diversity of positive themes than children. Common themes reported by parents included concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on their children, health concerns for others, and the stressful balancing act of parenting, assisting with children's school work, and working from home. Many parents reported gratitude, and reflected on the upsides of the pandemic for family relationships and parent-child bonding. Parents who expressed gratitude reported a decrease in negative affect pre- to post-writing. Common child-reported themes included yearning to return to school, pandemic-related fears, and longing for social connection. LIMITATIONS: the sample included a cross-section of mostly White (non-Hispanic), dual income, well-educated mothers, primarily from the United States. CONCLUSIONS: both parents and children reported reduced wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should focus on identifying how to fulfill children's social needs and lessen caregivers' burdens during this time.