Affiliated stigma and contact frequency in sibling relationships of adults with intellectual disabilities: The mediation of relational motivations.

Background: Typically developing (TD) siblings play a crucial role in promoting the health and well-being of adults with intellectual disabilities. Their involvement in the sibling relationship during adulthood may predict their likelihood of providing care to the sibling with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, different types of motivations (discretionary and obligatory) related to the contact frequency of TD siblings have not been fully explored. Little is known about how their negative experiences, such as affiliated stigma, influences relational motivations, which consequently affect contact frequency. This study examined these links in a Chinese context. Method: In total, 1,298 Chinese siblings were surveyed using questionnaires, and structural equation modelling was used to test the mediation effect. Results: Contact frequencies of TD siblings were significantly affected by discretionary motivation, obligatory motivation, and stigma experiences. The findings supported the mediating effect of obligatory motivation in the relationship between affiliated stigma and contact frequency. Conclusion: This study is among the first to examine whether the relational motivation of TD siblings predicts their contact frequency within their relationships with adult siblings with ID. We found that both types of relational motivations of TD siblings positively predicted contact behavior.

Fear of COVID-19 and Adverse Psychological Health Outcomes Among Chinese Elderly: a Serial Mediation Model of Social Participation and Loneliness.

This cross-sectional study examined fear of COVID-19, social participation, loneliness, and adverse psychological health outcomes among Chinese older adults after the pandemic control measures were relaxed. We also tested the correlations among these variables and examined the serial-mediating effects of social participation and loneliness on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and adverse psychological health outcomes. Participants were 508 Chinese elderly individuals (Mage = 70.53 ± 7.90 years; 56.5% women). We used Pearson correlation analyses and Hayes' PROCESS macro analysis (Model 6). Respondents had a relatively higher level of fear of COVID-19 compared to the general population. Their levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression were higher than those of Chinese older adults who were surveyed before the restriction policy changed in previous research. The correlations among fear of COVID-19, social participation, loneliness, and adverse psychological health outcomes were significant, supporting the serial-mediating effects of social participation and loneliness on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and adverse psychological health outcomes. Attention should be paid to the mental health issues of Chinese older adults, and the impacts of fear of COVID-19 and social participation on their mental health should be emphasized. Future researchers should use random systematic sampling methods, conduct longitudinal tracking and perform intervention studies.

The Effect of Self-Stigma on the Hope of Chinese with Mental Illness: The Mediating Role of Family Function.

Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the levels of self-stigma, hope, and family functioning among Chinese people with mental illness (MI). We also investigated the mediating role of family functioning in the relationship between self-stigma and hope. Method: Three-hundred thirty participants with MI (Mage = 42.73, SD = 14.11, 52.09% female, 61.74% schizophrenia) were surveyed. Hayes' PROCESS macro analysis (Model 4) was performed to verify the mediating effect. Results: The analysis revealed that 43.1% of the respondents had a high level of self-stigma, 68.5% indicated a low/moderate level of hope, and 54% had moderate/severe impairment in family functioning. This supports the partial mediating effect of family functioning on the relationship between self-stigma and hope. Conclusions: The self-stigmatizing experiences of Chinese people with MI adversely impair normal family functioning and reduce hope, limiting recovery prospects. Relevant results highlight the influence of the family environment on the psychological mechanisms of PMI. Limitations and future research directions are addressed.

Deepened snow loosens temporal coupling between plant and microbial N utilization and induces ecosystem N losses.

Seasonal differences in plant and microbial nitrogen (N) acquisition are believed to be a major mechanism that maximizes ecosystem N retention. There is also a concern that climate change may interrupt the delicate balance in N allocation between plants and microbes. Yet, convincing experimental evidence is still lacking. Using a 15 N tracer, we assessed how deepened snow affects the temporal coupling between plant and microbial N utilization in a temperate Mongolian grassland. We found that microbial 15 N recovery peaked in winter, accounting for 22% of the total ecosystem 15 N recovery, and then rapidly declined during the spring thaw. By stimulating N loss via N2 O emission and leaching, deepened snow reduced the total ecosystem 15 N recovery by 42% during the spring thaw. As the growing season progresses, the 15 N released from microbial biomass was taken up by plants, and the competitive advantage for N shifted from microbes to plants. Plant 15 N recovery reached its peak in August, accounting for 17% of the total ecosystem 15 N recovery. The Granger causality test showed that the temporal dynamics of plant 15 N recovery can be predicted by microbial 15 N recovery under ambient snow but not under deepened snow. In addition, plant 15 N recovery in August was positively correlated with and best explained by microbial 15 N recovery in March. The lower microbial 15 N recovery under deepened snow in March reduced plant 15 N recovery by 73% in August. Together, our results provide direct evidence of seasonal differences in plant and microbial N utilization that are conducive to ecosystem N retention; however, deepened snow disrupted the temporal coupling between plant-microbial N use and turnover. These findings suggest that changes in snowfall patterns may significantly alter ecosystem N cycling and N-based greenhouse gas emissions under future climate change. We highlight the importance of better representing winter processes and their response to winter climate change in biogeochemical models when assessing N cycling under global change.

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Individual Well-Being in Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong: a Six-Year Longitudinal Study.

This pioneer study investigated the longitudinal development of adolescent subjective well-being (SWB) in terms of life satisfaction and hopelessness. The concurrent and longitudinal influence of different socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, economic disadvantage, and family intactness), individual qualities (i.e., resilience, social competence, positive identity, and spirituality), and familial characteristics (i.e., family functioning, and parent-child relationship) on these two aspects of SWB were examined. A total of 3328 Hong Kong students from 28 secondary schools participated in a 6-year longitudinal study. While adolescent life satisfaction showed a declining trend, hopelessness gradually increased across the six years. Resilience, social competence, family functioning, and father-child relational qualities were significant predictors of life satisfaction at the initial status, whereas gender, mother-child relational qualities, positive identity and spirituality predicted changes in life satisfaction over time. Regarding hopelessness, gender, family intactness, resilience, social competence, father-child relational qualities, and mother-child relational qualities were significant correlates at the initial slope, but spirituality and family functioning were the longitudinal predictors of hopelessness over the adolescence period. While the present study showed that some existing Western findings can be replicated in the Chinese context, there are some novel and puzzling observations deserving further scrutiny.