Parent-child communication is pivotal in children’s education, with both parties actively engaging in discussion and influencing each other. These daily interactions are widely acknowledged as significant contributors to children's developmental outcomes. While existing research has focused on examining parental effects or bidirectional relations over time, our understanding of child-driven versus parent-driven effects in momentary interactions remains limited. Furthermore, considering that children aged 5 and 6 have gained increased autonomy and self-regulation abilities, it is imperative to examine the dynamic processes within parent-preschooler dyads. In the current study, we used dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) to explore the bidirectional associations between parenting behaviors and child behavioral responses during a conflict discussion task. Our aim is to determine whether the momentary interaction process is primarily driven by parents or by children themselves.
The study included 113 Chinese parent-child dyads (59 boys, M_age = 5.81 years). During the laboratory visit, the parent-child dyads were video-recorded engaging in a conflict discussion. Specifically, they were prompted to discuss a negative episode with the potential to lead to conflict in their daily lives. Trained observers rated parental supportive behavior, non-supportive behavior, child positive behavior, and child negative behavior on 4-point scales in 15-second epochs. Also, observers coded the resolution of the conflict discussion as compromise, win-loss, or standoff. For data analysis, we employed DSEM with Bayesian statistics to assess changes in parental parenting behaviors and child behavioral responses in their momentary interactions during the discussion task. Further, we conducted regression analysis to examine the effects of parental and child behaviors on the resolution of the conflict discussion.
The findings revealed that: (1) increases in children's negative behavioral responses in a given 15-second epoch predicted increases in parental non-supportive parenting behavior in the next epoch; (2) children's positive behavioral responses primarily predicted the resolution of the conflict discussion, with higher levels of positive behavior in children contributing to more constructive conflict resolution.
The current study provides evidence for the child-driven effect in moment-to-moment parent-child communication, highlighting the active role of preschoolers in shaping parent-child interactions. Our findings underscore children as proactive agents in their own socialization process and offer valuable insights for parenting practices. Specifically, parents should be mindful of their own non-supportive parenting behaviors when responding to their children's negative reactions. To achieve constructive conflict resolution, it is crucial for parents to guide their children in developing positive strategies for behavioral regulation. Overall, our findings have practical implications for fostering effective parenting practices and nurturing healthy parent-child relationships.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of an internet-based Cognitive Bias Modification - Interpretation (iCBM-I) intervention on health anxiety, factors influencing its effectiveness, and the role of catastrophic interpretation in mediating intervention outcomes. In a randomized controlled trial, 228 participants diagnosed with health anxiety were allocated to one of three groups: the iCBM-I intervention group, which received 100% positive feedback (N = 76); an attentional control group, which received a balanced 50% positive and 50% negative feedback (N = 76); and a waiting group (N = 76) that did not participate in any training. Both the intervention and attentional control groups underwent 12 days of online task training. Measurements of health anxiety, catastrophizing interpretations, general anxiety, and depression were taken at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and one month following the intervention. The findings indicated significant immediate and sustained one-month post-intervention effects of the iCBM-I on reducing catastrophizing interpretations, general anxiety, and depressive symptoms among participants with health anxiety, compared to those in the waiting group. Furthermore, longitudinal mediation analysis using a latent growth curve model demonstrated that the iCBM-I intervention ameliorated health anxiety by reducing catastrophic interpretations, relative to the attention control group. This study contributes a novel perspective on the efficacy of network-based interventions for health anxiety and suggests that future research should explore the integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches to enhance the effectiveness of interventions targeting health anxiety.

How does the “thin ideal” social norm, which equates thinness with beauty, affect young people's body image and calorie intake? In one questionnaire survey and three intervention experiments (N = 612), we propose that people’s beliefs about the “thin ideal” social norm shape their positive body image and caloric intake. Specifically, we find that a stronger belief in the “thin ideal” was associated with a lower level of positive body image, with BMI self-discrepancy mediating this effect (Study 1). To address these misperceptions about the “thin ideal” social norm, we further evaluated social norm interventions, demonstrating their positive impact on positive body image and calorie intake. Since the role of injunctive social norm interventions was limited (Study 2), we adopted the more descriptive interventions and those incorporating role model factors (Study 3), with the latter showing longer-lasting effects (Study 4). These findings enhance understanding of the influence of the “thin ideal” social norm and suggest practical interventions for improving positive body image and health behaviors.

In the context of encouraging collaborative innovation, employee boundary spanning has become a source of organizational innovation. However, existing research has mainly explored the impact of employee boundary spanning on themselves from an actor-centered perspective, little is known about whether employee boundary spanning can influence supervisor support. Drawing on the perspective of positive interpersonal interaction, the current study employed a scenario experiment (Study 1) and a multi-wave and multi-source questionnaire survey (Study 2) to explore when and how employee boundary spanning affects supervisor support. Results from Study 1 (N = 220) indicated that when upward advice seeking is high, supervisors develop stronger cognitive trust and affective trust towards boundary spanning employees, leading to higher levels of supervisor support. Study 2 (N = 406) further confirmed that upward advice seeking positively moderates the direct effect of employee boundary spanning on supervisor affective trust as well as the indirect effect of employee boundary spanning on supervisor support via affective trust. However, it did not support the moderating effect of upward advice seeking on the supervisor cognitive trust path. These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the impact of employee boundary spanning on supervisor support, providing decision-making references for organizations to manage employee boundary spanning to maintain harmonious supervisor-subordinate relationships.

This study proposes the existence of two types of naive beliefs among humans: the “natural = disorder” and “artificial = order” beliefs. The former suggests that objects created by nature are inherently scattered and disorderly, while the latter proposes that objects created by humans are inherently neat and organized. An implicit attitude test provides evidence that natural attributes are associated with disorder, while artificial attributes are associated with order. Consequently, people tend to associate natural products with disorderly displays and artificial products with orderly displays. Furthermore, these beliefs have been found to significantly impact consumer product preferences, with consumers preferring natural products in a disorderly display and artificial products in an orderly display. The effect of these beliefs on consumer preferences was mediated by processing fluency. The study also identified that the presence or absence of value cues (positive or negative) can significantly alter consumer product preferences. This research contributes to the literature on natural products and product display by identifying and exploring a previously unidentified lay theory, the natural (vs. artificial) = disorder (order) intuition.

The investigation of relationships among variables is the main focus of empirical research in psychology and other social science disciplines. Many empirical studies based on questionnaire surveys involve the influence relationship between variables. However, the lack of a universally accepted definition for this concept has led to ambiguity, and it is often conflated with causal or correlational relationships, which may cause problems for studies on mediating effects. This article defines the influence relationship as a directional correlation, clarifying relationships among correlation, influence and causation in terms of denotation and connotation. We propose several ways to identify evidence for modeling the influence relationship. Our discussion involves the joint effects of multiple factors influencing a dependent variable. The paper provides theoretical support for studying relationships between variables in questionnaire research.