Mental Health Development under Contextual Adversity and Psychosocial Stress
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2026) | Viewed by 11963
Special Issue Editor
Interests: adolescent and young adult development; learning and cognition; applied machine learning; educational psychology; neuroeducation; growth modeling; assessment and measurement; multidimensional scaling
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Individuals frequently face adversities or stressors in daily social interactions, such as feeling ignored, disrespected, hostile, or discriminated against. While some can manage these stresses or contextual adversity constructively, others may struggle, leading to common mental health issues such as worries, fear, anxiety, and depression. What could the etiology of such individual differences be in mental health? Beck's cognitive bias theory of depression states that depression is primarily the result of negative thought patterns and cognitive biases that distort an individual's perception of reality. However, we would like to ask, "Where do the negative thought patterns and cognitive biases come from?" In other words, if underlying these cognitive biases and automatic thoughts are latent cognitive structures (known as schemas) formed based on early experiences, contextual adversities are essential to understanding the etiology of mental health. For example, the theoretical framework of constructivism, according to which individuals construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiences and reflection on those experiences, can provide a way to understand the etiology of mental health development. It offers a framework for understanding how individuals perceive and respond to their psychological experiences when encountering contextual adversity, specifically by constructing personal meaning and, therefore, reality. In addition, the effects of contextual adversity can also be examined from the neurobiological and developmental perspectives.
In this Special Issue, we seek high-quality studies examining the connection between contextual adversity (e.g., trauma or stressful events) and psychosocial adaptation related to mental health development by elucidating the pathways or mechanisms underlying this connection from various perspectives. We welcome high-quality empirical studies, theoretical papers, and reviews (including meta-analyses) with well-articulated rationales and sound methodologies.
Prof. Dr. Cody S. Ding
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- contextual adversity
- mental health development
- constructivism, perceived stress, trauma
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