Search Results (18)

Background: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by low empathy, guilt, and prosociality, putting children at risk for lifespan antisocial behavior. Elevated CU traits have been linked separately to difficulties with emotion understanding (i.e., identifying emotional states of others) and disrupted parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) functioning. However, no study has investigated how PNS functioning and emotion understanding are jointly related to CU traits. Method: We explored associations between CU traits, emotion understanding, and PNS functioning (indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) among children aged 7–10 years old (n = 55). We also tested whether deficits in emotion understanding differ across specific emotions (i.e., fear, pain, happiness, anger). Each child’s RSA was continuously recorded while they watched a film that included emotionally evocative social interactions. To assess emotion understanding, children identified emotions replayed in 1s animations of scenes from the film. Parents reported on child CU traits, conduct problems, and demographic information. Results: Higher CU traits were related to lower emotion understanding (β = −0.43, p = 0.03). PNS activity during the film moderated this association (β = −0.47, p < 0.001), such that CU traits were associated with lower emotion understanding among children with mean (B = −0.01, t = −2.46, p = 0.02) or high (i.e., 1 SD > M; B = −0.02, t = −3.00, p < 0.001) RSA levels during the film, but not among children with low RSA levels (i.e., 1 SD < M; B = 0.00, t = −0.53, p = 0.60). Moreover, we found that the observed moderated associations are driven by deficits in fear, specifically. Conclusions: The link between poorer emotion understanding, fear understanding in particular, and CU traits was attenuated for children who demonstrated patterns of PNS functioning consistent with attentional engagement while viewing the emotion stimuli. Full article

There is evidence that promoting prosociality through music helps activate participation and integration with the environment, supporting the emergence of empathic responses and fostering bonds between people, especially those with societal inclusion difficulties. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of psychosocial intervention programs that have used musical techniques to promote prosociality in populations at risk of social exclusion. The search was performed following PRISMA methodology guidelines in the Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, PubMed, and ProQuest databases between 2000 and 2021. A total of 11 studies met the selection criteria. The type of musical activity applied, research design, sample sociodemographic characteristics, measurement instruments and effectiveness were compared. Despite the heterogeneity of the interventions, populations, and contexts among the studies, music was found to be a potential resource for increasing prosocial behaviors, promoting physical and psychological health, and constructing alternatives to antisocial behaviors through the creation of safe spaces for creatively expressing subjectivity, providing prosocial referents, and facilitating cohesive and positive relationships. The limitations highlight the importance of investigating other variables within the studied populations, such as the age of the beneficiaries, the psychosocial problems they present, the level of risk they present, or even their motivations for participating in these programs. It can be concluded that this type of intervention has an impact on the increase in prosocial behaviors in people at risk of social exclusion. However, future studies should address methodological aspects related to the intervention itself, such as the duration of the intervention and the types of activities developed in these programs. Full article

Background: Childhood trauma may increase the risk of antisocial behavior in young adulthood. Our study examined the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the specific antisocial behavior of malevolent creativity (MC), the application of original ideas to purposely harm others, often to gain an unfair advantage through manipulation, threat, or harm. Methods: We surveyed college students (N = 524; 78% women) on demographics, ACEs, empathy, social support, coping, general creativity, and malevolent creativity. The data were analyzed via sequential linear regression models. Results: Reporting ≥ 4 ACEs was associated with increased MC, which remained significant when general creativity and demographics were controlled. The association between higher ACEs and MC was no longer significant when psychosocial control variables (social support, empathy, and coping) were included in the statistical model. Social support and empathy were negatively associated with MC, while coping and MC were positively associated. Conclusions: ACEs may increase the likelihood of malevolent creativity in young adulthood, but empathy and social support may disrupt this trajectory. Care should be taken that coping skills, while typically viewed as a positive addition to one’s behavioral repertoire, do not push individuals toward over-reliance on themselves, which may reduce prosocial behaviors and increase MC. Full article

Improving safety and health for correctional workers and people who are incarcerated are widespread yet separate initiatives. Correctional workers and people who are incarcerated experience similar challenges involved with poor workplaces and living conditions, including mental health crises, violence, stress, and chronic health issues, and the available resources lack integration with respect to safety and health promotion. This scoping review sought to contribute to an integrated approach for correctional system safety and health resources and identify studies of correctional resources that address health promotion among correctional workers and people who are incarcerated. Guided by PRISMA, a search of gray literature, also termed peer-reviewed literature, published between 2013–2023 (n = 2545) was completed, and 16 articles were identified. Resources primarily targeted individual and interpersonal levels. At every level of intervention, resources improved the environment for both workers and those incarcerated, with trends of less conflict, more positive behaviors, and improved relations, access to care, and feelings of safety. The corrections environment is impacted by changes from both workers and people who are incarcerated and should be examined using a holistic approach. Future health and safety resources should target the larger correctional environment by utilizing practices, policies, and procedures to improve safety and health for incarcerated people and workers. Full article

Antisocial behavior involves actions that disregard the basic rights of others and may represent a threat to the social system. The neural processes associated with being subject to antisocial behavior, including social victimization, are still unknown. In this study, we used a social interaction task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural bases of social victimization. Brain activation and functional connectivity (FC) were estimated and correlated with the Big 5 Questionnaire, Temperament Evaluation in Memphis, Pisa and San Diego (TEMPS-M), and a Questionnaire of Daily Frustration scores. During social victimization, the right occipital and temporal cortex showed increased activation. The temporal cortex also had reduced FC with homotopic areas. Compared to the prosocial interaction, social victimization showed hyperactivation of the dorsomedial and lateral prefrontal cortex, putamen, and thalamus and increased FC of the medial-frontal–striatal–thalamic areas with the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, insula, dorsal cingulate, and postcentral gyrus. Lastly, neuroticism, irritable temperament, and frustration scores were correlated with the magnitude of neural responses to social victimization. Our findings suggest that social victimization engages a set of regions associated with salience, emotional processing, and regulation, and these responses can be modulated by temperamental and personality traits. Full article

We conducted a literature review aimed at identifying the origins of shame as well as its effects on moral development, especially in terms of behavioral outcomes, and we reflected on the practical implications of our findings. We explored the role of shame in moral development through cultural differences and parental influences, collecting evidence of psychopathological consequences of primary moral emotion dysregulation. These studies showed a dichotomous feature of shame, as a prosocial behavior enhancer in morally relevant situations and, simultaneously, a risk factor for aggressive and antisocial behaviors on other occasions. Dysregulated shame leads to maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, which could evolve towards psychopathological paths. Therefore, an integrated intervention is recommended in children with emotional/behavioral problems. Full article

The current study examines the association between peer behaviors, self-efficacy, and internalizing symptoms in a sample of 1545 children aged 11 to 13 years old who attended middle schools in eastern Ukraine. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the role of self-efficacy in the relationship between child internalizing behaviors (anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints) and exposure to prosocial and antisocial friends among girls and boys. Higher self-efficacy was linked with fewer internalizing symptoms for girls and boys. For both boys and girls, exposure to prosocial friends was not statistically associated with changes in internalizing behaviors. However, girls and boys who reported having more antisocial friends had significantly more internalizing symptoms. For girls, association with a greater number of prosocial friends and fewer antisocial friends has been linked with higher self-efficacy and fewer internalizing symptoms. For boys, having more prosocial friends was also linked with higher self-efficacy and fewer internalizing symptoms; however, there was no statistically significant association between having more antisocial friends and self-efficacy. The study discusses the cultural and gender aspects of child socialization in the context of antisocial and prosocial friends, and the development of internalizing behavior problems. Full article

Moral disengagement is a process of cognitive restructuring that allows individuals to disassociate from their internal moral standards and behave unethically without feeling distressed. It has been described as a key predictor of maladaptive behaviors (e.g., delinquency, aggression, and cyberbullying) and as a mediator between individual variables and unethical outcomes (e.g., empathy and aggression). We aimed to provide evidence of validity based on the internal structure, reliability, and correlations with other constructs of the most used instrument to measure disengagement from moral self-sanctions: Bandura’s Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS). A non-probabilistic national sample of 528 Chilean adolescents from 14 to 18 years participated in the study. The results showed that the 10-item version of the MMDS had a unidimensional structure and good internal consistency. As expected, the MMDS-10 showed positive and medium correlations with abusive, violent antisocial, and delinquent behaviors and negative and medium associations with prosocial behavior and empathy. Additionally, moral disengagement fully mediated the relationship between empathy and violent antisocial behavior, supporting the hypothesis on moral disengagement as a self-regulatory cognitive process. The results confirm previous research, and the findings are discussed in terms of their implications for reducing the use of moral disengagement strategies in adolescence. Full article

Physical education (PE) is acknowledged as a relevant context for holistic child and youth development promotion. However, interventional research mostly builds on individual theories focused on specific outcome domains. This study presents a multisport enriched PE intervention that capitalizes on the intersection of different theory-based approaches to motor, cognitive and socio-emotional skills development promotion. With a cross-over design, 181 fifth graders, coming from a past class-randomized trial of enriched or traditional PE in their 1st–3rd grade, were stratified (based on their previous PE experience) and class-randomized to multisport enriched PE or control group. They completed pre-post assessments in motor and sport skills, cool (inhibition, working memory) and hot (decision making) executive functions, prosocial (empathy, cooperation) and antisocial (quick-temperedness, disruptiveness) behaviors. Children in the enriched PE group showed advantages in motor and prosocial skills after the intervention, which were linked by a mediation path, and an interactive effect of past and actual PE experience on decision making but no differential effects on other variables. The results suggest that a PE intervention designed with an integrative theory base, although not allowing disentangling the contribution of individual components to its efficacy, may help pursue benefits in motor and non-motor domains relevant to whole-child development. Full article

Behavioral problems are early indicators of antisocial behavior and should be targeted from a preventive perspective from early childhood. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effectiveness of the AC1 preschool program that develops social-emotional skills that facilitate the adjustment and regulation of the person. A total of 102 children aged 3–4 years old participated in the research, 52 belonging to the experimental group and 49 to the control group. Program-trained skills (ROAC-3), social skills (PKBS-2), and externalizing problems (CBCL C-TRF) were assessed in the pre- and post-intervention phase. Data analysis was carried out using a generalized linear mixed model analysis (GLMM). The results show that the children in the experimental group scored higher on the variables trained by the program and on social skills than those in the control group. They also obtained lower scores in the observed externalizing problems. The effect of the program was high in the emotion identification and expression, communication skills, prosocial behaviors (sharing and helping), problem-solving, and social interaction. Social-emotional learning in early childhood is essential for the prevention of behavioral problems to facilitate the development of adjusted and regulated behavior. Thus, preschool programs could play a key role. Full article

Self-determination theory and Vallerand’s hierarchical model have been studied taking into account different types of social factors that can result in different consequences. The purpose of this work was to see if responsibility and social climate could predict antisocial and prosocial behavior and violence. For this, 429 students (M = 11.46, SD = 1.92) participated in the study, answering a questionnaire with five variables: school climate, responsibility, motivation, satisfaction of psychological needs, prosocial and antisocial behavior, and violence. The main results indicated that most variables correlated positively and directly, except in the case of antisocial behavior and violence. On the other hand, a prediction model (X2 = 584.145 (98); RMSEA = 0.104 [90% CI = 0.096, 0.112]; TLI = 0.849; CFI = 0.894) showed that responsibility and school climate can predict basic psychological needs, and that these needs can improve autonomous motivation, which, in turn, could positively predict on improving prosocial behavior and reducing antisocial behavior and violence. In conclusion, school climate and responsibility can encourage the development of positive consequences in the classroom, specifically in terms of prosocial behavior and the reduction of violence and antisocial behavior. Full article

An analysis of secondary students’ personality traits, along with a description of their emotional intelligence levels and their anger control, could be decisive when educating students to prevent anti-social behavior in academia. Very few studies on personality, emotional intelligence, and aggressive conduct exist in Spain. Some of the studies that do exist, however, only explore the relationship between emotional intelligence, personality, and prosocial behavior in secondary education students. Likewise, there are few studies focusing on personality and aggression control. In this study, using the Big Five personality models as predictors of aggressiveness in subjects and of emotional intelligence, we sought to contribute to the improvement of the education of students on aggressive behavior in education centers. To do this, we conducted a study using the Big Five Personality Questionnaire (BFQ) for Children and Adults (BFQ-NA), the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) emotional intelligence test, and the State–Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) anger management test. Our main objective was to analyze the relationship of the BFQ with the variables of emotional intelligence and aggressiveness. This was achieved using a range of bivariate correlation and multiple regression tests. The results showed the correlation and predictive value of emotional intelligence and aggression in the Big Five model of personality. This study coincides with other research linking Big Five questionnaires with emotional intelligence and aggression. Full article

Using a cross-sectional study design, we tested a structural equation model of hypothesized relationships among a group of variables: motivational climate in physical education (PE), students’ social competence in PE, out of-school physical activity (PA) motivation, PA intention and their moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Based on the self-reports of 363 fourth to sixth grade elementary school students (172 girls, 191 boys), the model revealed that the task-involving motivational climate in PE was linked to higher MVPA via cooperation in PE, and also via extrinsic motivation and PA intention. Ego-involving motivational climate was related to higher extrinsic motivation and amotivation, further to higher PA intention and, finally, to higher MVPA. Task-involving motivational climate was positively linked to students’ social competence markers of cooperation and empathy, and negatively to disruptiveness. Ego-involving motivational climate was positively related to disruptiveness and impulsivity, the markers of low social competence. The study showed that the motivational climate and co-operational aspect of social competence both played significant roles in students’ PA motivation, PA intention and MVPA. A pedagogical model that brings the learning of social competence relevant skills to the fore is creative physical education (CPE). Analysis of CPE is provided which highlights teaching behaviors which contribute to the students’ MVPA through motivational climates, co-operation, PA motivation and PA intention. Full article

The Early Childhood Social Competence Scale (EC-SCS) was elaborated to evaluate social behavior on behalf of others in infantile populations. Due to the emergence and development of these behaviors from very early ages, the interest in its assessment is high from a developmental, educational, and applied perspective. The aim of the present study is to develop a Spanish population version of the scale, considering a specific dimensional structure. It was tested with a sample of 504 children of ages between 3 and 5 years, enrolled in school centers of infantile education. The results show that the new version of the instrument is a suitable measure for the assessment of social competence behaviors in early infancy. The joint consideration of prosocial and unfriendly behavior is important as it allows for the promotion of social competence behaviors and optimizes the detection of and intervention in behavioral problems later in life. Full article

Healthy development can be viewed as an important dimension of the general wellbeing index and can be based upon lifelong sustainable satisfaction. Young individuals can represent an important component for society and its development. The literature shows that increased levels of global life satisfaction (LS) can be associated with minimal levels of problematic behaviors and elevated levels of pro-social behaviors. However, low levels of LS can be associated with high levels of perceived loneliness (PL), which, in turn, can be associated with antisocial behavior (AS). In light of this, the current investigation aims to study the mediating effect of PL and the link between LS and AS. This study is a preliminary investigation referring to aggressive behaviors and cognition in relation to subjective wellbeing. The sample consisted of 81 young individuals (M = 27.57, Standard Deviation = 9.25) from Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania. AS was evaluated with the How I Think Questionnaire (HIT), PL was measured with a single item inquiry and LS was evaluated with the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). The results display that there is a powerful association between LS and AS, between LS and PL and between PL and AS. After the inclusion of the mediator (PL) to the model, the influence of the independent variable (LS) increased and the effect of LS on AS significantly decreased. In light of this, the relationship between LS and AS can be explained by the mediating role of the PL variable. The results indicate the importance of perceived loneliness in regard to one’s life satisfaction and antisocial behaviors. In light of this, interventions that focus on the social aspect could prove useful for the improvement of sustainable life satisfaction, therefore decreasing the chance of the emergence of AS. Full article