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Parental burnout is a state that parents feel exhausted in their parental role. Although past research has examined concurrent correlates of parental burnout, the impacts of parental burnout on adolescent development over time remain largely unknown. The current study explored the indirect mechanisms linking mothers' parental burnout to adolescents' later internalizing and externalizing problems through maternal hostility among Chinese families. Using a sample of 606 adolescents (51.5% boys; Mage = 12.89 years old) and their mothers (Mage = 38.50 years old), this three-wave longitudinal study showed that mothers' parental burnout was predictive of adolescents' perceptions of their mothers' parental hostility over time, which were in turn related to adolescents' later internalizing and externalizing problems. Moreover, mothers' parental burnout was directly related to adolescents' later externalizing problems. Taken together, parental burnout played a role in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems over time through increased parental hostility. These findings underscore the importance of parental burnout on parenting behavior and adolescent adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly selective and sensitive detection of guanosine 3+'- diphosphate-5'-diphosphate (ppGpp), namely, the stringent in plants or microorganisms responding to strict or extreme environmental conditions such as stress and starvation, which plays an important role in gene expression, rRNA and antibiotics production, regulations of virulence of bacteria, and growth of plants, faces a great challenge owing to its extreme similarity to normal nucleotides. By modifying the surface groups of a facile two-step hydrothermal route prepared carbon dots (CDs) with terbium ions (Tb3++) in this contribution, a novel fluorescent probe with excellent properties such as highly physical and chemical stability, narrow emission and excitation wavelength-independent emission was prepared. The Tb3++ ions on the surface of CDs cannot only preserve the intrinsic fluorescence (FL) of CDs but also keep its own coordination capacity with rare earth complex, and thus the clamp structure (four phosphate groups) of ppGpp can specific binding with Tb3++ ions on the surface of CDs to produce antenna effect. Therefore, a highly selective and sensitive fluorescent ratiometry of ppGpp was developed by terbium-modified carbon dots (CDs-Tb) with the limit of detection as low as 50 nM based on the synergistic effect of antenna effect of Tb3++ ions and specific recognition capacity of CDs. The applicability of this assay was demonstrated by CDs-Tb-based paper sensor for high distinguishing ppGpp from other nucleotides with similar structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the association between mother-child attachment and social withdrawal in Chinese urban children. Participants in the 1.5-year longitudinal study were 142 Chinese children (74 boys, 68 girls), who were initially aged between 6 and 10 years. Self-reported mother-child attachment style was measured at Time 1 and Time 2. Two subtypes of social withdrawal (i.e., shyness and unsociability) were measured by self-rating and peer nomination at Time 2. Regression analysis showed that attachment style predicted a different subtype of social withdrawal. Early secure and ambivalent attachment were associated negatively and positively, respectively, with self-reported shyness. Current (Time 2) avoidant attachment was positively associated with both self-reported and peer-rated unsociability, whereas current ambivalent attachment was negatively associated with self-reported unsociability. The findings underscore a specific connection between attachment style and social withdrawal subtype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has revealed that procrastination--the purposive delay of an intended course of action--is a maladaptive behavior. However, by drawing on an evolutionary life history (LF) approach, the present study proposes that procrastination may be an adaptive fast LF strategy characterized by prioritizing immediate benefits with little regard to long-term consequences. A total of 199 undergraduate students completed measures of procrastination and future orientation and the Mini-K scale, which measures the slow LF strategy. Structural equation modeling revealed that, as predicted, procrastination was negatively associated with a slow LF strategy both directly and indirectly through the mediation of future orientation. These results define the fast LF origin of procrastination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic spintronics focuses on utilizing the spin degree of freedom in organic materials because of the long spin relaxation time. The vertical organic spin valve (OSV) is a typical sample structure used to study the spin transport phenomena. However, the fabrication of high quality OSVs is difficult, which results in controversial experiment results and hence hinders the development of organic spintronics. In this work, we describe our recent study on the fabrication of typical vertical organic spin valves, La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO)/Alq3/Co. The LSMO bottom electrodes are annealed to obtain an atomically smooth surface and improved magnetic properties. The top Co electrodes are deposited by an indirect deposition method to reduce the interfusion between Co and Alq3. The controlled fabrication process provides much better performance and sample yield of OSVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a series-expansion thermal tensor network (SETTN) approach for efficient simulations of quantum lattice models. This continuous-time SETTN method is based on the numerically exact Taylor series expansion of the equilibrium density operator e-βH (with H the total Hamiltonian and β the imaginary time), and is thus Trotter-error free. We discover, through simulating XXZ spin chain and square-lattice quantum Ising models, that not only the Hamiltonian H, but also its powers Hn, can be efficiently expressed as matrix product operators, which enables us to calculate with high precision the equilibrium and dynamical properties of quantum lattice models at finite temperatures. Our SETTN method provides an alternative to conventional Trotter-Suzuki renormalization-group (RG) approaches, and achieves a very high standard of thermal RG simulations in terms of accuracy and flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary cites evidence to argue that girls growing up in a competitive and aggressive environment are more likely to shift to avoidant attachment than to ambivalent attachment in middle childhood. These avoidant women are also more likely to favor a short- term mating strategy. The role of oxytocin (OT) and early experience in shaping an avoidant attachment in females is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many contexts worldwide, most people grow up with one or more siblings. The current paper reviews research on sibling relationship quality (closeness, communication, and conflict) in adolescence and young adulthood in four different contexts: primarily White North American and European samples (132 articles reviewed); ethnic minority families (26 articles reviewed); China (6 articles reviewed); and when one sibling has a disability (21 articles reviewed). Where the literature was available, within each context we addressed five questions: how does sibling relationship quality change from adolescence through young adulthood, how are demographic and structural characteristics linked to sibling relationship quality, how is sibling relationship quality linked to adjustment and behavior, how are familial relationships and processes linked to sibling relationship quality, and how is sibling relationship quality linked to non-familial relationships. Included articles were published between 2001 and 2021 and included aspects of sibling closeness, communication, or conflict in adolescence or young adulthood. Across all contexts, individual (e.g., gender) and dyadic characteristics (e.g., gender composition, birth order) play a role in siblings’ relationship qualities. In several contexts, the current literature suggests that sibling closeness and communication are linked to positive development, well-being, and healthy relationships with other social partners. In multiple contexts, sibling conflict is linked to poorer well-being and negative relationships with other social partners. These broad patterns, however, are qualified by each context and often multiple moderators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is puzzling why countries do not all implement stringent behavioral control measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 even though preventive behaviors have been proven to be the only effective means to stop the pandemic. We provide a novel evolutionary life history explanation whereby pathogenic and parasitic prevalence represents intrinsic rather than extrinsic mortality risk that drives slower life history strategies and the related disease control motivation in all animals but especially humans. Our theory was tested and supported based on publicly available data involving over 150 countries. Countries having a higher historical prevalence of infectious diseases are found to adopt slower life history strategies that are related to prompter COVID-19 containment actions by the government and greater compliance by the population. Findings could afford governments novel insight into the design of more effective COVID-19 strategies that are based on enhancing a sense of control, vigilance, and compliance in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety is essential for life. To survive, humans and other animals have developed sets of psychological and physiological adaptations known as life history (LH) tradeoff strategies in response to various safety constraints. Evolutionarily selected LH strategies in turn regulate development and behavior to optimize survival under prevailing safety conditions. The present study tested LH hypotheses concerning safety based on a 6-year longitudinal sample of 1,245 adolescents and their parents from 9 countries. The results revealed that, invariant across countries, environmental harshness, and unpredictability (lack of safety) was negatively associated with slow LH behavioral profile, measured 2 years later, and slow LH behavioral profile was negatively and positively associated with externalizing behavior and academic performance, respectively, as measured an additional 2 years later. These results support the evolutionary conception that human development responds to environmental safety cues through LH regulation of social and learning behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether the cultural normativeness of parents' beliefs and behaviors moderates the links between those beliefs and behaviors and youths' adjustment, mothers, fathers, and children (N = 1,298 families) from 12 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States) were interviewed when children were, on average, 10 years old and again when children were 12 years old. Multilevel models examined 5 aspects of parenting (expectations regarding family obligations, monitoring, psychological control, behavioral control, warmth/affection) in relation to 5 aspects of youth adjustment (social competence, prosocial behavior, academic achievement, externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior). Interactions between family level and culture-level predictors were tested to examine whether cultural normativeness of parenting behaviors moderated the link between those behaviors and children's adjustment. More evidence was found for within- than between-culture differences in parenting predictors of youth adjustment. In 7 of the 8 instances in which cultural normativeness was found to moderate the link between parenting and youth adjustment, the link between a particular parenting behavior and youth adjustment was magnified in cultural contexts in which the parenting behavior was more normative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research has been conducted to document and sometimes to provide proximate explanations (e.g., Confucianism vs. Western philosophy) for East-West cultural differences. The ultimate evolutionary mechanisms underlying these cross-cultural differences have not been addressed. We propose in this review that East-West cultural differences (e.g., independent versus interdependent self construal; autonomy versus harmony in values; hierarchical versus egalitarian relationships) result from social learning and individual learning as primary means to adapt to the local environment. Historical and contemporary evidence from multiple sources is reviewed that indicates smaller extents of environmental variability in East Asia including China than in Europe and North America, favoring social learning in the East and individual learning in the West. Corresponding to these different adaptive strategies, East-West differences stem from learning styles that differ between copying and rote memorization, on the one hand, and critical thinking and innovative problem solving, on the other hand. These primary cultural differences are correlated with such personality attributes as conformity, compliance, and independence that serve to facilitate social or individual learning. This and other cross-cultural and educational psychological research is reviewed as evidence to support our evolutionary explanation of why Eastern and Western cultures differ in the ways in which they do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]