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Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in determining prosocial behavior, the current study explored how cultural values were differentially associated with adaptive prosocial behaviors that might protect against mental health challenges. Participants for the current study included 5,682 young people aged 18-25 years from 14 different countries around the world (68% female, 62% college students). Path analyses suggested that there were few differences in patterns as a function of culture, but revealed that horizontal individualism and horizontal and vertical collectivism were indirectly associated with lower levels of depression via prosocial behavior toward family members. Discussion focuses on the importance of coping by strengthening family relationships via prosocial behavior during the pandemic.

This longitudinal, quasi-experimental field study investigated affective forecasting as a moderator of positive intergroup contact effects among adolescents. We also examined a novel mediating mechanism that underlies this effect, namely accuracy of perceived outgroup willingness for intergroup contact. Three annual waves of survey data were used from 1,169 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 13.88 at Wave 1; 50% girls; 66% White British, 44% Asian British) whose schools were merged, in a unique intervention that resulted in one school where ethnic groups were evenly mixed (i.e., "balanced school") and two White British majority schools (i.e., "majority skewed schools"). Results showed that positive intergroup contact and attitudes improved more in the balanced school than in the majority skewed schools. In all schools, change in adolescents' positive intergroup contact predicted change in positive intergroup attitudes indirectly via (a) increased accuracy of perceived outgroup willingness for contact and (b) reduced intergroup anxiety. Indirect effects via accuracy of perceived contact willingness were stronger for adolescents who made more negative affective forecasts than for other adolescents. These moderated mediation effects were stronger in the balanced school than in the majority skewed schools. Thus, more balanced ethnic mixing in schools seemed to directly enhance positive intergroup relations and attitudes for all adolescents, but to particularly benefit adolescents who made more negative affective forecasts about positive contact before the school merger.

Introduction: Fear of stigmatization, high perceived partner burden, or refraining from self-disclosure may manifest in romantic rejection concerns among adolescents with celiac disease (CD), potentially impacting their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and consequences of romantic rejection concerns among adolescents and young adults with CD. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 165 German adolescents and young adults (aged 14-22) with self-reported CD. Participants completed measures of romantic rejection concerns, illness identity, self-esteem, peer support, and CD-specific HRQOL. Results: Participants reported moderate levels of concerns about the impact of CD on their romantic relationships, with no significant gender differences. Participants involved in romantic relationships expressed lower concerns of rejection, but similar preference for a "gluten-free partner." Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that higher illness acceptance and peer support predicted lower rejection concerns. Significant interactions emerged between self-esteem and illness acceptance, and between self-esteem and peer support. Higher illness acceptance predicted fewer rejection worries only among those with high self-esteem, while peer support played a mitigating role only for those with low self-esteem. Romantic rejection concerns significantly predicted lower CD-specific HRQOL across all domains. Discussion: Anxieties about CD's impact on romantic relationships are prevalent among adolescents and may hinder their HRQOL. The findings highlight the complex interplay between self-esteem, illness identity, and social support in shaping romantic concerns. Targeted interventions focusing on peer support and fostering positive illness identity are recommended to alleviate rejection fears and improve HRQOL among youth with CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) plays a prominent role in social perception research when comparing the evaluation of different targets on warmth and competence dimensions. However, there is scarce information on the SCM’s measurement properties. Thus, in this article, we provide a comprehensive test of the SCM’s structural validity (i.e., reliability, dimensionality, cross-group comparability of measurement properties). We re-analysed published SCM data from English speaking participants (study 1: 78 datasets from 43 original publications, N = 20,819) and German participants (study 2: 29 datasets from 23 original publications, N = 10,854). We used confirmatory factor analyses to assess the scales’ reliability and dimensionality as well as measurement invariance assessment to examine cross-group comparability as a precondition for meaningful and valid mean-value comparison. We found on average good reliabilities of the SCM scales. In contrast, about 35% of all 1093 examined SCM measurement models presented adequate scale dimensionality, and regarding the scales’ crossgroup comparability, we found (partial) scalar measurement invariance in about 11% of all cases. These findings indicate considerable validity concerns in published SCM research, as a meaningful and valid measurement of warmth and competence was not given in approximately two thirds of all cases, and mean-value comparisons were potentially biased due to lacking cross-group comparability for about eight out of nine cases. We propose future directions to improve the measurement quality and validity in SCM research and invite fellow researchers to constructively discuss these ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]