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To date, cross-cultural studies on Theory of Mind (ToM) have predominantly focused on preschoolers. This study focuses on middle childhood, comparing two samples of mainland Chinese (n = 126) and Australian (n = 83) children aged between 5.5 and 12 years. Strange Stories, the most commonly used measure of ToM, was employed. The study aimed to examine the one- versus two-factor structure and measurement invariance of Strange Stories across two cultures; use the verified invariant model of Strange Stories to compare children's cognitive and affective ToM across two cultures; and finally, to investigate correlates of individual differences on Strange Stories cross-culturally. Multiple-groups confirmatory factor analysis revealed the measurement invariance of a two-factor model of Strange Stories (cognitive and affective) in both groups. Chinese children performed comparably to Australian children on cognitive ToM stories, but more poorly than Australian children on affective ToM stories. There were cultural differences in the correlates of ToM. The number of older siblings was a positive predictor of cognitive ToM for Chinese children, but a negative predictor of cognitive ToM for Australian children. The findings confirm that Strange Stories is a reliable measure for evaluating ToM in school-aged children from mainland China and Australia and highlight the importance of considering both cognitive and affective aspects of ToM in cross-cultural comparison.

The current study used a novel problem-solving task in which the solution could only be reached via interactions between members of dyads. The study aimed to systematically examine how nonverbal interactive behaviour was related to the cultural background of the dyads, the participant's role in the dyad (viz., instructor, problem solver) and task repetition. Twenty-one Australian dyads and 32 Chinese dyads performed the dyadic puzzle-solving task while their interactions were video-recorded. In each dyad, one instructor and one problem solver worked together to solve a seven-piece puzzle. Six trials, each comprising a different puzzle, were completed. Results indicate that the Australian instructors engaged in significantly more eye gazing and displayed more hand gestures but smiled less than the Chinese instructors. The Australian problem solvers maintained longer eye gazing, displayed more hand gestures and more echoing than their Chinese counterparts. Over trials, the Chinese instructors reduced their total talking time, hand gestures, nodding behaviour and smiling during self-talking more than the Australian instructors. Moreover, the problem solvers in the dyads from both countries significantly reduced their smiling across trials. The current study shows that nonverbal behaviours during dyadic interactions are related to one's cultural background, role in the task and task repetition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Empirical evidence has suggested that schizophrenia is associated with dysfunctions in the reward system and working memory. However, little is known about individuals at risk for schizophrenia. In particular, it is not known if those with schizotypal personality features will show similar deficits in these two domains. This study examined whether individuals with schizotypal personality disorder features will subjectively devalue potential rewards in the future and show changes in their decision-making behaviour, compared with healthy controls, and whether this devaluation is inversely associated with working memory performance. Method A total of 44 participants with schizotypal personality features and 22 healthy control participants without schizotypal personality features completed the Monetary- Choice Questionnaire, the Cambridge Gambling Task, and number and letter span tasks, which assessed delay-discounting rate, decision-making behaviour, and working memory, respectively. Results The results showed that participants with schizotypal personality features, especially those with negative features, valued delayed rewards in the future to a lesser extent than healthy control participants. However, there was no significant group difference in decision-making on the Cambridge Gambling Task. Moreover, the delay-discounting rate of individuals with schizotypal personality features correlated significantly with working memory performance. Conclusion The findings suggest that people with schizotypal personality features may be impaired in future reward perception and that this impairment is related to their working memory ability, although their capacity to make decisions is not affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy is an essential component of social interactions and may be related to personality characteristics. However, this issue has not been extensively examined in a Chinese sample. Students at six universities in China ( N = 257) completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R), and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Using multiple regression analyses, and after accounting for demographic variables (sex and age), it was found that the affective empathy component Personal Distress positively predicted EPQ-R Neuroticism scores (β = .49), negatively predicted Extraversion (β = -.21) and Lie scale scores (β = -.22), and positively predicted DASS-21 Depression (β = .26), Anxiety (β = .34) and Stress scores (β = .39). Empathic Concern positively predicted Lie Scale scores (β = .21), and negatively predicted Psychoticism scores (β = -.24). Individuals with high scores in Empathic Concern were also found to score more highly on Fantasy, Personal Distress, Neuroticism, Stress and Anxiety. Thus, more empathic individuals are likely to experience elevations in negative affectivity when they perceive the emotional suffering of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impairment in empathy has been demonstrated in patients with schizophrenia and individuals with psychosis proneness. In the present study, we examined the neural correlates underlying theory of mind (ToM) and empathy and the relationships between these two social cognitive abilities with schizotypy. Fifty-six first-year college students (31 males, 25 females) between 17 and 21 years of age (M = 19.3, SD = 0.9) from a medical university in China participated. All participants undertook a comic strips functional imaging task that specifically examined both empathy and ToM. In addition, they completed two self-report scales: the Chapman Psychosis Proneness scale and the Interpersonal Responsivity Index (IRI). Results showed that both empathy and ToM conditions of the task were associated with brain activity in the middle temporal gyrus, the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the precuneus and the posterior cingulate gyrus. In addition, we found positive correlations between negative schizotypy and brain activity in regions involved in social cognition, namely, the middle temporal gyrus, the TPJ, as well as the medial prefrontal gyrus. These findings highlight that different dimensions of schizotypy may show different associations with brain regions involved in social cognitive abilities. More importantly, the positive correlation between brain activity and anhedonia suggests the presence of compensatory mechanisms in high-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gap between the demand and delivery of mental health services in mainland China can be reduced by validating freely available and psychometrically sound psychological instruments. The present research examined the Chinese version of the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Study 1 administered the DASS-21 to 1,815 Chinese college students and found internal consistency indices (Cronbach's alpha) of .83, .80, and .82 for the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress subscales, respectively, and .92 for the total DASS total. Test-retest reliability over a 6-month interval was .39 to .46 for each of the 3 subscales and .46 for the total DASS. Moderate convergent validity of the Depression and Anxiety subscales was demonstrated via significant correlations with the Chinese Beck Depression Inventory (r = .51 at Time 1 and r = .64 at Time 2) and the Chinese State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (r = .41), respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the original 3-factor model with 1 minor change (nonnormed fit index [NNFI] = .964, comparative fit index [CFI] = .968, and root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .079). Study 2 examined the clinical utility of the Chinese DASS-21 in 166 patients with schizophrenia and 90 matched healthy controls. Patients had higher Depression and Anxiety but not Stress subscale scores than healthy controls. A discriminant function composed of the linear combination of 3 subscale scores correctly discriminated 69.92% of participants, which again supported the potential clinical utility of the DASS in mainland China. Taken together, findings in these studies support the cross-cultural validity of the DASS-21 in China. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to validate a simplified Chinese version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ; 60 items) for use with Mainland Chinese people. The original English version of the EQ was translated into simplified Chinese. Through an online survey, 588 Mainland Chinese participants completed the EQ and 3 other questionnaires: the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Thirty-five participants completed retesting of the EQ 3 to 4 weeks later. Sex differences on the EQ scores and psychometric properties of the EQ items were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that an EQ 15-item structural model fitted the data quite well. Self-report empathy, as assessed by the current simplified Chinese version of the EQ, appeared to relate to participants' autistic and alexithymic traits but not sex.

The present study aimed to examine empathy in individuals with schizotypy and to explore whether empathy mediates the associations between schizotypy traits and social functioning in college students. 1083 (376 males, mean age 18.78 ± 0.86 years) Chinese university students completed questionnaires measuring empathy, social functioning, and schizotypy. Participants were categorized into four groups based on their scores on the Chapman Psychosis Proneness scales: mixed schizotypy, positive schizotypy, negative schizotypy, and healthy controls. Participants in the negative schizotypy group reported significantly poorer scores on both affective and cognitive empathy than those in the positive schizotypy and healthy control groups. The mixed schizotypy group showed lower affective empathy than the healthy control group. Scores on both cognitive and affective empathy in the positive schizotypy group were similar to those in the healthy control group. In addition, cognitive empathy was found to be a partial mediator of the association between negative schizotypy traits and social functioning. Results suggest that while individuals with negative schizotypy have deficits in empathy, individuals with positive schizotypy show empathy abilities comparable to that of healthy controls. Moreover, only cognitive empathy partially mediated the relationship between negative schizotypy and social functioning., (© 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)