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Background: Accumulating evidence has underscored the importance of fostering children's emotion regulation (ER) within primary school settings and the role of teachers in such efforts. This study sought to assess the needs of teachers in supporting students' ER, through a better understanding of teachers' perceptions and use of healthy versus unhealthy ER strategies in the classroom. Methods: Primary school teachers (n = 212; 91% female) completed an online, researcher-developed needs assessment survey assessing their perceptions regarding the importance of ER instruction and challenges surrounding children's ER, as well as the perceived effectiveness and reported use of healthy and unhealthy ER strategies in the classroom. Results: Cochran's Q and chi-square analyses revealed misperceptions regarding the effectiveness of healthy and unhealthy strategies, as well as discrepancies between teachers' perceptions regarding the effectiveness of specific healthy strategies (eg, meditation) and their reported use of them. Conclusions: While teachers recognize the growing importance of fostering ER in the classroom, the present findings suggest that there is a need for more professional development regarding the effectiveness and implementation of ER strategies in the primary school context. Efforts should be made to provide teachers with concrete recommendations for the implementation of ER strategies in the classroom.

Background: Global centers of epidemic prevention and control have entered a new stage of normalization, namely, the "post-COVID-19 era." During the post-COVID-19 era, which is characterized by the time period following that with the most serious medical consequences, the psychosocial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic began to receive worldwide attention, especially the degree of psychological distress it caused. Aim: This study explored the differential impact of gender role conflict on Chinese university students' engagement in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a function of biological sex following the global COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants were 1,600 university students in northwestern China (Mage = 21.3 years; 50.8% women) who completed online measures of demographic variables (including biological sex, gender role conflict, and NSSI engagement). Results: Women reported significantly more gender role conflicts than men did, while engagement in NSSI was significantly more prevalent among men than women. A total of 262 men reported engaging in at least one NSSI behavior, resulting in a prevalence rate of 33.25%. In comparison, a total of 106 individuals reported engaging in at least one NSSI behavior, resulting in a prevalence rate of 13.05% among women. Gender role conflict was found to significantly predict university students' NSSI engagement, regardless of biological sex. Conclusion: This is the first empirical study to identify sex differences in both gender role conflict and engagement in NSSI among university students in Northwestern China during the post-COVID-19 era. In addition, the present study is the first to demonstrate how gender role conflict predicts engagement in NSSI across sexes. These findings will inform the literature on gender role conflict and NSSI, particularly the close relationship between gender role conflict and engagement in NSSI among Chinese university students, and they emphasize the need for continued efforts to explore NSSI cross-culturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored differences in four domains of university adjustment (i.e. personal-emotional, social, academic, and institutional attachment) among students with and without a history of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and examined the independent influence of NSSI on university adjustment. Participants were 231 students from a large Canadian university who completed an online survey during their first and second year of university examining their perceived stress, perceived social support, coping self-efficacy, and university adjustment. Relative to students who never engaged in NSSI, those who did reported lower levels of university adjustment across domains. However, NSSI was not a significant predictor of university adjustment after accounting for perceived stress, perceived social support, and coping self-efficacy. This study provides preliminary evidence that engaging in NSSI may not confer additional risk for university adjustment, as students' psychological resources appear to be stronger determinants of adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant mental health concern on university campuses. It has been proposed that dispositional mindfulness, which may be fostered through mindfulness practice, may have important benefits for university students with a history of NSSI through its positive impact on coping self-efficacy. However, students' receptivity to mindfulness practice may be an important precursor to their ability to incur the benefits of dispositional mindfulness. This study sought to explore the interrelations between NSSI history, mindfulness receptivity, dispositional mindfulness, and coping self-efficacy among a sample of 246 university students (Mage = 21.53 years). Mindfulness receptivity was found to be positively predictive of coping self-efficacy; dispositional mindfulness fully mediated this relationship for participants with a history of NSSI, but did not mediate this relationship for those without such a history. Findings provide preliminary evidence for the importance of mindfulness receptivity in fostering dispositional mindfulness and coping self-efficacy in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stressful experiences are abundant in university and students with a history of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) may be hyper-reactive to stress. While brief mindfulness inductions have been proposed as a buffer against acute stress, whether they function differently in students with a history of NSSI remains in question. This study sought to explore the impact of an online mindfulness induction on (a) two facets of state mindfulness (i.e., mind and body) and (b) state stress, following a stress induction task, in university students with versus without a history of NSSI. Participants were Canadian university students with (n = 82; M age = 21.30 years, SD = 2.92; 87.8% female) and without (n = 82; M age = 21.71 years, SD = 3.18; 87.8% female) a history of NSSI, matched on gender, age, and faculty, who completed baseline (T1) measures of state stress and state mindfulness. Participants were randomly assigned to complete a mindfulness induction or an active control task. All participants then underwent a stress induction, and again completed measures of state stress and state mindfulness (T2). Results from three-way mixed ANOVAs revealed that state stress increased from T1 to T2 for all participants, regardless of group or condition. Among those assigned to the control condition, state mindfulness of the body was lower at T2 for participants with a history of NSSI compared to those without such a history. However, participants with a history of NSSI who completed the mindfulness induction reported greater state mindfulness of the body at T2 than students with a history of NSSI who completed an active control task. Findings highlight the unique response of university students with a history of NSSI to a brief mindfulness induction. Implications are discussed in the context of future research and clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicidal ideation was proved to be a critical precondition leading to the occurrence of subsequent suicidal behavior. Studies have confirmed that negative life events and forms of social support that youth are experiencing in the current socio-cultural context might have unique impacts on their suicidal ideation. However, the specific mechanism is relatively underexplored. Objective: We sought to investigate the impacts of offline and online social supports on Chinese students' suicidal ideation under the pressure of various negative life events, as well as potential gender differences in these relationships. Methods: Participants were 2,018 middle -- high school and university students from Northwestern China, who completed a demographics questionnaire and self-report measures of negative life events, social support, and suicidal ideation. Results: Offline social support had a significant direct effect on suicidal ideation across genders. Among male youth, offline social support only had a moderating effect on the relationship between punitive negative life events and suicidal ideation. Among female youth, offline social support had a significant moderating effect on suicidal ideation under the pressure of all types of negative life events; Online social support only had a significant direct effect on female youth's suicidal ideation, although it did significantly moderate the relationship between all types of negative life events and suicidal ideation, across genders. Conclusion: Our findings revealed direct and moderating effects of offline and online social support on suicidal ideation among youth under the pressure of different types of negative life events, as well as gender-specific patterns in these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as the deliberate destruction of one's bodily tissue without suicidal intent. Mindfulness practice is commonly incorporated into universities' stress management programming and may benefit students with a history of NSSI. However, recent findings suggest that these students may respond differentially to specific types of mindfulness practice (i.e., formal vs. informal practice). The present study qualitatively explored the acceptability of different types of mindfulness practice among university students with a history of NSSI. University students with a recent history of NSSI ( n = 36) completed a semistructured interview following a brief mindfulness practice (i.e., either a formal body scan, formal sitting meditation, or informal practice). Reflexive thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed five key themes. First, there appeared to be general misconceptions regarding what constitutes mindfulness practice (Theme 1). Nevertheless, within the present study, all mindfulness practices were carried out with relative ease (Theme 2). Notably, favorable physical and psychological experiences were predominant in response to informal practice (Theme 3). Preferences regarding level of guidance were more mixed in response to formal versus informal practice (Theme 4). Finally, only informal practice inspired feelings of delight and surprise following practice (Theme 5). Informal mindfulness practice is deemed highly acceptable by university students with a history of NSSI and clinicians should strongly consider emphasizing it in mindfulness-based interventions offered to these students, to provide them with the best opportunity to build a regular mindfulness practice and develop their emotion regulation abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Global centers of epidemic prevention and control have entered a new stage of normalization, namely, the "post-COVID-19 era." During the post-COVID-19 era, which is characterized by the time period following that with the most serious medical consequences, the psychosocial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic began to receive worldwide attention, especially the degree of psychological distress it caused., Aim: This study explored the differential impact of gender role conflict on Chinese university students' engagement in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a function of biological sex following the global COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: Participants were 1,600 university students in northwestern China ( M age  = 21.3 years; 50.8% women) who completed online measures of demographic variables (including biological sex, gender role conflict, and NSSI engagement)., Results: Women reported significantly more gender role conflicts than men did, while engagement in NSSI was significantly more prevalent among men than women. A total of 262 men reported engaging in at least one NSSI behavior, resulting in a prevalence rate of 33.25%. In comparison, a total of 106 individuals reported engaging in at least one NSSI behavior, resulting in a prevalence rate of 13.05% among women. Gender role conflict was found to significantly predict university students' NSSI engagement, regardless of biological sex., Conclusion: This is the first empirical study to identify sex differences in both gender role conflict and engagement in NSSI among university students in Northwestern China during the post-COVID-19 era. In addition, the present study is the first to demonstrate how gender role conflict predicts engagement in NSSI across sexes. These findings will inform the literature on gender role conflict and NSSI, particularly the close relationship between gender role conflict and engagement in NSSI among Chinese university students, and they emphasize the need for continued efforts to explore NSSI cross-culturally., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Xin, Petrovic, Yang, Zhang and Yang.)

The present study employed a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of a 6-hr mandatory stress management and well-being program for preservice teachers. A program group of 157 preservice teachers ( M age = 22.46 years; 88% women) completed the program as well as baseline, postprogram, and follow-up measures. A comparison group of 63 preservice teachers ( M age = 23.50 years; 85% women) completed measures at similar time points but did not receive the program. All participants completed measures of stress, coping self-efficacy, anxiety, mindfulness, and well-being. The program group completed additional measures of well-being, affect, and program satisfaction. Findings revealed significant improvements in key indices of mental health and well-being for those in the program group relative to the comparison group and high ratings of program satisfaction. Discussion focuses on implications of present findings for mandatory inclusion of wellness curriculum in teacher preparation programs with instruction on enhancing their own and their students' well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: University students frequently report elevated levels of stress and mental health difficulties. Thus, the need to build coping capacity on university campuses has been highlighted as critical to mitigating the negative effects of prolonged stress and distress among students. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, web-based stress management resources such as infographics and web-based workshops have been central to supporting university students' mental health and well-being. However, there is a lack of research on students' satisfaction with and uptake of these approaches. Furthermore, mental health stigma has been suggested to have not only fueled the emergence of these web-based approaches to stress management but may also influence students' help-seeking behaviors and their satisfaction with and uptake of these resources., Objective: This study explored potential differences in students' satisfaction and strategy use in response to an interactive infographic (an emerging resource delivery modality) presenting stress management strategies and a web-based workshop (a more common modality) presenting identical strategies. This study also examined the relative contribution of students' strategy use and family-based mental health stigma in predicting their sustained satisfaction with the 2 web-based stress management approaches., Methods: University students (N=113; mean age 20.93, SD 1.53 years; 100/113, 88.5% women) completed our web-based self-report measure of family-based mental health stigma at baseline and were randomly assigned to either independently review an interactive infographic (n=60) or attend a synchronous web-based workshop (n=53). All participants reported their satisfaction with their assigned modality at postintervention (T1) and follow-up (T2) and their strategy use at T2., Results: Interestingly, a 2-way mixed ANOVA revealed no significant group × time interaction or main effect of group on satisfaction. However, there was a significant decrease in satisfaction from T1 to T2, despite relatively high levels of satisfaction being reported at both time points. In addition, a 1-way ANOVA revealed no significant difference in strategy use between groups. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression revealed that students' strategy use positively predicted T2 satisfaction in both groups. However, only in the web-based workshop group did family-based mental health stigma predict T2 satisfaction over and above strategy use., Conclusions: While both approaches were highly satisfactory over time, findings highlight the potential utility of interactive infographics since they are less resource-intensive than web-based workshops and students' satisfaction with them is not impacted by family-based mental health stigma. Moreover, although numerous intervention studies measure satisfaction at a single time point, this study highlights the need for tracking satisfaction over time following intervention delivery. These findings have implications for student service units in the higher education context, emphasizing the need to consider student perceptions of family-based mental health stigma and preferences regarding delivery format when designing programming aimed at bolstering students' coping capacity., (©Sohyun Cho, Laurianne Bastien, Julia Petrovic, Bilun Naz Böke, Nancy L Heath. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 04.04.2024.)