Self-compassion, Positive and Negative Affect and Social Avoidance among Adolescence: Mediating Role of Mindfulness.

Objectives The current study examined the moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between social anxiety, avoidance behavior, and positive and negative affect. Methods A total of 445 undergraduate and graduate students completed the self-report questionnaires including Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Korean-Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (K-PANAS), Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), Subtle Avoidance Frequency Examination (SAFE), Korean version of the Self-Compassion Scale (K-SCS). The date was analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and SPSS PROCESS Macro. Results The current study yielded three noteworthy results. First, there were significant correlations among social anxiety, social avoidance, subtle avoidance, self-compassion, negative affect, and positive affect. Second, Social avoidance was completed mediated the relationship between social anxiety and positive affect. Subtle avoidance was partially mediated their relationships. Third, the mediating effects of social avoidance and subtle avoidance in relationship between social anxiety and positive affect were moderate by self-compassion. Conclusions The results suggest that self-compassion may act as a protective factor for positive emotional experiences of people with high social anxiety.

Brief Form of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI-B) for Adolescents

Decision letter: A human subcortical network underlying social avoidance revealed by risky economic choices

Recent data show that death anxiety and negative affect (NA) have become increasingly relevant because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The constant reminders of mortality through mass media and social media have contributed to this trend. Simultaneously, students have experienced a sudden and radical shift from face-to-face to online teaching, reducing direct human interactions and increasing anxiety. Death anxiety is often associated with mental illnesses and maladaptive mood states such as depression, anxiety, and NA. Despite this, few studies have investigated the effect of death anxiety, positive affect (PA), and NA on students’ perceived quality of distance learning. The present study aims to investigate the association among death anxiety, PA, NA, and the perceived quality of distance learning in a sample of 429 students attending university or training courses. Positive and negative affect were assessed through the positive and negative affect scales; death anxiety was measured through the death anxiety scale, and the perceived quality of distance learning was evaluated through the perceived quality of distance learning questionnaire. Zero-order correlation coefficients were calculated among the examined variables. To study the mediating role of positive and negative affect in the relationship between students’ perceptions of distance learning quality and death anxiety, we employed multiple regression analyses. Our findings indicate a significant association between death anxiety and cognitive–emotive reactions to distance learning. Lower levels of death anxiety are associated with PA, while higher levels are related to NA. Moreover, PA and NA act as mediators in the relationship between death anxiety and a positive reaction to distance learning. In conclusion, our findings highlight that PA and NA partially mediate the relationship between death anxiety and the perceived quality of distance learning.

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between mindful self-care and maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) and parallel mediating effects of positive and negative affect among pregnant women.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling from June 2025 to July 2025 in six tertiary hospitals in Henan and Guangdong province. A total of 351 pregnant women were recruited and a questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, positive and negative affect scale and maternal antenatal attachment scale was used. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Harman’s single-factor test, Pearson correlation analysis, and parallel mediation analysis were conducted.ResultsCorrelation analysis showed that mindful self-care, positive affect, negative affect and MFA were all significantly correlated with each other, respectively. Once positive affect and negative affect were included as mediators, the direct effect of mindful self-care on MFA was no longer significant, suggesting that positive affect and negative affect fully mediated the relationship between mindful self-care and MFA.ConclusionPositive and negative affect play parallel mediating roles in the relationship between mindful self-care and MFA, emphasizing the critical role of emotion regulation in developing prenatal MFA and underscore the important value of mindful self-care as a psychological resource during pregnancy, which provides new perspectives for future theoretical models and intervention designs.

Positive and negative affect within the realm of depression, stress and fatigue: The two-factor distress model of the Global Mood Scale (GMS)

Effects of cigarette abstinence on negative and positive affect by depression symptom levels: A lab study

Social anxiety and marijuana-related problems: The role of social avoidance

Background and Objectives: Individuals with elevated social anxiety are thought to be at high risk for developing cannabis-related problems because they use cannabis to cope with anxiety-provoking social situations. Social anxiety is unique among the anxiety conditions in that it is characterized by both elevated negative affect (NA) and lower positive affect (PA). Yet it is unclear whether persons with elevated social anxiety use cannabis to decrease their NA or to increase their PA. Methods: This study examined the role of PA and NA (including cannabis use to increase PA and to decrease NA in social situations) on cannabis use frequency and related problems among current (past three-month) cannabis users (N = 278). Results: Social anxiety was significantly correlated with NA, PA, cannabis use to decrease NA, and use to increase PA. Serial mediation analyses tested the paths between social anxiety, affect, use to manage affect, typical cannabis use frequency, and cannabis use-related problems. Contrary to prediction, social anxiety was not indirectly related to use frequency or related problems via NA or PA generally. Rather, social anxiety was indirectly related to cannabis problems via the serial effect of use to cope with NA and typical use frequency and via the serial effect of use to increase PA and typical use frequency. Conclusions/Importance: Social anxiety may be associated with using cannabis to decrease NA and increase PA specifically in social situations, which increases cannabis use frequency and thus, problem risk.

BackgroundSocial anxiety is an underreported concern in schizophrenia (SCZ). Prevalence rates in the general population range from 0.5–7% (APA, 2013), but are higher in SCZ, and estimated to be 11–36% (Mazeh et al., 2009; Pallanti et al., 2004). Yet, research is limited with no established social anxiety treatments. Social anxiety is associated with decreased quality of life (Hansson, 2006), low self-esteem (Gumley et al., 2005), and increased psychopathology (Vrbova et al., 2017). Lysaker and Hammersley (2006) found that people with delusions and impairment in flexibility had the highest levels of social anxiety compared to those with fewer symptoms. Additionally, Lysaker et al. (2010) found that people with both high paranoia and theory of mind had higher social anxiety compared to those with lower levels of either paranoia or theory of mind. Taken together, this research suggests that symptoms may increase social anxiety, but other factors may inhibit their impact. The current study aims to add to this literature by exploring how different levels of hallucinations and self-esteem support affect social anxiety in SCZ.MethodsOutpatients with SCZ (N=50) participated in the current study. Participants were 76% male with a mean age of 42.50. Participants were African-American (n=27; 54%), Caucasian (n=11; 22%), multi-racial (n=5; 10%), Asian (n=4, 8%), or Hispanic (n=3; 6%). Social fear, social avoidance, and overall social anxiety was measured with the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS; Liebowitz, 1987). Self-esteem support (SeS) was measured with a subscale taken from the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983). SeS is the appraisal of the self compared with others and other’s opinions of the self. Hallucinations (HA) were scored with the observer-rated Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS; Andreasen, 1983). Participants were classified as having hallucinations if their SAPS global hallucinations were rated moderate to severe. This was chosen a priori as it reflects a level of clear hallucinations that may bother the person to some extent, as defined within the SAPS. Participants were classified as having either high or low SeS based on a mean split of the distribution of scores. Once participants were classified, we planned to compare groups on levels of social anxiety. This method was modified from previous research reporting similar groupings of symptoms and their relationship to social anxiety (Lysaker & Hammersley, 2006).ResultsFour groups resulted after including the dichotomized variables with the following proportions: low SeS/no HA (n=6; 12.5%), low SeS/HA (n=11, 22.9%), high SeS/no HA (n=13; 27.1%), and high SeS/HA (n=18, 37.5%). A one-way ANOVA was conducted to analyze the differences between groups. Post-Hoc analyses revealed the following differences. The HA/low SeS group had higher social anxiety than in the no HA/high SeS group (p=.030) and no HA/low SeS group (p=.039). The HA/low SeS group had higher social fear (p=.017) and social avoidance (p=.013) than in the no HA/high SeS group. There was a trending difference revealing that participants in the HA/low SeS group had higher social avoidance than in the HA/high SeS group (p=.056). There was a trending difference revealing that the HA/low SeS group had greater overall social anxiety than those in the HA/high SeS group (p=.064).DiscussionThese results present preliminary findings on social anxiety in people with different levels of HA and SeS. We found that people with low SeS and HA had significantly higher levels of social anxiety, social fear, and social avoidance than participants with only one of neither of these symptoms. These results will be discussed further to highlight implications to treatment and comorbidities in SCZ.

Background: Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first reported in China and became the global pandemic. This pandemic has proven fatal for the world and lasts drastic effects on the whole world. To combat with this hilarious pandemic, the whole world has adopted the strategy of social distancing and precautionary measures. Aim: To compare trends of social anxiety and avoidance during covid wave 1 and covid wave 2. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Central Park Medical College from October 2020 and January 2021. To assess social avoidance and anxiety LIEBOWITZ Social Anxiety and avoidance Scale was employed. Paired sample t test and correlation was used to compare mean differences. A p value less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: There was a reduction of score of social anxiety from covid wave 1 and wave 2 (26.73±4.65. 17.86±3.81) with p value of .001 and similarly there was a reduction of score of social avoidance (25.31±0.597 v/s 15.±0.3390) as well from wave 1 to wave 2 with p value of .001 Conclusion: There is a continuous decline in social avoidance and social anxiety which can cause an increase in covid 19 infection rate in order to combat that there’s need of prompt vaccination along with the precautionary measures to combat covid pandemic. MeSH Words: Covid-19, Social anxiety, social avoidance, covid wave.

Three studies examined the psychometric characteristics of short Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) scales as a function of varying descriptors, time frames and rating formats. The stability of affective structure across time periods and response modes was also evaluated. Study 1 examined the effect of six specified time periods on mood ratings. Both orthogonal and oblique factor analyses indicated that highly convergent PA and NA dimensions emerged in each solution; moreover, in the oblique solutions the correlation between the factors did not systematically vary across the different time periods. Correlations between brief NA and PA scales were also unaffected by the specified time frame but were consistently influenced by the descriptors comprising the scales. Study 2 investigated the psychometric properties of several short PA and NA scales. Most showed reasonable internal consistency reliability and convergent correlations; however, the discriminant correlations between PA and NA scales varied as a function of their component terms. Study 3 investigated the effects of different response formats. Analyses indicated that highly similar factors emerged regardless of format but that the response mode did affect the discriminant correlations.

In the present study, the mediating role of positive and negative affect in the relationship between mindfulness and psychological well-being of students in Ilam has been investigated. The statistical population of the study included all male and female students of Ilam universities who were studying in these universities in the 2019- 2020 academic year. Therefore, among these students, 400 students were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. The research data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The tools used in this study to evaluate the variables are: Reef Psychological Well-Being Scale (1980), Bauer et al.'s five-dimensional mindfulness scale (2006) and Watson et al.'s (1988) positive and negative affect scale. The standard coefficient of the indirect effect of mindfulness on students' psychological well-being was 0.27 through positive affect and 0.20 through negative affect, which are significant at the level of P = 0.001. These results suggest that the variables of positive and negative affect mediate the relationship between the variables of mindfulness and psychological well-being. Based on these results, it can be concluded that mindfulness can affect the psychological well-being of the individual by influencing the formation of positive and negative affect.

Purpose The aim of this study is to explore the love of life associations with scales of positive affect (self-efficacy, life satisfaction, happiness, self-esteem, mental health, religiosity, well-being and optimism) and scales of negative affect (suicidality, obsession, pessimism, anxiety, neuroticism and depression). Design/methodology/approach A sample of Alexandria University undergraduates took part in the study (N = 480). They responded to the Love of Life (LOL) Scale as well as to 14 short scales of positive and negative affect. Findings Men obtained significantly higher mean total scores than did women for self-efficacy and well-being. Women had significantly higher mean total scores than did men for satisfaction, obsession, anxiety and neuroticism. Pearson correlations of love of life and positive affect scales were positive and higher than that with negative affect scales (negative). Principal components analysis extracted three components that were labeled as “positive affect” and “negative affect”, as well as a residual component. Regression analysis indicated that the predictors of love of life were satisfaction, lack of anxiety, mental health, lack of depression (men), optimism, lack of suicidality, happiness, religiosity, mental health and well-being (women). Research limitations/implications Love of life is associated more with positive affect scales than negative affect scales, indicating good convergent validity of the LOL Scale. Originality/value Love of life is considered as a good addition to the subjective well-being domain in positive psychology.

BackgroundPostoperative and ongoing treatment of breast cancer is traumatic to women with breast cancer and may lead to positive and negative psychological diseases, which can affect the prognosis of patients with breast cancer. Positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) significantly impact the prognosis of postoperative breast cancer patients. However, the effects of specific emotions on patient prognosis and the relationships between them are still unclear.MethodsA case–control study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of PA and NA and their effects on Quality of Life (QoL) in breast cancer patients. 442 postoperative breast cancer patients and 444 healthy women were recruited from November to December 2021. For the observation group, participants were eligible if they (1) were aged between 16 and 80 years and (2) had a confirmed pathological diagnosis of breast cancer and (3) possessed the ability to read text, voluntarily agreed to participate, provided informed consent, and cooperated with the study procedures. The control group consisted of individuals without breast cancer who met all other criteria, as stated above. Patients were excluded from the study if they (1) had severe comorbid conditions causing functional impairment or life-threatening risks or (2) suffered from mental disorders or were unconscious at the time of the study. For the control group, individuals with a pathological diagnosis of breast cancer were also excluded. All other exclusion criteria were consistent with those for the observation group. The demographic information and clinicopathological information of the participants were collected. The Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) is a scale containing 20 emotional scores related to emotion and is used to assess the level of positive and negative affect. The Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) was used to assess the quality of life of cancer patients in 15 domains. SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze and process the data. Independent-sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis, were used to analyze PA and NA in different treatment phases. Polynomial regression and response surface analysis were conducted to assess the relationships among PA, NA, and QoL. The results were considered statistically significant at P < 0.05.ResultsCompared with healthy women, breast cancer patients had lower scores on "alert" and "distressed" but higher scores on "inspired," "scared," and "afraid." There were no significant differences in the relationships between PA and NA between patients and healthy women (P > 0.05). During the initial treatment phase, the highest proportion of patients had an NA greater than the PA (PA < NA). In the rehabilitation phase, the highest proportion of patients had PA greater than or equal to the NA (PA ≥ NA). The relationship between PA and QoL was an inverted U-shaped curve (P < 0.05), whereas the relationship between NA and QoL was a positive U-shaped curve (P < 0.05). There was an interaction effect between PA and NA (P < 0.001). The relationships among PA, NA, and QoL varied across treatment phases. In the initial treatment phase, the presence of both positive and negative affect improved QoL. In the endocrine therapy phase, excessive positive effects decrease QoL. During the rehabilitation phase, QoL improved as positive affect increased relative to negative affect.ConclusionThere are significant differences in the distributions of positive and negative effects in breast cancer patients at different treatment phases. The impact of PA and NA on QoL varies by treatment phase. Our findings have important implications for tailoring emotional interventions for breast cancer patients at different stages of treatment.