In this study, we link long-term vulnerability to psychopathology to short-term dynamics between sleep satisfaction and eight daytime psychiatric symptoms. A total of 122 young adults (age: M = 23.9 years; 43% female) from the Tracking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey cohort reported nightly sleep satisfaction and daily symptom severity for 6 months using electronic diaries. The severity of internalizing, externalizing, attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD), and autism-spectrum-disorder (ASD) problems was assessed across 15 years before the diary study. Mixed-effect models showed that lower sleep satisfaction predicted more severe next-day apathy, worry, impatience, irritability, resistance to change, and sensory sensitivity, and there were stronger effects in participants with a history of internalizing and ASD problems. Reverse associations were weaker and symptom-specific such that some daytime symptoms predicted lower next-night sleep satisfaction primarily in participants with a history of ADHD and ASD problems. These findings highlight bidirectional daily associations between sleep and mental health, particularly in individuals with enduring psychiatric vulnerability.

Adolescent social adversity (discrimination, bullying) enhances paranoia—the perception others want to harm or upset you. In this preregistered study (AsPredicted No. 154322), we tested the impact of prior social adversity and current social exclusion on paranoia, self/other beliefs, and latent social-learning processes in UK mid-adolescents (15–17 years, N = 502). In an experimental design, participants completed baseline social-adversity measures before random allocation to a social inclusion/exclusion manipulation (Cyberball), after which the Intentions Game assessed cognitive flexibility. We tested (a) whether adversity and exclusion interact to increase paranoia (b) via (mediated) negative self/other beliefs and (c) if this was moderated by cognitive flexibility. Social exclusion increased paranoia, which was intensified by prior social adversity and restricted learning rate in the Intentions Game. Negative self- and other beliefs mediated the link from social adversity to paranoia, but cognitive flexibility did not moderate. Three distinct discrimination-to-paranoia routes emerged. Findings highlight possible explanatory and intervention targets for reducing adolescent paranoia.

Is a more empathic therapist more effective? Classic models in clinical science rightfully describe empathy as an important therapeutic tool, but emerging evidence indicates that it can interfere with therapeutic goals in some settings. Here, we provide a contemporary framework that addresses this tension. We propose a model in which empathy and emotion regulation combine to create a “therapeutic emotional circuit” in which emotions flow from therapist to client and back to the therapist again via empathy. Critically, therapists can use empathy regulation to modulate this emotional flow to achieve specific goals for both their own and their clients’ emotional experiences. We then illustrate how optimal empathy regulation diverges across two empirically supported interventions: To best support clients, exposure therapy requires down-regulating affect sharing, whereas motivational interviewing requires up-regulating this empathic process. This model challenges classic intuition, revealing new directions for clinical research, training, and practice.

The relationship between adolescent social media use and mental health is a topic of ongoing debate, and there is substantial diversity in the conclusions reached by researchers. In this commentary, we examine three articles by Matti Vuorre and Andrew Przybylski often cited as evidence that social media is not harmful to adolescents. We identify one conceptual issue (relying on blending together groups and technologies while dismissing consistent evidence of harms when those groups and technologies are unblended) and three methodological issues (e.g., Meta’s involvement in the research design of one study) that reduce their relevance to questions about social media’s effects on adolescent mental health. Suggestions for better approaches to studying such effects are provided.

The alternative model of personality disorders (AMPD) has gained widespread recognition, yet the extent of overlap between personality functioning, maladaptive traits, and normal-range traits—and its implications for clinical practice—remains debated. Existing evidence is largely based on cross-sectional designs and Western convenience samples. In this registered report, we tested 11 preregistered hypotheses examining associations and distinctions among personality functioning, normal-range traits, and maladaptive traits in two Chinese offender samples (Sample 1: N = 1,395; Sample 2: N = 1,017) using four waves of data collected over 1 year. Results revealed notable differences in the distributions and longitudinal properties of personality functioning and traits. Moreover, maladaptive traits were partly jointly predicted by personality functioning and normal-range traits. With this study, we provide the most comprehensive longitudinal test to date of similarities and differences between personality functioning and traits and extend the AMPD literature to a non-Western offender population in which personality assessment may be particularly informative.

Recent evidence suggests that individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD) not only experience an excess of negative affect but also hold negatively biased internal representations of their affective experiences. Such biases may play an important role in the maintenance of these disorders. However, previous evidence in this area has mostly been based on nonclinical samples. The current experience sampling study compared the momentary affective experiences of 55 individuals with current MDD, 56 individuals with BPD, and 53 healthy individuals with their prior expectations and subsequent memories of these affective experiences. Results showed that individuals with both MDD and BPD considerably overestimated their future and past negative affect. Furthermore, they did not show the optimistic recall bias for positive affect observed in healthy individuals. Notably, the absence of an optimistic bias regarding the expectation of positive affect was specific to depression. Important theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Internalizing disorders, such as anxiety and depression, commonly feature cognitive biases in self-evaluation, particularly in the context of social comparison. Despite the role of such biases in the severity and prognosis of internalizing disorders, limited work has identified computational mechanisms underlying self-evaluative biases in social contexts. In a sample of N = 292 participants, in the present study, we applied hierarchical Bayesian computational modeling to a trait-evaluation task in which individuals choose whether positive and negative traits better describe themselves or a close friend. We found that individuals generally engage in self-enhancement during this task, more efficiently processing information that supports positive self-schema. However, this effect flips as individuals report more symptoms such that it becomes more difficult to integrate evidence in support of a positive self-concept. These findings suggest that altered processing of both positive and negative self-referential information is a transdiagnostic mechanism driving aberrant self-evaluation in internalizing disorders.

Comparisons with social, expectation-based, counterfactual, and temporal standards may play a significant role in the maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). The general comparative-processing model outlines the comparison process, encompassing comparison frequency, discrepancy, and affective/behavioral impact. For instance, an individual may frequently compare their performance to their colleagues’, perceive themselves as less competent, and consequently experience negative emotions that lead to avoidance. Two studies examined these processes across different time frames. In a 10-day ecological momentary assessment with 133 individuals with probable SAD, daily stressors and all comparison components (frequency, discrepancy, impact) were positively linked to social anxiety both between and within individuals. Additionally, comparison affective and behavioral impact were significant within-person mediators. In Study 2, which had 376 participants and included four assessments over 1 year, stable between-person effects and less consistent within-person effects were found. These findings advance our understanding of comparative thinking in SAD and may inform related therapeutic interventions.

Dampening of positivity is implicated in increased depression risk, yet research traditionally overlooks dampening’s and depression’s multifaceted natures and differential relations between dampening features and depressive symptoms. In this preregistered study, we pooled data from 13 studies, yielding four cross-sectional ( N = 4,015; 13–86 years) and four longitudinal ( N = 1,457; 14–86 years) data sets grouped by measures. Random-forest (RF) and network analyses examined the predictive utility of individual dampening features for specific symptoms. Across both analytic approaches, dampening features most strongly predicted core cognitive-affective symptoms, such as negative self-perceptions, pessimism, pervasive negative emotions, and to a lesser extent, fearful feelings. Concurrently, both approaches showed that the features on not deserving positivity, positivity not being long-lasting, and positivity being likely to end soon had consistently high predictive utility. The latter two emerged as longitudinal predictors in the RF analyses. Findings refine the relation of dampening to depressive symptoms and highlight intervention targets.

Understanding how alcohol-use-disorder (AUD) symptoms unfold in daily life is key to improving assessment and intervention. In this study, we examined the retrospective and prospective validity of repeated daily assessments of AUD symptoms compared with retrospective self-reports. A community sample of young adults ( N = 496) completed daily reports over an 8-week period assessing a subset of AUD symptoms: hazardous use, social/occupational problems, failure to fulfill obligations, craving, tolerance, larger/longer consumption, and time spent obtaining/using alcohol. Retrospective self-reports were collected at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Several symptoms (e.g., hazardous use, social/occupational problems, time spent) showed strong convergence between daily and baseline reports, and others (e.g., craving, tolerance) showed weaker associations. Daily symptom totals predicted 6-month retrospective AUD severity, particularly for symptoms with greater convergence. Daily measures of total AUD symptoms were associated with both baseline and follow-up AUD severity. Findings support the value of daily assessment and underscore discrepancies in retrospective recall.