Moderated Mediation Effect Research Articles

Abstract P219: Moderated-Mediated Effects of Environmental Barriers and Income Level on Exercise Determinants Among Black Americans With Hypertension

Introduction: Black individuals are disproportionately affected by hypertension and due to racial disparities have fewer opportunities to engage in preventive measures such as exercise compared to their White counterparts. There is a dearth of research employing a theory-driven approach to comprehensively investigate the factors contributing to disparities in exercise participation among racial groups, both at the individual and environmental levels. The I-Change Model is a contemporary health behavior model comprising three primary pillars hypothesized to influence health behavior: Awareness, Motivation, and Action/Planning. What sets this model apart is its unique emphasis on the proximity of the barrier construct to predicting behavior execution, a feature that may contribute to disparities in exercise participation, including racial disparities. Hence, this observational study aimed to apply the ‘I-Change model’ to identify factors that contribute to exercise behaviors among Black and White individuals with Hypertension. Methods: We used the I-Change model, which includes mediating behavioral determinants, along with moderators that include environmental barriers (e.g., access and transportation to a supportive exercise environment), and income (low vs. moderate and above) to gain a better understanding of racial disparities in exercise participation. Individuals with hypertension (n= 370) that comprised of Black (n= 142) and White (n= 228) adults who were recruited via an online recruitment platform and completed a survey that included validated theoretical constructs. Hayes PROCESS 4.0 Macro (model #16) for SPSS was used to construct the theoretical model and analyze the data. The model included race (x), exercise time (y), behavioral determinants (mediators), environmental behaviors, and income (moderators between mediators and exercise time). Results: I-Change determinants (risk of heart disease, planning, exercise knowledge, exercise partner/social support) mediated the relationship between race and exercise time (β= .24, 95% CI .098, .394) in favor of White participants. Moderated-mediation effects were found on barriers that interacted between planning and exercise time (β= .03, 95% CI .0018, .0674), and income which interacted between social support and exercise time, (β= .05, 95% CI .0004, .1056). Conclusion: Intervention work at the community level for low-income Black individuals with hypertension supported by a theoretical framework is needed. Specifically, an exercise promotion program that supports the development of I-Change determinants, which provides an accessible and supportive environment, would be helpful in providing equitable exercise opportunities for Black individuals with hypertension.

Influence of mentoring on the proactive behavior of new employees: moderated mediation effect of agreeableness.

In recent years, faced with a complex economic development environment and the evolving dynamics of the Chinese workplace, talent has become a precious resource that is invaluable yet scarce for every enterprise. As Generation Z employees have gradually entered the labor market, they contribute new perspectives and energies to various enterprises and pose unique challenges. The traditional step-by-step approach no longer meets the needs of today's businesses. Companies require more proactive talents to drive superior performance. Individuals with proactive behavior can effectively plan their career paths and are better equipped to fulfill core organizational tasks. Therefore, it is crucial for organizations to effectively mitigate the perceived negative impacts of proactive behavior, encouraging individuals to exhibit more positive proactive actions. Based on the proactive motivation model, this study investigates the effects of mentoring, balanced psychological contract, proactive behavior, and agreeableness on the proactive behaviors of new employees. The research surveyed 417 new employees from Guangdong Province, China, who had graduated within the last three years, with a gender distribution of 49.4% male and 50.6% female. Structural Equation Modeling was used for data analysis, and the following results were obtained: First, mentoring positively affected the balanced psychological contract and new employees' proactive behavior. Second, mentoring positively affected the new employees' proactive behavior through the balanced psychological contract. Third, agreeableness played a moderating role in the relationship between mentoring and new employees' proactive behavior, and in the relationship between mentoring and the balanced psychological contracts. Finally, the positive indirect effect of mentoring through the balanced psychological contract on new employees' proactive behavior is positively moderated by agreeableness. The results of this study offer new insights into mentoring research for new employees and provide practical guidance for fostering the balanced psychological contract and proactive behavior among new employees. This research enriches the existing literature on mentoring for new employees by demonstrating the integral roles of agreeableness and a balanced psychological contract in fostering proactive behavior, offering valuable insights for organizational practices aimed at enhancing employee proactivity.

Childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents: Moderated mediation effect of perceived social support and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies

BackgroundAlthough previous studies have shown that childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for adolescent suicidal ideation, less is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association. ObjectiveThe current study aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation among adolescents, as well as the mediating role of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (maladaptive CERSs) and the moderating role of perceived social support. MethodsIn a cross-sectional design, 4005 adolescents (Mage = 14.24 years, SD = 1.53; 49.0 % males) completed self-report questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, maladaptive CERSs, perceived social support and suicidal ideation, along with their basic information. ResultsAfter controlling for gender, family location, family structure, and depression, childhood maltreatment was positively related to adolescent suicidal ideation, and maladaptive CERSs were found to mediate this association. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that perceived social support buffered the associations between maladaptive CERSs and adolescent suicidal ideation. ConclusionsThe findings assist in understanding the mechanisms of maladaptive CERSs and perceived social support in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation and can provide new perspectives for researchers designing interventions for suicidal ideation.

Type 2 diabetes and health-related quality of life among older Medicare beneficiaries: The mediating role of sleep

ObjectiveTo examine mediating effects of sleep quality and duration on the association between T2D and QoL among Medicare beneficiaries 65+. MethodsData from the Medicare Health Outcome Survey (2015–2020) were used. The outcome was QoL (physical and mental health component-summary scores [PCS and MCS]) measured by the Veterans-Rand-12. The main predictor was diagnosed T2D. Mediators were sleep duration and sleep quality. The effect modifier was race/ethnicity. Structural Equation Modeling was used to estimate moderated-mediating effects of sleep quality and duration across race/ethnicity. ResultsOf the 746,400 Medicare beneficiaries, 26.7% had T2D, and mean age was 76 years (SD ± 6.9). Mean PCS score was 40 (SD ± 12.2), and mean MCS score was 54.0 (SD ± 10.2). Associations of T2D with PCS and MCS were negative and significant. For all racial/ethnic groups, those with T2D reported lower PCS. For White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic beneficiaries only, those with T2D reported lower MCS. The negative impact of T2D on PCS and MCS was mediated through sleep quality, especially very bad sleep quality. ConclusionImproving sleep may lead to improvement in QoL in elderly adults with T2D.

The relationship between humble leadership and employee innovative behavior in Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage (CICH) SMEs: Mediated-moderating effect of knowledge sharing and absorptive capacity

This research focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within China's intangible cultural heritage (CICH) sector and investigates the relationships between employee innovative behavior (EIB), humble leadership (HL), knowledge sharing (KS) and absorptive capacity (AC). It examines how knowledge sharing, as a mediator, impacts EIB, considering the moderating role of AC. This study aims to address the knowledge gap regarding how leadership and knowledge management processes affect individual-level outcomes, such as creative behavior and problem-solving skills. This research is especially vital for the CICH sector in China, as it offers the first systematic exploration of employee innovative behavior in this area. By providing evidence-based management strategies, the study contributes to both theoretical understanding and practical application, supporting the innovation, sustainable growth, and international competitiveness of CICH SMEs. It also offers policymakers empirical insights to nurture the sector, ensuring the preservation and evolution of China's intangible cultural heritage.

The role of prosodic sensitivity and executive functions in L2 reading: The moderated mediation effect

Abstract Prosody refers to stress and intonation patterns in a language. Previous studies have found that prosodic sensitivity (PS) and executive functions can affect reading comprehension in first (L1) and second languages (L2). The current study examined these factors among a group of L1 Mandarin speakers learning L2 English who participated in a series of tasks measuring phonological awareness, Mandarin tone sensitivity, English PS, along with three specific executive functions – namely, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory. The results demonstrated that Mandarin tone sensitivity and cognitive flexibility mediated English PS and reading. A simple slope analysis showed that PS positively predicted word reading for readers with higher but not lower cognitive flexibility. These results imply that PS in L2 reading is affected by both prosodic transfer of L1 tone sensitivity and cognitive flexibility.

Impact of Parental Autonomy Support on Adolescent Life Satisfaction Through Creative Personality: Moderated Mediating Effect of Parental Structure Provision

Objectives: This study seeks to investigate the mediating effect of adolescent creative personality in the relationship between parental autonomy support and adolescent life satisfaction. Additionally, the study explores the moderated mediation effect of parental structure provision in the relationship between parental autonomy support, adolescent creative personality, and life satisfaction.Methods: A total of 2,590 first-year middle school students surveyed in 2018 from the “Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018; KCYPS,” produced by the National Youth Policy Institute, were targeted. Adolescents responded to questions about parental autonomy support, parental structure provision, creative personality, and life satisfaction. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS macro version 4.2 (Hayes, 2022); Model 4 was employed to analyze the mediating effect of adolescent creative personality and model 1 and 7 for the moderated mediating effect of parental structure provision.Results: This study derived the following key findings. First, a significant mediating effect of adolescent creative personality was observed in the relationship between parental autonomy support and adolescent life satisfaction. Parental autonomy support had a direct positive impact on adolescents’ life satisfaction. Additionally, as the level of parental autonomy support increased, adolescent creative personality also increased, which led to higher life satisfaction. Second, a moderated mediating effect of parental structure provision was observed for the impact of parental autonomy support on adolescent life satisfaction through adolescent creative personality.Conclusion: The results can be utilized as foundational information for parental education, and educational settings, thereby aiming to promote adolescents’ creativity and, subsequently, a satisfying life.

코칭리더십이 구성원의 발언행동에 미치는 영향

This study has two purposes. First, it aims to verify the mediating role of thriving at work in the relationship between coaching leadership and employee voice behavior. Second, it looks at the moderating role of person-supervisor fit in terms of the influence of coaching leadership. Data collected from 174 supervisor-subordinate pairs was used for the analysis. The results show that coaching leadership was positively related to thriving at work, and thriving at work was positively related to voice behavior. In particular, thriving at work mediated coaching leadership and voice behavior. The positive relationship between coaching leadership and thriving at work was weaker with a better person-supervisor fit, and the moderated mediation effect was also weaker in this scenario. Based on the results, the limitations of this study are acknowledged, and theoretical and empirical implications are suggested, as well as a fruitful future direction of research.

Stay Healthy, Stay Furbished: Investigating the Co-Created Experiences of Quarantine Hotel Stay and Implications for Post-Pandemic Era

ABSTRACT Paying a timely tribute to the ancient root meaning of “hospitale,” emblematic of granting haven for those in desperate need, this study comprehensively investigates the direct and indirect relationships constituting the co-created experiences of quarantine hotel stay, an emerging hospitality product genre in the COVID-19 era. Data on inbound quarantined hotel guests were collected in China, where a solid “Dynamic Zero Covid” policy is in place. Research results from structural equation modeling revealed customers’ value co-creation attitude and perceptions of service quality as effective predictors of their behavioral intention in the quarantine hotel scenario. This study also verified the mediation of service quality, the moderation of personal collectivism, and the moderated mediation effect of value co-creation attitude and behavioral intention via service quality. The study contributes to the extant literature by introducing community value co-creation perspective to address the innovation and resilience of hospitality products and services in the pandemic era, with practical implications duly derived.

The Impact of Recommendation System on User Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Approach

A recommendation system serves as a key factor for improving e-commerce users’ satisfaction by providing them with more accurate and diverse suggestions. A significant body of research has examined the accuracy and diversity of a variety of recommendation systems. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms through which the recommendation system influences the user satisfaction. Thus, the purpose of this study is to contribute to this gap by examining the mediating and moderating processes underlying this relationship. Drawing from the traditional task-technology fit literature, the study developed a moderated mediation model, simultaneously considering the roles of a user’s feeling state and shopping goal. We adopted a scenario-based experimental approach to test three hypotheses contained in the model. The results showed that there is an interaction effect between shopping goals and types of recommendation (diversity and accuracy) on user satisfaction. Specifically, when a user’s shopping goal aligns with recommendation results in terms of accuracy and diversity, the user satisfaction is enhanced. Furthermore, this study evaluated the mediating role of feeling right and psychological reactance for a better understanding of this interactive relationship. We tested the moderated mediation effect of feeling right and the psychological reactance moderated by the user shopping goal. For goal-directed users, accurate recommendations trigger the activation of feeling right, consequently increasing the user satisfaction. Conversely, when exploratory users face accurate recommendations, they activate psychological reactance, which leads to a reduction in user satisfaction. Finally, we discuss the implications for the study of recommendation systems, and for how marketers/online retailers can implement them to improve online customers’ shopping experience.

Effects of Perceived Discrimination on Multicultural Adolescents’ Ethnic Identity Conflict: A Moderated Mediation Effect of Parent-Child Open Communication through Bicultural Competence

This study examined the effects of perceived discrimination on multicultural adolescents regarding feelings of conflict over their ethnic identity by investigating the moderating role of father-child open communication and mother-child open communication mediated by bicultural competence. A total of 234 middle school students (grades 7-8; 139 girls and 95 boys) from multicultural families, from which the father is Korean and the mother is not, participated in the study. Data was collected through an online self-report questionnaire and was analyzed via SPSS 26.0 and Process (Version 4.1) MACRO. The results can be summarized as follows. First, bicultural competence mediated the effects of perceived discrimination on feelings of conflict over one’s ethnic identity. Enhanced bicultural competence resulting from a lower perception of discrimination contributed to a reduction in feelings of conflict over one’s ethnic identity. Second, the moderated mediation effect of fatherchild open communication was significant, while the effect of mother-child open communication was not. Thus, the mediation relationship (lower perceived discrimination increased bicultural competence and, thus, reduced conflict over one’s ethnic identity) grew stronger as the level of father-child open communication increased. The significance of this study lies in uncovering the causal relationships between individual and environmental factors that contribute to ethnic identity development among multicultural adolescents, particularly highlighting the important role of Korean fathers within multicultural households.

Blessing or curse: the role of authoritarian filial piety and self-efficacy in caregiver gains among Chinese family caregivers caring for physically impaired older adults

BackgroundThis study investigated the effects of authoritarian filial piety (AFP) and caregiver self-efficacy on the caregiving experience of adult children of physically impaired older adults. Socio-cultural stress and coping model was applied to test the influence of AFP on caregiver gains.MethodsA total of 601 Chinese adult children caregivers and care-recipient dyads participated in this cross-sectional study in 2021. Four instruments were used to collect data: the 4-item Zarit Burden Interview, Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale, Caregiver Task Inventory Scale, and Authoritarian Filial Piety Scale. All mediation and moderated mediation effects were estimated using SPSS 26.0.ResultsCaregiver self-efficacy was found to not only mediate but also help family caregivers convert their burden into positive gains. AFP moderates the association between caregiver burden and self-efficacy, as well as between caregiver burden and caregiver gains.ConclusionsThis study provides valuable insights into filial piety, elucidating AFP’s comprehensive impact on cognitive appraisals of caregiving. Culturally sensitive psychoeducational therapy, addressing AFP expectations and boosting caregiver self-efficacy, is recommended to enhance positive caregiving outcomes.

Bedtime procrastination related to loneliness among Chinese university students during post-pandemic period: a moderated chain mediation model

BackgroundThis study examined the relationship between loneliness and bedtime procrastination among Chinese university students, the mediating effects of COVID-19 risk perception and self-regulatory fatigue, and connectedness to nature’s protective role, post pandemic.MethodsWe recruited 855 students to complete the Loneliness, Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Pandemic, Self-Regulatory Fatigue, Bedtime Procrastination, and Connectedness to Nature Scales. Data for descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and moderated chain mediation effects were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 and process 3.5 macros.ResultsLoneliness positively correlated with bedtime procrastination, COVID-19 risk perception mediated the impact of loneliness on bedtime procrastination, self-regulatory fatigue mediated the effect of loneliness on bedtime procrastination, and COVID-19 risk perception and self-regulatory fatigue mediated the effect between loneliness and bedtime procrastination. Furthermore, connectedness to nature mediated the impact of COVID-19 risk perception on self-regulatory fatigue.ConclusionsThe results indicate the effects and potential mechanisms of loneliness on bedtime procrastination after the relaxation of the pandemic prevention and control policy in China from the perspective of self-regulatory resources and provide insights into improving university students’ sleep routine and mental health post pandemic.

Shaping brand attitudes through sustainability practices: a TSR approach

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the conditional relationships among sustainability implementation, brand awareness, brand attitude and brand loyalty through the lens of transformative service research (TSR). The research also aims to explain how brand loyalty moderates the mediated effect of brand awareness and attitude in the context of social and environmental sustainability initiatives.Design/methodology/approachUsing both primary and secondary data sources from 31 prominent service companies and their 6,891 customers, this paper investigates the impact of sustainability practices and brand awareness on customer attitude. The paper also examines the moderated mediation effect of brand loyalty, explaining how it alters brand attitudes in the context of sustainability implementation. Finally, the study conducts a comparative analysis of how environmental and social shape brand attitudes in loyal customers.FindingsSustainability implementation has a negative impact on both brand awareness and customer attitude. However, this negative influence is mitigated for highly brand-loyal customers, resulting in a positive brand attitude. Further, the comparative analysis reveals that social implementation positively influences brand attitude in high-loyalty contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThis research uses subjective judgments of researchers regarding companies’ sustainability practices, combining them with customer attitudes gathered through survey questionnaires. Additionally, the data set comprises data from 31 large service companies, potentially limiting the generalizability of findings to large service companies. Nevertheless, this paper extends TSR into the realm of sustainability and branding.Practical implicationsThe positive outcomes of sustainability implementation practices are most pronounced when customer loyalty toward a brand is strong. Social implementation has a more potent effect on brand attitude, particularly among loyal customers. Companies can tailor their sustainability efforts more effectively.Originality/valueWith the lens of TSR, this research deepens our understanding of how sustainability affects consumer psychology but also offers a methodological advancement by using advanced statistical models and a variety of data sources. The distinctiveness of this research is also highlighted in the examination of how environmental and social sustainability initiatives influence brand attitude, especially among customers who exhibit strong brand loyalty.

Livestream Shopping Breakthrough: Fast Fashion’s New Frontier Explored through Attitude, Influencer’s Advice, and Portal Quality

In today’s phygital world, the present study demystifies the impact of perceived benefits of Livestream shopping on the purchase intention of users toward fast fashion apparel aligned with theory of planned behavior. The uniqueness of the study is that it presents a novel stance by integrating stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to propose a comprehensive framework encompassing the relationship between perceptions, attitude and intention in the case of livestream shopping. It also extends the model by incorporating drivers- portal’s quality and influencer’s advice as the moderators to bridge the prevailing gap in literature. Structural equation modeling is applied to analyze the direct and indirect relationships (with attitude as a mediator) in the proposed model followed by evaluating the moderated mediation of portals’ quality and influencers’ advice through SPSS (Hayes, Model 21). Data is collected from 276 respondents using snowball-sampling technique. The novelty of this research lies in its investigation of the mediating role of attitude between perceived benefit of live-stream shopping and intention to purchase, where influencers’ advice was found to have moderated mediation between attitude and intention to buy. On contrast, portals’ quality had no significant moderated mediation effect between perceived benefit and attitude. This study broadens the scope of the application of the SOR model to contribute to the growing body of literature on live stream marketing.

Does supporting cultural diversity benefit only Māori? A study of Māori and Pākehā employees

ABSTRACT Māori are the Indigenous people of Aotearoa but experience workplace disadvantages including high discrimination, lower pay, and greater unemployment. This study uses psychological contracts theory to explore employee perceptions of a set of mutual obligations and implicit promises from their employer around supporting Māori employees. Cultural diversity promise fulfilment (CDPF) focuses on the way firms provide Māori cultural representation, seeks broad inputs from Māori, and work to eliminate bias against Māori. We empirically test CDPF on 165 Māori and 729 Pākehā. We include Pākehā because theoretically, under social exchange theory, all employees might react positively to employer support for a disadvantaged group. We test a moderated mediation model and find support with CDPF being significantly related to job satisfaction, cultural wellbeing, and turnover intentions, with the former mediating CDPF effects to turnover. Next, moderation effects are found (Māori versus Pākehā) but with mixed support. However, moderated mediation effects are supported with Māori employees reporting a stronger indirect effect from CDPF than Pākehā, through both mediators (job satisfaction and cultural wellbeing). The paper establishes the importance of CDPF and helps build the arguments for diversity support.

Can innovation factor agglomeration enhance the government’s environmental governance capacity?

Innovative manpower agglomeration and innovative capital agglomeration provide vitality and guarantees for a country to achieve high-quality development, and the improvement of the government's environmental governance capacity can guarantee the smooth advancement of the country's ecological civilization construction work; thus, it is very important to study the impact of innovation factor agglomeration on the government's environmental governance capacity. Based on this, this article establishes a mediated moderating effect model and a spatial econometric model, adopts the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2020 as an example, and divides innovation factor agglomeration into innovation manpower agglomeration and innovation capital agglomeration to study the relationship between them and the government's environmental governance capacity. The results of the empirical analysis show that (1) both innovation manpower agglomeration and innovation capital agglomeration can significantly promote the improvement of the government's environmental governance capacity. (2) Technological innovation plays a mediating role in promoting the government's environmental governance capacity through innovation factor agglomeration. Voluntary environmental regulation can promote the government's environmental governance capacity, but it attenuates the role of innovation capital agglomeration in promoting the government's environmental governance capacity. (3) Local innovative manpower agglomeration has a significant spillover effect, and innovative manpower agglomeration in neighboring places inhibits the enhancement of local governments’ environmental governance capacity. (4) Innovation capital agglomeration in neighboring places will inhibit the local government's environmental governance capacity, but its effect is much smaller than the promotion effect of local innovation capital agglomeration on the government's environmental governance capacity.

The effect of servitising level on firm performance of listed Chinese sporting goods manufacturing companies-With moderated mediation effect.

The global manufacturing landscape is undergoing a profound shift, and the paradigm of service-led industrial evolution has taken on paramount importance. Service-oriented manufacturing has emerged as a pivotal conduit for the transformation and elevation of China's sporting goods manufacturing sector. However, we acknowledge that the current state of service-oriented transformation in this sector is still in an embryonic phase. The nuanced interplay between the level of servitization and its consequent impact on corporate performance, along with the intricate forms of interference exerted by various factors in the process of servitization, are shrouded in ambiguity. This article, which is predicated upon the financial disclosures of China's sporting goods manufacturing enterprises listed on the A-share and New Third Board markets, presents a rigorous investigation. Through the construction of an imbalanced panel dataset covering the period of 2007 to 2022, we embark on an empirical journey examining the intricacies of a moderated mediation model to ascertain the mechanisms underlying the influence of servitization on the performance of sporting goods manufacturing entities. Through this research, we unearth a compelling revelation: (1) Within the cohort of sampled enterprises, an elevation of servitization evokes a modest suppressive effect on corporate performance, thus resulting in the enigmatic "servitization paradox." (2) A total of 29.1% of the servitization impact on enterprise performance is achieved through marketing intensity; that is, there is a partial mediating effect of marketing intensity on the relationship between servitization and enterprise performance. (3) Market power play a negative regulatory role in this relationship, which drives the servitization paradox in sporting goods manufacturing but can also promote the positive impact of servitization on marketing intensity. In addition, with the expansion of market power, corporate servitization does not need to impact corporate performance through marketing activities. (4) R&D intensity negatively affects the relationship between marketing intensity and corporate performance, promotes the inhibitory effect of marketing intensity on corporate performance, and aggravates the inhibitory effect of servitization on corporate performance through marketing intensity.

Self-Critical Perfectionism and Anxious and Depressive Symptoms Over 2 Years: Moderated Mediation Models of Anxiety Sensitivity and Experiential Avoidance

This three-wave longitudinal study of 297 community adults (mean age = 38.66 years, 67% female) examined how anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance work together to explain the relation between perfectionism and anxious and depressive symptoms over 2 years. Participants completed measures of self-critical (SC) and personal standards (PS) higher-order dimensions of perfectionism, anxiety sensitivity, experiential avoidance, and anxious and depressive symptoms at Time 1. Participants completed measures of anxiety sensitivity, experiential avoidance, and symptoms again at Time 2 one year later, and symptoms measures again at Time 3 two years after baseline. Moderated mediation analyses showed that for those with higher Time 1 experiential avoidance, Time 1 SC perfectionism was indirectly related to Time 3 anxious arousal symptoms through Time 2 anxiety sensitivity. For those with moderate to higher Time 1 anxiety sensitivity, Time 1 SC perfectionism was indirectly associated with Time 3 general distress and anxious arousal symptoms through Time 2 experiential avoidance. These moderated mediation effects were not found for PS perfectionism. These results support anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance as moderating and mediating processes that may be important treatment targets for reducing vulnerability to anxious and depressive symptoms over the longer-term in SC perfectionistic individuals.

How Society Anxiety Influences Attention Control in College Students: The Moderated Mediation Effect of Cognitive Flexibility and Resting-state Electroencephalography Activity.

Social anxiety is a prevalent issue among college students, adversely affecting their overall well-being. Drawing from the cognitive model of social anxiety and attention control theory, heightened levels of social anxiety may correspond to poorer attention control ability. However, little is known about the underlying cognitive mechanisms of the relationship between social anxiety and attention control. To address this research gap, the current study recruited a sample of 156 college students (56 women) who underwent self-report measures of social anxiety, cognitive flexibility, and attention control, followed by a resting-state EEG recording. The results revealed a significant negative predictive effect of social anxiety on attention control, with cognitive flexibility partially mediating this relationship. Furthermore, resting-state theta power emerged as a significant moderator, accentuating the negative impact of social anxiety on cognitive flexibility among individuals with lower theta power. In addition, frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) demonstrated a moderating effect, with lower FAA intensifying the predictive influence of cognitive flexibility on attention control. Taken together, these results suggested that social anxiety can predict attention control either directly or indirectly via the mediating role of cognitive flexibility, and lower theta power and FAA has a risk amplification effect, which provide novel insights into the treatment and prevention of social anxiety and its negative impact on college students.