Moderate Mean Effect Research Articles

Adult attachment and love psychological stress among college students: the mediating role of core self-evaluation and the moderating role of meaning in life

BackgroundWith college students going into dating relationships, dating partners become their new attachment figures. We aimed to investigate the relationship between adult attachment, and love psychological stress among college students, which also explored the roles of core self-evaluation and meaning in life.MethodsWe conducted a questionnaire survey on 813 college students using the adult attachment scale, core self-evaluation scale, meaning in life scale, and love psychological stress scale. We constructed a moderated mediation model to analyze the relationship between adult attachment and love psychological stress, as well as the mediating effect of core self-evaluation and the moderating effect of meaning in life.ResultsThe results showed that after controlling for single parent or not, adult attachment significantly negatively predicted love psychological stress of college students. Core self-evaluation partially mediated the relationship between adult attachment and love psychological stress of college students. The second half of the mediation model was moderated by meaning in life, that is, with the increase of meaning in life, the negative predictive effect of core self-evaluation on love psychological stress of college students gradually strengthened. The findings of this study demonstrate the detrimental impact of adult attachment on love psychological stress of college students, as well as the mediating core self-evaluation and the moderating role of meaning in life.ConclusionsThe mediating and moderating effect of adult attachment between love psychological stress, as well as the mediating effect of core self-evaluation and the moderating effect of meaning in life were confirmed. Overall, promoting the healthy development of adult attachment and helping them shape a positive meaning in life can enhance individuals’ core self-evaluation, thus alleviating love psychological stress among college students. It can also provide references for mental health education in colleges and universities.

Social exclusion and suicide intention in Chinese college students: a moderated mediation model.

Given the growing incidence rates of suicide among college students and the potential lifelong consequences of suicide, it is imperative to better understand the factors that reduce the rates at which college students in a clinical sample engage in suicide. This study examines the relationship between social exclusion and suicide intention, the mediating effect of depression, and the moderating effect of meaning in life. Two hundred and ninety-nine Chinese college students, aged from 18 to 22 years (56.86% female, M age = 20.14, SD = 1.27) completed questionnaires assessing their social exclusion, suicide intention, depression, and meaning in life. The result revealed that social exclusion was positively associated with suicide intention, and depression mediated this relationship. In addition, this mediating effect of depression was moderated by meaning in life. That is, the mediation effect was stronger for students with a higher level of meaning in life. These findings provide educational suggestions for preventing and intervening in suicide intention among college students.

Community pharmacists’ perception and role in early diagnosis and health promotion of celiac disease

Abstract Objectives The study aims to measure pharmacists’ knowledge and perception of celiac disease. Methods A Google form was used to collect data randomly from 283 pharmacists. The effects of each of the following hypotheses towards early diagnosis of celiac disease and patient compliance were studied: pharmacist’s experience in community pharmacies (H1), pharmacist’s knowledge (H2), pharmacist’s participation in continuing learning programmes (H3), and pharmacist’s attitude and practice (H4). Key findings A robust relationship between the variables was confirmed and was expressed by the moderate mean effect of H1, H2, H3, and H4 (2.3332, 2.3386, 2.1731, and 2.5717, respectively, and the correlation coefficient [r] of 0.797). Findings suggest that H1 is moderately correlated with H2 and H3 but weakly correlated with H4 (0.568 and 0.518, 0.183, respectively). Around a third of the participants (33.9%) admit their lack of knowledge regarding the symptoms. A third of the participants would refer the patients with recurrent symptoms to the physician. Three-quarters of the participants (78.4%) have not attended any educational programme, but they show a high desire (84.1%) to participate in such events either in person (50.2%) or through distance learning applications (36.4%). Conclusion Pharmacists have crucial roles in early diagnosis, monitoring patient compliance, and providing counselling regarding celiac disease. Updating their knowledge should contribute to improving the overall health status of the patients and cutting off the expenses for the health sector.

Does childhood psychological maltreatment encourage you to become a cyberbullying perpetrator? The mediating role of negative affect and the moderating role of meaning in life.

With the development of information and communication technology, cyberbullying among Chinese college students has become more frequent, bringing many negative consequences to both society and students themselves. Childhood psychological maltreatment may be one of the influencing factors of cyberbullying, but its internal mechanism remains poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying among college students and to further explore the mediating effect of negative emotion and the moderating effect of meaning in life. In this study, 656 college students (48.7% males) were recruited to complete anonymous questionnaires assessing their perceptions of child psychological maltreatment, negative affect, meaning in life and cyberbullying. SPSS23.0 and Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS were used to conduct statistical analysis. (1) Childhood psychological maltreatment was significantly positively associated with cyberbullying; (2) Negative affect played a partially mediating role between childhood psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying; and (3) Meaning in life moderated the direct association between childhood psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying and moderated the association between negative affect and cyberbullying. In this study, a moderated mediation model was constructed and the internal mechanism of childhood psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying among college students was found. The results provided both theoretical contributions and practical suggestions for preventing cyberbullying.

The influence of motivation, self-efficacy, and fear of failure on the career adaptability of vocational school students: Moderated by meaning in life.

It is an important issue for vocational school students to have good adaptability for their future life. This study combines career construction theory and self-determination theory to construct a model to explore the relationship between the “motivation,” “self-efficacy,” “fear of failure,” “career adaptability,” and “meaning in life” of vocational school students. This study used a secondary data research method and retrieved a total of 2,377 data from vocational school students in Taiwan from the perspective of data exploration using PISA 2018 data, which was validated by the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The following results were obtained: (1) Vocational students were afraid that failure would have a negative impact on their career adaptability. (2) Motivation and Self-efficacy had a positive effect on career adaptability. (3) Motivation positively affected fear of failure. (4) Self-efficacy negatively affected fear of failure. (5) Meaning in life could positively moderate the effect of self-efficacy on fear of failure. (6) However, there was no statistical difference in the moderating effect of meaning in life on the relationship between motivation and fear of failure. First, fear of failure negatively affected career adaptability, while motivation and self-efficacy positively affected career adaptability; compared to the three effects, the negative effect of fear of failure may not be as great as expected. Second, motivation is like a double-edged sword as it improves adaptability, but it also comes with an increased fear of failure. On the contrary, self-efficacy can simultaneously improve the career adaptability of vocational students and reduce their fear of failure. Therefore, the development of self-efficacy should be given priority over motivation in the career adaptability enhancement strategy of vocational students. Finally, the meaning of life can positively moderate the negative influence of self-efficacy on the fear of failure. In other words, for vocational students with a low sense of self-efficacy, perhaps life education can be used instead as a strategy to reduce their fear of failure.

The Impact of Virtual Reality on Post-Compulsory Students’ Learning Outcomes: A Review with Meta-Analysis

Virtual reality provides learners with an opportunity to run through situations that could not be accessed in the real world, which makes this technology an attractive alternative or a supplement to conventional instruction. This integrative review sought to bring together the impacts of immersive interventions on post-compulsory student learning performance. Nine empirical studies resulted from the screening process on the basis of eligibility criteria. Overall, there was a low to moderate mean effect size using a random-effects model (Hedge’s g = 0.31 [-0.27, 0.90], p = 0.218) for the application of high-immersion activities to education. As in previous reviews on the topic, considerable variance in the effect sizes was detected, thus precluding conclusive statements on the effectiveness of virtual educational simulations for accelerating learning outcomes in post-secondary settings. Some implications of the analysis for the educational practice are provided.

Influence of entrepreneurship support programs on nascent entrepreneurial intention among university students in China.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial educational support (NEES), entrepreneurial activities support (NEAS), and entrepreneurial commercialization support (NECS) on the nascent entrepreneurial intention (NEI) by mediating roles of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (NESE), opportunity recognition (OR), and the moderating effect of meaning in life (MLI). Data were gathered using a survey questionnaire from the 868 management, engineering, technical, and vocational institute students of China. The NEI model was analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling through Smart-PLS software. The findings of the study reveal that NEES, NEAS, and NECS have a positive effect on NEI. Meanwhile, results indicate that NESE and OR partially mediate the relationship between entrepreneurship support programs and nascent entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, the relationship between NESE and the NEI was insignificantly influenced by MLI, and the relationship between OR and the NEI was significantly moderated by MLI. Lastly, implications and limitations are also discussed in this article.

Meaning in Life Moderates Relations between Personality and Temperament and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Hospitalized Adolescents.

Previous research indicates that sensation seeking, emotion dysregulation, and impulsivity are predictive of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). A body of research supports that meaning in life predicts improved mental health and well-being, including fewer suicidal thoughts and attempts, yet no research has examined the moderating effects of meaning in life on the relations between personality and temperament and NSSI. Given the growing incidence rates of NSSI among adolescents and the potential lifelong consequences of NSSI, it is imperative to better understand the factors that reduce the rates at which adolescents in a clinical sample engage in NSSI. The present study investigates if the protective factors of meaning in life moderate the relation between personality and temperament variables and NSSI among 126 adolescents (71% female, Mage = 16.1, SD = 1.1, range 13-18, 80% White) residing in an inpatient psychiatric hospital who endorsed NSSI in the last 12 months. Results from hurdle modeling indicate that two subtypes of meaning in life, presence of meaning in life and search for meaning of life, may serve as robust protective factors against engagement in NSSI among a clinical sample of adolescents. Additionally, results suggest that search for meaning, but not presence of meaning in life, variables moderate the relations between personality and temperament and NSSI. Results provide evidence that meaning in life is an understudied variable of importance in understanding how to prevent or treat NSSI. It also underscores the need to develop, refine, and test meaning-making interventions.

The Role of Meaning in Life in the Relationship between Stress, Pleasure, and Depression

Background: Discovering personal value and living a meaningful life are essential tasks for humans. The pursuit of existential meaning, which is a key motivator for life, is related to various psychological health factors and helps overcome stressful events. In this study, we aimed to identify the moderating effects of meaning in life on the relationship between stress, pleasure, and depression.Methods: The moderating effects of meaning in life on the relationship between stress, pleasure, and depression were examined in a sample of 144 college students.Results: Meaning in life had a significant strengthening effect on the impact of stressful life events on experience of pleasure and a buffering effect on the impacts of stressful life events on depression.Conclusions: The findings demonstrated that discovering meaning in life could improve the experience of pleasure and mitigate depression due to stressful life events. Additionally, the results suggested a need for intervention to increase meaning in life for college students who experience stressful life events.

Of Time Gals and Mega Men: Empirical Findings on Gender Differences in Digital Game Genre Preferences and the Accuracy of Respective Gender Stereotypes.

We investigated the accuracy of gender stereotypes regarding digital game genre preferences. In Study 1, 484 female and male participants rated their preference for 17 game genres (gender differences). In Study 2, another sample of 226 participants rated the extent to which the same genres were presumably preferred by women or men (gender stereotypes). We then compared the results of both studies in order to determine the accuracy of the gender stereotypes. Study 1 revealed actual gender differences for most genres—mostly of moderate size. Study 2 revealed substantial gender stereotypes about genre preferences. When comparing the results from both studies, we found that gender stereotypes were accurate in direction for most genres. However, they were, to some degree, inaccurate in size: For most genres, gender stereotypes overestimated the actual gender difference with a moderate mean effect size.

Social anxiety and subjective well-being among Chinese college students: A moderated mediation model

This study examined the mediating effect of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and the moderating effect of meaning in life on the relationship between social anxiety and subjective well-being among Chinese college students. Nine hundred and eight Chinese students (Mage = 20.14, SD = 1.71; 49% males) completed self-reported questionnaires regarding social anxiety, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, meaning in life, and subjective well-being. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the relation between social anxiety and subjective well-being and the moderated mediation model. The results revealed that regulatory emotional self-efficacy fully mediated the link between social anxiety and college students' subjective well-being. College students' meaning in life moderated the associations between social anxiety and college students' regulatory emotional self-efficacy and between regulatory emotional self-efficacy and subjective well-being. Particularly, the link between social anxiety and regulatory emotional self-efficacy was only significant for those with lower meaning in life. The association between regulatory emotional self-efficacy and subjective well-being was more robust for those with higher meaning in life. This study identified the critical factors associated with subjective well-being; it supplies empirical support for existing theories and provides practical implications for interventions aiming to improve Chinese college students' subjective well-being.

The Effect of shyness on life satisfaction among Chinese college students: a moderated mediation model

The psychological characteristic of shyness is negatively connected to life satisfaction. In this paper, we examined the mediating effect of core self-evaluation and the moderating effect of meaning in life on the relationship between shyness and individual life satisfaction among Chinese college students. A sample of 836 college students participated in this study and completed questionnaires regarding shyness, core self-evaluation, meaning in life, and life satisfaction. Mediation analysis indicated that core self-evaluation fully mediated the link between shyness and college students’ life satisfaction. The results of moderated mediation showed that college students’ perceived meaning in life moderated the associations between core self-evaluation and college students’ life satisfaction. For college students who endorsed a higher level of meaning in life, the association between core self-evaluation and life satisfaction is stronger compared to students who endorsed a lower level of meaning in life. The findings, theoretical contributions, and practical implications of the present paper are also discussed.

Regulating effect and mediating effect of meaning in life between negative life events and suicidal risk among college students

Objective To explore the relationships among negative life events, meaning in life and suicidal risk of college students. Methods A total of 897 students from southern medical university were surveyed by adolescent life events scale (ALES), suicidal behaviors questionnaire-revised (SBQ-R) and meaningful life measure-Chinese revised (MLM-CR). Results The scores of negative life events, meaning in life and suicidal risk were 1.03±0.88, 124.32±20.35 and 4.17±1.66, respectively. There were 64 (7.1%) college students with high risk of suicide. The overall stress score was positively correlated with total suicidal risk score (r=0.134, P<0.01). Total suicidal risk score was negatively correlated with total score of meaning in life(r=-0.340, P<0.01). Moderating effects of meaning in life between negative life events and suicidal risk were significant (P<0.01). Meaning in life fully mediated the effects of negative life events on suicidal risk (P<0.01), which accounted for 59.6% of the total effects. Conclusion Meaning in life as a mediator and moderator between negative life events and suicidal risk. Meaning in life might play protective role in reducing the suicidal risk. Key words: Meaning in life; Negative life events; Suicidal risk; Suicidal ideation; Suicidal behavior; College Students

The Impacts of Self-Leadership on Job Performance: Focusing on Moderating Effect of Meaning

The Impacts of Self-Leadership on Job Performance: Focusing on Moderating Effect of Meaning

Pathological Gambling and Motor Impulsivity: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.

Motor impulsivity, which is an impairment in withholding and cancelling inappropriate responses, may account for the inability for pathological gamblers (PGs) to inhibit their urges to gamble. The aim of this systematic review was to perform a quantitative and qualitative synthesis of existing studies in order to assess whether PGs without comorbid substance use disorder have elevated motor impulsivity, relative to healthy controls. An exhaustive literature search led to the identification of 20 studies which met inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was then conducted on the following measures: stop signal reaction time from the stop signal task; commission errors, omission errors, and Go reaction time from the Go/No-Go task; and the motor impulsiveness subscale of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-Motor). The results revealed a moderate to large mean effect size of stop signal reaction time, small to moderate mean effect sizes for commission errors, omission errors and Go reaction time, and a large mean effect size for the BIS-Motor. Significant heterogeneity in effect sizes was observed on most behavioural measures, but not for the BIS-Motor or omission errors on the Go/No-Go task. Overall, these results suggest that motor impulsivity may be one of the features of PG psychopathology, accounting for their poor inhibitory control over gambling behaviours. Moreover, other deficits in sustained attention, or more generally in executive/cognitive control, may be present in PGs. We discuss the implications, limitations of existing research, and suggested avenues for future studies, particularly the need to acknowledge heterogeneity amongst PGs and amongst different behavioural measures.

A meta-analysis of the association between mental disorders and juvenile recidivism

To investigate the association between mental disorders and recidivism in juveniles, a three-level meta-analysis of 20 manuscripts (17 independent studies, N = 5737 juveniles) was conducted. The study focused on internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and comorbid disorders (combinations of an internalizing and externalizing disorder). Small to moderate mean effect sizes were found for externalizing disorders (d = 0.415, p < 0.001) and comorbid disorders (d = 0.366, p < 0.001), and no relation was found between internalizing disorders and recidivism (d = 0.016, p = 0.877). For comorbid disorders, no significant variation was found between studies and between effect sizes within studies. Therefore, moderator analyses were only conducted for studies on internalizing and externalizing disorders. These analyses revealed that type of recidivism (e.g., rearrest, reincarceration), type of delinquency (e.g., overt and covert delinquency), and gender influenced the direction and magnitude of the associations between recidivism and internalizing and externalizing disorders.

Emotional Stability and Contextual Job Performance: The Moderating Effects of Meaning and Autonomy

Using both linear and curvilinear analyses, we investigate the moderating effects of job meaning and job autonomy on the emotional stability - organizational citizenship behavior relationship. Resu...

The effects of integrating mobile devices with teaching and learning on students' learning performance: A meta-analysis and research synthesis

Mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones have become a learning tool with great potential in both classrooms and outdoor learning. Although there have been qualitative analyses of the use of mobile devices in education, systematic quantitative analyses of the effects of mobile-integrated education are lacking. This study performed a meta-analysis and research synthesis of the effects of integrated mobile devices in teaching and learning, in which 110 experimental and quasiexperimental journal articles published during the period 1993–2013 were coded and analyzed. Overall, there was a moderate mean effect size of 0.523 for the application of mobile devices to education. The effect sizes of moderator variables were analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning in different levels of moderator variables were synthesized based on content analyses of individual studies. The results of this study and their implications for both research and practice are discussed.

Where is the evidence? A meta-analysis on the role of argumentation for the acquisition of domain-specific knowledge in computer-supported collaborative learning

This meta-analysis investigated the role of the quality of argumentation for domain-specific knowledge gains in computer-supported collaborative learning settings. Given the scarcity of primary studies that report correlations between these two variables, a meta-regression approach was employed that uses interventions' effects on argumentation to predict their effects on domain-specific knowledge. Effect sizes for 17 comparisons extracted from 12 studies were included in the analysis using a random-effects model. Moderator analyses concerning type of argumentation measure, type of knowledge test, and type of intervention were conducted. The interventions had a statistically significant small to moderate mean effect (d = 0.39) on argumentation, which varied as a function of the type of argumentation measure employed. The mean effect of the interventions on domain-specific knowledge (d = 0.22) appeared to be non-existent (d = 0.00) on the basis of the whole sample of studies, and small at best after the exclusion of three outlying effect sizes from one study. With respect to the relation of the studies' effects on argumentation to their effects on domain-specific knowledge, no unequivocal picture emerges: After the exclusion of the three outliers, the regression coefficient for predicting the studies' effects on domain-specific knowledge on the basis of their effects on argumentation was b = −0.08 and statistically not significant. These findings constitute a challenge for the broadly shared theoretical assumption that argumentation mediates the effects of interventions on domain-specific knowledge. A set of recommendations for strengthening future research on the topic is presented.

Social cognition in first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia: A meta-analysis

Social cognition is affected in people with schizophrenia, but whether this is the case for healthy relatives of these patients is less clear. The presence of social cognition impairments in relatives would suggest a potential genetic role of social cognition in schizophrenia. To determine whether social cognition is affected in first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia and examine the impact of potential moderator variables, a meta-analysis of studies investigating at least one domain of social cognition (mentalizing, emotional processing, social perception, social knowledge and/or attributional style) in adult first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia was performed. Our inclusion criteria were satisfied by 29 studies, of which 11 evaluated mentalizing, 20 emotional processing, and two social perception. Moderate mean effect sizes were obtained for these three components. Across all studies, effect sizes were significantly correlated with IQ and age differences between groups, calling for careful group matching for future studies. Overall, the results from this meta-analysis highlight that social cognition is globally affected in first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia, suggesting that social cognition deficits in schizophrenia may be related to a genetic vulnerability for the disorder.