The crucial role of emotion regulation in learning has been well established, but its potential impact on the English as a foreign language (EFL) learning process remains uncertain. Examining the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and EFL learning engagement, as well as antecedent variables, has significant theoretical and practical value. This study aims to explored the potential mediating effects of emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression) on the associations between perceived EFL teacher social support, peer social support and EFL learning engagement among Chinese adolescents. The data were gathered through an online survey of 1,506 (776 males) 10th to 12th high school EFL learners. Structural equation modeling was used to analyse the mediation model. This study found that EFL teachers’ social support had a significant and direct effect on the three dimensions of EFL learning engagement, whereas the direct effect of peer social support was insignificant. Additionally, cognitive reappraisal significantly mediated role in the positive relationship between perceived EFL teacher support and the three dimensions of EFL learning engagement. It also mediated the positive relationship between perceived peer support and the three dimensions of EFL learning engagement. However, emotion suppression only mediated the negative link between perceived peer support and EFL behavioral engagement. These findings emphasize the need to explore the crucial role of emotion regulation strategies in EFL learning engagement.

Background: Maternal history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has been found to be associated with children’s health outcomes. However, the underlying mechanisms were unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between maternal ACEs and behavioral problems in their preschool offspring and to explore the potential mediating role of maternal parenting styles in the association. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 4243 mother-child dyads in Chengdu, China. Mothers completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences-International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) to assess their history of ACEs (i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, witnessing domestic violence, household substance abuse, household mental illness, incarcerated household member, parental separation or divorce, parental death, bullying, and community violence), the short Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran Parent Form (S-EMBU-P) to evaluate their parenting styles (i.e., emotional warmth, rejection, and overprotection), and the 48-item Conners’ Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-48) to measure behavioral problems in their children. Logistic regression models were established to examine the association between cumulative number of maternal ACEs and children’s behavioral problems. The mediating role of parenting styles in this association was explored by generalized structural equation models (GSEM). Results: Of the participating mothers, 85.8% (n = 3641) reported having experienced at least one type of ACE. Children of mothers with ≥2 ACEs showed a significantly increased risk of behavioral problems across all dimensions, including conduct problems, learning problems, psychosomatic problems, impulsive-hyperactive, anxiety, and hyperactivity index, in both crude and adjusted models (all p-values < 0.05). Dose-response patterns were also observed between the cumulative number of maternal ACEs and children’s behavioral problems. In addition, maternal parenting styles of rejection emerged as a significant mediator, accounting for approximately 8.4–15.0% of the associations. Conclusions: Our findings indicated an intergenerational association of maternal ACEs with behavioral problems in preschool offspring, which was mediated by maternal parenting styles of rejection. Early screening and targeted intervention strategies are critical to mitigate the downstream consequences of maternal ACEs on young children’s outcomes. Providing support and resources to improve parenting skills may prove beneficial.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), adolescents in 70 countries have suffered the COVID-19 pandemic and flood disasters simultaneously. Although antecedent cyberbullying variables have attracted significant research attention, the effects of psychological distress and the potential mechanisms of cyberbullying among adolescents under multiple disasters remains unclear. Based on social-ecological system theory, this study examines the moderating effects of parent–child relationships and the negotiable fate on the relationship between psychological distress and cyberbullying. A total of 1204 middle school students (52.4% boys) who suffered from floods and the COVID-19 pandemic from Zhengzhou City, China, are the participants. The results reveal that psychological distress was positively related to adolescent cyberbullying during a disaster. Parent–child relationships and negotiable fate significantly moderate the relationship between psychological distress and cyberbullying. Specifically, high parent–child relationships and a high negotiable fate could protect adolescents from the negative effects of psychological distress of cyberbullying. For adolescents with low or high parent–child relationships and low negotiable fate, the links between psychological distress and cyberbullying are stronger. These findings underline the significance of considering the interaction of psychological distress, parent–child relationships, and negotiable fate when examining adolescents’ cyberbullying during disasters.

Associations between social norms and bullying bystander behaviours have been studied extensively over the years, but the mechanisms by which subjective norms influence bystander behaviours remain unclear. This study is the first to examine whether bystander popularity moderates the association between perceived peer pressure for intervention and Chinese adolescents’ bullying bystanding behaviours. The participants were 419 (51.6% male) school students (grade 8–11, age 14–17 years). The results showed positive associations between perceived peer pressure for intervention and active defending behaviours, and negative associations between perceived peer pressure for intervention and passive bystanding behaviours. Further, the results indicated that popularity moderated the association between perceived peer pressure for intervention and active defending behaviours. These findings highlight the importance of considering interactions among subjective norms and individual factors such as popularity when attempting to understand the factors that promote or hinder active defending behaviours. Moreover, the findings shed light on the importance of evidence-based bullying bystander interventions that help recognize these popular students.

Previous research has shown that creative mindsets influence creativity. Compared with people with a fixed creative mindset, those with a growth creative mindset performed better in creative tasks. The underlying mechanism, however, is not completely understood. The present study has extended previous works to explore whether metacognitive strategy monitoring and control influence the relationship between creative mindsets and divergent thinking performance. The thinking aloud method was used to summarize four strategies in a divergent thinking task (an alternative uses task, AUT) in a pilot study: memory retrieval, splitting, property-based, and general use strategies. In the formal study, the creative mindsets scale, AUT, self-strategic utility judgment (i.e., an index of metacognitive strategy monitoring), and frequency of strategies usage (i.e., an index of metacognitive strategy control) were used to explore the relationships among creative mindsets, divergent thinking, and metacognitive strategy monitoring and control. The results indicated a positive correlation between a growth creative mindset and divergent thinking but a negative correlation between a fixed creative mindset and divergent thinking. More importantly, there were identified mediating roles of metacognitive monitoring and control of splitting and property-based strategies in the relationship between creative mindsets and divergent thinking. The findings reveal that creative mindsets are a critical predictor of divergent thinking, and metacognitive monitoring and control of abstract strategies mediate this association.