Background Rumination has been thought to relate to deficits in core executive functions (EFs), but the empirical findings for this idea are mixed. The aim of the present study is to synthesize existing literature to clarify these relations. Methods A comprehensive literature search revealed 34 published as well as unpublished studies on the associations between rumination and core EF. These studies report on 3,066 participants. The effect size in the meta-analyses was obtained by the z transformation of correlation coefficients. Results Analysis revealed significant negative associations between rumination and both inhibition (r = ‒.23) and set-shifting (r = ‒.19). There was no significant association between rumination and working memory. These associations were not moderated by age, sex, type of sample (depressed or healthy), type of outcome measure (accuracy vs. reaction time), or affective content of the task, although statistical power for these tests was limited. Conclusions We found significant negative associations between rumination and inhibition or set-shifting. There was no significant association between rumination and working memory. Future research should adopt multiple measures of EF to provide clear evidence on the associations between EF and rumination. A better understanding of this relationship may have important implications for intervention of rumination, such as training programs to improve EF or teach compensatory strategies to mitigate the effects of EF impairments.

This study examined bedtime procrastination predictors and the development process concerning health behavior. Based on temporal self-regulation theory and the self-regulatory framework of time perspective, we examined the effects of future time perspective, dual-model of self-control, and problematic smartphone use on bedtime procrastination. Further, including the mediating role of dual-mode self-control and problematic smartphone use in the effects of future time perspective on bedtime procrastination among 3687 participants (38.73% male; M_age = 16.17 years, SD = 2.42, range = 11–23) Chinese students. The results showed that the future time perspective, dual-mode self-control, and problematic smartphone use had significant predictive effects on bedtime procrastination. Importantly, the negative effect of future time perspective on bedtime procrastination is mediated by the impulse system, control system, and problematic smartphone use separately and serially mediated by the impulse system and problematic smartphone use, rather than the control system and problematic smartphone use; these findings extend previous research on the contributing factors of bedtime procrastination and provide an empirical basis for promoting people to form healthy sleep habits.

Previous research has shown that exposure to violent video games increases aggression, whereas exposure to prosocial video games can reduce aggressive behavior. However, little is known about the neural correlates of these behavioral effects. This work is the first to investigate the electrophysiological features of the relationship between playing a prosocial video game and inhibition of aggressive behavior. Forty-nine subjects played either a prosocial or a neutral video game for 20 minutes, then participated in an event-related potential (ERP) experiment based on an oddball paradigm and designed to test electrophysiological responses to prosocial and violent words. Finally, subjects completed a competitive reaction time task (CRTT), which is based on Taylor’s Aggression Paradigm and measures both reaction time and noise intensity preference as indices of aggressive behavior. The results show that the prosocial video game group (compared to the neutral video game group) displayed smaller P300 amplitudes, were more accurate in distinguishing violent words, and were less aggressive as evaluated by the CRTT (noise intensity preference). A mediation analysis shows that the P300 amplitude evoked by violent words partially mediates the relationship between type of video game and subsequent aggressive behavior. The results support theories based on the General Learning Model. We provide converging behavioral and neural evidence that exposure to prosocial media may reduce aggression.