Psychological resilience reflects the capacity to bounce back from stress, which plays an important role in health and well-being. However, less is known about the neural substrate for psychological resilience and the underlying mechanism for how psychological resilience enhances subjective well-being in the healthy brain. To investigate these issues, we employed fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) measured with resting-state fMRI in 100 young healthy adults. The correlation analysis found that higher psychological resilience was related to lower fALFF in the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which is involved in reward-related processing and emotion regulation. Furthermore, the mediation analysis indicated that psychological resilience acted as a full mediator of the association between the fALFF in left OFC and subjective well-being indicators (i.e. life satisfaction and hedonic balance). Importantly, these results remained significant after controlling for the effect of gray matter volume and regional homogeneity in the region. Overall, the present study provides the further evidence for functional neural substrates of psychological resilience and reveals a potential mechanism that psychological resilience mediates the effect of spontaneous brain activity on subjective well-being.

Childhood maltreatment and its influence on mental health are key concerns around the world. Previous studies have found that childhood maltreatment is a positive predictor of mental symptoms, but few studies have been done to explore the specific mediating mechanisms between these two variables. Previous studies have found that there is a negative correlation between childhood maltreatment and emotional intelligence and between childhood maltreatment and social support, both of which are strong indicators of mental symptoms. Therefore, in this study, we took emotional intelligence and social support as mediating variables, exploring their mediating effects between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms via the structural equation modeling method. We recruited 811 Chinese college students to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Symptom Checklist 90 Scale (SCL-90), the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). The results showed a significant and positive correlation between childhood maltreatment and mental symptoms (β = 0.26, P < 0.001); meanwhile, social support played a significant mediating role in the influence of childhood maltreatment on emotional intelligence [95% confidence intervals, (−0.594 to −0.327)]; and emotional intelligence likewise played a significant mediating role in the effect of social support on mental symptoms [95% confidence intervals, (−0.224 to −0.105)]. These results indicated that childhood maltreatment not only directly increases the likelihood of developing mental symptoms, but also affects emotional intelligence through influencing social support and then indirectly increasing the likelihood of developing mental symptoms. This study provided a theoretical basis for ameliorating adverse effects of childhood maltreatment on mental symptoms by enhancing emotional intelligence and social support.

Gratitude has been investigated in various areas in psychology. The present research showed that gratitude had some positive effects on some aspects of our life, such as subjective well-being, life satisfaction, and social relationships. It can also help us relieve negative emotions. However, the existing literature has not studied the influence of gratitude on envy. The present study used structural equation modeling to test the mediating role of social support between gratitude and two types of envy (malicious and benign). We recruited 426 Chinese undergraduates to complete the Gratitude Questionnaire, Malicious and Benign Envy Scales, and the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results showed that gratitude positively predicted benign envy and negatively predicted malicious envy. In addition, the indirect effect of gratitude on two types of envy via social support was significant. These results revealed the direct relationship between gratitude and malicious/benign envy, and the mediating effect of social support, which will contribute to find effective measures to inhibit malicious envy and promote benign envy from the perspective of cultivating gratitude and increasing individuals' social support.

This study explored the mediation role of emotional intelligence, positive affect, and negative affect in the influence of childhood maltreatment on life satisfaction. A total of 811 participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale validly. Results revealed that emotional intelligence, positive affect and negative affect are mediators between childhood maltreatment and life satisfaction. In addition, childhood maltreatment influenced life satisfaction through the sequential intermediary of “emotional intelligence-positive affect” and “emotional intelligence-negative affect”. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.