Increased aggression due to gaming addiction is a widespread and highly publicized problem. The underlying processes by which verbal aggression, a more harmful and persistent subcategory of aggression, is affected by gaming addiction may differ from other types of aggression. In this study, data came from 252 randomly recruited current university students (50.79% male, mean age 19.60 years, SD: 1.44 years, range 17 to 29 years). Participants reported gaming addiction and different types of aggression through questionnaires. In addition, two important explanatory processes, inhibitory control, and risk preference, were measured through behavioral experiments. A Bayesian hierarchical drift-diffusion model was employed to interpret the data from the risk preference task. In contrast to previous work, the study found that inhibitory control did not significantly correlate with either gaming addiction or any form of aggression However, the drift rate, a measure of decision-making inclination under risk, partially mediates the relationship between gaming addiction and verbal aggression (but not other forms of aggression). The findings illuminate risk preference under adverse conditions as a key predictor of verbal aggression, offering avenues for early intervention and suggesting game design modifications to mitigate verbal aggression by adjusting reward mechanisms.

This study examines the complex effects of empathic concern on mental health and behavioral manifestations and the potential indirect paths through excessive adaptation. A cross-sectional design with 1355 participants was employed. Empathic concern, excessive adaptation, prosocial behaviors, reactive aggression, depression, and positive mental health were assessed using established scales. Structural equation modeling and Bayesian linear regression were applied to analyze the paths. For direct paths, empathic concern positively predicted prosocial behaviors and positive mental health, whereas it was negatively related to depression and reactive aggression. For indirect paths, excessive adaptation was found to mediate the relationship between empathic concern and the outcome variables with the exception of positive mental health. By elucidating the mediating role of excessive adaptation, the results herein not only deepen our understanding of the dual effect of empathic concern on mental health and behavioral manifestations but also offer important insights for the medical and educational fields.

Background: The question of how video games can shape aggressive behaviors has been a focus for many researchers. Previous research has focused on how violent video game content leads to postgame aggressive behaviors. However, video games not only convey violence or prosocial content to players but also require cognitive effort from individuals. Since human cognitive resources are limited, consuming more cognitive resources in a game leads to less cognitive resources to suppress aggressive impulses. Therefore, the depletion of cognitive resources from playing video games may also lead to changes in postgame aggressive behaviors. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between cognitive resources consumed in video games and postgame aggressive behaviors. Methods: A total of 60 participants (age: mean 20.22; range 18-24 y) were randomly assigned to either the high-load group or the low-load group. Participants from both groups played a video game centered around college life. In the low-load group, participants followed the gameplay instructions to complete it. In the high-load group, participants were given an extra digital memory task to complete while playing the game. Participants in both groups played the video game for about 25 minutes. A maze selection task was then conducted to measure the participants’ helping and hurting behaviors. Results: The independent samples 2-tailed t tests showed that the high-load group had significantly higher hurting scores (mean 3.13, SD 2.47) than the low-load group (mean 1.90, SD 2.12; t₅₈=−2.07, P=.04; Cohen d=−0.535), whereas helping behaviors were not significantly affected (t₅₈=1.52, P=.13; Cohen d=0.393). Conclusions: As more cognitive resources are consumed in a video game, more hurting behaviors are exhibited after the game. This finding proposes an alternative route by which video games impact aggressive behaviors, adding to previous theories and raising concerns about the popularity of cognitive training games.

Depression is prevalent and may be transmitted within the family. However, whether and how gender influences the interaction of depressive symptoms between parents and adolescents remains largely unclear. The current study used a cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) analysis to examine the gender-specific transmission of depressive symptoms in representative Chinese families from the China Family Panel Studies. The participants included 1469 adolescents (48.3% girls) and their parents, with depressive symptoms assessed by the epidemiological studies depression scale in 2020 (T1; M_age = 13.80) and 2022 (T2; M_age = 15.62), respectively. The gender-specific CLPNs (i.e., boy–father, boy–mother, girl–father, and girl–mother CLPNs) showed that the “loneliness” at T1 repeatedly exhibited higher impacts on the other symptoms at T2 across networks. Furthermore, the symptoms of girls at T1 were more likely to influence their parents at T2, while the symptoms of boys at T2, especially the “sleep restlessness”, were susceptible to parental influence at T1. These findings provide deeper insights into the development of mental health policies, and future studies are needed to explore the mediating mechanisms of such transmission.

Background: Cyberbullying victimization is prevalent and closely linked to mental health problems. However, existing research, often limited by cross-sectional designs and a focus on direct relationships, has yielded inconsistent results. Furthermore, the biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and psychopathological outcomes remain largely unclear at present. Objective: This retrospective cohort study aimed to explore the longitudinal associations among cyberbullying victimization, inhibitory control, brain activation during error processing, and mental health problems among adolescents. Methods: We curated the clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging data (551/1186, 46.5% girls; 9-10 years at baseline) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, a nationally representative cohort established through school-based probability sampling (selected factors included gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity). Participants were assessed by the cyberbullying question, the functional magnetic resonance imaging stop signal task for inhibitory control and error processing, and the Child Behavioral Checklist for externalizing and internalizing problems at 2-year (T1) and 4-year follow-up (T2). Linear mixed models were used to examine the retrospective longitudinal associations between these clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging factors. Results: Linear mixed models showed that victims of cyberbullying at T1 exhibited significantly greater externalizing problems at T2 (β=0.25, 95% CI 0.06-0.45, PFDR=.02), but not for internalizing problems (β=–0.01, 95% CI –0.20 to 0.19, PFDR=.99) or deficits in inhibitory control (Correct Stop Rate: β=–0.02, 95% CI –0.26 to 0.21, PFDR=.85; Stop Signal Reaction Time: β=–0.07, 95% CI –0.27 to 0.13, PFDR=.85). Furthermore, cyberbullying victimization at T1 contributed to higher activation in the bilateral superior parietal gyri (left: β=0.36, 95% CI 0.10-0.61, PFDR=.04; right: β=0.34, 95% CI 0.08-0.59, PFDR=.04), right inferior parietal gyrus (β=0.32, 95% CI 0.07-0.57, PFDR=.04), and right posterior cingulate cortex (β=0.34, 95% CI 0.09-0.60, PFDR=.04) during error processing at T2. However, these neural alterations did not significantly mediate between cyberbullying victimization at T1 and externalizing problems at T2. Conclusions: This longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigates neural correlates of cyberbullying victimization in adolescents. By extending prior research that has relied primarily on cross-sectional or behavioral data, this research demonstrates that this form of victimization is associated with altered neural activation during error processing in later development. The pattern of nonsignificant impairment in inhibitory control and mediation to externalizing problems suggests that these neural impacts may be better characterized by a state of heightened sensitivity and compensatory engagement than by direct damage. Overall, this study points to the error-processing network as a potential target for cognitive interventions and establishes a foundation for further exploration of other neural mechanisms between cyberbullying victimization and mental health outcomes.

BACKGROUND Cyberbullying victimization is prevalent and closely linked to mental health problems. However, existing research, often limited by cross-sectional designs and a focus on direct relationships, has yielded inconsistent results. Furthermore, the biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and psychopathological outcomes remain largely unclear at present. OBJECTIVE This retrospective cohort study aimed to explore the longitudinal associations among cyberbullying victimization, inhibitory control, brain activation during error processing, and mental health problems among adolescents. METHODS We curated the clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging data (551/1186, 46.5% girls; 9-10 years at baseline) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, a nationally representative cohort established through school-based probability sampling (selected factors included gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity). Participants were assessed by the cyberbullying question, the functional magnetic resonance imaging stop signal task for inhibitory control and error processing, and the Child Behavioral Checklist for externalizing and internalizing problems at 2-year (T1) and 4-year follow-up (T2). Linear mixed models were used to examine the retrospective longitudinal associations between these clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging factors. RESULTS Linear mixed models showed that victims of cyberbullying at T1 exhibited significantly greater externalizing problems at T2 (β=0.25, 95% CI 0.06-0.45, PFDR=.02), but not for internalizing problems (β=–0.01, 95% CI –0.20 to 0.19, PFDR=.99) or deficits in inhibitory control (Correct Stop Rate: β=–0.02, 95% CI –0.26 to 0.21, PFDR=.85; Stop Signal Reaction Time: β=–0.07, 95% CI –0.27 to 0.13, PFDR=.85). Furthermore, cyberbullying victimization at T1 contributed to higher activation in the bilateral superior parietal gyri (left: β=0.36, 95% CI 0.10-0.61, PFDR=.04; right: β=0.34, 95% CI 0.08-0.59, PFDR=.04), right inferior parietal gyrus (β=0.32, 95% CI 0.07-0.57, PFDR=.04), and right posterior cingulate cortex (β=0.34, 95% CI 0.09-0.60, PFDR=.04) during error processing at T2. However, these neural alterations did not significantly mediate between cyberbullying victimization at T1 and externalizing problems at T2. CONCLUSIONS This longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigates neural correlates of cyberbullying victimization in adolescents. By extending prior research that has relied primarily on cross-sectional or behavioral data, this research demonstrates that this form of victimization is associated with altered neural activation during error processing in later development. The pattern of nonsignificant impairment in inhibitory control and mediation to externalizing problems suggests that these neural impacts may be better characterized by a state of heightened sensitivity and compensatory engagement than by direct damage. Overall, this study points to the error-processing network as a potential target for cognitive interventions and establishes a foundation for further exploration of other neural mechanisms between cyberbullying victimization and mental health outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL