2026-09-21 · Systematic Review
Solvita Pleinica, Sanita Šuriņa, Guna Semjonova, Gints Peleckis, Jason Tang, Agris Liepa
IntroductionSelective and sustained attention are key cognitive functions associated with athletic performance and represent trainable abilities during adolescence. Although various intervention approaches have been investigated to enhance attention in young athletes, the available evidence has not been comprehensively mapped. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to identify and map the available interventions designed to develop selective and sustained attention among adolescent athletes and to summarize their characteristics, assessment methods, and reported outcomes.MethodsThe review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. The research question was developed using the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework. A systematic search of six electronic databases (ScienceDirect, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and EBSCOhost) was conducted in December 2025. Data were extracted using Microsoft Excel and synthesized narratively.ResultsSix studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 393 participants. Among the 367 participants for whom sex/gender was reported, 170 (46.3%) were female. The included studies primarily focused on adolescent athletes aged 11–20 years; one study included a broader age range, although its intervention group corresponded to the target adolescent population. The identified interventions included cognitive training, cognitive-motor dual-task training, mindfulness-based interventions, perceptual-cognitive training, and sport-specific approaches targeting selective and/or sustained attention. A variety of assessment instruments and measurement methods were used to evaluate attention-related and other cognitive outcomes. Most studies reported improvements in selective and/or sustained attention following the interventions; however, substantial heterogeneity in intervention characteristics, outcome measures, and study designs limited direct comparisons across studies.DiscussionThe available evidence indicates that several intervention approaches have been explored for developing selective and sustained attention in adolescent athletes. However, the small number of studies and considerable methodological heterogeneity preclude firm conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness. Future research should prioritize well-designed intervention studies with larger samples, standardized intervention protocols, and more consistent attention assessment methods.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.18168872026-09-21 · Original Research
Xiaoyi Wang, Zijiao Zhao, Jianglin Fu, Bangman Cai, Weijie Meng
IntroductionResearch on self-stigma among justice-involved adolescents is limited by a lack of dedicated instruments and an overreliance on explicit self-reports susceptible to social desirability bias.MethodsTwo studies were conducted. Study 1 developed and validated the Self-Stigma Scale for Adolescents in Conflict with the Law (SSS-ACL), confirming a two-factor structure comprising perceived and internalized stigma with sound psychometric properties. Study 2 employed two IRAP protocols based on the DAARRE model to capture spontaneous relational responding for each dimension.ResultsThis showed that 81.08% of participants displayed positive implicit perceived stigma (automatic group-negative associations), whereas only 25.68% displayed positive implicit internalized stigma (automatic negative self-linkages); he two implicit indices were uncorrelated. Explicit-implicit correlations were conditional: explicit internalized stigma was unrelated to both IRAP indices, explicit perceived stigma was only marginally associated with its implicit counterpart, and explicit perceived stigma showed a small positive correlation with implicit internalized stigma.DiscussionThese findings suggest that perceived and internalized stigma are functionally distinct at both reflective and spontaneous levels, and that robust implicit perceived stigma does not automatically translate into internalized self-stigma, consistent with a possible self-protective function. Practically, combining explicit and implicit measures may improve stigma assessment, and interventions should prioritize blocking internalization over merely reducing awareness of public stigma.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.17679412026-09-21 · Hypothesis and Theory
Chun Lee
This paper develops a multilevel framework to explain how audience presence shapes music performance anxiety (MPA). It distinguishes between external audience conditions, including Physical Attendance (PA) and Alternative Attendance (AA), and internally generated audience representations, termed Imaginative Attendance (IA). The framework also differentiates audience-related inputs in terms of Externally Assigned Identity (EAI) and Perceived Evaluative Identity (PEI), which are integrated through Perceived Social Evaluation (PSE), a contextual appraisal process. PSE shapes cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses, while metacognitive regulation influences whether these responses contribute to threat-focused processing and social inhibition or task-focused processing and social facilitation.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.18516262026-09-21 · Original Research
Wen Liu
While a considerable body of research has focused on examining the efficacy of peer feedback or AI-generated feedback in L2 writing, limited research has investigated the effect of the combination of AI and peer feedback on students’ engagement and their writing performance. To address this gap, the present study adopted a mixed-methods design. A 10-week feedback intervention was implemented with 122 Chinese EFL students over a 12-week study period: the experimental group (n = 61) received AI-peer integrated feedback, whereas the control group (n = 61) engaged in conventional peer feedback. To assess their engagement and writing performance, all participants completed pre- and post-tests, five writing assignments, and engagement questionnaires. Additionally, 16 students from each group participated in semi-structured interviews and kept reflective journals, providing rich qualitative data on their engagement patterns. The results indicated that the experimental group exhibited significantly higher levels of behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement than the control group. Moreover, they demonstrated greater improvements across four writing subscales, namely task achievement, coherence and cohesion, grammatical range and accuracy, and lexical resource, albeit with varying magnitudes of gain across these dimensions. These findings suggest that AI-peer integrated feedback represents a promising pedagogical approach for fostering L2 writing development, shedding light on the potential for human-AI collaboration in language education.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.18719512026-09-21 · Original Research
Yufei Xue, Fangting Wang, Chunyan Yang, Runzhi Zhang, Huiyu Zou, Yiyun Zhang, Steven Laureys, Haibo Di
IntroductionNear-death experiences (NDEs) are subjective experiences reported during actual or perceived life-threatening situations, whereas near-death-like experiences may occur in non-life-threatening altered states. Empirical data from Chinese populations remain limited, particularly regarding culturally specific narrative content.MethodsThis exploratory mixed-methods study examined self-reported NDEs and NDE-like experiences in a Chinese online convenience sample. Participants recruited through Chinese social media completed an online survey comprising sociodemographic questions, the Chinese Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale, and an open-ended narrative question. Quantitative analysis included 63 participants: 23 NDE cases, 25 NDE-like cases, and 15 below-threshold comparison cases. All classifications were based on self-report. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on 48 valid narratives.ResultsSelf-reported NDE and NDE-like narratives shared recurrent features, including out-of-body experiences, bright light, bodily sensations, emotional changes, and altered perceptual content. Compared with NDE-like narratives, NDE narratives showed descriptively higher frequencies of peaceful emotions, encounters with entities, deceased loved ones or spiritual entities, personal insights, panoramic life review, and culturally specific Chinese imagery. Chinese cultural motifs were infrequent overall, occurring in four of 23 NDE narratives and one of 25 NDE-like narratives. These motifs included Guimen Pass, Black and White Impermanence, Lord Chenghuang, reincarnation, karmic judgment, and underworld-related imagery.DiscussionBecause this study relied on retrospective self-report, an online convenience sample, and unverified medical contexts, the findings should be considered preliminary and hypothesis-generating. The findings provide localized exploratory evidence that Chinese self-reported NDE narratives may combine recurrent NDE-related features with culturally specific symbolic content.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19352462026-09-21 · Original Research
Bing Wen, Ya Tuo, Yi Li
ObjectiveTo describe reflective practice and compassion fatigue among hemodialysis specialist nurses in Inner Mongolia and examine their association.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey from August to October 2025 using convenience sampling. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Chinese Reflective Practice Questionnaire, and the 36-item Compassion Fatigue Scale for Healthcare Workers. Descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney U tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests, Spearman correlations, and exploratory multiple linear regression were used.ResultsAmong 249 participants, the mean reflective practice score was 148.29 ± 27.81 and the mean compassion fatigue score was 72.39 ± 22.29 (mean item score, 2.01 ± 0.62). Reflective practice was inversely correlated with compassion fatigue (r = −0.436, p < 0.01). In the regression model, associate chief nurses had lower reflective practice scores than nurses (B = −24.405, 95% CI − 42.105 to −6.706, p = 0.007), and higher compassion fatigue scores were associated with lower reflective practice scores (B = −0.586, 95% CI − 0.727 to −0.444, p < 0.001). The overall model fit was R2 = 0.237, adjusted R2 = 0.200, F(11, 237) = 6.692, p < 0.001.ConclusionReflective practice and compassion fatigue were inversely associated in this sample. Longitudinal and intervention studies are needed before temporal, causal, or intervention effects can be inferred.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19190322026-09-21 · Original Research
Renlong Jiang, Xinglan Zhang, Zhenzhen Li, Yandi Fu, Juan Xu, Jin Chen, Qian Ran, Xiaoxia Zhang, Tengfei Niu
BackgroundAcademic involution may be experienced both as students' own excessive competitive behavior and as their perception that peers engage in such behavior. This study examined how academic involution behavior and perceived academic involution climate were concurrently associated with English learning intention, and whether psychological distress formed a negative statistical indirect association within the proposed model.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was completed by 1,683 students from nine universities in Chongqing, China. Academic involution behavior, perceived academic involution climate, psychological distress, and English learning intention were assessed using four self-report instruments; the English learning intention instrument was a researcher-developed contextual brief measure. A four-factor structural equation model was estimated using diagonally weighted least squares, with age, gender, and education level included as covariates. Five direct-association hypotheses and two negative statistical indirect-association hypotheses were evaluated.ResultsAcademic involution behavior was positively associated with psychological distress (β = 0.207) and English learning intention (β = 0.284), and perceived academic involution climate was positively associated with psychological distress (β = 0.162) and English learning intention (β = 0.137). Psychological distress was negatively associated with English learning intention (β = −0.356; all focal paths p < 0.001). The standardized statistical indirect associations through psychological distress were −0.074 for academic involution behavior and −0.058 for perceived academic involution climate. The model accounted for 10.8% of the variance in psychological distress and 21.2% of the variance in English learning intention.ConclusionThe findings show contemporaneous positive direct associations alongside smaller negative statistical indirect associations, a pattern consistent with the proposed inconsistent mediation model. Because the data were cross-sectional and self-reported, the results do not establish temporal ordering, causal mediation, or intervention effects.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19439502026-09-21 · Perspective
Yunus Emre Büyükbasmacı, Ünsal Tazegül
The aim of this perspective paper is to propose a theory-based holistic assessment model that structures the psychological state assessment process conducted by sport psychologists. It is observed that existing assessment approaches in the field of sports psychology largely focus on individual psychological variables, and measurement tools are mostly used independently of one another. This situation makes it difficult to comprehensively assess the multidimensional structure of the athlete's psychological profile and leads to a lack of standardization in application processes. The model was developed through a theory-driven process involving literature synthesis, conceptual framework development, expert review, and iterative refinement. The proposed model consists of a total of 16 psychological domains and 48 items, including motivation, concentration, anger, stress, anxiety, prosocial and antisocial behaviors, burnout, communication, mental resilience, perfectionism, sociotropy, autonomy, self-esteem, narcissism, self-confidence, and emotional intelligence. Each psychological domain is represented by three structured assessment items designed for practical use by sport psychologists. The conceptual framework and assessment items were reviewed by experts in sport psychology to enhance theoretical coherence and content relevance. It is expected that the model will enhance consistency in practice by systematizing the assessment processes of sport psychologists, provide opportunities for multidimensional analysis, support intervention planning, and contribute to filling the conceptual gap in the field.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19198032026-09-21 · Original Research
Bingwen Lou, Xingyue Yang
ObjectivesStudents’ well-being is a critical indicator of their academic performance, pro-social behavior, and future development. Students’ perceived relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, along with their sense of school belonging, are significantly associated with their well-being. This study aimed to examine whether students’ sense of school belonging mediates the relationship between perceived parent–teacher–student relationship and well-being. The study also explored whether there were differences between primary and secondary school students on the main dimensions.MethodsData were obtained from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Survey on Social and Emotional Skills, which included responses from 6,742 students in Suzhou, China (3,508 Grade 4 and 3,234 Grade 10 students). A t-test was used to determine whether any differences existed in the five dimensions between students in Grades 4 and 10. Correlation and regression analyses were used to analyze the relationship between different variables. Structural equation modeling with a bootstrap resampling procedure was employed to test the mediation model.ResultsThe findings showed that primary school students reported positive relationships with parents and peers, greater overall well-being, and a stronger sense of school belonging than secondary school students. However, they reported less positive relationships with their teachers. After controlling for other variables, the findings indicated that students’ perceived parent–teacher–student relationships and sense of school belonging were positively and significantly related with students’ well-being. These four dimensions collectively explain 44.8% of the variation in the differences in students’ sense of well-being. The results of the bootstrap mediation analysis showed that students’ sense of school belonging significantly partially mediated the relationship between perceived parent-teacher-student relationships and well-being.ConclusionWell-being serves as an important indicator that is positively associated with students’ current learning and development and may be relevant to their future success. This study provides empirical evidence that a sense of school belonging serves as a key mediating mechanism through which perceived parent-teacher-student relationships translate into students’ well-being, extending the application of belongingness theory and self-determination theory within the Chinese educational context. It is imperative for school authorities, teachers, and parents to create a learning environment that promotes students’ aspirations, well-being, and academic development.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19063172026-09-21 · Original Research
TaiXu Jiang, HongShi Shi, YueNan Zheng, Pai Liu, MoFei Wang
BackgroundDespite excellent prognosis, cognitive and emotional disturbances have been reported in survivors of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). However, few studies in China have described baseline cognitive and emotional status in patients with newly diagnosed DTC prior to treatment.ObjectiveTo investigate possible cognitive impairment as well as anxiety and depression levels in patients newly diagnosed with DTC before treatment, and to explore their associated factors, so as to provide baseline data regarding cognitive and emotional disturbances among Chinese patients with DTC.MethodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled patients with DTC treated at a tertiary referral hospital between July and September 2023. Participants completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Chi-square tests were used for intergroup comparisons, while univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore factors associated with possible cognitive impairment, anxiety, and depression.ResultsA total of 708 preoperative patients with newly diagnosed DTC were enrolled. Among them, 7.2% presented anxiety symptoms, 20.3% presented depression symptoms, and 62.7% exhibited possible cognitive impairment. Among female participants, postmenopausal status was associated with possible cognitive impairment. Multivariate logistic regression showed that age (p = 0.003) and educational levels (p < 0.05) were independent correlates of possible cognitive impairment among women, while age (p < 0.001), work status (p < 0.05) and residence (p = 0.007) were independently correlated with possible cognitive impairment in the overall cohort. Elevated TSH was a correlate of anxiety (p = 0.014). Income status was independently associated with depressive symptoms (p < 0.05).ConclusionPsychological and cognitive disturbances are common among preoperative with DTC. Age, postmenopausal status, educational levels, work status, and residence are related to possible cognitive impairment. TSH levels are relevant correlates of anxiety, and income status is correlated with depression. Routine psychological and cognitive screening should be considered for preoperative DTC patients.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19082122026-09-21 · Original Research
Christine Groß, Markus Christiner
IntroductionSubjective self-evaluation is frequently used to assess perceived musical and linguistic competence, but the extent to which such ratings correspond to objectively measured performance, particularly across domains, remains unclear.MethodsA total of 104 participants completed objective music tasks assessing singing, melodic discrimination, mistuning perception, and beat perception; language tasks assessing expressive reading, speech imitation, and auditory phonological pattern recognition; and multi-item self-evaluation scales for both domains. Associations were examined using correlation analyses, hierarchical regression models, and Bland-Altman analyses.ResultsSubjective self-evaluation and objective performance were moderately associated within both domains but were not interchangeable. Objective music and language performance predicted one another more strongly than cross-domain self-evaluations. Within-domain self-evaluation contributed additional variance to the corresponding performance models. Bland-Altman analyses indicated negligible mean bias at the group level but substantial individual disagreement.DiscussionSubjective self-evaluation and objective performance capture complementary but theoretically distinct aspects of musical and linguistic ability. Objective assessment therefore remains necessary when performance itself is the target, whereas self-evaluation provides additional information about perceived competence. Comparable cross-domain association patterns are consistent with partly shared mechanisms across music and language.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.18994882026-09-21 · Systematic Review
Yibei Zhang, Kang Zhu, Gulandanmu Ma
BackgroundChronic diseases have a significant influence on patients’ mental health. DanceSport, as a form of exercise that combines physical activity, musical expression, and social interaction, may serve as an effective means of improving the physical and mental health of patients with chronic diseases; however, the current evidence regarding the influence of DanceSport on the mental health of these patients remains unclear. Clarifying this relationship will provide guidance for promoting mental health and designing exercise intervention programs for individuals with chronic diseases. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of DanceSport on the mental health of patients with chronic diseases.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in the PubMed, EBSCO, and Web of Science databases for English-language literature published from the inception of each database through 7 April 2026. The literature screening process consisted of three stages: removal of duplicates, title and abstract screening, and full-text review. The entire study strictly followed the PRISMA guidelines, and the methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool.ResultsThis study ultimately included 21 studies involving a total of 1,087 patients with chronic diseases. The results showed that DanceSport interventions had a certain impact on mental health-related indicators in patients with chronic diseases, including depression, anxiety, wellbeing, cognitive function, emotional state, self-confidence, self-efficacy, apathy, fear, loneliness, stress, feelings of shame, and frustration. Tango and Argentine tango interventions were most widely used among patients with Parkinson’s disease; relevant studies primarily reported positive changes in outcomes such as depression, wellbeing, certain cognitive functions, emotional state, and confidence in balance. In addition, ballroom dancing, samba, waltz, and comprehensive dance interventions have also improved the mental health of patients with cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart failure, chronic stroke, and mild cognitive impairment to varying degrees.ConclusionDanceSport interventions may help improve the mental health of patients with chronic diseases, but their effects may vary depending on the type of disease, the style of dance, and the specific mental health outcome measures. Future research could further compare the effectiveness of different dance forms and optimize DanceSport intervention programs to enhance their value in promoting mental health among patients with chronic diseases.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD420261363754.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19371572026-09-21 · Original Research
Zeynep Seda Albayrak, Herdem Aslan Genç, Ezgi Eymen Ekici, Tunahan Tayyip Görgülü, Dilara Demirpençe Seçinti, Gülçin Kahraman, Şafak Eray Çamlı, Hale Yapıcı Eser
Self-report scales dominate adolescent mental-health assessment but depend on symptom recognition and disclosure. Participant-generated language offers a complementary window on affective processes, yet most evidence comes from adult, English-language, community, or social-media data, leaving clinically referred adolescents and structurally different languages such as Turkish understudied. Sentence-completion tasks are clinically familiar but interpreted qualitatively, yielding no quantitative index. In this multicenter cross-sectional study, 445 clinically referred adolescents (aged 10–18 years; 55.1% girls) from three Turkish child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinics completed a 24-item sentence-completion task, the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Completions were analyzed with a Turkish Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) dictionary at whole-response and thematic levels. Because anger and sadness words are nested within the broader negative-emotion category, negative-emotion language was separated into anger, sadness, and other negative emotion, so that each coefficient referred lexical items. Partial correlations and hierarchical regressions related these components, positive-emotion language, and first-person singular reference to symptom severity, controlling for age, sex, word count, and study site, with false-discovery-rate correction. Negative-emotion language was positively associated with depressive symptoms, total difficulties, emotional symptoms, and conduct problems (r = 0.25 to 0.35), whereas positive-emotion language showed inverse associations. After decomposition, the affective-language block explained 8.1–13.3% of incremental variance, and anger and sadness each contributed beyond general negative tone. The anger coefficient exceeded the sadness coefficient in the conduct-problems model but not in the depressive or emotional-symptoms models. First-person singular reference, which included Turkish verbal morphology and tracked referential context, was unrelated to symptom severity, and no cognitive-process, third-person, or social-content category yielded a detectable association in exploratory screening. The negative-emotion–depression association was of comparable magnitude at all three sites, and the findings persisted after diagnostic adjustment and without the minimum word-count criterion. Affective language in brief Turkish sentence-completion responses therefore tracked dimensional symptom burden, while the absence of a first-person effect under a morphology-informed operationalization underscores the need for cross-linguistically valid measures of self-reference. Automated analysis offers a way of rendering a clinically familiar task quantifiable, as a complementary research measure rather than a standalone diagnostic tool.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19586502026-09-21 · Systematic Review
Yasir Alsamiri
Twice-exceptional (2e) students are intellectually or creatively gifted and also have one or more disabilities, and they require provision that develops talent and addresses disability at the same time. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly promoted as a route to personalized instruction, and its adaptive character appears conceptually well suited to the heterogeneous profiles of 2e learners. Whether that promise has been examined empirically with this population has not been established. This scoping review asked whether and how AI technologies have been reported in educational research involving 2e learners between 2020 and the search date in 2026. Following PRISMA-ScR, a population-anchored search was conducted in ERIC in August 2026 and supplemented by hand searching of a themed journal issue and by reference checking, returning 65 records of which five were assessed at full text. Two studies met the eligibility criteria, both published in 2025 and both in the same themed journal issue: the evidence base is emerging rather than absent, but it is very small and has begun through editorial intervention rather than sustained accumulation. A further group of records sat close to the eligibility boundary and is reported in full so that the limits of the evidence are visible. Across the included studies, sample sizes are small, outcome measurement is uneven, and no study examines whether AI systems that adapt to observed performance interact with the masking that defines twice-exceptionality. An affordance–risk framework is proposed, with each proposition explicitly labeled as hypothesized rather than demonstrated, together with a research agenda for a field that is beginning rather than absent.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19270032026-09-21 · Original Research
Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Antigoni Kolisiati, Ioannis Moisoglou, Maria Nystazaki, Petros Galanis
IntroductionThe rapid spread of online health misinformation has emerged as a significant public health concern, particularly among young adults who rely heavily on digital sources for health information. Understanding how susceptibility to online health misinformation is associated with health risk behaviors and vaccine hesitancy is especially critical among nursing students, who will play a key role as future healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to examine whether susceptibility to online health misinformation was associated with health behaviors and vaccine hesitancy among nursing students.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in Greece during September 2025 and 414 nursing students were included in the study. Susceptibility to online health misinformation was measured with the Health-Related Online Misinformation Susceptibility Scale. Health behaviors were assessed using the Health Behavior Inventory – Short Form and vaccine hesitancy was measured with the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale. Multivariable linear regression models were applied to determine the independent association between susceptibility to online health misinformation and health behaviors/vaccine hesitancy, following adjustment for several sociodemographic and behavioral confounders.ResultsMultivariable analysis showed that higher levels of susceptibility to online health misinformation were significantly associated with worse diet behaviors (p < 0.001), worse anger and stress management (p < 0.001), and higher levels of substance use (p < 0.001). Also, higher susceptibility to online health misinformation was independently associated with greater vaccine hesitancy, reflected in lower confidence in vaccines and higher perceived vaccination risk (p < 0.001).ConclusionThese results suggest that susceptibility to online health misinformation is associated with less healthy behaviors and greater vaccine hesitancy among nursing students.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19357322026-09-21 · Original Research
Jin Jiang, Hao Wang, Zhihan Chen, Xiaoyao Zhang, Chengqi Ye
ObjectivesTo explore how Internet addiction is associated with college students’ academic stress and how self-control and social anxiety play a mediating role in this relationship.MethodsUsing stratified sampling, 230 college students aged 18–22 years old from multiple universities in Hefei, Anhui Province, were recruited. All participants completed four standardized questionnaires. Serial mediation analysis based on SPSS PROCESS Model 6 with bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap (5,000 resamples) was adopted to test the hypothesized mediating effects.ResultsThe findings of this research indicate that Internet addiction is correlated with multiple indicators of college students’ academic stress. (1) Self-control and social anxiety each statistically mediate the association between Internet addiction and academic stress. (2) Social anxiety and self-control form a sequential pathway that statistically mediates the association linking Internet addiction and academic stress.ConclusionThese correlational results suggest that greater offline social engagement and stronger self-control may be related to lower levels of academic stress and less Internet addiction among university students.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.17377112026-09-21 · Original Research
Lingyun Gao, Feng Zhang
Social media platforms increasingly support course communication, peer collaboration, and academic information exchange within university learning. In China, these activities are frequently embedded in WeChat-centered communication streams characterized by persistent connectivity, fragmented information sharing, and overlap between academic and personal communication. Drawing on cognitive load theory, control-value theory, and social cognitive theory, this study examined how platform-based academic interaction was associated with self-regulated learning through information overload, perceived control, and information anxiety. Survey data were collected from 846 Chinese university students, of whom 98.5% reported using WeChat for academic purposes and 91.7% identified WeChat as their primary academic communication platform. Structural equation modeling indicated a positive direct association between platform-based academic interaction and self-regulated learning, while the estimated indirect associations involving information overload, perceived control, and information anxiety were negative and larger in absolute magnitude, yielding a negative estimated total association. Higher perceived information literacy was associated with a weaker positive relationship between information overload and information anxiety, whereas higher learning self-efficacy was associated with a weaker negative relationship between information anxiety and self-regulated learning. The information overload to information anxiety association differed across academic stages and was strongest among master’s students. These findings identify information-processing demand, regulatory appraisal, and information-related anxiety as distinct processes associated with self-regulated learning in a WeChat-centered social media environment. The cross-sectional self-report design limits temporal and causal inference.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.18934722026-09-21 · Original Research
Weibin Hu, Xueru Zhang, Ling Ding
Reading comprehension in morphosyllabic Chinese draws on coordinated phonological, orthographic, morphological, and broader language knowledge, but the unique associations of morphological and phonological awareness remain uncertain once proximal reading and language skills are considered. This cross-sectional study examined 361 Mandarin-speaking children in Grades 3–5. Hierarchical regressions predicted sample-standardized reading-comprehension scores after adjustment for grade, sex, school, non-verbal reasoning, decoding, listening comprehension, vocabulary, character dictation, and syntactic awareness. Inference used HC3 robust standard errors, case-bootstrap confidence intervals based on 5,000 resamples, and sensitivity analyses. After all covariates were entered, morphological and phonological awareness jointly accounted for an additional 2.9% of variance, ΔF(2, 346) = 17.65, p < 0.001. Morphological awareness showed a unique association with comprehension (β = 0.215, p < 0.001), whereas the phonological-awareness coefficient was smaller and non-significant (β = 0.057, p = 0.192). The direct coefficient contrast favored morphological awareness (βMA−βPA = 0.158, HC3 p = 0.009; bootstrap 95% CI [0.043, 0.275]). Morphological awareness remained significant across all sensitivity specifications. After influential-case exclusion, phonological awareness also became significant, and the coefficient difference remained significant. The findings identify a larger and more stable unique morphological association with reading comprehension in Chinese children in Grades 3–5, while the smaller phonological association was substantially shared with character-level literacy.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.19469452026-09-21 · Original Research
Bandar Salah Almailabi
IntroductionAcademic help-seeking is a self-regulatory academic behavior that may be shaped by students’ evaluative experiences and beliefs about their academic capability. This study examined whether academic anxiety statistically mediates the association between academic social comparison orientation and adaptive academic help-seeking, and whether academic self-efficacy moderates the association between academic anxiety and adaptive academic help-seeking among university students.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 218 undergraduate students from two Saudi universities. The main model was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples.ResultsAcademic social comparison orientation was positively associated with academic anxiety (β = 0.374, p < 0.001), and academic anxiety was negatively associated with adaptive academic help-seeking (β = −0.234, p = 0.001). Academic social comparison orientation also showed a negative direct association with adaptive academic help-seeking (β = −0.192, p = 0.004). The indirect effect through academic anxiety was negative and statistically significant (β = −0.087, p = 0.005), consistent with partial statistical mediation. Academic self-efficacy moderated the anxiety–help-seeking association (β = 0.153, p = 0.010), with the positive interaction indicating that the negative association between academic anxiety and adaptive academic help-seeking became weaker as academic self-efficacy increased.ConclusionThe findings suggest that academic anxiety partially statistically mediated the association between stronger academic social comparison orientation and lower adaptive academic help-seeking, whereas academic self-efficacy statistically moderated the negative association between academic anxiety and adaptive academic help-seeking, such that this association was weaker at higher levels of academic self-efficacy. Given the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted as statistical associations consistent with the proposed theoretical model rather than as evidence of causal effects.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.18724362026-09-21 · Original Research
Jing Sun
BackgroundTeacher burnout is an increasing psychological challenge in educational settings, affecting teachers’ emotional wellbeing and students’ learning experiences.AimThis study examined the psychological mechanisms through which teacher burnout influences learner engagement in English language classrooms, with particular attention to the role of emotional regulation.FrameworkDrawing on emotion regulation theory and educational psychology perspectives, this study explored whether teachers’ ability to manage emotional demands can reduce the negative impact of burnout on students’ classroom involvement.MethodData were collected in 2025 from 428 English language teachers and 1,284 students from secondary and higher education institutions. Teacher burnout was assessed through emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced professional efficacy; emotional regulation was measured through cognitive reappraisal and emotional control strategies; learner engagement was evaluated through behavioral participation, emotional involvement, and cognitive engagement indicators. Structural equation modelling was used to test direct and indirect relationships while controlling for relevant contextual factors.FindingsTeacher burnout significantly predicted lower learner engagement (β = −0.36, p < 0.001), whereas emotion regulation showed a positive association with student engagement (β = 0.42, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that emotion regulation partially mediated the adverse effects of burnout, highlighting its role in classroom interactions.ImplicationsImproving teachers’ emotional regulation skills and reducing occupational stress should be important priorities in educational policy. Integrating psychological support, emotional skills training, and burnout prevention initiatives may enhance teachers’ wellbeing and promote more engaging English language learning environments.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1952024