Jing Lan

The Effect Mechanism of Stigma Perception on Mental Health Among Migrant Children in Beijing: The Effect Mechanism of Stigma Perception on Mental Health Among Migrant Children in Beijing

Currently,there are more than 140 million rural-to-urban migrants in China and the number keeps growing. An estimate of 19.8 million children under 18 years migrated with their parents from rural areas to the cities Migrant children face a great deal of issues in living and schooling in city and possess a number of mental health problems. Literature suggests that it is common that migrant children are stigmatized by urban residents. A majority of migrant children in Beijing claimed that they were disdained by Beijing citizens and their schoolmates (Beijing natives) kept away from them. Stigma could be a life stressor,theory of Cognitive Phenomenological Transactional pointed out that stress could affect individuals mental health through mediators,such as,coping,cognitive appraisal,and self-esteem. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between stigma perception and mental health among migrant children in Beijing. We tested three hypotheses:(1) Migrant children perceive great stigma,and those with high mobility perceive greater stigma than those who with low fluidity; (2) Migrant children demonstrate poor mental health,and those with high mobility have significantly worse mental health than those with low fluidity; (3) there is a significant relationship between stigma perception and mental health; coping and self-esteem act as mediators in the relationship between stigma perception and mental health. We recruited 1164 migrant children in Beijing,we also recruited 525 Beijing children and 568 rural children as comparison. Data of demographic information,migration history,stigma perception,coping,self-esteem,and mental health problems (including social anxiety,loneliness,depression etc.) were collected through a self-administrated questionnaire. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOWA),Pearson Correlations and Structure Equation Model (SEM). Data revealed that migrant children perceived great stigma from urban people around them,and the levels of stigma perception were significantly differ by types of schools as well as levels of mobility. Migrant children in private migrant schools reported remarkably higher level of stigma perception than those their counterparts in public schools. Migrant children with high mobility reported higher level of stigma perception than their counterparts with low mobility. There was significant relationship between stigma perception and mental health conditions,between stigma perception and coping,and between stigma and self-esteem,as well as between self-esteem and mental health in Structure Equation Model,we found stigma perception affected mental health directly and indirectly through coping and self-esteem,which suggest that coping and self-esteem could be the mediator between stigma perception and mental health. In conclusion,among migrant children,stigma perception affects mental health significantly and induces problems like social anxiety,loneliness and depression. However,the effect can be mediated by coping and self-esteem. The results of this study suggested that the Theory of Cognitive Phenomenological transactional could be used in migrant childrens stigma perception intervention,to reduce their stigma perception,change their coping and enhance their self-esteem,and may improve migrant childrens mental health status.

Altered resting-state neural activity and changes following a craving behavioral intervention for Internet gaming disorder

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a serious mental health issue worldwide. Evaluating the benefits of interventions for IGD is of great significance. Thirty-six young adults with IGD and 19 healthy comparison (HC) subjects were recruited and underwent resting-state fMRI scanning. Twenty IGD subjects participated in a group craving behavioral intervention (CBI) and were scanned before and after the intervention. The remaining 16 IGD subjects did not receive an intervention. The results showed that IGD subjects showed decreased amplitude of low fluctuation in the orbital frontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, and exhibited increased resting-state functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, compared with HC subjects. Compared with IGD subjects who did not receive the intervention, those receiving CBI demonstrated significantly reduced resting-state functional connectivity between the: (1) orbital frontal cortex with hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus; and, (2) posterior cingulate cortex with supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus, and postcentral gyrus. These findings suggest that IGD is associated with abnormal resting-state neural activity in reward-related, default mode and executive control networks. Thus, the CBI may exert effects by reducing interactions between regions within a reward-related network, and across the default mode and executive control networks.

Effects of craving behavioral intervention on neural substrates of cue-induced craving in Internet gaming disorder

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is characterized by high levels of craving for online gaming and related cues. Since addiction-related cues can evoke increased activation in brain areas involved in motivational and reward processing and may engender gaming behaviors or trigger relapse, ameliorating cue-induced craving may be a promising target for interventions for IGD. This study compared neural activation between 40 IGD and 19 healthy control (HC) subjects during an Internet-gaming cue-reactivity task and found that IGD subjects showed stronger activation in multiple brain areas, including the dorsal striatum, brainstem, substantia nigra, and anterior cingulate cortex, but lower activation in the posterior insula. Furthermore, twenty-three IGD subjects (CBI + group) participated in a craving behavioral intervention (CBI) group therapy, whereas the remaining 17 IGD subjects (CBI − group) did not receive any intervention, and all IGD subjects were scanned during similar time intervals. The CBI + group showed decreased IGD severity and cue-induced craving, enhanced activation in the anterior insula and decreased insular connectivity with the lingual gyrus and precuneus after receiving CBI. These findings suggest that CBI is effective in reducing craving and severity in IGD, and it may exert its effects by altering insula activation and its connectivity with regions involved in visual processing and attention bias.

Craving behavioral intervention for internet gaming disorder: remediation of functional connectivity of the ventral striatum

Psychobehavioral intervention is an effective treatment of Internet addiction, including Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, the neural mechanisms underlying its efficacy remain unclear. Cortical‐ventral striatum (VS) circuitry is a common target of psychobehavioral interventions in drug addiction, and cortical‐VS dysfunction has been reported in IGD; hence, the primary aim of the study was to investigate how the VS circuitry responds to psychobehavioral interventions in IGD. In a cross‐sectional study, we examined resting‐state functional connectivity of the VS in 74 IGD subjects (IGDs) and 41 healthy controls (HCs). In a follow‐up craving behavioral intervention (CBI) study, of the 74 IGD subjects, 20 IGD subjects received CBI (CBI+) and 16 IGD subjects did not (CBI−). All participants were scanned twice with similar time interval to assess the effects of CBI. IGD subjects showed greater resting‐state functional connectivity of the VS to left inferior parietal lobule (lIPL), right inferior frontal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus, in positive association with the severity of IGD. Moreover, compared with CBI−, CBI+ showed significantly greater decrease in VS‐lIPL connectivity, along with amelioration in addiction severity following the intervention. These findings demonstrated that functional connectivity between VS and lIPL, each presumably mediating gaming craving and attentional bias, may be a potential biomarker of the efficacy of psychobehavioral intervention. These results also suggested that non‐invasive techniques such as transcranial magnetic or direct current stimulation targeting the VS‐IPL circuitry may be used in the treatment of Internet gaming disorders.

Dissociable neural processes during risky decision-making in individuals with Internet-gaming disorder☆

Risk-taking is purported to be central to addictive behaviors. However, for Internet gaming disorder (IGD), a condition conceptualized as a behavioral addiction, the neural processes underlying impaired decision-making (risk evaluation and outcome processing) related to gains and losses have not been systematically investigated. Forty-one males with IGD and 27 healthy comparison (HC) male participants were recruited, and the cups task was used to identify neural processes associated with gain- and loss-related risk- and outcome-processing in IGD. During risk evaluation, the IGD group, compared to the HC participants, showed weaker modulation for experienced risk within the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (t = − 4.07; t = − 3.94; PFWE < 0.05) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) (t = − 4.08; t = − 4.08; PFWE < 0.05) for potential losses. The modulation of the left DLPFC and bilateral IPL activation were negatively related to addiction severity within the IGD group (r = − 0.55; r = − 0.61; r = − 0.51; PFWE < 0.05). During outcome processing, the IGD group presented greater responses for the experienced reward within the ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (t = 5.04, PFWE < 0.05) for potential gains, as compared to HC participants. Within the IGD group, the increased reward-related activity in the right OFC was positively associated with severity of IGD (r = 0.51, PFWE < 0.05). These results provide a neurobiological foundation for decision-making deficits in individuals with IGD and suggest an imbalance between hypersensitivity for reward and weaker risk experience and self-control for loss. The findings suggest a biological mechanism for why individuals with IGD may persist in game-seeking behavior despite negative consequences, and treatment development strategies may focus on targeting these neural pathways in this population.

Craving Behavior Intervention in Ameliorating College Students' Internet Game Disorder: A Longitudinal Study

Craving, as a central feature of addiction and a precursor of relapse, is targeted recently in addiction intervention. While Internet gaming disorder (IGD), conceptualized as a behavioral addiction, is lack of effective treatment practice and exploration of its mechanism. This research aims to test the effectiveness and detect the active ingredients of craving behavior intervention (CBI) in mitigation of IGD among young adults. A total of 63 male college students with IGD were assigned into the intervention group (six-session CBI intervention) or the waiting-list control group. Structured questionnaires were administered at pre-intervention (T1), post-intervention (T2), 3-month follow-up (T3), and 6-month follow-up (T4). Compared to the control group, a significant decrease in the severity of IGD in intervention group was found at post-intervention and lasting to 6 months after intervention. The value changes of craving could partially mediate the relationship between intervention and changes of IGD among all effects tests (immediate, T2-T1; short-term, T3-T1; and long-term effects, T4-T1). Further, explorations of the active ingredients of intervention found depression relief and shift of psychological needs from Internet to real life significantly predict craving amelioration at both post-intervention and 6-month follow-up. Although preliminary, the current study provides evidence for the value of craving-aimed intervention practice in IGD treatment and identifies two potential active ingredients for mitigation of craving, and the long-term therapeutic benefits are further conferred. Registry name: The behavioral and brain mechanism of IGD; URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02550405; Registration number: NCT02550405.

The Comorbidity Between Internet Gaming Disorder and Depression: Interrelationship and Neural Mechanisms

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is characterized by cognitive and emotional deficits. Previous studies have reported the co-occurrence of IGD and depression. However, extant brain imaging research has largely focused on cognitive deficits in IGD. Few studies have addressed the comorbidity between IGD and depression symptoms and underlying neural mechanisms. Here, we systematically investigated this issue by combining a longitudinal survey study, a cross-sectional resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) study and an intervention study. Autoregressive cross-lagged modeling on a longitudinal dataset of college students showed that IGD severity and depression are reciprocally predictive. At the neural level, individuals with IGD exhibited enhanced rsFC between the left amygdala and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), inferior frontal and precentral gyrus, compared with control participants, and the amygdala-frontoparietal connectivity at the baseline negatively predicted reduction in depression symptoms following a psychotherapy intervention. Further, following the intervention, individuals with IGD showed decreased connectivity between the left amygdala and left middle frontal and precentral gyrus, as compared with the non-intervention group. These findings together suggest that IGD may be closely associated with depression; aberrant rsFC between emotion and executive control networks may underlie depression and represent a therapeutic target in individuals with IGD. Registry name: The behavioral and brain mechanism of IGD; URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02550405; Registration number: NCT02550405.

Inequity of sacrifice and marital satisfaction in Chinese young couples

There is an emerging body of research focusing on the positive and negative effects of sacrifice on relationship quality, but few of them have investigated the effects of the inequity of sacrifice. In the light of social exchange theory and equity theory, this study examines the roles inequity of sacrifice plays in marital satisfaction in China. Based on the questionnaires completed by 115 Chinese young couples, we find that wives’ perceived inequity of sacrifice, rather than husbands’ perceived inequity or the actual inequity of sacrifice, is predictive to both spouses’ marital satisfaction. In addition, wives’ perceived overbenefit positively predicts, while underbenefit negatively predicts both spouses’ marital satisfaction, which means when wives perceive their husbands’ sacrifice more than themselves, both of them have higher satisfaction. In accordance with social exchange theory but not equity theory, our findings highlight the important and subtle roles perceived inequity of sacrifice behaviours plays in the marriages of Chinese young couples. Practitioner points The importance of perceived inequity implies that clients’ perceptions should be paid more attention than the content of their stories The strong predictive power of wives’ but not husbands’ perceived inequity suggests we should keep gender difference in mind when working with couples, especially young couples Young couples may care about their own advantages more than the equity of their relationship, which should be accommodated in clinical work

How Does Adult Attachment Affect Human Recognition of Love-related and Sex-related Stimuli: An ERP Study

In the present study, we investigated the relationship among three emotion-motivation systems (adult attachment, romantic love, and sex). We recorded event-related potentials in 37 healthy volunteers who had experienced romantic love while they viewed SEX, LOVE, FRIEND, SPORT, and NEUTRAL images. We also measured adult attachment styles, level of passionate love and sexual attitudes. As expected, results showed that, firstly, response to love-related image-stimuli and sex-related image-stimuli on the electrophysiological data significantly different on N1, N2, and positive slow wave (PSW) components. Secondly, the different adult attachment styles affected individuals’ recognition processing in response to love-related and sex-related images, especially, to sex-related images. Further analysis showed that voltages elicited by fearful attachment style individuals were significantly lower than voltages elicited by secure and dismissing attachment style individuals on sex-related images at frontal sites, on N1 and N2 components. Thirdly, from behavior data, we found that adult attachment styles were not significantly related to any dimension of sexual attitudes but were significantly related to passionate love scale (PLS) total points. Thus, the behavior results were not in line with the electrophysiological results. The present study proved that adult attachment styles might mediate individuals’ lust and attraction systems.

Marriage improves neuroticism in Chinese newlyweds: Communication and marital affect as mediators.

We examined the mediating roles of communication and marital affect in the association between marital quality and neuroticism. Guided by the social investment theory and the personality-relationship transactions model, we tested the actor-partner interdependence mediation model to examine the associations among the variables. Participants were 268 Chinese newlywed couples who were a maximum of 3 years into their first marriage. The path model indicated that, first, both spouses’ marital quality at Time 1 was related with their own neuroticism at Time 3 after controlling for confounding variables. However, after controlling for neuroticism at Time 1, husbands’ marital quality was not directly associated with their own neuroticism. Second, for wives, communication and marital affect at Time 2 fully mediated the association between marital quality and neuroticism. Conversely, for husbands, the multiple specific indirect effects were not significant. These findings suggest that communication and marital affect are mediators underlying the association between marital quality and neuroticism. Moreover, the potential mechanisms underlying the relationship effects differ between husbands and wives. The implications and future directions of these results were discussed.