Global Counseling & Mental Health News

NEWSLETTER · 10月16日

Daily picks · 10月16日

10 picks

本期日刊聚焦数字行为与心理健康的多条研究线索:网络成瘾的神经生物学机制、述情障碍与问题性互联网使用的关系,以及约会应用算法意识对用户信任与满意度的影响。同时,性别公平语言对身份融合的作用、24小时运动指南与学业表现的纵向证据,为从业者提供了可转化的干预视角。

Research

  • Identity and Words: Does Gender-Fair Language Impact Workers’ Gender-Work Identity Integration?

    两项研究检验性别公平语言能否提升员工性别与工作身份的整合,指向组织层面的语言干预。

    Understanding how individuals integrate their work and non-work identities has become a central concern in research analyzing individual differences in the work context. In particular, gender-work identity integration (GWII) has been proven to significantly impact employee well-being and work adjustment. We present two studies designed to improve GWII by gender-fair language use at work. In Study 1 ( N = 1024), employees of a telecommunication company, after completing a pre-test, received instructions to use either double gender-marking language (DGML, N = 355) or gender-neutral language (GNL, N = 310) in written communication. A third control group ( N = 359) did not receive any instructions. Results show that use of DGML improved employees’ GWII over time, which, in turn, also increased their work engagement and well-being. Study 2 ( N = 219) replicated findings from Study 1 showing that change in DGML use improves GWII, but only under low levels of observed sexist behaviors in the organization. Together, these findings provide evidence of the impact of organizational language policies on employees’ identity processes and well-being.

    The Journal of Language and Social Psychology | 工作, 语言, Gwii, 使用, 身份

  • Internet Addiction Disorder and Cybersecurity Risk: A Neurobiological and Behavioral Review

    综述将网络成瘾的神经影像证据与网络安全风险关联,为临床评估提供跨领域框架。

    Internet addiction disorder (IAD) has attracted substantial clinical and scientific interest over the past two decades. Although the condition remains outside formal diagnostic frameworks in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, accumulating neuroimaging evidence demonstrates that compulsive Internet use is associated with disruptions in dopaminergic reward circuitry and prefrontal cortical function that closely parallel those observed in substance use disorders. These neurobiological changes, encompassing impaired executive function, elevated impulsivity, and heightened reward sensitivity, may carry implications for cybersecurity. Available evidence suggests that individuals exhibiting addictive patterns of Internet use show reduced compliance with security protocols, increased vulnerability to social engineering, and elevated engagement in risky online behaviors, although directionality cannot be established with confidence given the predominantly cross-sectional evidence base. The present narrative review synthesizes evidence from addiction neuroscience, clinical psychology, and cybersecurity research to propose a mechanistic account of the IAD–cybersecurity risk relationship. The review identifies impaired prefrontal inhibitory control as the central neurobiological mediator linking IAD to cybersecurity vulnerability, mediated primarily through impulsivity and compounded by the attentional and affective characteristics that render addicted individuals susceptible to social engineering. Drawing on literature spanning 2017–2026, the review also situates this account within a contemporary regulatory context, including the documented acceleration of problematic Internet use during the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s landmark social media minimum age legislation, and an influential 2026 civil verdict in which a U.S. jury found major platform operators liable for harms arising from addictive design. Clinical, organizational, and policy implications are discussed.

    Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking | 互联网, 成瘾障碍, 网络安全, 使用, 神经生物学

  • Can’t Name It, Can’t Log Off: Alexithymia and Problematic Internet-Related Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    系统综述与荟萃分析量化述情障碍与问题性互联网行为的关系,为行为成瘾筛查提供依据。

    Alexithymia has been proposed as a ransdiagnostic vulnerability for behavioral addictions, but its role in problematic Internet-related behaviors (PIB) has not been quantified across phenotypes and populations. We conducted a preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses. Major databases were searched in October 2025 for studies reporting quantitative associations between alexithymia and PIB (problematic Internet, smartphone, social media, gaming use, or cyberbullying). Risk of bias was appraised with Joanna Briggs Institute tools. Random-effects models pooled correlations and standardized regression coefficients; three-level and robust-variance models accounted for multiple effects per study and examined moderators and adjustment for internalizing symptoms. Eighty-three studies met inclusion criteria; 78 independent samples ( N = 42,478; 369 effect sizes total, comprising 302 zero-order correlations and 67 standardized regression coefficients) contributed to the meta-analysis. The pooled correlation between alexithymia and PIB was r = 0.36 (95% confidence interval 0.34–0.38; I 2 = 77.6%). Associations were stronger for addictive-use PIB ( r = 0.37) than for cyberbullying ( r = 0.29), broadly comparable across world regions, and tended to be larger in adults than adolescents. In multivariable models, coefficients attenuated from about β = 0.37 to β = 0.18 after controlling for depression, anxiety, and other internalizing symptoms, but remained statistically significant. Sensitivity and publication-bias analyses indicated that the association was robust. Alexithymia shows a moderate association with PIB across age groups, partly via shared variance with internalizing psychopathology but also through unique pathways. Longitudinal and mechanistic studies should test whether targeting emotional awareness can help prevent or reduce PIB.

    Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking | 有问题的互联网相关, 互联网相关行为, 系统评论, 评论荟萃分析, 述情障碍

Clinical Practice

  • 脑电生物反馈联合心理干预对注意缺陷多动障碍儿童患者心理状态、脑电θ/β比值的影响

    随机对照试验显示脑电生物反馈联合心理干预改善ADHD儿童心理状态与脑电θ/β比值。

    目的:探究脑电生物反馈联合心理干预对注意缺陷多动障碍(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,ADHD)儿童患者(以下简称患儿)心理状态、脑电θ/β比值的影响。方法:共纳入116例ADHD患儿,随机分为联合组(心理干预+脑电生物反馈)和心理组(心理干预),每组58例。比较两组注意缺陷多动障碍筛查量表(Swanson,Nolan and Pelham-Ⅳ r...

    Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Education & Careers

  • The Health Education Specialist Practice Analysis III 2025 (HESPA III 2025): Process and Outcomes

    HESPA III 2025更新健康教育专家能力模型,对课程设计与职业认证有直接参考价值。

    The Health Education Specialist Practice Analysis III 2025 was conducted to update and validate the hierarchical model associated with the contemporary framework for the practice of health education specialists across work settings at entry and advanced levels. The purpose of this manuscript was to report the processes and findings associated with the HESPA III 2025 study to assess the validity of the Areas of Responsibility, Competencies, Sub-competencies, and Knowledge Areas for entry- and advanced-level health education specialists. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Three data collection instruments were developed by the Health Education Specialist Practice Analysis III 2025 Steering Committee and a 14-member Practice Analysis Panel to survey practicing health education specialists on the knowledge and skills needed to perform duties in their ongoing roles. The instruments assessed the importance, frequency, and performance expectations of the elements of the model. Composite scores for Sub-Competencies were calculated, and subgroup comparisons were conducted to distinguish between levels of practice. A total of 2,337 health education specialists completed the surveys. The final validated hierarchical model included nine Areas of Responsibility, 35 Entry-level Competencies, 4 Advanced-level Competencies, 243 Sub-Competencies, nine Knowledge Topics, and 141 Knowledge Statements. Of the Sub-Competencies, 145 were classified as entry-level, and 98 were classified as advanced level. Health Education Specialist Practice Analysis III 2025 produced a validated hierarchical model descriptive of the current practice of health education specialists across work settings. The findings have professional preparation, professional development, and certification implications for the health education profession.

    Health Education & Behavior | 健康教育, 教育专家, 实践, 三, 知识

  • A Novel Perspective on Intercultural Communication Education: Insights From Ecological Psychology and Complex Systems Theory

    将生态心理学与复杂系统理论引入跨文化传播教育,重新定义课堂互动中的能力协调。

    Intercultural communication education (ICE) is often viewed as the transfer of stable knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Classroom interaction, as an important component of education, is, however, highly relational and deeply contextual. This paper proposes a novel perspective on ICE by integrating ecological psychology with complex systems theory: the former explains what intercultural communication learning consists of—attuned, skilled, and agentic coordination with affordances in situated practices—while the latter explains how such coordination evolves nonlinearly within nested, history-sensitive systems. This paper proposes that, instead of storing decontextualised content, learners need to coordinate with people, using tools, norms, and spaces; behaviour emerges nonlinearly from person-task-setting couplings across nested timescales. When institutional, pedagogical, personal, and physical sub-contexts are aligned around these principles, ICE can move beyond checklist competence to cultivate ethically responsive, adaptable, and inclusive intercultural agency. This paper concludes with a research agenda on operational taxonomies, transparent design reporting, and modelling of course-lesson-interaction couplings. In short, intercultural communication competence may not be something learners acquire, but rather something learners gradually develop. By carefully designing the ecology, learners start to enact intercultural knowledge and sensitivity.

    Culture & Psychology | 跨文化传播, 新颖视角, 传播教育, 生态心理学, 心理综合体

Technology & Digital

  • Finding Love in the Black Box: Algorithm Awareness on Dating Apps

    以荷兰约会应用用户为样本,揭示算法意识如何影响信任与匹配满意度,补充数字亲密关系研究。

    Most dating apps use algorithms to match users to one another, but are not fully transparent about how their recommender systems work. In turn, users have varying degrees of awareness of matching algorithms. Unfortunately, little is known about how awareness of algorithmic functioning relates to online dating. This research examined the relationship between algorithm awareness, trust in algorithms, and satisfaction with the quality of matches. A survey was conducted among 500 users of the Dutch dating app Breeze, presented to respondents within the app itself. Relationships were estimated with structural equation modeling. Higher algorithm awareness was associated with more trust in algorithms, which positively related to satisfaction with the quality of matches. This mediated association between awareness and satisfaction with matches suggested that awareness of matching algorithms is associated with better outcomes of dating app use. This research contributes to the limited literature on human–algorithm interaction on dating apps. Overall, the results suggest that algorithm awareness may be a relevant part of the online dating experience.

    Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking | 意识, 约会, 算法, 满意度, 优质匹配

  • Countering HPV Vaccine Misinformation: An Integrative Cognitive-Affective Framework for Theory-Driven Digital Health Education Interventions

    提出认知情感框架以应对HPV疫苗错误信息,强调恐惧与不信任在数字健康教育中的角色。

    The spread of online misinformation about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine undermines confidence in vaccination and contributes to persistent gaps in adolescent series initiation and completion. Existing digital health interventions often deliver more factual information, yet behavior change remains inconsistent, suggesting that effective education strategies must also address fear, distrust, reactance, and perceived social disapproval. This conceptual, theory-building paper develops an integrative cognitive-affective framework for designing digital tools, including conversational agents and tailored messaging platforms, that target cognitive and emotional determinants of HPV decisions. Using an integrative synthesis of established behavior change and health communication theories, the framework organizes constructs into a cognitive pathway (threat perception, efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and normative influence) and an affective and relational pathway (fear and concern, anger and reactance, empathy and altruistic motivation, trust, and perceived social presence), with emotional self-regulation capacity treated as a moderator. The framework proposes attitude and affective readiness as proximal mediators while allowing direct, reciprocal, and context-dependent relationships among constructs, intention, and behavior. The paper translates each construct into design principles for digital interventions and illustrates how they could be implemented and tested in conceptual chatbot-based encounters. This work contributes to health education scholarship by connecting established theory to contemporary digital health technologies for countering HPV vaccine misinformation. It offers guidance for building and evaluating emotionally intelligent, theory-informed interventions adaptable across clinical, school, and community settings.

    Health Education & Behavior | Humanistic (Person-Centered) | HPV疫苗, 综合认知-情感, 认知-情感框架, 数字健康, 行为改变

  • Social Representation and Emotions in the Context of Dance Observation

    通过数字舞蹈视频观察,探讨情绪如何与社会表现交织,拓展艺术与心理交叉研究方法。

    Emotions are recognized as key components of social representation. However, their roles and the ways in which emotions are entangled in social representation processes are still insufficiently understood. This study employs a visual arts-based approach to deepen our understanding of this entanglement. Specifically, this study explores how emotions are interwoven with social representations, as 31 participants observed and reflected on two digital dance videos centred around the theme of a desired future. To shed light on the role and complexity of emotions within social representations, this study combines inductive content analysis with theoretically informed interpretations of participants’ responses. These interpretations draw on social representation in action and the neuroscience related to dance observation. Theoretically, this study advances our understanding of how emotions are intertwined with social representation. Methodologically, visual arts-based elicitation methods are highlighted as potential tools for exploring the emotional dimensions of social representation. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the importance of the medium through which social representations are conveyed, arguing that the medium plays a crucial role in shaping both the process and the content of those representations.

    Culture & Psychology | 社会表现, 情感, 舞蹈观察, 视觉艺术为基础, 我们的理解

Explainer

  • Twenty-Four-Hour Movement Guidelines Adherence and Academic Performance From Childhood to Adolescence

    利用澳大利亚纵向数据,追踪24小时运动指南从童年到青春期的坚持与学业表现关联。

    The 24-hr movement behaviour (24-hr MB) guidelines recommend engaging in sufficient daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, obtaining adequate sleep, and limiting recreational screen time, behaviours that may influence learning and school performance; yet, evidence linking adherence with academic performance is largely cross-sectional. Using data from the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (Kindergarten cohort; eligible baseline sample n = 4,463; analytic baseline sample n = 3,973), the study examined whether meeting all three 24-hr MB guideline components concurrently (hereafter, “adherence”) from the ages of 6–7 to 12–13 years was associated with performance on the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) across Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. Adherence was derived from time-use diaries at Waves 2 to 5 and linked to NAPLAN scale scores (0–1,000 scale) in reading, writing, spelling, grammar/punctuation, and numeracy. Structural nested mean models estimated via g-estimation were used to address measured time-varying confounding and to estimate cumulative and lead–lag associations. Each additional wave of adherence was associated with higher Year 9 scores in numeracy and reading (numeracy: 6.04 points; Bonferroni-adjusted 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.57, 10.37]; reading: 4.93 points; Bonferroni-adjusted 95% CI [0.53, 9.23]). Adherence measured at the exposure wave aligned with the next NAPLAN test occasion was associated with higher scores at the subsequent NAPLAN test in reading (5.44 points; Bonferroni-adjusted 95% CI [0.85, 10.22]). Health education efforts in schools and communities that promote adequate sleep, limit recreational screen time, and support daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may help align child health promotion with literacy and numeracy goals.

    Health Education & Behavior | 粘附性, 性能, 基线样本, 算术能力, 运动