The Mediation of Family Context and Youth Depressive Symptoms by Adolescent Emotion Regulation

During adolescence, young people develop crucial capacity for emotion regulation, and family context can be a risk or protective factor for adolescents developing affective disorders. We leveraged data from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey ( N = 7664) to propose adolescent emotion regulation as a mediator between family conflict, family protection, and adolescent depressive symptoms in the social development model. Latent moderated structural equation modeling revealed that adolescent regulation of negative emotions mediated the relationship between family conflict and depressive symptoms—adolescents with higher family conflict had more emotion regulation difficulties and more depressive symptoms. Adolescent age was a moderator such that associations between family protective factors and reduced depression, and between family conflict and emotion regulation difficulties were weaker in high school compared to middle school. Findings highlight the importance of youth emotion regulation processes and family emotional context in reducing adolescent depressive symptoms.

Deviant Peer Affiliation and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Chinese Adolescents: Depression as a Mediator and Sensation Seeking as a Moderator

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is an emerging health problem among adolescents. Although previous studies have shown that deviant peer affiliation is an important risk factor for this behavior, the reasons for this relationship are unclear. Based on the integrated theoretical model of the development and maintenance of NSSI and the social development model of delinquency prevention, this study tested whether depression mediated the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and NSSI and whether this mediating effect was moderated by sensation seeking. A sample of 854 Chinese adolescents (31.50% male; Mage = 16.35; SD = 1.15) anonymously completed questionnaires on the study variables. Results of regression-based analyses showed that depression mediated the association between deviant peer affiliation and NSSI, and this effect was stronger among adolescents who reported high sensation seeking. The results demonstrate the role of individual differences in the link between affiliation with deviant peers and NSSI, and have implications for preventing and treating this risky behavior.

Resilience in the Face of Risk : Investigating the Moderating Effects of School Connectedness, Educational Commitment, and Educational Belief in the Context of Adolescent Antisocial Behaviour

According to the Social Development Model (SDM), social bonds such as one’s sense of connection to school can significantly impact antisocial behaviour. The current study provides a cross-sectional analysis of school bonding in relation to antisocial behaviour and peer-related risk in a sample of 111 adolescents. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to evaluate the dimensions of school bonding (educational commitment, educational belief, school connectedness) as both predictors and inhibitors of antisocial behaviour. Contrary to the SDM, educational commitment was the only significant predictor of antisocial behaviour. Furthermore, preliminary analyses did not support school bonding variables as moderators of peer-related risk. However, subsequent analyses examining moderation by gender revealed that school connectedness is a moderator of deviant peer affiliation for female youth. The results of this study extend previous findings by demonstrating the continued relevance of school-based resilience in high school and by illustrating the specificity of this resilience by gender.

Resilience in the Face of Risk : Investigating the Moderating Effects of School Connectedness, Educational Commitment, and Educational Belief in the Context of Adolescent Antisocial Behaviour

According to the Social Development Model (SDM), social bonds such as one’s sense of connection to school can significantly impact antisocial behaviour. The current study provides a cross-sectional analysis of school bonding in relation to antisocial behaviour and peer-related risk in a sample of 111 adolescents. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to evaluate the dimensions of school bonding (educational commitment, educational belief, school connectedness) as both predictors and inhibitors of antisocial behaviour. Contrary to the SDM, educational commitment was the only significant predictor of antisocial behaviour. Furthermore, preliminary analyses did not support school bonding variables as moderators of peer-related risk. However, subsequent analyses examining moderation by gender revealed that school connectedness is a moderator of deviant peer affiliation for female youth. The results of this study extend previous findings by demonstrating the continued relevance of school-based resilience in high school and by illustrating the specificity of this resilience by gender.

Finland's Innovation Policy: Sociohumanitarian Aspects

Modern society faces large-scale challenges associated with the digitalization of economic and social processes, especially at its new stage – the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The point is that the use of AI entails great ethical risks, since creates an opportunity for non-observance of human rights to privacy. In Finland, a country that has been pursuing an innovation policy closely linked to socio-economic policies that responds to social challenges for several decades, this problem is widely discussed and strives to minimize and even eliminate the above risks in decisions on research and development (R&D) policy. Therefore, R&D in the field of AI technologies is carried out in Finland at the intersection of computer, mathematical and humanitarian sciences, since one of the most important issues of its application is the question of how moral and ethical its results will be. In this regard, the analysis and understanding of Finland’s experience in this area is important and necessary. Finland has traditionally in recent decades prioritized the humanitarian component in the formation of innovation policy. The technological component was viewed through the prism of social problems that should be resolved in the course of economic development, the main driver of which is innovation processes. This approach is determined by the country’s social development model. The openness of public administration, the high role of the country’s citizens in making the most important strategic decisions, the social responsibility of business, taking into account the opinion of the expert community leads to a balanced promotion of technologies in the economy. Of course, opportunities for innovative development “with a human face” from time to time run into economic constraints – which was clearly manifested, for example, during a pandemic. Nevertheless, when it comes to digitalization and the use of AI, the Finnish state and society continue to strive to ensure the presumption of morality and ethics in the implementation of these technologies. The country is conducting humanitarian and sociological research in this area, as well as developing mechanisms for managing the ethics and morality of AI. The country strives to become a leader not only in AI technologies, but also in developing the principles of preserving the humanitarian and moral values that Finland shares with Europe.

China’s poverty alleviation strategy and its global significance

At the historic moment of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, China’s domestic poverty alleviation strategy has achieved a comprehensive victory, China’s overall regional poverty has been fundamentally resolved, and the arduous task of eradicating absolute poverty has been completed. China’s poverty alleviation strategy highlights China’s will and determination to build a harmonious and balanced social development model, and provides practical experience for China to further implement the “Belt and Road” initiative on the international stage and strengthen economic cooperation with developing countries within the framework of the United Nations. The success of China’s poverty alleviation strategy has provided Southeast Asian countries with international experience that can be used for reference in further poverty eradication, and has far-reaching world significance

The Art of Living as a Community: Profiguration, Sustainability, and Social Development in Rapa Nui

This article analyzes the challenges faced by the inhabitants of the island of Rapa Nui in connection with climate change-related environmental and socio-economic problems, and the survival of the islanders’ cultural identity and their very sustainability. A qualitative research methodology was adopted, using observation and in-depth interviews within a life course approach. An innovative and creative methodology was employed, cross-referencing and comparing data from 2011 and 2020. This methodology has led to the further strengthening of a new concept in sociology and the social sciences in general: profiguration (intergenerational and interdependent socialization). Based on the results of this study, some analytically robust descriptions were made of the socio-cultural and environmental situation in Rapa Nui, and of an increasingly sustainable social development model. It is a model of social development that is on the way to being sustainable, intercultural, intergenerational, and promoted by the community.