Trust Beliefs in Significant Others, Interpersonal Stress, and Internalizing Psychopathology of Adolescents with Psychiatric Disorders

This study examined relations between trust beliefs in significant others (TBSO), interpersonal stress, and internalizing psychopathology for adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Two hundred and thirty-four adolescents from an acute inpatient unit (154 females, Mage = 14.72 years, SD = 1.39 years) completed standardized scales/interviews that assessed TBSO (mother, father, teacher, peers and TBSO as a total score), interpersonal stress, and internalizing psychopathology. It was found that adolescents’ TBSO and trust beliefs in each significant other were negatively associated with interpersonal stress and internalizing psychopathology. The findings confirmed that the relation between the adolescents’ interpersonal stress and internalizing psychopathology was moderated by TBSO, trust beliefs in mother, and trust beliefs in peers. The findings supported the conclusion that holding elevated TBSO (particularly trust beliefs in mother and peers) by adolescents with psychiatric disorders promotes their psychosocial adjustment including their resilience to the effects of interpersonal stress on internalizing psychopathology.

‘Can I trust you?’ A study of the psychological factors influencing school children’s decision to trust and peer’s perception of their trustworthiness

**Author NotesThis manuscript has been submitted for publication and is likely to be edited as part of the peer-review process. Correspondence regarding this paper should be addressed to Keri Ka-Yee Wong, [email protected].**How children’s trust beliefs in others and how peers determine children’s levels of trustworthiness is the bedrock of all relationships. Yet very little prior research exists on understanding the nature of this relationship and even fewer studies compare across cultures to understand the specificity of potential interventions. This study addressed these gaps by conducting a set of serial mediation models to test the hypothesized causal flow from social mistrust and its subscales (home, school, general mistrust) to anxiety to aggression and to peer-rated untrustworthiness in 2,464 school children aged 8-14 years from the UK (N = 994; M = 11.38 years, female = 45.6%) and Hong Kong (N = 1,470, M = 11.46 years, female = 47.1%). Increased levels of self-reported social mistrust (and its associated subscales) were found to be independently associated with increased untrustworthiness in both countries. Children with high levels of social mistrust, particularly school mistrust, were more likely to have high levels of anxiety and aggressive behaviors concurrently, which in turn was associated with higher levels of peer-rated untrustworthiness. This explanatory model suggests that future longitudinal intervention studies that aim to reduce aggressive responses from suspicious children may improve peer’s perception of untrustworthiness and childhood relationships with others.

Future Intention to disclose personal information via mobile apps

This study analyses the future intention to disclose personal information in order to use mobile applications (apps) and the framing effect in relation to privacy concerns. To test the effects, an experiment was conducted involving 405 participants, using a single-factor design with independent groups and covariates. The results indicate concern about privacy is negatively related to the future intention, confirming the effects of framing on future intention, with the effect being negative in relation to the negative framing of trust beliefs and positive in relation to the positive framing of risk beliefs, while the moderating effect was not confirmed. Thus, this paper contributes to two specific areas: 1) privacy, because it confirms the relationship between information privacy concerns and future intention (new proposed scale); and 2) decision-making, as it demonstrates the effects of framing on risk and trust beliefs in future intentions, which, as far as is known, has not previously been shown.

The effects of media narratives about failures and discoveries in science on beliefs about and support for science

This study examines the effects of exposure to media narratives about science on perceptions pertaining to the reliability of science, including trust, beliefs, and support for science. In an experiment ( n = 4497), participants were randomly assigned to read stories representing ecologically valid media narratives: the honorable quest, counterfeit quest, crisis or broken, and problem explored. Exposure to stories highlighting problems reduced trust in scientists and induced negative beliefs about scientists, with more extensive effects among those exposed to the “crisis/broken” accounts and fewer for those exposed to “counterfeit” and “problem explored” stories. In the “crisis/broken” and “problem explored” conditions, we identified a three-way interaction in which those with higher trust who considered the problem-focused stories to be representative of science were more likely to believe science is self-correcting and those with lower trust who perceived the stories to be representative were less likely to report that belief. Support for funding science was not affected by the stories. This study demonstrates the detrimental consequences of media failure to accurately communicate the scientific process, and provides evidence for ways for scientists and journalists to improve science communication, while acknowledging the need for changes in structural incentives to obtain such a goal.

The relation between older adults’ trust beliefs in nursing home carers and adjustment to residential care

The study examined the relation between older adults’ trust beliefs in nursing home carers (NHCs) and adjustment to residential care. Seventy-six older adults (mean age = 83 years, standard deviation = 7 years from UK nursing homes completed standardised scales of trust beliefs in NHCs and adjustment to residential care (satisfaction with care-giving, social engagement in the nursing home, loneliness and a latent measure). As expected, trust beliefs in NHCs were linearly associated with adjustment to residential care on all measures. There were quadratic relations between trust beliefs in NHCs and on given measures of adjustment to residential care (latent measure, satisfaction with care-giving and loneliness). Adults with very high and those with very low trust beliefs in NHCs showed depressed levels on those measures of adjustment to residential care relative to older adults with the middle range of trust beliefs. The research highlights the importance of older adults’ trust beliefs in NHCs for adjustment to nursing homes. The findings show though, that older adults who hold very high, as well those who hold very low, trust beliefs in NHCs are at risk for lower levels of adjustment.