Where in the brain are the self and significant others (e.g. mother) represented? Neuroscientists have traced self-representation to the ventral medial prefrontal cortex for both Westerners and East Asians. However, significant others were represented alongside the self in the same brain area for East Asians but not for Westerners. In this experiment, Westernized bicultural Chinese were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing trait judgments that referenced the self, mother, or a non-identified person (NIP) after Western or Chinese culture priming. Consistent with Western independent self-construals and Chinese interdependent self-construals, Western priming increased, whereas Chinese priming decreased the neural differentiation of mother and NIP from self.

These findings suggest that positive psychological resources including optimism and generalized positive affect had higher impact on cortisol secretion than their negative counterparts, and point to the need for increased attention to the potential contribution of positive mental states to well-being.

This study investigated the impact of personal resilience (a composite measure of optimism, perceived control and self-esteem) on outcome measures in 67 Chinese coronary heart disease patients in response to an 8-week rehabilitation programme. The effect of personal resilience on posttraumatic growth attributed to the onset of heart disease was also examined. Results indicated that coronary heart disease patients high in personal resilience achieved better outcomes than those low in personal resilience, as indicated by higher physical and mental summary measures in SF-36, lower cholesterol levels and better performance on the 6 min walk test. Moreover, personal resilience was demonstrated to be a significant predictor of the level of posttraumatic growth although the rehabilitation programme exerted a weak mediating effect on the link between personal resilience and posttraumatic growth. Findings were discussed in relation to clinical implications of the construct of personal resilience and the intervention programme.

This study examined the utility of an adapted version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) to measure Chinese undergraduates' ability to bounce back from stress. The BRS together with measures tapping optimism, self-esteem, pessimism, and physical health were administered to 547 Hong Kong and 268 mainland Chinese undergraduates. The BRS was found to measure one single construct and exhibited convergent validity in both samples. Further analyses using a path analytic model showed that the BRS scores substantially mediated the link between the two positive traits (optimism and self-esteem) and physical health in the two samples. The results suggested that the BRS is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring Chinese undergraduates' ability to bounce back from stress. The implications for further research related to resilience in Chinese people are discussed.

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BackgroundCaregivers of relatives with Alzheimer’s disease are highly stressed and at risk for physical and psychiatric conditions. Interventions are usually focused on providing caregivers with knowledge of dementia, skills, and/or support, to help them cope with the stress. This model, though true to a certain extent, ignores how caregiver stress is construed in the first place. Besides burden, caregivers also report rewards, uplifts, and gains, such as a sense of purpose and personal growth. Finding benefits through positive reappraisal may offset the effect of caregiving on caregiver outcomes.DesignTwo randomized controlled trials are planned. They are essentially the same except that Trial 1 is a cluster trial (that is, randomization based on groups of participants) whereas in Trial 2, randomization is based on individuals. Participants are randomized into three groups - benefit finding, psychoeducation, and simplified psychoeducation. Participants in each group receive a total of approximately 12 hours of training either in group or individually at home. Booster sessions are provided at around 14 months after the initial treatment. The primary outcomes are caregiver stress (subjective burden, role overload, and cortisol), perceived benefits, subjective health, psychological well-being, and depression. The secondary outcomes are caregiver coping, and behavioral problems and functional impairment of the care-recipient. Outcome measures are obtained at baseline, post-treatment (2 months), and 6, 12, 18 and 30 months.DiscussionThe emphasis on benefits, rather than losses and difficulties, provides a new dimension to the way interventions for caregivers can be conceptualized and delivered. By focusing on the positive, caregivers may be empowered to sustain caregiving efforts in the long term despite the day-to-day challenges. The two parallel trials will provide an assessment of whether the effectiveness of the intervention depends on the mode of delivery.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org/en/) identifier number ChiCTR-TRC-10000881.

Psychobiological research on aging in humans has been confounded by individual differences that have not been adequately characterized in the literature. This paper is an attempt to shed light on this issue by examining the impact of social network characteristics predictive of successful aging on salivary cortisol among 78 older Chinese people in Hong Kong. Eight salivary cortisol samples were collected each day for two consecutive days from immediately after awakening to 12 hours later. Two components of the cortisol diurnal cycle, response to awakening and diurnal decline, were examined in relation to social network characteristics including size, emotional support, and cultivation. ANOVAs with repeated measured were run to examine influences of the three social network characteristics on the cortisol awakening response and diurnal decline, with the effects of gender, age, socioeconomic status, and waking time controlled. Results indicated that those who spent more time and effort in developing and strengthening their social ties (i.e., those high in “cultivation”) exhibited a significantly greater rise in cortisol in the morning and a significantly steeper decline over the day, thus attesting to more effective activation and deactivation of the HPA axis. Network cultivation reflected a positive motivation to nurture social relationships more than the other two network characteristics. Its effect on cortisol might stem from the positivity underlying the motivation.

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