Built nature spaces have been increasingly integrated into our urban environments in recent years with the aim of reaping their psychological benefits. However, despite numerous works of research on the relationship between nature exposure and well-being, most studies have looked into the benefits of well-being from the lens of isolated elements of nature, such as natural scenery or animal exposure. This study aims to fill in the gaps by examining the additive and multiplicative relationships between natural scenery exposure and human–animal interaction on affective well-being (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, and stress) through a daily diary study. Over seven days, natural scenery exposure, human–animal interactions, and affective well-being of 514 young adults were assessed. Through multilevel modelling, we found that natural scenery exposure was associated with increased positive affect at the within- and between-person levels. Moreover, human–animal interaction was associated with increased positive affect at the within-person level. No evidence was found for human–animal interaction as a moderator of the relationship between natural scenery exposure and affective well-being. Our findings support the additive, but not multiplicative, relations between natural scenery exposure and human–animal interactions on their influence on affective well-being. The exploratory analysis showed the lack of multiplicative relationship which can be attributed to the distinct mechanism of the effect between natural scenery exposure and human–animal interactions on affective well-being.

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Untangling the Additive and Multiplicative Relations between Natural Scenery Exposure and Human–Animal Interaction on Affective Well-Being: Evidence from Daily Diary Studies

With modern societies becoming ever-increasingly interconnected due to technology and media, we have gained unprecedented access and exposure to other people's lives. This has resulted in a greater desire to constantly be socially connected with the activities of others, or the fear of missing out (FoMO). While much of the present available research has established the association between FoMO and diminished emotional well-being, little has been done to identify protective factors that can help one cope with the negative psychological consequences of FoMO. Utilizing data from a 7-day diary study of a large sample of young adults (N = 261), the current study aimed to examine the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal in attenuating diminished emotional well-being associated with FoMO. Multilevel modeling showed that cognitive reappraisal attenuated the day-to-day within-person associations between daily FoMO and indicators of daily emotional well-being such as negative affectivity, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.

A Daily Diary Investigation of the Fear of Missing Out and Diminishing Daily Emotional Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Reappraisal.

While borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptomatology has been studied extensively in clinical populations, the mechanisms underlying its manifestation in nonclinical populations remain largely understudied. One aspect of BPD symptomatology in nonclinical populations that has not been well studied is cognitive mechanisms, especially in relation to executive functions. To explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying BPD symptomatology in nonclinical populations, we analysed a large-scale dataset of 233 young adults that were administered with nine executive function tasks and BPD symptomatology assessments. Our structural equation modelling did not find any significant relations between latent factors of executive functions and the severity of BPD symptomatology. Contrary to our hypothesis, our result suggests that deficits in executive functions were not a risk factor for BPD symptomatology in the nonclinical young adult sample.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/2/206/pdf?version=1675068947

Executive Function Deficits and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptomatology in a Nonclinical Adult Sample: A Latent Variable Analysis

Problematic smartphone usage, objective smartphone engagement, and executive functions: A latent variable analysis

Discrimination and cognitive failures in Singapore and the US: An investigation of between- and within-persons associations through multilevel modelling

While smartphones have brought many benefits and conveniences to users, there is continuing debate regarding their potential negative consequences on everyday cognition such as daily cognitive failures. A few cross-sectional studies have found positive associations between smartphone use and cognitive failures. However, several research gaps remain, such as the use of cross-sectional designs, confounds related to stable individual differences, the lack of validity in self-report measures of smartphone use, memory biases in retrospective self-reports, and the lack of differentiation between smartphone checking and smartphone screen time. To simultaneously address the aforementioned shortcomings, the current study examined the within-person associations between various objective indicators of smartphone use and daily cognitive failures using a 7-day daily diary study. Multilevel modelling revealed that smartphone checking, but not total smartphone screen time, predicted a greater occurrence of daily cognitive failures at the within-person level. Surprisingly, we also found negative within-person associations between smartphone screen time for social- and tools-related applications and daily cognitive failures, suggesting that some types of smartphone use may temporarily benefit one's cognitive functioning. This finding demonstrates the importance of studying the specific functions of smartphone use and their differential cognitive consequences, as well as highlights the complex relations between smartphone use and cognition.

Kristine Y X Lee

Papers

Smartphone use and daily cognitive failures: A critical examination using a daily diary approach with objective smartphone measures.