Managers confronting important strategic decisions often receive diagnostic information sequentially over time. As new information becomes available, they may need to update their understanding of the situation and possibly revise their preferences. During a decision, as a preference develops for one alternative course of action, a nonconscious goal of maintaining consistency between that preference, however tentative, and the new information can lead to an interpretation of that information so as to support the current preference. This tendency to bias or distort information to support the currently preferred option can in turn lead to even greater confidence in that leading option, despite the increase in confidence being unwarranted by the information itself. The result of such a biased decision process can be overconfidence in the chosen course of action. To show this, in the current work, experienced managers engaged in a realistic business decision task with their levels of information distortion and confidence tracked throughout the decision. Over the course of the decision, confidence in the leading action increased as a function of distortion. The results confirmed that distortion-driven confidence can develop even when decision makers have no prior preference for one of the outcomes.

Suicide is a significant global public health concern, particularly among adolescents, with substantial implications for economies, societies and individuals’ mental well-being. Understanding its patterns and intention and psychosocial determinants in a given context can suggest potential intervention points. This population-based cross-sectional study aimed to document suicidal ideas, behaviors and intensity among youths aged 14 to 25 in the Nairobi metropolitan area and associated socio-economic position, demographic indicators and potential intervention points. A diverse sample of 1,972 participants was recruited from urban and peri-urban settings within the Nairobi metropolitan area. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and logistic regression. Our findings confirm a high prevalence of suicidal ideas and behavior in the youth (19.9% and 3.6%, respectively), with very few significant differences between the urban and peri-urban areas. The severity of suicidal ideation and behavior reported methods and reasons, and the socio-demographic profile of participants, point to multiple potential intervention targets. These findings ought to be used to design, manage and evaluate suicide prevention programs.

Friends and popular peers are important sources of influence across the transition into adolescence. The present study examines the assertion that the magnitude of influence from friends and popularity-based norms varies across behavioral domains. Participants were 543 (268 girls, 275 boys) students from 29 5th–8th grade (ages 10 to 14) classrooms in three Lithuanian public middle schools. Most were ethnic Lithuanians. Self-reports of socioemotional adjustment, including emotional problems, lack of emotional clarity, problem behaviors, social media use, and weight concerns, were collected in the fall and winter of a single academic year, approximately three months apart. Popularity and academic achievement were assessed through peer nominations. Top-ranked best friends were identified from outgoing nominations. Status-based norms, calculated separately for each socioemotional adjustment variable in the fall (Time 1), represented popularity-weighted classroom averages. Results from longitudinal Group Actor-Partner Interdependence Model analyses indicated that best friends and status-based norms exerted differing amounts of influence over different behaviors. When both were included in the same model (with shared effects removed), best friends influenced emotional problems, lack of emotional clarity, and problem behaviors. Among older adolescents, best friends also influenced academic achievement. Status-based norms influenced social media use and, among older adolescents, weight concerns.

Harmful and hazardous alcohol use poses significant health risks globally. Brief interventions (BIs) have shown promise in reducing hazardous alcohol use, but fidelity to the protocol needs to be ensured, especially in low- and middle-income countries like Tanzania. Our study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Tanzanian-Swahili version of the BI adherence scale (BAS) adapted to Tanzanian culture. A psychometric evaluation of the BAS was conducted as part of the “Punguza Pombe Kwa Afya Yako” intervention. Translation and adaptation of the BAS were supervised by a committee of experts at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi. Data analyses included exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis to assess construct validity. Reliability was evaluated using internal consistency measures. Translation and adaptation of the BAS yielded a final Tanzanian-Swahili version, featuring modifications to align with the Tanzanian context. The internal structure evaluation favored a three-factor solution, as the model demonstrated slightly superior internal consistency and fit. This study developed the first validated Swahili version of BAS in Tanzania. It is evaluated to be a reliable instrument to assess healthcare providers’ adherence to BI. The use of BI and BAS should be included in the standard clinical practices.

Socioeconomic disadvantage has been established as a key risk factor for adverse child behavioral outcomes. Understanding how individual components of socioeconomic status (SES) interact with each other can elucidate protective factors and inform interventions and policies to promote positive developmental outcomes. This study examined the interactive effects of prenatal household income and neighborhood deprivation on child externalizing and internalizing problems (N = 793; Mage = 8.37 years; 51.2% females; 81.5% White). Results revealed an interaction effect between prenatal household income levels and neighborhood deprivation on child externalizing problems. Higher neighborhood deprivation was associated with higher child externalizing outcomes only at lower household income levels per person. Although no interaction between household income and neighborhood deprivation on child internalizing problems was observed, lower household income levels were independently associated with higher child internalizing problems. These findings underscore how prenatal individual- and neighborhood-level SES factors interact to shape children’s behavioral outcomes across childhood.

We tested whether people engage in proportional thinking when comparing the value of the lives of people in different countries, specifically, whether people consider a certain number of lost lives in a smaller country to be equivalent to the loss of a larger number of lives in a country with a larger population. We found evidence for this form of proportional thinking in Study 1, and in Studies 2–3 we further observed that it is modulated by motivated reasoning: In Study 2, there was more proportional thinking when it benefited the ingroup (1 ingroup life equals 4 outgroup lives) than when it benefited the outgroup (1 outgroup life equals 4 ingroup lives). In Study 3, there was more proportional thinking when it benefited the victim in a war (1 victim life equals 4 aggressor lives) than when both countries were victims. Study 3 also showed that this form of proportional thinking is more prevalent when thinking about collectives (1,000 lives in the smaller country are equivalent to 4,000 lives in the larger country) versus individuals (1 life in the smaller country is equivalent to 4 lives in the larger country).

This study investigated how mental imagery is engaged during first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers’ incremental sentence processing of English phrasal verbs, using a self-paced sensibility judgment task interleaved with schematic diagrams. L1 speakers showed selective compatibility effects modulated by abstractness, semantic transparency of phrasal verbs, event plausibility and the timing of visual input. In contrast, L2 learners relied more generally on visual support, reflecting weaker integration of semantic and perceptual cues. Learner-internal factors such as L2 proficiency and language dominance modulated learners’ sensitivity to integrate and resolve competing cues between semantic coherence and perceptual input. These findings support a simulation-based model of L2 comprehension, highlighting the developmental nature of sensorimotor activation in bilingual processing.

Hearing distressing voices is a strong signal of potential mental health concerns and can lead to negative outcomes. Evidence-based practices to address distressing voice-hearing developed in western clinical settings may not be appropriate in sub-Saharan Africa. This study recruited patients who reported hearing voices at an outpatient clinic in semi-urban Arusha, Tanzania. Forty-three participants consented to the study and reported hearing auditory verbal hallucinations, including 88% (n = 38) reporting distressing hearing voices. The sample was split by gender, representative of a range of ages and included a primarily Maasai-related, Christian and unmarried sample with limited education. Ninety-one percent (n = 39) met criteria for moderate to severe psychopathology (Kessler-10-Swahili). Qualitative interviews (n = 43) revealed how this sample thought about mental health, how they experienced and explained their voices, and their pathways to care for help with mental health concerns that arose from their experiences. People who heard distressing voices typically approached religious healers first, but had a strong preference for biomedical care, attributed both biomedical and social causes to their symptoms, believed that voice-dialoguing practices endorsed in the west could signal participation in witchcraft, and had few resources to engage in multi-session, professional-led or high-tech interventions currently being used in Euroamerican contexts. In this region, patients with psychosis symptoms relied on and trusted family, religious leaders and biomedical treatment providers for support with their mental health needs. Networking the three together for persons experiencing psychotic symptoms could create a sustainable resource for long-term follow-up and mutual support.

Forced displacement heightens mental health risks for children, including psychological, environmental and economic stressors, yet few interventions address whole-family needs within humanitarian contexts. Family-systemic approaches show promise, but evidence on interventions addressing social determinants of mental health remains limited. We will conduct a single-masked, two-arm randomised controlled trial with 550 families in East Amman, Jordan, to evaluate StrongerTogether, a modular whole-family intervention with a financial literacy component. Families experiencing multiple psychosocial challenges will be randomised 1:1 to receive the intervention or enhanced treatment as usual. The trial employs sequential dual outcomes testing, evaluating effectiveness through: (1) upstream improvements in at least one of three primary outcomes (family functioning, parenting practices and caregiver mental health) and (2) direct improvements in adolescent mental health among those with elevated baseline distress. We will also evaluate two implementation tools: ReachNow for family case detection and FamilyACT for facilitator competency assessment. A mixed-methods process evaluation will examine implementation, effectiveness and potential sustainability of core and optional modules. This will be the first rigorous evaluation of an integrated whole-family intervention addressing social and environmental determinants of mental health in humanitarian settings. Findings will inform evidence-based approaches to family mental health support and contribute validated tools for implementation at scale.

This study examines when and how second language (L2) learners begin to exhibit sensitivity to key factors influencing the choice between the English double object and prepositional object constructions. While previous research has shown that such choices in native speakers are influenced by such factors as animacy, pronominality and verb bias, little is known about the developmental timing of these effects in L2 production. Using 5,785 dative constructions from a large-scale learner corpus, we analyzed how these variables interact with learners’ proficiency levels across 23 verbs. We found that learners showed systematic sensitivity to all of these factors, including statistical verb bias derived from a native speaker corpus (Corpus of Contemporary American English), at much earlier stages than previously suggested. These results suggest that learners may possess a cognitive bias that maps preexisting conceptual structures onto linguistic constructions, reflecting more than mere statistical learning.

The present three-wave longitudinal study tested two transdiagnostic mediators – anger and racism-related vigilance – of the link between racism and internalizing and externalizing problems. At Wave 1, the sample included 344 Mexican-origin adolescents (Mage = 13.5 years; 51.7% male, 45.9% female; 2.3% non-binary) residing in the Midwestern United States. Data across the three waves were collected from April 2021 through October 2024. The study examined how both direct and vicarious racism were related to internalizing and externalizing problems over time. Results from latent growth curve mediation analyses indicated that outward anger expression was a significant mediator; both direct and vicarious racism at Wave 1 were significantly associated with higher levels of anger at Wave 2, which in turn, were associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 3. Racism-related vigilance was a significant mediator of the association between vicarious racism and internalizing problems only, according to results from post hoc sensitivity analyses. Implications for future theory, research, and clinical practice are discussed to help mitigate the effects of racism in new migration contexts for this vulnerable population.