During conversation, people often endeavor to convey information in an understandable way (finding common ground) while also sharing novel or surprising information (exploring new ground). Here, we test how friends and strangers balance these two strategies to connect with each other. Using fMRI hyperscanning, we measure a preference for common ground as convergence over time and exploring new ground as divergence over time by tracking dyads\' neural and linguistic trajectories over the course of semi-structured intimacy-building conversations. In our study, 60 dyads (30 friend dyads) engaged in a real-time conversation with discrete prompts and demarcated turns. Our analyses reveal that friends diverge neurally and linguistically: their neural patterns become more dissimilar over time and they explore more diverse topics. In contrast, strangers converge: neural patterns and language become more similar over time. The more a conversation between strangers resembles the exploratory conversations of friends, the more they enjoy it. Our results highlight exploring new ground as a strategy for a successful conversation.

Researchers have focused on identifying factors that may mitigate the negative consequences associated with cyberbullying victimization. A significant factor that has received considerable attention is perceived social support from parents and friends and its potential to reduce the risk of cyberbullying victimization and the associated negative mental health issues. However, the buffering effects of perceived social support from parents and friends on the longitudinal relationships among cyberbullying victimization, depression, subjective health complaints, and self-harm have been less explored, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. To address this gap, the present study examined the role of perceived social support from parents and friends in buffering against depression, subjective health complaints, and self-harm, measured one year later, associated with cyberbullying victimization among 463 Chinese (49% female) and 445 American (52% female) eighth graders (ages 13-15). They completed self-report questionnaires on cyberbullying victimization, perceived social support from parents and friends, and mental health (i.e., depression, subjective health complaints, self-harm). One year later, they completed the same mental health questionnaires. The findings revealed no differences in reports of perceived support from parents, but greater reports of social support from friends for American adolescents when compared to Chinese adolescents. High levels of perceived social support from parents were associated with a stronger negative relationship between cyberbullying victimization, depression, subjective health complaints, and self-harm for both Chinese and American adolescents, with these effects being more pronounced for Chinese adolescents, while opposite patterns were found for American adolescents and perceived social support from friends. These results are discussed in the context of cultural values and how these values shape the role of adults in adolescents\' lives.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is thought to be associated with altered responses to social stimuli and interpersonal signals. However, limited evidence exists that CM is linked to larger comfortable interpersonal distance (CID) - the physical distance humans prefer towards others during social interactions. However, no previous study has investigated this association in a comprehensive sample, yielding sufficient statistical power. Moreover, preliminary findings are limited to the European region. Finally, it is unclear how CM affects CID towards different interaction partners, and whether CID is linked to social functioning and attachment. To address these outstanding issues, adults (N = 2986) from diverse cultures and socio-economic strata completed a reaction time task measuring CID towards an approaching stranger and friend. Higher CM was linked to a larger CID towards both friends and strangers. Moreover, insecure attachment and less social support were associated with larger CID. These findings demonstrate for the first time that CM affects CID across countries and cultures, highlighting the robustness of this association.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with three aims: (1) to determine the degree of compliance with physical activity recommendations among adolescents according to sex and place of residence, (2) to determine the perceived support of family and friends for physical activity among adolescents according to sex and place of residence, and (3) to analyse the influence of family and friends support on compliance with physical activity recommendations among adolescents according to sex and place of residence. A total of 694 adolescents from an inland area of Spain (14.06 ± 1.27 years) participated. Four one-day physical activity questionnaires were administered to assess physical activity and the Parental Support Scale and Peer Support to measure perceived support from family and friends regarding physical activity. Chi-square, Crammer\'s V and Student\'s tests were calculated to identify differences between variables according to sex and municipality of residence. Moreover, the initial binary logistic regression model was constructed to predict the physical activity compliance. Differences in adherence to physical activity recommendations were found according to the sex of the students (rural area: x2 = 4.192, p < 0.05; V = 0.106, p < 0.05; urban area: x2 = 8.999, p < 0.05; V = 0.167, p < 0.01). There were also sex differences in rural areas on items related to families providing transport (t = 3.878, p ≤ 0.001; d = 0.40) and doing physical activity together (t = 4.974, p ≤ 0.001; d = 0.50). It is concluded that most adolescents do not comply with physical activity recommendations. In addition, 30.4% of urban girls\' compliance was predicted by the perception that their family members saw them doing physical activity and doing it with friends.

The present study examines the mediating effect of psychological factors in the structural relationships between social and physical environmental factors and the amount of physical activity among undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia. The sample consisted of 422 students with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 1.27). The majority of the students were female (69.7%) and Malay (81.3%). Standardized scales were used to measure the total amount of physical activity and all the study variables. The final SEM had a good fit to the data: CFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.948, SRMR = 0.036, RMSEA (90%CI) = 0.046 (0.025, 0.065), RMSEA p-value = 0.609 with 11 paths relationships. Family support had a significant effect on perceived benefits and perceived barriers. The effect of friend support on physical activity was significantly mediated by perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and psychological needs satisfaction. The effect of the availability of exercise facilities on physical activity was significantly mediated by perceived benefits and psychological needs satisfaction. Furthermore, psychological needs satisfaction mediated the effect of perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy on physical activity. The study findings illustrated that the application of the social-ecological model and psychological factors is important in order to understand and promote positive physical activity behaviour.

UNASSIGNED: The current study aimed to develop and validate of companions\' satisfaction questionnaire of patients hospitalized in ICUs.
UNASSIGNED: This is a methodological study that was performed in three phases: In the first phase, the concept of companion\'s satisfaction of patients hospitalized in ICUs was defined through qualitative content analysis method. In the second phase, early items of questionnaire were generated based on findings of the first phase. In the third and final phase, validation of the questionnaire was evaluated using face, content and construct validity as well as reliability.
UNASSIGNED: In exploratory factor analysis, three subscales including: satisfaction with nursing staff communication (5 items), satisfaction with nursing care (12 items), and satisfaction with decision making (5 items) were extracted by Eigen value above one and factor load above 0.5. Internal consistency and stability of the developed questionnaire confirmed with 0.94 and 0.95 respectively that indicated acceptable reliability.
UNASSIGNED: The 22-item developed questionnaire is valid and reliable for measurement of levels of companion\'s satisfaction of Iranian patients hospitalized in ICUs.

Friendship is critical for individuals\' well-being, but recent efforts to characterize Americans\' friendship have suggested that these relationships are in peril. The present study is a report on the methods and results of three surveys from the American Friendship Project (AFP). The goal of the AFP is to be the most accurate and most complete account of American friendship as well as its health and change over time. The AFP reports on five critical facets of social health as it relates to friendship: 1) the structural factors of friendship (e.g., who are they, how many); 2) friendship quality (e.g., satisfaction, closeness); 3) social support from friends; 4) the quantity of online and offline communication; and 5) well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, loneliness, connection). Data was collected from two national samples of American adults in 2022 and 2023 and from a large sample of college students across three universities in 2022. The key finding from this investigation is, compared to the discouraging results of other recent surveys, Americans reported having more friends and fewer were friendless. AFP results also suggest that face-to-face (FtF) meetings among friends are quite common, as are telephone calls and text messaging. College student and adult samples reported very similar attitudes and experiences with friendship overall, but students were more likely to meet friends at school and to keep them for a shorter length of time. Another key finding is Americans long for greater closeness with friends; though over 75% were satisfied with the number of friends they had, over 40% felt they were not as close to their friends as they would like. Overall, the AFP is a rich source of data that can be used to answer a multitude of questions about friendship and its connection to well-being.

Social networking and messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, have become an essential social environment for adolescents and young adults (AYA). While facilitating connectivity, they also bear hazards, including cyber-aggression. This study investigates the impact of (aggressive) group norms on AYA\'s propensity to expect cyberaggressive behaviors within different group chats. Based on a vignette scenario, realistically simulated WhatsApp group chats enabled scrutinizing, if and how exemplary reactions (funny, aggressive, friendly) of group members influence AYA\'s conformity to cyber-aggression (N = 500, aged 16 to 29). Additionally, we examined the effect of chat group type-close friends versus fellow students-on the anticipation of aggressive reactions. Sociodemographic, social, and developmental-psychological factors were evaluated for potential effects. Multilevel logistic regression analyses indicated that aggressive group norms significantly predict cyber-aggression anticipation, while no effect of chat group type was observed. Controlling for the size and vivacity of participant\'s friend group, gender, age, and educational status were significant predictors: males, younger participants, and non-university students expected higher levels of cyber-aggression conformity. This study underlines the importance of group dynamics on perceptions of cyber-aggression and hints at individual risk factors for AYA\'s digital communication behavior.

UNASSIGNED: This repeated cross-sectional study aimed to (a) report trends in adolescents\' perceived family, friend, classmate, and teacher support, (b) estimate the extent to which each source of support related to life satisfaction across space and time, and (c) ascertain whether sociodemographic factors moderated the relationship in question.
UNASSIGNED: We relied on data pertaining to the 2013/14, 2017/18, and 2021/22 waves of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The examined sample covered 44 countries and regions (n = 716,083; M AGE = 13.6; SD AGE = 1.64; 50.7% female).
UNASSIGNED: The level of all sources of perceived social support slightly decreased over the examined period (all ω2 < .01). Family support involved the largest association with life satisfaction (β = 0.16); friend support, the lowest one (β = 0.03). These associations varied only tenuously across space and time. Sociodemographic factors moderated the link between perceived social support and life satisfaction to a negligible-to-weak extent.
UNASSIGNED: Levels of perceived social support and their associations with life satisfaction subtly changed. Future research may attempt to pinpoint the macrosocial levers of these temporal dynamics.

BACKGROUND: There are few studies of social support and other social determinants of health after breast cancer diagnosis and their associations with mortality; results have been inconclusive. Further, it is not known if observed associations are specific to women with breast cancer diagnosis or if associations would be similar among healthy women.
METHODS: Women with incident, pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer, stage I-IV (n = 1012), and healthy frequency age-matched participants (n = 2036) answered a social support questionnaire in prospective follow-up of a population-based case-control study, the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer Study. At interview, all participants were aged 35-79 years and resident of 2 counties in Western New York State. Mortality status was ascertained from the National Death Index. Participants were queried regarding the number of their close friends, frequency of seeing them, household size, household income, and marital status. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for breast cancer-specific mortality (breast cancer women only) and all-cause mortality were estimated.
RESULTS: Lower household income was associated with higher all-cause mortality among women diagnosed with breast cancer (HR = 2.48, 95% CI = 1.24 to 4.97) and similarly among the healthy women (HR = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.25 to 5.53). Number and frequency of seeing friends, marital status, and household size were not associated with mortality, either among breast cancer patients or among healthy women.
CONCLUSIONS: Among those diagnosed with breast cancer and healthy women, lower income was associated with more than twice the mortality. Marital status, household size, and number or frequency of meeting friends were not associated with survival.