Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD) following past trauma could lead to psychological distress. Little is known, however, about the roles of defense mechanisms and alexithymia may play in the process. The current study aimed to examine the potential impact of alexithymia and defense mechanisms on the relationship between past trauma and distress among Chinese university students. Method: 455 university students completed a set of questionnaires: PTSD Checklists for DSM-5, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Defense Style Questionnaire, and General Health Questionnaire-28. Results: (...) PTSD following past trauma was associated with increased psychological distress. Alexithymia and defenses (especially immature defense) mediated the path between PTSD and psychological co-morbidities. Conclusions: Following past trauma, people developed PTSD and other psychological symptoms. The severity of these distress symptoms was influenced by the way people defended themselves psychologically, as well as their ability to identify, express, and process distressing emotions. (shrink)

The importance of teachers’ affective, cognitive, and motivational factors in students’ academic achievement and well-being has been widely acknowledged. These factors are of great relevance, especially in the foreign language learning context wherein interaction between teachers and students is frequent and varies in forms. Though abundant evidence points to the high prevalence and risky factors of burnout among such a group, the extant literature lacks a quantitative synthesis of the interrelationship between emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and burnout among them. This study (...) aims to fill this research gap. The current meta-analysis is based on 42 independent samples with the experiences of 5,665 teachers reviewed. Results demonstrated moderate to large meta-correlations between these three constructs in the expected directions. EI and SE are positively correlated with each other, but negatively correlated with burnout. Moderation analysis also provides exploratory insights into the effects. Implications and future directions are also discussed. (shrink)

In the context of English as a Foreign Language, burnout study dominantly revolves around teachers but learners’ academic burnout is largely underexplored. Academic burnout is a concerning issue worldwide that is particularly predicted by academic motivation. However, we know little about the association between motivation and burnout among EFL learners and whether maladaptive emotion regulation strategies could moderate their association. To fill this research gap, we recruited 841 EFL undergraduates from two universities in China. Descriptive analysis showed that participants reported (...) high levels of language learning burnout. Correlational and bootstrapped moderation analysis found that motivation and maladaptive ERS were significantly correlated with burnout in opposite directions and the correlation between motivation and burnout was significantly influenced by students’ use of two maladaptive ERS. The more frequently students chose to avoid and vent unpleasant feelings, the protective role of motivation on burnout was weaker. The implications of these findings are discussed. (shrink)