Claude AI製圖，參考資料來自於兒福聯盟。https://trauma-informedcare.children.org.tw/trauma_healing/take_care

Dogs acquired unique cognitive abilities during domestication, which is thought to have contributed to the formation of the human-dog bond. In European breeds, but not in wolves, a dog's gazing behavior plays an important role in affiliative interactions with humans and stimulates oxytocin secretion in both humans and dogs, which suggests that this interspecies oxytocin and gaze-mediated bonding was also acquired during domestication. In this study, we investigated whether Japanese breeds, which are classified as ancient breeds and are relatively close to wolves genetically, establish a bond with their owners through gazing behavior. The subject dogs were treated with either oxytocin or saline before the starting of the behavioral testing. We also evaluated physiological changes in the owners during mutual gazing by analyzing their heart rate variability (HRV) and subsequent urinary oxytocin levels in both dogs and their owners. We found that oxytocin treatment enhanced the gazing behavior of Japanese dogs and increased their owners' urinary oxytocin levels, as was seen with European breeds; however, the measured durations of skin contact and proximity to their owners were relatively low. In the owners' HRV readings, inter-beat (R-R) intervals (RRI), the standard deviation of normal to normal inter-beat (R-R) intervals (SDNN), and the root mean square of successive heartbeat interval differences (RMSSD) were lower when the dogs were treated with oxytocin compared with saline. Furthermore, the owners of female dogs showed lower SDNN than the owners of male dogs. These results suggest that the owners of female Japanese dogs exhibit more tension during interactions, and apart from gazing behavior, the dogs may show sex differences in their interactions with humans as well. They also suggest that Japanese dogs use eye-gazing as an attachment behavior toward humans similar to European breeds; however, there is a disparity between the dog sexes when it comes to the owners' oxytocin secretion. Japanese dogs also showed different attachment behaviors from both European breeds and wolves, and they likely use additional strategies to substitute gaze when forming the human-dog bond.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increased posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after exposure to later trauma, but some Chinese cultural factors such as filial piety can be perceived as a protector buffering the negative results of ACEs on early adulthood adaptation, in Chinese society. Thus, the study used a longitudinal design to investigate whether dual filial piety - reciprocal filial piety (RFP: affection/gratitude) and authoritarian filial piety (AFP: role obligation/hierarchy) - are protective factors against PTSS and facilitate posttraumatic growth (PTG) following trauma among Taiwanese young adults. Research with 246 participants aged 18-25 years old who reported experiencing at least one type of traumas, reported their history of ACEs, RFP, AFP, PTSS, and PTG at Time 1. One (Time 2) and 7 (Time 3) months later, 98 and 60 of the original respondents completed follow-up assessments. Results showed that ACEs significantly associated with higher PTSS, and both RFP and AFP significantly related to lower PTSS and higher PTG at Time 1 and Time2. Furthermore, RFP mediated the relationship between ACEs and PTSS such that individuals with higher RFP reported lower PTSS across time. These findings suggest that filial piety may serve as a protective factor against PTSS and facilitate PTG among traumatized Taiwanese individuals with a history of ACEs. The study implies that future research should explore the mechanisms underlying these relationships and consider how cultural factors may influence the role of filial piety in posttraumatic adjustment.

1. Introduction

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been utilized to reduce negative mood and stress and increase neurocognition (e.g. attention, memory, and cognitive flexibility) and well-being in clinical and nonclinical samples. Recently social cognitive function like empathy has been shown to improve after MBIs in a healthy population. Social cognitive function is defined as the ability to construct mental representations about oneself, others, and one’s relationships with others and to use those representations flexibly to guide social behaviours, including social perception (e.g., emotion recognition) and social understanding (e.g. theory of mind and mentalizing). Previous research found that meditators reported higher empathy, higher emotional recognition, and higher theory of mind. The present study thus aimed to investigate the effectiveness of MBIs on the improvement of social cognitive functions in Taiwanese college students.

2. Method

The present study recruited 29 mindfulness participants (23 female) and 26 control participants (19 female). A complete assessment including dispositional mindfulness, executive function, and social cognitive functions measured using emotion recognition accuracy, theory of mind, and mentalizing was performed before MBI (Time 1), and dispositional mindfulness, emotion recognition, and mentalizing were repeated after a 4-week MBI (Time 2).

3. Results

Before MBI (Time 1), there is no group difference in age, gender, dispositional mindfulness, executive function, theory of mind, and prosodic emotion recognition, but the mindfulness group had lower facial emotion recognition and lower mentalizing. After a 4-week MBI (Time 2), the analysis of the generalized estimating equation found that there were significant interactions of group and time on facial emotion recognition and mentalizing. After a 4-week MBI, the mentalizing correct scores were significantly improved in the mindfulness group, and the improvements of sad and fearful facial emotion recognition accuracy in the mindfulness group were greater than in the control group.

4. Discussion

Our study demonstrates an endeavor to employ mindfulness-based intervention to promote social cognitive function in college students. The results also suggest that, via influencing nonverbal emotion recognition and mentalizing, mindfulness practice can be a promising way for college students’ mental health advancement.