Use of the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale-2 (BDS-2) to measure executive dysfunction in FXTAS.

Mental health is the cornerstone of health and quality of life, and it underpins daily functioning and serves as a vital resource for the healthy operation of individuals, families, communities, and society at large (). The dual-factor model states that mental health comprises two distinct dimensions of mental ill-being (e.g., anxiety) and mental well-being (e.g., life satisfaction) (, ), and emphasizes that it is necessary to integrate the positive and negative indicators to comprehensively assess mental health (). Unlike mental ill-being, positive mental health (PMH), also known as mental well-being, mainly involves emotional, psychological, and social well-being (). PMH can enhance psychological adaptation () and alleviate depression (). As a group situated in emerging adulthood, college students are at a critical stage for identity formation and value development (), their mental health are relatively vulnerable. Therefore, it holds a significant practical importance to explore the influencing factors of college students’ PMH for their healthy development. The multilevel model of mental health argues that, both in childhood and adulthood, supportive social environments across the lifespan affect mental health (). The stable and emotionally fulfilling social relationships are the crucial prerequisite for mental health promotion (), implying that for individuals growing up in a social environment lacking emotional feedback, their mental health may be at risk. Emotional neglect (EN), defined as the failure to respond to children’s emotional needs (), is precisely a missing form of supportive social circumstance. In such an environment, the higher the EN perceived by an individual, the more severe their internalized symptoms become (). Hence, EN is a critical risk factor in the development of mental health. As the most frequently reported type of childhood maltreatment (), EN is negatively associated with well-being (–). Research has shown that emotional regulation difficulties (), negative emotions (e.g., depression and anxiety) (), less positive coping styles (), or lower self-esteem () plays a mediating role in the negative associations between EN and PMH. However, the existing mechanisms mainly focus on the reasons why EN has negative impacts on PMH, and they have difficulties in clarifying the mechanism when individuals with EN exhibit higher levels of PMH. Consequently, the present understanding regarding the relationship between EN and PMH is limited. Post-traumatic growth (PTG) refers to the positive psychological changes that emerge during a process wherein individuals actively struggle with trauma (, ). PTG is related to positive affection (). Positive affection belongs to the category of emotional well-being, thereby PTG may be partially linked to PMH. According to the PTG model, positive cognitive reconstructing is the core mechanism of PTG—individuals reinterpret traumatic experiences and integrate them into life narratives with growth significance (). Hence, a reasonable speculation is that individuals with EN may reinterpret the meaning of EN, achieve personal growth, and thereby foster PMH.