Purpose: This study investigates the impact of ASEAN’s deepening economic integration on workers’ mental health. This study focuses on transnational exposure through trade dependence and foreign direct investment (FDI)and its psychological consequences via job insecurity and cultural mismatch. Research methodology: Using cross-sectional survey data from 5,000 cross-border workers in six ASEAN countries, the research applies a multilayer network model combining (1) an economic exposure index (trade/GDP ratio and FDI inflows), (2) DSM-5-based anxiety and depression scales, and (3) moderated mediation testing for cultural buffers, particularly collectivism. Results: Findings show that Higher export-to-GDP ratios significantly predicted increased anxiety symptoms (? = 0.42, p < 0.001), fully mediated by precarious employment. Contrary to expectations, collectivism exacerbated stress among low-skilled workers (? = 0.21, p = 0.03). Network analysis further revealed bridging nodes linking economic sectors and mental health outcomes, thereby emphasizing systemic interdependence. Conclusions: ASEAN economic interdependence generates measurable psychological costs for labor, particularly through insecure employment arrangements in Malaysia. Rather than mitigating stress, cultural collectivism may intensify pressure in vulnerable conditions. Limitations: The cross-sectional design restricts causal inference, and self-reported measures may carry bias. Broader longitudinal and qualitative approaches are required to validate these findings. Contribution: This study provides the first empirical evidence of macroeconomic-mental health linkages in the ASEAN region. This highlights the necessity of policy interventions, including selective de-growth strategies, in sectors heavily reliant on external trade to protect worker well-being.

Purpose: This study investigates how mandatory smartphone abstinence, framed as digital detox interventions, influences relational interdependence within collectivist cultural contexts. Specifically, it examines whether such interventions alter dyadic synchronization and emotional co-regulation, highlighting potential cultural moderation effects. Research Methodology: Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) over a 14-day period, data were collected from 300 participants (150 dyads) in Japan and Indonesia. Dyadic adjustment was measured with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, while physiological synchronization was assessed through heart rate variability (HRV) coherence using wearable devices. Comparisons were made before and after the digital detox period, and moderation by relational hierarchy and cultural background was analyzed. Results: Findings revealed that digital detox significantly increased face-to-face interaction time (d = 1.2, p < 0.001). However, paradoxically, physiological synchronization decreased in hierarchical relationships such as parent–child (? = ?0.45, p = 0.02). Strong cultural moderation effects were observed, with collectivist norms shaping both behavioral and physiological outcomes. Conclusions: Although digital detox policies can enhance direct social engagement, they may unintentionally disrupt non-verbal interdependence in relational contexts characterized by hierarchy. This suggests that blanket digital disconnection strategies may not universally support relational health. Limitations: The study relied on short-term interventions and culturally specific samples (Japan and Indonesia), limiting generalizability. Longer longitudinal studies are needed. Contribution: This research provides the first cross-cultural neuroscientific evidence that disconnection policies may undermine implicit forms of relational interdependence, underscoring the need for culturally sensitive guidelines.

Purpose: This study seeks to reconceptualize climate anxiety not as an individual pathology, as often framed in Western models, but as a form of collective interdependence that mobilizes adaptive action in vulnerable communities. By focusing on flood-prone villages in Bangladesh, the research highlights the role of anxiety as a socially embedded mechanism for resilience. Research Methodology: A 12-month longitudinal ethnography was conducted, complemented by dynamic social network modeling. The analysis integrated two components: (1) community transmission of climate anxiety using SIENA models, and (2) behavioral cascades of pro-environmental actions mapped through network thresholds. Results: Findings reveal that climate anxiety functions as an adaptive social glue. Villagers with the highest centrality of climate anxiety initiated 3.5 times more collective adaptation measures (p < 0.001). Moreover, threshold effects emerged, with network saturation at 60% producing non-linear acceleration of community-wide adaptive behavior. Conclusions: Rather than being medicalized as distress, climate anxiety in vulnerable contexts operates as a driver of interdependent resilience. It provides motivational energy that binds communities, channeling affect into coordinated action rather than individual pathology. Limitations: The study is limited to flood-prone Bangladeshi villages, which constrains the generalizability of findings to other environmental and cultural settings. The reliance on ethnographic immersion also introduces interpretive subjectivity. Contribution: The research advances climate psychology by reframing collective anxiety as a catalyst for resilience, challenging Eurocentric individualist models, and offering a novel integration of ethnography with network-based simulation in the Global South.