Search results for " Psychology]"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
The WHO-5 Well-Being Index – Validation based on item response theory and the analysis of measurement invariance across 35 countries.
2020
Abstract Background The five-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) is a frequently used brief standard measure in large-scale cross-cultural clinical studies. Despite its frequent use, some psychometric questions remain that concern the choice of an adequate item response theory (IRT) model, the evaluation of reliability at important cutoff points, and most importantly the assessment of measurement invariance across countries. Methods Data from the 6th European Working Condition survey (2015) were used that collected nationally representative samples of employed and self-employed individuals (N = 43,469) via computer-aided personal interviews across 35 European countries. …
Problematic video game use as an emotional coping strategy: Evidence from a sample of MMORPG gamers
2019
Background A positive relationship between problematic gaming and escapism motivation to play video games has been well established, suggesting that problematic gaming may result from attempts to deal with negative emotions. However, to date, no study has examined how emotion dysregulation affects both escapism motives and problematic gaming patterns. Methods Difficulties in emotion regulation, escapism, and problematic involvement with video games were assessed in a sample of 390 World of Warcraft players. A structural equation modeling framework was used to test the hypothesis that escapism mediates the relationship between emotion dysregulation and problematic gaming. Results Statistica…
Repetition suppression versus enhancement — it's quantity that matters
2013
Upon repetition, certain stimuli induce reduced neural responses (i.e., repetition suppression), whereas others evoke stronger signals (i.e., repetition enhancement). It has been hypothesized that stimulus properties (e.g., visibility) determine the direction of the repetition effect. Here, we show that the very same stimuli can induce both repetition suppression and enhancement, whereby the only determining factor is the number of repetitions. Repeating the same, initially novel low-visible pictures of scenes for up to 5 times enhanced the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in scene-selective areas, that is, the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and the transverse occipital sulcus…
The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries
2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative and local food systems (ALFS) in 13 countries responded in the first months of the crisis. Using primary and secondary data and combining the Multi-Level Perspective with social innovation approaches, we highlight the innovations and adaptations that emerged in ALFS, and how these changes have created or supported the sustainability transition in production and consumption systems. In particular, we show how the combination of social and technological innovation, greater citizen involvement,…
Cardiac threat appraisal and depression after first myocardial infarction
2012
The present study investigated cardiac threat appraisal and its association with depression after first myocardial infarction (MI). A semi-structured interview allowing for DSM-IV-Axis I diagnoses was administered to 36 patients after first MI. Patients completed self-reports 5 to 15 days after the MI (time 1), 6 to 8 weeks later (time 2) and again 6 months later (time 3). Assessments at time 1 included indices of cardiac threat appraisal, locus of control, coping, and depression while at time 2 and time 3 only measures of depression were obtained. Cardiac threat appraisal was significantly correlated with depression at time 1, but was unrelated to depression scores at time 2 and time 3. Fu…
Self-reported dependence on mobile phones in young adults: A European cross-cultural empirical survey
2017
Background and aims: Despite many positive benefits, mobile phone use can be associated with harmful and detrimental behaviors. The aim of this study was twofold: to examine (a) cross-cultural patterns of perceived dependence on mobile phones in ten European countries, first, grouped in four different regions (North: Finland and UK; South: Spain and Italy; East: Hungary and Poland; West: France, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland), and second by country, and (b) how socio-demographics, geographic differences, mobile phone usage patterns, and associated activities predicted this perceived dependence.\ud \ud Methods: A sample of 2,775 young adults (aged 18–29 years) were recruited in different…
Rejection sensitivity as a vulnerability marker for depressive symptom deterioration in men.
2017
Consistent across time and cultures, men and male adolescents older than 14 years of age appear underrepresented in mood disorders, and are far less likely than women to seek psychological help. The much higher rate of suicide amongst males suggests that depression in men might be underreported. One of the core human motives is to seek acceptance by others and avoid rejection. Rejection Sensitivity (RS) has been conceptualized as the cognitive-affective processing disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely respond to cues of rejection in the behavior of others. RS has been previously linked with the onset and course of depression, but - as yet - has not been investigat…
Measurement Invariance of the Short Version of the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire (PMPUQ-SV) across Eight Languages
2018
The prevalence of mobile phone use across the world has increased greatly over the past two decades. Problematic Mobile Phone Use (PMPU) has been studied in relation to public health and comprises various behaviours, including dangerous, prohibited, and dependent use. These types of problematic mobile phone behaviours are typically assessed with the short version of the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire (PMPUQ–SV). However, to date, no study has ever examined the degree to which the PMPU scale assesses the same construct across different languages. The aims of the present study were to (i) determine an optimal factor structure for the PMPUQ–SV among university populations using eig…
Symptoms and the body: Taking the inferential leap
2017
The relationship between the conscious experience of physical symptoms and indicators of objective physiological dysfunction is highly variable and depends on characteristics of the person, the context and their interaction. This relationship often breaks down entirely in the case of "medically unexplained" or functional somatic symptoms, violating the basic assumption in medicine that physical symptoms have physiological causes. In this paper, we describe the prevailing theoretical approach to this problem and review the evidence pertaining to it. We then use the framework of predictive coding to propose a new and more comprehensive model of the body-symptom relationship that integrates ex…
Spanish validation of the Sexual Addiction Screening Test.
2018
Background and aims Sexual addiction is a pathological behavior characterized by a combination of excessive sexual desire and impaired ability to control it. Its incidence ranges between 1.2% and 32.2%, although this number may vary depending on the screening tool used. This wide variability is largely due to the use of non-validated instruments (e.g., structural validity relying on exploratory analyses, instruments translated without an additional validation process, or instruments validated in another format). To deal with these limitations, this study tested the psychometric properties of the Spanish paper-and-pencil and online versions of the Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST). Met…