How Immersive Is Enough? A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Immersive Technology on User Presence

The concept of presence, or “being there” is a frequently emphasized factor in immersive mediated environments. It is often assumed that greater levels of immersive quality elicit higher levels of presence, in turn enhancing the effectiveness of a mediated experience. To investigate this assumption the current meta-analysis synthesizes decades of empirical research examining the effect of immersive system technology on user experiences of presence. Aggregating 115 effect sizes from 83 studies, it finds that technological immersion has a medium-sized effect on presence. Additionally, results show that increased levels of user-tracking, the use of stereoscopic visuals, and wider fields of view of visual displays are significantly more impactful than improvements to most other immersive system features, including quality of visual and auditory content. These findings are discussed in light of theoretical accounts of the presence construct as well as practical implications for design.     

The Use of Media in Media Psychology

Media psychologists have theoretical interests in both people and media, yet research investments considerably favor subjects over stimuli. An analysis of 306 studies, taken from the journal Media Psychology over the last 10 years, and from the most cited media experiments in other journals, shows that studies invested in tens of thousands of human subjects but the studies used small samples of media material that were often narrow and unrepresentative. The vast majority of experiments (65%) used single examples of media messages per condition yet they discussed large categories of real world media experiences. Analysis of specific selections showed that media represented in research are less variant, nuanced, and idiosyncratic than media found in the real world. Two categories of solutions are discussed. First, new statistical solutions promote more attention to media repetitions analyzed as random factors. Second, we review the advantages of uncommon research designs that emphasize stimulus investments, including single subject designs that collect intra-individual data and that construct unique models using the entirety, rather than samples, of messages that people experience.     

Vocational integrity

Luther's doctrine of vocation is about faithfully living the baptismal life. This article argues that for the Christian a theology of work—vocation—is not to be constricted to the spiritual sphere only. The Christian is called from the temporal sphere, but not out of it. As such, the Christian embraces the spiritual and temporal spheres in response to God's grace and for the good of the neighbor.     

Anxiety in Children with Mood Disorders: A Treatment Help or Hindrance?

This study examined the role of comorbid anxiety in treatment outcome for children with mood disorders (N = 165; age 8–11) participating in Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (MF-PEP). Assessments occurred at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months for two randomly assigned groups: immediate treatment and 1-year wait-list. Most children (69%) had comorbid anxiety disorders. Baseline comorbid anxiety, as reported on the Children’s Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (ChIPS), was associated with higher Children’s Depression Rating Scale- Revised (CDRS-R) scores but not Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) scores. Higher levels of anxiety symptoms were associated with lower Children’s Global Assessment Scale (C-GAS) scores. Participation in MF-PEP did not significantly reduce anxiety symptoms (p = 0.62). However, presence of comorbid anxiety did not impede reduction in depressive (CDRS-R, p = 0.74) or manic (YMRS scores, p = 0.94) symptoms following MF-PEP. More baseline anxiety symptoms were associated with greater improvement in C-GAS scores post-treatment (p = 0.02). Implications are discussed.     

A comparison of pain management outcomes for disability compensation and non-compensation patients

Abstract

In this study, 50 men in an in-patient comprehensive rehabilitation program receiving disability compensation were compared with 25 non-recipients with respect to pre-and post-program measures of personality functioning. physical functioning and reported pain. On the pre-program measures. the only significant difference emerging between the two groups was found on the Mf scale of the MMPI, with the compensation group showing a slightly lower mean score. The two groups responded equally well on virtually all outcome measures. One interesting exception was found on the subjective measure of pain. which showed the compensation group reporting a higher level of subjective pain, and the non-compensation group a lower level than would be predicted on the basis of pre-program scores. Overall. and contrary to popular belief. the results suggest that compensation recipients can derive considerable benefit from pain management interventions despite the ostensible reinforcement provided by disability payments.     

Risk and resilience: The moderating role of social coping for maternal mental health in a setting of political conflict

Violence can threaten individual wellbeing and tear at the social fabric of communities. At the same time, suffering can mobilize social coping and mutual support. Thus, the backdrop of political violence increases risk factors and stimulates resilience. The current study examined the moderating role of social coping as reflective of risk and resiliency in Northern Ireland, a setting of protracted conflict. Specifically, structural equation modeling was used to investigate whether social coping protects from or exacerbates the negative impact of sectarian crime and nonsectarian crime on maternal mental health (N = 631). Nonsectarian crime predicted greater psychological distress for mothers in Belfast. Mixed support was found for the buffering and depletion moderation hypotheses; social coping functioned differently for nonsectarian crime and sectarian crime. Greater social coping buffered mothers’ psychological distress from the negative effects of nonsectarian crime, but exacerbated maternal mental health problems when facing sectarian crime. Results suggest that social coping is a complex phenomenon, particularly in settings of protracted political violence. Implications for interventions aimed at alleviating psychological distress by enhancing mothers’ social coping in contexts of intergroup conflict are discussed.     

Longitudinal Pathways Between Political Violence and Child Adjustment: The Role of Emotional Security about the Community in Northern Ireland

Links between political violence and children’s adjustment problems are well-documented. However, the mechanisms by which political tension and sectarian violence relate to children’s well-being and development are little understood. This study longitudinally examined children’s emotional security about community violence as a possible regulatory process in relations between community discord and children’s adjustment problems. Families were selected from 18 working class neighborhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Participants (695 mothers and children, M = 12.17, SD = 1.82) were interviewed in their homes over three consecutive years. Findings supported the notion that politically-motivated community violence has distinctive effects on children’s externalizing and internalizing problems through the mechanism of increasing children’s emotional insecurity about community. Implications are considered for understanding relations between political violence and child adjustment from a social ecological perspective.     

Marital conflict and support seeking by parents in adolescence: empirical support for the parentification construct

Parentification, a parent-child dynamic wherein children come to provide ongoing emotional support for their parents, has been documented extensively in the clinical literature; however, it rarely has been studied systematically. Using a community sample of 83 couples and their adolescent children (mean age = 15.26 years; 52% male, 48% female), the authors linked adolescent self-report of parentification to specific youth and adult behaviors using multiple methods and examined its associations with youth adjustment problems. The parentification measure demonstrated strong internal consistency and 1-year stability. Parentification was associated with marital conflict, youth perceptions of threat, low warmth in the parent-child relationship, and the tendency for youths to intervene in marital conflict. Links were also found with youth reports of internalizing and externalizing behavior and poorer competency in close friendships. These findings thus support the parentification construct and provide evidence that parentification may contribute to poor youth outcomes by burdening children with developmentally inappropriate responsibilities.