iCOPE With COVID-19: A Brief Telemental Health Intervention for Children and Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted extensive disruptions to the daily lives of children and adolescents worldwide, which has been associated with an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms in youth. However, due to public health measures, in-person psychosocial care was initially reduced, causing barriers to mental health care access. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of iCOPE with COVID-19, a brief telemental health intervention for children and adolescents to address anxiety symptoms. Sessions were provided exclusively using videoconferencing technology. Feasibility and acceptability were measured with client satisfaction data. The main outcome measure for effectiveness was anxiety symptom severity measured using the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED). Results indicated that the treatment was well accepted by participants. Significant reductions in anxiety were noted for social anxiety, and were observed to be trending towards a mean decrease for total anxiety. The findings suggest that this brief telemental health intervention focused on reducing anxiety related to COVID-19 is acceptable and feasible to children and adolescents. Future research using a large sample and with a longer follow-up period could inform whether symptom decreases are sustained over time.     

Dynamics and moderating factors of esport participation and loneliness: A daily diary study

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between esport participation and loneliness, as well as its moderating factors. Chinese college students (N = 216) self-reported their esport playing time and degree of loneliness each day immediately before bedtime for four consecutive weeks. The findings revealed that as playing time increased, students did not experience reduced sense of loneliness during playing esport, but they experienced a temporary and intensified feeling of loneliness the same day following gameplay. Students with higher general loneliness tended to feel more after-game loneliness associated with increased esport participation. Students with higher obsessive passion about esport tended to experience more loneliness (both in-game and after-game) associated with increased esport participation. Students with greater coping motivation about esport tended to experience more in-game loneliness associated with previous increased esport participation. Students who played esport less often with friends in person, or with more escape motivation toward esport, tended to increase esport participation time more following previous increased after-game loneliness. The findings suggested that college students should avoid utilizing esport to achieve a sense of belonging and should be cautious of the loneliness-inducing effect after gameplay. A healthy level of loneliness can be maintained by playing esport more with friends in person, learning strategies to avoid obsessive passion, coping motivation, and escape motivation towards esport.     

New students' psychological well‐being and its relation to first year academic performance in a UK university

Aims: This study (1) profiled the well‐being of first year students entering one UK university, and (2) explored whether initial well‐being and year end academic performance were correlated. Method: A total of 117 students (mean age 21, 67% female) completed the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation‐General Population, and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale; academic achievement data were collected from academic records. Results: Almost a quarter of the sample reported quasi‐clinical levels of psychological distress and moderate to very severe social anxiety. Quasi‐clinical levels of psychological distress were associated with low self‐esteem and social anxiety. No statistically significant links were found between well‐being as assessed at the beginning of the first year and academic achievement at the end of the first year. Discussion: The failure to find a link in this study between initial well‐being and academic performance at the end of the first year suggests that further investigation is required to understand how academic achievement is related to student well‐being.     

无聊：一个久远而又新兴的研究主题

无聊是个体由于知觉到生活无意义而产生的负性情绪体验, 它会直接或间接地影响各种社会心理功能。目前, 有关心理健康、社会适应、学业成绩等一系列心理问题的研究已经揭示了无聊的负性作用。但是, 无聊领域的研究还停留在理论探讨和相关研究层面, 概念定义尚没有完全统一, 缺乏系统的理论和完整的模型结构。未来研究可进一步深入探究无聊的作用机制, 并制定有效的干预方案来改善人们的无聊状态。     

健康行动过程取向模型的发展与前景

健康行动过程取向(HAPA)模型的提出源于健康行为社会认知模型的发展和Bandura社会认知理论的应用。在HAPA中, 健康行为变化被视为一个包括行为产生、保持和恢复在内的连续过程; 结果预期、危险感知、三种自我效能感和两类计划被用来解释意图的形成及其向行动的转化; 两个阶段的划分有助于区分三类干预对象, 建议实施菜单式干预。HAPA模型具有明显的理论优势, 也引发了有关模型实质的争论。当前和未来的研究旨在考察更多的自我调节变量、检验因果模型, 在健康行为的多个领域开展应用和干预研究。     

Self‐absorption paradox is not a paradox: Illuminating the dark side of self‐reflection

Although considered an important component of a healthy personality, self‐reflection has not so far been shown to have any specific benefits for mental health. This research addresses this issue by taking into consideration two important suppressor variables, self‐rumination and the need for absolute truth. The latter is an innovative variable, defined and presented in this research. The first two studies aimed to validate a new measure that acts as an operational definition of the need for absolute truth. The first study was conducted with two group of participants; the first group consisted of 129 females and 67 males, mean age = 20 years, and the second 182 females and 104 males, mean age = 27. In the second study, participants were 22 females and 18 males, mean age = 20.5. In the final study, conducted with 296 female, 163 male participants (mean age = 37), suppressor effects were tested using structural equation modeling. The results showed that by taking account of these two suppressor variables, particularly the need for absolute truth, the expected relationship between self‐reflection and mental health was revealed. The need for absolute truth was shown to be crucial for understanding the effects of self‐reflection on mental health, therefore it should be considered in all processes of psychotherapy.     

The Health and Well-Being of Military Drone Operators and Intelligence Analysts: A Systematic Review

The aim of this study was to systematically review the existing research on the health and well-being of military drone operators and intelligence analysts in order to provide an overview of research and identify gaps in this area. Six literature databases and 2 databases containing unclassified military reports were searched for relevant papers produced between January 1996 and May 2016. The search criteria were broad to allow for the identification of all relevant studies on the topic. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria; all of which were conducted in the U.S. with the U.S. Air Force personnel. The main sources of occupational stress reported by participants across the studies were operational. The rates of mental health diagnoses, including PTSD, were low, but levels of psychological distress were higher in drone and intelligence operators than in comparison groups. Fatigue emerged as a significant concern. It is important that future studies examine a variety of mental and physical health outcomes. The health and well-being of drone operators and intelligence analysts should be studied not just in the U.S., but also in other countries that are using drones for military purposes.     

青少年心理健康与心理素质培养的整合研究

青少年心理健康与心理素质培养的整合研究是重庆市人文社会科学重点研究基地西南大学心理健康教育研究中心十多年来确立的研究主题。围绕该主题我们不仅从理论到实证进行了较为系统的探讨,取得了一批有本土特色的研究成果,受到国内外学术界关注,而且重视把研究成果及时转化运用于教育实践,开发了系统测量工具,编写了系列教材,开展了青少年心理素质教育的实验探索,推动了学校心理健康教育积极有效的开展。文章主要从青少年心理健康与心理素质培养整合研究的理论依据、方法论思考、研究主题等方面,概括总结心理健康与心理素质培养整合研究的概况,以期进一步促进该领域的深化研究。     

Family Conflict and Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior: Protective Factors

The current investigation examined whether the positive association of family conflict to adolescent depression and conduct problems is attenuated by maternal, paternal, and peer attachment, and maternal and paternal monitoring, within a low-income, multiethnic sample of 284 adolescents. Parental attachment and monitoring moderated the link from family conflict to conduct problems but not depression; the relationships among family conflict, the hypothesized protective factors, and conduct problems were further modified by adolescent gender but not ethnicity. In general, higher levels of the hypothesized protective factors attenuated the relationship between family conflict and conduct problems for girls but exacerbated this relationship for boys. These findings suggest that, in general, parental attachment and monitoring served as protective factors for girls while serving as additional risk factors for boys in conflictual families.