During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the experience of quarantine has been an undesirable condition for people and it can have a negative impact on mental health and psychological wellbeing. Social ...isolation has led to an increase in time spent on social network sites, with people interacting more frequently with each other, and comparing online the way in which they are experiencing the same state of home confinement. Our study aimed to investigate the role of online social comparison on individuals' psychological distress and life satisfaction during the COVID-19-related quarantine. Specifically, a cross-lagged panel study at three-waves was conducted in Italy in order to examine the change in psychosocial distress levels (e.g. depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, low life-satisfaction) from before the quarantine for a period of one month, as well as the predictive role of online social comparison to ameliorate individual distress. An online survey was distributed through a social media platform three times after the initial lockdown and at the epidemic's peak two and five weeks later. A total of 113 participants participated in an online survey between the 7th of March and 14th of April 2020. The results showed an increase in the levels of loneliness, depression, stress, anxiety and a decrease in the level of life satisfaction in the pre/post quarantine comparison. Our cross-lagged results also showed that online social comparison at T1 and T2 predicted the individual's improvement in levels of anxiety, stress, loneliness and life satisfaction over time. Overall, the results of the current study underline the positive effects of online social comparison on the reduction of psychological distress during the COVID-19 quarantine.
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. Statistical analyses showed that difficulties in emotion regulation predicted both escapism motives and problematic gaming, and that escapism partially mediated this relationship. Conclusion. Our findings support the view that problematic players are likely to escape in online games as a maladaptive coping strategy for dealing with adverse emotional experiences.
•Obese individuals report greater interpersonal stress than healthy weight controls.•Obese individuals report lower quality of social life than controls.•Obese individuals are more often ...teased/bullied than controls.•Interpersonal difficulties are a plausible treatment target in obesity.
Obesity is associated with difficulties due to stigma and loneliness. These impact negatively on individuals’ quality of life and behaviour change efforts. Increased sensitivity to others’ negative feedback might play a role in the maintenance of these difficulties and could be addressed in psychological interventions. We conducted a systematic review of interpersonal difficulties in individuals with obesity, across the lifespan. We investigated early interpersonal adversity (i.e. frequency of teasing/bullying), perceived interpersonal stress and quality of social life, based on a rejection sensitivity model. The databases PubMed, Web of Knowledge and AGRIS, Embase, Medline and PsychINFO were searched for published peer-reviewed journal articles (1980-June 2018). Thirty-two studies met inclusion criteria. Results from the meta-analyses (n = 16 studies) indicated that overweight/obese individuals reported more frequent experiences of teasing/bullying, greater interpersonal stress and poorer quality of social life than healthy weight individuals. Findings in the systematic review aligned to this evidence. Psychological interventions targeting increased sensitivity to negative interpersonal feedback could improve interpersonal functioning and, in turn, eating behaviours in individuals with obesity.
•Vulnerable (but not grandiose) narcissism predicts problematic gaming.•Emotion dysregulation-escapism link mediates this association.•Vulnerable narcissism appears to promote gaming as a coping ...mechanism.•Emotion dysregulation may be an important target for treatment of problematic gaming.
According to a “compensatory perspective”, this study aimed to examine the role of narcissism (both vulnerable and grandiose) in the relationship between emotion dysregulation, escapism motivation to play, and problematic gaming. In a sample of 405 World of Warcraft players, we tested a multiple mediation model in which the relationship between vulnerable/grandiose narcissism and problematic gaming was mediated by emotion dysregulation and escapism. Results showed that the model for vulnerable (but not grandiose) narcissism fitted the data very well. This study adds novel insight to our understanding of the mechanisms that support problematic gaming, suggesting that the emotion dysregulation-escapism connection can be boosted by the presence of vulnerable narcissistic traits. Consequently, clinicians should consider the relevance of vulnerable narcissistic personality traits in persons who display a problematic engagement with massively multiplayer online role-playing games.
The aim of the current study is to examine gender, age. and cross-country differences in fear of COVID-19 and sense of loneliness during the lockdown, by comparing people from those countries with a ...high rate of infections and deaths (e.g., Spain and Italy) and from countries with a mild spread of infection (e.g., Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina). A total of 3876 participants (63% female) completed an online survey on "Everyday life practices in COVID-19 time" in April 2020, including measures of fear of COVID-19 and loneliness. Males and females of all age groups in countries suffering from the powerful impact of the COVID-19 pandemic reported greater fear of COVID-19 and sense of loneliness. In less endangered countries, females and the elderly reported more symptoms than males and the young; in Spanish and Italian samples, the pattern of differences is considerably more complex. Future research should thoroughly examine different age and gender groups. The analysis of emotional well-being in groups at risk of mental health issues may help to lessen the long term social and economic costs due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
•Covid-related psychological distress network was evaluated during and after lockdown phase.•Network models provide insight into how distress symptoms may interact with each other.•Depression showed ...high centrality in both T1 and T2 networks.•Results revealed stability of distress symptom networks over time.
Although preliminary research has evidenced negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic among the general population, little research has been carried out examining the interplay among the broader dimensions and correlates of individual distress. Via network analysis, the current study investigated the pathways that underlie some components of psychological distress and their changes over time (during and post COVID-19-related lockdown).
1,129 adult participants (79.1% women) completed a two-wave online survey during and after the lockdown, and reported on variables such as depression, anxiety, stress, fear of COVID, intolerance of uncertainty, emotion regulation and social support. The networks were estimated via Gaussian Graphical Models and their temporal changes were compared through the centrality measures.
Depression, stress, anxiety and fear of COVID formed a spatially contiguous pattern, which remained unchanged in both the two waves. After the lockdown, the fear of COVID node reduced its strength in the network, whereas inhibitory intolerance of uncertainty and emotion suppression were associated with depression. Emotion regulation was connected to depression, but not to stress and anxiety during both waves. Perceived emotional support had few connections to the other nodes.
Only 32.7% of participants provided complete responses for both waves.
The COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant psychosocial impact on adults. In the context of the network approach, depressive symptoms had the highest strength and their associations to other dimensions of individual distress may be key factors in understanding the influence of exposure to the COVID-19 outbreak on mental health.
Although several studies have investigated the factor structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), there are still disagreements about it. The present study assessed: a) the goodness of fit ...of nine competing factor models for the RSES using data from a clinical sample of 855 women with eating/weight disorders; and b) its measurement invariance across clinical and non-clinical (n=943) samples. A bifactor model, with a general self-esteem factor, plus positive and negative method factors, provided a better fit with the data than alternative models. However, the results showed the high reliability of the general self-esteem factor, and a low reliability of the two method factors. Furthermore, the full metric invariance of the RSES, as well as a partial scalar invariance and partial strict invariance across clinical and non-clinical groups, was supported by our findings. The factor variances and means differed significantly across groups. Overall, the findings of this study showed that the factor structure of the RSES is contaminated by method effects due to item wording, also with clinical samples, and that respondents from clinical and non-clinical groups interpret the self-esteem construct of the RSES items in a substantially similar way.
•Nine RSES factor models were compared in a sample of women with eating problems.•The measurement invariance across clinical and non-clinical samples was assessed.•Results supported a bifactor model (a global self-esteem plus two method factors).•The self-esteem factor showed higher reliability than the two method factors.•Invariance among clinical and nonclinical samples was substantially supported.
•Interpersonal trauma is associated with substance use.•Both interpersonal trauma and substance use were associated with mental health symptoms.•A positive bidirectional relationship was observed ...between cannabis use and psychosis symptoms in trauma victims.
Both interpersonal trauma (IPT) and substance use are linked to mental health problems, however their interplay is understudied. This study will investigate the relationship between IPT, substance use and mental health in a large population-based sample.
Participants included 3756 individuals, mainly young university students using a snowball sampling method. History of IPT was collected retrospectively using the Traumatic Experiences Checklist. Substance use was examined using the World Health Organization's Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test. Mental health symptoms were assessed by the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure. Moderation analyses were performed investigating the relationship between IPT, substance use, and mental health symptoms.
Participants exposed to IPT had a higher prevalence of substance use (cannabis, alcohol, tobacco) and had more severe mental health problems than people without IPT. Substance use was associated with a blunted increase of depression, anxiety, and anger in trauma victims. A history of abuse was more strongly linked to substance use than neglect. Moderation analyses further revealed that cannabis use increased psychotic symptoms and psychotic symptoms increased cannabis use in participants with high levels of IPT.
Our findings indicate that substance use worsens psychotic symptoms in IPT victims whilst dampening other mental health symptoms.
The pervasive use of mobile phones among adolescents has led researchers to evaluate the role of parental characteristics in connection with their children's problematic smartphone use (PSU). The ...present study involved mother/father/adolescent triads and aimed to test a model examining the role of both parents' and adolescents' emotion dysregulation (ED) in predicting children's PSU. Two hundred and fifty-two adolescent (57.5% females; M age = 13.54, SD = 0.73)/mother (M age = 43.92, SD = 4.46)/father (M age = 47.60, SD = 5.10) triads provided measures of PSU and ED. Results from path model showed that, after controlling for adolescents' age and gender as well as for parents' age and low well-being, both adolescents' and parents' ED was related to their own PSU (intra-individual level). Contrary to hypotheses, no direct relation was found between either parents' and adolescent's PSU (inter-individual level). However, adolescents' ED mediated the relationship between mothers' emotion dysregulation and adolescents' PSU. The results demonstrate the importance of considering parents' level of ED when examining the link between PSU and ED among adolescents.
•Problematic smartphone use (PSU) was examined in adolescent/parent triads.•Two hundred and eighty-two adolescent/mother/father triads were included.•Both adolescents' and parents' PSU were linked to their own emotion dysregulation.•No direct relation was found between either parents' and adolescent's PSU.•Mothers' emotion dysregulation had an indirect effect on adolescents' PSU.
Objective: The therapeutic alliance has been studied in group interventions, but its relationship to patient outcome is still controversial. This study systematically reviewed the association of both ...the member-leader and member-group alliance with patient outcomes, and assessed the effects of several theoretically informed moderators. Method: A three-level meta-analysis was conducted on 57 studies to disentangle within- and between-study variability in the alliance-outcome association. Results: The overall effect size of the unconditional model was r = −.259 (95% CI: −.302, -.214; p < .001), whereas the correlation between alliance and outcome based on the three-level meta-analytic model was r = −.215 (95% CI: −.252, −.178; p < .001) indicating a medium effect. Meta-regressions of moderators showed that the alliance-outcome correlation was higher when patients reported on their alliance with the group/other members compared with when they rated the alliance with the leader. Outcome type, rating perspective, theoretical orientation, treatment length, and year of publication were significant moderators of the relationship between alliance and outcome. Conclusions: The current meta-analysis highlighted that the therapeutic alliance, especially with other group members, is a significant predictor of outcomes in group therapies even after controlling for several moderators and adopting more conservative statistical modeling.
What is the public health significance of this article?
Prior research has established that member-leader alliance is a predictor of outcome in group psychotherapy with a small effect. This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive analysis of the complex role of the alliance in group therapy, suggesting that the alliance with other group members or the group as a whole has a significantly larger association with outcome. This study provides support for the importance of the group context on the alliance-outcome relationship.
PDF
