The aim of this research was to recognize the relationship between well-being and civic engagement under the difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst students from Poland, Lithuania ...and Croatia. Overall, 1362 academic students (Poland, n = 596, Croatia, n = 386, and Lithuania, n = 379) participated in the study. Mean rank differences in civic engagement level (overall CE) were analysed by levels of psychological well-being (overall PWB and its subscales) using the Kruskal-Wallis test (one-way ANOVA on ranks). We conducted post hoc analysis with Bonferroni tests to measure the significance of differences in CE between the detailed levels of PWB. To avoid biases due to interaction effects between dependent variables, the analysis of mean ranks was followed by a binomial logistic regression analysis model and subgroups analysis (by gender and by country). Results obtained showed that students with higher levels of psychological well-being have higher levels of civic engagement. The differences in the CE level are most pronounced in relation to the dimension of a PWB, such as "positive relations with others", followed by "personal growth", "autonomy", and "self-acceptance". In a crisis, such as a pandemic, it is worth encouraging students to take targeted actions, as well as to create actions referring to personal development and relationships. There were no differences in the direction and shape of the associations between psychological well-being and civic engagement with respect to the country and the gender of the participants, which leads us to draw conclusions pointing to the globalised nature of student experience during the pandemic in this part of Europe.
Public health emergencies, including catastrophic events such as pandemics and natural disasters, as well as the rise of diseases caused by high-threat pathogens result in specific and often ...critically threatening situations (WHO, 2023). This study aimed to examine the perception of educators (e.g., teachers and trainers) in Croatia regarding the mental health issues, needs, and challenges faced by children and adolescents during public health emergencies, as well as the risk and protective factors associated with mental health issues. Data was collected using two focus groups that included a total of 12 educators (e.g., teachers, sports trainers, kindergarten teachers, and so on) who work with children and adolescents. The results were analysed using thematic analyses and showed that the symptoms observed most often in children were fear, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, sleep problems, behavioural problems, and concentration problems. Educators also provided insights into the broader context in which these symptoms were evident and highlighted their personal need for additional support and education. Furthermore, they listed various protective and risk factors that, in their opinion, could influence the coping abilities of children faced with a crisis. These findings are important for the creation of programmes that aim to protect the mental health of children during and after public emergencies, as well as to train those working with children in order to help them recognise the needs of children and adolescents and find ways of providing help.
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between online gaming motivation, self-concept clarity and problematic online gaming. More specifically, the study investigated the mediating ...role of gaming motives between self-concept clarity and problematic online gaming. Data from 509 young adult (M = 23.14, SD = 4.66) video game players from Croatia were analyzed. Problematic online gaming was positively correlated with social, competition, coping, fantasy and escape motives for playing online video games, and negatively with self-concept clarity. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that escape motives and self-concept clarity were significant predictors of problematic online gaming after controlling for age and weekly gaming time. The results of the mediation model showed that self-concept clarity was both directly and indirectly (via escape motive) associated with problematic online gaming. The discussion addresses the issue of escapism in relation to self-concept clarity and as a factor in predicting problematic online gaming.
Tolerance is a controversial but still an omnipresent criterion in measuring problematic gaming and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Despite criticisms, a systematic review of its suitability has not ...been conducted until now. The aim of this study was to assess the evidence of psychometric validity and the appropriateness of tolerance as a criterion for IGD. A total of 61 articles were included in the review, 47 quantitative, 7 qualitative studies,plus 7 studies that introduce potential item wordings for operationalizing tolerance. Results showed that the tolerance item tends to have acceptable to high factor loadings on the single IGD factor. While tolerance sometimes did not adequately differentiate the engaged gamers from those with a probable disorder, it was endorsed at medium to high levels of IGD severity and had a good performance in the interviews. It, however, showed weak relations with distress and well-being. In qualitative studies, tolerance as currently defined by DSM-5 and measured by questionnaires (i.e., increasing amounts of time spent on gaming) was almost unequivocally rejected by gamers. The solid performance of tolerance in psychometric studies was probably due to deficiencies of the IGD construct, which also contains other disputed criteria. Tolerance lacks relevance in measuring IGD and care should be taken when using and interpreting IGD measures with this criterion.
•We analyzed 61 studies containing data about tolerance in Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD).•Tolerance item showed acceptable to high factor loadings on the single IGD factor.•Tolerance was rejected by gamers and had relatively low criterion validity.•Tolerance in the DSM IGD lacks validity, adding up to deficiencies in IGD construct.•Criteria need to fit into gaming culture and context and have clinical utility.
The aim of the study was to analyse psychometric properties of the Marital /Relationship Satisfaction Scale (MRS) developed for the purpose of this research, and its association with other well-being ...indicators. Additionally, differences in well-being between participants who were married or in a relationship and single participants, and gender differences were tested. The sample consisted of 1087 adult internet users from Croatia. We assessed general well-being, satisfaction with specific life domains, marital/relationship satisfaction and demographic variables. MRS proved to be a reliable single factor instrument which correlated moderately with all well-being indices, but highest with satisfaction with love life and family relations. Men and women did not differ regarding MRS. Participants who were married or in a relationship showed higher levels of well-being.
The research aimed to explore the salience of different motives for substance use among alcohol, tobacco and marijuana users, and to investigate the difference in motives' salience with regard to ...frequency of substance use and respondents' socio-demographic characteristics. Data were collected among subsamples of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana users drawn from the representative sample of Croatian citizens (N = 4756). Respondents assessed four types, and for marijuana use five types of motives for each substance use (enhancement, social, conformity, coping, and expansion). The enhancement motives were assessed as the most, and conformity motives as the least salient motives among all groups of substance users. Generally, enhanced salience of motives was related to the frequency of all types of substance use. While age had significant effect on the salience of social motives for tobacco use, gender and marital status had significant effect on the salience of all motives for alcohol use, and age had significant effect only on the salience of enhancement and social motives for alcohol use. Among marijuana users, only marital status had significant effect on the salience of expansion motives for marijuana use. Results are discussed within the framework of motivational models for substance use.
The aim of this study was to provide deeper insight into the relationship between pet-related life events and the subjective wellbeing of pet owners, as well as to analyze definitions of happiness ...that included reference to pets. This research was conducted online as a part of the Croatian Longitudinal Study on Wellbeing (CRO-WELL). For the purposes of this study, the following variables were selected: overall happiness, life satisfaction, subjective ratings of health, and the occurrence and parameters (positivity, negativity, importance, anticipation) of two pet-related life events: acquiring a pet and the death of a pet during the previous year. Additionally, of a pool of lay people's definitions of happiness (n = 4,059), those containing a reference to pets (n = 89) were analyzed. The total sample consisted of 5,034 participants, of whom 658 acquired a pet in the past year, 272 experienced the death of a pet, and an additional 221 experienced both events. Participants who experienced the death of a pet during the previous year were significantly less happy and satisfied compared with those who did not obtain a pet and did not experience the death of a pet in the previous year. Overall happiness was weakly positively correlated with positive evaluations of obtaining a pet and the importance of obtaining a pet. The anticipation of the death of a pet was positively related to positive evaluations of the death of the animal, suggesting an adaptation process took place before the death. Participants who attributed less importance to an event were more likely to experience positive events (obtaining a pet) as less positive and negative events (death of a pet) as less negative. Participants who anticipated an event evaluated it as more positive and less negative. Out of 4,059 participants who provided definitions of happiness, 89 (2.2%) of them included pets in these definitions. Over half of them referred to the pet as the most important member of the family or was equal to other family members, while in the remaining definitions pets were only a part/fragment of a broader definition of happiness. Participants referred mostly to dogs or used the generic word "pet," while cats, the only animal named beside dogs, were mentioned in only a few cases. Greeting the owner was the most frequently mentioned activity, while the joy of a pet and unconditional love were the most frequently mentioned emotions.
The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate, as a potential research template, a pan-European quantitative survey, the Eurobarometer on Experiencing Supervision (EES). The tool was ...developed and tested across eight jurisdictions in order to evaluate its accuracy and utility with regard to comparative research. In addition, the paper illustrates the type of data this tool can generate and how this data can be used to improve supervision practices around the world. In brief, EES covers eight core domains of supervision: supervision as a human service, offender’s perception regarding the supervisor, the relationship between the offender and the supervisor, supervision and practical help, supervision and compliance, breach practice, supervision and rehabilitation and the offender’s involvement and participation. Overall, the tool is considered useful and promising. However, further research is required in order to demonstrate its full potential.
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