The time, the path, its length and strenuousness in maze learning

Previous findings show that rats in a maze tend to choose the shortest path to reach food. But it is not clear whether this choice is based on path length solely, or some other factors. The aim of this experiment was to investigate which factor dominates the behavior in a maze: path (longer and shorter), time (longer and shorter), or effort (more or less strenuous). The experiment involved 40 mice (4 groups), learning a maze with two paths. Each group went through only one of the situations within which we kept one factor constant on two paths while the remaining two factors were varied. Only in the fourth situation all factors were equalized. The results show that there is a statistically significant difference in the maze path preference between four situations. Preference between the paths is such that mice always choose paths requiring less effort.

"I could easily get professional help if I wanted to": Professional help-seeking intentions and the Theory of planned behaviour

This study used path analysis to evaluate the ability of the Theory of planned behaviour to predict professional help-seeking intentions in an adult community sample (N = 470, 51% female, age range: 18-64 years). The results showed that perceived behavioural control was the most significant antecedent of help-seeking intentions, positive attitudes increased the likelihood to seek professional help, however, their effect was small, while subjective norms were not relevant. Past help-seeking had a small direct effect on intentions, yet equally strong as the total indirect effect via attitudes and perceived behavioural control. Psychological distress affected intentions only indirectly. Difficulties with self-disclosure were the only barrier that had a partially mediated effect on intentions through perceived behavioural control. The findings are discussed with respect to the utility of the TPB model, as well as in the wider context of professional help-seeking and interventions to encourage the utilization of mental health services.

The light and the dark side of social media use: Depression, anxiety, and eating attitudes among adolescents

In the current study, we explored the links between social networking activity, eating attitudes (EA), anxiety, and depression among adolescents. We used a cross-sectional design. Our sample consisted of 532 males and females, aged 12 to 15 (M = 13.55, SD = 0.90), from the Eastern side of Romania. We analyzed our data using three different pathways to explore these relationships on the overall sample, as well as the at-risk for eating disorders (ED) group (n = 134), and the non-ED-risk (n = 398) samples. The results suggested that depressive and anxiety symptoms partially mediated the relationship between social networking and eating attitudes in the overall group and in the not-at-risk for ED group, but not in the at-risk for ED sample. When controlling for gender, social networking use partially mediated the relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms and eating attitudes in the overall group and the not-at-risk for ED group, and a total mediating effect within this relationship in the at-risk ED sample was also found. In adolescents with symptoms of potential ED, social networking use seemed to have a protective role compared to the not-at-risk sample. The present study suggested that social networking use might increase the chances of developing unhealthy eating attitudes in adolescents who are not-at risk to develop an eating disorder, but, at the same time, it might play a protective role (instead of a harmful one) for adolescents who already developed such symptoms. Results are discussed concerning their clinical and practical implication for adolescents' physical and mental health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential protective role of social media use for adolescents with ED symptoms.

The body-ownership is unconsciously distorted in the brain: An event-related potential study of rubber hand illusion

Many studies have reported that bottom-up multisensory integration of visual, tactile, and proprioceptive information can distort our sense of body-ownership, producing rubber hand illusion (RHI). There is less evidence about when and how the body-ownership is distorted in the brain during RHI. To examine whether this illusion effect occurs preattentively at an early stage of processing, we monitored the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) component (the index of automatic deviant detection) and N2 (the index for conflict monitoring). Participants first performed an RHI elicitation task in a synchronous or asynchronous setting and then finished a passive visual oddball task in which the deviant stimuli were unrelated to the explicit task. A significant interaction between Deviancy (deviant hand vs. standard hand) and Group (synchronous vs. asynchronous) was found. The asynchronous group showed clear mismatch effects in both vMMN and N2, while the synchronous group had such effect only in N2. The results indicate that after the elicitation of RHI bottom-up integration could be retrieved at the early stage of sensory processing before top-down processing, providing evidence for the priority of the bottom-up processes after the generation of RHI and revealing the mechanism of how the body-ownership is unconsciously distorted in the brain.

Why more competent adolescents advance or regress after assymetrical peer interaction: Studying dialogue characteristics that make a difference

This study explores differences between more and less competent peers in joint problem-solving dialogues, related to opposite interaction outcomes of more competent students (progression/regression). Ten asymmetrical peer dyads were selected from 47 dyads participating in the previous study: five in which more competent (MC) student progressed the most, and five in which MC students regressed the most after a post-test. Ten dialogue characteristics were established in 50 conversations of these dyads. Cluster analysis revealed two dialogue types associated with different interaction outcomes of MC students. In the first one, MC students justified correct answers but behaved inconsistently with their higher competences. The second cluster characterizes domination-submissiveness pattern and MC students? unwillingness to justify opinion. All regressing MC students participated in the first dialogue type and 56% of progressing MC students in the second. Qualitative analysis of the conversations typical for extracted clusters implies that although ready to provide arguments to their peers when they can, regressing MC students exhibit uncertainty, thereby losing from interaction. Progressing MC students seem to protect themselves against possible interaction disturbances by dominant attitude and withdrawal from communication.

The moderating role of personal resources in the relationship between job demands and work engagement

This study aimed to examine the role of personal resources in the job demands- resources (JD-R) model of work engagement. We hypothesized that personal resources weaken the negative impact of job demands on work engagement. The hypothesis was examined using a sample of employees (N = 58) from multiple branches of four international fast-food chains based in Ireland and Taiwan who completed questionnaires focused on personal resources, job demands and work engagement over 7 consecutive workdays (N = 58

Perceived lack of control and conspiracy theory beliefs in the wake of political strife and natural disaster

While lack of control is one plausible explanation for conspiracy beliefs, the experimental evidence is mixed. We present two naturalistic studies that offer some limited support for the control hypothesis. In the first, Macedonians living in (North) Macedonia (N = 116) completed a conspiracy ideation scale immediately after a national referendum on the country?s name change from ?Macedonia? to ?North Macedonia,? and one year after. The opposition, whose control was lowered after the name change, increased their conspiracy beliefs, but supporters did not. Study 2, conducted with Americans (N = 266) in the wake of a series of devastating tornadoes, replicated and expanded the first study: the effects were evident only for the threatening event-related conspiracy beliefs. These studies suggest a possible link between lack of control and conspiracy beliefs in the real world.

Activity matters: Physical exercise and stress coping during the 2020 COVID-19 state of emergency

Recent studies have demonstrated that social isolation during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the mental and physical health of people worldwide. However, it remains unknown whether physical activity can improve mental health in a state of emergency. The present study aimed to examine the importance of physical exercising and stress management mechanisms (problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant) in the context of mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, and nonspecific stress) in conditions of social isolation during COVID-19-induced lockdown in Serbia. The sample consisted of 680 adults (66% female), mean aged 35.91years (SD = 12.45). The results indicated a significant relation between physical exercising and a reduced stress response and confirmed the usefulness of the already well-known problem-focused strategies. Avoidant and emotion-focused coping were associated with poorer mental health outcomes. However, as a moderator, physical activity lowered anxiety levels in individuals prone to emotion-focused coping.

The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Hexaco profiles affect coping mechanisms and adaptability of response

Our primary objective was to investigate whether HEXACO personality profiles predict different coping strategies during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We chose a person-centered approach as it enabled visibility of personal structures differentiating between adaptive and maladaptive coping in a nonclinical sample. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct personality profiles, each profile complemented by its specific choice of coping strategies. The Resilient (conscientious extroverts) used strategies focused on the stressor (Problem-focused, Emotion-focused coping, and Humor); the Undercontrolled (conscienceless) turned to Avoidance of problem-solving strategies; the Overcontrolled (emotionally reactive and conscientious introverts) avoided Humor and handling of their own emotions. Combination of Conscientiousness scores differentiated between adaptive and maladaptive resilience. However, high Emotionality in conjunction with Introversion and high Conscientiousness produced both vulnerability and maladaptation. Absence of Avoidance is the paramount feature of adaptive resilience. Thus, personality related variance in stress response is mostly determined by traits responsible for control, proactivity, and affectivity.

Predicting treatment response in psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: A pilot study

Prediction of treatment response to trauma-focused psychotherapy remains a difficult task. This study evaluated treatment response to Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (BEPP) dependent on pre-treatment variables, symptom progression, and manual adherence. We tested differences in pre-treatment variables and symptom time course between treatment responders and non-responders in 27 patients, using exact regression analyses and general linear models. Associations of therapists? adherence to the treatment manual during different therapy phases with response status were also studied using independent samples t-test. Lower education and complete inability to work were negatively related to therapy outcome. Significant differences in symptom time course between responders and non-responders were detected from session nine onwards, whereas adherence to treatment was not related to outcome during any treatment phase. Our results indicate that early identification of treatment response may meaningfully expand previous research on outcome predicton based on pre-treatment variables in trauma-focused psychotherapy. Furthermore, adaptations of treatment protocols for specific groups of patients with increased risk of poor treatment outcomes may be advisable. If replicated by more naturalistic designs, our results could contribute towards limiting the requirement of strict manual adherence to efficacy studies in posttraumatic stress disorder treatment research.