Primenjena psihologija

Social isolation and wellbeing in elderly

2024-09-23T09:47:13+00:00

The structural aspects of social networks serve as channels that facilitate social engagement and enable access to various forms of psychological support and instrumental assistance. Given that social networks tend to shrink and social support diminishes in old age, older adults are at particular risk of social isolation. Considering the potentially detrimental effects of social isolation on overall well-being in later life, this study aims to examine structural differences in well-being between older adults who are well-integrated into social networks and those at risk of social isolation. Well-being in older adults was assessed through life satisfaction (the cognitive component of subjective well-being), the absence of depressive symptoms and feelings of loneliness (as affective components of subjective well-being), meaning in life as an indicator of psychological well-being, and levels of resilience. The study included 294 participants, with an average age of 75 years (66% female), who completed the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS-3), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Depression subscale from the DASS-21 scale, the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS), and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). To address the research objective, a discriminant analysis was conducted. The results revealed that 28.1% of the older adults in the sample were at risk of social isolation. One significant discriminant function was identified, characterized by high life satisfaction, high resilience, and a strong sense of meaning in life, alongside low levels of depression and loneliness. The findings indicate that socially isolated older adults exhibit significantly lower well-being than those well-integrated into social networks, confirming that social relationships are a crucial determinant of well-being in old age.

Is it about me or my partner’s personality? Personality traits as correlates and predictors of jealousy in couples

2024-09-16T10:38:38+00:00

A high number of studies on romantic jealousy in heterosexual couples has accumulated in the past decades, including those intended to explain how this phenomenon relates to personality traits. This study aimed to advance current knowledge by using the HEXACO model supplemented by the Disintegration trait and presenting novel findings on how these traits in couples relate to their own and their partners’ (cognitive, behavioral, and emotional) jealousy while also assessing traits’ explanatory power for each aspect of jealousy. The HEXACO-PI-R Inventory, the DELTA-20 instrument, and the Multidimensional Jealousy Scale were administered to the sample of 400 heterosexual participants (200 couples dating or being married), and the correlations and the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) were applied. As the APIM showed, both women and men tend to have higher levels of cognitive and emotional jealousy if they score lower on Honesty-humility. Women tend to achieve higher scores in cognitive and emotional jealousy if they score higher in Emotionality. Men tend to score higher in all aspects of jealousy if their partners score lower on Agreeableness. Low Openness in men may contribute to behavioral jealousy in women, while high Disintegration in women could facilitate the development of emotional jealousy in men. In general, the effects of a partner’s personality traits on jealousy in women were weaker compared to the effects on jealousy in men.

Investigating the Links between Physical Activity, Emotion Regulation, and Mental Health: Comparison in Active, Recreational, and Non-athletes

2024-10-10T09:43:28+00:00

This research aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and mental health, focusing on the potential mediating role of emotional regulation. We investigated whether physical activity predicts the degree of distress and whether this potentially significant relationship can be mediated by two strategies of emotion regulation - cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression. Then, we tested the mentioned mediation model within three subsamples − active athletes, recreational athletes, and non-athletes. A mediation analysis conducted on the entire sample revealed the existence of partial mediation. In addition to the significant total effect, physical activity had a significant direct effect on distress and a significant indirect effect through both tested emotion regulation strategies. More physical activity predicts more use of cognitive reappraisal, which then predicts lower distress. Also, more physical activity predicts more use of emotional suppression, which predicts higher distress. Such results suggest that engaging in physical activity can lead to a decrease and an increase in distress, depending on which emotion regulation strategy a person relies on. Mediation analyses conducted on subsamples provided arguable confirmation of the mediation model only in the case of recreational athletes. The results obtained within the subsamples are discussed in detail.

The Serbian Short Version of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire for Young People (MHLq-yp): Validation with a Sample of Elementary School Students

2024-09-25T12:36:04+00:00

The last few decades have brought an elaboration of the concept and the development of valid and reliable measures of mental health literacy (MHL) in adults, children, and adolescents. Nevertheless, most of the empirical evidence on MHL has come from developed, high income Western countries. The present study aimed to develop a Serbian short version of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire for Young People (MHLq-yp), suitable for application in elementary school settings. The original version of the MHLq-yp has been adapted into Serbian following the translation-back methodology and think-aloud procedure. This questionnaire was validated in a sample of 386 primary school students (52.2% girls), whose age ranged from 11 to 14 years (M_age=12.63, SD_age=0.88). Based on exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency indices, a short version of the instrument was developed, which showed good internal and convergent validity.

Traditional and Computer-Based Assessment of Executive Functions

2025-02-17T16:02:21+00:00

This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of two newly developed computer-based tasks (i.e., Mental Shifting/Flexibility Task and Auditory-Visual Go/No-Go Task) for measuring two key domains of executive functions (EF) - inhibition and mental shifting (flexibility) - in healthy adults. Together with these tasks, traditional paper-and-pencil tests were used for assessing construct validity (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test - WCST, Trail Making Test - TMT, Verbal Fluency Tests, and Advanced Progressive Matrices- APM). The sample consisted of 468 adult twins (70.7% female, mean age 24.06 years) or 234 twin pairs. Results revealed low to moderate correlations between the reaction times and the number of errors in the computer-based tasks and traditional tests. Specifically, the Mental Shifting/Flexibility Task showed significant correlations with the TMT and the WCST. The Auditory-Visual Go/No-Go Task was significantly related to TMT and APM, suggesting shared cognitive processes linked to inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and processing speed. The computer-based tasks demonstrated moderate to good ICC reliability, especially in reaction time measures, while error rates showed poorer reliability. It was concluded that computer-based tasks are useful for measuring executive functions. However, further validation, development of standardized norms, and optimization of these tools are needed. Future research should explore how these tools can be integrated into existing cognitive assessment batteries for more accurate measurement of executive functions across diverse populations and clinical contexts.