1,427 research outputs found

    Heterogeneity of smartphone impact on everyday life and its relationship with personality and psychopathology: A latent profile analysis

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    Background The relationships between problematic smartphone use and psychological factors have been extensively investigated. However, previous studies generally used variable-centered approaches, which hinder an examination of the heterogeneity of smartphone impact on everyday life. Objective In the present study, we capitalized on latent profile analysis to identify various classes of smartphone owners based on the impact associated with smartphone use (e.g., unregulated usage, preference for smartphone-mediated social relationships) and to compare these classes in terms of established psychological risk factors for problematic smartphone use. Method We surveyed 934 young adults with validated psychometric questionnaires to assess the impact of smartphones, psychopathological symptoms, self-esteem and impulsivity traits. Results Smartphone users fall into four latent profiles: users with low smartphone impact, users with average smartphone impact, problematic smartphone users, and users favoring online interactions. Individuals distributed in the problematic smartphone user profile were characterized by heightened psychopathological symptoms (stress, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive tendencies) and impulsivity traits. Moreover, users who preferred online interactions exhibited the highest symptoms of social anxiety and the lowest levels of self-esteem. Conclusions These findings further demonstrate the multidimensionality and heterogeneity of the impact of smartphone use, calling for tailored prevention and intervention strategies

    Latent profile analysis of psychological needs thwarting in Chinese school teachers: longitudinal associations with problematic smartphone use, psychological distress, and perceived administrative support

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    IntroductionIn light of the significant impact that teachers have on education quality and student growth, their mental health warrants special attention. With the increasing popularity of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the rise of online teaching during the pandemic, teachers have become a group prone to developing problematic smartphone use (PSU). Psychological need thwarting (PNT) has been shown to be closely related to PSU, psychological distress, and perceived administrative support. However, most previous studies have adopted a variable-centered approach, which may overlook the possibility that the three basic needs are not closely associated and could form distinct profiles. Therefore, this study aims to apply latent profile analysis to identify different PNT profiles and their associations with PSU, psychological distress, and perceived administrative support.MethodsA longitudinal survey was conducted using convenience and purposive sampling methods. The survey involved 1,642 primary and middle school teachers working in China over a two-month interval, with the first assessment in November 2021 (Time 1) and the second in January 2022 (Time 2).ResultsThe results indicate that a three-profile model, intricately based on the PNT data gathered at Time 1, is most optimal: Class 1 is labeled as ‘High autonomy-High competence and Moderate relatedness thwarting’, Class 2 as ‘High autonomy-High competence and High relatedness thwarting’, and Class 3 as ‘Low psychological needs thwarting’. Distinct associations were observed among the three profiles concerning PSU, psychological distress, and perceived administrative support. Specifically, in terms of PSU, the score of Class 2 was higher than Class 1, with that of Class 3 being the lowest at Time 1, while at Time 2 no significant difference was found between any two of these three groups; in terms of distress, the scores of the three profiles were arranged from high to low as Class 2, 1, and 3 at both time points; and in terms of perceived administrative support, the order was just the opposite, with 3, 1, and 2 from high to low at both Time 1 and Time 2.ConclusionNotably, the consistent ranking of the three classes in terms of psychological distress and administrative support suggests a lasting influence of PNT. Future studies should explore this enduring impact further by employing additional longitudinal data sets and examining potential mediators or moderators beyond the current study’s scope

    Teens' Behavior Patterns on the Web: Surfing or Wrecking?

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    Adolescents’ relationship with technology is controversial both because of the possibilities it offers and because of the risks it entails, even being perceived by them as a real need. In order to improve the knowledge about it, a non-experimental research of transversal style has been carried out using a methodology based on data mining. 1,048 students of Secondary Education participated and answered a questionnaire about their use of the Internet and social networks. Six factors were indentified, which could be recognized as patterns of behavior in the network. They are grouped around: (1) the communicative and informative dimension of the resources; (2) the one related to the security in the network; (3) the risk and vulnerability; (4) the specialized information both general and specific, (5) the transfer and acquisition of goods; and (6) the leisure and parental surveillance. The main findings show that their habits are mostly oriented towards the transfer and transaction along with the maintenance of security, avoinding situations that could involve risk and vulnerability in navigation. The identification of these subgroups is timely in order to develop training and digital literacy actions

    The interplay of mobile phone radiation and psychological effects on psychological and somatic health, behavior and cognition

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    Wireless media devices, in particular mobile phones, have become ubiquitous companions in our daily life and in particular the younger generation is early adopting new technologies. Simultaneously, public health concerns regarding wireless media use were raised from experts of two different scientific domains. The first concern targets the potential impact of exposure to radiofrequency-electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) on the health. Hereby, in particular children and adolescents might be prone to any effect of RF-EMF due to their longer life-time exposure and their still developing rain and body. A part from this, psychologists fear a negative impact on emotion, general well-being and cognition through simply using wireless devices and related behavioural changes. Since both of these concerns are related to the same exposure, wireless media use, and often target the same outcomes, they are highly correlated and a typical situation for confounding in epidemiological research. The current thesis focuses on disentangling a potential RF-EMF effect due to wireless media use from the potential behavioural effects. In previous studies in both fields, exposure was mainly measured via quantitative media use, e.g. daily call frequency or duration, which makes it impossible to attribute any result distinctly to RF-EMF or the usage. To overcome this problem, innovative and exclusive exposure approximations were developed for both, the usage behaviour and RF-EMF and finally validated in a longitudinal analysis on adolescents’ memory performance. The thesis presents data from the Swiss HERMES (Health Effects Related to Mobile phonE use in adolescentS) cohort that investigated approximately 950 adolescents in Central Switzerland

    TECHNOLOGY USE IN SCHIZOTYPY UTILIZING THE DOMAINS OF TECHNOLOGY USE SURVEY (DOTUS)

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    The diathesis stress model for schizophrenia posits that genetics and prenatal factors confer vulnerability (diathesis) for mental illness which then may be activated through exposure to environmental stressors during life. One component of our contemporary environment involves technology use which has demonstrated risk and beneficial capabilities in regards to the schizophrenia spectrum. Using an online and in-person survey, this study aimed to elucidate the manner in which time spent on technology related to schizotypy, problematic technology use (PTU), and health behaviors in 227 undergraduate students (aged 18-30). We hypothesized that levels of schizotypy, as well as time spent on social media and video games would predict increased problematic technology use and decreased engagement in health behaviors. We also hypothesized that time spent on health technologies (e.g. Fitbit) would predict decreased problematic technology use and increased engagement in health behaviors. After hierarchical linear regressions, levels of schizotypy predicted both increased problematic technology use and decreased engagement in health behaviors. Time spent on social media and video games predicted decreased engagement in health behaviors, while time spent on health technologies did not predict our outcome variables. Additional findings, implications, and further discussion on these topics are presented throughout the manuscript

    Internet and Smartphone Use-Related Addiction Health Problems: Treatment, Education and Research

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    This Special Issue presents some of the main emerging research on technological topics of health and education approaches to Internet use-related problems, before and during the beginning of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective is to provide an overview to facilitate a comprehensive and practical approach to these new trends to promote research, interventions, education, and prevention. It contains 40 papers, four reviews and thirty-five empirical papers and an editorial introducing everything in a rapid review format. Overall, the empirical ones are of a relational type, associating specific behavioral addictive problems with individual factors, and a few with contextual factors, generally in adult populations. Many have adapted scales to measure these problems, and a few cover experiments and mixed methods studies. The reviews tend to be about the concepts and measures of these problems, intervention options, and prevention. In summary, it seems that these are a global culture trend impacting health and educational domains. Internet use-related addiction problems have emerged in almost all societies, and strategies to cope with them are under development to offer solutions to these contemporary challenges, especially during the pandemic situation that has highlighted the global health problems that we have, and how to holistically tackle them

    The importance of aesthetics on customers' intentions to purchase smartphones

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    This thesis examines how an aesthetic appreciation of a smartphone influences perceived value and purchase intention. A review of the aesthetics, perceived value and purchase intention literature helped in shaping two key issues: 1. What are the physical attributes of aesthetics? 2. How does aesthetics influence purchase intention? To investigate these questions and drawing on the available literature, a model is developed that helps explain how aesthetic appreciation of an object formed from different dimensions of value perceived by viewing a smartphone with these aesthetic properties, influences customers’ purchase intention. The research design used mixed methods led mainly by a quantitative approach. The first research phase was exploratory, involving a focus group with respondents from different age groups in Australia. Analysis of the transcribed data was used to refine the theoretical framework of this thesis. In the second stage, a survey methodology was employed. Initially, a pilot study was undertaken with 65 respondents from different age groups who were volunteer UWS students and /or employees. Results from the pilot study were used to revise and rephrase measurement items. Following the pilot study, the main study was undertaken by recruiting an online panel of 415 respondents in Australia. Data were analysed and hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling techniques (PLS-SEM). The findings of this research address the central research questions. Firstly, shape, colour, design and touch were found as the four different criteria of aesthetic measurement of a smartphone. The findings for the second research question showed that while aesthetics can have a direct link with purchase intention, it cannot be a strong determinant of purchase intention. In addition, for a growing array of fairly standardised technology products such as smartphones, functional value is no longer the only determinant of purchase intention. Customers no longer rely on functional attributes of a smartphone as a criterion that influences their purchase intention. However, the use of social value as a mediator in the link between aesthetics and purchase intention could lead to purchase intention. Aesthetics could explain more than 60% of the variance in purchase intention. Findings from this study showed that approval from a person’s social network of an aesthetically pleasing object increases the likelihood of purchase intention. Following social value, emotional value was found as the second determinant of purchase intention and a mediator that increases the possibility of intention to purchase an aesthetically pleasing object. The primary contribution arising from this study is the development and testing of a multidimensional concept of aesthetics, which is then used to verify two alternate paths by which aesthetics can influence consumer purchase intention. This finding strengthens the argument that, for a growing array of relatively standardised technology products such as smartphones and tablets, aesthetics has become an important criterion by which consumers evaluate and differentiate between product and service offerings to make purchasing decisions (Jordan, Thomas & McClelland 1996; Kalins 2003; Postrel 2003). The study concludes that aesthetics can impact purchase intention directly, but the effect is stronger when mediated by different dimensions of value customers may perceive by viewing an aesthetically pleasing object. Only a handful of studies (e.g., Swilley 2012; Cox & Cox 2002; Stich 2004; Lam & Mukherjee 2005) have viewed aesthetics as a construct and there is a paucity of research about how aesthetics can influence different components of perceived value and purchase intention for a product with mainly utilitarian attributes. An online panel was used to collect data for this study. This involved the identification and explanation of all steps to ensure the quality of the data gathered. Accordingly, the other contributions of this study are the guidelines for future researchers who might be interested in using an online web-based survey for data collection. The guidelines provide a framework for assuring the validity and reliability of the responses. THESIS RESTRICTED TO ABSTRACT ONLY UNTIL 25/02/202

    Family Risk and Protective Factors and Child Development

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    This reprint is devoted to understanding the unique and combined effects of family risk and protective factors on child development across multiple dimensions of functioning (e.g., physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, social, and cognitive)
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