An empirical examination of factors associated with Game Transfer Phenomena severity

Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP) (i.e. altered perceptions, spontaneous thoughts and behaviors with game content) occur on a continuum from mild to severe. This study examined the differences between mild, moderate and severe levels of GTP. A total of 2,362 gamers’ participated in an online survey. The majority of gamers experienced mild levels of GTP. The factors significantly associated with severe levels of GTP were: (i) being students, (ii) being aged 18 to 22, (iii) being professional gamers, (iv) playing videogames every day in sessions of 6 hours or more, (iv) playing to escape from the real world, (v) recalling dreams always or very often, (vi) having a sleep disorder, mental disorder or reported dysfunctional gaming, and (vii) having experienced distress or dysfunction due to GTP. In addition, having used drugs and experiencing flashbacks as side-effects of drug use were significantly less likely to be reported by those with mild levels of GTP. In general, the findings suggest that those with higher levels of GTP share characteristics with profiles of gamers with dysfunctional gaming (e.g., problematic and/or addictive gaming)

Biribi: disciplining and punishing in the French empire

This article discusses the infamous Bataillons d’Afrique to which French former criminals were sent to complete their duty of military service. The ‘Bat d’Af’ were created to prevent the young male bourgeoisie from having to mix with these ‘undesirables’ and ‘reprobates’, and they were stationed well away from the mainland in France’s North African colonies. This article discusses themes such as discipline, punishment, torture, homosexuality, interracial power relations, and delinquent ‘cultures’ in this imperial context

A life-course and time perspective on the construct validity of psychological distress in women and men. Measurement invariance of the K6 across gender

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychological distress is a widespread indicator of mental health and mental illness in research and clinical settings. A recurrent finding from epidemiological studies and population surveys is that women report a higher mean level and a higher prevalence of psychological distress than men. These differences may reflect, to some extent, cultural norms associated with the expression of distress in women and men. Assuming that these norms differ across age groups and that they evolve over time, one would expect gender differences in psychological distress to vary over the life-course and over time. The objective of this study was to investigate the construct validity of a psychological distress scale, the K6, across gender in different age groups and over a twelve-year period.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study is based on data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (C-NPHS). Psychological distress was assessed with the K6, a scale developed by Kessler and his colleagues. Data were examined through multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. Increasing levels of measurement and structural invariance across gender were assessed cross-sectionally with data from cycle 1 (n = 13019) of the C-NPHS and longitudinally with cycles 1 (1994-1995), 4 (2000-2001) and 7 (2006-2007).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Higher levels of measurement and structural invariance across gender were reached only after the constraint of equivalence was relaxed for various parameters of a few items of the K6. Some items had a different pattern of gender non invariance across age groups and over the course of the study. Gender differences in the expression of psychological distress may vary over the lifespan and over a 12-year period without markedly affecting the construct validity of the K6.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study confirms the cross-gender construct validity of psychological distress as assessed with the K6 despite differences in the expression of some symptoms in women and in men over the life-course and over time. Findings suggest that the higher mean level of psychological distress observed in women reflects a true difference in distress and is unlikely to be gender-biased. Gender differences in psychological distress are an important public health and clinical issue and further researches are needed to decipher the factors underlying these differences.</p