Assessing the symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder among college/university students: An international validation study of a self-report

The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a self-report scale for assessing Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) symptoms according to the DSM-5 and ICD-11 among 3270 college/university students (2095 [64.1%] females; age mean 21.6 [3.1] years) from different countries worldwide. Croatian, English, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Turkish, and Vietnamese versions of the scale were tested. The study showed that symptoms of IGD could be measured as a single underlying factor among college/university students. A nine item-symptom scale following DSM-5, and a short four-item scale representing the main ICD-11 symptoms, had sound internal consistency and construct validity. Three symptom-items were found non-invariant across the language samples (i.e., preoccupation with on-line gaming, loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment, and the use of gaming to relieve negative moods). This study provides initial evidence for assessing IGD symptoms among college/university students and will hopefully foster further research into gaming addiction in this population worldwide especially with taking into account language/cultural differences

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Amidst COVID-19: Do Pandemic Restrictions Affect the Therapeutic Efficiency?

Community psychiatry is an effective and increasingly popular form of care for patients with mental disorders. Due to sanitary restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, psychiatric rehabilitation programs had to adapt to the highly specific requirements and modify the offer of therapeutic activities for patients. Above all the activities focused on, social interactions were limited. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of the modified rehabilitation program in light of the introduced sanitary restrictions due to COVID-19. This prospective observational single-centered study involved 41 patients diagnosed with organic mental disorders, psychotic disorders, affective disorders and anxiety disorders. The patients participated in a 6-week rehabilitation program which included varied forms of physical exercise, cognitive training, psychological training and Small Group Therapy. The quality-of-life assessment and the intensity of depression and anxiety symptoms were measured using standardized scales: Hospital Scale of Anxiety and Depression (HADS) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) at two time points before the initiation of the rehabilitation process and at the end of the program’s participation period. Median HADS D before admission to the rehabilitation center was 9 (IQR 6–12), and 5 (IQR 3–9) after 6-week participation (p p p > 0.05). The gender and age of the participants did not influence the results of the utilized standardized evaluation tools (p > 0.05 for both). We observed an improvement in the participants’ subjective assessment of the intensity of the depression symptoms and the quality of life after partaking in the available activities. There was no clear benefit regarding the subjective assessment of the intensity of anxiety symptoms among the study participants resulting from the introduction to the program