Pathologic use of video games and gotivation. Can the Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS) predict depression and trait anxiety?

Videogaming is an increasingly prevalent activity among adolescents worldwide. The present study aimed at adapting the Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS) to the Italian context, assessing its psychometric properties and verifying its sensitivity to predict depression and anxiety levels. From a sample of 1899 participants, a group of 388 adolescents who participated in the survey was divided into two subgroups of Heavy (HG, N = 188) and Light Gamers (LG, N = 200). A sub-sample of N = 172 adolescents also filled-in CESD and STAI to assess, respectively, depression and trait anxiety. Internal consistency and factorial structure of the Italian version of GAMS (GAMS-it) have been evaluated. Moreover, a latent regression structural equation model by predicting the CES-D and STAI scores with the GAMS-it factors has been carried out. GAMS-it has adequate validity and reliability levels, showing a very similar factorial structure to the original version. Therefore, this scale can be used to evaluate gaming motivation, which is useful for gaming motivation screening. Finally, it has been found that lower gaming motivation can be related to high level of depression and anxiety. The present findings provide a coherent picture, supporting the reliability and validity of the GAMS-it, that appears potentially useful in predicting anxiety and depression levels in a population of adolescent

Nurses Alumni Association Bulletin, Fall 2014

2014 - 2015 Meeting Dates Calendar 2015 Annual Luncheon & Meeting Notice Officers, Committee Chairs, Satellite and Volunteers President\u27s Message Treasurer\u27s Report Resume of Minutes Alumni Office News Committee Reports Social Relief Trust Fund Satellite-Harrisburg Satellite Area Scholarship Nominating Bulletin By Laws Jefferson Alumni Relations Annual Giving Janet C. Hindson Award Award Criteria Nominees Recipient News About Our Graduates Memories Happy Birthday - To Be 80 or More 50th Anniversary Class List for 1964 Luncheon Reservations Annual Luncheon Comments Luncheon Photos Anniversary Class List for 2015 Annual Luncheon In Memoriam, Names of Deceased Graduates Class News Additional Information, Pins, Transcripts & Address Info Scholarship Fund Application Descendant Nurses\u27 Scholarship Fund Application Certification Reimbursement Application Relief Fund Trust Benefits Application List of Hotels Campus Ma

Resonant plasma excitation by single-cycle THz pulses

In this paper, an alternative perspective for the generation of millimetric high-gradient resonant plasma waves is discussed. This method is based on the plasma-wave excitation by energetic single-cycle THz pulses whose temporal length is comparable to the plasma wavelength. The excitation regime discussed in this paper is the quasi-nonlinear regime that can be achieved when the normalized vector potential of the driving THz pulse is on the order of unity. To investigate this regime and determine the strength of the excited electric elds, a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code has been used. It has been found that by exploiting THz pulses with characteristics currently available in laboratory, longitudinal electron plasma waves with electric gradients up to hundreds MV/m can be obtained. The mm-size nature of the resonant plasma wave can be of great utility for an acceleration scheme in which high-brightness electron bunches are injected into the wave to undergo a strong acceleration. The long-size nature of the acceleration bucket with respect to the short length of the electron bunches can be handled in a more robust manner in comparison with the case when micrometric waves are employed

Essays on climate change policy evaluation

Climate Change is a global problem that affects several dimensions of human activities. The peculiarity and complexity of the problem let Climate Policies very challenging to design. Moreover, Climate Change has public good characteristics and can lead to free-riding. For these reasons, Economic Literature uses intensively game-theoretic approaches in order to model and assess Climate Change policies. The aim of this Doctoral Thesis is threefold: i) to provide a comprehensive review of the economic theory and empirical studies behind International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) and Regional Environmental Policies, with a specific focus on two major examples coming from the European experience: the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Renewable Energy Sources; ii) to empirically assess the cooperative nature of the Nationally Determined Contributions of the Paris Agreement (the latest and broadest IEA) and to provide an empirically-based methodology in order to forecast potential cheaters to the Paris Agreement and to identify the socio-economic determinants that could lead a country to defeat from its commitment; iii) to study the socio-economic and political drivers of Photovoltaic Panels deployment in Italian cities under the Feed-in Tariff mechanisms, Conto Energia by adopting a spatial econometric approach. The structure of this Thesis follows a general-to-specific approach in order to account for different dimensions of Climate Change policy, from the global (International Environmental Agreements) to local perspective (Italian Feed-in Tariff mechanism at the city-livel). The final goal is to provide a longitudinal assessment of different types of Climate Change mitigation policies through the application of econometric tools

Ancient Feminism: Troy and the Cold War Germany

In her novel, titled Cassandra, Christa Wolf writes about the society of Cold War Germany in a way that does not directly speak out against her government, using a foreign world to demonstrate her ideas. Cassandra was a princess of Troy who was given the gift of prophecy at a young age, but was cursed so her visions would not be believed. Christa Wolf, a prominent political author from East Germany, became fascinated with the character of Cassandra while on a trip to Greece with her husband, Gerhard. Wolf saw parallels between her life during the Cold War and what she imagines life would have been like for citizens of Troy during the war. In this paper, I show how Wolf depicts the home country of Cassandra as a patriarchal society and, in this way comments on the male dominated government in Germany throughout the Cold War. In Cassandra, Wolf expresses her ideas through examples, showing her readers the cause and effect relationship that she sees between the suppression of women and the violence of war. Coexisting cultures are juxtaposed in the novel to show the differences between them. By going deeper into the daily life of Trojan people and the Trojan women who are often ignored, Wolf demonstrates both her arguments against her current government and the faults of a society where only men make the important decisions

Applying Dialectical Behavior Therapy to Latinx Youth Experiencing Deportation Stress: A Critical Literature Review and Culturally Congruent Application

Deportation policies from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have harmful effects on the mental health of immigrant families in the US. These effects can be experienced at multiple points such as living in fear of deportation, undergoing ICE raids, becoming detained, or being deported. The children that witness these experiences of deportation within their families are impacted substantially. Some of the psychological effects of having a parent deported or detained can include internalizing and externalizing problems, attention difficulties, emotional and behavioral changes, interpersonal conflict, and feeling like a burden. While the impacts of deportation on youth are highlighted in the research, there are no evidence-based treatments for this population specifically. Thus, this article poses that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an appropriate transdiagnostic treatment for these youth experiencing multiple problems when including frameworks such as Minority Stress Theory, the Biosocial Theory, and Radical Healing to address anti-immigrant invalidation faced by this population. As Latinxs make up a large percentage of immigrants that are deported, this article expands on their specific experience. This dissertation aims to review the literature on this population and create cultural adaptations to DBT for Latinx youth experiencing deportation stress (i.e., deportation or detainment of a parent or family member) through the expansion of Linehan’s (1993) Biosocial Theory to include four levels of anti-immigrant invalidation: structural, individual, anticipated, and internalized invalidation; additional DBT Orientation handouts for specific psychoeducation; potential strategies for teaching DBT skills; and recommendations for the application of DBT to address the numerous access-to-treatment barriers that Latinx youth face. Future directions for research on efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability are discussed