Stress and suicide risk among adolescents: the role of problematic internet use, gaming disorder and emotional regulation.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have associated videogame playing and social media use with suicidal behaviors together with lower stress coping or poor emotion regulation strategies. Due to the inconclusive evidence regarding the factors associated with suicidal behavior, the present study aimed to overcome the limitations of previous research and explored the relationship between adolescent stress, problematic internet use (PIU), gaming disorder (GD), and emotional regulation (ER) in a cross-section design. It was hypothesized that stress would have a direct effect on suicide risk (SR) as well as being mediated by PIU, GD, and ER. METHODS: The participants comprised 430 adolescents (58.4% male) aged between 16 and 19 years. They completed an online survey including the Mobile-Related Experiences Questionnaire, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, Meta-Mood Trait Repair Scale, and Spanish version of the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 34.2% of the adolescents (N = 147) were at risk for SR. Results also indicated that 30,7% had experienced suicidal ideation at some point in their life, 12.1% had at least one plan to die by suicide, and 5.1% had attempted suicide. Results of path analysis confirmed that stress appeared to be a risk factor for suicide, but that its effects were not mediated by PIU. However, ER and GD mediated the effect of stress on SR. The results suggest that stress is a main risk factor for suicide, especially among adolescents with poor emotional regulation or problematic gaming. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the prevalence of suicide among adolescents, the results of the present study suggest that suicide prevention programs should include emotional regulation strategies, stress coping, and videogaming management skills in the early stages of high school. Providing these protective resources to adolescents will help them face the stressful and changing situations typical of adolescence and will help them to attain greater well-being and satisfaction with life.

Academic cheating and gender differences in Barcelona (Spain) / Conducta deshonesta en el aula y diferencias de género en Barcelona (España)

El presente estudio expone las características de la conducta deshonesta en el aula, describe sus causas y examina las nefastas consecuencias que tiene para el aprendizaje. Con el fin de analizar el estado de la cuestión en nuestro país, se ha hecho una entrevista psicoeducativa y se ha aplicado un cuestionario a un total de 306 alumnos de último curso de bachillerato, último curso de universidad y último curso de Psicología en Barcelona (España). Se ha comprobado que, igual cómo ocurre en otros países, más de la mitad de los estudiantes reconocen tener el hábito de copiar, y también que los chicos copian más que las chicas. Para finalizar, el trabajo expone estrategias operativas para controlar la conducta deshonesta en el aula, que incluyen: incorporar contenidos relacionados con la ética en el currículum, enseñar técnicas de análisis y resumen para evitar que los alumnos se vean obligados a copiar, y ser muy estrictos con las fechas límite y la aplicación de las normas en las instituciones educativas.

The aim of this paper is to present the issue of academic cheating, describe its causes, and examine the obstacles this behaviour creates for learning. The research was carried out with 306 students from Barcelona (Spain) which were administered both with a psycho educational interview and a questionnaire. Results are similar to those from other countries and show that more than half of the students are in the habit of frequently cheating, and that boys cheat significantly more often than girls. To finish, the text suggests teaching strategies to control academic cheating in educational institutions, such as: Being aware of the problem and taking the decision to tackle it, including ethics tuition in the curricular content, teaching summarising and rephrasing techniques, frequently revising students’ writings, and last but not least, being very strict with deadlines and not accepting unwarranted excuses repeatedly made by students for not observing them.