Is the Association Between Alcohol Consumption and Mental Well-Being in University Students Linear, Curvilinear or Absent?

Background: Both alcohol consumption and mental well-being problems have been found to be prevalent in higher educated students and often have severe consequences. However, previous findings of the association between these constructs are mixed, possibly because often linear models are fitted, while some theories suggest a curvilinear association between the two concepts. Objectives: To clarify previously mixed findings, the current study compared curvilinear and linear models for the relationship between alcohol consumption and mental well-being in university students. Because of potential gender differences in this relationship, these models were explored for females and males separately. Data from the first cross-sectional online survey wave of the Healthy Student Life project including 2,631 female and 998 male students was used. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-consumption was used to measure alcohol consumption. Mental well-being was assessed by six sub-concepts (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, happiness, and self-rated mental health). Results: For females both linear (for anxiety, life satisfaction, and self-rated mental health) and curvilinear (for depression, stress, and happiness) associations were found, while for males no support for either curvilinear or linear models was found. Conclusions: Results should be interpreted with caution due to the small effect sizes in the relationships for females but may suggest that testing the curvilinear association between alcohol consumption and mental well-being is an important future endeavor.

Prevalence and clustering of health behaviours and the association with socio-demographics and mental well-being in Dutch university students.

The college years represent a vulnerable period for developing health-risk behaviours (e.g., physical inactivity/unhealthy eating habits/substance use/problematic internet use/insufficient sleep). This study examined current health behaviour levels (RQ1), health behaviour classes (RQ2) and between-class differences in socio-demographics (RQ3) and mental well-being (RQ4) among Dutch university students (n = 3771). Participants (Mage = 22.7 (SD = 4.3); 71.2% female/27.3% male/1.5% other) completed an online survey (Oct-Nov 2021). Descriptive statistics (RQ1), Latent Class Analysis (RQ2), and Kruskal-Wallis/Chi-square tests (RQ3-4) were used. RQ1: Prevalence rates suggest that a subsequent proportion of the student sample engages in health-risk behaviours. RQ2: Four classes were identified: class 1 (n = 862) "Licit substance use health-risk group", class 2 (n = 435) "Illicit and licit substance use health-risk group", class 3 (n = 1876) "Health-protective group" and class 4 (n = 598) "Non-substance use health-risk group". RQ3: Class 1 represents relatively more international students and students in a steady relationship. Class 2 represents relatively more older/male/(pre-)master students and students living with roommates/in a steady relationship/with more financial difficulty. Class 3 represents relatively more younger/female students and students living with family/with lower Body Mass Index (BMI)/less financial difficulty. Class 4 represents relatively more younger/non-Western/international/bachelor students and students living with children/single/part of LGBTIQ+ community/with higher BMI. RQ4: Class 3 has significantly higher mental well-being while class 4 has significantly lower mental well-being, relative to the other classes. Above findings provide new insights which can help educational institutes and governments better understand the clustering of students' health behaviours and between-class differences in socio-demographics and mental well-being.

Student-, Study- and COVID-19-Related Predictors of Students' Smoking, Binge Drinking and Cannabis Use before and during the Initial COVID-19 Lockdown in The Netherlands.

Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis are commonly used among university students. However, student lives and their substance use have changed dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on (trends in) weekly smoking, weekly binge drinking and weekly cannabis use in Dutch university students and investigated associated student-, study- and COVID-19-related characteristics. Between April and June 2020, several Dutch higher educational institutes invited their students to participate in an online survey. Data of 9967 students (Mage = 22.0 (SD = 2.6); Nfemale = 7008 (70.3%)) were available for analyses. Overall, weekly smoking remained stable (±11.5%), weekly binge drinking decreased (from 27.8% to 13.9%) and weekly cannabis use increased (from 6.7% to 8.6%). Male gender, not living with parents, being a bachelor student, having less financial resources and less adherence to the COVID-19 measures were found to increase the risk of substance use (before/during the first COVID-19 lockdown). Additionally, male gender, not living with parents, being a bachelor student, not being born in the Netherlands and having a student loan contributed to the likelihood of increased substance use during COVID-19. Patterns of characteristics contributing to the likelihood of decreased weekly substance use during COVID-19 were less clear. The risk factors male gender, not living with parents and being a bachelor student do not only contribute to the likelihood of using substances but also contribute to the likelihood of increased use during a lockdown. Prevention and intervention programs should especially target these risk groups.

How children's victimization relates to distorted versus sensitive social cognition: Perception, mood, and need fulfillment in response to Cyberball inclusion and exclusion.

This study examined whether victimization is associated with negatively distorted social cognition (bias), or with a specific increased sensitivity to social negative cues, by assessing the perception of social exclusion and the consequences for psychological well-being (moods and fundamental needs). Both self-reported and peer-reported victimization of 564 participants (Mage=9.9years, SD=1.04; 49.1% girls) were measured, and social exclusion was manipulated through inclusion versus exclusion in a virtual ball-tossing game (Cyberball). Children's perceptions and psychological well-being were in general more negative after exclusion than after inclusion. Moreover, self-reported-but not peer-reported-victimization was associated with the perception of being excluded more and receiving the ball less, as well as more negative moods and less fulfillment of fundamental needs, regardless of being excluded or included during the Cyberball game. In contrast, peer-reported victimization was associated with more negative mood and lower need fulfillment in the exclusion condition only. Together, these results suggest that children who themselves indicate being victimized have negatively distorted social cognition, whereas children who are being victimized according to their peers experience increased sensitivity to negative social situations. The results stress the importance of distinguishing between self-reported and peer-reported victimization and have implications for interventions aimed at victimized children's social cognition.

Unanimous versus partial rejection: How the number of excluders influences the impact of ostracism in children.

Previous research has shown that ostracism-the experience of being ignored and excluded-has negative effects on all of us, young and old. Using a Cyberball paradigm, the present research replicates the effects of ostracism on the moods (anger, anxiety, happiness, and anger) and fundamental needs (belongingness, control, meaningful existence, and self-esteem) of children (Study 1) and then extends the literature by examining the role of the number of ostracizers and inclusive members in this process by randomly assigning children to conditions varying in degree of ostracism (Study 2). Results of both studies showed that experiencing ostracism strongly and negatively affected all moods and fundamental needs-with the exception of anxiety. Study 2 in addition showed that the ratio of excluders to inclusive group members had different effects across outcomes. In all cases, complete ostracism produced the worst outcomes, suggesting that the presence of even a single ally reduces children's distress. For sadness, unanimous ostracism seemed particularly toxic. In some cases, facing two ostracizers produced significantly worse outcomes than only one, suggesting that consensual rejection might drive the negative effects on happiness, and sense of belonging, control, and meaningful existence. For self-esteem, only one ostracizer (in the presence of two inclusive members) was sufficient to induce a negative effect. Aggr. Behav. 43:190-203, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Attribution of human characteristics and bullying involvement in childhood: Distinguishing between targets.

This investigation researched the association between the attribution of human characteristics and bullying involvement in children by distinguishing between targets. Study 1 focused on the attribution of human characteristics by bullies, victims, bully/victims, and non-involved children toward friends and non-friends. The data from 405 children (M = 10.7 years old) showed that they attributed fewer prosocial and more antisocial human characteristics to non-friends than to friends. Moreover, boy victims attributed fewer prosocial human characteristics to non-friends than boy bullies and non-involved boys did. In addition, victims attributed more antisocial human characteristics to non-friends than non-involved children did. Study 2 addressed bullies', victims', bully/victims', and non-involved children's attribution of human characteristics to each other. The data of 264 children (M = 10.0 years old) showed that bullies, victims, and bully/victims attributed fewer prosocial and more antisocial human characteristics to each other than to non-involved children. Non-involved children attributed fewer prosocial human characteristics to bully/victims than to bullies and victims, and more antisocial human characteristics to bully/victims than to victims. In addition, girls attributed more prosocial and fewer antisocial human characteristics to girls than to boys, whereas boys did not distinguish between girls and boys. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research are provided and implications for bullying prevention and intervention are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 42:394-403, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Interpretations of bullying by bullies, victims, and bully-victims in interactions at different levels of abstraction.

According to the Social Information Processing Model of children's adjustment, children develop general interpretation styles for future social events based on past social experiences. Previous research has shown associations between interpretations of social situations and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. This study investigated whether bullies, victims, bully-victims, and uninvolved children interpreted ambiguous human interactions differently in terms of bullying and whether these interpretations generalized to abstract non-human interactions. Participants were 390 children (49% girls, Mage = 10.3 years) who completed self-report measures of bullying and victimization. In addition, they indicated whether video fragments of positive, negative, or ambiguous interactions between humans, animals, and abstract figures depicted bullying situations. Bully-victims reported more bullying than victims and uninvolved children in ambiguous abstract figure, animal, and human fragments and in positive animal fragments. Children who bully did not differ from the other groups. These findings indicate that interpretations of bullying generalized from ambiguous human interactions to more abstract ambiguous animal and abstract figure interactions. Implications for further research and practice were discussed.

Empathy and involvement in bullying in children and adolescents: a systematic review.

Based on the premise that bullies are deficient in empathy or even lack it completely, bullying prevention and intervention programs often include empathy training. These programs are not always as effective as they aim to be, which may be caused by a failure to acknowledge the multidimensional nature of empathy as well as its complex association with involvement in bullying. To provide a clear overview of the research on the association between empathy and involvement in bullying, this article systematically reviews 40 studies on the association of cognitive empathy (24 studies) and affective empathy (38 studies) with four categories of involvement in bullying: bullying, victimization, defending, and bystanding. The results showed that bullying was negatively associated with cognitive and-in particular-affective empathy. Victimization was negatively associated with cognitive empathy but not with affective empathy. Defending was consistently positively associated with both types of empathy. Contradictory findings were observed in bystanding, with studies reporting both negative and positive associations with cognitive empathy, and studies reporting negative and no associations with affective empathy. Together, the findings stress the importance of the distinction between cognitive and affective empathy in involvement in bullying and suggest different intervention strategies for the four types of involvement in bullying.

Dehumanization in children: the link with moral disengagement in bullying and victimization.

The current study explored subtle dehumanization-the denial of full humanness-in children, using distinctions of forms (i.e., animalistic vs. mechanistic) and social targets (i.e., friends vs. non-friends). In addition, the link between dehumanization and moral disengagement in bullying and victimization was investigated. Participants were 800 children (7-12 years old) from third to fifth grade classrooms. Subtle animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization toward friends and non-friends were measured with the new Juvenile Dehumanization Measure. Results showed that animalistic dehumanization was more common than mechanistic dehumanization and that non-friends were dehumanized more than friends. The highest levels of dehumanization were found in animalistic form toward non-friends and the lowest levels in mechanistic form toward friends. Both moral disengagement and animalistic dehumanization toward friends were positively associated with bullying. However, moral disengagement was negatively associated with victimization, whereas both animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization toward non-friends were positively associated with victimization. The current findings indicate that children are able to distinguish different forms and targets of dehumanization and that dehumanization plays a distinct role from moral disengagement in bullying and victimization.

Zen meditation and access to information in the unconscious.

In two experiments and two different research paradigms, we tested the hypothesis that Zen meditation increases access to accessible but unconscious information. Zen practitioners who meditated in the lab performed better on the Remote Associate Test (RAT; Mednick, 1962) than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. In a new, second task, it was observed that Zen practitioners who meditated used subliminally primed words more than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.