Psychometric properties of a brief version of the COVID-19 Stress Scales (CSS-B) in young adult undergraduates.

We extracted items to create a brief version of the COVID-19 Stress Scale (i.e., CSS-B) and examined its psychometric properties in young adults. A sample of 1318 first- and second-year undergraduates from five Canadian universities (mean [SD] age = 19.27 [1.35] years; 77.6% women) completed an online cross-sectional survey that included the CSS-B as well as validated measures of anxiety and depression. The 18-item CSS-B fit well on both a 5-factor and a hierarchical model indicating that the five CSS-B dimensions may be factors of the same over-arching construct. The CSS-B factor structure displayed lower-order and higher-order configural and metric invariance across sites but not scalar invariance indicating that the intercepts/means were not consistent across sites. The CSS dimensions were positively related to measures of general anxiety and depression but not so strongly as to indicate that they are measuring the same construct. The CSS-B scale is a valid measure of COVID-19 stress among young adults. It is recommended that this shorter version of the scale be considered for use in longer surveys to avoid participant fatigue.

Hazardous Drinking Mediates the Relation Between Externalizing Personality and Reduced Adherence to COVID-19 Public Health Guidelines in University Students.

Using a multigroup path analysis, we examined if hazardous alcohol use mediated the relations between elevated externalizing personality traits (i.e., impulsivity or sensation seeking) and reduced adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines. We hypothesized that those high in externalizing personality traits would demonstrate less adherence to public health guidelines and that hazardous alcohol use would mediate this relationship. First- and second-year undergraduates (N = 1232; ages 18-25) from five Canadian universities participated in a cross-sectional survey between January to April 2021. Individuals with higher levels of impulsive or sensation seeking personality traits demonstrated poorer adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines and these relations were mediated by hazardous alcohol use. Results suggest that hazardous drinking is an important target for students high in impulsivity and sensation seeking to increase their adherence to public health guidelines and thereby help control viral spread.

Gender differences in romantic relationship memories: who remembers? Who cares?

Two studies were conducted to assess patterns of gender differences in memory for romantic relationship events. Results suggested that people believe that women have better memory for romantic relationship events than men, that better relationship memory predicts higher levels of relationship well-being, and that the association between relationship memory and relationship well-being is somewhat stronger for women than for men. Women did tend to have somewhat better relationship memory than men, as assessed via subjective reports from both partners in mixed-sex relationships, and via the number of details partners provided when asked to recall a specific relationship event (i.e., their first date). Consistent with the lay theories, both own and partner's better relationship memory predicted higher levels of relationship well-being; however, the association between better relationship memory and higher levels of relationship well-being was equally strong for both genders. Implications and future research directions are discussed.