Understanding university students' attitudes and preferences for internet-based mental health interventions.

Internet-based interventions are recognised as a practical approach to address mental health issues. The acceptance and utilisation of such interventions are closely linked to user attitudes and preferences. This study aims to examine the predictors of university students' attitudes towards internet-based interventions. Additionally, it seeks to elucidate students' preferences regarding crucial features of these interventions, such as the format, delivery mode, content type, and structural components, to understand better what makes these interventions appealing and practical for university students. A total of 273 university students (comprising 68 % females and 32 % males) participated in the study. The data collection instruments employed were the Personal Information Form, Internet-Based Intervention Preference Survey, E-therapy Attitude Measure (ETAM), Digital Literacy Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The data were analysed utilising descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. The multiple regression analysis revealed digital literacy as a predictive factor for attitudes towards internet-based interventions. Demographic variables, such as age and gender, and psychological variables, such as depression and anxiety levels, were found not to be associated with attitudes towards these interventions. While students are actively seeking mental health information online, a significant majority remain unaware of internet-based interventions. They show a preference for interventions offering greater human interaction, including face-to-face guidance and video content featuring people. Participants favour completing one or two sessions of the intervention weekly. Desired features of internet-based interventions include self-assessment scales, relatable characters, voice relaxation exercises, practical daily life activity tasks, and weekly reminders throughout the process. In conclusion, initiatives aimed at enhancing digital literacy levels could foster more positive attitudes towards internet-based interventions among students. Developers creating Internet-Based Interventions (IBI) for university students should consider these preferences.

Grandiose Narcissism and Trait Anxiety among Adolescents:The Mediating Role of Perfectionism when Self-esteem is controlled / Narcisismo grandioso y ansiedad rasgo entre adolescentes: el papel mediador del perfeccionismo cuando se controla la autoestima

It seems quite interesting that during adolescence anxiety levels can spiral out of control. This is due to several factors; one of the possible determinants is personality traits such as narcissism. Contrary to high self-esteem being a predictive factor of mental health, narcissism needs self-esteem in order to be beneficial for a person. Therefore, as two factors of personality traits, self-esteem and narcissism need to be distinguished from each other. Narcissistic individuals try to meet their affirmation needs by setting perfectionistic goals and significant relationships between perfec-tionism dimensions and anxiety has been revealed in the related literature. Using a structural equation modeling, this study investigated the mediation role of perfectionism dimensions in the relationships between grandiose narcissistic personality trait and trait anxiety when self-esteem was con-trolled. A sample of 338 adolescents (192 females, 146 males, mean age = 15.84 years, SD= 1.01) from five high schools participated in the study. The participants completed the instruments including the Demographic Information Form aimed to gather personal information, the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the trait anxiety dimension of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Child and Adolescents Perfectionism Scale, and the Narcis-sistic Personality Inventory. Findings revealed that adaptive perfectionism mediated the relationship between grandiose narcissism and trait anxiety when self-esteem was controlled. This study indicates that practitioners working with adolescents should focus on interventions, which aimed to decrease perfectionistic tendencies of adolescents.(AU)

Parece bastante interesante que durante la adolescencia los ni-veles de ansiedad pueden salirse de control. Esto se debe a varios factores; uno de los posibles determinantes son los rasgos de personalidad como el narcisismo. Contrariamente a que la autoestima alta es un factor predictivo de la salud mental, el narcisismo necesita autoestima para ser beneficioso para una persona. Por lo tanto, como dos factores de rasgos de personali-dad, la autoestima y el narcisismo deben distinguirse entre sí. Los indivi-duos narcisistas intentan satisfacer sus necesidades de afirmación estable-ciendo objetivos perfeccionistas y se han revelado relaciones significativas entre las dimensiones del perfeccionismo y la ansiedad en la literatura rela-cionada. Usando un modelo de ecuación estructural, este estudio investigó el papel de mediación de las dimensiones del perfeccionismo en las relacio-nes entre el rasgo de personalidad narcisista grandioso y el rasgo de ansie-dad cuando se controló la autoestima. Participaron en el estudio una mues-tra de 338 adolescentes (192 mujeres, 146 hombres, edad media = 15.84 años, DE= 1.01) de cinco colegios de secundaria. Los participantes com-pletaron los instrumentos, entre ellos el Formulario de Información De-mográfica destinado a recopilar información personal, la Escala de Autoes-tima de Rosenberg, la dimensión de ansiedad rasgo del Inventario de An-siedad Estado-Rasgo, la Escala de Perfeccionismo del Niño y el Adolescen-te y el Inventario de Personalidad Narcisista. Los hallazgos revelaron que el perfeccionismo adaptativo medió en la relación entre el narcisismo gran-dioso y el rasgo de ansiedad cuando se controló la autoestima. Este estudio indica que los profesionales que trabajan con adolescentes deben centrarse en las intervenciones cuyo objetivo sea disminuir las tendencias perfeccio-nistas de los adolescentes.(AU)

Acute effects of cocoa flavanols on visual working memory: maintenance and updating.

BACKGROUND: Consumption of cocoa flavanols may have acute physiological effects on the brain due to their ability to activate nitric oxide synthesis. Nitric oxide mediates vasodilation, which increases cerebral blood flow, and can also act as a neurotransmitter. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine whether cocoa flavanols have an acute influence on visual working memory (WM). METHODS: Two separate randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced crossover experiments were conducted on normal healthy young adult volunteers (NExp1 = 48 and NExp2 = 32, gender-balanced). In these experiments, 415 mg of cocoa flavanols were administered to test their acute effects on visual working memory. In the first experiment, memory recall precision was measured in a task that required only passive maintenance of grating orientations in WM. In the second experiment, recall was measured after active updating (mental rotation) of WM contents. Habitual daily flavanols intake, body mass index, and gender were also considered in the analysis. RESULTS: The results suggested that neither passive maintenance in visual WM nor active updating of WM were acutely enhanced by consumption of cocoa flavanols. Exploratory analyses with covariates (body mass index and daily flavanols intake), and the between-subjects factor of gender also showed no evidence for effects of cocoa flavanols, neither in terms of reaction time, nor accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, cocoa flavanols did not improve visual working memory recall performance during maintenance, nor did it improve recall accuracy after memory updating.

Exploring the associations between narcissism, intentions towards infidelity, and relationship satisfaction: Attachment styles as a moderator.

The ultimate goal of this research was twofold: (1) to investigate the associations between narcissism, intentions towards infidelity, and relationship satisfaction; and (2) to explore the moderating effect of attachment styles on the link between intentions towards infidelity and narcissism. The findings revealed that the link between narcissism and relationship satisfaction is fully mediated by intentions towards infidelity. Similarly, the full mediating effect of relationship satisfaction exists in the association between narcissism and intentions towards infidelity. Mediational analyses further revealed that narcissism is a predictor of intentions towards infidelity, and this link is moderated by preoccupied, fearful, and dismissive attachment styles. As the results indicate, narcissism plays a significant role in young adults' intimate relationships, and attachment styles have a moderating role in narcissism's effect on romantic relationships. Results and implications are discussed in light of the relevant research findings.