Quality of life changes over time and predictors in a large head and neck patients' cohort: secondary analysis from an Italian multi-center longitudinal, prospective, observational study-a study of the Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO) head and neck working group.

PURPOSE: The present study examined the longitudinal trajectories, through hierarchical modeling, of quality of life among patients with head and neck cancer, specifically symptoms burden, during radiotherapy, and in the follow-up period (1, 3, 6, and 12 months after completion of radiotherapy), through the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory Head and Neck questionnaire, formed by three factors. Furthermore, analyses were conducted controlling for socio-demographic as well as clinical characteristics. METHODS: Multi-level mixed-effects linear regression was used to estimate the association between quality of life and time, age, gender, household, educational level, employment status, ECOG performance status, human papilloma virus (HPV) status, surgery, chemotherapy, alcohol intake, and smoking. RESULTS: Among the 166 participants, time resulted to be a predictor of all the three questionnaire factors, namely, general and specific related symptoms and interference with daily life. Moreover, regarding symptom interference with daily activities factor, HPV-positive status played a significant role. Considering only HPV-negative patients, only time predicted patients' quality of life. Differently, among HPV-positive patients, other variables, such as gender, educational level, alcohol use, surgery, age at diagnosis, employment status, and ECOG status, resulted significant. CONCLUSION: It was evident that quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer declined during RT, whereas it slowly improved after ending treatment. Our results clarified the role of some socio-demographic and clinical variables, for instance, HPV, which would allow to develop treatments tailored to each patient.

Observers' performance at evaluating truthfulness when provided with comparable truth or small talk baselines.

Research has shown that the comparable truth baseline technique outperforms the small talk with respect to the elicitation of cues to deception. However, their impact on observers' accuracy has not been evaluated yet. In this experiment, participants (N = 74) watched ten interviews where senders either lied or told the truth about a set of tasks. Half of the interviews were conducted with a comparable truth baseline, the other half with a small talk baseline. As predicted, results showed that observers in the comparable truth baseline condition outperformed participants in the small talk baseline condition in terms of total accuracy rates. The article sheds light on the impact of the two baseline techniques in distinguishing truth-tellers from liars and discourages the use of a small talk baseline. It also provides insights for future studies.

Police accuracy in truth/lie detection when judging baseline interviews.

Research has shown that a comparable truth baseline (CTB) approach elicits more cues to deception and results in higher accuracy rates than a small talk baseline. Past research focused on laypeople's accuracy rates. We examined whether the CTB also has a positive effect on law enforcement personnel accuracy. In this study, 95 police officers judged 10 interviews, whereby half of the senders told the truth, and the other half lied about a mock undercover mission. Half of the interviews included only questioning about the event under investigation, whereas the other half also included questioning aimed at creating a CTB. Total and truth accuracy did not differ, but observers who watched interviews with a CTB obtained higher lie detection accuracy rates than those who watched interviews without the baseline questioning. Signal detection analyses showed that this effect could be attributed to a decreased response bias in the CTB condition.

Introducing the high-context communication style interview protocol to detect deception in pairs.

In four experiments, we examined whether pairs of truth tellers could be distinguished from pairs of lie tellers by taking advantage of the fact that only pairs of truth tellers can refer to shared events by using brief expressions (high-context communication style). In Experiments 1 and 2, pairs of friends and pairs of strangers pretending to be friends answered (i) questions they likely had expected to be asked (e.g., 'How did you first meet'?) and (ii) unexpected questions (e.g., 'First, describe a shared event in a few words. Then elaborate on it'). Pairs were interviewed individually (Experiment 1, N = 134 individuals) or collectively (Experiment 2, N = 130 individuals). Transcripts were coded for the verbal cues details, complications, plausibility, predictability, and overlap (Experiment 1 only) or repetitions (Experiment 2 only). In two lie detection experiments observers read the individual transcripts in Experiment 3 (N = 146) or the collective transcripts in Experiment 4 (N = 138). The verbal cues were more diagnostic of veracity and observers were better at distinguishing between truths and lies in the unexpected than in the expected questions condition, but only when the pair members were interviewed individually.

Cues to deception: can complications, common knowledge details, and self-handicapping strategies discriminate between truths, embedded lies and outright lies in an Italian-speaking sample?

Deception research has shown that analysing verbal content can be effective to distinguish between truths and lies. However, most verbal cues are cues to truthfulness (truth tellers report the cue more than lie tellers), whereas cues to deception (lie tellers report the cue more than truth tellers) are largely absent. The complication approach, measuring complications (cue to truthfulness), common knowledge details (cue to deception), self-handicapping strategies (cue to deception), and the ratio of complications, aims to fill this gap in the literature. The present experiment examined the effectiveness of the complication approach when varying the amount of lying, with an Italian sample. Seventy-eight participants were assigned to one of three different experimental conditions: Truth tellers (telling the truth about the event), embedders (providing a mixture of truthful and false information) and outright lie tellers (providing false information). Participants were interviewed about a past experience concerning an out of the ordinary event. Complications discriminated truth tellers from lie tellers. The absence of significant effects for common knowledge details and self-handicapping strategies, the limitations of the experiment and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Narrative Review and Analysis of the Use of "Lifestyle" in Health Psychology.

Lifestyle is a complex and often generic concept that has been used and defined in different ways in scientific research. Currently, there is no single definition of lifestyle, and various fields of knowledge have developed theories and research variables that are also distant from each other. This paper is a narrative review of the literature and an analysis of the concept of lifestyle and its relationship to health. This contribution aims to shed light on the lifestyle construct in health psychology. In particular, the first part of this manuscript reexamines the main definitions of lifestyle in the psychological and sociological fields through three perspectives: internal, external, and temporal. The main components that characterise lifestyle are highlighted. The second part of this paper explores the main concepts of lifestyle in health, underlining their strengths and weaknesses, and proposes an alternative definition of a healthy lifestyle, which integrates the individual dimensions with the social and cycle dimensions of life. In conclusion, a brief indication of a research agenda is presented.

The role of individual features of memory and impulsiveness in telling a true or false story in a realistic, clear, and reconstructible way.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore whether there was an interaction effect between such personal aspects and veracity on realism, clarity, and reconstructability of the story. Methods: A total of 158 participants took part in the experiment and were asked to tell a truth and a lie during an interview (veracity condition). They filled in a questionnaire measuring their metamemory performance and their level of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity. A k-means cluster analysis on metamemory and impulsivity was conducted, and three clusters were obtained: controlled-memory inefficient, controlled-memory efficient, and impulsive-average memory. Results: The results showed that participants scored higher on all three reality monitoring criteria when telling the truth than when lying. Further, a cluster membership by veracity interaction for realism was also significant, but when telling the truth, there was no difference between clusters in terms of realism used in the explanation. Follow-up analyses showed that, when lying, the level of realism in the story was significantly higher for people belonging to the cluster "impulsive-average memory" than for people belonging to the cluster "controlled-memory efficient", a result that seems to indicate that people with good memory and can control dysfunctional impulsivity have more difficulties when lying. Conclusions: Research has shown that realism, clarity, and reconstructability of the story, all part of reality monitoring, can be useful to assess veracity. Generally, truth tellers obtain higher scores on all three variables than liars, but there is some variability across individuals owing to their personal characteristics. Metamemory and impulsivity also play a role in deception. From the implications of the results, the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also provided.

The representation of child-parent relation: validation of the Italian version of the child-parent relationship scale (CPRS-I).

This study proposes a psychometric validation of the Italian version of the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) developed by Pianta in 1992. Based on attachment theory, the scale assesses parents' relationship perceptions with their own child and comprises three scales: Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. A sample of 501 parents (188 fathers and 313 mothers) completed 30 items of the Italian version of the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS-I) online, but only 437 answered 85% of the entire protocol; hence, the analyses only focused on 437 participants. The first analysis of the original theoretical model revealed poor fit, item loadings, and internal consistency. Therefore, a follow-up analysis was conducted. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses with a split sample (EFA = 218; CFA = 219) confirmed the original three-factor structure of the Italian sample, although some items were eliminated. The validity and reliability of the Italian version of the CPRS-I were also verified by correlating the above three factors with measures of adult attachment styles and children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The CPRS-I showed significant correlations with all tested constructs, in line with those found by Driscoll and Pianta for the short form of the scale. Our results confirm that the CPRS-I has the same structure as the original scale; therefore, it can be a useful tool for assessing parents' perceptions of their relationship with their children. The implications for educational and clinical settings are also discussed.

Decision-making abilities under risk and ambiguity in adults with traumatic brain injury: what do we know so far? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major health and socio-economic problem since it is one of the major sources of death and disability worldwide. TBI patients usually show high heterogeneity in their clinical features, including both cognitive and emotional/behavioral alterations. As it specifically concerns cognitive functioning, these patients usually show decision-making (DM) deficits. DM is commonly considered a complex and multistep process that is strictly linked to both hot and cold executive functioning and is pivotal for daily life functioning and patients' autonomy. However, the results are not always in agreement, with some studies that report huge alterations in the DM processes, while others do not. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aims to integrate past literature on this topic, providing a clear and handy picture both for researchers and clinicians. Thirteen studies addressing domain-general DM abilities were included from an initial N = 968 (from three databases). Results showed low heterogeneity between the studies (I2 = 7.90, Q (12) = 13.03, p = .37) supporting the fact that, overall, TBI patients showed lower performance in DM tasks as compared to healthy controls (k = 899, g = .48, 95% CI [0.33; 0.62]) both in tasks under ambiguity and under risk. The evidence that emerged from this meta-analysis denotes a clear deficit of DM abilities in TBI patients. However, DM tasks seemed to have good sensitivity but low specificity. A detailed description of patients' performances and the role of both bottom-up, hot executive functions and top-down control functions have been further discussed. Finally, future directions and practical implications for both researchers and clinicians have been put forward.

Assessment of Family, Peers, and Externalising Behaviour Dimensions in Adolescence: The Proposal of a Comprehensive Instrument (FPEB).

In the context of externalising behaviour problems, risk factor research (RFR) focuses on risk and protective factors of juvenile delinquency, which can pertain to individual, system, and societal levels. Several instruments aiming at measuring these factors have been developed, but a comprehensive research tool is missing. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a questionnaire, the "Family, Peers, and Externalising Behaviour in adolescence" (FPEB) as a tool for assessing adolescents' tendency of externalising behaviour, the quality of relation with their parents, and peer-relations. FPEB was administered to 835 Italian students (36.8% males, age M = 13.81, SD = 1.54) together with the Moral Disengagement questionnaire to test concurrent validity. Data about socio-demographics and school performance were also collected. An EFA (Promax rotation, subsample A, n = 444) resulted in a four-factor structure that was corroborated by a CFA (subsample B, n = 388). The factors were "externalising behaviour" (var 13.16%), "peer relations difficulties" (var 11.10%), "Family conflict" (var 8.32%), and "lack of family negotiation" (var 7.11%) and showed good internal consistency (all α ≥ 0.65). There were differences between males and females in the correlational patterns of the four factors. The FPEB factors also showed good concurrent validity: two of the four factors ("lack of family negotiation" and "externalising behaviour") and the total score of the scale correlated with the "Moral disengagement scale", whereas peer relation difficulties did not. Further analyses also showed gender differences (except for "peer relations difficulties") and an association between students' school performance and "externalising behaviour", "family conflict", and the total FPEB scores. We concluded that the FPEB is a tool that is potentially useful to assess risk and protective factors and to plan targeted interventions (focusing on the specific area). Limitations and suggestions for further improvements are also discussed.

Profiling the Interrogee: Applying the Person-Centered Approach in Investigative Interviewing Research.

In the past, deception detection research has explored whether there were specific personal characteristics that were related to lying and found that factors such as personality and morality are indeed related to lying. However, past research has usually focused on a variable-centered approach. Yet, a person-centered might be more suitable here as it allows for the study of people in an integrative manner. In this experiment, 673 students completed a questionnaire which included measures of the five factors of personality, the level of moral disengagement, the perceived cognitive load when lying, lying strategies, frequency of lying and the LiES scale, a tool measuring the tendency to tell self-serving, altruistic and vindicative lies. We performed a Latent Profile Analysis to integrate personality, moral disengagement, and perceived cognitive load scores into specific profiles. Then, we related profile membership to lying behavior. We obtained four profiles, and found that extraversion, moral disengagement, and the perceived cognitive load contributed most to profile differences. We also found that lying frequency did not differ across profiles, whereas lying tendency did. In conclusion, our results suggest that several facets of the individual play a joint role in lying behavior, and that adopting a person-centered approach might be a good strategy to explore the role of interpersonal differences in lie detection research.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs of University Students: Examining Factor Validity and Measurement Invariance of the New Academic Self-Efficacy Scale.

Academic self-efficacy beliefs influence students' academic and career choices, as well as motivational factors and learning strategies promoting effective academic success. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the academic self-efficacy of university students in comparison to students at other levels. Furthermore, extant measures present several limitations. The first aim of this study was to develop a reliable and valid scale assessing university students' self-efficacy beliefs in managing academic tasks. The second aim was to investigate differences in academic self-efficacy due to gender, years of enrollment, and student status. The study involved 831 students (age M = 21.09 years; SD = 1.34 years; 66.3% women) enrolled in undergraduate programs. Indicators of academic experiences and performance (i.e., number of exams passed and average exam rating) were collected. A new scale measuring students' academic self-efficacy beliefs was administered. Results from a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis were consistently supported by findings from a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Multigroup CFA supported the presence of measurement invariance. Analyses revealed that the new scale has eight factors: "Planning Academic Activities," "Learning Strategies," "Information Retrieval," "Working in Groups," "Management of Relationships with Teachers," "Managing Lessons," "Stress Management," and "Thesis Work." Self-efficacy dimensions showed significant relations with academic experiences and students' performance indicators, as well as differences due to gender, years of enrollment, and student status. Findings are discussed in terms of practical implications for the implementation of intervention programs aimed at fostering self-efficacy beliefs and academic success.

Take the First-Person Perspective to Become Dementia-Friendly: The Use of 360° Video for Experiencing Everyday-Life Challenges With Cognitive Decline.

The current spread of dementia is engendering an emergency that is not limited to the medical issues but also involves its social dimension. Accordingly, it is necessary to promote a perspective change about the disease that supports a more inclusive view of people with dementia. To ensure this, Dementia-Friendly Communities (DFCs) have recently been developed. Nonetheless, it is not always effortless to deal with people with dementia in an inclusive way because of misconceptions about how they perceive everyday contexts and react in everyday situations. We asked 170 individuals (aged between 13 and 75) to "put themselves in the shoes of a person with dementia" for a few minutes, facilitating this through the use of a 360° video, and to try to experience how activities such as going shopping feel from the first-person perspective. Before and after the experience, participants expressed their opinions about the needs and the autonomies that are deemed to be granted to a person with dementia. The results revealed changes to social perspective after having experienced firsthand what living with dementia could be like. A deeper comprehension of what it is like to live with dementia appeared to be gained, and participants' beliefs about the needs and daily autonomies of those with dementia were modified after the experience. It is possible to conclude that, through the change of perspective, people are more willing to be inclusive toward people with dementia, as is wished for in the DFC approach, although a wider formative intervention on how to be really inclusive still seems to be required.

Detecting Lies via a Theme-Selection Strategy.

Most of deception research has focused on past events that were either completely truthful or a complete fabrication. However, people often tell a mixture of truths and lies. This could enable investigators to make within-subjects comparisons between different themes discussed in one interview, which we examined in the current experiment. Seventy-three participants took part in the experiment and were asked to either tell the truth about two themes, or to tell the truth about one theme and lie about the second theme in a HUMINT setting. Results showed that examining the differences in the amount of detail provided by the interviewees for each theme- obtained through a Theme-Selection strategy (a within-subjects measure)- yielded stronger results than examining differences between truth tellers and liars based on the entire interview without accounting for themes (between-subjects measure). The present study therefore highlighted the effectiveness of within-subjects measurements to both discriminate truth tellers from liars and to discover which section of a statement is false.

Factors affecting Observers' Accuracy when Assessing Credibility: The Effect of the Interaction between Media, Senders' Competence and Veracity.

The present experiment examined how the interaction between senders' communicative competence, veracity and the medium through which judgments were made affected observers' accuracy. Stimuli were obtained from a previous study. Observers (N = 220) judged the truthfulness of statements provided by a good truth teller, a good liar, a bad truth teller, and a bad liar presented either via an audio-only, video-only, audio-video, or transcript format. Log-linear analyses showed that the data were best explained via the saturated model, therefore indicating that all the four variables interacted, G2(0) = 0, p = 1, Q2 = 1. Follow-up analyses showed that the good liar and bad liar were best evaluated via the transcript (z = 2.5) and the audio-only medium (z = 3.9), respectively. Both the good truth teller and the bad truth teller were best assessed through the audio-video medium (z = 2.1, good truth teller, z = 3.4, bad truth teller). Results indicated that all the factors interacted and played a joint role on observers' accuracy. Difficulties and suggestions for choosing the right medium are presented.

Fixation distance and fixation duration to vertical road signs.

The distance of first-fixation to vertical road signs was assessed in 22 participants while driving a route of 8.34 km. Fixations to road signs were recorded by a mobile eye-movement-tracking device synchronized to GPS and kinematic data. The route included 75 road signs. First-fixation distance and fixation duration distributions were positively skewed. Median distance of first-fixation was 51 m. Median fixation duration was 137 ms with a modal value of 66 ms. First-fixation distance was linearly related to speed and fixation duration. Road signs were gazed at a much closer distance than their visibility distance. In a second study a staircase procedure was used to test the presentation-time threshold that lead to a 75% accuracy in road sign identification. The threshold was 35 ms, showing that short fixations to a road signs could lead to a correct identification.