Internet addiction, psychological distress, and coping responses

Title of publication

Internet addiction, psychological distress, and coping responses among adolescents and adults

Abstract

As Internet use grows so do the benefits and also the risks. Thus, it is important to identify when individuals’ Internet use is problematic. In the present study 449 participants aged from 16 to 71 years of age were sourced from a wide range of English speaking Internet forums including social media, and self-help groups. Of these, 68.9% were classified as non-problematic users, 24.4% as problematic users, and 6.7% as addictive Internet users. High use of discussion forums, high rumination levels, and low levels of self-care were the main contributing factors to Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents. For adults, though, IA was mainly predicted through engagement in online video gaming and sexual activity, low email use, as well as high anxiety and high avoidant coping. Problematic Internet users scored higher on emotion and avoidance coping responses in adults and higher on rumination and lower on self-care in adolescents. Avoidance coping responses mediated the relationship between psychological distress and Internet addiction. These findings may assist clinicians with designing interventions to target different factors associated with Internet addiction.

Link

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/cyber.2016.0669

Cite

McNicol, M. L., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2017). Internet addiction, psychological distress, and coping responses among adolescents and adults. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 20, 296-304. doi:10.1089/cyber.2016.0669

Neighborhood predictors of life domain satisfaction

Title of publication

Neighborhood predictors of life domain satisfaction and subjective wellbeing in rural and urban groups: Implications for health policy and practice

Abstract

This research investigates the extent to which satisfaction with thirteen aspects of neighborhood predicts the life domain satisfaction and subjective wellbeing (SWB) of rural (n = 408) and urban (n = 1,690) groups as measured by the seven life domains of the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) using Australian data. Open space and sharing and borrowing between neighbors were found to predict life domain satisfaction for rural respondents but not urban respondents. On the other hand, leisure facilities predict domain satisfaction for urban but not rural respondents, while trust between neighbors predicts a greater number of domains for urban respondents. Greater awareness of neighborhood predictors unique to rural or urban groups could help target public health policy aimed at maintaining SWB is these populations.

Links

http://ijw.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.198/prod.273

Cite

Kennedy, W., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2017). Neighborhood predictors of life domain satisfaction and subjective wellbeing in rural and urban groups: Implications for health policy and practice. The International Journal of Health, Wellness, and Society, 7, 83-97. 

Military training environment and attributions toward injury

Title of publication

Attributions toward injury in a military physical training environment

Abstract

The effects of military culture on causal attributions in a physical training environment were examined. The participants were male Australian Defense Force (ADF) members: 49 physical training instructors (mean age = 32.21 years) and 63 physical training participants (mean age = 34.22 years). Participants filled out a questionnaire describing 3 injury scenarios, each with a different severity of injury. The participants assigned causal attributes on 4 dimensions: lack of ability, environmental condition, lack of effort, and bad luck. There were main effects for scenario (low, moderate, and high severity of injury) and group (physical training instructors and injured trainee). Military culture may therefore encourage attributions that are internal and unstable. The results demonstrate the significant effect of military context on "normal" attribution biases. Therefore when seeking explanation of causation, there is a need to be aware of the tendency for those involved to distort attributions and how these distortions may be affected by a military context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

Links 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mil0000158
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayrecord&uid=2017-05889-001
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=browsePA.ofp&jcode=mil

Cite 

Thorsteinsson, E. B., & Loi, N. M. (2017 online first). Attributions toward injury in a military physical training environment. Military Psychology doi:10.1037/mil0000158

Sleep, mental health, and help-seeking in University students

Title of publication

Exploring poor sleep, mental health, and help-seeking intention in University students

Abstract 

University students experience common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress along with poor-sleep quality. This study explores the relationships between these concepts and help-seeking intention in a general Australian university student population. The primary aim was to examine the moderating effects of sleep quality on help-seeking intention for common mental health problems. The secondary aim was to examine sex differences in help-seeking behaviour. Method: University students, between 18 and 55 years of age ( M = 30.18, SD = 11.37, N = 117) of which 98 were female, completed an on-line survey assessing help-seeking intentions, common mental health problems, and sleep quality. Results: High levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were signi fi cantly associated with decreased sleep quality or decreased help-seeking intention. A multiple regression analysis predicted that students were more likely to report intention to seek help if they had lower scores of depression, but higher scores of stress. Help-seeking intention levels were lower for males than females. Poor-sleep quality was not found to be a moderator of help-seeking intention. Conclusion: Although the proposed moderation effect of poor-sleep quality on the relationship between common mental health problems and help-seeking intention was not supported, the study advanced our knowledge of university students ’ low intention to seek help, despite high scores of poor-sleep quality. Implications for on-campus interventions and raising awareness among students about these issues are discussed.

Link 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12160

Cite

Zochil, M. L., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2017). Exploring poor sleep, mental health, and help-seeking intention in University students. Australian Journal of Psychology. doi:10.1111/ajpy.12160

Bias in grading

Title of publication

Bias in grading: A meta-analysis of experimental research findings

Abstract 

This article provides a meta-analysis of experimental research findings on the existence of bias in subjective grading of student work such as essay writing. Twenty-three analyses, from 20 studies, with a total of 1935 graders, met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. All studies involved graders being exposed to a specific type of information about a student other than the student’s performance on a task. The hypothesized biasing characteristics included different race/ethnic backgrounds, education-related deficiencies, physical unattractiveness and poor quality of prior performance. The statistically significant overall between-groups effect size was g = 0.36. Moderator analyses showed no significant difference in effect size related to whether the work graded was from a primary school student or a university student. No one type of biasing characteristic showed a significantly higher effect size than other types. The results suggest that bias can occur in subjective grading when graders are aware of irrelevant information about the students.

Link 

http://aed.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/08/22/0004944116664618.abstract

Covered in 

The Age and Daily Mail (Australia)

Cook, H. (2016, September 1). The 'halo effect' that helps beautiful students get better marks. The Age.

White, N. (2016, September 1). Blinded by beauty: Good-looking boys get better marks at university and school because teachers are biased towards attractiveness. Mail Online. 

Cite 

Malouff, J. M., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2016). Bias in grading: A meta-analysis of experimental research findings. Australian Journal of Education, 60, 245-256. doi:10.1177/0004944116664618

Mental health of partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel

Title of publication

Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: A comparison with Australian population norms

Abstract 

Partners of Australian combat veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. The present study provides a comparative analysis of the mental health of partners of veterans with that of the Australian normative data. To compare different types of groups of partners, the study samples comprised: (a) partners of Australian combat veterans (Sample 1: n = 282, age M = 60.79, SD = 5.05), (b) a sub-sample of partners of Australian combat veterans from the previous sample (Sample 2: n = 50; M = 60.06, SD = 4.80), (c) partners of Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) personnel (Sample 3: n = 40, age M = 34.39, SD = 7.01), and (d) partners of current serving military (non-SASR) personnel (Sample 4: n = 38, age M = 32.37, SD = 6.20). Respondents completed measures assessing their reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Samples 1 and 2 comprised partners of Australian military veterans who reported significantly greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than the comparative population norms. The sample of SASR personnel partners (Sample 3) reported significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety, whereas the sample with non-SASR personnel partners (Sample 4) reported a significantly greater stress symptomatology than the comparative norms. Number of deployments was found to be associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of non-SASR veterans (Sample 4). Lessons and protective factors can be learnt from groups within the current military as to what may assist partners and families to maintain a better level of psychosocial health.

Links 

https://peerj.com/articles/2373/?td=bl (reviewed and published)
https://peerj.com/preprints/1876/?td=bl (preprint)

Cite

MacDonell, G. V., Bhullar, N., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2016). Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: A comparison with Australian population norms. PeerJ, 4, e2373. doi:10.7717/peerj.2373

Health Psychology textbook

Published in 2017: A new Health Psychology textbook with an Australian focus called "Health Psychology in Australia"

Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2017). Common models in health psychology. In Health Psychology in Australia (pp. 45-67). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2017). Health inequalities. In Health Psychology in Australia (pp. 282-304). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2017). Nutrition, exercise and health. In Health Psychology in Australia (pp. 96-125). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Dorrian*, J., Thorsteinsson*, E. B., Di Benedetto, M., Lane-Krebs, K., Day, M., Hutchinson, A., & Sherman, K. (2017). Health Psychology in Australia. Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Dorrian*, J., & Thorsteinsson*, E. B. (2017). Introduction to health psychology. In Health Psychology in Australia (pp. 1-15). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

*Equal contribution; authors listed in alphabetical order. 

Links

About the book

Student and Instructor resources