scholarly journals Loneliness and Depression in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Boredom and Repetitive Negative Thinking

Author(s):  
Nathan M. Hager ◽  
Matt R. Judah ◽  
Alicia L. Milam

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic triggered increased rates of depression, especially among college students. Due to social distancing guidelines, loneliness has been suspected as a prominent factor in depression during the pandemic. Research is needed to identify possible mechanisms through which loneliness conveys risk for pandemic-era depression. Two potential mechanisms are boredom and repetitive negative thinking (RNT). This study examined cross-sectional associations between depression, loneliness, boredom, and RNT in a sample of college students (N =199) in April 2020 immediately following campus closure. Results showed a serial indirect effect of loneliness on depression through boredom then RNT. Moreover, specific indirect effects of loneliness on depression were found through boredom and RNT, individually. Though limited by the cross-sectional design, these data align with cognitive-behavioral theory and identify boredom and RNT as possible mechanisms of the association between loneliness and depression in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author(s):  
Nathan M. Hager ◽  
Matt R. Judah ◽  
Alicia L. Milam

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic triggered increased rates of depression, especially among college students. Due to social distancing guidelines, loneliness has been suspected as a prominent factor in depression during the pandemic. Research is needed to identify possible mechanisms through which loneliness conveys risk for pandemic-era depression. Two potential mechanisms are boredom and repetitive negative thinking (RNT). This study examined cross-sectional associations between depression, loneliness, boredom, and RNT in a sample of college students (N =199) in April 2020 immediately following campus closure. Results showed a serial indirect effect of loneliness on depression through boredom then RNT. Moreover, specific indirect effects of loneliness on depression were found through boredom and RNT, individually. These data align with cognitive-behavioral theory and identify boredom and RNT as possible mechanisms of the association between loneliness and depression in college students. As such, boredom and RNT might be suitable treatment targets for depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Patrícia M. Pascoal ◽  
Catarina F. Raposo ◽  
Magda Sofia Roberto

Sexual distress is a core characteristic of sexual dysfunction; however, little is known about its correlates. In the current study, we aimed to contribute to the understanding of both sexual distress and its positive counterpart, sexual pleasure, by taking a transdiagnostic approach to sexual distress using two types of repetitive negative thinking: worry and rumination. Because sexual activity mostly occurs in a dyadic context, we also looked at the potential mediating effect of co-worry and co-rumination, and we used them as mediators. Our preliminary exploratory quantitative study used a cross-sectional design, with a sample of 206 partnered heterosexual people. We used path analysis with parallel mediation, with structural equation modelling being performed using lavaan designed for R environment. Overall, our results show that repetitive negative thinking is associated with both sexual distress and sexual pleasure, and that neither co-rumination nor co-worry mediates these associations. The exception is the indirect effect of rumination on sexual pleasure that is mediated by co-rumination. These results demonstrate that a transdiagnostic approach to sexual distress is a new field worth exploring, and they contribute to establishing the relevance of a cognitive approach to sexual dysfunction.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Wlodarczyk

This study explored the effects intervening in the linkages of optimism and hope with subjective health in the short term after myocardial infarction. A two-wave study design was used. The sample consisted of 222 myocardial infarction survivors. When adopting a cross-sectional design, optimism and hope predicted subjective health at Time 1 and Time 2. After controlling for baseline subjective health, they were no longer significant predictors of subjective health at Time 2. Parallel indirect effects of seeking social support and problem solving were significant for both optimism and hope. After controlling for the shared variance between optimism and hope, these effects remained significant only for optimism.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Laura R. Umphrey ◽  
John C. Sherblom ◽  
Paulina Swiatkowski

Abstract. Background: Cultivating positive feelings of self in relationships with others can affect perceptions of belongingness and burdensomeness. Aims: The present study examines the relationships of self-compassion, hope, and emotional control to thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. Method: Participants were 481 college students who completed scales measuring self-compassion, hope, emotional control, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. Results: Correlation and parallel mediation analysis results show relationships between self-compassion, hope, and emotional control with perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicidal ideation. Limitations: The study is limited by its cross-sectional design, sample demographics, and inability to distinguish between individuals with suicidal ideation and those who attempt suicide. Conclusion: The results show that the relationships of self-compassion, hope, and emotional control to perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicidal ideation are worth further investigation.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Ju ◽  
Jingjing Yao ◽  
Li Ma

PurposeJob involvement is an important predictor of how well employees perform and feel at work. However, despite fruitful findings, little is known about how person–job (P–J) fit affects job involvement.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a cross-sectional design and collected data from 375 employees and 50 managers. Multivariate regression was applied to test the moderated curvilinear model.FindingsThis study found an inverted U-shaped relationship between P–J fit and job involvement. For employees with a strong performance goal orientation, maximum job involvement occurred at a higher level of P–J fit, whereas for employees with a strong learning goal orientation, maximum job involvement occurred at a moderate level of P–J fit.Practical implicationsManagers should be aware that solely maximizing fit may not constantly yield positive outcomes, and that ignoring differences in employee needs and goals may be counterproductive.Originality/valueThe study challenges the conventional wisdom that a high P–J fit is always productive by showing that a high fit may sometimes jeopardize job involvement, particularly for certain employees.


Author(s):  
I A Putri Wirawati1 ◽  
Aryati Aryati ◽  
A A Wiradewi Lestari

Neonatal sepsis is a clinical syndrome of systemic disease, accompanied by bacteremia that occurs during infants in the first month of life. A late diagnosis might increase mortality. The presence of bacteria growth in blood cultures is a definitive diagnosis. Unfortunately, culture results are usually obtained of a long time. The study aimed to analyze sensitivity and specificity of the manual I/T ratio, automatic I/T ratio, leukocyte count and procalcitonin (PCT) to diagnose neonatal sepsis. This study used a cross-sectional design, from the NICU room in Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar. There were 59 patients who met the study criteria. Along with blood culture as the gold standard in determining diagnosis of sepsis and with I/T ratio cut-off of 0.2, the sensitivity of manual I/T ratio was 69.2%, specificity 83.9%, PPV 63.9%, NPV 87% and likelihood ratio was 3.06. While the sensitivity of automatic I/T ratio was 47.6%, specificity 85.8%, PPV 55.1%, NPV 81.4% and likelihood ratio was 2.25. Based on the normal range of leukocyte count (9.1 - 34 x 103/μl), sensitivity of leukocyte count was 59%, specificity 71.5%, PPV 46.7%, NPV 80.9% and likelihood ratio was 1.59. With PCT cut-off 0.5 ng/mL, the obtained sensitivity of PCT was 64.3%, specificity 85.8%, PPV 64.3%, NPV 85.8% and likelihood ratio was 3.13. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Syeda Rubab Aftab ◽  
Jamil Ahmad Malik

Background/Aims: When people hone their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. They use their emotional skills for coping with the demands of life. This study investigated the mediating role of moral disengagement between emotional manipulation and psychological well-being. Further, the moderating role of age is tested for the mediation model of the study. Methods: This study has a cross-sectional design. Participants included students from private and public institutions (n = 542; Mean age = 18.59 years, SD = 2.10 years; gender = 46% males). Responses were collected on emotional manipulation, moral disengagement, and psychological well-being questionnaires. Analyses were conducted using SPSS 21 and PROCESS 3.1. Results: The correlation analysis showed that both in late adolescents and young adults, moral disengagement negatively correlated with psychological well-being. However, the correlation is much stronger for young adults as compared to late adolescents. Similarly, emotional manipulation has a stronger positive correlation with moral disengagement in young adults compared to late adolescents. Results also showed that moral disengagement and emotional manipulation is higher in males than females, and psychological well-being is higher in females than males. Moral disengagement appeared to be a negative mediator for the relationship between emotional manipulation and psychological well-being. Further, age moderated the indirect effect of emotional manipulation on psychological well-being through moral disengagement. The moderation of age suggests that young adults are more inclined toward moral disengagement behaviors for manipulating emotions in comparison to late adolescents. Conclusions: It is concluded that use of emotional manipulation is associated with a direct increase in psychological well-being; however, indirect emotional manipulation decreases psychological well-being, with an increased use of moral disengagement. Moreover, this indirect effect is stronger in young adults compared to late adolescents, as young adults are more inclined toward moral disengagement.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leodoro J. Labrague ◽  
Cherry Ann Ballad

AbstractBackgroundThe lockdown measures imposed by many countries since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been useful in slowing the transmission of the disease; however, there is growing concern regarding their adverse consequences on overall health and well-being, particularly among young people. To date, most studies have focused on the mental health consequences of the lockdown measures, while studies assessing how this disease control measure influences the occurrence of fatigue are largely absent.AimThe aims of this study are two-fold: (a) to examine the levels of lockdown fatigue, and (2) to determine the role of coping behaviours, personal resilience, psychological well-being and perceived health in fatigue associated to the lockdown measure.MethodsThis is an online cross-sectional study involving 243 college students in the Central Philippines during the sixth month of the lockdown measure implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Five standardised scales were used to collect the data.ResultsOverall, college students reported moderate levels of lockdown fatigue, with a mean score of 31.54 (out of 50). Physical exhaustion or tiredness, headaches and body pain, decreased motivation and increased worry were the most pronounced manifestations of fatigue reported. Gender and college year were identified as important predictors of fatigue. Increased personal resilience and coping skills were associated with lower levels of lockdown fatigue.ConclusionCollege students experience moderate levels of fatigue during the mandatory lockdown or home confinement period. Resilient students and those who perceive higher social support experience lower levels of fatigue during the lockdown period compared to students with low resilience and social support. Lockdown fatigue may be addressed by formulating and implementing interventions to enhance personal resilience and social support among college students.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
Barr. Emmanuel Imuetinyan Obarisiagbon ◽  
Mannie Omagie

Abstract Kidnapping for ransom has been on the increase in the last ten years in Nigeria and there appears to be no end in sight despite the existence of a police force whose statutory function of crime detection and prevention has come under fire for its abysmal performance. This study therefore examined the public perception of the role of the Nigeria police force in curbing the menace of kidnapping in Benin Metropolis, Southern Nigeria. This study adopted the problem-oriented policing theory in its explanation of the topic under investigation. It also employed the survey and cross-sectional design. The quantitative technique was utilized to collect data from the respondents while a total of 960 respondents were quantitatively sampled. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data collected from the field. Findings from this investigation showed that there is a very poor public perception of the police and that there are a multiplicity of obstacles hindering the efforts of the police at curbing the activities of kidnappers in Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that government should improve the funding of the police to boost the morale of the rank and file while the police on its part should get rid of the bad elements within its system in order for public confidence to be restored in its ability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-50
Author(s):  
Lucia Rațiu ◽  
Ana-Maria Dobre

There is a large body of literature devoted to factors that shape performance in organizations. Although much of this literature focuses on the relationships between job demands, job resources and performance, Bakker and his colleagues (2014; 2018) have recently drawn attention to self-undermining effects that can add support for a deeper understanding of such a relationship. The following contribution explores self-undermining related to exhaustion at work and its mediating role in the perception of three types of job demands in a sample of employees working in IT companies. More specifically, the paper draws on the concept of self-undermining to reflect on how it activates a loss cycle of job demands and potential negative reactions at work. We argue that (i) exhaustion has an indirect effect on the perception of job demands through self-undermining; and so on referring to each dimension of job demands: (ii) exhaustion has an indirect effect on the perception of workload through self-undermining; (iii) exhaustion has an indirect effect on the emotional load through self-undermining; (iv) exhaustion has an indirect effect on the cognitive load through self-undermining. In order to test the hypotheses, a cross-sectional design was employed. The regression analyses revealed that self-undermining mediated the relationship between exhaustion and the perception of workload meeting our expectations, and a significant indirect effect of exhaustion on the perception of job demands and emotional load. However, there is a need for future studies to generalize the results. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


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