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Smartphones have many characteristics that make them attractive to adolescents. Recent work, however, has established a link between smartphone-related problems and self-esteem (self-worth) and social anxiety (fear of social relations). To date, little is known about the characteristics underpinning these relationships in combination. Driven by theory, the present study examined the association between self-esteem, social anxiety, and nomophobia (fear of being without access to a smartphone) and problem smartphone use (PSU) in a sample of early adolescents ( N = 254). Self-esteem (Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale), social anxiety (Social Avoidance and Distress Scale) and their combined contribution (self-esteem × social anxiety) served as predictor variables of nomophobia (Nomophobia Questionnaire) and PSU (Mobile Phone Problem Usage Scale – Adolescent version) in separate moderated regression analyses. We found that lower self-esteem was associated with higher nomophobia and PSU, and that higher self-esteem may be a protective factor in those lower in social anxiety, such that they are not prone to excessive smartphone use. Our findings offer preliminary markers for psychologists addressing the challenges related to excessive smartphone use in this age group.

The present study investigated the relationship between anxiety, social support, living arrangements and cognitive performance of university students during the global pandemic. Two hundred and fifteen students participated by completing online questionnaires. Separate moderated multiple regression models were used to test whether social support (Family, Friends, Significant Other subscales of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support) moderated the relationship between anxiety (Anxiety subscale of Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale), living arrangements (Living Alone vs Living with Friends and Family) and cognitive performance (Cognitive Failures Questionnaire), after controlling for comorbid depression. The results for each level of perceived social support suggested that anxiety was negatively associated with cognitive performance. Our most significant finding was that for students living alone, social support from a significant other offered a protective factor, whereby buffering the anxiety related cognitive deficits prevalent in those who reported lower social support. These data have important practical implications for supporting the social-emotional and academic needs of university students during the global pandemic.

Cognitive control training has gained traction as an intervention for reducing anxiety and depression vulnerability in adults. There are, however, a limited number of studies investigating such training interventions for reducing symptomology of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. Thus, we aimed to provide a robust review and qualitative synthesis of the available research in young people. Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria, and all were randomised control trials. Evidence of the efficacy of cognitive control training for relief of symptoms are reported separately for anxiety, depression, and other related psychological factors, and on the basis of type of cognitive control training paradigm. A lack of standardisation in relation to type of intervention, duration and context, outcome measures and population was observed. Results are discussed in terms of these variations and recommendations for future research are provided.

Sports participation has been linked to various health outcomes; however, there is scant literature exploring this relationship in developing countries. We used a mixed method approach to examine the association between sports participation and mental health of Bangladeshi adolescents (n = 320; 13–17 years; 59% boys) and to explore sports preferences and barriers to sports participation across genders. A survey collected team and non-team sports participation, depression, and life satisfaction. Focus groups (16 boys, 16 girls) explored preferences for, and barriers to, sports participation. Regression analysis showed that higher team and non-team sports participation were associated with lower depressive symptoms in boys (β = −1.22, 95% CI:−2.55 to −0.10; β = −2.50, 95% CI:−3.83 to −1.16, respectively), while greater participation in team sports was associated with less depression in girls (β = −2.44, 95% CI:−4.63 to −0.24). Participation in team and non-team sports was positively associated with life satisfaction for boys and girls. Boys reported preferences for playing football and cricket, while girls favored skipping and running. Prolonged time on electronic devices was reported as barriers to sports participation in both genders. Furthermore, household chores, family restrictions, and unsafe environment were reported by girls. Participation in team sports may provide mental health benefits for both genders, while non-team sports may be more beneficial to boys than girls.

Executive function and visual attention have been reported as important for sport performance in high-pressure situations, yet the interaction between these factors is not fully understood despite joint theoretical links to Attentional Control Theory-Sport. Specifically, whether visual attention (i.e., quiet eye, search rate, and fixations to key locations) mediates the relationship between executive function (i.e., shifting, inhibition, and updating) and soccer penalty performance under pressure is still unknown. An experimental between-subjects design with random assignment to low- and high-pressure conditions was used. Ninety-five participants (Mage = 25.07, SDage = 7.50 years, 58 males) with a range of training and competitive soccer experience (Myears = 6.09, SDyears = 7.82), completed measures of situational stress, physical activity, athletic expertise, and tasks of executive function, before completing a soccer penalty task while visual attention was recorded via a mobile eye-tracker. Between-subjects ANCOVA showed no significant differences between the pressure conditions in visual attention or soccer penalty performance, so subsequent analyses were collapsed across all participants. Mediation revealed that the effect of inhibition on soccer penalty performance was significantly mediated by quiet eye duration, search rate, and the number of fixations toward the goal. Also, the effect of updating on soccer penalty performance was significantly mediated by quiet eye duration and location, and the number of fixations toward the goal. These results are the first to suggest that executive function (inhibition and updating) and visual attention (quiet eye duration and location, fixations toward the goal, and search rate) combine to enhance soccer penalty performance.

Reflection-impulsivity is a dimension of cognitive or decision-making style. We conducted two quasi-experimental studies to examine reflection-impulsivity in athletes using an information sampling task. In Study 1 (n = 108; Mage = 22.7 ± SDage = 1.42; 50% female), we used a cross-sectional design to compare performance across athletic expertise (super-elite, elite, amateur, novice or non-athlete) and sport type (external-paced or self-paced). In Study 2 (Time 1 n = 106; Mage = 21.32 ± SDage = 5.77; 53% female and Time 2 n = 64; Mage = 21.19 ± SDage = 5.12; 44% female), we examined changes in reflection-impulsivity across a 16-week playing season. Study 1 showed more accurate and more efficient performance as athletic expertise increased. Study 2 revealed better effectiveness and efficiency following sport participation, a 16-week playing season, most notably in elite-level performers. No sport-type differences were noted. Taken together, the studies demonstrate an association between reflection-impulsivity and athletic expertise, while also providing evidence that competitive sports participation leads to efficient decisions based on reflection, without sacrificing accuracy, which is often a consequence of impulsive decision-making.

Research attests to the important contributions of emotional, athletic, and cognitive expertise for sport performance. However, little is known regarding the interplay between trait emotional intelligence, athletic expertise, and working memory. The aim of this research was to examine the interplay between working memory (emotional, capacity and ability), trait emotional intelligence and athletic expertise. In total, 437 participants aged between 18 and 27 years with a range of athletic expertise (i.e., non-athlete n = 96, novice n = 92, amateur n = 85, elite n = 83, and super-elite n = 81) completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form, an Emotion Recognition Task (i.e., working memory-emotional), a Spatial Span Task (i.e., working memory-capacity), and a Spatial Working Memory Test (i.e., working memory-ability). Structural equation modelling indicated a significant positive relationship between trait emotional intelligence and all three components of working memory (i.e., emotional, capacity and ability). Also, this differed over athletic expertise whereby those with more expertise reported larger effects than those with less expertise. These findings suggest that trait emotional intelligence is important for working memory in athletes. Moreover, the link between cognitive and affective processes are increasingly relevant as athletes develop expertise levels.

peer-reviewed Psychological science faces a call to action researching the implications of the corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Rapid reviews have reported that maintaining rigorous research standards is a priority for the field, such as ensuring reliable and valid measurement, when investigating people’s experience of Covid-19 (O’Connor et al., 2020). However, no research to date has validated a measure mental health symptomology for an athlete population. The current research addresses this gap by examining the internal consistency, factor structure, invariance, and convergent validity of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21; Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995) in two athlete samples. Participants completed the DASS-21 and sport-specific measures of mental health such as the Profile of Mood States – Depression subscale (POMS-D), Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2), Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ), and Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ). In sample one (n = 894), results of exploratory structural equation modeling indicated that a three-factor model provided good fit to the data, but a bifactor model provided better fit. Factor loadings indicated minimal misspecification and higher loadings on the general-factor. Invariance testing suggested equivalence across gender, athletic expertise, sport type, and injury status. Further, latent mean differences analyses indicated that females and injured athletes scored higher than male and non-injured athletes on all DASS-21 factors reporting higher mental health symptomology, those with more expertise scored higher on the general-factor and depression and those with less expertise scored higher on anxiety and stress, and no differences between team and individual athletes. In sample two (n = 589), the bifactor structure was replicated. Results largely supported the scales convergent validity with depression predicting POMS-D scores, whereas all three subscales predicted the SAS-2, ABQ, and APSQ scores. Internal consistency was acceptable in both samples. The current work provides initial support for use of the DASS-21 as an operationalisation of mental health symptomology in athletes. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Shifting from paternalistic to patient-centred doctor-patient relationships has seen a growing number of medical programs incorporate brief motivational interviewing training in their curriculum. Some medical educators, however, are unsure of precisely what, when, and how to incorporate such training.This article provides educators with 12 tips for teaching brief motivational interviewing to medical students, premised on evidence-based pedagogy.Tips were drawn from the literature and authors' own experiences.The 12 tips are: (1) Set clear learning objectives, (2) Select experienced educators, (3) Provide theoretical perspectives, (4) Share the evidence base, (5) Outline the "spirit", principles, and sequence, (6) Show students what it looks like, (7) Give students a scaffold to follow, (8) Provide opportunities for skill practice, (9) Involve clinical students in teaching, (10) Use varied formative and summative assessments, (11) Integrate and maintain, and (12) Reflect and evaluate.We describe what to include and why, and outline when and how to teach the essential components of brief motivational interviewing knowledge and skills in a medical curriculum.

Attentional control theory (ACT) describes the mechanisms associated with the relationship between anxiety and cognitive performance. We investigated the relationship between cognitive trait anxiety, situational stress and mental effort on phonological performance using a simple (forward-) and complex (backward-) word span task. Ninety undergraduate students participated in the study. Predictor variables were cognitive trait anxiety, indexed using questionnaire scores; situational stress, manipulated using ego threat instructions; and perceived level of mental effort, measured using a visual analogue scale. Criterion variables (a) performance effectiveness (accuracy) and (b) processing efficiency (accuracy divided by response time) were analyzed in separate multiple moderated-regression analyses. The results revealed (a) no relationship between the predictors and performance effectiveness, and (b) a significant 3-way interaction on processing efficiency for both the simple and complex tasks, such that at higher effort, trait anxiety and situational stress did not predict processing efficiency, whereas at lower effort, higher trait anxiety was associated with lower efficiency at high situational stress, but not at low situational stress. Our results were in full support of the assumptions of ACT and implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

According to attentional control theory (ACT; Eysenck et al. in Emotion 7(2):336–353, 2007) anxious individuals recruit motivation on demanding tasks, which helps prevent performance shortfalls. We used a quasi-experimental design to examine the relationship between trait anxiety (operationalised using questionnaire scores), situational stress (manipulated using ego threat instructions) and motivation (indexed using a self-report goal-commitment scale) in predicting effectiveness (accuracy) and efficiency (accuracy divided by RT) on the reading span task. After controlling for depression, the variables were not related to effectiveness; however there was a significant trait anxiety × goal-commitment interaction on reading span efficiency. Higher trait anxiety predicted better efficiency at higher goal-commitment, and poorer efficiency at lower goal-commitment, and these relationships were independent of situational stress. Results are interpreted in terms of ACT.

The relationship between personality, executive function (EF) and athletic expertise has implications for researchers and sports psychologists, alike. The current study examined the relationship between the five-factor model of personality, the lower-order model of EF, and athletic expertise. A sample of 367 participants (57% male; Mage = 21.9) with a range of athletic expertise (super-elite = 64; elite = 65; amateur = 75, novice = 74, and non-athlete = 89) completed a personality inventory and computerised battery of EF. Individuals with more athletic expertise reported higher extroversion, openness, and conscientiousness and better EF scores, whereas those with less expertise reported higher neuroticism and agreeableness. Results of structural equation modelling indicated that EF was largely positively related to openness and conscientiousness, negatively related to neuroticism, bi-directionally related to extroversion, and unrelated to agreeableness. Additionally, athletic expertise moderated the association between personality and EF. These findings untangle the relationship between athletes' personality and EF and have theoretical and practical implications for sports performance.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background There has been a trend globally to move from a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) for primary medical education. This shift has seen many Australian universities change to an MD, mostly from graduate entry programs. This paper describes the novel and unique 3+2 model from one Australian university, that enabled undergraduate entry, student flexibility, and a master's exit qualification without increasing time.Methods The method included a curriculum review in 2013 where its problem-based learning curriculum shifted from a seven to a five-semester program; changing the third year to a virtual hospital clinical year using simulation, and introducing in 2016 a new 3+2 curriculum model in the final two years using a 100 point system as a masters level program. ResultsThe MD model was described in the external evaluation as 'novel and innovative', where students can choose from three project options - a research project, or a professional project or an international capstone experience as well as a number of scholarly tasks. The structure is fully integrated with the existing curriculum and assessment process, supported by an innovative technology platform.ConclusionNow in its third year of implementation this innovative model is breaking new ground in the way in which a masters level MD program could be developed, whilst maintaining undergraduate entry.

Background/Aims: Microalbuminuria is a marker for early kidney disease and cardiovascular risk. The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria in an HIV-infected clinic population, to test the predictive value of a single urine albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) to identify persistent microalbuminuria and to examine covariates of microalbuminuria. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of HIV-infected subjects (n = 182) without proteinuria (urine protein/creatinine ratio ≥0.5 g/g), elevated serum creatinine, diabetes, or chronic inflammatory conditions. Subjects completed three research visits within 9 months. Microalbuminuria was defined as the geometric mean ACR of 25-355 mg/g for females and 17-250 mg/g for males. Results: The prevalence of microalbuminuria was 14%. The negative predictive value of a single urine ACR determination was 98%, whereas the positive predictive value was only 74%. Microalbuminuria was similar among Black (15%) and non-Black (14%) subjects (p = 0.8). Subjects with microalbuminuria were more likely to have hypertension (p = 0.02) and metabolic syndrome (p = 0.03). While duration of HIV infection and the level of HIV viremia were similar between groups, those with microalbuminuria were more likely to have a CD4 count Conclusion: The prevalence of microalbuminuria in an HIV-infected clinic population was similar to earlier reports, and was associated with hypertension and impaired immune function. A single normal ACR determination effectively excludes microalbuminuria, whereas an elevated ACR requires confirmation.

Few studies have focussed on the link between anxiety and inhibitory control in the absence of stimulus-driven external threat. This two-part experiment examined the interactions between (1) somatic trait anxiety, somatic situational stress (i.e. threat of electric shock), and effort, and (2) cognitive trait anxiety, cognitive situational stress (i.e. ego-threat instructions), and effort, on inhibitory processes using a Go-No-Go paradigm. Trait anxiety was operationalised using questionnaire scores and effort was operationalised using a visual analogue scale. Performance effectiveness was measured using the d' parameter from signal detection theory and processing efficiency was indexed by the ratio of d' to response time on correct trials. Results indicated that somatic trait anxiety and stress did not predict effectiveness or efficiency. Cognitive trait anxiety and stress were associated with both inhibitory effectiveness and efficiency deficits; however, contrary to expectations these deficits were evident at higher rather than lower mental effort. Results suggest a distinction between how somatic and cognitive anxiety manifest on tasks involving inhibitory control.

Obesity related health problems affect individuals, families, communities and the broader health care system, however few healthcare providers (e.g., doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, counselors) receive formal training in obesity prevention interventions. We examined the effectiveness of training healthcare providers in brief motivational interviewing (brief MI) targeting eating and exercise behavior change.163 healthcare providers participated. 128 participants completed a one-day experiential brief MI training workshop followed by electronic peer-support and a further 35 matched controls did not receive the training.Participant's knowledge of brief MI and confidence in their ability to counsel patients using brief MI significantly improved following training (p0.05) and remained at 3 and 6-month follow-up (p0.05). Brief MI skills assessed during the simulated patient interactions indicated a significant improvement across two practical training blocks (p0.05).Healthcare providers can learn brief MI skills and knowledge quickly and confidence in their counseling abilities improves and is sustained.Healthcare providers may consider brief MI as an obesity prevention intervention.

Attentional control theory (ACT) predicts that trait anxiety and situational stress interact to impair performance on tasks that involve attentional shifting. The theory suggests that anxious individuals recruit additional effort to prevent shortfalls in performance effectiveness (accuracy), with deficits becoming evident in processing efficiency (the relationship between accuracy and time taken to perform the task). These assumptions, however, have not been systematically tested. The relationship between cognitive trait anxiety, situational stress, and mental effort in a shifting task (Wisconsin Card Sorting Task) was investigated in 90 participants. Cognitive trait anxiety was operationalized using questionnaire scores, situational stress was manipulated through ego threat instructions, and mental effort was measured using a visual analogue scale. Dependent variables were performance effectiveness (an inverse proportion of perseverative errors) and processing efficiency (an inverse proportion of perseverative errors divided by response time on perseverative error trials). The predictors were not associated with performance effectiveness; however, we observed a significant 3-way interaction on processing efficiency. At higher mental effort (+1 SD), higher cognitive trait anxiety was associated with poorer efficiency independently of situational stress, whereas at lower effort (-1 SD), this relationship was highly significant and most pronounced for those in the high-stress condition. These results are important because they provide the first systematic test of the relationship between trait anxiety, situational stress, and mental effort on shifting performance. The data are also consistent with the notion that effort moderates the relationship between anxiety and shifting efficiency, but not effectiveness.

Attentional Control Theory (ACT) predicts that trait anxiety and situation stress combine to reduce performance efficiency on tasks requiring rapid shifts in attention. Recent evidence has also suggested that working memory capacity (WMC) might moderate this relationship. We controlled for methodological difficulties in the existing literature to investigate the relationships between trait anxiety, situational stress, and WMC on attentional shifting.Seventy undergraduate students participated in the study. Trait anxiety was operationalized using questionnaire scores, situational stress was manipulated through a pressured counting task, and WMC was based on performance on the Automated Operation Span Task (AOSPAN). The shifting task involved a modified version of the Sternberg paradigm as the primary task and an oddball tone-discrimination task as the secondary task. Dependent variables were performance effectiveness (accuracy) and processing efficiency (accuracy divided by response time) on the secondary task.There was no effect of anxiety, stress, or WMC in predicting performance effectiveness; however, a significant three-way interaction on processing efficiency was observed. At higher WMC, anxiety and situational stress were not associated with processing efficiency. Conversely, at lower WMC, higher trait anxiety was associated with poorer efficiency but only for those who reported higher situational stress; for those who reported lower situational stress higher trait anxiety predicted facilitated efficiency.Results are interpreted with respect to ACT and directions for future research are discussed.

Surfactant concentrations at the peaks and troughs of a standing capillary wave field were measured using a reflected second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging technique. The results revealed behaviour that is consistent with a compaction of the insoluble monolayer at the crests of the capillary waves and a dilation of the monolayer in the troughs. Each measurement was obtained using a single 3 nanosecond laser pulse, providing essentially instantaneous measurements of surfactant concentrations.