Search

Use of the Internet to retrieve health information is increasingly common. The authors surveyed 743 undergraduate students at 2 academic institutions to examine their Internet use, health-seeking behaviors, and attitudes related to the use of the Internet to obtain health information. Fifty-three percent of the respondents indicated that they would like to get health information online, and 28% reported that they would like to attend a health program online. Overall, 74% of the students reported having ever received health information online, and more than 40% reported that they frequently searched the Internet for information. They used various search engines and multiple Web sites to find health information. Issues related to the credibility of the information on health Web sites were crucial considerations for students. The study found differences in Internet use for health information by gender and by level of Internet experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While face masks provide necessary protection against disease spread, they occlude the lower face parts (chin, mouth, nose) and consequently impair the ability to accurately perceive facial emotions. Here we examined how wearing face masks impacted making inferences about emotional states of others (i.e., affective theory of mind; Experiment 1) and sharing of emotions with others (i.e., affective empathy; Experiment 2). We also investigated whether wearing transparent masks ameliorated the occlusion impact of opaque masks. Participants viewed emotional faces presented within matching positive (happy), negative (sad), or neutral contexts. The faces wore opaque masks, transparent masks, or no masks. In Experiment 1, participants rated the protagonists' emotional valence and intensity. In Experiment 2, they indicated their empathy for the protagonist and the valence of their emotion. Wearing opaque masks impacted both affective theory of mind and affective empathy ratings. Compared to no masks, wearing opaque masks resulted in assumptions that the protagonist was feeling less intense and more neutral emotions. Wearing opaque masks also reduced positive empathy for the protagonist and resulted in more neutral shared valence ratings. Wearing transparent masks restored the affective theory of mind ratings but did not restore empathy ratings. Thus, wearing face masks impairs nonverbal social communication, with transparent masks able to restore some of the negative effects brought about by opaque masks. Implications for the theoretical understanding of socioemotional processing as well as for educational and professional settings are discussed., (© 2022. The Author(s).)