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Exposure to war is a severe traumatic experience with disastrous mental health effects. This study examined the mental health among 5,560 residents in 11 countries worldwide at different geographic distances from the epicenter of the Russian-Ukrainian War (RUW). An online questionnaire assessed war-related variables (e.g., personal experiences with RUW, perceived concern and threat), previous life stress experiences, and mental health (i.e., resilience, anxiety, depression, perceived stress, ICD-11 PTSD, and CPTSD). Results showed regional differences. Ukrainians had the worst mental health indices, followed by participants in the bordering countries, and then by those in the distal ones. War-related variables were associated with worse mental health. The common predictors for PTSD and CPTSD were previous mental disorder, anxiety, and perceived stress, whereas unique predictors were also found (PTSD: female gender and impact of news on mental health; CPTSD: being single, overall impact of war on mental health, sum of lifetime traumatic experiences, resilience (inversely), and depression). Given the continuing uncertainty about the threat of war for many of the nations in this study, findings suggest the need for practitioners to support concerned populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have nothing to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A theoretical perspective on grandiose narcissism suggests four forms of it (sanctity, admiration, heroism, rivalry) and states that these forms conduce to different ways of thinking and acting. Guided by this perspective, we examined in a multinational and multicultural study (61 countries; N = 15,039) how narcissism forms are linked to cognitions and behaviors prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As expected, differences in cognitions and behaviors across narcissism forms emerged. For example, higher narcissistic rivalry predicted lower likelihood of enactment of COVID-19 prevention behaviors, but higher narcissistic sanctity predicted higher likelihood of enactment of COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Further, whereas the heroism, admiration, and rivalry narcissism forms acted in a typically antisocial manner, with high narcissism predicting greater endorsement of unfounded health beliefs, the sanctity form acted in a prosocial manner, with higher narcissism being linked to lower endorsement of unfounded COVID-19 health beliefs. Thus, the findings (a) support the idea of four narcissism forms acting differently, and (b) show that these differences reflect a double-edged sword, sometimes linking to an anti-social orientation, and sometimes linking to a pro-social orientation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Model and the various psychometric instruments developed and validated based on this model are well established in clinical and research settings. However, evidence regarding the psychometric validity, reliability, and equivalence across multiple countries of residence, languages, or gender identities, including gender-diverse individuals, is lacking to date. Using data from the International Sex Survey ( N  = 82,243), confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance analyses were performed on the preestablished five-factor structure of the 20-item short version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale to examine whether (a) psychometric validity and reliability and (b) psychometric equivalence hold across 34 country-of-residence-related, 22 language-related, and three gender-identity-related groups. The results of the present study extend the latter psychometric instrument's well-established relevance to 26 countries, 13 languages, and three gender identities. Most notably, psychometric validity and reliability were evidenced across nine novel translations included in the present study (i.e., Croatian, English, German, Hebrew, Korean, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese-Portugal, and Spanish-Latin American) and psychometric equivalence was evidenced across all three gender identities included in the present study (i.e., women, men, and gender-diverse individuals)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors declare no conflict of interest with respect to the content of this manuscript. Shane W. Kraus discloses that he has received funding from the International Center for Responsible Gaming, MGM Resorts International, Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies, Taylor Francis, Springer Nature, The Nevada Problem Gambling Project, Sports Betting Alliance, and Kindbridge Research Institute. Marc N. Potenza discloses that he has consulted for and advised Game Day Data, Addiction Policy Forum, AXA, Idorsia, Baria-Tek, and Opiant Therapeutics; been involved in a patent application involving Novartis and Yale; received research support from the Mohegan Sun Casino and the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling; consulted for or advised legal and gambling entities on issues related to impulse control and addictive behaviors; provided clinical care related to impulse-control and addictive behaviors; performed grant reviews; edited journals/journal sections; given academic lectures in grand rounds, CME events and other clinical/scientific venues; and generated books or chapters for publishers of mental health texts. The University of Gibraltar receives funding from the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation, an independent not-for-profit charity. The ELTE Eötvös Loránd University receives funding from Szerencsejáték Ltd. (the gambling operator of the Hungarian government) to maintain a telephone helpline service for problematic gambling. Julius Burkauskas discloses that he works as a consultant at Cronos. Roman Gabrhelík discloses that he is the shareholder of Adiquit Ltd., which is currently developing apps for addiction recovery. Vesta Steibliene discloses that she has received funding from the Lithuanian Health Promotion Fund for providing educational materials and lectures on problematic internet use.

Motivations for pornography use may vary across gender identities, sexual orientations, and geographical regions, warranting examination to promote individual and public health. The aims of this study were to validate the Pornography Use Motivations Scale (PUMS) in a diverse, multicultural sample, and develop a short form (PUMS-8) that can assess a wide range of pornography use motivations. Using data from 42 countries ( N  = 75,117; M age  = 32.07; SD age  = 12.37), enabled us to thoroughly evaluate the dimensionality, validity, and reliability of the Pornography Use Motivations Scale (PUMS), leading to the development of the more concise PUMS-8 short scale. Additionally, language-, nationality-, gender-, and sexual-orientation-based measurement invariance tests were conducted to test the comparability across groups. Both the PUMS and the PUMS-8 assess eight pornography use motivations, and both demonstrated excellent psychometric properties. Sexual Pleasure emerged as the most frequent motivation for pornography use across countries, genders, and sexual orientations, while differences were observed concerning other motivations (e.g. self-exploration was more prevalent among gender-diverse individuals than men or women). The motivational background of pornography use showed high similarity in the examined countries. Both the PUMS and the PUMS-8 are reliable and valid measurement tools to assess different types of motivations for pornography use across countries, genders, and sexual orientations. Both scales are recommended for use in research and clinical settings.

Background: The three-item Sexual Distress Scale (SDS-3) has been frequently used to assess distress related to sexuality in public health surveys and research on sexual wellbeing. However, its psychometric properties and measurement invariance across cultural, gender and sexual subgroups have not yet been examined. This multinational study aimed to validate the SDS-3 and test its psychometric properties, including measurement invariance across language, country, gender identity, and sexual orientation groups., Methods: We used global survey data from 82,243 individuals (Mean age =32.39 years; 40.3 % men, 57.0 % women, 2.8 % non-binary, and 0.6 % other genders) participating in the International Sexual Survey (ISS; https://internationalsexsurvey.org/) across 42 countries and 26 languages. Participants completed the SDS-3, as well as questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics, including gender identity and sexual orientation., Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a unidimensional factor structure for the SDS-3, and multi-group CFA (MGCFA) suggested that this factor structure was invariant across countries, languages, gender identities, and sexual orientations. Cronbach's α for the unidimensional score was 0.83 (range between 0.76 and 0.89), and McDonald's ω was 0.84 (range between 0.76 and 0.90). Participants who did not experience sexual problems had significantly lower SDS-3 total scores ( M = 2.99; SD =2.54) compared to those who reported sexual problems ( M = 5.60; SD =3.00), with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.01 [95 % CI=-1.03, -0.98]; p < 0.001)., Conclusion: The SDS-3 has a unidimensional factor structure and appears to be valid and reliable for measuring sexual distress among individuals from different countries, gender identities, and sexual orientations., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest with the content of this manuscript. SWK discloses that he has received funding from the International Center for Responsible Gaming, MGM Resorts International, Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies, Taylor Francis, Springer Nature, The Nevada Problem Gambling Project, Sports Betting Alliance, and Kindbridge Research Institute. Dr. Potenza discloses that he has consulted for and advised Game Day Data, Addiction Policy Forum, AXA, Idorsia, Baria-Tek, and Opiant Therapeutics; been involved in a patent application involving Novartis and Yale; received research support from the Mohegan Sun Casino, Children and Screens and the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling; consulted for or advised legal and gambling entities on issues related to impulse control, internet use and addictive behaviours; performed grant reviews; edited journals/journal sections; given academic lectures in grand rounds, CME events and other clinical/scientific venues; The University of Gibraltar receives funding from the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit charity generated books or chapters for publishers of mental health texts. The University of Gibraltar receives funding from the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit charity. However, these funding sources are not related to this study, and the funding institution had no role in the study design or the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Depression and anxiety are among the most prevalent mental health issues experienced worldwide. However, whereas cross-cultural studies utilize psychometrically valid and reliable scales, fewer can meaningfully compare these conditions across different groups. To address this gap, the current study aimed to psychometrically assess the Brief Symptomatology Index (BSI) in 42 countries., Methods: Using data from the International Sex Survey (N = 82,243; M age  = 32.39; SD age  = 12.52; women: n = 46,874; 57 %), we examined the reliability of depression and anxiety symptom scores of the BSI-18, as well as evaluated evidence of construct, invariance, and criterion-related validity in predicting clinically relevant variables across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations., Results: Results corroborated an invariant, two-factor structure across all groups tested, exhibiting excellent reliability estimates for both subscales. The 'caseness' criterion effectively discriminated among those at low and high risk of depression and anxiety, yielding differential effects on the clinical criteria examined., Limitations: The predictive validation was not made against a clinical diagnosis, and the full BSI-18 scale was not examined (excluding the somatization sub-dimension), limiting the validation scope of the BSI-18. Finally, the study was conducted online, mainly by advertisements through social media, ultimately skewing our sample towards women, younger, and highly educated populations., Conclusions: The results support that the BSI-12 is a valid and reliable assessment tool for assessing depression and anxiety symptoms across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations. Further, its caseness criterion can discriminate well between participants at high and low risk of depression and anxiety., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest JBurkauskas works as a consultant at Cronos. MNP discloses that he has consulted for and advised Game Day Data, Addiction Policy Forum, AXA, Idorsia, Baria-Tek, and Opiant Therapeutics; been involved in a patent application involving Novartis and Yale; received research support from the Mohegan Sun Casino, Children and Screens and the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling; consulted for or advised legal, gambling and non-profit entities on issues related to impulse control, internet use and addictive behaviors; conducted clinical evaluations related to impulse-control and addictive behaviors; performed grant reviews; edited journals/journal sections; given academic lectures in grand rounds, CME events and other clinical/scientific venues; and generated books or chapters for publishers of mental health texts. The views presented in this manuscript represent those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding agencies. The rest of the authors report no conflicts of interest with respect to the content of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We analyzed adult ADHD symptoms in a cross-cultural context, including investigating the occurrence and potential correlates of adult ADHD and psychometric examination of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Screener., Method: Our analysis is based on a large-scale research project involving 42 countries (International Sex Survey, N =72,627, 57% women, Mage =32.84; SDage =12.57)., Results: The ASRS Screener demonstrated good reliability and validity, along with partial invariance across different languages, countries, and genders. The occurrence of being at risk for adult ADHD was relatively high (21.4% for women, 18.1% for men). The highest scores were obtained in the US, Canada, and other English-speaking Western countries, with significantly lower scores among East Asian and non-English-speaking European countries. Moreover, ADHD symptom severity and occurrence were especially high among gender-diverse individuals. Significant associations between adult ADHD symptoms and age, mental and sexual health, and socioeconomic status were observed., Conclusions: Present results show significant cross-cultural variability in adult ADHD occurrence as well as highlight important factors related to adult ADHD. Moreover, the importance of further research on adult ADHD in previously understudied populations (non-Western countries) and minority groups (gender-diverse individuals) is stressed. Lastly, the present analysis is consistent with previous evidence showing low specificity of adult ADHD screening instruments and contributes to the current discussion on accurate adult ADHD screening and diagnosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Despite being a widely used screening questionnaire, there is no consensus on the most appropriate measurement model for the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Furthermore, there have been limited studies on its measurement invariance across cross-cultural subgroups, genders, and sexual orientations., Aims: The present study aimed to examine the fit of different measurement models for the AUDIT and its measurement invariance across a wide range of subgroups by country, language, gender, and sexual orientation., Methods: Responses concerning past-year alcohol use from the participants of the cross-sectional International Sex Survey were considered (N = 62,943; M age : 32.73; SD = 12.59). Confirmatory factor analysis, as well as measurement invariance tests were performed for 21 countries, 14 languages, three genders, and four sexual-orientation subgroups that met the minimum sample size requirement for inclusion in these analyses., Results: A two-factor model with factors describing 'alcohol use' (items 1-3) and 'alcohol problems' (items 4-10) showed the best model fit across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations. For the former two, scalar and latent mean levels of invariance were reached considering different criteria. For gender and sexual orientation, a latent mean level of invariance was reached., Conclusions: In line with the two-factor model, the calculation of separate alcohol-use and alcohol-problem scores is recommended when using the AUDIT. The high levels of measurement invariance achieved for the AUDIT support its use in cross-cultural research, capable also of meaningful comparisons among genders and sexual orientations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest with the content of this manuscript. SWK discloses that he has received funding from the International Center for Responsible Gaming, MGM Resorts International, Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies, Taylor Francis, Springer Nature, The Nevada Problem Gambling Project, Sports Betting Alliance, and Kindbridge Research Institute. Dr. Potenza discloses that he has consulted for and advised Game Day Data, Addiction Policy Forum, AXA, Idorsia, Baria-Tek, and Opiant Therapeutics; been involved in a patent application involving Novartis and Yale; received research support from the Mohegan Sun Casino and the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling; consulted for or advised legal and gambling entities on issues related to impulse control and addictive behaviors; provided clinical care related to impulse-control and addictive behaviors; performed grant reviews; edited journals/journal sections; given academic lectures in grand rounds, CME events and other clinical/scientific venues; and generated books or chapters for publishers of mental health texts. The University of Gibraltar receives funding from the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation, an independent, notfor-profit charity. ELTE Eötvös Loránd University receives funding from Szerencsejáték Ltd. (the gambling operator of the Hungarian government) to maintain a telephone helpline service for problematic gambling. RG is the shareholder of Adiquit Ltd. which is currently developing apps for addictions recovery. VS discloses that she received funding from Lithuanian Health Promotion Fund for providing educational materials and lectures on Problematic Internet use. Julius Burkauskas works as consultant at Cronos., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Lupin is a nutritious, yet undervalued grain used as a fodder and food crop. In the present study, native lupin flour (LF), lupin protein concentrate (LPC), and lupin protein isolate (LPI) were combined (70% LPI:LPC blend ratios [30:70, 50:50, and 70:30] and 30% LF constant fraction), extruded at high moisture (45-55%), and shaped with a long cooling die (800 mm) to obtain texturized meat analogues (TMAs) with fibrous structures. The characteristics of TMAs (e.g., hardness, water hydration capacity) depended heavily on water content, blend ratios (LPI:LPC), and to a lesser extent, the long cooling die temperature. Color changes (i.e., L*, b*) were mostly attributed to variations in blend ratios (LPI:LPC). Microstructure analysis showed that TMAs with higher water content (55%) were more likely to have thinner walls and smaller void thickness. Fluorescence imagery revealed that TMAs with lower LPI content presented more homogeneous structures. These findings show that reasonable amounts (30% d.m.) of native lupin flour can be incorporated into meat analogues by maintaining a sufficiently high protein content (>50% d.m.) to trigger the formation of fibrous structures., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) is an instrument to screen substance-use-related health risks. However, little is known whether the ASSIST could be further shortened while remaining psychometrically sound across different countries, languages, gender identities, and sexual-orientation-based groups. The study aimed to validate a shortened 11-item ASSIST (ASSIST-11). Using the International Sex Survey data, 82,243 participants (M age  = 32.39 years) across 42 countries and 26 languages completed questions from the ASSIST-11 regarding gender identity, sexual orientation, and other information. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multigroup CFA (MGCFA) evaluated the ASSIST-11's structure and tested measurement invariance across groups. Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω were used to examine the internal consistency. Cohen's d and independent t-tests were used to examine known-group validity. The ASSIST-11 was unidimensional across countries, languages, age groups, gender identities (i.e., men, women, and gender-diverse individuals), and sexual orientations (i.e., heterosexual and sexual minority individuals). Cronbach's α was 0.63 and McDonald's ω was 0.68 for the ASSIST-11. Known-group validity was supported by Cohen's d (range between 0.23 and 0.40) with significant differences (p-values<0.001). The ASSIST-11 is a modified instrument with a unidimensional factor structure across different languages, age groups, countries, gender identities, and sexual orientations. The low internal consistency of the ASSIST-11 might be acceptable as it assesses a broad concept (i.e., use of several different substances). Healthcare providers and researchers may use the ASSIST-11 to quickly assess substance-use information from general populations and evaluate the need to follow up with more detailed questions about substance use., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Despite its inclusion in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, there is a virtual paucity of high-quality scientific evidence about compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD), especially in underrepresented and underserved populations. Therefore, we comprehensively examined CSBD across 42 countries, genders, and sexual orientations, and validated the original (CSBD-19) and short (CSBD-7) versions of the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder Scale to provide standardized, state-of-the-art screening tools for research and clinical practice., Method: Using data from the International Sex Survey (N = 82,243; Mage = 32.39 years, SD = 12.52), we evaluated the psychometric properties of the CSBD-19 and CSBD-7 and compared CSBD across 42 countries, three genders, eight sexual orientations, and individuals with low vs. high risk of experiencing CSBD., Results: A total of 4.8% of the participants were at high risk of experiencing CSBD. Country- and gender-based differences were observed, while no sexual-orientation-based differences were present in CSBD levels. Only 14% of individuals with CSBD have ever sought treatment for this disorder, with an additional 33% not having sought treatment because of various reasons. Both versions of the scale demonstrated excellent validity and reliability., Discussion and Conclusions: This study contributes to a better understanding of CSBD in underrepresented and underserved populations and facilitates its identification in diverse populations by providing freely accessible ICD-11-based screening tools in 26 languages. The findings may also serve as a crucial building block to stimulate research into evidence-based, culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies for CSBD that are currently missing from the literature.

Background and Aims: Social network use is widespread, and the study of Instagram seems to have captured more attention in recent years. However, scale development and validation in the field has fallen short of providing sound scales of Instagram motives and usage patterns that consider the uniqueness of Instagram-related behavior. This paper describes the development, psychometric and cross-cultural validation of two new measurement instruments: the "Instagram Motives Questionnaire" (IMQ) and the "Instagram Uses and Patterns Questionnaire" (IUPQ)., Methods and Results: A preliminary set of items was developed for each questionnaire based on a previous qualitative interview study on Instagram motives, uses, and consequences. In the first study, the questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 312 participants aged 18-35 years (M = 23.81; SD = 4.49), and an exploratory factor analysis was performed. A parsimonious and interpretable 6-factor solution that displayed adequate factor loadings and adequate Omega coefficients for both instruments were found. In a second study, the two instruments and other measures of known social network usage correlates and mental health consequences were administered online to 1,418 English-speaking participants aged 18-34 years (M = 21.35; SD = 3.89). Both scales showed good psychometric properties and the factor structure identified in study 1 was reproduced through confirmatory factor analysis. Omega reliability coefficients were adequate. Finally, when performing multi-group CFA along with a French (n = 1,826) and a Spanish (n = 3,040) sample, language and gender invariance were supported. Correlations with other relevant measures indicate good convergent validity of both scales., Conclusions: The present research provides psychometrically sound instruments for further investigations on Instagram use behaviors.

Faba bean, processed into ingredients (flour, protein concentrate, protein isolate), can be extruded to meat alternatives with a fibrous texture. Despite its importance for consumer acceptance, not enough is known about the flavor of faba bean ingredients nor about the chemical and sensory changes caused by high-moisture extrusion. Therefore, the aim of this work was to describe the flavor of faba bean ingredients and the corresponding extrudates and to understand how their composition affects the perception of sensory attributes. Firstly, faba bean protein ingredients and extrudates were characterized for lipid-degrading enzymatic activities, flavor precursors, and volatile and non-volatile flavor-active compounds. Secondly, sensory profiling was conducted. Thirdly, partial least squares regression was applied to understand the relationship between chemical and sensory data. This study showed that faba bean protein concentrate had the strongest taste and aftertaste (respectively 7 and 6, on a 0-10 intensity scale), bitterness (6-7), and pea flavor and odor (respectively 6 and 5), whereas faba bean protein isolate had the strongest cereal flavor (4) and odor (4), and off-flavor (2) and off-odor (3). Faba bean flour had the mildest flavor. High-moisture extrusion brought several chemical changes to the ingredients, including the formation of several volatile compounds and inactivation of lipid-degrading enzymes. Only traces of tannins were found in extrudates. The presence of free phenolics, vicine, and convicine was linked to strong taste and aftertaste, bitterness, and a drying sensation of the mouth, whereas lipid oxidation products were related to pea, cereal, and off-odors and flavors., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Oat has been recognized for its health-promoting fiber, β-glucan, while protein-rich faba bean has remained underutilized in Nordic countries despite its good nutritional quality. This research investigated the functionality of oat fiber concentrate and faba bean protein concentrate in plant-based substitutes for minced meat (SMs). The resulting product aimed at mimicking the mechanical and physicochemical characteristics of beef minced meat (BM) and its applications (i.e., fried and burger patty). In this regard, the mechanical properties (e.g., chewiness, Young's modulus) of original/fried SMs were comparable to or higher than those of original/fried BM. SM patties (45% SMs) were structurally weaker than beef burger patties (100% BM). The rheological analysis showed that the presence of oat fiber concentrate increased the gel-like properties of the blend, which correlated with the overall strength of original SMs (e.g., Young's modulus). The results suggested that SMs could be used as BM for the preparation of vegetarian meat-like products., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely used Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). The findings indicate that the FCV-19S has a somewhat problematic structure, yet the one-factor solution is replicable across cultural contexts and could be used in studies that compare people who vary on gender and educational level. The validity of the scale is supported by a consistent pattern of positive correlations with perceived stress and general anxiety. However, given the unclear structure of the FCV-19S, we recommend using latent factor scores, instead of raw scores, especially in cross-cultural comparisons. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Dark Triad (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism) has garnered intense attention over the past 15 years. We examined the structure of these traits' measure-the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD)-in a sample of 11,488 participants from three W.E.I.R.D. (i.e., North America, Oceania, Western Europe) and five non-W.E.I.R.D. (i.e., Asia, Middle East, non-Western Europe, South America, sub-Saharan Africa) world regions. The results confirmed the measurement invariance of the DTDD across participants' sex in all world regions, with men scoring higher than women on all traits (except for psychopathy in Asia, where the difference was not significant). We found evidence for metric (and partial scalar) measurement invariance within and between W.E.I.R.D. and non-W.E.I.R.D. world regions. The results generally support the structure of the DTDD.

Objectives: The Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism) capture individual differences in aversive personality to complement work on other taxonomies, such as the Big Five traits. However, the literature on the Dark Triad traits relies mostly on samples from English-speaking (i.e., Westernized) countries. We broadened the scope of this literature by sampling from a wider array of countries., Method: We drew on data from 49 countries (N = 11,723; 65.8% female; Age Mean  = 21.53) to examine how an extensive net of country-level variables in economic status (e.g., Human Development Index), social relations (e.g., gender equality), political orientations (e.g., democracy), and cultural values (e.g., embeddedness) relate to country-level rates of the Dark Triad traits, as well as variance in the magnitude of sex differences in them., Results: Narcissism was especially sensitive to country-level variables. Countries with more embedded and hierarchical cultural systems were more narcissistic. Also, sex differences in narcissism were larger in more developed societies: Women were less likely to be narcissistic in developed (vs. less developed) countries., Conclusions: We discuss the results based on evolutionary and social role models of personality and sex differences. That higher country-level narcissism was more common in less developed countries, whereas sex differences in narcissism were larger in more developed countries, is more consistent with evolutionary than social role models., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10) is a short screening instrument developed to assess Internet gaming disorder (IGD) as proposed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , fifth edition ( DSM-5 ), adopting a concise, clear, and consistent item-wording. According to initial studies conducted in 2014, the instrument showed promising psychometric characteristics. The present study tested the psychometric properties, including language and gender invariance, in a large international sample of online gamers. In this study, data were collected from 7,193 participants comprising Hungarian ( n = 3,924), Iranian ( n = 791), English-speaking ( n = 754), French-speaking ( n = 421), Norwegian ( n = 195), Czech ( n = 496), and Peruvian ( n = 612) online gamers via gaming-related websites and gaming-related social-networking-site groups. A unidimensional factor structure provided a good fit to the data in all language-based samples. In addition, results indicated both language and gender invariance on the level of scalar invariance. Criterion and construct validity of the IGDT-10 was supported by its strong association with the Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire and moderate association with weekly gaming time, psychopathological symptoms, and impulsivity. The proportions of each sample that met the cut-off score on the IGDT-10 varied between 1.61% and 4.48% in the individual samples, except for the Peruvian sample (13.44%). The IGDT-10 shows robust psychometric properties and appears suitable for conducting cross-cultural and gender comparisons across seven languages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The closed loop control of blood glucose levels might help to reduce many short- and long-term complications of type 1 diabetes. Continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump systems have facilitated the development of the artificial pancreas. In this paper, artificial neural networks are used for both the identification of patient dynamics and the glycaemic regulation. A subcutaneous glucose measuring system together with a Lispro insulin subcutaneous pump were used to gather clinical data for each patient undergoing treatment, and a corresponding in silico and ad hoc neural network model was derived for each patient to represent their particular glucose-insulin relationship. Based on this nonlinear neural network model, an ad hoc neural network controller was designed to close the feedback loop for glycaemic regulation of the in silico patient. Both the neural network model and the controller were tested for each patient under simulation, and the results obtained show a good performance during food intake and variable exercise conditions., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)