European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education

Background: Perceived social support is consistently associated with lower psychological distress among university students, but the strength of this association may vary. We examined whether help-seeking self-stigma modifies it. Methods: In a cross-sectional online survey, 507 Kuwait University students completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH). Hierarchical linear regression tested the perceived support × self-stigma interaction, adjusting for age, sex, nationality and year of study; SSOSH structure was examined by confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Of 507 eligible students (80.9% female; mean age = 21.4 years, SD = 4.4), 458 had complete PHQ-4 data. The inverse association between perceived support and distress weakened as self-stigma increased (B = 0.003, 95% CI 0.001–0.005, p = 0.007; p = 0.040 with heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors; ΔR² = 0.015) and was not detectable at high self-stigma. The Arabic SSOSH was not unidimensional: positively and reverse-worded items formed uncorrelated factors (r = −0.01), and the interaction was carried by the reverse-worded items. Conclusions: Help-seeking self-stigma may index variation in this association, but the finding is exploratory and constrained by the measurement properties of the SSOSH in this population. Full article

Maternal technoference has increasingly been recognized as a factor that may compromise mothers’ emotional availability and the quality of mother–child interactions, particularly during early childhood, when responsive caregiving and co-regulation play a pivotal role in children’s development. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain poorly understood. Maternal loneliness may represent an important vulnerability factor, although the processes linking loneliness to technoference have yet to be clarified. This study examined whether nomophobia and social media addiction mediate the association between maternal loneliness and technoference. This cross-sectional study included 355 Italian mothers of children aged 0–6 years, who completed measures of loneliness (UCLA 3-item Loneliness Scale), nomophobia (NMP-Q), social media addiction (BSMAS), and technoference (DISRUPT). A parallel mediation model was tested while controlling for maternal age. Loneliness was positively associated with both nomophobia and social media addiction, which were, in turn, positively associated with technoference. Both indirect effects were significant, whereas the direct association between loneliness and technoference was no longer significant. These findings suggest that maternal loneliness may be associated with technoference through its link with nomophobia and social media addiction, highlighting the importance of understanding technoference as a relational phenomenon rather than merely a consequence of technology use. Full article

Post-COVID symptoms frequently include cognitive complaints, yet evidence on objectively measured cognitive performance in large samples of young adults remains limited. This study examined associations between self-reported post-COVID consequences and objective cognitive performance in university students, with particular attention to acute COVID-19 severity. The sample comprised 7482 students aged 17–23 years: 3945 reported no previous COVID-19, 1676 reported previous COVID-19 without post-COVID consequences, and 1861 reported previous COVID-19 with post-COVID consequences. Visuospatial working memory was assessed using the Corsi Block Tapping Test (CTB), and choice-response performance was assessed using accuracy and mean correct-response latency in a four-choice reaction time task. Analyses accounted for age, sex, and clustering by university; among previously infected participants, models additionally adjusted for perceived acute COVID-19 severity. The primary adjusted analyses included 7117 participants for CTB and 6361 participants for the cleaned choice-response accuracy and latency analyses. In the three-group analysis, students reporting post-COVID consequences had slightly lower CTB scores than those without previous COVID-19 (B = −0.146, 95% CI [−0.277, −0.015], p = 0.029), although the effect was small and was not fully robust in an ordinal sensitivity model (OR = 0.91, 95% CI [0.82, 1.00], p = 0.052). No reduction in choice-response accuracy or robust slowing of response latency was observed in the post-COVID consequence group. Among previously infected participants, post-COVID consequences were not significantly associated with CTB performance (B = −0.149, 95% CI [−0.311, 0.013], p = 0.071), choice-response accuracy (OR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.60, 1.07], p = 0.126), or response latency (−0.79%, 95% CI [−2.06%, 0.49%], p = 0.224) after adjustment for acute severity, age, and sex; none of these associations remained significant after false discovery rate correction. Acute COVID-19 severity was likewise not significantly associated with the cognitive outcomes. Overall, self-reported post-COVID consequences were associated with, at most, small and outcome-dependent differences in objective cognitive performance in this young university sample. The findings do not support a broad objective cognitive deficit associated with self-reported post-COVID consequences after accounting for acute disease severity and demographic factors. Full article

Academic research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) has primarily focused on usage motivations, AI literacy, trust, overreliance, and critical use. However, the mechanisms through which critical thinking influences passive reliance on AI-generated output in academic contexts remain largely unexplored. This study examined the role of Critical Thinking and Decision Fatigue in students’ passive acceptance of AI-generated output. A sample of 383 Italian university students completed an online survey including the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale and the Decision Fatigue Scale. Of these, 332 students reported having used GenAI in the previous three months and were presented with six task-specific items assessing reliance on unmodified AI-generated output across six academic tasks (Idea generation, Text generation, Text revision, Creating quizzes, Receiving feedback, and Information search). Multiple hierarchical regression analyses tested the moderating role of Decision Fatigue. Decision Fatigue was not a significant direct predictor but moderated the relationship between Critical Thinking and passive acceptance in several academic activities, with the strength of this evidence varying according to the applied correction for multiple comparisons. The findings highlighted the role of critical thinking as a protective filter against the passive use of generative AI. However, this disposition is not always available, particularly under conditions of cognitive fatigue. The study offers new educational insights into the need to design instructional interventions that foster critical thinking while promoting cognitively sustainable learning environments. Full article

Background: Population aging has led to an increasing proportion of older adults (aged 65 and older) acting as informal caregivers. These caregivers face risks of burden, stress, and depression. While research frequently documents negative psychological outcomes, resilience represents a crucial protective process. This systematic review synthesizes and maps the empirical evidence regarding the association between the socio-ecological resilience process and the well-being of older informal caregivers. Methods: Following Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) mixed-methods guidelines, a convergent segregated mixed studies systematic review was conducted. A systematic search of Medline (PubMed), CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus identified primary articles (2014–2025) in English and Spanish. Methodological quality was appraised using JBI critical appraisal checklists and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. PROSPERO registration number: CRD420251142190. Results: Thirty-one studies were included. Elevated caregiver resilience was associated with lower reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, higher self-rated health, and positive psychological adaptation. Framed within a social ecological model, personal resources such as spirituality, hope, and self care, alongside relational assets like dyadic relationship quality and mutual coping, demonstrated a positive association with resilience and a reduction in subjective burden. Within the community context, informal peer networks and Online Health Communities functioned as essential supportive resources. On a structural level, both household wealth and the regional availability of long-term care beds acted as moderators for spousal well-being, whereas exceeding 30 weekly caregiving hours acted as a temporal threshold for positive adaptation. Conclusions: These findings suggest that resilience in older caregivers may be best conceptualized not as a static individual trait, but as a multi-level, dynamic socio-ecological process. Rather than relying on individual coping alone, public policies and clinical practice should prioritize systemic, relational, and structural environmental support, including formal respite services and long-term care infrastructure, to preserve the well-being of older spousal caregivers. Full article

Research on assortative mating has shown that couples share strong similarities in demographic and attitudinal variables, while the similarity in personality is generally weak. However, a recent meta-analysis indicated that couple similarity in dark traits is considerably greater than that in the Big Five. If these differential similarities are primarily due to active preference, we expect that (1) the desire for similarity in dark traits should be higher than that for the Big Five and (2) the strongest desire for partner similarity in dark traits should come from the “darkest” individuals (i.e., with the darkest core). Participants (n = 2465) rated themselves and their ideal partner in Dark Triad and Big Five traits. They also rated their own dark core. The results showed consistent evidence for desired similarity in dark traits; however, this similarity was no greater than that for the Big Five. Further, dark core generally moderated desired similarity on dark traits such that people with a darker core preferred stronger partner similarity in dark traits. This pattern was only observed for Agreeableness on the Big Five. A new explanation was proposed to reconcile these paradoxical findings concerning desired and actual similarity in dark traits in comparison to the Big Five. Full article

(1) Background: As university students increasingly engage with digital tools in their academic and daily lives, digital well-being has become an important issue. This study aimed to examine a comprehensive sequential mediation model in which cognitive flexibility and digital literacy explain the relationship between metacognitive awareness and digital well-being among university students. (2) Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study included 711 university students. Data were collected using the Metacognitive Awareness Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, Digital Literacy Scale, and Digital Well-Being Scale. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling, and indirect associations were examined using bootstrap analyses. (3) Results: The findings indicated that metacognitive awareness was positively associated with cognitive flexibility and digital literacy, whereas cognitive flexibility was positively associated with both digital literacy and digital well-being. Digital literacy was also positively associated with digital well-being. Bootstrap results supported significant indirect associations between metacognitive awareness and digital well-being through cognitive flexibility and digital literacy, including their sequential mediation. (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that university students’ digital well-being can be better understood by considering metacognitive awareness, cognitive flexibility, and digital literacy together. Therefore, holistic approaches that focus on developing these three areas together may be beneficial in interventions aimed at supporting digital well-being. Full article

Small-animal phobia (SAP) is characterized by exaggerated fear responses to biologically relevant threat cues, yet the extent to which personality traits influences neural threat processing remains unclear. This study examined whether Cluster C personality traits (avoidant, dependent, and obsessive–compulsive) modulate neural responses to phobic stimuli in SAP. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 39 individuals with SAP and non-phobic controls while viewing phobia-relevant and neutral stimuli. Whole-brain analyses were conducted to identify group differences in brain activation, and additional models assessed the influence of Cluster C personality traits on neural responses. Compared with controls, individuals with SAP showed greater activation in regions involved in threat processing and emotional salience, including the anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, pallidum, fusiform gyrus, and thalamus. Higher avoidant traits were associated with increased activation in visual regions implicated in threat detection, whereas dependent and obsessive–compulsive traits were linked to greater recruitment of prefrontal areas involved in cognitive control and emotion regulation. These findings suggest that neural responses to phobic stimuli are influenced not only by the presence of SAP but also by personality-related vulnerability, highlighting the role of Cluster C traits in shaping perceptual and regulatory aspects of threat processing. Full article

Promoting positive student attitudes toward STEM is essential for fostering innovation; however, many existing measures do not adequately distinguish attitudes across specific disciplines, particularly within hard sciences such as physics and chemistry. This study presents the development and validation of the STEM Disciplines Attitude Scale (SDAS). Across three studies involving 2577 high school students, Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses supported a 25-item, five-factor structure assessing attitudes toward Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Science and Technology. The SDAS showed good internal consistency and strong convergent and discriminant validity. Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated full invariance across grade levels and metric invariance across genders. Gender comparisons indicated more positive attitudes among males in mathematics, physics, engineering, and science and technology, whereas no gender differences emerged in chemistry. Correlational and regression analyses identified Mastery Orientation and Problem-Solving Confidence as positively related to attitudes across several STEM domains. Learned Helplessness and Emotional Control showed more discipline-specific associations, particularly for Mathematics and Engineering. The SDAS fills an important measurement gap by providing a reliable tool for assessing discipline-specific STEM attitudes and their psychological correlates, thereby supporting both research and educational interventions. Full article

Background: Motivation for academic reading is a relevant component of initial teacher training. However, little is known about whether distinct motivational profiles exist in association with patterns of substance use and problematic behaviors among prospective teachers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 289 students (77.5% female; aged 18–34) enrolled in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education degree programs. Motivation for academic reading was assessed using the Academic Reading Motivation Scale (EMLA), while substance- and behavior-related problems were evaluated using the MULTICAGE CAD-4 questionnaire. Latent profile analysis was used to identify academic reading motivation profiles, and multivariate and post hoc analyses were performed to examine differences in scores across profiles. Results: Three motivational profiles were identified, characterized by high, intermediate, and low levels of academic reading motivation. Significant differences between profiles were observed regarding problems related to alcohol, drug use, gambling, video games, and compulsive spending. Conclusions: Academic reading motivation profiles were associated with various screening indicators for substance use and problematic behaviors. Given the cross-sectional and self-report nature of the study, these findings should not be interpreted in terms of causality. The results highlight the potential value of jointly considering academic motivation and health-related behavioral indicators in future teacher training. Full article

Background: Academic performance does not depend solely on cognitive abilities, but also depends on socioemotional processes. Emotional experiences may be associated with school performance; however, their effects are often inconsistent, suggesting the need to examine mediating mechanisms such as self-esteem and developmental conditions such as age. Objective: We aimed to analyze the association between positive and negative emotional experiences and academic performance in school students, assessing the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating effect of age. Methods: A cross-sectional explanatory study was conducted with 325 students from Lima, Peru (149 boys and 176 girls). Emotional experiences were assessed using the PANAS-N, self-esteem with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and academic performance with final grades in Communication and Mathematics. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), with bootstrapping based on 10,000 subsamples. Results: Positive emotional experiences were positively associated with self-esteem (β = 0.434, p < 0.001) and academic performance (β = 0.272, p < 0.001). Negative emotional experiences were negatively associated with self-esteem (β = −0.489, p < 0.001) but showed no significant direct association with academic performance (β = −0.005, p > 0.05). Self-esteem was positively associated with academic performance (β = 0.114, p = 0.043). The model explained 40.8% of the variance in self-esteem and 11.3% of the variance in academic performance. Age moderated only the association between negative emotional experiences and self-esteem (Δβ = 0.183, p = 0.035). Conclusions: Self-esteem plays a significant mediating role in the association between emotional experiences and academic performance, and this effect is especially relevant during adolescence. The findings suggest that self-worth constitutes a key psychological process for understanding how emotional experiences are linked to school performance. Full article

Classroom social climate has become a factor of increasing interest within the educational field due to its potential influence on students’ well-being and adjustment. The present study focused on analysing the relationship between the different dimensions of classroom social climate and school resilience in a sample of 609 Spanish secondary education students aged between 11 and 17 years. The Classroom Social Climate Scale (CSC) and the School Resilience Scale (SRS) were used as data collection instruments. The data were analysed using correlations and linear regressions to examine associations while retaining the continuous nature of the resilience scores, complemented by multinomial logistic regressions to examine the probability of belonging to relatively low, medium, or high resilience resource groups. The results showed positive and significant associations between the dimensions Relationship, Interest and Communication with Teachers (RIC) and Group Cohesion and Satisfaction (GCS), and both the Internal Resources and External Resources dimensions of resilience. Linear regression models explained 17.2% and 18.0% of the variance in Internal and External Resources, respectively, whereas multinomial logistic regression models yielded Nagelkerke R² values of 0.160 and 0.190. Furthermore, the GCS dimension appeared to show a stronger predictive contribution to the different dimensions of resilience, particularly for External Resources. The findings suggest that positive peer relationships and group cohesion constitute relevant contextual factors for the development of resilience during adolescence. Full article

Life skills are cognitive, emotional and social competencies that help adolescents manage everyday demands and participate in school and social contexts. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt and examine the psychometric properties of the European Portuguese Life Skills Scale (LSS). A cross-sectional methodological study included a convenience sample of 1807 Portuguese adolescents aged 13–19 years from public secondary schools in Central Portugal. The sample was randomly split for exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 903) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 904). EFA supported an interpretable eight-factor solution explaining 50.7% of the variance. CFA compared the original ten-factor model with the EFA-derived eight-factor model. The ten-factor model showed significant standardised loadings (λ = 0.444–0.849) and comparatively better fit, with acceptable root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA = 0.045) and standardised root mean square residual (SRMR = 0.062), although the comparative fit index (CFI = 0.855) and Tucker–Lewis index (TLI = 0.849) remained below preferred thresholds. Internal consistency was satisfactory to excellent (α = 0.782–0.963; ω = 0.783–0.964). Average variance extracted (AVE) and heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT) analyses provided partial evidence of convergent validity and additional support for discriminant validity. Supplementary multi-group CFA provided preliminary support for measurement invariance across female and male adolescents. Findings provide initial support for the European Portuguese LSS as a multidimensional measure of adolescent life skills. Full article

Sleep supports cognition across the lifespan, but its significance may differ developmentally: in adults, it largely maintains and restores functioning within mature neural systems, whereas in children and adolescents it may also support the formation of cognitive, emotional, and self-regulatory capacities. This systematic review and evidence and gap map, prospectively registered in PROSPERO and conducted according to PRISMA 2020, searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies of sleep duration, quality/fragmentation, timing/regularity, and daytime sleepiness in relation to executive function/self-regulation, attention/vigilance, emotion/behavior regulation, and academic functioning among typically developing children and adolescents. Twenty-five studies contributed 46 study–outcome links. Across nearly all populated evidence cells, more adequate sleep profiles were associated with better developmental outcomes. The strongest and most experimentally supported evidence concerned sleep duration in relation to executive function, emotion/behavior regulation, and academic functioning; evidence for sleep timing/regularity and daytime sleepiness was weaker and predominantly cross-sectional. Unlike adults, for whom sleep primarily restores a mature system, children may lose not only today’s functioning but tomorrow’s developmental trajectory when sleep is chronically curtailed. Sleep duration currently provides the strongest basis for intervention, whereas the long-term developmental effects of sleep quality, timing, regularity, and sleepiness require further longitudinal and experimental investigation during this formative period. Full article

Empathy is essential to humanized nursing care, yet its relationship with emotional competence before professional entry remains insufficiently specified. This single-school cross-sectional study examined whether distinct dimensions of emotional competence were differentially associated with emotional empathy among 337 secondary-level vocational nursing students enrolled in a five-year Croatian program for general care nurses/medical technicians. Students completed the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire (ESCQ-45) and the Emotional Empathy Scale from the E-Questionnaire, which primarily captures affective responsiveness to others’ distress and other negative-valence states. Spearman correlations, Kruskal–Wallis tests with Dunn–Holm post hoc comparisons, Welch tests, and hierarchical linear regression with heteroscedasticity-consistent type 3 robust standard errors were used. Emotional empathy correlated with emotion perception and understanding (ρ = 0.35, p < 0.001) and emotion management (ρ = 0.28, p < 0.001), but not with emotion expression and naming (ρ = 0.10, p = 0.070). In the fully adjusted regression model, emotion perception and understanding (β = 0.254, p < 0.001), emotion management (β = 0.254, p = 0.003), and female versus male reported sex (β = 0.277, p < 0.001) were statistically significant predictors, whereas clinical exposure was not (p = 0.429). Emotion expression and naming had a negative adjusted coefficient (β = −0.158, p = 0.040) after simultaneous control for the remaining predictors. The findings support a dimensional interpretation of emotional competence and indicate that negative-valence emotional empathy is more closely associated with recognizing, understanding, and managing emotions than with expressive emotional skills considered in isolation. Full article

Immunosuppressed patients have a substantially increased risk for developing skin cancer. Therefore, it is mandatory that such patients are adequately informed and aware of skin cancer and their increased risk to modify their behavior. Numerous studies have evaluated the topic, but no synthesis of their findings exists. The protocol of this systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024618851) and its reporting followed the PRISMA-2020 guideline. To identify all studies assessing knowledge or perception of skin cancer in immunosuppressed patients, forward and backward citation tracking was employed in addition to an electronic literature search across five databases. For the risk of bias (ROB) assessment, the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for prevalence studies was used. Quantitatively comparable outcomes were meta-analyzed, while all others were qualitatively synthesized. Thirty-two reports comprising 4214 patients were included. Acknowledging substantial heterogeneity between studies, just over two thirds of patients recalled having been informed about their increased skin cancer risk (pooled proportion: 68.34%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 55.48–78.90). Awareness of the increased risk for skin cancer varied widely (34.5–100%), and pooled mean Skin Cancer and Sun Knowledge scores were 14.77 (CI = 8.57–20.96). About half of those patients asked about risk factors for skin cancer knew that immunosuppression was among them. This indicates that immunosuppressed patients are insufficiently educated about their increased skin cancer risk. However, the high heterogeneity in the synthesized outcomes and the minimal proportion (3%) of low ROB ratings for the included studies call for further research to better understand the awareness of skin cancer risk in this vulnerable population. Full article

In psychotherapy, case formulation can organize clinically relevant information into a coherent account of how psychological difficulties emerge, persist, and may change. The Personal Meaning System Fuzzy Cognitive Map (PMS-FCM) represents the client’s bipolar construct system as a weighted directed graph, whereas the FCM-FRHP (Fuzzy Cognitive Map of Human Problem Formation and Resolution) provides a professional functional reference model for problem formation and resolution. This paper proposes a semantically constrained method for identifying systemic archetype-inspired configurations in PMS-FCM representations enriched with FCM-FRHP semantics. Rather than importing classical systemic archetypes directly, the method reformulates them as configurable graph templates adapted to intrapersonal bipolar construct systems. Detection combines FCM-FRHP functional roles, predefined semantic-affinity rules and PB-based structural criteria, edge-weight thresholds, and ranking criteria. The goal is to support the traceable identification of static structures that may inform the examination of clinically relevant systemic hypotheses, without treating them as diagnoses or evidence of observed temporal dynamics. The pipeline combines property-graph querying, RDF/SHACL conformance checking, ranked materialization, and rule-based trace generation. A local language model is used only after detection and conformance checking, as a constrained graph-to-text layer grounded in graph evidence and FCM-FRHP semantics. The approach offers a formally specified and reproducible method for conducting explicit, auditable pattern-level analysis of psychological case formulations. Full article

University students in diverse higher education contexts face concurrent risks: flourishing often below optimal levels alongside elevated depression and anxiety, though these are often addressed through generic, undifferentiated wellbeing provision. In diverse settings such as United Arab Emirates (UAE) universities, where international students constitute the majority of many student bodies, how campus activities relate to social belonging is both a wellbeing question and an equity issue. This study examined how extracurricular participation, sport (a subset of extracurricular participation), and exercise were associated with student wellbeing among 801 students across two UAE institutions. Extracurricular participation was associated with social belonging, which showed significant indirect associations with flourishing, depression, and anxiety, consistent across covariate adjustment and robustness checks. Exercise showed a similarly consistent direct association with flourishing; it was also associated with lower depression and anxiety in the primary model, though these associations were less robust than the flourishing finding and did not hold under further sensitivity checks. Sport showed a small association with stress mindset and anxiety, though this relies on a measure with low reliability and should be treated as tentative. Loneliness was not significantly associated with any engagement form. These findings point to a differentiated picture of campus engagement, in which extracurricular participation and exercise show the clearest links to wellbeing, while sport’s association with stress appraisal requires further evidence. Full article

Background: Tattooed teachers are increasingly visible in schools, yet the norms governing their professional acceptability remain poorly understood. This study tests whether pluralistic ignorance—private acceptance systematically exceeding the acceptance attributed to others—operates in attitudes toward tattooed teachers, and identifies individual-level predictors of this misperception. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 1226 individuals in Hungary across four groups: physical education (PE) teacher trainees, university students from other disciplines, secondary school students, and in-service teachers. Participants rated their own acceptance of tattooed PE and academic-subject teachers and the acceptance they attributed to other teachers and to parents, and reported tattoo status, gender, and professional background. Results: Own acceptance exceeded attributed acceptance in all four groups and for both reference targets, consistent with pluralistic ignorance; gaps were largest among secondary school students and smallest—though still positive—among in-service teachers. Personal tattoo experience was the strongest individual predictor of acceptance after group membership, and among teachers both age and experience were negatively associated with acceptance. Acceptance was predominantly conditional, structured by a visibility hierarchy in which arm placements were most acceptable and facial or neck placements least so. Conclusions: The apparent disapproval of tattooed teachers reflects collective misperception more than genuine consensus, suggesting that making actual peer attitudes visible could reduce conformity pressure and support more authentic professional self-expression. Full article