Search Results (1,798)

Peer action coordination in middle childhood is thought to benefit from socio-cognitive abilities such as emotion understanding and inhibitory control, but empirical evidence for their role is limited. This study replicates and extends a previous study by examining whether emotion understanding and inhibitory control correlate with children’s peer action coordination in a cooperative sensorimotor problem-solving task. To test this hypothesis, 6- to 10-year-old children (N = 108, M = 8 years, 8 months, 46.3% girls, 53.7% boys) completed the Test of Emotion Comprehension and the Attention Network Task. To assess children’s performance in coordinating their actions with a peer, they were asked to complete the Labyrinth Ball Game—a sensorimotor task that they first performed individually and then together with a peer. Contrary to expectations, there was no direct association between emotion understanding or inhibitory control and children’s peer action coordination after controlling for age, gender, and individual sensorimotor skills. However, a significant interaction between age and gender revealed that older boys showed greater cooperative action coordination performance than younger boys, whereas girls’ performance remained stable across age. These findings challenge the view that individual socio-cognitive abilities straightforwardly support cooperative success, suggesting that peer action coordination in middle childhood may rely on more complex mechanisms, such as gender-specific communicative strategies or social play, rather than on emotion understanding and inhibitory control. Full article

Leopards (Panthera pardus) are considered solitary carnivores, but recent research reveals a more complex lifestyle that incorporates kin selection, hidden social structures, and behavioral innovation and plasticity. This paper combines theoretical advancements in kin selection with empirical findings from the peri-urban Jhalana Forest Reserve in Jaipur, India. Our research demonstrates that kin-tolerant spatial organization, maternal investment, temporal avoidance strategies, and adaptive responses to human-induced pressures form the foundation of leopard ecology in Jhalana. Female philopatry leads to the formation of matrilineal clusters, and maternal strategies play a crucial role in cub survival, with a cumulative two-year survival rate estimated at 61.8%. Emotional behaviors, such as grief-like responses to the loss of cubs, further challenge the notion that leopards are purely solitary animals. These findings have significant implications for evolutionary theory, conservation management, and human–wildlife coexistence. Jhalana serves as a model system where solitude and social behavior intersect, redefining our understanding of leopard ecology and guiding conservation efforts in human-dominated landscapes. Full article

Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by chronic pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, which often coexist with psychiatric symptoms, complicating its clinical profile. This study aims to investigate the relationships between FM components and psychopathological correlates, focusing on the central role of depression within the FM symptom network. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 outpatients diagnosed with FM according to the American College of Rheumatology 2016 criteria. Participants completed a comprehensive battery of validated assessment tools measuring FM components (pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances), psychopathology (depression and anxiety), and stress-related dimensions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and network analysis were used to explore the interplay between FM-related and psychological factors. The findings revealed a complex relationship between depression and pain in FM, with depression emerging as a central and highly connected factor within the symptom network, associated with both emotional and physical dysfunction. Fatigue was identified as a significant mediator between depression and pain, while stress, though not central, contributed to the overall symptom burden. These interactions underscore the multifaceted nature of FM, where psychological and physical symptoms are intricately interconnected through shared mechanisms. Systematic assessment of depressive symptoms may represent a clinically relevant target and a potential leverage point for integrated care pathways in chronic pain services. Full article

Background: Addictive disorders are characterized by the dysregulation of neural circuits involved in reward processing, salience attribution, emotional regulation, and cognitive control. Traditional neuroimaging paradigms based on static or two-dimensional stimuli show limited ecological validity and may fail to capture the contextual complexity of real-world addictive triggers. Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers a novel approach to simulate realistic, multisensory environments capable of eliciting craving and emotional responses. Although several reviews have examined VR in addictive disorders, most combined immersive and non-immersive tools and did not restrict inclusion to studies with brain-based outcomes. Methods: This systematic review with narrative synthesis was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE and APA PsycINFO for studies published up to 30 December 2025. This systematic review followed PRISMA 2020 and was prospectively registered in PROSPERO; due to heterogeneity, findings were synthesized narratively. Eligible studies included human participants with substance-related or behavioral addictions and employed immersive VR paradigms (e.g., head-mounted display–based environments) combined with neuroimaging or neurophysiological measures (EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, PET, or DTI). Risk of bias was assessed using ROB-2 or ROBINS-I, and overall certainty of evidence was evaluated with the GRADE framework. Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing over 1450 participants with alcohol, nicotine, methamphetamine, opioid use disorders, and internet gaming disorder. Immersive VR was associated with craving-related neural responses across modalities, involving prefrontal, insular, limbic, and striatal networks. EEG studies reported spectral power changes associated with craving and attentional salience, while fMRI, fNIRS, and PET studies demonstrated activation and modulation of executive control and reward-related circuits. Preliminary longitudinal and interventional studies indicate that repeated VR exposure may induce neurobiological changes consistent with therapeutic modulation. Conclusions: Immersive VR combined with neuroimaging supports the use of immersive VR as an ecologically grounded framework to probe addiction-related brain circuits; however, larger trials and standardized reporting are needed to strengthen clinical translation. Future studies should prioritize adequately powered randomized designs, harmonized VR cue-reactivity paradigms, and transparent neuroimaging reporting to enable reproducibility and cumulative inference. Full article

Visual pollution in urban environments has a significant impact on aesthetic quality, level of environmental complexity, coherence, and emotional well-being. Due to that, it needs to be analysed considering not only physical environment features and indicators but also aspects of environmental psychology and human emotional needs towards the urban environment. Taking into account this approach, in this research, it is studied applying a genotype-based framework using space syntax analysis and emotional mapping. Spatial analysis tools, such as space syntax and visibility graph analysis (VGA) provide reliable tools for statistically analysing this phenomenon. This method evaluates visual exposure and connectedness to polluting components across the map, resulting in locations with the most obvious pollution (The research examines spatial metrics such as integration, connectivity, and visibility, as well as emotional responses, to reveal significant links between urban spatial configurations and the visual pollution index (VPI). Zones with great accessibility and reachable by people, such as parks and public spaces, have positive emotional responses and low VPI scores, suggesting accessibility and visual harmony. On the contrary, low-integrated and fragmented areas have high VPI ratings, suggesting visual clutter, poor maintenance, and user dissatisfaction. Visual pollution affects the quality of urban surroundings by filling the visual space with contrasting and varied elements, resulting in visual dissonance. Common sources of visual pollution include architectural forms, billboards, advertising boards, signage, and poorly maintained building façades, particularly in modernist neighbourhoods. The Dainava neighbourhood in Kaunas city is used as a case study to apply this integrated methodology, revealing spatial and emotional aspects of the neighbourhood relevant to the VPI assessment. The findings highlight the relevance of a complex methodological approach that integrates spatial and emotional qualities of the environment and the importance of targeted actions, such as improving visibility, creating visual relations, and reducing visual clutter, in establishing inclusive, legible, and visually harmonious urban spaces. This methodological framework provides urban planners with a practical tool for the evaluation of visual pollution that integrates egzogenous (physical) and endogenous (emotional) factors and has predictive capacities to indicate the environment that is the most sensitive to visual pollution. Full article

Extended Reality (XR) technologies are increasingly used to create immersive and interactive systems across domains such as education, training, health, and entertainment. As these systems become more complex and multisensory, evaluating user experience (UX) in XR environments requires approaches that go beyond traditional usability assessments and consider perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and interaction-related factors. However, existing UX evaluation efforts in XR often rely on isolated instruments or domain-specific studies, lacking a systematic and reusable evaluation methodology. This paper proposes a human-centered methodology for evaluating user experience in extended reality applications, integrating UX dimensions and XR-specific characteristics into a structured and coherent evaluation process. The methodology is grounded in a multi-phase research process that includes a comprehensive literature review, expert consultation, correlation analysis between UX dimensions and XR features, and formal specification of evaluation phases and activities. Based on this process, the proposed methodology supports evaluators in selecting appropriate UX evaluation methods and instruments according to the characteristics and experiential goals of XR applications. The methodology defines a set of UX dimensions tailored to immersive environments, capturing perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and interaction aspects that are critical for the design and evaluation of adaptive and human-centered XR systems. An expert-based validation was conducted to assess the clarity, usefulness, and applicability of the methodology, leading to refinements in its structure and descriptions. The methodology promotes a human-centered approach by considering user perception, emotional impact, and contextual experience across XR modalities. It additionally contributes to the field by offering a reusable process for UX evaluation in XR, supporting more consistent, transparent, and human-centered assessment practices. It also provides a foundation for future empirical studies and the development of evaluation approaches inspired by natural and adaptive human–environment interactions. Full article

With the rapid development of social media, the speed and influence of rumor dissemination continue to increase, posing severe challenges to information environment governance. Existing rumor detection methods still face limitations in multimodal alignment, and emotion modeling, making them insufficient for the Weibo scenario characterized by short texts, heterogeneous modalities, and complex propagation patterns. This paper proposes a multimodal rumor detection framework tailored for Weibo, which jointly models text, image, and social features. Specifically, semantic and emotional sub-channels are designed for both text and image modalities, while social statistical features are introduced as a third modality, resulting in a three-modality, five-branch architecture. In the fusion stage, a gating mechanism combined with modality-level dropout is designed to provide more stable fusion under heterogeneous modalities. Finally, a lightweight feed-forward classifier performs the final prediction. Experimental results on the Weibo dataset demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms mainstream approaches, achieving overall Accuracy = 0.883 and Macro-F1 = 0.883, compared with TRANSFAKE (Accuracy = 0.855) and MPFN (Accuracy = 0.838). In terms of class-specific performance, the model attains the best results on non-rumor detection with Recall = 0.926 and F1 = 0.888, while maintaining the highest Precision = 0.918 for rumor classification, showing a more balanced discriminative ability. Further ablation studies confirm the effectiveness of the proposed fusion mechanism in enhancing model stability and interpretability. The overall framework provides an efficient multimodal solution for rumor detection in social media contexts. Full article

The expansion of financialised capitalism has increasingly compelled actors in the banking and financial sector to engage with population groups that have traditionally remained outside the sphere of financial investment practices. Over recent decades, the number of small household investors has grown substantially. This article asks the following questions: Given the inherent complexity and uncertainty of financial markets, how do banks appeal to customer segments with limited familiarity with financial theory and practice? What kinds of narratives underpin their marketing strategies? The analysis demonstrates how these narratives are crafted through emotive, moral, and cognitive elements tailored to customers situated in specific phases of the life course. The concept of financial seductibility serves as an analytical lens, highlighting how the appeal of financial products is highly context-dependent. The article thereby enriches and adds classificatory nuance to the literature on household financialisation. Full article

Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (Schoolwide PBIS) has been identified as a framework that supports schools in promoting positive behavior and preventing and managing behavior problems. The Decree-Law no. 54/2018 in Portugal leads schools to implement multitiered support systems for all students, integrating learning, social–emotional, and behavioral dimensions. Schoolwide PBIS aligns with the aims and principles of this legislation. However, to our knowledge, studies have yet to map Schoolwide PBIS practices in Portuguese schools. This study presents the results from a survey that aimed to explore the practice of Schoolwide PBIS features in Portuguese schools from the perspectives of 375 school psychologists and to analyze self-reported knowledge regarding the Schoolwide PBIS framework and its implementation in schools. Results suggest a limited Schoolwide PBIS implementation in Portuguese schools, with a meager percentage of school psychologists reporting a higher level of knowledge about the framework and the majority mentioning knowing little or nothing about Schoolwide PBIS. The results evidence how complex and challenging the adoption and implementation of Schoolwide PBIS can be, although there is strong evidence of its efficacy and relevance in inclusive contexts. Full article

Emotional intelligence (EI) and transformational leadership (TL) have been identified as key factors in team effectiveness (TE); however, the empirical evidence remains fragmented and exhibits substantial conceptual and methodological heterogeneity, particularly in studies that simultaneously integrate these three variables. To address this gap, the present study examined the relationships among TL, EI, and TE by applying the PRISMA 2020 protocol and the PICO-S framework. A total of 728 studies published in Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Emerald, ProQuest, and APA PsycNet were identified, of which 22 studies were included in the systematic review and 15 documents in the meta-analysis. The results revealed positive and statistically significant correlations between TL–TE (9 studies, 18 effects, N = 3480; r ≈ 0.45), EI–TE (8 studies, 15 effects, N = 3440; r ≈ 0.41), and EI–TL (4 studies, 6 effects, N = 1955; r ≈ 0.63), with effect sizes and levels of heterogeneity ranging from moderate to high. Additionally, variations in the strength of these relationships were observed according to sample size, year of publication, and methodological quality. In conclusion, EI emerges as a central resource that strengthens TL and, through psychological and relational mechanisms, consistently enhances TE in complex organizational contexts. Full article

Background/Objectives: Decoding affective states from Electroencephalography (EEG) signals is fundamental to non-invasive Brain–Computer Interfaces. Despite recent advances, accurate recognition is impeded by the inherently non-stationary nature of physiological signals and the entanglement of spatio-temporal dynamics within high-dimensional recordings. While Transformers excel at global modeling, they often neglect the continuous dynamical properties of neural signals and suffer from quadratic complexity. Methods: In this paper, we propose the Spatio-Temporal Hybrid Mamba-Attention (STHMA), a framework designed to explicitly disentangle and model EEG dynamics via linear-complexity State Space Models. First, to incorporate domain knowledge, we introduce a Dual-Domain Physics-Aware Embedding module. This module fuses learnable temporal convolutions with explicit frequency-domain spectral features, ensuring fidelity to neurophysiological principles. Second, we propose a novel Decoupled Spatial–Temporal Scanning strategy. By dynamically reconfiguring the serialization of the data tensor, our model strictly separates the learning of instantaneous functional connectivity from the tracking of emotional state evolution, thereby preventing the structural collapse common in 1D sequence models. Results: Extensive experiments on the FACED and SEED-V datasets demonstrate that the STHMA achieves state-of-the-art performance, significantly exceeding the random chance baselines (11.11% for 9-class FACED and 20.00% for 5-class SEED-V). Conclusions: The results validate that combining Physics-Aware Embeddings with decoupled state-space modeling offers a scalable and effective paradigm for EEG emotion recognition. Full article

Background/Objectives: Coping with death is an essential yet challenging aspect of nursing. In Ecuador, limited training and cultural factors may influence how nurses face the process of death and dying. This study aimed to explore nurses’ perspectives and highlight the degree of congruence between the numerical and discursive data provided by participants. Methods: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design (QUAN → qual) using questionnaires and qualitative interviews was employed. The quantitative phase included 497 nurses who completed the Bugen Coping with Death Scale and the qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 18 nurses. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Integration occurred at the methodological level—through the building of the qualitative data collection instrument—and at the levels of analysis and interpretation. Results: Nurses demonstrated moderate coping levels on the Bugen Coping with Death Scale. Although many reported being comfortable discussing death, qualitative data revealed substantial emotional distress and limited preparedness—particularly when facing their own mortality or the death of loved ones. Nurses expressed fear of suffering, sadness, and helplessness, especially when caring for dying children or young mothers. Communication with patients and families at the end of life emerged as a major challenge. Spirituality was identified as a key coping resource. Conclusions: Coping with death remains a complex and emotionally demanding process for nurses in Ecuador. Continuous education, emotional support, and training in spiritual and psychological dimensions of care are essential to strengthen nurses’ resilience and enhance the quality of care. Full article

Background and Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic and complex condition characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, psychological burden, and cognitive impairment, posing significant challenges for treatment. Immersive virtual reality exercise (iVRE) has been proposed as an innovative therapeutic approach to increase adherence, motivation, and multidimensional benefits, but evidence in FM remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a six-week iVRE program on cortisol levels, quality of life, cognitive function, and psychological symptoms in women with FM. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental pre–post design was conducted with 21 women (mean age 48.1 ± 10.7 years) diagnosed with FM, who completed twelve 30 min sessions of iVRE using Oculus Quest 2™ and the FitXR platform. Outcomes assessed pre- and post-intervention included salivary cortisol (ELISA), quality of life (FIQR), emotional status (DASS-21), and cognitive function (MoCA). Adherence and safety were monitored throughout. Results: The intervention was well tolerated, with no adverse events and 100% adherence. Statistically significant improvements were observed in FIQR scores (p < 0.001, d = 3.54), depression (p < 0.001, d = 1.19), anxiety (p < 0.001, d = 1.39), and stress (p < 0.001, d = 2.28). Cognitive performance improved significantly, with higher MoCA total scores (p < 0.001, d = 1.52) and better outcomes in visuospatial ability, language, and delayed recall domains. No significant changes were detected in salivary cortisol levels (p = 1.000). Conclusions: A six-week iVRE program is safe and feasible, promoting clinically relevant improvements in quality of life, emotional well-being, and cognitive function in women with FM, despite the absence of changes in cortisol. These findings highlight iVRE as a promising complementary therapeutic strategy within multidisciplinary FM management, warranting further controlled studies with larger samples and long-term follow-up to confirm its efficacy and explore underlying mechanisms. Full article

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) represents far more than a typical allergic eye disease. It is a distinct and often underestimated chronic inflammatory condition that primarily affects children during critical stages of physical and emotional development. Though frequently grouped with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, VKC differs significantly in its immunopathology, clinical presentation, and long-term implications. Its intense ocular symptoms and its potential for corneal damage and substantial psychosocial burden require, rather than symptom control, coordinated and multidisciplinary management. This narrative review explores VKC from every angle, with a particular focus on its implications for pediatric care. VKC, in fact, represents a genuine clinical challenge: as its symptoms can mimic milder forms of conjunctivitis, its course is often unpredictable, and its treatment requires balancing efficacy and safety in vulnerable age groups. We examined the immunological mechanisms that make it a model of localized Th2 inflammation, the diagnostic pitfalls that delay recognition, and the evolving treatment landscape, from conventional therapies like cyclosporine A and tacrolimus to innovative agents such as omalizumab and dupilumab. We also highlighted the role of emerging biomarkers, the influence of environmental and microbiome factors, and the urgent need for standardized care pathways. As research continues to expand our understanding, VKC is emerging as a prime example of how personalized medicine and translational science can intersect to address complex immune-mediated diseases in children. For the ones treating pediatric allergic disorders, VKC is no longer a rare curiosity: it is a clinical challenge worth understanding deeply. Full article

Background: Hearing loss is one of the most common yet often overlooked sensory deficits worldwide, with consequences extending well beyond auditory function. Mounting evidence highlights the complex interrelationships among hearing loss, cognitive decline, and psychosocial well-being. Neural mechanisms underlying this association include increased cognitive load, cortical reorganisation, and social isolation, which mediate the impact of auditory deprivation on the brain and mental health. Furthermore, hearing impairment is consistently associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety, particularly when the duration of untreated deafness is prolonged. Methods: This narrative review summarises recent longitudinal and neuroimaging studies investigating the effects of hearing loss and the timing of intervention with hearing aids. The review focuses on evidence addressing cognitive, psychological, and neural outcomes in relation to early versus delayed amplification. Results: Across multiple studies, early adoption of hearing aids within a limited timeframe after diagnosis is linked to better cognitive performance, lower depressive symptom scores, and more preserved neural network integrity. Experimental evidence supports the existence of sensitive periods for auditory intervention, during which brain plasticity allows for optimal reorganisation and recovery of function. Conversely, delayed amplification may lead to irreversible cortical changes and persistent psychosocial distress. Despite this, several barriers—healthcare accessibility, patient attitudes, and economic constraints—continue to delay timely intervention. Conclusions: Early identification and management of hearing loss are critical to preserve cognitive and emotional health. An integrated approach addressing both hearing and cognitive well-being, supported by patient education and personalised care strategies, may maximise the benefits of amplification and improve overall quality of life. Full article