Standardized Self-report Scales Research Articles

Cyberbullying: A study of its extent, coping resources, and psychological impact among college students.

Bullying is an aggressive act with a hostile intent to dominate, abuse, or intimidate an individual(s) with a lesser social or physical power, repeatedly over a period of time. Though bullying can manifest in any social situation, its pernicious presence in the educational institutions has become a source of concern to all stakeholders. With their self-esteem and world view entwined in cyberspace, the present generation of young adults derive their social status and self-worth through affirmations through the internet via social networking sites. Cyberspace is an ideal environment for bullies as it is relatively anonymous, allows the participation of a large audience, and is almost impossible to supervise. To estimate the extent, coping resources, and psychological impact of cyberbullying among Indian college students. This cross-sectional study was carried out among undergraduate medical students of Sikkim. Cyberbullying, cybervictimization, coping strategies used by students, self-esteem, and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were estimated using standardized self-report scales. Out of 213 medical students, more than half of the college students (60.6%) were victims of cyberbullying. Coping strategies commonly used by cybervictims were technical coping, support from friends, and assertively confronting the bully online. Victims of cyberbullying had significantly more depression, anxiety, stress, and lower self-esteem (p values <0.05) compared to students who did not experience cyberbullying. This study illuminates the extent and nature of cyberbullying among Indian medical students. The negative mental health consequences of cyberbullying are worrying. Mental health professionals and stakeholders need to create an awareness and formulate strategies to combat cyberbullying in colleges.

Applying network analysis to understand the relationships between impulsivity and social media addiction and between impulsivity and problematic smartphone use.

Prior studies have revealed the relationships between impulsivity and social media addiction (SMA) and between impulsivity and problematic smartphone use (PSU) based on total scores on standardized self-report scales. However, there has been a lack of studies exploring how the dimensions of impulsivity and components of SMA or PSU are interrelated. The present study aimed to investigate the structural relationships between the dimensions of impulsivity and components of SMA and PSU and determine the critical bridge node using network analysis. A total of 325 healthy adults aged 18-36 years participated in the study. SMA and PSU were assessed using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS), respectively. Impulsivity was measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Version 11 (BIS-11). Network analysis was used to construct an SMA-Impulsivity network and a PSU-Impulsivity network. Bridge centrality (bridge expected influence, BEI) was estimated to identify influential bridge nodes. In addition to relationships within each community, network analysis revealed that the dimensions of impulsivity were closely associated with the components of SMA and PSU. Particularly, I2 "motor impulsivity" had a relatively strong connection with SMA3 "mood modification" and SMA4 "relapse" in the SMA-Impulsivity network, and with PSU2 "conflict" and PSU5 "withdrawal" in the PSU-Impulsivity network. Moreover, I2 "motor impulsivity" was identified as the most critical bridge node in both networks. These findings demonstrate potential pathways between different dimensions of impulsivity and the components of SMA and PSU, providing new evidence relevant to understanding the underlying mechanisms that account for how highly impulsive individuals develop SMA and PSU, and highlight the critical bridge node-motor impulsivity-that may be a promising and effective target for the prevention and treatment of SMA and PSU.

Symptom-Level Disability Status Assessed with an Electronic Unsupervised Patient-Reported Expanded Disability Status Scale (ePR-EDSS) in Multiple Sclerosis Patients-The Example of Croatia.

The present study aimed to apply an electronic, unsupervised patient-reported Expanded Disability Status Scale (ePR-EDSS) to investigate disability severity in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) as a case study in Croatia in 2021, including demographic and comorbidity characteristics and multiple sclerosis (MS) disease-related factors. The cross-sectional study was conducted as an online survey from 4 October 2021 to 31 December 2021. Symptom-level disability status was assessed with ePR-EDSS for MS capturing MS-related disability across the spectrum of severity.The study enrolled 147 pwMS patients, of which 84% were women. The mean age ± standard deviation in the sample was 41.1 ± 11.3, and the mean disease duration was 8.5 ± 7.4 years, with a median EDSS score of 3.0 (range, 0–8). The distribution of the participants according to clinical forms of MS was as follows: 71% had relapsing-remitting MS, 13% had primary progressive MS, 4% had secondary progressive PMS, and 12% did not provide information on their MS type. Twenty-nine point two percent (29.2%) of the participants had comorbidities in addition to MS. EDSS scores indicate significant differences with regard to age (t = −3.51, p < 0.001), gender (χ2 = 8.04, p < 0.01), and immunomodulatory drug use (χ2 = 5.89, p < 0.05). An ePR-EDSS analysis of disability symptoms showed a significant difference in symptoms with regard to strength, sensation, coordination, vision, fatigue, mobility, and overall wellness among MS types. Participants with PPMS and SPMS were older on average, had higher EDSS, and had more pronounced symptoms of disability measured with ePR-EDSS compared to those with RRMS. Application of ePR-EDSS shows it to be a reliable eHealth tool for clinical assessment of pwMS disability status, and future studies should correlate it with standard self-report scales capturing MS symptoms such as fatigue, depression, anxiety, and stress.

Near-Peer Facilitation of a Soft Skills Program for Young Adults With Autism.

Young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience poor employment outcomes. Teaching soft skills and using peer-based interventions improve outcomes for people with ASD. To evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a soft skills intervention and the feasibility of delivery to a group of young adults with ASD by near-peer occupational therapy master's-level students. Pretest-posttest single-group design. College campus. Convenience sample of 14 young adults (M age = 21.57 yr) with ASD. The Assistive Soft Skills and Employment Training (ASSET) program is a 12-session, manualized, soft skills group intervention previously validated with the ASD population. Topics include communication, attitude and enthusiasm, teamwork, networking, professionalism, and stress management. Social functioning, self-efficacy, and adaptive behavior were measured preintervention and immediately postintervention using standardized self-report rating scales. Participant satisfaction and experience were assessed using program-specific measures. Participants made statistically significant improvements, with medium to large effect sizes in social functioning, self-efficacy, and adaptive behavior. They reported high levels of satisfaction and a positive experience with the program content and delivery. This study provides evidence of participant satisfaction and perceived soft skills improvement and confidence, in addition to the preliminary efficacy of master's-level students as near-peer facilitators of the ASSET program with an ASD population. What This Article Adds: The results suggest that trained and supervised master's-level students can effectively deliver a manualized intervention as near-peer facilitators, elicit positive feedback and high levels of participant satisfaction, and replicate and extend previously reported participant gains.

The Nighttime Fears Scale: Development and psychometric evidence of a standardized self-report scale to assess nighttime fears in children

Nighttime fears are highly prevalent in children and are linked to children’s distress and internalizing problems, especially childhood anxiety. Although its assessment may be critical, there is a lack of available standardized self-reports. This study aimed to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Nighttime Fears Scale (NFS), a new standardized self-report for assessing nighttime fears in school-aged children. The construction of the scale was based on prior relevant research and involvement of researchers and clinicians, experts in childhood anxiety, and fears. A total of 794 Spanish-speaking children (51.1 % girls) aged 8–12 years completed the NFS along with measures of anxiety, sleep problems, internalizing and externalizing problems, and positive behaviors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure of the NFS, consisting of 21 items measuring a range of potentially fear-provoking stimuli at nighttime. Strong internal consistency (alphas ranging from .87 to .94), adequate test-retest reliability, and evidence of convergent, divergent and incremental validity was found. This study provides initial support for the use of the NFS by clinicians and researchers, suggesting that it is a promising tool for a rapid and easily-administered assessment to identify the presence and intensity levels of a set of common children’s nighttime fears.

Integrating questionnaire measures for transdiagnostic psychiatric phenotyping using word2vec.

Recent initiatives in psychiatry emphasize the utility of characterizing psychiatric symptoms in a multidimensional manner. However, strategies for applying standard self-report scales for multiaxial assessment have not been well-studied, particularly where the aim is to support both categorical and dimensional phenotypes. We propose a method for applying natural language processing to derive dimensional measures of psychiatric symptoms from questionnaire data. We utilized nine self-report symptom measures drawn from a large cellular biobanking study that enrolled individuals with mood and psychotic disorders, as well as healthy controls. To summarize questionnaire results we used word embeddings, a technique to represent words as numeric vectors preserving semantic and syntactic meaning. A low-dimensional approximation to the embedding space was used to derive the proposed succinct summary of symptom profiles. To validate our embedding-based disease profiles, these were compared to presence or absence of axis I diagnoses derived from structured clinical interview, and to objective neurocognitive testing. Unsupervised and supervised classification to distinguish presence/absence of axis I disorders using survey-level embeddings remained discriminative, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve up to 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.74,0.91) using Gaussian mixture modeling, and cross-validated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.91, 95% CI (0.88,0.94) using logistic regression. Derived symptom measures and estimated Research Domain Criteria scores also associated significantly with performance on neurocognitive tests. Our results support the potential utility of deriving dimensional phenotypic measures in psychiatric illness through the use of word embeddings, while illustrating the challenges in identifying truly orthogonal dimensions.

Affect and exertion during incremental physical exercise: Examining changes using automated facial action analysis and experiential self-report.

Recent research indicates that affective responses during exercise are an important determinant of future exercise and physical activity. Thus far these responses have been measured with standardized self-report scales, but this study used biometric software for automated facial action analysis to analyze the changes that occur during physical exercise. A sample of 132 young, healthy individuals performed an incremental test on a cycle ergometer. During that test the participants' faces were video-recorded and the changes were algorithmically analyzed at frame rate (30 fps). Perceived exertion and affective valence were measured every two minutes with established psychometric scales. Taking into account anticipated inter-individual variability, multilevel regression analysis was used to model how affective valence and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) covaried with movement in 20 facial action areas. We found the expected quadratic decline in self-reported affective valence (more negative) as exercise intensity increased. Repeated measures correlation showed that the facial action mouth open was linked to changes in (highly intercorrelated) affective valence and RPE. Multilevel trend analyses were calculated to investigate whether facial actions were typically linked to either affective valence or RPE. These analyses showed that mouth open and jaw drop predicted RPE, whereas (additional) nose wrinkle was indicative for the decline in affective valence. Our results contribute to the view that negative affect, escalating with increasing exercise intensity, may be the body's essential warning signal that physiological overload is imminent. We conclude that automated facial action analysis provides new options for researchers investigating feelings during exercise. In addition, our findings offer physical educators and coaches a new way of monitoring the affective state of exercisers, without interrupting and asking them.

Consulting a young person's advisory group: Planning healthcare research with and for young people with medically unexplained symptoms

In aging populations, a growing number of individuals are affected by cancer. However, the relevance of the disease for mental health is still controversial, especially after treatment. We drew from a representative community sample to explore the link of cancer with mental health assessing different dimensions and different periods of time.A cohort of 14,375 men and women (35–74 years) underwent medical assessments and was queried about cancer history, previous diagnoses of mental disorders, current mental distress symptoms, and current subjective health appraisal.1066 participants (7.4%) reported a diagnosis of cancer (survival time M = 9.79 (SD = 9.07) years). Most common were breast (24.3%), skin (20.9%), gynecological (13.8%), and prostate cancer (12.9%). Based on cut-off-scores of standardized self-report scales (PHQ-9, GAD-2), rates of depression (8.4%; 95%CI 6.90–10.30) and anxiety symptoms (7.8%; 95%CI 6.30–9.60) corresponded to those of participants without cancer. In men, cancer was related to a lifetime diagnosis of depression (OR = 2.15; 95%CI 1.25–3.64). At the time of assessment, cancer was associated with reduced subjective health in both sexes and with anxiety symptoms in men (OR = 2.43; 95%CI 1.13–4.98).Findings indicate different relations of cancer in men and in women with different operationalizations of mental health. They underscore that a history of cancer is not universally linked to distress in the general population. The study points out that different ascertainments of the association of cancer and mental health might be traced back to different assessment strategies. It also notes potential targets for interventions to alleviate distress, e.g. by physical activity.

Linking cancer and mental health in men and women in a representative community sample

ObjectiveIn aging populations, a growing number of individuals are affected by cancer. However, the relevance of the disease for mental health is still controversial, especially after treatment. We drew from a representative community sample to explore the link of cancer with mental health assessing different dimensions and different periods of time. MethodsA cohort of 14,375 men and women (35–74 years) underwent medical assessments and was queried about cancer history, previous diagnoses of mental disorders, current mental distress symptoms, and current subjective health appraisal. Results1066 participants (7.4%) reported a diagnosis of cancer (survival time M = 9.79 (SD = 9.07) years). Most common were breast (24.3%), skin (20.9%), gynecological (13.8%), and prostate cancer (12.9%). Based on cut-off-scores of standardized self-report scales (PHQ-9, GAD-2), rates of depression (8.4%; 95%CI 6.90–10.30) and anxiety symptoms (7.8%; 95%CI 6.30–9.60) corresponded to those of participants without cancer. In men, cancer was related to a lifetime diagnosis of depression (OR = 2.15; 95%CI 1.25–3.64). At the time of assessment, cancer was associated with reduced subjective health in both sexes and with anxiety symptoms in men (OR = 2.43; 95%CI 1.13–4.98). ConclusionFindings indicate different relations of cancer in men and in women with different operationalizations of mental health. They underscore that a history of cancer is not universally linked to distress in the general population. The study points out that different ascertainments of the association of cancer and mental health might be traced back to different assessment strategies. It also notes potential targets for interventions to alleviate distress, e.g. by physical activity.

Parental Psychopathology and Parenting Stress in Parents of Adolescents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

This study examined the relative contribution of parental Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression symptoms to the parenting stress of mothers and fathers of adolescents with ADHD. The sample comprised 83 families with adolescents 13 to 18-years of age (48 with ADHD, 35 without ADHD). Parents provided ratings of parenting stress and their own ADHD and depression symptoms by completing standardized self-report rating scales. Two domains of parenting stress were investigated: Stress in relation to adolescent behaviors and parent-adolescent relationships (Adolescent-Focused Stress domain; AFS), and stress involving the impact of the adolescent on parental roles, relationships with others and sense of competence (Parent-Focused Stress domain; PFS). In addition to adolescent ADHD status, mothers’ ADHD and depression symptoms were predictors of maternal AFS (R2 = 0.51, F = 24.50, p < 0.001). Only maternal depression predicted mothers’ PFS (R2 = 0.37, F = 12.11, p < 0.001). Paternal AFS was predicted by adolescent ADHD status (R2 = 0.25, F=4.81, p < 0.01). Paternal PFS was predicted by fathers’ depression symptoms and by mothers’ ADHD symptoms (R2 = 0.30, F = 4.42, p < 0.01). These findings suggest that mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress is associated with their adolescent children’s ADHD symptoms and their own depression symptoms. Mothers’ ADHD symptoms are also associated with their own AFS and fathers’ parenting stress.

Oh no monster! Do imaginative fears trigger creative imagination?

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to identify the children suffering from imaginative fears and to determine whether or not children having these fears are different from the children have no such fear in terms of their creative imagination. For this purpose, 233 children from the age group of five-six years in a kindergarten in the southwestern Turkey participated in the study. The data were collected by using the Koala Fear Questionnaire, which was developed by (Muris, P., Meesters, C., Mayer, B., Bogie, N., Luijten, M., Geebelen, E., … Smit, C. (2003). The koala fear questionnaire: a standardized self-report scale for assessing fears and fearfulness in pre-school and primary school children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 597–617.) and whose Turkish validity and reliability studies were conducted, as well as Test of Creative Imagination- Child Form, which was developed by (Gündoğan, A. (2017). The test of creative imagination: making the test suitable to the age group of 5–6 years. Early Child Development and Care. doi:10.1080/03004430.2017.1372429). At the end of the study, it was found that creative imaginations of the children suffering from imaginative fears were also high. Furthermore, five-six year-old children suffering from imaginative fears were determined to use behavioural and pretense strategies rather than cognitive strategies.

Self-Reported Listening-Related Effort and Fatigue in Hearing-Impaired Adults.

Hearing loss may increase listening-related effort and fatigue due to the increased mental exertion required to attend to, and understand, an auditory message. Because there have been few attempts to quantify self-reported effort and fatigue in listeners with hearing loss, that was the aim of the present study. Participants included three groups of hearing-impaired adults: (1) hearing aid users (HA, n = 50; 31 male, 19 female; age range = 55 to 85 years); (2) cochlear implant users (CI, n = 50; 26 male, 24 female; age range = 55 to 80 years); and (3) single sided deafness (SSD, n = 50; 30 male, 20 female; age range = 58 to 80 years). There was also a control group of adults who passed a hearing screen at 30 dB HL at the frequencies: 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz in both ears (n = 50; 22 male, 28 female; age range = 55 to 78 years). The fatigue assessment scale (FAS) was used to quantify fatigue. The FAS is a generic standardized self-report scale consisting of 10 items that are scored using a five-point Likert scale. An effort assessment scale (EAS), developed for the present study, consisted of six questions with responses provided on a visual analog scale that ranges from 0 to 10. All hearing-impaired groups reported significantly increased effort and fatigue compared to the control group. The median fatigue score for the control group was 14 and around 22 for the three hearing-impaired groups. The median effort score for the control group was 20 and around 70 for the three hearing-impaired groups. There was no significant difference in mean effort or fatigue between the three groups of hearing-impaired adults. There was a weak positive correlation between fatigue and effort scores (r = 0.40, p < 0.05). The proportion of participants with extreme fatigue (scores above the 95th percentile of the control group) was 22, 10, and 22%, for the HA, CI, and SSD groups, respectively. The proportion of those with extreme effort was 46, 54, and 52%, for the HA, CI, and SSD groups, respectively. Results of factor analysis using the individual questions from both questionnaires indicated that the questions loaded into two factors: a "fatigue" factor for all of the FAS questions and an "effort" factor for all of the EAS questions. Hearing-impaired individuals report high levels of listening effort and fatigue in everyday life. The similarity in listening-related effort and fatigue between the different hearing-impaired groups suggests that these aspects of listening experience are not predicted by the severity of hearing impairment. Factor analysis suggests that the FAS and the EAS assess two distinct dimensions. The low correlation between FAS and EAS means that fatigue cannot be reliably predicted from self-reported effort in individual listeners.

P.3.b.013 - Impact of affective theory of mind impairments on functionality in patients with schizophrenia

In aging populations, a growing number of individuals are affected by cancer. However, the relevance of the disease for mental health is still controversial, especially after treatment. We drew from a representative community sample to explore the link of cancer with mental health assessing different dimensions and different periods of time.A cohort of 14,375 men and women (35–74 years) underwent medical assessments and was queried about cancer history, previous diagnoses of mental disorders, current mental distress symptoms, and current subjective health appraisal.1066 participants (7.4%) reported a diagnosis of cancer (survival time M = 9.79 (SD = 9.07) years). Most common were breast (24.3%), skin (20.9%), gynecological (13.8%), and prostate cancer (12.9%). Based on cut-off-scores of standardized self-report scales (PHQ-9, GAD-2), rates of depression (8.4%; 95%CI 6.90–10.30) and anxiety symptoms (7.8%; 95%CI 6.30–9.60) corresponded to those of participants without cancer. In men, cancer was related to a lifetime diagnosis of depression (OR = 2.15; 95%CI 1.25–3.64). At the time of assessment, cancer was associated with reduced subjective health in both sexes and with anxiety symptoms in men (OR = 2.43; 95%CI 1.13–4.98).Findings indicate different relations of cancer in men and in women with different operationalizations of mental health. They underscore that a history of cancer is not universally linked to distress in the general population. The study points out that different ascertainments of the association of cancer and mental health might be traced back to different assessment strategies. It also notes potential targets for interventions to alleviate distress, e.g. by physical activity.

The State Adult Attachment Measure (SAAM): A construct and incremental validity study

Recent studies have shown that relationship experiences and contextual factors may influence attachment security, anxiety, and avoidance. In the present study, we investigated the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the State Adult Attachment Measure (SAAM), a personality scale aimed to assess temporary variations in adult attachment styles (Gillath, Hart, Noftle, & Stockdale, 2009). Four hundred Italian participants took a set of standardized self-report attachment scales and other measures of subjective wellbeing and mental-health. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed an acceptable fit between the SAAM three-factor model and the data, confirming the hypothesized measurement model for security, anxiety, and avoidance. SAAM subscales also attained high internal consistency reliability, were properly related to mainstream attachment style scales, and had incremental validity in predicting psychological well-being and mental health. The Italian SAAM translation is indeed a reliable and valid measure, showing promise as a clinical assessment of short-term changes in attachment states, even in non-English cultural context.

Neurocognitive and functional correlates of mobile phone use in middle-aged and older patients with schizophrenia

Objectives: Our objective was to examine the association of mobile phone use and ownership with psychopathology, cognitive functioning, and functional outcome in 196 outpatients aged 40 years and older who were diagnosed with schizophrenia.Method: Participants reported their past and current mobile phone use on a standardized self-report scale and they were administered tests of global cognition, functional capacity, and informant-rated functional outcome.Results: The great majority of subjects had used a mobile phone (78%) but few currently owned one (27%). After adjusting for age (mean age 51), any past mobile phone use was associated with less severe negative symptoms, and higher global cognitive performance, functional capacity, and functional outcome. A total of 60% of participants reported being comfortable with mobile phones, but comfort was not associated with any cognitive or functional outcomes.Conclusion: Most of the older patients with schizophrenia have used mobile phones and lifetime mobile phone use is a positive indicator of cognitive and functional status.

School-based cognitive-behavioural therapy for academically underachieving Singaporean adolescents with aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour

This study examined the utility of a school-based, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) programme for academically weak adolescents with at-risk levels of aggressive and rule-breaking tendencies. When compared to baseline data, standardized self-report and teacher rating scales revealed that the symptoms of the CBT group significantly reduced to within normal limits at post-treatment. These gains were also evident at 1-month post-treatment. In contrast, the aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour of the wait-list control group was maintained at at-risk levels. Interviews with participants were subsequently used to document factors in the therapy that promoted positive change and user satisfaction. Implications of the study's findings for school mental health-care specialists and teachers were also discussed.

Disability, body image and sports/physical activity in adult survivors of childhood CNS tumors: population-based outcomes from a cohort study

Childhood CNS tumor survivors risk health and functional impairments that threaten normal psychological development and self-perception. This study investigated the extent to which health and functional ability predict adult survivors' body image (BI) and self-confidence regarding sports and physical activity. The study cohort covered 708 eligible ≥ 18 year old CNS tumor survivors, and data from 528 (75 %) were analyzed. Disability was estimated using the Health Utilities Index™ Mark2/3, a multidimensional self-report instrument. Physical self-confidence in terms of BI and sports/physical activity-related self-confidence (SPAS) were assessed using the BI and the Sports/Athletics modules of a standardized self-report assessment scale. In adjusted regression models, global health and functional status (GHFS) predicted BI (B = 0.94, 95 % CI 0.69-1.19) and SPAS (B = 0.79, 95 % CI 0.55-1.04). Emotion and pain, and to a lesser degree cognition, speech and vision disability, were associated with poorer BI and SPAS. Gender, sub-diagnosis, and time since diagnosis influenced the relationship between health status and physical self-confidence outcomes. Females had poorer GHFS, BI and SPAS than males. Decreased health and functional ability following childhood CNS cancer intrudes on physical self-confidence, with females being at heightened risk for both disability and negative self-confidence. Identified disability and gender-related risk calls for a follow-up plan that integrates treatment of psychological sequelae in lifetime monitoring of childhood CNS tumor survivors to restore and protect self-image and self-confidence, essential mental health correlates. An expanded plan should recognize the need for such services, optimizing life-long quality of survival for CNS tumor survivors.

Determinants of Success for Computerized Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Examination of an Insomnia Program

This study evaluated plausible moderators of outcome in a 6-week computerized treatment for insomnia. Using secondary data from two randomized controlled trials, participants were 228 adults with chronic insomnia. Participants received computerized treatment from their homes. Outcomes were assessed using a sleep diary, as well as several standardized self-report scales. Using linear mixed models with SPSS, treatment was largely robust to comorbid conditions, education, age, and gender. Results showed that psychiatric comorbidity and education moderated the impact of treatment on fatigue and that sleep symptom comorbidity moderated the impact of treatment on maladaptive attitudes about sleep. Implications of these findings are that more widespread use of computerized treatment for insomnia may be warranted. (Clinical Trials.gov Identification #: NCT00821041.)

Altered scapula position in elite young cricketers with shoulder problems

ObjectivesShoulder injuries associated with the throwing and fielding demands of the game are common in elite cricketers. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with shoulder injuries in an elite junior squad. DesignCross-sectional study. MethodsSixty players aged 15–19 years, from the Cricket Victoria elite junior male squads completed questionnaires and 46 completed clinical assessments conducted by a physiotherapist that included shoulder strength, range of movement and scapula position. Participants were classified into two groups; players currently reporting shoulder problems (SP) and those not reporting shoulder problems (NSP) on the basis of their response to the question ‘Have you had any problems with your shoulder in the last 12 months that have affected you training for or playing cricket?’. ResultsFifteen percent (9 of 60) of participants reported shoulder problems (SP). The level of shoulder disability in participants with SP, classified on standard self-report scales, was mild to moderate. The major difference between groups was that the SP group displayed a significant downward rotation of the scapula in almost all shoulder positions. There were no differences between the two groups for training factors, range of motion, or in clinical test results. However, contrary to expectations the SP group exhibited greater strength than the NSP group on some variables. ConclusionsA consistently downwardly rotated scapula associated with young cricketers with SP may predispose these cricketers to ongoing injury through impingement and also through increased load on the rotator cuff muscles acting at the glenohumeral joint during throwing.

Development of a Facebook Addiction Scale

The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), initially a pool of 18 items, three reflecting each of the six core elements of addiction (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse), was constructed and administered to 423 students together with several other standardized self-report scales (Addictive Tendencies Scale, Online Sociability Scale, Facebook Attitude Scale, NEO-FFI, BIS/BAS scales, and Sleep questions). That item within each of the six addiction elements with the highest corrected item-total correlation was retained in the final scale. The factor structure of the scale was good (RMSEA = .046, CFI = .99) and coefficient alpha was .83. The 3-week test-retest reliability coefficient was .82. The scores converged with scores for other scales of Facebook activity. Also, they were positively related to Neuroticism and Extraversion, and negatively related to Conscientiousness. High scores on the new scale were associated with delayed bedtimes and rising times.