This study examined needs and perceptions surrounding student burnout and the role that social support plays in the development of burnout. Specific attention was paid to LGBTQ students, a...Show moreThis study examined needs and perceptions surrounding student burnout and the role that social support plays in the development of burnout. Specific attention was paid to LGBTQ students, a vulnerable minority group that has shown to be more susceptible to stress (Meyer, 2003). The study had a mixed methods design. A survey including standardized and self-composed questions was administered among a convenience sample of 974 university students (85% Caucasian; 79% identifying as woman), 214 of whom identified as LGBTQ. Quantitative analysis was done in SPSS, and open questions were assessed using thematic analysis in ATLAS.ti. According to the burnout measure short (BMS), 56% of the sample met the diagnostic criteria of burnout. Social support and stress were significant predictors of burnout; however, a mediating effect of social support was not found. Many students attributed the high levels of stress and burnout to a high workload. Students want universities to reduce workload, teach coping skills, and pay more personal attention to students’ mental health. LGBTQ students showed significantly higher levels of burnout and stress and lower levels of social support. Students indicated that their LGBTQ identity had them navigate additional stressors, and they asked for LGBTQ-specific support from within their universities. The current study shows that burnout is a serious problem among students. Social support may play a small role in burnout; burnout prevention should mainly focus on reducing stress while considering the needs of students. Using firsthand input from the survey, this study presents two frameworks linking student needs to existing and new interventions.Show less
University students experience heightened sleep disturbances and anxiety symptoms, which may lead to a decrease of life satisfaction. Research suggests that there are apparent associations between...Show moreUniversity students experience heightened sleep disturbances and anxiety symptoms, which may lead to a decrease of life satisfaction. Research suggests that there are apparent associations between sleep disturbances, life satisfaction, and anxiety symptoms. Previous studies have assessed the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) on the reduction of sleep outcomes in university students, but the present study is the first one to incorporate various therapeutic approaches (CBT for insomnia, mindfulness, lifestyle guidance) into one short and cost-effective treatment protocol tailored to university students. This study assesses the effectiveness of such group sleep-mood intervention. It is hypothesised that the intervention, compared to a waiting-list group, will enhance life satisfaction and reduce anxiety symptoms in a sample of university students suffering from sleep disturbances. Participants (n = 35) were randomised into intervention group and waitlist control group, with pre- and post- testing on life satisfaction, anxiety symptoms, and insomnia. The intervention group consisted of four weekly therapy sessions. Results showed no significant time x group allocation interaction for quality of life and anxiety. Higher life satisfaction was associated with less sleep disturbances at post-intervention. Although not significant, the findings follow the correct trend and future research should replicate this study with a larger sample size. The current study points to the need to implement and utilise effective interventions for university students to maintain their psychological well-being and life satisfaction.Show less
Parentally bereaved adolescents constitute a high-risk group susceptible to many short and long term negative outcomes, such as prolonged grief and depression. Numerous different interventions have...Show moreParentally bereaved adolescents constitute a high-risk group susceptible to many short and long term negative outcomes, such as prolonged grief and depression. Numerous different interventions have been proposed and implemented aiming to support this population. However, there has been no comprehensive review or empirical support for all of them. This thesis aims to systematically review intervention studies for parentally bereaved adolescents and report on their effectiveness. Time interval between loss and treatment, symptom severity at baseline, interventions’ structure, therapeutic confrontation, participants’ age, and percentage of parental death were examined as plausible moderators. The dataset was extracted in December 2019 from nine electronic databases. Study characteristics regarding the interventions, samples, measures, and outcomes were extracted from 30 articles. Based on the sufficiently reported statistical data of 25 studies an overall effect size was estimated for the interventions and moderator analyses were conducted. A pooled effect size of -0.397 was found, indicating a small to moderate positive effect of these interventions on the participants’ life. Therapeutic confrontation, unstructured interventions, and targeting severely distressed participants were the intervention characteristics that positively moderated the intervention effectiveness. Different effect sizes were reported for separate outcome constructs, ranging from g = -0.029 to g = -1.203. Trauma-related outcomes reported the largest point estimate, while cortisol levels the smallest. To summarize, interventions targeting parentally bereaved adolescents can positively affect their participants during the difficult period following the loss of their parents. However, further and more targeted research is required to achieve larger effects.Show less
Objective: Research on loneliness suggests that loneliness increases physical and mental health concerns. This study aimed to investigate the predictor role of psychological distress, childhood...Show moreObjective: Research on loneliness suggests that loneliness increases physical and mental health concerns. This study aimed to investigate the predictor role of psychological distress, childhood trauma, mistrust, and the living situation on loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic to identify vulnerable groups. Methods: 349 participants took part in this cross-sectional study. They completed online selfquestionnaires assessing their level of loneliness, psychological distress, childhood trauma, mistrust, and living situation. The study was conducted online during September 2020 and April 2021 at the Universities of Leiden (the Netherlands) and Mannheim (Germany). Most of the respondents were 18-25 years old university students from 30 different nationalities. Results: The results indicated that childhood trauma (B =.074, SE =.012 t = 6.29, p < .05) and psychological distress (B = .007, SE = .003, t = 2.11, p < .05) predict loneliness while mistrust (B = -.074, SE =.044, t = -1.68, p = .092) does not. The effect of psychological distress became insignificant, when controlling for the other predictor variables (β = .003, SE =.003 t = 1.11, p =.26). No significant effect was found on loneliness score between two categories of living situation (F(1,347) =.64, p =.424, ηp 2 =.002). There was no significant interaction between childhood trauma and psychological distress. Conclusions: The current study highlights that experiencing childhood trauma is a risk factor for the feeling of loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prospective research is needed to fully understand the reasons and consequences of loneliness and its relationship with possible risk factors.Show less
Every year, around 800.000 people die from suicide. Previous studies suggest that having a history of childhood maltreatment is a key predictor of suicide attempts. One in ten children go through...Show moreEvery year, around 800.000 people die from suicide. Previous studies suggest that having a history of childhood maltreatment is a key predictor of suicide attempts. One in ten children go through psychological abuse, also known as emotional maltreatment. Emotional maltreatment is the most common form of childhood abuse, which often leads to difficulties in emotion regulation strategies (DERS). Moreover, a disorder that has been commonly associated with DERS is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Suicide rates are high amongst this disorder. Therapy has been shown to improve suicidality by a great level, specifically when it was targeted at thoughts and behavior. This study focusses on the effects of childhood emotional maltreatment, BPD symptoms, former treatment and DERS on suicide attempts. In 406 participants, multiple standardized questionnaires and structured clinical interviews have been taken to investigate the effects of abuse, emotion regulation and therapy on suicide attempts. Our results show that emotional abuse influences suicide attempts in all participants, regardless of BPD symptoms. Moreover, the participants who did not have therapy, the results showed a significant relationship with suicide attempts. These findings suggest that DERS may be an important treatment target for preventing suicidal events in those with child emotional abuse.Show less
In parent-adolescent interactions, conflicts are common, as focus points are usually different for parents and adolescents. Empathic accuracy, the ability to accurately infer the inner state of...Show moreIn parent-adolescent interactions, conflicts are common, as focus points are usually different for parents and adolescents. Empathic accuracy, the ability to accurately infer the inner state of another human being, has been found important for successful communication during conflicts. Being empathic may help estimating others’ emotions. This study investigated the relationship between the level of empathic ability and empathic accuracy in parents and whether parental gender moderates this relationship. We expected that more empathic ability leads to a higher degree of empathic accuracy and that this effect was more pronounced in mothers as compared to fathers. To investigate this, 120 parents and their healthy adolescent performed a problemsolving interaction task while being videotaped and filled in a self-report questionnaire (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) about empathy. To investigate parents’ level of empathic accuracy, parents and adolescents performed a High Affective Moments task, in which they both rated the emotions of the adolescent during the videotaped interaction task. Parents’ and adolescents’ ratings were correlated to calculate an empathic accuracy score per parent. Linear regression analyses showed no significant result for the effect of empathic ability on empathic accuracy, neither for the effect of the empathic ability subscales (i.e., empathic concern and perspective taking) on empathic accuracy. Furthermore, these effects did not significantly differ between mothers and fathers. Results of this study contradict the literature. As this study only looked at five emotions to measure empathic accuracy, future research may use a wider variety of emotions. It would be useful to include clinical adolescents to generalize results to a wider population, to learn more about the potential differences in empathic accuracy in parents with a clinical adolescent and to contribute to the treatment and reduction of depressive symptoms.Show less
