Background. More than 25% of Dutch youths is currently labeled as ‘psychologically unhealthy’ and access to care is often unavailable due to long waiting lists. In order to provide adequate care to...Show moreBackground. More than 25% of Dutch youths is currently labeled as ‘psychologically unhealthy’ and access to care is often unavailable due to long waiting lists. In order to provide adequate care to young individuals before clinical transition occurs, the effects of an online and clinical- and peer-moderated platform, ‘ENgage YOung people earlY’ (ENYOY), on the improvement of youth mental health were examined. It was hypothesized that spending six months on ENYOY would have a significant impact on social and occupational functioning, psychological distress and positive health; that results would be significantly different for highly sensitive persons (HSPs) and that HSPs would report different platform experience compared to non-HSPs. Methods. This study adopted a mixed-methods approach. Based on a sample of 45 participants, three within-subjects repeated measures ANOVAs with three levels (point in time: baseline, three and six months) and high sensitivity as a between-subjects factor were conducted in order to analyze the effect of platform participation on psychological distress, positive health and functioning over time. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed using open coding, in order to gain more insight on individual platform experience and differences between HSPs and non-HSPs. Results. Using ENYOY for six months had a significant effect on functioning, psychological distress and positive health. Significant effects for all points in time were found for functioning and significant effects for the first two time points were found for positive health and psychological distress. No significant interaction effect was found between HSP and the three variables over time. Qualitative analysis showed overall satisfaction with ENYOY as an online preventative tool for emerging mental health complaints based on areas of usability, user friendliness, usefulness, impact, inclusivity and connection with others. Moreover, useful suggestions for future implementation were given. Conclusion. The present study demonstrated that using ENYOY improves functioning, psychological distress and positive health among young individuals with emerging mental health problems over the course of six months and that ENYOY is experienced as a useful tool to treat subclinical psychological complaints. Considering limitations, future research might focus more on high sensitivity as a factor in clinical settings, as well as on the implementation of ENYOY as a fully automated platform.Show less
Waiting time for treatment in Dutch mental healthcare is increasing. General practitioners substantially deviate from the allocation guideline which seems to contribute to the increase of waiting...Show moreWaiting time for treatment in Dutch mental healthcare is increasing. General practitioners substantially deviate from the allocation guideline which seems to contribute to the increase of waiting time. This study aimed to investigate whether undertreatment can be beneficial for patients and the MHC system. In addition, this study aimed to identify characteristics of undertreated patients that suffered unfavorable undertreatment based on clinical data and clinical judgement by general practitioners. Data was obtained in a naturalistic environment in a mental healthcare institution in the Netherlands and patients received treatment as usual. A total of 6193 electronic patient records were included. Exclusion criteria and missing data left 1057 cases eligible for analyses. A one-way ANOVA and a forward hierarchical binary logistic regression were conducted to investigate both aims. Results showed that undertreatment relates to worse treatment outcomes in comparison to patients in S-MHC. Unfavorable undertreatment was best predicted by waiting time and level of pre-treatment functioning. Longer waiting time is related to the need for more specialized care. Also, lower levels of pre-treatment functioning is related to the need for more specialized care. B-MHC care for undertreated patients must be improved. GPs seem to have valid reason to deviate from the allocation guideline. The allocation guideline could benefit from the addition of variables based on clinical judgement. To provide the care that undertreated patients need, treatment in B-MHC could be prolonged to match outcomes in S-MHC. Another solution could be to limit the negative effects during waiting time for patients.Show less
One of the most contagious behaviors among humans is contagious yawning (CY). There is an ongoing debate in the current literature about its' functions and underlying mechanisms. Two perspectives...Show moreOne of the most contagious behaviors among humans is contagious yawning (CY). There is an ongoing debate in the current literature about its' functions and underlying mechanisms. Two perspectives prevail, namely the physiological stance, suggesting that CY is merely a homeostatic response. The social stance suggests a solid relation to the social environment, where individual characteristics, such as empathy and theory of mind, play a role in the yawning contagion. To investigate this, we consider the relation between CY and the primary innate mechanism of imitation, (facial) mimicry. Mimicry seems to be indirectly related to CY via empathy. We hypothesize that individuals who mimic more have higher rates of yawning contagion. To test this, forty-one healthy participants partook in a psychophysiological experiment. We measured the physiological activity of facial muscles (with electromyography, EMG), heart rate, skin conductance, and pupil dilation (with an eye-tracker) during computer tasks. We also control for the potential effects of hours of sleep, energy levels and order of condition. After conducting a generalized linear mixed model in R, we did not find a significant effect of facial mimicry on CY. Empathy, theory of mind, sleep and energy levels did not influence CY. However, we found a significance in the order of condition, supporting physiological arousal theories. We suggest additional research by considering other types of mimicry (pupil). We also provide novel detection criteria of CY and the visual representations of EMG activity of the Zygomaticus Major and Corrugator Supercilli during CY. These are crucial for future research, as they have not been previously identified.Show less
Our visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM), a cognitive component responsible for wayfinding and arithmetical challenges, is negatively related to aging according to prior studies. At the same time,...Show moreOur visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM), a cognitive component responsible for wayfinding and arithmetical challenges, is negatively related to aging according to prior studies. At the same time, aging is related to a decrease in sleep quality. However, the triangular relation of these three variables is unknown. This current research aims to identify the direct relation between VSWM and age and sleep. Additionally, we tested if the relation between VSWM and age can indirectly be explained by sleep duration and sleep variability. Finally, the explorative part of the study looked at the effect that sleep duration the night before testing has on VSWM performance. Unique about this study is the use of tappigraphy as a measure for sleep. Tappigraphy is a naturalistic way of deriving data from people’s smartphone touches, allowing for the calculation of sleep duration and variability. The study included 151 participants, 99 for the explorative analysis, who installed an app on their smartphone (tappigraphy measure) and additionally had to complete a VSWM performance task (Corsiblock task). The analysis confirmed the negative relation between age and VSWM, but did not find a relation between sleep duration, variability and sleep the night before testing and VSWM. Additionally, no mediating effect of sleep on the relation between age and VSWM was found. In conclusion, while age and VSWM seemed related the sleep variables of current study did not show any relation to VSWM. This could be partially be explained by the limitations of this study. Future research should focus on constructs of sleep that do not deviate much from current literature. Plus, future research should aim to validate tappigraphy for an older population.Show less
This study examines the relationship between the self-determination theory and perceived psychological safety, respectively popularized by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan; and Amy Edmondson. Whereas...Show moreThis study examines the relationship between the self-determination theory and perceived psychological safety, respectively popularized by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan; and Amy Edmondson. Whereas psychological safety has been found to positively contribute to team performance, the self-determination theory is used to assess individual needs and fulfilments, and can be a contributor to individual performance. The aim of this potential relationship is to enable the use and combination of individual-, and team-based strategies more effectively in order to enhance overall performance in organizations. I hypothesized that a significant positive correlation exists between self-determination theory factors and perceived psychological safety, and that the former could be used to predict the latter. The data gathered in an international online survey among people working in the healthcare sector supports that there is a significant positive correlation between the levels of the self-determination theory’s autonomy component and perceived psychological safety. However, when setting up a regression model, I found that the autonomy component of self-determination theory is the only significant predictor for the level of perceived psychological safety. This model explains five percent of the variance in the level of perceived psychological safety, and is thus practically of no use. Secondly, hypothesized that there are no gender-based differences in levels of self-determination theory and perceived psychological safety. In the analysis I found that there are generally no gender- based differences in either of the variables, except for the competence component of self- determination theory. This potentially signifies that men and women prioritize their psychological needs differently, but more research is needed to confirm this. In conclusion, based on the evidence gathered in this study, I cannot conclude that the relationship between self-determination theory and psychological safety can be used in a meaningful way to increase overall performance in the healthcare sector, or other organizations for that matter.Show less
