Research on suicidal ideation indicates the significant role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and early parental attachment but fails to investigate risk potential in student populations....Show moreResearch on suicidal ideation indicates the significant role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and early parental attachment but fails to investigate risk potential in student populations. This study aimed to research how adverse childhood experiences in a population of university students who report mood and stress problems are related to suicidal ideation and whether the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and suicidal ideation is moderated by attachment style. To target students at risk for suicidal ideation, purposive sampling was employed. An independent samples t-test with consecutive multiple regression (n= 234) showed that adverse childhood experiences, measured with the ACE questionnaire, predicted the presence and severity of suicidal ideation, measured by the BSSI. Consecutive ANCOVA showed that disorganized attachment to the mother and father, measured with the PBI, were found to predict suicidal ideation. Secure attachment was negatively associated with suicidal ideation, whereas for avoidant and anxious attachment there was no association found. A logistic regression analysis showed no moderation effect of insecure attachment styles in the relation between adverse childhood experiences and suicidal ideation. Gender, academic pressure, and nationality were controlled. Findings may be limited due to methodological and performance flaws. The results highlight the importance of early identification of adverse childhood experiences and disorganized attachment for intervention and prevention of later suicidal ideation amongst students.Show less
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on individuals’ physical and mental well-being, particularly affecting their sleep patterns. However, prospective research on the...Show moreIntroduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on individuals’ physical and mental well-being, particularly affecting their sleep patterns. However, prospective research on the specific effects of COVID-19 on sleep quality and rumination remains limited. The current study aims to fill this gap by investigating how the pandemic affects sleep quality and nighttime rumination in both adults and adolescents. It was hypothesised that COVID-19 would worsen sleep quality and increase nighttime rumination, particularly in adolescents. Methods: 101 participants (67 adults, 34 adolescents) were assessed using a within-betweensubjects design comparing two time periods (before and during COVID-19) across two age groups. Sleep quality was assessed daily by asking three questions that measured subjective sleep quality, sleep latency and wake after sleep onset. Nighttime rumination was quantified using self-reported rumination scores. Results: No significant differences in sleep quality or nighttime rumination were observed between the two periods for either age group. However, during the pandemic, adults experienced significantly worse sleep quality and increased nighttime rumination compared to adolescents. Additionally, nighttime rumination had a negative effect on sleep quality in both age groups. Conclusion: The study did not find statistically significant differences across time periods, but adults reported poorer sleep quality and higher levels of nighttime rumination during the pandemic compared to adolescents. These findings highlight the importance of further research to understand and address the psychological impact of global health crises in diverse populations.Show less
Mensen met de huidaandoening psoriasis hebben vaak te maken met stigmatisering. Dit kan een sterk negatief effect hebben op het welbevinden. Momenteel wordt er voornamelijk aandacht besteed aan het...Show moreMensen met de huidaandoening psoriasis hebben vaak te maken met stigmatisering. Dit kan een sterk negatief effect hebben op het welbevinden. Momenteel wordt er voornamelijk aandacht besteed aan het ervaren stigma. Het is belangrijk om meer kennis te vergaren over het publiek stigma door te onderzoeken hoe mensen met psoriasis worden waargenomen in de samenleving. Omdat etniciteit invloed kan hebben op de percepties en reacties van een individu, is het relevant om te kijken in hoeverre de mate van publiek stigma verschilt tussen verschillende etnische groepen. Om dit te onderzoeken hebben 120 participanten de mate van stigma gerapporteerd aan de hand van het zien van twee video vignettes waarin psoriasis wel of niet zichtbaar was. Bij de video vignette met zichtbare symptomen van psoriasis werd er meer publiek stigma gemeten (M = 16.18, SD = 4.92) dan als deze symptomen niet zichtbaar waren (M = 15.06, SD = 5.00), (t(119) = -3.28, p = .01). Daarnaast bleken er geen verschillen in de mate van publiek stigma tussen autochtone individuen, individuen met een westerse migratieachtergrond en individuen met een niet-westerse migratieachtergrond (F(2, 117) = 1.30, p = .28). De bevinding dat zichtbare symptomen van psoriasis leidt tot een toename van publiek stigma, benadrukt de noodzaak om hier verandering in te brengen. Wellicht door stigma-verminderende interventies. Daarnaast geeft de afwezigheid van verschillen in publiek stigma tussen de etnische groepen aanleiding tot vervolgonderzoek met een grotere diversiteit aan participanten en een gebalanceerde verdeling van de etnische groepen, om met meer zekerheid te kunnen kijken of deze verschillen er al dan niet zijn.Show less
This research explores the interplay between social media usage, offline and online interactions, perceived social support, and depression levels among university students. Analyzing data from 430...Show moreThis research explores the interplay between social media usage, offline and online interactions, perceived social support, and depression levels among university students. Analyzing data from 430 participants, this cross-sectional study leverages the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression symptoms and employs both multivariate and univariate linear regression analyses, as well as MANOVA and ANOVA tests, to understand the connections between online/offline social interactions, perceived social support, and depression. Key findings indicate a significant relationship between the level of perceived social support (β = -0.49, p < .001) and frequency of online interactions (β = 0.43, p < .05) with depression levels. Notably, individuals reporting higher levels of perceived social support tend to exhibit lower depression levels, while those with frequent online interactions often show higher depression levels. The study also identifies marked gender differences in social media use and depression, with females showing greater susceptibility. These results underscore a nuanced relationship between active/passive social media engagement, gender, and mental health. The research emphasizes the need for mental health strategies that consider individual differences, particularly focusing on the quality of social support and patterns of online engagement, to effectively address mental health concerns in young adults.Show less
Patients with a personality disorder may experience stigmatization, sometimes even on a daily basis. However, research suggests that not everyone with a personality disorder experiences it in the...Show morePatients with a personality disorder may experience stigmatization, sometimes even on a daily basis. However, research suggests that not everyone with a personality disorder experiences it in the same way, and that the extent to which it is internalized is also different for different persons, depending on a number of possible variables. The aim of the current study is to investigate the role of some of these variables, i.e. that of the type of personality disorder and age. It also examines whether the age at which patients have first been diagnosed might influence the extent to which they internalize stigmatization. In total, 36 participants from two specialized outpatient clinics filled out four questionnaires on stigma, in a cross-sectional comparative study design. The results show that neither the type of personality disorder nor age play a role, and that the age at which someone receives a diagnosis of personality disorder does not predict whether stigma will be internalized. Although the present study has its limitations, such as a modest representation of the target group and low statistical power, it is of value because it focuses on the patients’ perspective and paves the way for further research on this topic.Show less
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is the first-line treatment for insomnia in adults, however in elderly psychiatric patients its effect has not yet been thoroughly investigated....Show moreCognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is the first-line treatment for insomnia in adults, however in elderly psychiatric patients its effect has not yet been thoroughly investigated. The same goes for the influence of dysfunctional beliefs about sleep (DBS), a perpetuating factor of insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate whether older psychiatric inpatients report fewer insomnia symptoms and fewer DBS after a brief CBT-i intervention than before the intervention, and whether a possible decrease in DBS is associated with a decrease in insomnia severity. This is a quasi-experimental investigation with a one-group pretest-posttest design. A total of 27 participants (18 women, 9 men, mean age 71.4 (±7.8) years) completed a brief CBT-i intervention (N=27) and completed the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) at baseline (T1), after the intervention (T2) and after 7 weeks (T3). The Dysfunctional beliefs about sleep scale (DBAS) was completed at T1 and T2. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that mean ISI scores differed significantly between time points (F(2,34)=13.4, p < .001). Post hoc analyses with a Bonferroni adjustment revealed that ISI scores were significantly decreased from T1 to T2 (5.4 (95% CI, 2.1 to 8.7), p =.001), and from T1 to T3 (8.0 (95% CI, 2.9 to 13.1), p =.002), but not from T2 to T3 (2.6 (95% CI, -1.3 to 6.5), p =.283). A paired samples t-test showed no significant difference in DBS before and after the intervention (T(13)=0.7, p=.522). No association was found between the pretest-posttest differences in DBS and the pretest-posttest differences in insomnia severity scores (B(13)= - 1.2, p=.644). This brief CBT-i intervention seems feasible to implement in this population and the decrease of ISI scores after the intervention is promising. The insignificant results considering the DBAS scores can perhaps be a motive to further develop this line of research.Show less
Emotional child abuse is a common problem. Emotional maltreatment in childhood has been found to be associated with the development of depressive disorder later in life. Mental health problems...Show moreEmotional child abuse is a common problem. Emotional maltreatment in childhood has been found to be associated with the development of depressive disorder later in life. Mental health problems often originate during adolescence, which is a period when important perceptions of the self are developing, including a person's various self-aspects. The purpose of this study was to examine whether emotional child maltreatment is related to the degree of adolescent self-expression toward others. We also examined a possible mediation effect of the degree of expression between emotional maltreatment and the degree of depressive symptoms. Adolescents (n = 115) were required to complete self-report questionnaires related to the extent of depressive symptoms (PHQ) and emotional childhood maltreatment (JTV). Current study looked at the relation between the questionnaires and the number of characters used to describe themselves towards others (Profieltaak). The study found that emotional childhood maltreatment was positively associated with the degree of depressive symptoms. However, it also showed that there was no association between self-descriptions and the degree of depressive symptoms or self-descriptions and emotional child maltreatment and hence no mediation effect of a person's self-aspect. The current research partly shows results that are inconsistent with previous studies, this can be possibly explained by the fact that the concept of self-aspects has not been examined this way before. The current study only looked at the correlation crossectionally, future research could focus on the causal relationship between depressive symptoms and self-aspects, which may be useful developing treatments.Show less
Verbal parental transmission of threat information about strangers may influence fear beliefs and avoidance responses in children. Earlier studies showed that sharing threat information with...Show moreVerbal parental transmission of threat information about strangers may influence fear beliefs and avoidance responses in children. Earlier studies showed that sharing threat information with children caused higher levels in fear beliefs and higher avoidance responses compared to when safe information was shared. There is proof that fearful temperament/behavioral inhibition (BI), moderate the relation between children receiving threat information and scoring higher on fear beliefs and avoidance responses. In this study, parents provided threat and safe information about two strangers to their children (N = 72, Mage = 11.67). Following the manipulation, children went through three social tasks twice with each of the strangers and reported fear beliefs in a questionnaire for each stranger. Avoidance behavior was observed in the social tasks. Fearful temperament was used as an individual difference predictor and was measured by the Early Adult Temperament Questionnaire. Verbal transmission of threat information was linked to higher fear belief scores compared to safe information. Verbal transmission of threat information was not linked to higher avoidance behavior responses. The fear beliefs outcomes and the behavioral responses were not affected by fearful temperament. This study only found proof that verbal parental transmission of threat information about strangers increased children’s’ fear beliefs and may increase the risks of developing SAD. This study has his strengths and limitations regarding the procedure and chosen measurements, but hopefully gives new inspiration to new or follow-up research about verbal parental transmission of threat information about strangers and the effects on children.Show less
Introduction: Vulnerable groups, such as people with a psychiatric disorder appear to be more severely affected by the imposed COVID-19 restricted measures compared to healthy controls. Stressful...Show moreIntroduction: Vulnerable groups, such as people with a psychiatric disorder appear to be more severely affected by the imposed COVID-19 restricted measures compared to healthy controls. Stressful life events can induce the occurrence of depressive or (hypo)manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder. The objective of the current study is to compare the COVID-19 related concerns in terms of: perceived mental health impact, fear for COVID, positive coping, loneliness and symptom severity in younger adults with bipolar disorder (YABD) and older adults with bipolar disorder (OABD). It is hypothesized that YABD are more vulnerable to the effects of stressful life events, such as COVID-19 pandemic due to less life experience. Methods: The current study is an add-on study to two pre-existing cohort studies; in YABD and OABD. At three time points online self-fill in questionnaires in the first half a year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. Results: Results show no significant differences in the perceived mental health impact and positive coping between YABD and OABD. YABD experienced less fear for COVID-19 over time while for OABD the level of fear remained the same. Prominently, YABD experienced significantly more overall, emotional and social loneliness compared to OABD. The (re)occurrence of (hypo)mania increased significantly during COVID in both groups. Key conclusions: This study confirms that people with a severe mental health problem are more vulnerable for stressful life-events in this case COVID-19. Over time both OABD and YABD are negatively impacted by COVID-19 resulting in worse mania symptom severity, loneliness and less positive coping. YABD experiences more loneliness compared to OABD during COVID-19Show less
This study aims to examine whether having a family member with mental illness is associated with stress, alcohol use, drug use and substance use in adolescents. Additionally, we aim to investigate...Show moreThis study aims to examine whether having a family member with mental illness is associated with stress, alcohol use, drug use and substance use in adolescents. Additionally, we aim to investigate whether stress mediates the relationship between having a mentally ill family member and adolescent substance use. A health monitor (N = 14,878) was conducted by Public Health Services North and East Gelderland (GGD NEG) from October 2019 until December 2019 among 2nd and 4th year high school students. The target group, adolescents with a mentally ill family member (n = 1,683), was compared to the control group, adolescents without a mentally ill family member (n = 12,842). The target group had a mean (± SD) age of 14.5 (1.3) years, 59% was female, 42.6% was highly educated and 33.5% was religious. The control group had a mean (± SD) age of 14.2 (1.2), 51% was female, 46.7% was highly educated and 32% was religious. Stress, alcohol use, drug use and substance use were measured by means of a self-report questionnaire. An ANCOVA, controlling for age, gender and educational level and a mediation analysis were performed. The results showed that the target group scored higher on stress, alcohol use, drug use and substance use than the control group. In addition, stress mediated the relation between adolescents having a family member with mental illness and substance use. However, effect sizes were small. We recommend further research on this topic considering stress and substance use could have adverse effect on overall health and well-being.Show less
Observed globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a mental health decline. The pandemic has affected the general public, individuals that have been quarantined and individuals who have been...Show moreObserved globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a mental health decline. The pandemic has affected the general public, individuals that have been quarantined and individuals who have been infected with COVID-19. Currently, only a few available studies compare pandemic-onset depressive symptoms between these groups. Additionally, it is not yet known how a dominant position on the personality continuum of introversion/extraversion influences individuals’ experiences of depressive symptoms. Thus, the present study investigates differences between covid groups, as well as differences between individuals with dominant introverted versus extraverted traits. The findings will contribute to the construction of a global response in the observed mental health decline. The study is carried out through a cross-sectional online questionnaire (N = 150), in a group of adults between 18 and 30 years old. Individuals’ differences in positions on the introversion/extraversion continuum are measured using the HEXACO- PI-R. The mean PHQ-9 and HADS depression scores were observed to be 14.95/10.25 (healthy), 18.35/11.94 (quarantined), 15.64/10.25 (infected) and 15.76/11.55 (quarantined + infected) in the respective groups. No difference between covid status groups on the depression scores was found. Within the whole sample, in the healthy and quarantined + infected groups (p < 0.001), and in the PHQ-9 measured infected group (p = 0.045), significant negative relationships between extraversion and depressive symptom scores were found. These findings are limited due to small sample sizes, the cross-sectional design and the use of convenience sampling. Further studies should include larger sample sizes and make use of a longitudinal design and probability sampling.Show less
Samenvatting Angst is een adaptief onderdeel van de ontwikkeling van het kind. In de huidige coronapandemie kunnen er gezonde angsten ontstaan voor COVID-19. Echter, wanneer deze angsten excessief...Show moreSamenvatting Angst is een adaptief onderdeel van de ontwikkeling van het kind. In de huidige coronapandemie kunnen er gezonde angsten ontstaan voor COVID-19. Echter, wanneer deze angsten excessief toenemen kan dit grote invloed hebben op het familieleven. Het doel van dit onderzoek was om te kijken of er een relatie was tussen COVID-19 angst en verbale informatieoverdracht van ouders en de COVID-19 angst van kinderen. In dit onderzoek deden 88 families mee waarbij de kinderen tussen de 8 en 18 jaar oud waren. Zowel de ouders als de kinderen vulden online een vragenlijst in die betrekking had op COVID-19 angst en de verbale informatieoverdracht. Uit de resultaten was naar voren gekomen dat hoe angstiger de ouders waren voor COVID-19, hoe angstiger de kinderen waren over het virus. Ook was gebleken dat hoe vaker ouders hun kinderen waarschuwden voor het coronavirus, hoe angstiger de kinderen waren. Tot slot werden bovenstaande relaties niet gemodereerd door leeftijd. Kinderen van verschillende leeftijden toonden dus dezelfde hoeveelheid COVID-19 angst. Kortom er is een relatie tussen COVID-19 angst en verbale informatieoverdracht van ouders en de COVID-19 angst van kinderen.Show less
Little is yet known about the causes and risk factors of bipolar disorder. Previous research has shown that bipolar disorder patients have different personality trait profiles than healthy...Show moreLittle is yet known about the causes and risk factors of bipolar disorder. Previous research has shown that bipolar disorder patients have different personality trait profiles than healthy individuals. This quantitative study aimed to gain more knowledge about the differences between patients with an early age at onset or a later age at onset. The participants were asked to fill in the NEO-five factor inventory (NEO-ffi) and the severity indices of personality problems -short form (SIPP-sf) to measure five domains of personality traits and five domains of personality functioning. The data of these domains were placed in separate regression models against the age at which bipolar disorder developed. The data from these models showed only a significant Beta value for neuroticism even after correcting for the current mood. This result suggests that there is an association between neuroticism and developing bipolar disorder earlier on in life. No other significant associations were found in this study. The importance of this study is that future research can be done to work on screening programs for these type of risk factors so future cases of bipolar disorder might be prevented.Show less
Background: Childhood trauma is still prevalent globally as well as in the Netherlands. Approximately 3% of children in the Netherlands had experienced a form of abuse in 2017. Childhood trauma is...Show moreBackground: Childhood trauma is still prevalent globally as well as in the Netherlands. Approximately 3% of children in the Netherlands had experienced a form of abuse in 2017. Childhood trauma is associated with mental illnesses, among which chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Simultaneously, previous research has shown associations between low distress tolerance and PTSD symptoms, and low distress tolerance and childhood trauma. Aim: The aim of the current study is to investigate the mediating role of distress tolerance on the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms. Method: To conduct our mediation analysis, we collected data through an online questionnaire from 169 adults who had experienced a traumatic or stressful experience or event in their lifetime. Exclusion criteria were that they were diagnosed with a mental disorder and/or they were currently receiving any treatment. We conducted the mediation analysis in PROCESS by Hayes (2013). Results: Our results showed a partial mediation of distress tolerance on the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms. We also found that childhood trauma is negatively associated with distress tolerance and that distress tolerance is negatively associated with PTSD symptoms. Conclusion: We conclude that distress tolerance explains part of the relationship between childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms. We suggest future research to look more into this relationship as the new knowledge adds to the literature about the onset of PTSD symptoms and could have implications for the prevention and intervention of PTSD symptoms.Show less
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by a persistent and intense fear about social situations. SAD constitutes potential risk for future academic- and work life. SAD is also known for its...Show moreSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by a persistent and intense fear about social situations. SAD constitutes potential risk for future academic- and work life. SAD is also known for its high rates of comorbidity with other mental disorders. Previous literature stated that parental verbal threat information has an effect on child fear acquisition of novel animals. The verbal learning effect is also investigated in social situations, mixed results were found in these studies. The current study investigated the effect of parental verbal threat information on children’s fear beliefs in social situations, and explored a potential moderation of this effect by individual child social anxiety levels. Children aged 11-14 (N = 69) participated in three social tasks twice, with two strangers: performing a speech, watching the speech back and having an interaction about the speech with the stranger. Before the social tasks, parents provided negative or positive information about each of the strangers. Following the social tasks, children reported fear in a fear beliefs questionnaire about each stranger. Results indicate that children reported more fear beliefs to the stranger paired with parental threat versus safety information. Children with higher levels of pre-existing social anxiety reported more fear beliefs in general, whereas the effect of parental verbal information did not differ as a function of child levels of social anxiety. Based on the results, we conclude that parental verbal information influences children’s fear beliefs in social situations, making it an important component to include in parental treatment and prevention programs for SAD.Show less
