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
The theory of adult romantic attachment, originating from Bowlby’s attachment theory, suggests that romantic partners create attachment bonds similar to that of the child-parent. Attachment styles...Show moreThe theory of adult romantic attachment, originating from Bowlby’s attachment theory, suggests that romantic partners create attachment bonds similar to that of the child-parent. Attachment styles can be primarily distinguished depending on the levels of anxiety and avoidance a partner exhibits in a bond. This study investigated the roles of gender and age in differences in adult romantic attachment. Male and female participants with an age range of 18 to 70 years from 171 countries completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale Questionnaire, a two-dimensional self-report instrument. Firstly, the results showed that females scored higher than males on anxiety and avoidance scales. Further findings demonstrated that gender and age contribute significantly to the prediction of anxiety and avoidance scores. Lastly, gender differences in avoidance scores, but not anxiety scores, were significantly moderated by age, whereby the differences between males and females in avoidance decreased as participants’ age increased (from age 18 to 70). Taken together, this study’s results provide evidence for statistically significant gender differences within adult romantic attachment and suggest attachment variability across different ages.Show less
Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) was found to be a transdiagnostic construct that connects multiple disorders, such as general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, worry, and state/trait anxiety....Show moreIntolerance of Uncertainty (IU) was found to be a transdiagnostic construct that connects multiple disorders, such as general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, worry, and state/trait anxiety. Factor analytic studies identified two significantly distinct components of IU, namely Prospective and Inhibitory IU. Although IU was generally associated with State/Trait Anxiety, it remains unclear how they are related on the subscale level. This study examined the relationship between Prospective/Inhibitory IU and State/Trait Anxiety. Secondly, previous studies found that high-IU individuals are slower in their performance compared to low-IU counterparts. This study investigated the influence of IU on performance in social feedback learning. It compares the reaction times of high- and low-IU individuals in estimating feedbacks from peers. A total of 175 Leiden University students participated in the experiment. Questionnaires, such as the IUS-12 and the STAI, were used for assessment. In the SELF-Profile paradigm, participants had to estimate whether or not four chosen peers liked them. IU was significantly correlated with Trait Anxiety (p < .01) but not State Anxiety. However, no significant difference was found between high- and low-IU individuals in estimating feedbacks from peers. This study argued that the transdiagnostic relations of IU should be made specific, since differential relations between them exist. Secondly, the nature of the task in the experiment could influence participants’ threshold of ambiguity perception. That is, when the task does not elicit enough ambiguity, even participants with high IU might not be triggered to perceive uncertainty.Show less
