Zoom Fatigue, Psychological Distress, Life Satisfaction, and Academic Well-Being

Determining multidimensional influences of network heterogeneity on university students' psychological and academic well-being: The mediating role of social network exhaustion

Mobile social media has become indispensable to university students' communication with various socio-demographic populations, exposing them to diverse social networks and augmenting their network heterogeneity. Although the psychological ramifications of network heterogeneity have been extensively examined, its correlated academic outcomes remain inconclusive. The current study formulated an integrated theoretical research model based on the stressor-stress-outcome framework to investigate the influence of factors associated with network heterogeneity (specifically, privacy invasion, social comparison, self-presentation, and excessive WeChat use) on social media exhaustion, psychological well-being, and academic well-being among university students. Furthermore, the research examined the mediating effect of social network exhaustion among network heterogeneity, psychological well-being, and academic well-being. A cross-sectional survey of 1128 WeChat users revealed that social comparison and excessive WeChat use had positive associations with social network exhaustion, while privacy invasion and self-presentation were negatively correlated with social network exhaustion. Additionally, social network exhaustion was negatively correlated with psychological well-being and academic well-being. Furthermore, social network exhaustion mediated the influences of network heterogeneity on psychological well-being and academic well-being. These obtained results could contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the underlying causes of social network exhaustion and the multifaceted effects of network heterogeneity. These insights may prove valuable for practitioners to enhance university students' psychological states and academic performance in the contemporary mobile media-saturated environment.

Does Self-View Mode Generate More Videoconferencing Fatigue in Women than Men? An Experiment Using EEG Signals

The ability to see or hide one's own image is a typical feature of videoconferencing platforms. Previous research, informed primarily by self-reported data, has suggested that enabling self-view mode is associated with videoconferencing fatigue, particularly for women. Our goal in this study is to test this assumption by gathering neurophysiological evidence. We conducted an experiment using electroencephalography (EEG) with 32 volunteers (16 men and 16 women), who each participated in a live video meeting with the self-view mode both on and off. Our findings confirm the effects of self-view on fatigue, with significantly greater alpha activity when self-view was on than when it was off. Alpha activity did not change significantly across a 20-minute session, and was not significantly different for men or women. Thus, our study does not replicate previous findings that women experience greater videoconferencing fatigue because of the increased self-awareness generated when viewing themselves on a screen. We discuss why our EEG findings may diverge from prior self-reported studies.

Pain screening in youth with sickle cell disease: A quality improvement study

BACKGROUND

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) face several challenges as they age, including increased pain frequency, duration, and interference. The purpose of this study was to (i) determine the feasibility of routine pain screening; (ii) identify and describe various clinical pain presentations; and (iii) understand preferences/resources related to engaging in integrative health and medicine (IHM) modalities within an outpatient pediatric SCD clinic.

METHODS

During routine outpatient visits, patients aged 8-18 completed measures of pain frequency, duration, and chronic pain risk (Pediatric Pain Screening Tool [PPST]). Participants screening positive for (i) persistent or chronic pain or (ii) medium or high risk for persistent symptoms and disability on the PPST were asked to complete measures of pain interference, pain catastrophizing, and interest in/resources for engaging in IHM modalities.

RESULTS

Between March 2022 and May 2023, 104/141 (73.8%) patients who attended at least one outpatient visit were screened. Of these 104 (mean age 12.46, 53.8% female, 63.5% HbSS), 34 (32.7%) reported persistent or chronic pain, and 48 (46.2%) reported medium or high risk for persistent symptoms and disability. Patients completing subsequent pain screening measures reported a mean pain interference T-score of 53.2 ± 8.8 and a mean pain catastrophizing total score of 24.3 ± 10.2. Patients expressed highest interest in music (55.6%) and art therapy (51.9%) and preferred in-person (81.5%) over virtual programming (22.2%).

CONCLUSIONS

Comprehensive pain screening is feasible within pediatric SCD care. Classifying patients by PPST risk may provide a means of triaging patients to appropriate services to address pain-related psychosocial factors.

Association Between Pandemic Fatigue and Subjective Well-Being: The Indirect Role of Emotional Distress and Moderating Role of Self-Compassion

Objectives: As a stressor in the context of COVID-19 pandemic fatigue is associated with well-being. However, how pandemic fatigue is associated with well-being and what protective factors buffer this negative effect are under investigated. Based on the stress process model and emotion regulation theory, the study examined the indirect effect of pandemic fatigue on subjective well-being through emotional distress and the buffering effect of self-compassion. Methods: Data were collected from 1,162 university students (M _age = 21.61 ± 2.81, female 35.71%) through an online survey. Indirect effect analysis and conditional process analysis were conducted by the SPSS macro PROCESS. Results: Indirect effect of pandemic fatigue on subjective well-being through emotional distress was identified and self-compassion moderated the association between pandemic fatigue and emotional distress. The indirect effect of pandemic fatigue was weaker among participants with high levels of self-compassion than among those with low levels of self-compassion. Conclusion: Pandemic fatigue was negatively associated with subjective well-being through emotional distress at all levels of self-compassion. The findings deepen our understanding of the link between pandemic fatigue and well-being while considering the indirect role of emotional distress and protective function of self-compassion.

Evaluation of a Well-being Promotion (WelPro) Program on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) Student Burnout

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to evaluate the Well-being Promotion (WelPro) program and its effect on burnout in Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) students at the University of California, San Francisco.

METHODS

A longitudinal cohort study evaluating the WelPro program was conducted in the class of 2021 (Transformation, a 3-year all-year-round curriculum, and Pathway (P), a 4-year traditional curriculum) APPE students. The primary and secondary aims were to evaluate changes in emotional exhaustion (EE) scores from the beginning of year (BOY) to end of year (EOY) for the class of 2021 students and compare EOY EE scores between the classes of 2021 (P) and 2020 (P) students using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS [MP]) survey. Independent and paired t tests were used to evaluate EE scores; Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney rank sum test were used to evaluate ordinal data.

RESULTS

Evaluable survey response rates were 69.6% BOY and 57.7% EOY for the class of 2021 students and 78.7% EOY for the class of 2020 (P) students. No differences in EE scores were observed for the matched class of 2021 from BOY to EOY and between classes of 2021 (P) and 2020 (P) students.

CONCLUSION

WelPro did not change EE scores for class of 2021 APPE students. Given multiple confounding factors in the study, additional studies are warranted to determine the effectiveness of such a program on APPE student burnout.

To Zoom or not: Diverging responses to privacy and security risks

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lock-down, digital platforms like Zoom became essential for remote work. Yet at the same time, substantial security and privacy risks made the headlines. Using the lenses of Naturalistic Decision-making and the Theory of Multilevel Information Privacy, we find diverging responses to well-documented security risks of Zoom use in educational environments. We identify-three distinct response patterns, which we name the 'Agnostic', the 'Pragmatic' and the 'Sceptic', and show how the interplay of the salient social identity, personal privacy norms, and the privacy calculus guides the dynamic of privacy decision-making in light of experiential feedback, and the developing public discourse about security risks. We provide empirical evidence for multilevel decision-making and highlight the contextual and social nature of privacy decision-making about platform mode of use for remote work.

Clinical Considerations for an Evidence-Based Assessment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an impairing mental health disease, generally beginning in childhood, affecting up to ∼3% of the population. Using evidence-based assessments (EBAs) is the starting point for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of OCD. EBAs consist of structured and semistructured clinician-administered interviews, parent-report and child-report, and self-report for adults. This article details the practical application, psychometric properties, and limitations of available assessments to determine the presence of OCD and evaluate OCD symptom severity. The following reviews measurement of constructs relevant to OCD (ie, insight, family accommodation, impairment) and details considerations for best clinical interview practices.