Digital Technology Adoption in Psychiatric Care: an Overview of the Contemporary Shift from Technology to Opportunity

Examining the Impact of Geosocial Networking on the Sex Behaviors of Men Who Have Sex with Men Abstract Men who have sex with men (MSM) often use smartphone geosocial networking applications (GSN apps) to meet sex partners. Relative to non-GSN app users, MSM GSN app users have more sex partners. Research also reveals sexual-risk taking is associated with alcohol consumption and sexual sensation seeking (SSS) in MSM. We examined if GSN app use moderated relationships between SSS and risky sexual behaviors, as well as relationships between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. Participants were 423 MSM who completed survey measures concerning demographics, app use, alcohol consumption, SSS, and risky sexual behavior recruited via various social networking websites (e.g., Reddit, Facebook). Data revealed that app use predicted recent numbers of male sex partners, and SSS predicted recent and lifetime male sex partners and receptive unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). GSN app use did not moderate relationships between SSS and risky sexual behaviors or between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. Although app use did not serve as a moderator, relationships between app use and number of sex partners and SSS and UAI suggest future work should consider how sexual health programming might be incorporated into GSN apps.

Development and Preliminary Validation of a Virtual Reality–Based Measure of Response Inhibition Under Normal and Stressful Conditions Abstract Response inhibition is a neurobehavioral construct important in understanding a range of various forms of psychopathology. Response inhibition is commonly assessed using paper-and-pencil behavioral measures and/or self-report questionnaires. Given that these assessment methods may be limited by a lack of ecological validity and retrospective recall biases, respectively, additional assessment methodologies are necessary. Virtual reality (VR) assessment may address some of the limitations of current assessment approaches in mental health. The purpose of this study was to therefore develop and preliminarily evaluate the validity of a VR-based measure of response inhibition and response inhibition under stress. Thirty-four participants completed the VR Task, as well as paper-and-pencil neurocognitive measures and self-report measures of attention and distress intolerance. Results suggest the VR Task performance converges with assessments of attention and response inhibition, and performance in the VR stressor condition is associated with perceived distress intolerance. These results, while highly preliminary, suggest that VR assessment of neurocognitive constructs relevant to mental health is feasible and a promising line of research.

Conducting Psychological Intervention Research in the Information Age: Reconsidering the “State of the Field” Abstract Enthusiasm for technology in mental health has evolved as a function of its promise to increase the reach and impact of services, particularly for traditionally at risk and underserved groups. Preliminary findings suggest that technology-enhanced interventions indeed hold promise for increasing engagement in and outcomes of evidence-based treatment approaches. The time- and resource-intensive natures of traditional randomized control trials, however, may be even more of a challenge for further advancement in this area, given the rapid innovation of consumer-driven new product development. Accordingly, this review aims to summarize how a broader range of scientific designs and analyses may be necessary in order to further advance and optimize the reach and impact of technology-enhanced psychological practice. Examples of various approaches are provided, and recommendations are provided for future work in this area.

Comparing Early Adolescents’ Positive Bystander Responses to Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying: the Impact of Severity and Gender Abstract Young people are frequently exposed to bullying events in the offline and online domain. Witnesses to these incidents act as bystanders and play a pivotal role in reducing or encouraging bullying behaviour. The present study examined 868 (47.2% female) 11–13-year-old early adolescent pupils’ bystander responses across a series of hypothetical vignettes based on traditional and cyberbullying events. The vignettes experimentally controlled for severity across mild, moderate and severe scenarios. The findings showed positive bystander responses (PBRs) were higher in cyberbullying than traditional bullying incidents. Bullying severity impacted on PBRs, in that PBRs increased across mild, moderate and severe incidents, consistent across traditional and cyberbullying. Females exhibited more PBRs across both types of bullying. Findings are discussed in relation to practical applications within the school. Strategies to encourage PBRs to all forms of bullying should be at the forefront of bullying intervention methods.

We Are Safe but You Are Not: Exploring Comparative Optimism and Cyber Bullying Abstract Individuals tend to believe that when comparing themselves to others they are less vulnerable to potential risks. This is referred to as comparative optimism, whereby individuals believe that they are immune from negative experiences that can happen to others. The current study examined comparative optimism judgements for the likelihood of experiencing cyber bullying. Comparative optimism was examined in three age groups: older adolescents (n = 130, 57% female, Mage = 16.82, SDage = .38), emerging adults (n = 355, 92% female, Mage = 19.26, SDage = .27), and adults (n = 147, 66% female, Mage = 33.24, SDage = 9.77). All participants reported the likelihood that they, their friends, other students [forum users] younger than them, other students [forum users] their age, people older than them, and strangers would experience cyber bullying. Participants displayed an optimistic bias, reporting that they were less likely to experience cyber bullying than others. However, the relative risk of experiencing cyber bullying varied according to comparator group. Comparator groups that were socially close to the participants (e.g. friends) were generally rated as less likely to experience cyber bullying than socially distant comparator groups (e.g. strangers). Also, comparator groups that were younger than the participants were consistently judged to be most at risk of experiencing cyber bullying. Together, the findings have implications for the design of anti-cyber bullying interventions and campaigns to promote digital safety.

Trait Boredom Is a Predictor of Phubbing Frequency Abstract Existing research on phubbing, or the act of looking at the smartphone while having a face-to-face conversation with others, highlighted a number of factors that could cause one to use their smartphone while having a face-to-face conversation with others including smartphone addiction, SMS (texting) addiction, social media addiction, Internet addiction and to some extent game addiction. The fear of missing out (FoMO) and self-control have also been found to predict this behaviour. No study in the literature has investigated the relationship between boredom and phubbing. The present study aims at addressing this limitation in the literature by focusing specifically on trait boredom as a possible predictor of phubbing. To examine if trait boredom predicts phubbing frequency, we conducted an online survey with 352 smartphone users who, in addition to reporting on their phubbing frequency, also completed the Short Boredom Proneness Scale. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that trait boredom predicted phubbing frequency even when controlled for age and geographical location. This study is significant not only because it is the first study that found that trait boredom predicts phubbing frequency, but also because future research can now build on this finding to investigate other types of boredom, such as state boredom and leisure boredom. Considering that phubbing has been found to result in a range of negative effects including relationship quality and satisfaction, life satisfaction and mood, this study also highlights a need for future research to examine phubbing as a moderator of the relationship between boredom and these negative effects.

Competent Cultural Telebehavioral Healthcare to Rural Diverse Populations: Administration, Evaluation, and Financing Abstract Medical healthcare settings have begun to use telepsychiatry and telebehavioral health to improve access to evidence-based care for culturally diverse patients. This paper is a companion paper to another, which focused on components of culturally competent clinical care, fundamental approaches, and linkage of outcomes to competencies. An administrative foundation is needed to address workforce, program evaluation, and short- and long-term financing and reimbursement issues. This paper focuses on three questions, particularly related to medical settings: (1) What administrative approaches facilitate culturally competent care via telebehavioral health? (2) What outcomes should be prioritized for program evaluation? (3) What financing and reimbursement approaches help to overcome/prevent obstacles/barriers and promote sustainability? Administrators need an approach to evaluation, interprofessional/disciplinary teams, stepped/comparable models of care, and telebehavioral health to leverage expertise. Clinicians and team members need integrated cultural and telebehavioral health skills and all members of a clinic/system need to support diversity by reducing stigmatization, facilitating language access and flexibly adapting practices. On one hand, telehealth and culturally competent care are just part of regular services, but on the other hand, few accommodations are made for these in short- and long-term financing and reimbursement streams. Building a viable system and sustaining requires prevention/management of many barriers/obstacles. Populations need culturally competent care and telebehavioral access. More quantitative/qualitative research/evaluation is suggested to improve the approach and outcomes.

Use and Addiction of Social Networking Applications by University Students in Jordan Abstract As social networking applications (SNAs) rose through the past 12 years, it has prospered to be main communicating methods. Therefore this study aims to explore the use and addiction of SNAs (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn…etc.) by university students in Jordan. A survey of 331 students at a semi government university in Jordan was conducted to achieve the study objectives. The study found that students used a range of SNAs including WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Google Plus. WhatsApp was the most used application among students followed by Facebook, and Snapchat. Students also used mobile phone as the main device to access the SNAs. Moreover, nearly three quarters of students started using SNAs for the first time 5 or more years ago and more than half of students spent 2 to less than 6 h per day on using these applications. Furthermore, more than three quarters of students were satisfied with these applications in providing them with the things they were seeking. In addition, the results indicated that the more time students spend using SNAs, the more likely they will exhibit symptoms of SNAs addiction. Both satisfaction and experience with SNAs were not correlated with SNAs addiction. SNAs addiction was not a predictor of students’ GPA. In light of the results, several recommendations were suggested to both increase the use of SNAs by university students and benefit from using these applications in Jordan.

Introducing COSMOS: a Web Platform for Multimodal Game-Based Psychological Assessment Geared Towards Open Science Practice Abstract We have established the COgnitive Science Metrics Online Survey (COSMOS) platform that contains a digital psychometrics toolset in the guise of applied games measuring a wide range of cognitive functions. Here, we are outlining this online research endeavor designed for automatized psychometric data collection and scalable assessment: once set up, the low costs and expenditure associated with individual psychometric testing allow substantially increased study cohorts and thus contribute to enhancing study outcome reliability. We are leveraging gamification of the data acquisition method to make the tests suitable for online administration. By putting a strong focus on entertainment and individually tailored feedback, we aim to maximize subjects’ incentives for repeated and continued participation. The objective of measuring repeatedly is obtaining more revealing multitrial average scores and measures from various operationalizations of the same psychological construct instead of relying on single-shot measurements. COSMOS is set up to acquire an automatically and continuously growing dataset that can be used to answer a wide variety of research questions. Following the principles of the open science movement, this data set will also be made accessible to other publicly funded researchers, given that all precautions for individual data protection are fulfilled. We have developed a secure hosting platform and a series of digital gamified testing instruments that can measure theory of mind, attention, working memory, episodic long- and short-term memory, spatial memory, reaction times, eye-hand coordination, impulsivity, humor appreciation, altruism, fairness, strategic thinking, decision-making, and risk-taking behavior. Furthermore, some of the game-based testing instruments also offer the possibility of using classical questionnaire items. A subset of these gamified tests is already implemented in the COSMOS platform, publicly accessible and currently undergoing evaluation and calibration as normative data is being collected. In summary, our approach can be used to accomplish a detailed and reliable psychometric characterization of thousands of individuals to supply various studies with large-scale neurocognitive phenotypes. Our game-based online testing strategy can also guide recruitment for studies as they allow very efficient screening and sample composition. Finally, this setup also allows to evaluate potential cognitive training effects and whether improvements are merely task specific or if generalization effects occur in or even across cognitive domains.