Attentional Control Theory suggests that acute stress reduces the efficiency of working memory and top-down control, increasing susceptibility to distraction. In contrast, Cognitive Reallocation accounts suggest that acute stress narrows attentional focus and potentially reduces distraction. We tested these competing predictions using a cross-modal oddball task, comparing participants exposed to an acute stressor, via a realistic firefighter training exercise, with an unstressed control group. Participants categorised visual targets preceded by either a standard sound or a rare deviant (a noise burst or a semantically congruent or incongruent word). Both groups were distracted by the deviant sounds, but the effect was larger in those exposed to the stressor, particularly early in the session. Over time, this difference diminished—consistent with recovery from stress exposure and stronger habituation in controls. These results indicate that acute stress is associated with heightened vulnerability to auditory distraction in a pattern resembling reduced working memory availability.

Background

Studies have shown that emotion dysregulation, depression symptoms, and escapism motives are associated with Gaming Disorder (GD) symptoms. Findings indicate a discrepancy between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) GD symptoms frameworks.

Objective

The current study aimed to investigate the serial mediating effect of depression symptoms and coping, escapism and fantasy motives on the relationship between emotion dysregulation and GD symptoms and compare the WHO and APA frameworks.

Methods

Data was collected through an online survey utilizing validated self-reported measures. The final convenience sample consisted of 678 video game players (68.44 % men [n = 464], 29.65 % women [n = 201], and 1.92 % reported ’other’ as gender identification [n = 13]) with an average age of 29.50 years (SD = 8.92). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the mediating effects.

Results

The results showed that depression symptoms and a composite measure of coping, escapism, and fantasy motivations, in sequence, fully mediated the relationship between emotion dysregulation and GD symptoms within the WHO framework and partially mediated it within the APA framework.

Conclusions

The results indicate that individuals with emotion dysregulation and higher levels of depression symptoms may use video games as an emotion regulation strategy. Managing emotion dysregulation and coping in the context of video games may aid in the clinical course for gaming disorder and co-occurring depression. Future research should utilize longitudinal designs to investigate study variables.

One way to develop theories of forgetting in short-term memory is to introduce novel sources of distraction. A recent study reported a vibrotactile changing-state effect, suggesting that a sequence of irrelevant vibrations can disrupt visual-verbal serial recall if it contains variation. The present study aimed to replicate and extend this finding. But Experiment 1 found no evidence of a vibrotactile changing-state effect in visual-verbal serial recall. The effect was also absent in a direct replication of the original report (Experiment 4) and with a visual-spatial serial recall task (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 implemented further variation in vibrotactile properties, varying the timing, strength and spatial location of vibrations, yet produced no disruption. A Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis across all available experiments further supported the null hypothesis. These results suggest that the previously reported effect may reflect a false positive, and contribute to theory refinement by identifying potential boundary conditions for vibrotactile distraction.

Many individuals usebackground noise to aid concentration on tasks, yet its effect on workingmemory, especially for those with ADHD, is not well understood. This studyexamined how background white noise influences short-term serial recall inadults with self-reported ADHD (n = 66) and those without (n = 66), controllingfor anxiety and depression. Participants performed a visual-verbal serialshort-term memory task under two conditions: continuous white noise interruptedby quiet intervals (omission deviant) and continuous quiet interrupted by whitenoise (addition deviant). Results showed that addition deviants disruptedperformance more in non-ADHD adults, while omission deviants had a greater disruptiveeffect on adults with self-reported ADHD. These findings suggest thatinterruptions in background sound may differently affect individuals with ADHDsymptoms. Exploratory analyses showed the absence of a primacy effect in adultswith self-reported ADHD. Future research might explore optimal auditoryenvironments tailored to attention differences in those with and without ADHD. 

Improved understanding of what it takes to be a pilot is an ongoing effort within aviation. We used an exploratory approach to examine whether there are personality-related differences in who completes the Swedish military pilot education. Assessment records of 182 applicants, accepted to the education between the years of 2004 and 2020 were studied (Mean age 24, SD 4.2 96% men, 4% women). Discriminant analysis was used to explore which personality traits and suitability ratings might be related to education completion. Analysis included suitability assessments made by senior pilots and by a psychologist, a number of traits assessed by the same psychologist, as well as the Commander Trait Inventory (CTI). The resulting discriminant function was significant (Wilk's Lambda = 0.808, (20) = 32.817, p = .035) with a canonical correlation of 0.44. The model was able to classify 74.1% of sample cases correctly. The modeling suggests that senior pilot assessment and psychologist assessment both predict education completion. Also contributing were the traits energy, professional motivation, study forecast and leader potential.

Lifelong learning can be indispensable for the adaptation to continuously evolving labor markets and societal demands. In the current study, we examined psychological factors, notably aspects of personality (personality traits in the five-factor model and trait curiosity), self-reflection and motivation in relation to attitudes to lifelong learning. A specific aim was to examine the relative importance of these factors in their contribution to attitudes to lifelong learning. The study was carried out by use of a digital survey and included 717 adults (Mage = 47.93) within working life. The results showed that self-reflection and trait curiosity were the strongest predictors of attitudes to lifelong learning but work intrinsic motivation and openness to experience (a personality trait in the five-factor model) also contributed with unique explanatory power, although to a lesser degree. The results can inform individualized accessibility strategies for lifelong learning.

Aim: This study investigates the effects of degree of multilingualism on cognitive functions in adulthood, with focus on episodic memory recall and including measures of verbal fluency as well as global cognition.

Design: We studied a large population-based cohort cross-sectionally, and we also assessed changes over time through longitudinal measurements on four time-points over a 15 year period. Participants were drawn from the Betula prospective cohort study in Umeå, Sweden. The participants included in this study at baseline (n = 894, mean age = 51.44, 59.4% females) were divided according to number of languages into bilinguals (n = 395), trilinguals (n = 284), quadrilinguals (n = 169), and pentalinguals (n = 46).

Data and analysis: We analysed performance on tasks of episodic memory recall, verbal fluency (letter and category) and global cognition (Minimental State Examination, MMSE) both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The control background variables were baseline age, gender, years of education, general fluid ability Gf (Wechsler Block Design Test), and socioeconomic status. We employed a linear mixed modelling approach with entropy balancing weights to assess effects of degree of multilingualism on cognitive functions.

Findings and conclusions: Using bilinguals as the reference group, our results indicated that all the other multilingual groups exhibited superior performance on episodic memory recall than bilinguals at baseline. The rate of change over time did not differ for trilinguals and pentalinguals compared to bilinguals. While quadrilinguals declined more over time than bilinguals, they still scored significantly higher than bilinguals at the last test wave. For letter fluency, similarly, all language groups scored higher than bilinguals at baseline, and none of the groups differed from bilinguals in rate of change over time. With regard to category fluency, quadrilinguals scored higher than bilinguals at baseline, but trilinguals and pentalinguals did not differ from bilinguals and none of the groups differed in change over time compared to bilinguals. Finally, for global cognition (MMSE), trilinguals and quadrilinguals scored significantly higher than bilinguals at baseline with no differences in change over time for any of the groups relative to bilinguals. Our study contributes to the understanding of multilingual cognition and sheds light into an under-researched cognitive domain known to decline in normal ageing, namely episodic memory recall.

Significance: Our study emphasizes the importance of researching less explored aspects of multilingualism on cognition, in particular on episodic memory recall, to aid our understanding of factors that could potentially aid cognitive decline in later adulthood.

Introduction: The inclusion of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association and Gaming Disorder in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) by the World Health Organization requires consistent psychological measures for reliable estimates. The current study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Gaming Disorder Test (GDT), the Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10), and the Five-Item Gaming Disorder Test (GDT-5) and to compare the WHO and the APA frameworks of gaming disorder symptoms in terms of psychopathological symptoms, life satisfaction, and personality traits.

Methods: A sample of 723 Swedish gamers was recruited (29.8% women, 68.3% men, 1.9% other, Mage = 29.50 years, SD = 8.91).

Results: The results indicated notable differences regarding the estimated possible risk groups between the two frameworks. However, the association between gaming disorder symptoms and personality traits, life satisfaction, and psychopathological symptoms appeared consistent across the two frameworks. The results showed excellent psychometric properties in support of the one-factor model of the GDT, IGDT-10, and GDT-5, including good reliability estimates (McDonald's omega) and evidence of construct validity. Additionally, the results demonstrated full gender and age measurement invariance of the GDT, IGDT-10, and GDT-5, indicating that gaming disorder symptoms are measured equally across the subgroups.

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the IGDT-10, GDT-5, and GDT are appropriate measures for assessing gaming disorder symptoms and facilitating future research in Sweden.

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to react negatively on affective, cognitive and behavioural levels to uncertain situations and to harbour negative beliefs about the implications of uncertainty. IU has been linked to psychopathology and shown to impact treatment outcomes. This study systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis of the effects of psychotherapy on IU. A total of 22 studies (1491 participants) were identified in online searches and included in the meta-analyses. Analyses were performed on studies with passive and active control conditions. The pooled effect on IU from studies with passive control was large (g = −0.94 [95% CI −1.25 to −0.62]) but with significant heterogeneity. Pooled effects on IU from studies with active controls were not significant. Moderator analysis showed that among studies with a passive control condition, studies that recruited participants from clinical care facilities produced smaller effect sizes. Among studies with an active control condition, study quality significantly moderated the results, with higher quality leading to a larger effect size. These results indicate that changes in IU may be difficult to reliably achieve in psychotherapy and leave many questions about the effect of psychotherapy on IU unanswered, such as what active components produced the observed changes in studies with passive control.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) impact distraction by unexpected deviant sounds and vibrations. The hypothesis was that there would be a difference between individuals with low and high ADHD symptom severity in deviance distraction. In a cross-modal oddball task, we measured the impact of to-be-ignored deviating auditory and vibro-tactile stimuli in 45 adults who were 18 years or older, and self-reported ADHD symptoms using the screening tool of the adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS). Results did not show a difference between groups with low and high symptoms of ADHD in their propensity for distraction in any modality using both frequentist and Bayesian methods of analysis. The impact of the deviating sounds and vibrations on performance were similar between groups. However, the amount of missed trials, which possibly reflects mind wandering or attention away from the focal task, was higher in the high symptom group (0.5 % difference in missing data between groups). The findings indicate a difference in missed responses between groups, despite no differences in the likelihood of distraction being indicated between vibro-tactile and auditory modalities. Overall, the complexity of adult ADHD symptomatology, especially behavioral differences in attentional control is reflected in the results of this study.