Background: After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, abusive use of the internet and new information and communication technologies (ICT) among university students was detected. Our research questions were as follows: what has been the impact on the academic performance of university students, and how did the pandemic affect students’ relationship with ICTs? The aim of this research was to explore the use of cell phones and the internet in students from different cultures (Spanish and Japanese) after the pandemic. Methods: This descriptive and exploratory study analysed 206 university students from Spanish and Japanese cultures to understand their perceptions of academic performance after the pandemic, their general use of ICT, and their abusive use of the internet and mobile phones. Instruments included the Internet Overuse Scale (IOS) and the Cell-Phone Overuse Scale (COS), adapted for both Spanish and Japanese populations. Differences between quantitative variables were analyzed using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test for independent samples (Spanish and Japanese students or by sex). Contingency tables were created to record and analyse relationships between qualitative variables using the chi-squared test, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Approximately 29.6% of participants displayed excessive internet use, while 25.2% showed pathological mobile phone use. A strong association was found between high internet and mobile phone usage. Significant cultural and gender differences were observed, with higher problematic use among Japanese students and female participants. Conclusions: Excessive ICT use remains a concern in university settings, with gender and cultural factors playing key roles. These findings highlight the need for targeted digital well-being interventions.

The phenomenon of suicide has become a significant global concern, claiming over 800,000 lives annually and resulting in millions of suicide attempts worldwide. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, these troubling statistics have worsened, with notable increases in suicidal behavior, especially among vulnerable populations such as the youth, the elderly, and those in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. This paper aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates in Spain, using a theoretical ex post facto analysis. Spain has witnessed an alarming rise in suicide rates, particularly among young people, and a disturbing trend of increased suicidal ideation and self-harm behaviors. While some studies report no significant change in suicide rates during the pandemic, others point to the exacerbating effects of social isolation, economic instability, and public health measures. This study provides an in-depth examination of the psychosocial consequences of the pandemic on mental health in Spain, emphasizing the urgency of the need to address pre-existing inequalities and implement effective suicide prevention measures. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of gender-sensitive strategies and the need for systemic reforms to ensure better mental healthcare access for all segments of society. To achieve this goal, this paper uses a narrative literature review combined with a theoretical ex post facto analysis to assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide patterns in Spain.

Background: Once the covid-19 pandemic ended, the abusive use of the internet and new information and communication technologies (ICT) was detected among university students. What has been the impact on the academic performance of university students? How did the pandemic affect students' relationship with ICT’s? The objective of this research was to explore the use of mobile phones and the internet in students from different cultures (Spanish and Japanese) after the pandemic. Methodology: This is a descriptive and exploratory analysis study in university students (n=206) from Spanish and Japanese culture to understand the perception of academic performance after the covid-19 pandemic, the general use of ICT and the abusive use of both of the internet and the mobile phone. For this study, a semi-structured questionnaire was applied with the scales Internet Over-use Scale (IOS) and Cell-Phone Over (COS). Results:Almost half of university students use the internet and mobile phones excessively. There are statistically significant differences between students of Spanish and Japanese culture regarding the consequences derived from excessive Internet use and by sex in terms of tolerance of ICT abuse. There are more university students of Japanese culture with excessive use of the Internet compared to those of Spanish culture. And a lower percentage of abusive use of both the Internet and the mobile phone in university men than in women. Conclusions:Many of the university students use ICT excessively and show signs of pathological addiction. Extreme internet use is related to extreme mobile phone use in this vulnerable group. Abusive use has influenced the habits of university students after the covid-19 pandemic.

This paper develops an exploratory agent-based model of mediated vulnerability in deafblindness-related social exclusion. The revised model treats exclusion as a relational process shaped by multidimensional mediation, education, income and local interaction. Access to social-health mediation is defined as a composite construct that can be decomposed into communication support, mobility and orientation support, health-care continuity, educational and assistive support, and administrative recognition. The reported NetLogo implementation analyses the aggregate access variable generated in BehaviourSpace, while the revision makes explicit the subdimensional update rules required for future empirical calibration. The simulation begins with 1000 agents and runs for 500 ticks. The analysed export contains 1593 runs across six values of risk threshold, with 300 runs for each threshold from 0.1 to 0.5 and 93 runs for threshold 0.6. The results distinguish mediated vulnerability, continuous exclusion, binary exclusion, episodic exclusion and consolidated exclusion. Peak exclusion remains substantial across threshold conditions, whereas final binary exclusion is almost absent under the implemented averaging rules. One-way and Welch ANOVA show that risk-threshold does not significantly affect peak exclusion, mean exclusion or final exclusion, but it has a very strong effect on education and derived social power. Regression models indicate that mean access and mean income are the strongest predictors of exclusion severity, while risk-threshold has no significant direct effect after these variables are included. External validation is treated as a pattern-oriented comparison rather than a prevalence prediction: the model is consistent with the empirical claim that exclusion among persons with deafblindness is mediated by communication, mobility, education, health-care and economic barriers, but it should not be read as an estimate of real-world prevalence.