Since the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have been trying to identify which personal resources can contribute to minimizing the mental health costs in students incurred due to the restrictions that disrupted safety and predictability in their academic lives. The aim of the study was to verify if and how individual factors (resilience and positivity) and socio-environmental factors (social support and nationality) allow prediction of the level of perceived stress. University students (n = 559) from Poland, Serbia, and Italy were surveyed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), the Positivity Scale (PS), and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12). Personal resources—positivity, resilience, and support—were found to be positively interrelated and significantly associated with stress levels. Additionally, gender and nationality differentiated stress levels. A general linear model (GLM) showed that levels of perceived stress are best explained by resilience, positivity, tangible support, and gender. The results obtained can strengthen students’ awareness of personal resources and their protective role in maintaining mental health, as well as contribute to the creation of prevention-oriented educational activities. Nationality was not a significant predictor of the level of perceived stress, which highlights the universality of examined predictors among university students from different countries and suggests that interventions aimed at enhancing these resources could benefit students across different cultural contexts.

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of followership styles, and their connection with job satisfaction and satisfaction with extrinsic/intrinsic aspects of work in teachers. The sample included 206 secondary school teachers of three grammar and three vocational schools in three towns in Serbia. The results indicate that the most prominent followership styles were star followers (58.7%) and pragmatists (39.8%). Star followers attached greater significance to intrinsic aspects of work and reported a higher job satisfaction rate, while pragmatists placed more importance on extrinsic ones. Independent thinking correlated with intrinsic aspects of work and job satisfaction, and active participation with job satisfaction and both work aspects. The results also show that a higher degree of engagement (particularly when combined with economic satisfaction) predicted a higher level of job satisfaction. If dominant followership and motivational structures of teachers were learnt, the management of educational institutions would be improved because teachers who participate in making work decisions have a greater sense of empowerment and commitment to organizational goals. Although affected by types of personality, dominant followership structures of the teacher may be influenced during the course of professional training, thereby directing them towards the development of functional followership types.

The aim of this research was to examine the levels of burnout syndrome dimensions in special education teachers and correlations with some socio-demographic characteristics, job characteristics, and levels of assertiveness. The research included 225 special education teachers from Serbia (82% were women, 18% were men, with the average age of 42.51 ± 9.23 years). Research instruments included Maslach Burnout Inventory, Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. There were differences in all burnout dimensions in relation to types of students’ special needs. Higher levels of burnout symptoms were observed in teachers working with children with motor skill disorders. The assertiveness scores had a significant negative correlation with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, and a positive correlation with a lack of accomplishment. The results obtained may help in the planning of the adequate preventative measures for improving the mental health of those professionals.

Background: The inconsistency in clinician and patient ratings of clozapine-induced side effects underscore the need to supplement clinician-based estimates of side effects with patient-reported ones. Aims: The main aims of the study are validation of the Glasgow antipsychotic side-effects scale for clozapine (GASS-C) in Serbian inpatients/outpatients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder and recommendations for its future use, based on common and rare clozapine-associated side-effects. Methods: The GASS-C was administered to 95 outpatients/inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or chronic psychotic disorder. Results: The scale showed good overall reliability, with an internal consistency coefficient of α = 0.84, an average retest coefficient of rho = 0.76, and a Spearman–Brown coefficient of validity of 0.81. Side effects were absent or mild in 64.2% of the patients, moderate in 31.6%, severe in 4.2%; 14% of the subjects considered their symptoms distressing. The most commonly reported side-effects were drowsiness, thirst, frequent urination, and dry mouth. Women reported more side effects than men, and patients not in a relationship reported significantly fewer side effects than patients in a relationship. Results indicate a weak positive correlation (rho = 0.231; p = .025) between severity of side effects and clozapine dose. Conclusions: The GASS-C showed good psychometric characteristics in clinical population of patients on clozapine. In future studies, clozapine serum concentrations should be measured when using the GASS-C to monitor side effects.