The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness of a serious game in improving the helping behaviours of bystanders in bullying situations by using a multimethod approach. Students (N=345, aged 12 to 14) participated in an experimental study with one experimental and two control groups. Before and after playing the game, all students completed an online questionnaire about their knowledge, experiences and behaviours related to bullying, and their behaviours in everyday social situations. For the experimental group, players' reactions during game‐play were recorded. Results showed that students' social behaviour displayed before gaming experience determined their playing activities. Besides, most of the students who declared in pre‐test that they do not help the victim, although they think they should, chose helping behaviour in all bullying situations in by stander role in the game. Results indicate weak positive effect of the game on students' behavioural choices.

In line with previous findings stressing the importance of the player experience for game effectiveness, the main aim of the study was to explore whether the experience while playing a serious digital game aimed at bullying prevention mediated the relationship between initial and postgame knowledge about appropriate reactions in bullying situations, and initial and postgame compassion for the victim. Participants were 12- to 14-year-old students from 10 European schools (N = 120; 51% boys). Students were assessed in schools, by an online survey, before and after gaming sessions, on measures of knowledge about appropriate reactions in bullying situations and compassion for the victim. Students’ experience during playing was also assessed. The proposed model showed a good fit to the data, but the mediation hypotheses were not supported. The results indicated that some aspects of the game experience could affect subsequent knowledge and compassion. Specifically, the challenge had a significant effect on knowledge about appropriate behaviour, while immersion had a significant effect on compassion. The model was tested on the wider sample including students who played the control game (N = 116; 46% boys). The results of moderated mediation analysis offer further support to this conclusion, as these effects were not significant in the control group.

The aim of this study was to identify the specific cognitive, motivational and behavioural predictors of two measures of university students' academic achievement (grade point average and student efficacy status), after controlling for...

To gain insight into the relations between protective/risk family interactions and depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls. A self-reported cross-sectional survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1191 secondary school students (617 girls and 574 boys) aged from 14 to 19 years, with a median of 16, from all secondary schools in the Primorsko-goranska County, Croatia in January and February 2010. Students reported their depressive symptoms, perceptions about the relationship with their mother and father, family activities, and parents’ conflict resolution strategies. Data were analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression to calculate the effects of family supportive and harmful interactions on depressive symptoms in girls and boys. Depressive symptoms were reported often and very often by 19.1% of girls and 15.8% of boys. Girls’ assessment of the family relations was significantly more positive than boys’, including the assessment of family activities, constructive family conflict resolution, or father’s and mother’s warmth and affection. Multiple correlation analysis revealed that the examined family variables accounted for 16.3% of the variance of depressive symptoms in boys and for 17.2% in girls. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed a difference in the relation of family variables and depressive symptoms between boys and girls. Depressive symptoms in girls were more linked to the lack of protective family factors (9.9% of the explained variance in girls vs 5.5% in boys), while depressive symptoms in boys were more linked to the existence of harmful family factors (10.8% of the explained variance in boys vs 7.3% in girls). Family activities and the father's warmth and affection have a higher significance for girls than for boys, while destructive parental conflict and the mother's aggression and hostility are equally significant for both girls and boys. These results indicate the targets for family-based preventive and intervention programs for depression in adolescents.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between social media use and digital stress (availability stress, approval anxiety, fear of missing out, connection overload and online vigilance), and whether social media use and digital...

Introduction: Anxiety is one of the most common psychological problems in children, with an increasing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and cognitive emotion-regulation strategies in the relationship between stress and anxiety symptoms of children and early adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted the study with 234 elementary school students (128 females) aged 11 to 15 years. The students completed the COVID-19 Stress Scale, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. To determine whether stress affects anxiety symptoms both directly and indirectly through intolerance of uncertainty and cognitive emotion-regulation strategies, we performed a mediation analysis with gender as a covariate. Results: Our results confirmed cognitive emotion regulation and intolerance of uncertainty as important cognitive vulnerability factors for anxiety in children and adolescents. A stressful experience contributes directly to anxiety and indirectly through higher intolerance of uncertainty and less adaptive strategies. The results serve to further improve prevention and intervention programs for children and adolescents which focus on correcting maladaptive cognitive emotion-regulation strategies and increasing tolerance of uncertainty.