Positive metacognitions about Internet use: The mediating role in the relationship between emotional dysregulation and problematic use.

The present study hypothesized that two specific positive metacognitions about Internet use (i.e. the belief that Internet use is useful in regulating negative emotions and the belief that it affords greater controllability) mediate the association between emotional dysregulation and problematic Internet use (PIU). A total of 293 undergraduate university students (male 48.4%; mean age=21.73+2.17) participated in the study. The assessed structural model produced adequate fit to the data (χ(2)=203.76; df=81; p<.001; RMSEA [90% CI]=.07 [.06-.08]; CFI=.95; SRMR=.08). Variables accounted for 46% of the variance in PIU levels. A partial mediation model in which emotional dysregulation predicted PIU levels through positive metacognitions associated with Internet use was found. The presence of a direct relationship between emotional dysregulation and PIU was also detected. Moreover, the study found that emotional dysregulation might drive symptoms of PIU to a greater extent than high negative emotionality.

Online dating and conjugal bereavement.

This study examined self-presentation in the online dating profiles of 241 widowed and 280 divorced individuals between 18 and 40 years old. A content analysis of open-ended user-generated profiles assessed the presence or absence of various themes, including the user's marital status, the backstory of their lost relationship, and whether they engaged in sense-making regarding that lost relationship. Results indicated that about one-third of widowed individuals discussed their loss in their profiles. In addition, about one-third of the widowed profiles included explicit reference to a philosophy of life, and about 16% mentioned sense-making or cognitive reappraisals of their bereavement. Many profiles included some articulation of a vision of a future partnership. Results also revealed a significant correlation between widowed individuals including a backstory and their likelihood of exhibiting sense-making in their profiles. Finally, unlike the widowed users, divorcees provided much briefer mentions of their lost relationships, used less sense-making language, and were less likely to articulate an explicit vision of future partnerships. Overall, the results suggest that for widowed individuals, online dating sites may function as venues to explore their past experiences and engage in the construction of a post-loss identity or a post-loss "ideal self".

Relations among loneliness, social anxiety, and problematic Internet use.

The model of problematic Internet use advanced and tested in the current study proposes that individuals' psychosocial well-being, along with their beliefs about interpersonal communication (both face-to-face and online) are important cognitive predictors of negative outcomes arising from Internet use. The study examined the extent to which social anxiety explains results previously attributed to loneliness as a predictor of preference for online social interaction and problematic Internet use. The results support the hypothesis that the relationship between loneliness and preference for online social interaction is spurious, and that social anxiety is the confounding variable.

Telling it like it is: the adaptive function of narratives in coping with loss in later life.

As the population ages, caregivers and health care providers need more insight into how people experience old age and their attitudes and emotions about growing older. It is particularly critical to understand how communication processes change and how older adults communicate their concerns and feelings. This article proposes that some discursive activities may play a crucial role in successfully adapting to, and coping with, loss in later life. Thus, this study explored how older adults reflect on and express themselves concerning recent experiences of loss. A sample of 41 residents of 2 independent-living retirement communities wrote in journals about a recent significant loss. Participants wrote about their losses during brief lab sessions over the course of 3 consecutive days. Each set of 3 journals was content-analyzed to measure the frequency with which the participants employed emotional expression, factual recounting, account giving, religious-account giving, humor, intensifiers, and referential statements. The analysis indicates that, overall, participants shifted from a primarily factual mode (what the loss was, how the loss occurred, etc.) to more of a focus on the impact of this loss on their lives (e.g., handling new tasks and expressions of emotions) over the 3 sessions. In addition, most participants offered accounts of their losses; that is, they attempted to find some meaning in the loss and integrate the loss into an overall framework for their lives. Many of these accounts focused on religion. Final sections of the article discuss the implications of journaling as a mechanism for effective coping with loss, as a useful tool for expressing emotions, and as a means for older adults' caregivers and health care providers to better adapt their supportive messages.