Doomscrolling and mental well-being in social media users: A serial mediation through mindfulness and secondary traumatic stress.

Considering that large-scale events such as natural disasters, epidemics, and wars affect people all over the world through online news channels, it is inevitable to investigate the impact of following or avoiding negative news on well-being. This study investigated the effect of doomscrolling on mental well-being and the mediating role of mindfulness and secondary traumatic stress in social media users. A total of 400 Turkish adults completed scales to assess doomscrolling, mental well-being, mindfulness, and secondary traumatic stress. The average age of the participants was 29.42 (SD = 8.38; ranged = 18-65). Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the mediating roles of mindfulness and secondary traumatic stress in the relationship between doomscrolling and mental well-being. Mindfulness and secondary traumatic stress fully mediated the relationship between doomscrolling and mental well-being. The results are discussed in light of existing knowledge of doomscrolling, mental well-being, mindfulness, and secondary traumatic stress. High levels of doomscrolling, which is related to an individual's mental well-being, can predict the individual's distraction from the here and now and fixation on negative news. This situation, in which mindfulness is low, is related to the individual's indirect traumatization and increased secondary traumatic stress symptoms in the face of the negative news he/she follows.

The development and initial validation of the Earthquake Fear Scale: Its links to personality traits, psychological distress, harmony in life, and mental wellbeing.

Unexpected and unpredictable earthquakes may have a negative impact on people's mental health. The earthquake fear experienced by individuals causes psychological problems. This article is made up of three different studies that look at earthquake fear. The seven item Earthquake Fear Scale (EFS) was confirmed in Study I (N = 407) utilising confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, Item Response Analysis was done, and it was found that all of the items showed a good degree of discrimination. The reliability of the EFS has been proven with different reliability coefficients. In Study II (N = 505), both correlation and network analysis were carried out, and earthquake fear was found to be significantly associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and mental wellbeing. Moreover, neuroticism and conscientiousness, two of the big five personality traits, are significantly associated with earthquake fear. In Study III (N = 382), it was revealed that psychological distress and harmony in life play a serial and fully mediating role in the link between earthquake fear and mental wellbeing. The psychological influence of earthquake fear is emphasised in this pioneering and comprehensive study on earthquake fear.

Rebuilding wellbeing: Understanding the role of self-criticism, anger rumination, and death distress after the February 6, 2023, Türkiye Earthquake.

This study investigated self-criticism, anger rumination, and death distress in wellbeing after one of the most devastating natural disasters of this century. The study included 399 participants from 56 different cities across Türkiye. Participants were from 3 groups: those who themselves or one of their nuclear families are earthquake survivors (group 1), those who had a loved one other than a nuclear family member who was an earthquake survivor (group 2), and those who were deeply affected by the earthquake through media networks (group 3). Results showed that women experienced higher death distress and anger rumination and lower mental wellbeing compared to men post-earthquake. Individuals in group 1 had significantly lower mental wellbeing and higher death distress than groups 2 and 3. However, the effect size of this significant differentiation depending on earthquake experience was small. Moreover, anger rumination and death distress fully mediated the link between self-criticism and mental wellbeing.

Relations among self-control, hope, and psychological adjustment: A two-wave longitudinal mediation study.

While the relationships between self-control, hope, and psychological adjustment have been examined in cross-sectional studies, the fact that these variables have not been considered together in any longitudinal research creates a gap in the literature. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the longitudinal relationships between self-control, hope, and psychological adjustment. Specifically, a cross-lagged panel study in two waves was conducted to examine whether hope mediated the association between self-control and psychological adjustment using a Turkish college sample (N = 349). The results revealed that hope had a significant mediation effect in the longitudinal association between self-control and psychological adjustment. In this direction, self-control indirectly predicts psychological adjustment through hope. This longitudinal study reveals that having self-control may have a positive influence on a person's level of hope and that hope may be a significant predictor of individual psychological adjustment.

Self-criticism and romantic relationship satisfaction as serial mediators of links between childhood psychological maltreatment and loneliness.

BACKGROUND: Psychological maltreatment may be one of the causes of adults' loneliness despite having a partner. There are some links between psychological maltreatment, self-criticism, relationship satisfaction, and loneliness in the literature. But the nature of these links requires further explanation. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the serial mediation role of self-criticism and romantic relationship satisfaction on the pathway from childhood psychological maltreatment to loneliness, in a Turkish sample. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: In total 403 individuals (Female = 294, Male = 109) participated from 53 different cities in Türkiye. Participants were either dating (65.8 %), had a fiancée (4 %), or were married (30.3 %). METHOD: The data was collected using Psychological Maltreatment Questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Self-criticism Rumination Scale, and the Relationship Assessment Scale. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling results indicated that self-criticism and romantic relationship satisfaction fully mediated the impact of psychological maltreatment on loneliness. The model was a good fit [χ2 (29, N = 403) = 63.846, p < .001; χ2/df = 2.20; SRMR = 0.061; RMSEA = 0.055; GFI = 0.969; CFI = 0.979; NFI = 0.963; IFI = 0.979]. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood experiences of psychological maltreatment can continue to haunt individuals, even as adults. Although being in a relationship can help individuals with their loneliness, psychologically maltreated adults may feel lonely in their relationships due to self-criticism and dissatisfaction. Interventions focused on childhood psychological maltreatment and self-criticism may help lonely adults. Along with this focus, relationship satisfaction can be addressed in family/couple counseling.

Doomscrolling Scale: its Association with Personality Traits, Psychological Distress, Social Media Use, and Wellbeing.

Doomscrolling is a fairly new concept in mental health research which has attracted significant attention in recent years. This paper consists of three separate studies examining doomscrolling. In Study I (N = 378), both 15-item and 4-item forms of Doomscrolling Scale (DS) were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Item Response Analysis demonstrated that all items had strong discriminative power. Different reliability coefficients supported the high reliability of DS. In Study II (N = 419), both correlation and network analysis indicated that doomscrolling was significantly associated with big five personality traits, social media addiction, fear of missing out, and some features of social media usage. In Study III (N = 460), the relationship of doomscrolling with psychological distress and wellbeing indicators -life satisfaction, mental well-being and harmony in life- were investigated. Structural equation modeling indicated that the relationship between doomscrolling and wellbeing indicators were mediated by psychological distress. This comprehensive and pioneering study on doomscrolling has highlighted the individual and social impacts of doomscrolling.

Zoom Fatigue, Psychological Distress, Life Satisfaction, and Academic Well-Being.

Little is known about the psychological consequences of the recently increased utilization of videoconferencing, which has enabled life to proceed as close to normal as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand the psychological consequences of this recent global lifestyle change in different populations, the psychometric validation of the Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale (ZEFS) and the relationship of this construct with academic well-being, mental well-being, and life satisfaction are presented. In a sample of 470 Turkish university students (57 percent female, Mage = 20.26 ± 2.18, ranging between 18 and 33 years), first-order and second-order confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the construct validity of the scale, and the item response theory results yielded appropriate item difficulty and discrimination. ZEFS scores were significantly and positively associated with anxiety, depression, and stress, and negatively associated with life satisfaction and academic well-being, supporting the scale's concurrent validity. Incremental validity was shown with mediational models demonstrating significant and separate indirect effects of Zoom exhaustion and fatigue on life satisfaction and academic well-being, both mediated by psychological distress. The results suggest ZEFS to be a valid and reliable tool to evaluate the psychological consequences of videoconferencing, which has globally increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, in non-Western samples. By showing the relationships of Zoom exhaustion and fatigue with psychological distress, life satisfaction, and academic well-being, the present study highlights potential avenues to be addressed to protect the mental well-being of all individuals who have integrated videoconferencing as part of their daily lives.

Self-Compassion Scale for Youth: Turkish Adaptation and Exploration of the Relationship with Resilience, Depression, and Well-being.

Self-compassion refers to being kind, understanding, and accepting toward oneself in times of failure, frustration, or negative feelings. Since self-compassion is related to both physical and psychological well-being, measuring and understanding self-compassion in different populations carries importance for their mental well-being and life satisfaction outcomes. One such group is the youth, who experience unique developmental challenges. For this purpose, a Self-Compassion Scale for Youth (SCS-Y) was developed (Neff et al., 2021) and this paper presents its Turkish adaptation. The Turkish translation of SCS-Y was tested on a sample of Turkish youth (N = 450, 61.8% female, M age= 13.09 ± 1.59, range = 11-15) and was found to have acceptable reliability. The scale showed a similar structure to the original testing on American youth with a bifactor model of a general self-compassion score and six subscale scores, and a two-bifactor model where negative and positive aspects are grouped together. Self-compassion was positively related to resilience and well-being, and negatively related to depression. A serial mediation analysis showed self-compassion to have a direct and positive effect on resilience, and to have an indirect effect on well-being mediated by resilience and depression. Given that the trainable skill of self-compassion is associated with higher resilience, lower depression, and better well-being, the value of this scale and its different adaptations becomes evident, as they enable measuring self-compassion in youth in various populations such as the present Turkish one and guiding the design of future interventions to increase self-compassion, targeted for the specific concerns of the youth.

Self-compassion, intolerance of uncertainty, fear of COVID-19, and well-being: A serial mediation investigation.

The present study examined the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and fear of COVID-19 in the relationship between self-compassion and well-being. The participants were comprised of 667 Turkish individuals (465 females and 202 males; aged between 18 and 73 years) from 75 of 81 cities in Turkey. The model was investigated using bootstrapping. The results showed that self-compassion, intolerance of uncertainty, fear of COVID-19, and well-being are significantly interrelated. Moreover, a serial mediation was found among the variables: individuals with a growth self-compassion to report lower intolerance of uncertainty, which further decreased perceived fear of COVID-19, and subsequently weakened well-being. Results are discussed in the context of COVID-19 and the well-being literature, and theoretical and practical implications were also provided.

Adaptation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Its Association with Psychological Distress and Life Satisfaction in Turkey.

The world is currently experiencing a pandemic of an infectious disease called COVID-19 which has drawn global intensive attention. While global attention is largely focusing on the effects of the coronavirus on physical health, the impacts of the coronavirus on psychological health cannot be overlooked. Therefore, this study aims to adapt the Fear of COVID-19 Scale into Turkish and investigate the relationships between fear of COVID-19, psychological distress, and life satisfaction. Data were collected by convenience sampling method, which allowed us to reach total 1304 participants, aged between 18 and 64 years, from 75 cities in Turkey. In the adaptation process of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, confirmatory factor analysis, Item Response Theory, convergent validity, and reliability (Cronbach's α, McDonald's ω, Guttmann's λ6, and composite reliability) analyses were performed. Additionally, the mediating role of psychological distress on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and life satisfaction was tested. The uni-dimensionality of the 7-item scale was confirmed on a Turkish sample. Item Response Theory revealed that all items were coherent and fit with the model. The results indicated that the Turkish version of the scale had satisfactory reliability coefficients. The fear of COVID-19 was found to be associated with psychological distress and life satisfaction. Results indicated that the Turkish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale had strong psychometric properties. This scale will allow mental health professionals to do research on the psychological impacts of COVID-19 in Turkey.

Positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and coping with stress by attachment styles in Turkish students.

The purpose was to investigate positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and coping with stress in relation to attachment styles. Undergraduate students (N=421) completed the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Coping with Stress Scale. Results indicated that secure attachment style was the unique predictor of positive affect while fearful and preoccupied attachment styles significantly predicted negative affect. Regarding life satisfaction, a positive correlation with secure attachment style and a negative correlation with fearful and preoccupied styles were seen. However, the unique predictor of life satisfaction was preoccupied attachment style. In terms of coping with stress, there was no significant association between attachment variables and avoidance coping style, but significant links were observed between problem-focused coping and dismissing, and fearful and preoccupied attachment styles.