Cannabis and anhedonia: A systematic review.

This paper employs a systematic review to examine the correlation between anhedonia and marijuana use, exploring whether individuals with anhedonia use marijuana as a coping mechanism or if marijuana use plays a role in the onset of anhedonia. The search utilised PubMed and Web of Science databases, following PRISMA guidelines for paper selection. A total of 21 papers were selected to address this inquiry, and assessments were carried out using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Exposures (ROBINS-E) tool. The results revealed that 17 studies exhibited moderate and low risk of bias. The evaluation encompassed a total of 12,427 participants, including both animals and humans. Experimental animal studies focused on exploring the association between cannabidiol (CBD) and anhedonia, while human studies primarily employed observational research, examining various forms of anhedonia in individuals with or without mental disorders such as depression or psychosis. These studies also delved into understanding the effects of anhedonia during adolescence and explored the causal relationship between these concepts. The findings indicate a reciprocal rather than unidirectional relationship, establishing that initial anhedonia predisposes individuals to cannabis use, and subsequent consumption significantly intensifies the anhedonia experienced. Particularly, the studies placed special emphasis on adolescents and individuals with mental disorders.

A pilot screening for cognitive impairment through voice technology (WAY2AGE).

Voice technology has grown exponentially, offering an opportunity to different fields, such as the health area. Considering that language can be a sign of cognitive impairment and most screening tools are based on speech measures, these devices are of interest. The aim of this work was to examine a screening tool for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) through voice technology. For this reason, the WAY2AGE voice Bot was tested across Mini-Mental (MMSE) scores. The main results depict a strong relationship between MMSE and WAY2AGE scores, as well as a good AUC value to discriminate between no cognitive impairment (NCI) and MCI groups. However, a relationship between age and WAY2AGE scores, but not between age and MMSE scores, was found. This would indicate that, even if WAY2AGE seems sensitive to detect MCI, the voice tool is age-sensitive and not as robust as the traditional MMSE scale. Future lines of research should look more deeply into parameters that distinguish developmental changes. As a screening tool, these results are of interest for the health area and for at-risk older adults.

Psychometric Properties of the Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) and Its Invariance across Age Groups.

Considering that a good sense of subjective cognitive decline seems to be crucial to prevent decline before clinical impairment, the interest in examining tools on this front were raised in the last decade. The aim of the present study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) across age in its Spanish adaptation. It should be noted that two constructs were proposed in this context: mnestic processes and executive function factors. For this reason, a sample of 750 individuals aged from 18 to 82 years participated in the study. They were divided into three different groups: young, middle, and older adults. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and invariance analysis were carried out. Moreover, a logistic regression was employed to address the role of age. The results support a good goodness of fit for both uni- and bifactorial models. The invariance analysis reached the structural covariances levels. Last, age did not predict the recognition of cognitive decline in the last two years, while the SCD-Q bifactorial model did. These results are of interest both on a theoretical level, to provide more information on models of cognitive impairment, and on a practical level, for screening.

Predicting Scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) from Spontaneous Speech.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between language components, such as lexical density, length, and content in terms of "Time, Space and Action", with MMSE scores. For this reason, a group of 33 older participants, without a diagnosis of dementia, was examined, providing information regarding recent and future events. Participants with higher MMSE scores showed higher lexical density, speech length, as well as number of tokens related to Time, Place and Action in their speech. However, these differences only reach the statistical level for lexical density when participants were divided into two groups (MCI and healthy controls). Word frequency was lower for participants with MCI but this difference was not statistically significant. Lastly, lexical density was positively correlated with MMSE scores and predicted MMSE scores. These results could be of interest at the applied level in the screening of MCI.

The Effect of Corrective Feedback in Basic Cognitive Tasks: A Study in Early Childhood.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of trial-by-trial corrective feedback in a go-no-go task for children. A sample of 40 preschool students, divided into 4- and 5-year-olds, participated in the study, as well as a group of 20 university students. All the groups performed the task in a counterbalanced design of blocks with and without corrective feedback. Reaction time and accuracy rate were measured as dependent variables. Moreover, reaction time was also analyzed through an ex-Gaussian fit. Children were slightly more accurate and slower under the presence of corrective feedback, suggesting a more conservative pattern. University students were faster, but corrective feedback did not reach the statistical level. Regarding reaction time components, a reduction of the distribution tails, depicted by the τ parameter, was found for both groups under the corrective feedback condition. This suggests that parameterization of reaction time can be considered as a strategy for a more detailed analysis to examine the effect of corrective feedback, even at early ages. In this way, corrective feedback depicted beneficial effects in the τ parameter at early ages, suggesting its use in basic cognitive tasks based on go-no-go but not for older groups.

Can Virtual Assistants Perform Cognitive Assessment in Older Adults? A Review.

Community-dwelling older adults have raised the scientific community's interest during the COVID-19 era as their chronic conditions might be aggravated by the consequences of confinement. Digital devices in this field to monitor cognitive impairment are an emerging reality of an innovative nature. However, some groups may not have benefited from these developments as much as, for example, younger people. The aim of this manuscript is to carry out a review on the development of digital devices, and specifically virtual assistants, for the detection of cognitive impairment in older adults. After a screening process, eight studies were found under the given criteria, and this number was even smaller for those using virtual assistants. Given the opportunities offered by virtual assistants through techniques such as natural language processing, it seems imperative to take advantage of this opportunity for groups such as older adults.

The Role of Resilience for Migrants and Refugees' Mental Health in Times of COVID-19.

Migrants and refugees need international protection, particularly during a crisis such as the current health pandemic. The aim of this research was to examine the mental health and attitudes towards COVID-19 in migrants and refugees compared to the general Spanish population. Moreover, the nature of resilience was examined as a mixed component though life experiences. For this proposal, an interview was carried out in a sample of 245 participants who volunteered to participate in the study. The sample was divided into Spanish non-migrants, Spanish migrants, non-Spanish migrants and refugees. Attitudes towards COVID-19, resilience (based on BRCS) and mental health (based on DASS-21) were measured. The results obtained can be described as follows: (i) Migrant participants indicated worse mental health than non-migrants, and within the migrant group, refugees presented worse scores; (ii) No differences were found in attitudes towards COVID-19 in any of the subgroups; (iii) A moderating effect of group was found for the relationship between resilience and mental health but not between resilience and fear of COVID-19. These results might be of great interest in making visible the vulnerability of migrants and specifically refugees, and the proposal of intervention programs based on resilience training.

Psychometric Properties of the Indebtedness Scale (IS-R) in Spanish University Students.

The importance of trait indebtedness in the context of the study of gratitude has been growing in recent years, since both constructs form complex dynamics in response to the reception of a gift. In this work, the disposition to feel indebtedness is studied, through analysis of convergence and divergence, exploratory, and confirmatory analysis in the Spanish population, with the most used measurement instrument, i.e. The Revised Indebtedness Scale, IS-R. This scale depicted a four factor solution interrelated with a high consistency of content, which allows their labeling and describing. To do this, two samples of university students were selected; one of the sample sizes had 229 participants and the other 200 participants. Results also indicated good internal consistency described as follows: Debt for material aspects (α = 0.81), Self-sufficiency and discomfort in receiving help (α = 0.82), Moral self-demand in the reception of help (α = 0.83) and Debt in the receipt of gifts (α = 0.75). Furthermore, it was suggested that the relationships between gratitude and indebtedness are complex: on the one hand, all the indebtedness factors are inversely correlated with gratitude, such as the GQ5, although only Self-sufficiency and discomfort in receiving help and Debt in the receipt of gifts are such to a significant extent. However, the Interpersonal Gratitude scale of the G-20 depicted low correlations only with the Self-sufficiency and discomfort. The results are discussed in relation to the need for conceptual definition of the constructs in Positive Psychology.

The Moderating Role of Intellectual Humility in the Adoption of ICT: A Study Across Life-Span.

Literature has shown age-related differences in the adoption process. In this way, it is very important to encourage the adoption of ICT by the elderly, in order to maintain their independence in daily life. However, some specific cognitive variables were not considered in theoretical models until a decade ago. One of the emerging fields in this area is the science of learnable intelligence, which investigates the role of thinking dispositions. The variable which we have focused on is intellectual humility. For this propose, a sample of 306 participants from 18 to 87 years was selected. Age was selected as a predictor variable. Intellectual humility was tested as a moderator between aging and ICT adoption, more precisely computer and mobile devices. The model fitted the theoretical proposal. However, the subscale known as Independence of the intellect and ego was the only one to fulfill all the requirements for the moderational analysis. The findings suggest a moderational effect that might enhance the ICT adoption. These results are of interest in the field of personal development and training purposes in life-span.

European report on preventing elder maltreatment

Elder maltreatment is pervasive throughout the WHO European Region: at least 4 million elderly people are estimated to experience maltreatment in any one year and 2500 of them will die each year. Most countries in the Region have an ageing population, putting increasing numbers of people at risk. This report highlights the biological, social, cultural, economic and environmental factors that influence the risk of being a victim or perpetrator of elder maltreatment, as well as the protective factors that can help prevent it. There is some evidence of effective interventions, including psychological programmes for perpetrators and programmes designed to change attitudes towards older people, improve the mental health of caregivers and, in earlier life, to promote nurturing relationships and learn social skills. The evidence base needs to be strengthened, but surveys show that the public and policy-makers are already concerned about the problem. This report proposes a set of actions for Member States, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders to strengthen the policy response and devote adequate resources to the issue.