A Validation of AI-Enabled Discussion Platform Metrics and Relationships to Student Efforts.

Asynchronous discussions are a popular feature in online higher education as they enable instructor-student and student-student interactions at the users' own time and pace. AI-driven discussion platforms are designed to relieve instructors of automatable tasks, e.g., low-stakes grading and post moderation. Our study investigated the validity of an AI-generated score compared to human-driven methods of evaluating student effort and the impact of instructor interaction on students' discussion post quality. A series of within-subjects MANOVAs was conducted on 14,599 discussion posts among over 800 students across four classes to measure post 'curiosity score' (i.e., an AI-generated metric of post quality) and word count. After checking assumptions, one MANOVA was run for each type of instructor interaction: private coaching, public praising, and public featuring. Instructor coaching appears to impact curiosity scores and word count, with later posts being an average of 40 words longer and scoring an average of 15 points higher than the original post that received instructor coaching. AI-driven tools appear to free up time for more creative human interventions, particularly among instructors teaching high-enrollment classes, where a traditional discussion forum is less scalable.

Self-control, coping styles, and alcohol outcomes in college students.

Objective: Research indicates that coping styles mediate self-control and health outcomes. Emotion- and problem-focused coping strategies (eg, getting advice or planning) are used to address stressors. In contrast, avoidance-focused strategies (eg, substance use) are used to escape distress and are associated with greater alcohol problems. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between college students' levels of self-control, coping styles, and alcohol use and problems. Participants and Methods: 183 undergraduates completed questionnaires regarding self-control, coping styles, and alcohol consumption and problems. We hypothesized that self-control would be associated with alcohol problems through avoidance-focused coping, but not emotion- or problem-focused coping. Results: Our results were consistent with our hypothesis with and without controlling for alcohol consumption. Undergraduates lower in self-control who engage in avoidance-focused coping may experience greater alcohol problems. Conclusions: University programs dedicated to addressing substance use among undergraduates may develop workshops that promote problem- or emotion-focused coping strategies as alternatives to avoidance-focused strategies.

Cluster-b personality disorder traits and impulsivity: Indirect associations with alcohol use severity through positive alcohol expectancies.

Prior theory and research suggest that both Cluster-B personality pathology and trait impulsivity are indirectly associated with alcohol use through positive alcohol expectancies. Yet, no prior study has investigated whether features of each of the Cluster-B personality disorders (PDs) (i.e., antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic) and rash impulsiveness are indirectly associated with alcohol use severity through positive alcohol expectancies. In a cross-sectional design, social drinkers (N = 200; 51% female; Mage = 26 years) completed self-report measures of trait (rash) impulsivity, Cluster-B personality disorder (PD) traits, positive alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use severity. Simple and serial mediation analyses were used to test positive alcohol expectancies and the association between trait impulsivity and alcohol expectancies as potential mediators of personality disorder trait relations with alcohol use severity. Simple mediation analyses evidenced that trait impulsivity and traits specific to each of the Cluster-B (PDs) were indirectly associated with alcohol use severity through positive alcohol expectancies. Serial mediation analyses further evidenced that the Cluster-B (PD) traits were indirectly associated with alcohol use severity via positive alcohol expectancies both uniquely from and together with trait impulsivity. Current findings are novel and suggest that positive alcohol expectancies may be important to connecting the rashly impulsive aspects of Cluster-B (PDs) with greater alcohol use severity. However, current findings also suggest that features of the Cluster-B (PDs) probably increase risk for alcohol use disorder due to other reasons (e.g., other aspects of personality or forms of impulsivity). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Characterizing Patterns of Nurses' Daily Sleep Health: a Latent Profile Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nursing is a demanding occupation characterized by dramatic sleep disruptions. Yet most studies on nurses' sleep treat sleep disturbances as a homogenous construct and do not use daily measures to address recall biases. Using person-centered analyses, we examined heterogeneity in nurses' daily sleep patterns in relation to psychological and physical health. METHODS: Nurses (N = 392; 92% female, mean age = 39.54 years) completed 14 daily sleep diaries to assess sleep duration, efficiency, quality, and nightmare severity, as well as measures of psychological functioning and a blood draw to assess inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Using recommended fit indices and a 3-step approach, latent profile analysis was used to identify the best-fitting class solution. RESULTS: The best-fitting solution suggested three classes: (1) "Poor Overall Sleep" (11.2%), (2) "Nightmares Only" (8.4%), (3) "Good Overall Sleep" (80.4%). Compared to nurses in the Good Overall Sleep class, nurses in the Poor Overall Sleep or Nightmares Only classes were more likely to be shift workers and had greater stress, PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and insomnia severity. In multivariate models, every one-unit increase in insomnia severity and IL-6 was associated with a 33% and a 21% increase in the odds of being in the Poor Overall Sleep compared to the Good Overall Sleep class, respectively. CONCLUSION: Nurses with more severe and diverse sleep disturbances experience worse health and may be in greatest need of sleep-related and other clinical interventions.

Higher Emotion Dysregulation and Coping Motives in Alcoholand Marijuana Users.

BACKGROUND: Prior research indicates that difficulties in emotion regulation may contribute to the use of substances (e.g. alcohol and marijuana) to alleviate negative affect. Therefore, we hypothesized that coping motives for alcohol and marijuana use would serve as an intermediary in the relationship between emotion dysregulation and alcohol/marijuana-related outcomes. Methods: The sample comprised 241 college students who used both alcohol and marijuana and 378 college students who used alcohol only. Parallel indirect effects models were estimated to test the hypothesis that emotion dysregulation is associated with alcohol and marijuana use/problems through alcohol and marijuana coping motives. Results: Coping motives were consistently identified as the driving intermediary when it came to alcohol and marijuana problems, as well as marijuana consumption. Enhancement motives were only implicated in the relationship between emotion dysregulation and alcohol consumption among the alcohol-only group. Conclusion: Overall, the pattern of results suggests that, as hypothesized, alcohol and/or marijuana users higher in emotion dysregulation are more likely to use alcohol or marijuana to alleviate negative affect. Although further research is warranted, individuals who use substances for coping purposes may benefit from interventions designed to improve emotion regulation skills.

Anxiety sensitivity in relation to cigarette smoking and other substance use in African American smokers.

Anxiety sensitivity (AS)-fearfulness of anxiety symptoms-has been implicated in the etiology of emotional disorders (e.g., depressive and anxiety disorders) and linked to cigarette smoking and other substance use (SU). However, studies examining AS in relation to SU primarily have been conducted with racially/ethnically heterogeneous or mostly European American samples. Hence, this cross-sectional study involving secondary analysis of baseline data focused on investigating associations of AS with cigarette smoking and other SU in a sample of 630 non-treatment-seeking African American smokers (37.3% female; M age = 49.6 years; M cigarettes smoked per day = 15.4). After screening out individuals with non-nicotine substance dependence, participants reported their demographics, AS, dysphoria symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms), and SU. In regression analyses controlling for dysphoria symptoms, age, education level, income level, and years of regular smoking, AS was positively associated with tobacco withdrawal severity (ß = .12, p = .007), overall smoking motives (ß = .17, p < .001), alcohol use problems (ß = .12, p = .005), and other (non-nicotine, nonalcohol) SU problems (ß = .16, p < .001). Though lacking the passage of time between assessments needed to provide strong evidence of mediation, unplanned analyses further revealed indirect associations of AS with several SU variables through dysphoria symptoms. Current findings are consistent with those found in prior samples and suggest that AS is similarly related to SU in African Americans, who may benefit from interventions that have been helpful in improving AS, dysphoria symptoms, and SU in other groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).