ABSTRACT. This workshop will focus on the approach taken by Norfolk State University (NSU) to design and deliver its master’s degree in cyberpsychology. This fully online program, housed at a public, urban, historically Black university in Virginia, USA, will be discussed from an administrative, curricular, and educational perspective. Emphasis will be placed on the steps required to bring a new graduate degree program to fruition (in Virginia, USA), the challenges both internally and externally with regards to getting approval and support to start such a program, the process of developing a 14-course/42 semester credit hour curriculum including both design and delivery obstacles, and what NSU has done to promote and recruit for the program. Emphasis will be given to the mechanisms embedded in the curriculum to ensure academic rigor and facilitate student research despite the overwhelming asynchronous nature of the program. The target audience for this workshop include a) university administrators looking to build novel academic degree programs where significant precedent for such a new program (such as a stand-alone cyberpsychology) does not already exist for a specific discipline, b) instructional designers who are involved in building online course and learning management system-specific elements of a fully online program, c) faculty who are considering how to build their own cyberpsychology program in the United States or otherwise, d) faculty teaching cyberpsychology courses at any level and tactics they can utilize to facilitate both student and instructor presence in the online classroom, and e) students interested in understanding how an online yet research-intensive program gets developed with non-traditional (and often non-psychology background) student needs in mind. The format for this workshop will include guided discussion with the audience, demonstration of course design and delivery components of the degree program, and small group discussion with the audience focusing on paths for a new program such as this to grow, prosper, and ultimately connect students with needs in the (global) workforce. The following learning objectives will be met by participation in this workshop: 1—Participants will learn the steps involved in bringing a new graduate degree program online (in Virginia, USA); 2—Participants will explore at least five curriculum design and delivery issues when developing a fully online program; 3—Participants will understand the administrative processes required to implement and begin to offer a new graduate degree program in cyberpsychology; 4—Participants will identify at least three best practices for teaching cyberpsychology curriculum in an asynchronous classroom environment; 5—Participants will be able to recognize at least three cultural or cross-cultural concerns to consider when building an interdisciplinary-focused graduate degree program; and 6—Participants will classify at least five methods of promoting and growing a graduate degree program in cyberpsychology.

ABSTRACT. The use of virtual reality (VR) for emotional regulation and the treatment of anxiety disorders has often been guided by creativity, clinical experience, hunches, or classical approaches to treatment mechanisms (e.g., habituation). This presentation will argue in favor of a strong focus on neuroscience, current theories of learning and emotions, and reliance on empirical studies. The workshop is organized in three sections. The presentation will begin with a brief review of the core features of effective psychotherapies for anxiety disorders (phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety and generalized anxiety disorders). The role of exposure and inhibitory learning will be described, along with nuances to distinguish between counterproductive therapeutic strategies that create more avoidance versus those that are effective. The limitations of standard exposure as used in traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and the advantages of using VR exposure will be presented. The part of the workshop will expose treatment protocols illustrating how to use VR for each disorder. Clinical illustrations will be provided by the two workshop leaders. A few key studies will be described to highlight the pros and cons of using VR. The last 30 minutes of the workshop will be dedicated to underline the relative roles of presence and unwanted negative side effects induced by immersion in VR (cybersickness). The presenters will use dynamic examples to illustrate how to make the best use of VR in psychotherapy.

After this workshop, participants will be able to: 1) Outline the scientific results about exposure in VR for all anxiety disorders. 2) Identify the key ingredients relevant to use VR in the treatment of treat phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder and general anxiety disorder. 3) Know how to include VR in the traditional CBT treatment of anxiety disorders and to approach creatively the use of a variety of software. 4) Recognize and deal with cybersickness and take necessary clinical precautions. 5) Describe how to increase the sense of presence in order to make VR work more efficiently or to deal with low level of immersion. 6) Initiate a discussion about the emergence of new products and start-ups claiming that VR can cure mental disorders.

Note about the management of conflicts of interest with the sponsor of the workshop. All conflicts of interest will be declared at the beginning of the workshop. The conference will not promote particular products and opinions will be based on empirical evidences.

ABSTRACT. Content of the workshop. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses open to everyone, hosted on online learning platforms such as Coursera, and FUN-MOOC. MOOCs promote access to education by offering free courses designed by recognized universities. They are also interesting for the initial training of students and for the continuing education of professionals since learners can access the courses according to a flexible schedule, at the pace that suits them, and in a secure manner. For example, if a concept is not well understood, alternative solutions are proposed, feedback on certain materials is possible, etc. Then they promote the creation of communities of learning and practice. And finally, they make it possible to publicize research work and develop international collaborations. At the University of Liège, we have decided to link a MOOC to the health psychology course, entitled “Acting for your health”. The university context and the format, a cohort of more than 500 students, is not optimal for doing applied exercises. The large group must be split into subgroups, and significant human resources must be available. Therefore, the very format of the MOOC (individual, online, secure for the student) makes it possible to reach a more significant number of students. The MOOC makes access to exercises fair: the examples of clinical vignettes are numerous and diversified; the student can come back to the situation, without judgment from others. The MOOC includes five modules that revolve around the notions necessary to set up a healthy behavior, such as practicing physical activity. Among these five modules, one is devoted entirely to virtual reality and how this tool can be a trigger for the establishment of health behavior. Currently, nearly 40,000 people have registered for this MOOC. The three main reasons that encourage people to participate in a MOOC are personal interest (interest in the subject, curiosity), professional (acquiring new skills), and educational (obtaining a certificate). This workshop aims to illustrate how and why we have positioned virtual reality within this MOOC centered on health behavior change. It allows us to introduce virtual reality, to students

Targeted audience. The workshop is intended for health professionals, novices, or experts in clinical health psychology, but also for teachers. It was designed in collaboration with clinical psychologists, researchers, computer scientists, and technopedagogues.

Approach. With the various educational devices offered in the MOOC, our approach is to coach students in clinical rationale. Practical exercises relating to reflective clinical work are offered based on clinical vignettes showing health behaviors and interventions of health professionals. The work is approached both from the angle of supervision to become familiar with the application of the posture of the practitioner and of clinical reasoning. For the virtual reality module, we have gone from simple notions (definition of VR; necessary equipment) to more complex notions (development of virtual environments dedicated to specific research questions) with the help of educational videos, interviews with experts, and exchanges between clinicians.

Learning objectives (list at least 4). The learning outcomes during this workshop will be (1) to consolidate your knowledge of what a MOOC is;(2) train in clinical reasoning using clinical cases treated by virtual reality; (3) to equip you to create your virtual environments in line with the needs of your patients and (4) to identify your obstacles and incentives to using virtual reality as a therapeutic tool. Finally, we will illustrate throughout the workshop the importance of working in multidisciplinarity and of regularly continuing your training because the field of possibilities is vast with this tool.

ABSTRACT. Promotion of diversity and equality to ensure participation and integration of groups in society is a key goal associated with social cohesion. With social media fundamentally altering the nature of our social interactions, it is important to consider how this aligns with broader social cohesion objectives. Social media can promote positive cross-cultural and intergroup interaction, increase belongingness, and facilitate self-expression. However, inequalities in technological access and discrepancies in digital literacy result in some groups being excluded from full online participation. Furthermore, experiences of hostility and harm on social media can drive existing divisions and act as a barrier to social cohesion. Drawing on social identity and cultural diversity via examples of vulnerable or marginalized groups within society, this presentation examines the opportunities and challenges of social cohesion in an online era. Priority areas for promoting social cohesion are discussed with a focus on e-inclusion, digital citizenship, research and policy.

ABSTRACT. Given the increased interest in how technology use impacts facets of the human experience, such as social connection, belonging, or the fear of missing out (FoMO), it is essential to consider how these variables exist within and outside the context of social networking site (SNS) use. State-specific variables may better highlight avenues for examining the strictly cyber impact on human behavior. The current study expands on a previous exploratory factor analysis of what Sette et al. (2020) deemed online social media-related FoMO or ON-FoMO (accepted for APA 2023). Additional analyses were performed to determine the reliability and validity of the measure by examining technology-use behaviors and psychological correlates.

The original validation study by Sette et al. (2020) suggested that ON-FoMO was comprised of four factors that incorporated characteristics central to the experience of FoMO within the specific context of SNS use, including the need to belong, need for popularity, anxiety, and addiction. A sample of 383 university students completed the following assessments: Fear of Missing Out Measures: the ON-FoMO Inventory and FoMO Scale, Technology-Use Behaviors: the Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes General Social Media Usage (GSMU), Smartphone Usage (SU), and Dependence on Technology (DOT) Subscales, Problematic Mobile Phone Use (PMPU) Questionnaire, and SNS daily time, and Psychological Variables: the Need to Belong Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. The 20-item ON-FoMO Inventory statements include the following – I feel distant from people when I see them happy and I usually feel irritated by staying disconnected from social networks too long.

The current study’s factor analysis and parallel analysis results suggested a best-fit model of two or three latent factors. Additional analyses will be conducted to examine which combination of factors best represents the conceptual nature that theoretically defines online-based FoMO. The ON-FoMO Inventory showed high internal consistency. The ON-FoMO and the primarily implemented FoMO Scale (Przybylski et al., 2013) were strongly positively correlated, indicating a robust relationship between the measures, which touch on similar constructs. The convergent validity of the scale total was mostly consistent with the hypotheses; ON-FoMO was highly associated with variables historically related to FoMO in the research. Participant age and ON-FoMO were strongly negatively correlated. ON-FoMO was significantly positively related to technology-use behaviors, specifically higher GSMU, DOT, and PMPU. However, the amount of daily SNS time and SU were not statistically significant. For psychological variables, ON-FoMO was significantly negatively correlated with self-esteem and life satisfaction and positively correlated with belonging.

Social media dependency concerns are on the rise. Variables like ON-FoMO, which aim to gauge the underpinnings of SNS and smartphone use, may impart a deeper understanding of said use. This study found vital differences in how ON-FoMO impacted typical and problematic smartphone use. With conversations across clinical and general populations alike centered on SNS addiction, these findings indicate the need to better distinguish typical from problematic use and determine which criteria constitute addictive behavior. Similarly, the total score was not significantly correlated with how much time per day individuals spent using social media, suggesting that reliance on strictly time-based assessments may miss the nuances of personal use. While the current study did not replicate the four-factor structure noted in the original ON-FoMO study, the results demonstrated that the construct is multifaceted. By considering the complex role of On-FoMO, researchers can better understand why people exhibit problematic digital technology and media use, allowing the conversation to move from “Am I addicted to social media?” to “Why am I addicted to social media?”

ABSTRACT. Previous research on (cyber)bullying has mostly focused on individual and social characteristics of the victims (i.e., self-esteem, peer support), but (cyber)bullying may also be based upon social identity characteristics (i.e., nationality, religion) which were declared as protected characteristics. Furthermore, previous research showed that socio-demographic and peer-related factors are the most important in the prediction of both (cyber)bullying perpetration and victimization. However, whether these factors are also the risk or protective factors for prejudice-based cyberbullying (PBCB) is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the predictors of PBCB perpetration and victimization from the domain of socio-demographic (gender, age, belonging to protected groups), individual (self-esteem), social media-related (social media addiction, time spent on social media, number of social media accounts), and peer-related factors (perceived peer support, peer norms regarding cyberbullying) based on large-scale cross-cultural research. The study included 4364 high school students aged 14-21 (Mage = 17 years; 61.5% female) who were nested within 74 schools nested within 16 countries (Belgium, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey). Students completed measures of PBCB perpetration and victimization, social media addiction, self-esteem, perceived peer support, and peer norms on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. They also provided information about their nationality (majority/minority), religion (majority/minority), asylum-seeking status, developmental disability, as well as the time they spend on social media and the number of social media accounts. Multilevel modeling was used to determine the predictors of PBCB perpetration and victimization. Analyses indicated that a two-level model with students nested within schools fitted data better than a one-level (student), two-level (student and country), and three-level model (student, school, and country). School level accounted for 12% of PBCB perpetration and 7% of PBCB victimization variance, while the remaining variance was placed at the student level. Given the correlation between PBCB perpetration and victimization (r = .58), to get insight into a pure tendency towards perpetration, victimization was controlled in predicting PBCB perpetration, and vice versa. Once PBCB victimization was controlled, PBCB perpetration was more pronounced among males and it was related to the longer time spent on social media, lower number of social media accounts, lower social media addiction, and more tolerant peer norms on cyberbullying victimization. After controlling for PBCB perpetration, PBCB victimization was more pronounced among students with all investigated protected characteristics: national and religious minorities, asylum seekers, and individuals with developmental disabilities. Furthermore, it was related to higher social media addiction, lower self-esteem, lower perceived peer support, and more tolerant peer norms on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. The results of this study indicate that students with protected characteristics, as well as individuals who develop problematic and excessive use of social media and psychologically more vulnerable individuals, are at greater risk of becoming the victims of PBCB. Perpetrators of PBCB are neither characterized by protected characteristics nor by belonging to majority groups; and while their time spent on social media can be prolonged, it doesn’t have an addictive quality. Our results suggest that the normalization of cyberbullying in peer groups could facilitate both PBCB perpetration and victimization. Finally, small amounts of variance placed at the country level indicate that PBCB perpetration and victimization are cross-culturally universal phenomena. Acknowledgment: The collected data are a part of the Cost Action 18115 TRIBES.

ABSTRACT. On the importance of social touch for senior individuals and ways to ameliorate social isolation: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

Ans I.M. Tummers-Heemels1, Wijnand A. IJsselsteijn Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Short summary: The need for touch exists below the horizon of consciousness. Interpersonal touch, or gentle physical contact between individuals, is an important aspect of human social interaction and has been shown to have numerous benefits for senior individuals. One of the main ways that interpersonal touch can benefit senior individuals is by reducing feelings of loneliness and social isolation. The outbreak of Covid-19 necessitated social distancing measures to mitigate the negative health consequences of the pandemic, which were particularly pronounced amongst vulnerable populations, especially those who live with dementia. At the same time, seniors’ psychosocial wellbeing was compromised as opportunities for interpersonal touch became severely restricted. In this paper, we share what we have learned during the pandemic, both on the critical importance of social touch for senior individuals, as well as on innovative ways to ameliorate the forced absence of social touch. Our research highlights the fact that social relationships and physical contact are key to personal wellbeing and underlines the importance of touch.

Keywords. Dementia, touch, Covid-19, mediated social touch, affective haptics, quality of life 1. Introduction Studies have shown that touch can promote feelings of social connection and belonging. Subjective pleasantness ratings of slowly stroking touch even increase with age. Additionally, touch has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, common issues for seniors, particularly those living in care facilities. Interpersonal touch can help to lower blood pressure, to improve sleep quality and improve immune function. In addition to the direct benefits of touch, it can also help seniors to maintain their emotional balance. Behavioral and psychological problems of older people are ameliorated after receiving massage or touch. From the point of view of the nurses, interpersonal touch stimulates their own ability to comfort and to promote emotional attachment, making their work more personally satisfying, which has been shown to diminish the risk of burn-out. In our contribution, we investigate the extent to which Covid-19 and its associated measures interfered with psychosocial wellbeing, and highlight innovations that have been used to mitigate potential negative effects.

2. Methods We performed a short, targeted literature review focusing on the role and importance of social touch for elderly individuals. In addition, we present results from a recent online survey (N=100) amongst nursing staff which was performed to assess the implementation of social distancing measures in care homes, and their psychosocial effects on the person with dementia.

3. Results & Discussion With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic we have regained a renewed appreciation of the importance of social touch for individual wellbeing. Many efforts have been made to mitigate the negative effects of such isolation, including physical hug-screens, soft hugable or strokeable objects, and improvised handholding in the form of heated gloves. We also observed the increased use of digital touch technologies, including robotic pets, various telepresence and virtual social touch devices. Experiences over the last two years have been valuable in demonstrating what works, and what may need further improvement. Our results indicate that the tradeoff between a focus on safety and physical wellbeing versus a focus on social interaction and social wellbeing is to an extent artifactual. It is important that the person with dementia can express and experience social touch and closeness to loved ones at all times. We all have realized that, more than ever before, social contact is necessary and that people with dementia should not be restricted from it, jamais.

ABSTRACT. As technology evolves so does communication methods in many aspects of life, including in personal and romantic relationships, and increasingly mobile technology is being employed to initiate, facilitate and maintain romantic relationships (Kwok et al., 2020). Such maintenance activities include sexting: the exchange of sexually suggestive content via cellular technology such as the creation, sharing, and receiving of explicit text messages and/or nude or partially nude images or videos (Drouin et al., 2013). The majority of sexting research has focussed on adolescent samples (Brodie et al., 2019), despite the fact that prevalence among UK adults is reportedly as high as 85% (Wilson et al., 2021). Most recent studies have employed quantitative methods, but one recent qualitative study demonstrated both sex-related (e.g., physical arousal) and non sex-related motivations (e.g., physical distance) to sext in a US sample (Currin et al., 2020). Further research is needed to understand motivations for sexting in a UK context, especially when the full range of negative and positive sexting outcomes are still being identified (e.g., Englander, 2018). In the current study we recruited 19 Scottish volunteers (12 female, 10 currently in a relationship) between 20 and 30 years old. Data was collected during semi-structured online interviews lasting around 45 minutes. We asked participants about their motivations for sexting, the contextual factors which make it more likely that they will engage in sexting, and their perceived outcomes of engaging in sexting. Transcriptions were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of reflexive thematic analysis. Themes emerged relating to each research question. Relating to ‘what motivates sexting engagement?’ three prominent themes emerged. The first was ‘Relationship Enhancement’ where sexting was described as a tool to feel closer to another person and communicate feelings. The second was ‘Sexual Arousal’ which related to the desire to have sex and which was characterised by participants using words such as ‘lust’ and ‘passion’. The third was ‘Pressure to Sex’ where participants were not always motivated to sext but instead, had felt pressured, or even threatened, by someone else to sext. Relating to ‘What contextual factors make it more likely that an individual will engage in sexting?’ two themes emerged. The first was ‘Trust’, highlighting the importance of being comfortable sexting partners, specifically in relation to security of sent content. The second was ‘Sexting Within a Relationship’: participants believed that sexting was part of normal relationships and were willing to engage in this context, particularly when couples were physically apart. Finally, three themes emerged relating to ‘What are the outcomes of engaging in sexting’? The first was ‘Foreplay’ where sexting is used to build sexual tension and communicate about sex before engaging in physical sex. Participants also said that sexting was useful as a secure medium to help them open up to another person about their sexual (dis)likes. The second theme was ‘Intrapersonal Benefits’: participants expressed that sexting often made them feel good about themselves and enhanced feelings of confidence. The final theme was ‘Leaked Images’ where participants used words such as ‘stupid’ and ‘dangerous’, demonstrating their awareness of the risks associated with the behaviour. They also believed that believed that consequences of leaked images become more serious with age, possibly as a result of increased responsibility. Overall participants discussed sexting almost as a sub-category of sex, viewing it as a useful tool to build intimacy in relationships, and in some contexts it can produce positive outcomes. Participants were also motivated to sext for some instrumental reasons. There was also an acknowledgement of the security risks of sending intimate content, and the dangers of sexting when being coerced or threatened.

ABSTRACT. The last few years have witnessed a rapid development of new technologies, which has forced the use of new media in every aspect of life. In public places, it is not uncommon to see young people staring at their phone screens. Nor is it uncommon to see young mothers taking care of children and using a cell phone at the same time. Many studies show that being constantly online has negative effects on many spheres of life. The main aim of the diary study was to analyze the impact of mothers’ use of smartphones in the presence of children on the children’s ability to delay gratification. The sample size was N = 90. The participants were mothers of children aged 1–3 years. They were instructed to answer the questions that would be sent to their mobile phones every day, for 14 consecutive days. We used the Distraction in Social Relations and Use of Parent Technology Scale, the Modified Delayed Gratification Inventory, and the Daily Mood Measure, where mothers rated the items as describing their child and as referring to themselves (self-rating). We found that children’s and mother’s positive emotions were mediators in the relationship between parental phubbing and children’s ability to delay gratification. Parental phubbing was negatively related to mother’s happiness, and since mother’s happiness was positively correlated with children’s happiness, this translated into children’s lower delay of gratification. Conversely, a low level of parental phubbing was positively related to mother’s happiness, which was positively correlated with children’s happiness and thus increased children’s delay of gratification. The results may help understand the meaning of parental phubbing in a child's life.

ABSTRACT. The URBAN GAMERS LAB project is a study that involves a multidisciplinary team (architects, engineers, and psychologists) to propose the activation of knowledge dissemination, and advancement events strongly linked to the digital transition of the younger generations in Emilia Romagna region in Italy. The project is aimed at high school and university students, and it intends to develop multilevel dissemination, training events and mixed involvement techniques, linked to the challenge of the digital transition, pointed to: 1) Promote awareness, especially among young people, regarding the importance of taking part in the digital transition, also defining the trajectories for the future of their city and region; 2) Allow students to recognize their talents through the creative and collaborative process; 3) Develop capacity building of municipality operators and librarians, through training workshops, for the dissemination of managerial skills with respect to gamification paths, thus promoting sustainability and autonomy in the proposition/participation of the projects; 4) Promote and support students in line with European Uninon DigComp programs, and with the digital agenda of the Emilia-Romagna Region, as well as in line with the guidelines of the Digital Agenda for Europe and with the objectives of the Italian Digital Agenda, in the development of transversal skills, life skills and competences such as critical thinking/problem solving, creativity, communication, collaboration, and ICT literacy; 5) Facilitate inclusion in digital transition processes on an urban scale through the game approach and adopting Game Thinking strategies. Participants were enabled to develop project ideas through a path of participation, knowledge growth and co-design of products and activities also using typical strategies of educational psychology (such as zone of proximal development and socio-cognitive conflict); and Game Thinking to solve specific challenges related to the territory (e.g., Emilia-Romagna region). The planned activities of the project, in addition to data collection for research purposes, were aimed at enhancing and integrating different realities (e.g., schools, university, library, etc.) of the municipality involved. The project started in January 2022 and ends in January 2023. About 300 high school and university students, 50 teachers and municipal employees participated in the project. The study took place in three main phases: 1) from May to June the students attended lessons and workshops on how to use games in order to learn and develop skills such as problem solving, creativity, collaboration and negotiation using educational robots (Ozobot) and technologies (VR); 2) from September to November, students held lessons and workshops on gamification (how to build a video game) and functional use of technologies (e.g. online reputation), while municipal employees attended training courses on how to use gamification in order to develop skills useful for their duties; 3) monitoring and impact assessment phase: two questionnaires were administered to all those who participated in the project, one at the end of the first part of the June activities and one at the end of the November activities in order to verify the acquisition skills and project progress. Finally, a final event was organized at the end of the project with an initial return of the results to all the project participants. Preliminary results showed an acquisition of problem-solving, negotiation and transversal competences in all participants with a high liking of the activities they had carried out during the planning phase. The final report with all results is under development and more details will be discussed after completion.

ABSTRACT. In the last years, the use of mobile applications (apps) represents a revolution in the field of health, and mental health is not an exception. They are fast, versatile, manageable tools that allow the empowerment of patients and professionals in health management and can even reduce the possible stigmatization suffered by some patients. There are more than 325,000 health apps on the market, but most of them do not have a significant number of downloads and, on the other hand, in most of the cases, there is no reliable information about its added value, impact or any scientific evidence that support its use.

There are several initiatives to define how health applications should be assessed. However, all of them address only partial aspects of the evaluation. The theoretical frameworks existing to date highlight the need to develop new tools and methodologies that allow to assess the different aspects of mobile applications whose objective is the management of specific pathologies.

The main objective of EvalDepApps project is to develop and pilot an assessment tool for mobile applications whose main objective is the treatment, monitoring or social support of people suffering from depression. To achieve this aim, the following actions have already been carried out:

a) Identification and characterization of existing apps in the market. Thirty health apps were identified and are available in the marketplaces but only 8 out of them (27%) were supported by scientific evidence. This result uncovers a need for further clinically oriented and systematic validation and testing of such apps. The study has been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

b) Systematic review and Metanalysis to assess effectiveness and safety of mobile health (mHealth) interventions for treating depression, and to identify the criteria and evaluation tools used to assess these mobile health interventions. Twenty-nine RCT have been identified. They show that mHealth interventions are effective in managing depression. This effectiveness is clearly improved when health professionals related to mental health management have an active role in the intervention in a synchronous or asynchronous way. Those mHealth interventions that follow cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) seem to be more effective than other approaches. Several interventions include apps containing several elements (gamifications, feed-back messages, social networks). None of them seem to be a key element to improving the effectiveness of the intervention.

Currently, we are working on the identification of the domains and items that should be included when assessing mental health apps whose main aim is to manage depression according to the results of the stages a) and b). A Delphi process is being performed to reach consensus about which are the most important domains and items. A group of 20 healthcare professionals related to mental health management and 20 potential end-users are participating in this process. The results of the Delphi process will be a starting point for the co-design of the EvalDepApps tool through co-creation methodology.

ABSTRACT. TBI is a major public heath issue. Each year, at least 50,000 Canadians, including 12,000 Quebecers, are hospitalized with a TBI. Of these, 15% are moderate to severe. Many of them will develop post-traumatic cognitive sequelaes such as memory and executive functions disorders. More specifically, attention dysfonctions are an important consequence after TBI. Approximately 60 to 70% of patients with TBI experience various degrees of these problems even several years after their injury. Attention is usually described as a wide assortment of skills, process and cognitive states. It can influence reaction time, information processing, and vigilance. Problems reported by people who receive a TBI concern concentration, distractibility, forgetfulness, multitasking. Attention as a cognitive function is very important to complete instrumental activities of daily living (iADL) as well as to insure security (for self and others). To help people after a TBI to manage attentional problems, neuropsychologists recommend cognitive rehabilitation to stimulate or to compensate attention deficit. However, despite the many attempts to design attention process specific interventions, generalisation or transfer of learning in the iADL remains to be empirically supported. Recently, several researchers have coined the idea that a better approach could stem from adopting an ecological perspective. In addition, it was proposed that if cognitive training is inserted within everyday life, generalisation and transfer should be better. In order to test these hypotheses, we have developed a mobile application to train attentional process for patients with moderate to severe TBI. This conference paper will describe the application’s development based on ORBIT procedure (Model for behavioral treatment development). ORBIT propose that need four step to develop a new intervention (i.e., phase I: design (1a -define and 1b-refine), phase II: preliminary testing (2a-proof of concept and 2-b pilots), phase III: efficacy, phase IV: effectiveness). In the phase 1a : define, we consulted the scientific litterature to create the attention exercices. Our intention was to develop an attention focus training inspired by different exercises recommended in mindfulness interventions, which is defined as the capacity to pay attention in the present moment without judgement. We looked at two types of litterature: traditional attentional rehabilitation interventions for TBI and the attentional processes involved by mindfulness interventions. This litterature review allows us to create four sessions of attention exercises and implement these exercices in our mobile app that we designed with Unity-3D and that runs under Android exploitation system. In the phase 1b : refine, we are doing the logical content validation of the intervention with the Dephi method. For this purpose, we consulted experts in cognition and mindfulness on two occasions . Next, we will do ecological content validation with healthy participants and participants with a TBI to see the user experience, usability and heuristic of the mobile app. During these development phase, we faced two main problems: a) creating credible, ecological and significant attention exercises (content) and b) optimizing the mobile app by reducing polygons to reduce the weight of our environment. For the first problem, we developed attentional exercises using strategy implemented into a environment that resembled everyday life. For the second problem, we work in collaboration with an engineer in science computing. To conclude, in the next month, we plan to begin phase 2a : proof of concept and look for the feasibility to implement this intervention for patients with moderate to severe TBI. This study will also allow us to understand howhuman machine interaction could be a mediator of attention processing. The conceptualization and validation of this attention training program inspired by mindfulness is the first step in the development of a mobile application for the rehabilitation of attentional functions.

ABSTRACT. Introduction It is estimated that 40-45% of adults worldwide have had or will have a sexual problem. Psychosexual treatments are considered effective and yet female untreated rates are high. E-mental health might be a solution. Objective To design and test the efficacy of an app-based intervention for female orgasm disorder (FOD) adapted to be administered in Emjoy. Method After the sample recruitment process, a total of 797 women showed interest in the study; 57 of them participated in an initial evaluation to check if they matched the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for FOD. Among them, 36 met the criteria and enrolled in the study. A total of 21 participants finished the sessions: 11 women took part in an intervention group using the app Emjoy, and 10 were part of a control group based on minimum therapeutic contact. The intervention lasted eight weeks, during which participants practiced every day, and included different techniques, such as psychosexual education, cognitive restructuring through audios, guided practices, and sexual stimulation. A specific journey was created ad hoc inside the app for the FOD, which included a total of 275 minutes of audio-guided exercises planned to treat every item relevant to their disorder. Control group sessions consisted of individual informative talks. After the intervention, 19 participants attended the final evaluation to check the progress. 2 participants had to be removed from the treatment group sample because the app data showed that they had not been following the treatment journey. To keep the samples balanced, 3 participants were aleatorily removed from the control group sample. Thus, the total number of participants was 16: 8 women (age range 26-49; mean= 37) were part of the app intervention group (IG), and other 8 (age range 20-56; mean= 44) were part of the control group (CG). Analysis was by intention-to-treat and the means between groups were compared with an ANCOVA. Results Significant between-group differences were found in Sexual Satisfaction, Function, and Anxiety, favoring intervention. For sexual satisfaction, assessed with the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction, the results showed a score of IG=51.45 and CG=56.02 before intervention and a score of IG=34.57 and GC=54.43 after (change 16.88 versus 1.59; p<0.01). For sexual function, assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index, the results showed a score of IG=54.09 and CG=49.28 pre-treatment, and a score of IG=69.14 and GC=47.80 post-treatment (change 15.05 versus 1.48; p<0.01). Finally, for Sexual Anxiety, assessed with the Sexual Anxiety scale of the Expanded Sexual Arousability Inventory, the results showed a score of IG= 55 and CG= 53.4 before intervention and a score of IG=27.43 and GC=54.1 after (change 27.57 versus -0.7; p<0.01). There were also no significant between-group differences in Sex-Guilt, and Initiative and Sexual Communication. Participants reported some benefits; first of all, the modality of treatment was rated as very convenient and flexible: they only needed their smartphone plus an internet connection to take part in the sessions, and they could access the app at any time that fitted their timetables. Second, participants felt comfortable as they avoided the embarrassment of going to a clinic. In summary, they declared to be very satisfied with both the results and the treatment itself. Conclusions This app-based intervention using Emjoy seems to be effective in improving some of the variables which may be related to the maintenance of FOD. To our knowledge, this is the first app-based intervention that focus solely on female sexual health, and that aims at treating those maintenance variables. Even though it cannot replace therapy, it appears as an interesting way to help women in reaching for help that, otherwise, they would not seek.

ABSTRACT. Background: The addiction to video games of young people aged 15 to 25 is often associated with and disorders of the Asperger's autistic sphere, social phobia disorders, school phobias. These young people have the distinction of also presenting a High Intellectual Potential. Most of these young people are at odds with the traditional education system (high school, higher education) and the solution for some diagnosed addicted to video games is hospitalization with or without medication (psychotropic). Objective: This action research project aims to explore the possibilities of an alternative care proposal, The School of Heroes aims to use the digital lever, through the design of a video game, as a factor of social inclusion but also by promoting a positive investment in the psychological care offered in parallel (groups psychotherapeutic speech, individual monitoring). Methods: The general hypothesis is as follows: young people suffering from addiction to video games can transform, with appropriate help, this predilection harmful for digital technology into a beneficial investment, both in terms of their personal development and in terms of social inclusion. We thus wish to fight against the exclusion of these young people by helping them to avoid the trap of confinement in the virtual worlds to arrive at a use of digital technology as an opening to the world. Research protocol - This socio-therapeutic support has a total duration of 6 months and we would like to offer it to a maximum of 5 patients. Patients are selected according to the age criterion (16-25 years) and the diagnosis of video game disorder (ICD criteria of the WHO). Before starting the experiment, an evaluation protocol is set up in order to be able to have data on their psychological functioning before and after. Results: Patients will become “students” and will be supervised by a Game Designer, coder and artistic director, professor at the École des Gobelins, who himself experienced these difficulties: who will receive them daily in order to train them in digital creation. In addition, twice a week, a psychologist, will lead discussion groups and provide individual follow-up for patients. English lessons will be offered online in connection with the "Reddit" forum which brings together most of the English-speaking communities on video game culture. Finally, one conference per month will be offered by personalities from the digital worlds. The School of Heroes is therefore aimed at a weakened population and at the same time possessing digital skills to whom it is necessary to restore confidence through a group dynamic carrying a meaningful project, motivating and inscribed in reality, in order to help them reintegrate socially and revalue themselves narcissistically. Conclusions: The final evaluation will make it possible to adjust this exploratory device in order to improve it and to propose its dissemination so that other initiatives can emerge across France and even internationally if the results are conclusive.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. Assessments of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) usually follow semi-structured procedures limited in their objectivity. First, they are administered in settings with reduced ecological validity; second, they measure child’s behaviors qualitatively, rather than using objective and implicit measurements that tap into the biological basis of the disorder. Novel technology-based procedures are being developed and tested to fulfill these needs. Specifically, virtual reality (VR) is a promising technology for ASD assessment, enabling the simulation of everyday situations wherein authentic psychophysiological reactions can be measured in controlled settings. Moreover, the recent inclusion of sensory dysfunction into ASD diagnostic criteria has fostered research on this objective biomarker. In ASD, electrodermal activity (EDA) represents a reliable marker of the psychophysiological reactions to sensory stimulations In particular, children with ASD present atypical EDA during baseline recording and in response to sensory stimulations. There is also a relationship between EDA in ASD and the diagnostic score indexes. The present study tested the feasibility of a VR interactive procedure for detecting different patterns in the EDA between children with ASD and typical development (TD). The relationship between EDA in children with ASD and their diagnostic score indexes was also tested. Method. Twenty children with ASD and twenty with TD between 3 and 6 yo participated in the study. The ASD diagnosis was made previously by expert clinicians by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2 (ADOS-2). Participants performed three interactive tasks in the VR system Cave Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE) while the Empatica E4 wristband measured their EDA. The virtual interaction was ensured by using the Azure Kinect DK. Firstly, participants recorded an EDA baseline for 60 seconds, with no virtual stimulation involved. Then, three virtual tasks were presented in a randomized order. These tasks asked users to perform game-based and non-game-based goal-directed actions with different limbs. Participants had to kick five virtual balls in the kick task (KT), while in the bubble task (BT), they had to explode thirty falling bubbles. These tasks required game-based actions. Finally, in the flower task (FT), which asked for non-game-based goal-directed actions, participants had to pick up a flower and leave it on a bench five times. Care was taken to ensure the same conditions across participants (e.g., room temperature and brightness). The recorded EDA signal was decomposed in the skin conductance level (SCL) and skin conductance response (SCR). Results. EDA recorded at baseline in the ASD group was positively related to their diagnostic score indexes, while there was no correlation with the EDA across tasks. In addition, the computed EDA metrics at baseline differed between groups. In particular, children with ASD presented more significant variability in the SCL and superior SCR than their peers with TD. Regarding tasks, in the KT and BT, there was no difference between groups in their EDA, while in the FT, more variability in the SCL of the autistic children was found. Conclusion. This study reinforced previous evidence of differences in the EDA at the autonomic level in individuals with ASD, as well as on the relationship between EDA in ASD and diagnostic score indexes. In addition, it suggested the presence of different arousal responses in children with ASD when they are asked to perform certain non-game-based virtual activities, likely perceived as more challenging than game-based tasks. This evidence might be relevant for implementing VR systems involving multimodal measurements to assess early and objectively ASD.

ABSTRACT. Management of dental anxiety is a major challenge for a significant portion of the population, resulting in decreased adherence to routine check-ups and necessary treatments, leading to reduced quality of life. Conventional treatments, such as hypnosis and exposure therapy, necessitate operator training and multiple, extended patient exposures. Virtual reality (VR) has been demonstrated to be an effective tool for distraction, albeit primarily through passive and non-interactive stimuli. The present study aimed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a VR distraction technique, consisting of a single exposure, in reducing anxiety levels and physiological factors of dental patients in a public hospital setting. Both subjective and objective measures were employed to evaluate the impact of the VR system. A total of 37 patients were enrolled in a clinical trial and assigned to either the experimental group (n=26) or the control group (n=11). The experimental group received a single session of VR distraction during a dental procedure, using a custom-designed virtual environment to induce relaxation and promote deep breathing. The control group received routine dental care without VR distraction. Before treatment, all patients completed a questionnaire we developed in order to provide sociodemographic information and assess their dental history. Since trait anxiety and severe depressive symptoms can impact significantly on perceived distress, baseline levels were assessed through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI form Y1 and Y2) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). To investigate dental anxiety, the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was administered. Subjective anxiety levels were measured using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) during the procedure, and heart rate was recorded at the same intervals using a fingertip pulse monitor. After the procedure, patients completed the STAI-Y1 to assess changes in anxiety levels. The results of the tests pre-treatment showed that the sample did not have excessive trait-anxiety (STAI Y2<40) or depressive state (BDI-II<16), but did show physiological anxiety for the dental setting and related procedures. The Wilcoxon non-parametric test was used to compare pre- and post-treatment values, due to the small sample size and heterogeneity of subjects in both groups. The experimental group showed a significant reduction in levels of state anxiety, subjective anxiety, and heart rate. The control group did not show a meaningful reduction in scores, although an improvement was recorded in the anxiety level. Our questionnaire was able to capture some nuances of the patients' relationship with dental procedures, correlating with the already validated DAS. Spearman’s rank test showed a correlation between high levels of dental anxiety and trait anxiety, state anxiety, and depression. Additionally, low level of instruction, previous dental care, and frequency of dental treatments correlated with a higher level of state anxiety and stress related to dental procedures. Our study provides evidence supporting the usefulness of Virtual Reality Environments as a tool to reduce anxiety and stress related to dental care. By using this method, patients were able to cope better with dental procedures and the figure of the dentist, which result in better dental health and reduced pathologic conditions associated with poor dental care. The non-invasive nature of this technique makes it highly suitable for patients with dental anxiety. However, our study had some limitations, such as the relatively small sample size and the lack of long-term follow-up. Further research is needed to examine the efficacy of Virtual Reality Environments in more diverse populations and to evaluate the long-term effects of this treatment on patients' dental health. Overall, our study contributes to the growing body of literature on the use of Virtual Reality Environments as a promising and innovative approach for the management of anxiety and stress related to dental care.

ABSTRACT. Background and Objectives: PTSD and mTBI are persistent and frequently comorbid in the military community, yet current therapies often achieve only modest impact. Motion-assisted, Multi-modular Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation (3MDR) is a novel treatment for PTSD featuring participant-selected music and pictures and an eye movement (EM) task in an immersive virtual environment utilizing the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN). The EM task is adapted from eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, but dismantling studies of EMDR have questioned EM benefit. The purpose of this pilot study is: 1) obtain an initial estimate of the efficacy of 3MDR in service members with comorbid PTSD and mTBI, and 2) determine the impact of the EM component of EMDR on treatment response. We hypothesize that 3MDR will significantly improve symptom severity, both with (EM+) and without EM (EM-).

Methods: Participants with probable PTSD (PCL-5 ≥ 34) and mTBI were randomized to EM+ or EM- across 10 sessions. Participants selected music and pictures representative of their trauma(s) and rated them on their level of emotional intensity. The images were used as the participant walked on the CAREN’s treadmill through the 3MDR virtual environment. While walking in the 3MDR virtual environment, participants started with a song to bring them back to the time of their trauma, and then traversed two hallways, actively walking toward emotionally evocative pictures that they then discussed with their therapist. The therapist queries about associated memories and emotions, while keywords are superimposed over the picture. EM+ participants see a ball with numbers cross the screen and recite the numbers. EM- participants continue walking toward the picture. This is repeated for up to seven pictures each session. Change in PCL-5 score from pre- to post-intervention was the primary outcome, with additional measures at 3 and 6 months.

Results: 20 enrolled participants (50% female; mean age 45) of whom 16 completed the intervention (8 EM+, 8 EM-); 9 (6 EM+, 3 EM-). 9 had resolution of their PTSD diagnosis, 2 had significant improvement in symptom severity without resolution, and 5 did not achieve significantly reduced symptom severity. The average PCL-5 score of those who completed the intervention, declined from 52.0 at baseline to 33.6 post-intervention (p< 0.01), which is a highly clinically significant improvement. Those in the EM+ achieved statistically significant improvement (p=0.01) while those in the EM- group did not (p=0.10), but the numbers are small in each group. The improvements observed in completers at the end of the intervention were largely sustained at the 3- and 6-month follow-up assessments, with average PCL-5 scores of 37.0 and 36.0 respectively. All 4 who withdrew from the study did so prior to starting in the CAREN, 3 of them because of COVID-related interruption of the study.

Conclusions: For veterans with PTSD and comorbid mTBI, 3MDR is effective and the EM component may add value. Participants were thoroughly engaged and invested throughout the intervention; allowing them to choose pictures and music to incorporate into the virtual environment represents personal investment, making withdrawal far less common than for other PTSD interventions. Further study is warranted to confirm these results. This pilot study is thus a catalyst for our currently approved follow up study, CARE4PTSD. This follow up study will further examine the impact of 3MDR on a larger scale to corroborate the reported results and include a CAPS-5 diagnostic assessment for PTSD. Most significantly, CARE4PTSD will evaluate the efficacy of the Microsoft Hololens head-mounted display and a conventional treadmill as a more cost-effective method of delivery for 3MDR, compared to the million-dollar CAREN.

ABSTRACT. The use of VR for the study and treatment of social anxiety is a popular, and continually expanding field of research. One of the primary criticisms of the area as stands is the lack of understanding of what features of the virtual experience lead to participants feeling greater or reduced levels of anxiety, with one potentially important feature being the environmental context. Environmental context refers to the multi-layered concept of a location, including its visual features (lighting, colour, architecture, layout), and auditory features, along with its associations (e.g., stressful, relaxing, boring), and expectations of how you should act (e.g., place of work/leisure, formal/informal). For social anxiety, environmental context appears to play an important role as those feelings of anxiety can be manifested or amplified by the social circumstances a person finds themselves in. Despite the relevance of this feature, it has been largely unexplored in social anxiety VR research. This pilot study provides an initial exploration of the relationship between environmental context and social anxiety by using images of virtual environments. The locations are all 3D modelled environments, with no humans or animals visible in the images, depicting every day, realistic settings (bar, beach resort, café, classroom, factory, gym, library, night club, office, park, supermarket) apart from a control condition that depicts a neutral grey landscape with 4 pillars and a wall. The study is conducted using an online questionnaire. Participants are shown 15 images of the locations and asked to imagine themselves in a group conversation there, with other people present around the area. They are then asked to rank the locations either in terms of how socially uncomfortable, or how socially comfortable they would feel there. Following this, for each location image participants are asked to rate the locations on a 5-point Likert scale in terms of self-threat, efficacy, perseveration, negative valence, and arousal. Lastly, participants are asked to explain why they rated the locations as they did in an open question box. Data collection is still currently ongoing, with collection and analysis aimed to be completed by February. Based on preliminary findings, participants on average reported lowest expected anxiety in nature settings including beaches and parks, with the classroom, nightclub, and gym settings having the highest average anxiety ratings. This study is the first in a larger PhD project titled “An Investigation of the Key Features of VR Social Anxiety Experiences”. The findings of this study will inform the locations used in a future VR study on the influence of environmental context on social anxiety.

ABSTRACT. Introduction VR allows users to interact in real time with computer-generated environments and is increasingly being used by mental healthcare professionals for psychotherapy in the context of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET). This type of treatment enables patients to be exposed to anxiogenic situation for obtaining fear extinction in the framework of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (Rothbaum et al. 2001). During the CBT exposure component, reality is replaced by artificially created stimuli inside a computerized world [1]. Past clinical studies demonstrated the effectiveness of VRET in treating participants suffering from many common anxiety disorders (phobias etc.) or obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) (Meyerbröker et al., 2021). However, in practice, therapists or researchers may face rare demands such as patients exhibiting unusual phobias or OCD that required specific therapeutic VEs. Indeed, while various anxiety disorders and phobias (aviophobia, agoraphobia, etc.) have been treated successfully with VRET, other rarer ones have yet to be tested with this method. Another aspect of this problem is that the virtual environments required are usually not available on the market or not build by private companies as the inherent rarity is not of financial or commercial interest. It is in this context that empowering therapists with the tools of a “maker” able to create themselves therapeutic VEs for rare cases may be a potential solution. Consequently and for facilitating VE creation, Riva et al. proposed NeuroVR, a virtual reality platform that provides clinical professionals with a cost-free VE editor in 2007. Nowadays, therapists with minimal training can utilize powerful and free 3D game engines with user-friendly editors, making Riva et al.'s first initiative a possible response for treating rare cases in VR. To assess these hypotheses, a trial involving 8 rare single cases was designed with three objectives. Firstly, to demonstrate that a therapist with no coding skills can construct multiple specific therapeutic VEs. Secondly, to measure the potential therapeutic efficacy of VRET and the VEs for rare cases of phobias and OCD. Lastly, this trial aims to ensure these VEs yielded presence with limited cybersickness. Methodology All virtual environments were constructed by the first author, a psychiatrist with no skills in programming and self-educated in the use of free 3D game engines specifically to address these disorders. 8 Participants were single cases suffering respectively from brontophobia (fear of thunder), asbestophobia (fear of asbestos), coulrophobia (fear of clowns), frigophobia (fear of cold), globophobia (fear of balloons), submechanophobia (fear of submerged human-made objects), harm OCD (fear of harming others), and OCD related to error responsibility. Each participant underwent a VRET standard protocol of 11 weekly sessions comprising psychoeducation, anxiety management, cognitive restructuring, positive self-statements, mental imagery, and exposure to specific VEs as recommended for VRET (Vincelli, 2001). Pre- and post-treatment measures comprised self-rated fear, anxiety, mood and quality of life questionnaires. After each VR exposure session, participants reported presence level and cybersickness. Results With the exception of frigophobia, pre-post scores of the psychometric instruments showed discernible reduction of all the distinct phobias and obsessions/compulsions. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test indicated a significant improvement in anxiety, mood, and the mental factor of quality of life. Regarding immersion, presence rates were satisfactory and cybersickness was low. Conclusion This research provides some evidence of the potential therapeutic effect of VRET for rare cases of phobias and OCD, as well as a presence eliciting effect of therapist-constructed VEs with free 3D game engines. Future research should explore the use of VR for other rare disorders, as well as the motivation and minimum training required by a therapist to be able create VEs for addressing them and thus becoming a maker in this creative century.

ABSTRACT. Background: Recent longitudinal studies in youth have reported identified brain regions involved in prospective anxiety symptoms during adolescence, a vulnerable period for the onset of anxiety disorders. However, their predictive value has not yet been established. Individual prediction through machine-learning algorithms might help bridge the gap to clinical relevance through online self-questionnaires. Methods: All participant data originated from the IMAGEN database, an international consortium that includes neuroimaging data collected in community adolescents at age 14, as well as several online self-questionnaires evaluating mental disorders, emotional functioning and alcohol and substance consumption collected at ages 14, 18 and 23. Local ethics research committees approved the acquisition at each site. Participants with clinical anxiety at age 18–23 (N = 156) were investigated at age 14 along with healthy controls (N = 424). Self-questionnaire subscales relevant to anxiety phenomenology (including novelty-seeking, emotional symptoms, autonomy, accidents, distress, family, relocation, hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity, alcohol consumption, neuroticism, and extraversion) were selected a priori as features. Gray matter volumes were extracted from anatomical MRI images for a-priori selected frontomedial and subcortical regions of interest involved in anxiety. Age at baseline (in days) was also included to account for its potential interactions with other features, resulting in a total of 13 psychometric and 14 regional gray matter features at age 14. Three separate binary class prediction analyses were conducted. The first analysis was the prediction of any future anxiety (N = 156) vs. healthy controls (N = 424). The second analysis was the prediction of future generalized anxiety [GAD, a specific diagnosis] (N = 42) vs. healthy controls, and the third was the prediction of future multiple anxiety [≥ 2 future anxiety disorder diagnoses] (N = 42) vs. healthy controls. The three above-mentioned predictions were first conducted with the 27 features together, then only with the 13 psychometric features, and only with the 14 regional gray matter volume features, to evaluate their respective contributions. A voting classifier with Random Forest, Support Vector Machine and Logistic Regression algorithms was used to evaluate the predictive pertinence of gray matter volumes of interest and psychometric scores in the detection of prospective clinical anxiety. Shapley values were extracted for in-depth interpretation of feature importance. Results from this study were recently published in Molecular Psychiatry (Chavanne AV et al. (2023), https://doi-org.proxy.insermbiblio.inist.fr/10.1038/s41380-022-01840-z) but never presented in a conference. A supplementary prediction study was also conducted to explore the incremental predictive contribution of neurofunctional features extracted from an emotional face task with a Random Forest ensemble classification strategy, in N = 159 non-anxious participants later developing clinical anxiety at age 18-23 and N = 428 healthy controls at age 14. Results: Prospective prediction of pooled anxiety disorders and of multiple anxiety disorders relied mostly on psychometric features such as neuroticism, hopelessness and emotional symptoms, and achieved moderate performance. GAD prediction achieved similar overall performance. MRI regional volumes and fMRI features did not improve the prediction performance of prospective pooled anxiety disorders with respect to psychometric features alone, but the former improved the prediction performance of GAD, with the caudate and pallidum volumes being among the most contributing features. Conclusion: In non-anxious 14-year-old adolescents, future clinical anxiety onset 4–8 years later could be individually predicted. Psychometric features assessed online such as neuroticism, hopelessness and emotional symptoms were the main contributors to pooled anxiety disorders prediction. Neuroanatomical data, such as caudate and pallidum volume, proved valuable for the prediction of a specific anxiety diagnosis (GAD). The individual-level predictive value of neuroimaging features, particularly neurostructural data, still invites further investigation.

ABSTRACT. The present study aimed to validate the touchscreen-based technology of the Social Stress Trier Test (digital TSST) as a suitable method for inducing experimental stress in adolescents. By using digital TSST we induced effects on different physiological and psychological markers such as salivary cortisol, anxiety, and emotional states. Effects were evaluated with quantitative and qualitative methods. 35 adolescents voluntarily participated in the study (15.6 ± 0.73 years, aged between 14 and 17; 45.7% of participants were male and 54.3% were female; Body Mass Index BMI=21.6 ± 3.13 kg/m2). Exclusion criteria were an acute or chronic somatic or psychiatric disease, medication intake, and drug abuse. Experimental digital TSST was conducted between 09:00 and 13:00 a.m. and lasted between 45–50 minutes (5 min for each of the three digital tasks, 25 minutes for stress recovery, and the time of preparation and the collection of saliva samples). A touchscreen tablet was used to administer digital tasks. All the tests are performed in front of a commission made up of two unknown persons dressed in white lab coats. The first digital test (5 min) involves following the line marked on the touchscreen of the tablet without deviating from the set path. If there is a small deviation, an unpleasant sound is produced, and the participant is obliged to start the test from the beginning. The second digital test (5 min) induces stress by asking the participants to make arithmetic subtraction calculations in front of the commission and to communicate the result aloud. If the result of the calculation is incorrect, the electronic device shall verbally inform the participants that they are wrong and that they must resume the arithmetic subtraction calculations from the standard number. The third digital test (5 min) induces stress by solving an exercise using a room puzzle. Saliva samples were obtained 2 min before the experiment as well as 2 min after each digital test and also at the end of the test (T0, T5, T10, T15, and T40). The perceived stress scale (PSS) and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) used for measuring levels of anxiety were applied pre-test and post-test. The difficulties in performing the digital TSST were also assessed. The semi-structured interview-based qualitative analysis was conducted to clarify the importance of the stressful experience of the participants exposed to digital TSST. Our results showed that digital TSST effectively induces psychosocial stress, with altered levels of cortisol, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and arousal, but also decreased satisfaction and control reactions. The cortisol response was similar in both sexes, with a significant difference at T40 (p <0.025). The typical experiences common to all participants according to each stress trial were analyzed. At a qualitative level, the two essential theoretically stressful components used by the digital TSST, namely evaluative social threat, and uncontrollability, were experienced by the participants. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between mean values of baseline salivary cortisol and mean salivary cortisol at each point during the stress test. The results suggest that physiological and psychological responses to digital TSST are specific for each of the participants. The use of a qualitative evaluation method allowed us to provide a valid point of view on understanding the significant experience of the participants during this specific stressful procedure. The digital version of TSST proposed in this study is a reliable, portable, easy-to-use, and suitable method for assessing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) dysfunctionalities.

Funding: Research relating to this abstract was funded by the RO-MD Cross-Border Program, Priority 4.1 - "Support to the development of health services and access to health", project code: 1HARD/4.1/93.

ABSTRACT. The design of cybertherapy systems using virtual environments poses several methodological questions. In this paper, we focus on the design of avatars, i.e., digital self representations, which can be used by both patients and psychotherapists alike, as well as the design of the contents of the virtual scene. Three design philosophies are discussed and compared: (a) verisimilitude, in which every effort is made for the virtual environment to match the patient’s representations of a traditional therapy session ; (b) personalized, in which the technology is leveraged to provide the patient with an environment that is suited to their own personal preferences; and (c) everyday world, in which the session takes place in virtual environments made to look like the everyday situations which the psychotherapy aims to help the patient cope with, e.g., social interactions in the treatment of social anxiety disorders, exposure to the object of a phobia, etc. Based on the results of a rudimentary case study, a methodology is discussed for the design and evaluation of user avatars and scenery for cybertherapy environments based on each of these philosophies.

ABSTRACT. Background: Globally, around 280 million people are affected by depression, and it will become the leading cause of disease burden by 2030. Hence, to answer this increasing demand, psychologists may face work overload in a working day and have reduced work efficiency. On the other hand, artificial intelligence has shown promising performance in various domains such as facial expression recognition (FER), human pose estimation, and speech and text analysis which has encouraged many computer scientists to investigate Automatic Depression Estimation (ADE) systems. Such systems can be employed as a modern routine outcome measurement for psychologists and aid them as diagnostic tools. Current ADE methods primarily leverage Deep Neural Networks (DNN) to map the input data (video, image, audio, text, …) to depression severity scores such as Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), etc. While improvements have been made in this area, there are still some weaknesses in current methods: the lack of interdisciplinary collaborations with related fields for the task of depression detection, and the black-box nature of DNNs which hinder the reasons behind their predictions. Therefore, we take steps to address these deficiencies in our work.

Objective: This work aims to involve psychologists as domain experts in the development of an ADE system from an early stage so that their insights and expectations could be incorporated into the system’s design. As a result, we will be able to develop a transparent deep-learning-based ADE system that focuses on clinically-significant cues for depression severity level estimation and provide a clear explanation for its decisions. Such a system can assist psychologists in their diagnostic steps of treatment.

Methods: In order to understand how psychologists recognize depression severity levels in their daily practice, and what are their expectations as the end users of the system, we propose a two-stage approach. In the first step, we will send a questionnaire to around 20 psychologists covering the following topics: 1. The importance of different verbal and non-verbal cues for depression estimation. 2. Their evaluation of the existing questionnaires for depression severity level estimation in comparison to clinical judgment. 3. Expected explanation feedback for the output of the ADE system. In the second phase, after the collection and careful analysis of responses, we will conduct two focus groups, with around 10 psychologists in each session. In the first session, based on the responses received from the questionnaire, more fine-grained questions will be posed to achieve a clear research direction for designing an ADE system. After developing a prototype, we carry out a second session to obtain feedback on the system we have created. Therefore, instead of focusing solely on the computer science aspect, the input from psychologists will be crucial in defining the framework of ADE research.

Results: The gathered and analyzed information from the questionnaires will be published, which will provide an essential cornerstone for researchers in the field of depression estimation.

Conclusions: This work is an answer to the much-needed interdisciplinary collaboration and brings computer scientists and psychological clinicians together for the task of depression estimation. Our results will pave the way for other researchers in the field of ADE to integrate domain knowledge from psychologists into their framework. Consequently, this work can improve the future works of ADE and get closer to industrial use cases. Moreover, in our future study, we will exploit the obtained knowledge to develop explainable DNNs to estimate depression severity levels.

Acknowledgments: We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the psychologists that will participate in the questionnaire and our co-creation sessions.

ABSTRACT. Background: According to the World Health Organization, in 2015, 3.6% of the world's population suffered from anxiety disorders (World Health Organization, 2017). Research has shown that mindfulness meditation may be considered a viable mechanism to mitigate this growing trend (Abott et al., 2014). Despite the well-recognized benefits of mindfulness practice, its traditional format has been associated with two main challenges. The first is that meditators generally report having difficulty staying still, being fully present, and focusing attention on their breathing or other exercises (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017). The second is that they often question themselves if they are "doing it right," since they have nothing compared to their actual internal experience other than the serenity they expect from the practice. Therefore, no objective feedback to evaluate these experiences are provided (Morris, 2019). Thus, a great number of individuals who could benefit from mindfulness practice either fail or drop out prematurely. Studies have attempted to address both issues by including virtual reality (VR) and biofeedback in mindfulness practice. Although VR has already been introduced in mindfulness exercises, there is a lack of studies focused on its effectiveness compared to traditional mindfulness techniques. Additionally, although the inclusion of biofeedback appears to facilitate mindfulness practice, in many cases biofeedback has been shown to have a detrimental effect (Morris, 2019; Tinga et al., 2019). As such, scholars recognized the need for future research exploring the effects of combining these technologies in mindfulness practice (Sliwnski et al., 2017).

Method: Participants were 72 individuals, aged between 18-57 years old, and most of them were women (n = 44, 60.3%). Participants were randomly allocated to one of the following groups: Condition A - Mindfulness, Biofeeback and Virtual Reality (audio instructions in a VR scenario and biofeedback); Condition B - Minsfulness and Virtual Reality (audio instructions in a VR scenario with biofeedback); Condition C - Traditional Mindfulness (audio instructions only). Pre and post assessment were conducted. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, stress, positive affect, negative affect, mindful attention awareness and mindfulness facets. A heart rate recording was also performed throughout the exercises for a comparison of any differences between the three conditions.

Results: All three conditions showed significant results in reducing stress, positive affect, anxiety, and heart rate from pre to post-test. In what concerns mindful attention awareness, a significant increase was reported in the Condition A (Mindfulness, Biofeeback and Virtual Reality) compared to the other conditions.

Conclusions: This study’s findings showed that mindfulness practice seems to be an effective strategy in promoting psychological adjustment (i.e., reducing distress) and reducing physiological activity, independently of the format of the exercise performed by the individuals (traditional vs. VR-based exercises). However, our results suggested that allying biofeedback with a VR-based mindfulness exercise may facilitate mindfulness practice, especially in what concerns to the promotion of receptive awareness and attention to the present moment. As such, the use of VR and biofeedback may be an effective way to overcome the main problems associated with mindfulness practice.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. In recent years, scholar research has increasingly focused on social media (mis)use and adolescents’ experiences in online environments, providing evidence concerning the increasing centrality of appearance-related activities (i.e., selfie-sharing, viewing, commenting, and “liking”) on social media. The increasing attention toward body appearance and online photographic self-presentation allows adolescents to satisfy their need for self-presentation and belonging but, simultaneously, it promotes body image-related concerns and potentially problematic monitoring of their own appearance in photos, allowing adolescents to strategically manage their self-presentation, increasingly through visual content. Furthermore, greater engagement in body image control might trigger greater problematic social media use, especially among adolescents, confirming a possible bidirectional nature of (problematic) social media use-body image issues relation. Similarly, social media have been considered and investigated as a pivotal predictor of self-objectification experiences, however, considering a possible bidirectional nature of social networking-self-objectification relation, individuals who already self-objectify their bodies to present, manage, and enhance their online appearance, supporting self-objectification processes, might be potentially engaged in problematic social media use. Therefore, in light of the popularity of online body image-related issues and the potentially problematic use of social media in adolescence, the present contribution comprises three related studies. Methods. Study 1. Using the revised and validated Photo Manipulation scale, this study was conducted to explore the understudied possible predictive factors in adolescents’ control over body image in pictures and photo manipulation. The study aimed at evaluating the direct and indirect effect of teens’ selfie-expectancies on photo manipulation, via body image control in photos, and evaluating the moderating role of gender on this mediation model. A total of 453 adolescents (47% males; mean age=16.1 years, SD=1.46), participated in the online survey. Study 2. This study evaluated the predictive role of body shame on problematic social media use, testing the mediating effect of body image control in photos on social media. A total of 693 Italian adolescents (45% male; mean age=16; SD=1.58) participated in the study. Study 3. This study evaluated the predictive role of appearance control beliefs on problematic social media use, testing the mediating effect of body image control in photos. 383 female adolescents (mean age=16 years; SD=1.58) participated in the online survey. Results. Study 1. The tested mediation model demonstrated that selfie-expectancies were both directly and indirectly positively associated with photo manipulation via body image control in photos. Being male had a significant and positive direct effect on selfie-expectancies and photo manipulation pathway while being female did not influence the association between them. Study 2. The results suggested that body shame was both directly and indirectly positively associated with adolescents’ problematic social media use through the mediating effect of body image control in photos. Study 3. Among girls, believing in control over their own appearance directly and indirectly (via body image control in photos) negatively predicted problematic social media use, likely assuming a protective function. Discussion. The growth of social media platforms and the sharing of personal visual content make teenagers’ body image an extremely contemporary issue. Likely, social media and online environments are more easily accessible places where adolescents' bodies could be experienced. In this regard, the present research confirmed the crucial role of (online and offline) body image in teenagers’ experiences, determining their potentially problematic behaviors related to social media use. These three studies, on the one hand, seem to confirm the more complex females’ relationship with their own bodies. On the other hand, males seem to be increasingly concerned and involved in body-related activities, especially on social media.

ABSTRACT. Generative art has nowadays a popular success due to technologies that to generate an image from a text input, like OpenAI's Dall-E[5]. This prompt is intended to be written in a language close to the user's natural language (these systems can thus be considered as declarative modellers according to the definition of Gaildrat[3]).

In a system whose output is a 3D scene, we can summarise the general process as follows : once the text input is analysed semantically to determine important terms (nouns, action or description verbs, adjectives, etc.) and the relationship between them, the constraints to resolve (such as the relative positioning of objects) are sent to the graphics engine, which searches for assets to integrate into the scene. The graphics engine will then make final adjustments, such as the lighting of the scene and the placement of the observer's point of view (camera), before providing a visual rendering of the scene[2].

On this subject, Russo addresses the question of textual creativity to increase output images creativity[6]. She proposes a multidisciplinary benchmark (philosophy, psychology, ...) and raises the lack of evaluation on creativity criteria of text-to-image systems. Oppenlaender also highlighted, based on the conceptual model of Rhodes' four "P"s (Person, Product, Process, Press), that text-to-image systems don't illustrate yet all the human creativity that their use implies[4].

Indeed, this result-centred dispositive includes non-processed elements : neither the user-author style (for example the text layout) nor the creation context (assimilated as what the user lived while typing) are considered. Our proposal provides an illustrative method in an artistic approach, non-exhaustive, for some of these limitations. We integrate data gathered from new elements of the text typing : firstly from typing time (date/hour, typing speed, break duration, number of backspace pushes...) and about the user (heart rate, detection of facial emotions from camera captation...). Secondly, we gather elements from text layout, such as the number of lines, sentences length (like Tardif in Narra[7]), etc. We also apply steganography-type filters (like Equidistant Letter Sequences used by McKay[1]) to reveal "hidden" words.

These data enables to generatively alter the rendered image or scene, slightly enough to maintain the coherence between the explicit textual description and the visual result. Thus, we can insert discrete elements in the background or in filigrams, change the lighting, use glitches...

As the data from the user's experience are unique and non-reproducible, then these image alterations form a kind of signature that makes each generation unique, even if the same text was submitted to the text-to-scene generator. The artistic and technical discussions about the implementation of this device that we call "typing-to-scene" and the feedback from users would lead to interesting discussions, the interconnection of different and complementary fields.

Bibliography : [1] Bar-Natan, D. and McKay, B. 1999. Equidistant Letter Sequences in Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” [2] Coyne, R.E. 2017. Painting Pictures with Words - From Theory to System. [3] Gaildrat, V. 2007. Declarative Modelling of Virtual Environments, Overview of issues and Applications. Proceedings of the International Conference on …. (Jan. 2007). [4] Oppenlaender, J. 2022. The Creativity of Text-to-Image Generation. Proceedings of the 25th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (New York, NY, USA, Nov. 2022), 192–202. [5] Ramesh, A. et al. 2021. Zero-Shot Text-to-Image Generation. arXiv. [6] Russo, I. 2022. Creative Text-to-Image Generation: Suggestions for a Benchmark. Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Natural Language Processing for Digital Humanities (Taipei, Taiwan, Nov. 2022), 145–154. [7] Tardif, P.C. 2020. Narra : un art visuel cognitif, au rythme de la longueur des paragraphes des textes littéraires. Paris 8.

ABSTRACT. Telepresence in psychology is defined as an experience of being somewhere other than one’s physical location, but this phenomenon also refers to the impression of being in the presence of another person, with whom one is in a "natural" relationship, as if they were physically present. This kind of presence is typically induced with the help of technology and more particularly the means of telecommunication (written, verbal or videoconference). Considering these different arguments, we can therefore think that telepresence can be a powerful tool in psychological research and in psychotherapy, allowing participants and researchers to interact in real time in a variety of different settings and situations. Telepresence in telepsychology can provide an alternative to in-person therapy and allow for greater flexibility in modalities (such as scheduling) and convenience. For some people, the ability to access mental health services remotely can eliminate the stigma that is often associated with seeking professional help. Despite these benefits, there are still concerns about the effectiveness of remote therapy compared to traditional in-person treatment. However, results from the scientific literature have shown that there are no major differences between the two modalities in terms of therapeutic effectiveness. This suggests that telepresence in telepsychology may be a viable option for those seeking to access mental health services at a distance. However, the causes and mechanisms of telepresence are still not well known, and it is therefore difficult to evaluate or even predict. In this symposium, some precursory results will be presented concerning the observation of the telepresence phenomenon in telepsychotherapy and its fluctuations during the follow-up. Furthermore, a better knowledge of the mechanisms related to telepresence would benefit mental health professionals and could contribute to their training. Hence, the use of videoconferencing, telehealth and other technologies to conduct therapy sessions in a remote setting have grown increasingly popular as more people are looking for new ways to access mental health services and since the COVID-19 pandemics. At the same time, professionals in Europe are not well trained in these new practices and their motivations for adopting telepsychology methods are still not well known. Initiatives have been taken by European federations of psychologists to propose reflections on the new frameworks and issues related to these new professional practices. Ethical aspects are at the heart of this reflection and will also be presented in the draft European regulations. Increased knowledge of telepresence will lead to greater acceptance of new psychotherapeutic frameworks for both patients and mental health professionals.

ABSTRACT. There has been a substantial and increasing growth in the delivery of psychological services at a distance, particularly via the internet. This has led to the need to review professional practice with respect to ethical principles. The main question is whether these developments introduce fundamentally different ethical issues, or whether the existing ethical principles and standards, as formulated in the ethical codes of member associations, are appropriate in addressing professionals’ behavir. Although videoconferencing has been the main spur to action, it is important to recognize other types of communications as well, including telephone and written communication, for a wide range of practices: counselling and therapy, assessment, guidance and behavioral interventions.

In this talk, we will focus on novel guidelines developed by the Board of Ethics and the Project Group of eHealth of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA), which are to be read in conjunction with their existing Meta-Code of Ethics. This Meta-Code specifies that the ethical dimensions of professional practice as a psychologist are the same whether such practice is in person or at a distance, namely: respect for a person’s rights and dignity, competence, responsibility, and integrity. However, a different medium and communication setting poses its own specific profile of characteristics, and hence of ethical challenges, including the degree of appropriateness of any particular form of psychological practice.

The guidance focuses therefore not only highlights existing challenges, but also proposes a number of general recommendations for (member organizations of) psychologists regarding specific points of attention when offering psychological services at a distance.

Security is for example of high importance, as special attention should be paid to clarifying the identity and competence of psychologist, and in general also the identity of the clients they are treating (although exemptions may occur). Any (financial) transactions should be properly secured as well. Similarly, confidentiality is also key by informing clients of which electronic records would be registered, in what capacity and to what extent these could be accessed, i.e. by law enforcement in the therapist’s location in the context of cross-border care.

Other challenges relate to competence and differences in communication (e.g., assuring psychologists have sufficient training to make optimal use of telepsychology), effectiveness and evidence (e.g., relying not only on telepsychology but exploring blended approaches when the evidence-base is limited or specific conditions warrant caution for a trajectory solely relying on telepsychology).

ABSTRACT. Context. It is often assumed the relationship between telepresence and working alliance is linear (i.e., better telepresence is associated with stronger working alliance). For example, in their fine grain qualitative analysis of telepresence, Norwood et al. (2021) noted that clients were not fully present yet developed a strong working alliance with their psychotherapists. However, telepresence, or the illusion the interpersonal relation between a patient and a psychotherapist is not currently experienced via a telecommunication medium, may not be linear. In other fields of cyberpsychology, it is assumed that: (a) when (tele)presence in low, the virtual experience is not optimal and does not lead to the same emotions and quality of interpersonal relations as in vivo experiences, (b) stronger feelings of presence are associated with stronger emotional reactions and social bonds, and (c) after certain levels, telepresence has played its role and does not contribute to more emotions or social bonds (Bouchard et al., 2012). These impressions have not been empirically tested with data on telepsychotherapy.

Hypotheses. The current study tested whether the relationship between telepresence and working alliance, as experienced by patients, may not be linear.

Methodology. Sixty-five participants with a primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with agoraphobia received cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) delivered via videoconference. Treatments were manualized and delivered by supervised graduate students in psychology. Participants completed measures of working alliance, as defined by Bordin (1979) and measured with the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI, Horvath & Greenberg, 1989), and telepresence (as measured by the TVS, Berthiaume et al., 2018) after the first and the fifth psychotherapy sessions. Scores of social telepresence on the TVS and the total WAI score for working alliance were used for the analyses.

Results. Two sets of analyses were performed. First, the quality of the fit of non-linear relations was tested for telepresence and working alliance when measured: (a) both at the first session, (b) both at the fifth session, and (c) telepresence at the first session and working alliance at the fifth session. All three cases, the non-linear models were statistically significant (F = 18.94, p < .001, R2 = .23; F = 32.92, p < .001, R2 = .34; F = 13.38, p < .001, R2 = .18; respectively) and provided a better fit of the data than the linear models. The second analysis was to probe the linearity of the interaction in a moderation analysis examining how telepresence influences working alliance over time. The overall moderation model was statistically significant [F(3, 61) = 19.25, p < .001, R2 = .486]. When probing the interaction with the Johnson-Neyman technique (Hayes, 2007), the plot of Cohen’s d clearly illustrated the nonlinear relationship between telepresence and working alliance, as the role of telepresence was significant for values below 88.23 and became nonsignificant for higher values.

Conclusion. These results suggest that: (a) a poor telepresence is likely to be associated with a poor working alliance, (b) the strength of the relationship between telepresence and the working alliance increases with higher telepresence, and (c) after a certain level, telepresence does not play a significant role on working alliance. Clinicians should pay attention to develop and sustain telepresence when it is poor to moderate, but being fully present is not necessary to have a good working alliance.

ABSTRACT. Our study focused on telepsychology practices in different European countries during the initial lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, where access to mental healthcare was highly limited. A large international online survey on the use of telepsychology, in this case focused on online psychological consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic was set up. Qualitative analyses of actual needs and concerns relating to the use of online consultations have already been published [1] as well as quantitative exploratory analyses which aimed to gain insights into determinants of telepsychology (non)adoption and experience [2]. The current study builds on this existing work by focusing exclusively on mental healthcare professionals who had adopted the practice of telepsychology, exploring the extent to which differences across countries can be retrieved and investigating social telepresence. Our first goal is to examine determinants of mental healthcare professionals’ perception of telepsychology in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our second goal is to investigate the determinants of social telepresence and the role of telepsychology perception in social telepresence. The analysis includes some personal characteristics such as gender, motivations and the place given to the training and experience of mental healthcare professionals. In our conceptual model, we assume that the personal characteristics and the level of training in telepsychology of mental healthcare professionals are factors that directly influence the perception of telepsychology, invariant for country. Additionally, we assume that the level of social telepresence experienced by the professionals is directly influenced by the motivation for telepsychology, the personal characteristics and the level of training in telepsychology. As a result, we also presume indirect effects of training on mental healthcare professionals’ perception of telepsychology. Dependent variables: (a) Perception of the concept of telepsychology, (b) Social telepresence. Independent variables: -(a) Personal characteristics of mental healthcare professionals: (1) Age, (2) gender, (3) professional status, (4) professional seniority. - (b) Motivations for telepsychology: (1) considering it a public health necessity, (2) meeting clients’ demands, (3) not wanting to lose income, (4) provide access to care, (5) being open-minded concerning digital mental health. - (c) Training : (1) Telepractice before the sanitary crisis, (2) Specific training We analysed the perception of social telepresence for mental healthcare professionals in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We ran econometric models to determine the factors that drove this perception. Results suggest that training – consisting of both telepsychology practices before the sanitary crisis and specific training – is a key factor impacting perception of telepsychology. We observe a correlation between telepsychology training and a good perception of telepsychology. Findings suggest that appropriate telepsychology training should enhance social telepresence directly and through experience of telepsychology in practice. This factor could improve the acceptance of telepsychology among professionals.

[1] De Witte, N.; Carlbring, P.; Etzelmueller, A.; Nordgreen, T.; Karekla, M.; Haddouk, L.; Belmont, A.; Overland, S.; Abi-Habib, R.; Bernaerts, S.; Brugnera, A.; Compare, A.; Duque, A.; Ebert, D.; Eimontas, J.; Kassianos, A.; Salgado, J.; Schwerdtfeger, A.; Tohme, P.; Van Assche, E.; Van Daele, T. Online consultations in mental healthcare during the COVID-19 outbreak: An international survey study on professionals' motivations and perceived barriers. Internet Interventions 2021 May 26;25:100405.

[2] Van Daele, T.; Mathiasen, K; Carlbring, P.; Bernaerts, S.; Brugnera, A.; Compare, A.; Duque, A.; Eimontas, J.; Gosar, D.; Haddouk, L.; Karekla, M.; Larsen, P.; Lo Coco, G.; Nordgreen, T.; Salgado, J.; Schwerdtfeger, A.R.; Van Assche, E.; Willems, S.; De Witte, N.A.J. Online consultations in mental healthcare: Modelling determinants of use and experience based on an international survey study at the onset of the pandemic. Internet Interv. 2022 Sep 5;30:100571.

ABSTRACT. The globalization and international mobility of the past 50 years has seen the number of expatriates increase worldwide. Expatriation is a form of migration and temporary exile, characterized by a voluntary departure abroad with frequent moves between the host country and the country of origin. As a consequence of this high-mobility and isolation, expatriates are increasingly seeking online mental-health professionals (Astruc & Chaudot, 2015; Drweski, 2022a). As more people collectively turn to new technologies to find answers to their mental health problems (Barak & Grohol, 2011; Bergström, 2013; Schneider & Haddouk, 2022; Tisseron, 2021) extensive research is being conducted to understand and enhance the expanding field of cyberpsychology and telepsychology. Our research and reflections take place in this context. Considering the huge growth of mental health professionals who propose "remote" follow-up using teleconsultation, it seems to us that this extension of the field of clinical practice has to be examined and synthesized to promote change processes (Greenberg, 1986) and avoid the pitfalls related to the context of expatriation. Through mobilization of clinical situations and contiguous research, we would like to present the characteristics of teleconsultation that seem to promote change processes, but also the pitfalls that professionals must be warned about in relation to an expatriation context. Firstly, we consider the factors of change for the expatriate population namely; continuity of treatment despite patient migration (Astruc, 2015; Drweski, 2022b); continued links with the culture of origin in a context of isolation (Drewski, 2022b); and quality of presence (Missonnier, Haddouk & Vlachopoulou, 2002). Moreover, with many expat patients expressing a feeling of safety while consulting from home, the safety that could support the emergence of the Self than can occur during expatriation is further examined (Eiguer, 2017; Fonagy et al, 2022; Foy-Sauvage, 2021; Winnicott, 1971). In counterpoint, we observe that the use of new technologies for psychotherapy in an expatriation context can lead to a certain "evaporation" of the psychotherapy frame, which in turn can lead to therapeutic impasses. The feeling of closeness achieved via teleconsultation should not make us forget the realities of the patient (their pathology, or suicidal risk leading the professional to set up a relay locally) and the realities of the context in which they live. Ultimately, from a Change Processes Research perspective (Greenberg, 1986) we propose to consider the intersubjective processes in the specific context of teleconsultation and expatriation, especially when professionals are also expatriates. Based on these observations and poignant field practice, we would like to underline the benefits and the limits of such approaches to promote a global reflection on the "good practices" of teleconsultation in the context of expatriation.

ABSTRACT. Virtual and augmented realities can be considered as a true creative medium. It’s integrating specific properties such as immersion, interaction and presence which reveals a strong artistic potential: it becomes possible to play with spatial or physical constraints (gravity, scale of the objects and the virtual environment), to transform time (slow it down, speed it up, reverse it), to create multidimensional spaces (in 2D, 3D and even more dimensions). Paradoxes and mise en abyme are thus possible, and regarding the representation of the human body, embodiment allows changing its perspective and/or its appearance. All these properties are sources of inspiration to engage and transport participants into imaginary worlds and wonder. We propose to discover them through many illustrated experiences, ways of exhibiting and also through a real-time and collective improvisation.

ABSTRACT. Objectives. – This presentation aims to explore the issues that underlie the excessive use of video games in adolescence. Conquest video games include the ability to change, grow and (transform) as if the teenager were using the game as a double, as a glove that would turn around: the teenager takes the image for his mirror in investing the image and making it live. It is only when he is lost in this tense mirror by mirroring himself as Narcissus in front of his reflection that the risk of a confusion exists: the cleavage between the internal and external worlds is exerted by the rejection of the constraints of the external world, leading to withdrawal, loss of temporality, depression and other potential disorders. Patients and method. – From a psychodynamic perspective, we chose a clinical study to account for a particular fate of overuse of video games and the gradual transformation of this addiction. The clinical situation is presented in a non-exhaustive way but by highlighting the central periods in the practice of video games and the evolution of the young person in his object investments as well as in the transfero- counter-transferential link. Results. – The clinical case presented leads to think that the image was the holding-place of auxiliary psychic space, the time to discover the pleasure and the conflictuality of the sexual and sentimental ‘‘addiction’’, the time to rediscover the object of his passion. Anguish of abandonment and dependence on the object are now represented, enacted in living bonds; he does not feel anymore, except in the case of short depressive episodes, the desire to fall back on a world of images. Conclusions. – Playing with images is about creating a space for mastering internal objects, using a medium. By analogy, we can compare the daydream to a game with images, like the video game to a form of daydream: in both cases, it is question of exploration of potential worlds with the help of object representation, in a psychic space with vast potentialities. In this time of transition, the illusion space maintains the fantasy that everything remains possible. The sense of control that the use of the game allows feeds an omnipotent illusion still necessary; this space of illusion recalls the journey of the infant faced with the tension between the hallucinatory way of satisfaction and taking into account the reality principle.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. Digital screen media use has significantly grown at an increasingly young age, and in all age groups including toddlers, pre-schoolers, and primary school children under 10 years old. There is evidence that excessive early childhood media exposure can lead to several negative outcomes, however the impact of digital screen use on children of different age has not been sufficiently highlighted. Moreover, theoretical and empirical studies have focused on different problematic online behaviors (e.g. Internet, gaming, social network sites, etc.) or digital devices use (e.g. smartphone), especially in adolescence and young adulthood. Only little insights on younger children’ Problematic Media Use (PMU) have been provided, which has been defined as an excessive screen media use that compromises social, behavioral, and/or academic functioning of the child. Therefore, the aim of the present systematic review is to identify (i) the risk and protective factors, at both individual and contextual level, which might increase or reduce children’s PMU, (ii) the negative outcomes associated with children’s PMU, and (iii) the main instruments used to measure children’s PMU across different studies. Methods. This study was conducted following the systematic review guidelines proposed in PRISMA statement. Studies were included only if they met the following eligibility criteria: (i) quantitative research, (ii) year of publication between 2012-2022, (iii) English or Italian full-text article, (iv) sample’s mean age between 0 and 10 years old, and (v) focus on problematic online behaviors or digital devices use. Literature search was performed across the following electronic databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and PubMed. All eligible studies were assessed for a risk of bias with the QualSyst tool for evaluating quantitative or qualitative studies. Results. A total of 34 studies were finally included in this literature review. Most of the selected studies were published in 2021 and carried out in Eastern countries. Gaming addiction was the most explored problematic behavior in childhood. Using media more than 2 hours a day, male gender and higher age significantly increased the risk of developing PMU among children. PMU led to several negative consequences for children’s development and well-being (e.g., more problematic behaviors, sleep problems, higher depressive symptoms, lower emotional intelligence, and academic achievements). Both individual and contextual risk factors can increase children’s PMU. Therefore, children who experienced negative psychological symptoms (e.g., internalizing and externalizing symptoms, depressive symptoms, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, executive functions problems, autistic traits, sensation seeking, ADHD symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and pre-existing high levels of PMU), dysfunctional family environment and parent-child relationship (e.g., maternal depressive symptoms, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, inconsistent parenting practices, restrictive parental mediation applied in a more controlling style, etc.), and lower school functioning were more prone to develop PMU. Concerning the protective factors, authoritative parenting style and restrictive parental mediation were significantly associated with lower PMU among children. Finally, both parent and child-report instruments were used to assess children’s PMU. However, self-report measures specifically designed to get younger children perspective are still few and not so widely used. Conclusions. This study demonstrated that this research field is still in its infancy and needs further investigation. Overall, both individual and contextual factors can increase or decrease the risk of developing PMU among children. Likely, dysfunctional family system can lead children to experience emotional distress and negative psychological symptoms, which they try to menage by escaping into the virtual world, thus increasing the risk of developing PMU. As the children’s PMU is closely influenced by the quality of family environment and parent-child relationship, future prevention interventions should target both children and their parents to improve their self-regulatory and mentalizing capabilities, as well as parental mediation strategies and general parenting practices.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. Over the past decade, social media use has grown extensively across different age groups, especially among youths. Consequently, Problematic Social Network Sites Use (PSNSU) received increasing attention, as it has been associated with numerous negative health-related outcomes. PSNSU can be conceptualized as technological addiction and is defined as an inability to self-regulate in one's use Social Networks which results in negative consequences in daily life (Andreassen & Pallesen, 2014). Among PSNSU risk factors, impulsivity has gained attention. Impulsivity – which refers to thoughts and actions that occur without premeditation and are aimed at immediate rewards (APA dictionary of psychology, 2015) – was found to predispose to both substances (e.g., alcohol) and behavioral addiction (e.g., gambling). More recently, evidence emerged about the importance of considering impulsivity from a multidimensional approach, since specific dimensions of impulsivity were found to be involved in specific addictive behaviors. Therefore, the aim of the present meta-analysis is to examine the association between PSNSU and (i) unidimensional impulsivity and (ii) specific dimensions of impulsivity. Method. A keyword-based systematic literature search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct was performed for eligible studies published up to 12 December 2022 in which impulsivity and PSNSU were assessed. The primary analysis was performed including the extracted correlations between impulsivity (unidimensional) and PSU in Fisher’s Z values. Meta-regression analyses were performed to assess the influence of sex and age. Furthermore, a subgroup analysis for the country income level was performed. Secondary analyses were conducted to investigate the association between dimensions of impulsivity (i. e. sensation seeking, motor impulsivity, attentional impulsivity and non-planning impulsivity) and PSNSU. All analyses were conducted by applying a random effects model and 95% confidence interval. To assess publication bias, the Egger’s regression intercept was used. Results. Thirty-five studies were included in quantitative analysis with 36 independent samples with a total of 42846 participants (%F=82.70%, mean age =18.79, SD= 5.42, range 14.24-37.16). Of these, 26 studies assessed the association between unidimensional impulsivity and PSNSU, eight studies measured the association between PSNSU and sensation seeking, eight studies evaluated the association between PSNSU and motor impulsivity, seven studies between PSNSU and attentional impulsivity, and eight studies between PSNSU and non-planning impulsivity. Meta-analytic results of the random effects model showed (i) a significant positive correlation between unidimensional impulsivity and PSNSU (n= 34637, Fisher’s Z = 0.27; CI 0.22, 0.32; Z = 10.85; p < 0.001), (ii) a non-significant association between sensation seeking and PSNSU (n= 8251; p = 0.11), (iii) a significant but small positive association between non-planning impulsivity and PSNSU (n= 3002, Fisher’s Z = 0.07; CI 0.04, 0.11; Z = 3.97; p < 0.001), (iv) a significant positive association between attentional impulsivity and PSNSU (n= 3002, Fisher’s Z = 0.16; CI 0.11, 0.21; Z = 6.29; p < 0.001) and (v) a significant positive association between motor impulsivity and PSNSU (n= 2784, Fisher’s Z = 0.25; CI 0.18, 0.32; Z = 6.84; p < 0.001). Sex and the country income level did not moderate the association between unidimensional impulsivity and PSNSU, while age resulted a significant moderator (Q = 205.54, df = 21, p = 0.000). No risk of publication bias emerged. Discussion. I In line with previous researchon substance and behavioral addictions, these results confirmed that PSNSU was positively associated with both unidimensional and specific dimensions of impulsivity, and that the relationship was stronger with decreasing age. Therefore, impulsivity can be considered a possible antecedent linked to the development of PSNSU, especially among young people. These findings might have clinical implications for creating preventive and therapeutic interventions focused on impulsivity.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) has been defined as the lack of regulation of one’s use of social media associated with negative outcomes in one’s everyday functioning. Previous meta-analyses reported PSMU prevalence before the beginning of COVID-19, whilst less is known about the change in prevalence over time and after 2020. The present meta-analysis includes all the studies which used the most adopted self-report scale to assess PSMU (i.e., the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale; BSMAS) and aims to explore whether PSMU increased across the world (i) since the first published study on this topic (i.e., in the last six years), (ii) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, (iii) depending on age, gender and the income level of the countries. Method. This meta-analysis follows the PRISMA guidelines.A keyword-based systematic literature search in MedLine, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Scopus was performed for eligible studies published up to July 2022 in which PSMU was assessed using the BSMAS in a population-based sample. The primary analysis was performed by computing the overall pooled estimate by utilizing the mean and standard deviation of BSMAS for each study's total sample. The random-effects model was utilized for all analyses to fit the data. Before carrying out the computation, sensitivity analyses were conducted. For categorical moderator analysis the mixed-effects model was employed to calculate the pooled ESs for subgroups, pool the ESs in each subgroup by random-effect model, and examine the fixed-effect model to determine the differences between subgroups. Results. The meta-analysis involved 139 independent samples with 133,955 respondents from 32 countries spanning seven world regions. The results show that PSMU did not change in the mean scores over the past few years globally if the publication year is considered (Q = 10.604, df = 5, p = 0.06). Concerning the singular country involved independently by the year, the mean scores were significantly different (Q = 11082.503, df = 31, p = 0.01), with the lowest mean score found in Hungary (n=1,499, M= 9.18) and the highest in Pakistan (n=267, M= 21.18). Regarding countries’ income levels and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the data revealed that the mean BSMAS ratings for lower-middle and upper-middle countries increased by 9.96% and 2.80%, respectively, from before to after the pandemic. However, for countries with a high income, it was reduced by 6.57%. Age and gender were not significant moderators. Discussion. High levels of PSMU in low-income countries might be explained based on socio-cultural differences between countries since empirical evidence has shown that individuals with lower socioeconomic status are less likely to have the number, strength, and variety of social connections but also tend to emphasize the mutual benefits of peer support compared with members of high-income countries. This might suggest that the higher levels of PSMU might reflect a compensatory use of social media to find social support and satisfy the need for belongingness. When it comes to the reduction of PSMU in high-income countries after the COVID-19 pandemic, it should be taken into account that the vast majority of the studies included in the category “after the beginning of the COVID- pandemic” were conducted in 2021 or 2022 (i.e., after the critical period of lockdown). One possible explanation is that the high levels of PSMU found in 2020 by various studies were a temporary compensatory strategy to cope with transient negative states (i.e., loneliness) and/or social distance during the lockdown periods, and PSMU symptoms spontaneously remitted in the subsequent months. That is, PSMU might be a transient phenomenon and, at least in part, context-dependent.

ABSTRACT. The scientific literature is characterized by two distinct approaches: a psychopathology of videogame use and a psychotherapeutic modeling of this medium. The psychopathological approach to video game addiction encounters difficulties in nosographic definitions, making the validity of this symptomatology variable. American Psychiatric Association introduced Internet video game disorder (DSM 5, 2013) with poorly defined criterias. The World Health Organization expands the types of problematic video game practices while recognizing the validation frailties of this nosology (Aarseth & al, 2016; Kiraky, Demetrovics, 2017; ICD 11, 2021). The research objects focus on the use of video games in a psychopathological configuration. Aims - We chose to study this use in normal developmental processes. We then centered our research work around the identification of the structuring factors of video game use in relation to the developmental specificities of the adolescent process, the psychic capacity of the subject to deal with the losses inherent in adolescent changes. Because of the impossibility for some adolescents to process these losses, one of the major psychopathological risks is depression. Method - We choose a crossed methodology - quantitative and qualitative - to explore the defensive modalities of the adolescent in his video game practice and to highlight the protective factors of their video game use but also to identify the vulnerability factors. We compare two groups of adolescents gamers (12-16 years old): 244 adolescents without disorders and 26 adolescents who consulted a Health Youth Service for a depressive disorder. A self-administration phase of different questionnaires and scales (QITJV, Tisseron and Khayat, 2013; PAI, Li et al, 2013; GAS, French version Gaetan et al, 2014; RCADS, French version, Perrez and Tough, 2005) is proposed to the nonconsultant adolescents and to the group of depressed adolescents. Results on types of video game investments.- The nonconsultant group invest video games in sensorimotor and narrative emotional interactions. However, the intensity of these investments is statistically higher in the group of depressed adolescents. Singular correlations are observed between sensorimotor interactions and factors supporting identity. Emotional narrative interactions are correlated with seeking control over arousal, emotions in play, and importance to identity. Results on video game habits - The non-consultant group plays several types of video games and mostly online with a group of gamers. Depressed adolescents play the same types of games as the nonconsultant group but focus on one game. In addition, they play less online and watch less frequent gaming on Youtube. Discussion.- We find common investments in both groups in terms of frequency of use and type of video games. The practices differed in terms of online video games (in favor of the nonconsultant group) and the number of video games (only one for the depressive group). The analysis of the results shows that the use of video games serves as a support for identification processes through sensorimotor and emotional narrative investments for the nonconsultant group. We propose the concept of « videal « to define the psychic stakes of the investments of the video games on the developmental cursor of adolescence: between the emptiness (« vide » in french) of the losses and the Ego Ideal as heir of this process. The videogame culture offers a structuring factor of the identity of the adolescent in the appropriation of his pubertal feelings and in crossed identifications of online games and viewing. They have a videoludic use characterized by an elaborative videal (protective factor). They figure and symbolize the losses of the adolescence to build an Ego Ideal supporting the weakened narcissism of this developmental period.

ABSTRACT. Videogaming has grown rapidly in recent years, with estimates suggesting over 2.6 billion users worldwide. The industry has grown both in popularity and in its offerings to individuals, including an increased capacity for interaction. Research to date has primarily focused on serious games and gamification as tools for behaviour change and health interventions. However, there is a paucity of research on the effects of commercial videogaming on mental health, despite it being significantly more widely played. Investigating the effects of commercial videogaming has several advantages, as it may provide a low-cost and ready-to-use intervention for individuals to increase social deficits and improve mental wellbeing. This review identifies the current understanding of the impact of commercial videogaming on social capital. This review also identifies the most researched commercial videogames to assess social capital and what measures have been used to assess this. The review identified 217 studies through searching Scopus, PsycINFo and Embase. Of these, 10 papers were selected for review after removing duplicates and reviewing titles and abstracts for relevance. The number of participants in the studies ranged from 206 to 1291, with none of the studies reporting children under 16 years of age. All the studies in the review utilized surveys as their methodology, with most being cohort studies that recorded self-reported social capital scores on various scales at a single point in time. Only one study employed a longitudinal design, recording results over a two-year period. The measures of social capital varied greatly among studies, with some not including a standardized measure and others developing measures specifically for internet users. A single study reported scores of loneliness. Out of the ten studies identified, three reported associations between social capital and increased wellbeing, two reported no association, two reported a combination of increased and decreased wellbeing and three reported decreased wellbeing. The studies reporting positive associations found that online social support may facilitate coping with problems and provide a platform for developing friendships, particularly for shy individuals or those with higher social anxiety. Two studies reported no associations, and one study found a "rich get richer" effect for social capital scores, and three studies found lowered wellbeing among videogame players. The findings suggest that further research is needed to determine what facilitates social connectedness between individuals engaging with others in videogames. These varied results could be attributed to varied motivations for playing videogames or the way the videogames facilitate social interaction. The review found six out of the ten studies reviewed did not specify which commercial games were most researched to assess the impact of social capital on videogamers' wellbeing. Three studies investigated MMPORG games, and one study investigated World of Warcraft. Only one measure of social support was utilised across two of the studies included in the review. The various ways it was measured may bring in to question the construct validity of social capital. To improve understanding of the impact of social capital on wellbeing in individuals playing commercial videogames, further research is needed to develop a consensus on an appropriate scale to measure social capital. Based on the current number of videogame player the group represent a large sub-group of the global population. By understanding the benefits and drawbacks of engaging with others using videogames, clinicians and researchers will better be able to recommend and/or discourage use. Further research may be able to establish which games are best able to increase social capital and subsequent wellbeing.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Personality disorders (PD) have a serious impact on the lives of individuals who suffer from them and those around them. It is common for family members to experience high levels of burden, anxiety, and depression, and deterioration in their quality of life. It is curious that few interventions have been developed for family members of people with PD. However, Family Connections (FC) (Hoffman and Fruzzetti, 2005) is the most empirically supported intervention for family members of people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of online vs face-to-face FC. Given the current social constraints resulting from SARS-CoV-2, interventions have been delivered online and modified. Method: This was a non-randomized pilot study with a pre-post evaluation and two conditions: The sample consisted of 45 family members distributed in two conditions: FC face-to-face (20) performed by groups before the pandemic, and FC online (25), performed by groups during the pandemic. For participants in the online condition were asked to have an internet connection, to find a place where they could have privacy to participate in the group and to try to attend all sessions. All participants completed the evaluation protocol before and after the intervention. Results: There is a statistically significant improvement in levels of burden (η 2 = 0.471), depression, anxiety, and stress (η 2 = 0.279), family empowerment (η 2 = 0.243), family functioning (η 2 = 0.345), and quality of life (μ2 η 2 = 0.237). There were no differences based on the application format burden (η 2 = 0.134); depression, anxiety, and stress (η 2 = 0.087); family empowerment (η 2 = 0,27), family functioning (η 2 = 0.219); and quality of life (η 2 = 0.006), respectively). Conclusions: This study provides relevant data about the possibility of implementing an intervention in a sample of family members of people with PD in an online format without losing its effectiveness. During the pandemic, and despite the initial reluctance of family members and the therapists to carry out the interventions online, this work shows the effectiveness of the results and the satisfaction of the family members. Offering online interventions represents a qualitative leap in terms of the possibility of reaching remote places, putting people with the same problem in contact in different parts of the world, and creating support networks to face the problem and share common solutions and tools. It is not really a major change from traditional therapy. They just needed to have an internet connection and to find a place where they could get some privacy. All of this represents a great step forward in terms of providing psychological treatment.

ABSTRACT. The study of communicative strategies and communicative tactics are in central attention in social and cyberpsycholoy. Writing in online platforms does not have the animate qualities of face-to-face interactions. In a real context, people use body language, gestures, and facial expressions. These show different thoughts and emotions of the comunicators. In the digital medium, lack of the above-mentioned qualities has resulted in creating an anonymous, vague and misunderstanding of the exchanged messages.Therefore, the tendency to include emojis to enhance the meaning of the textual messages is favourable among the online users. The current research targeted Saudi male and female university students (N=300). It aims to: • Identify the relationship between the use of emojis (negative-positive) and feelings (negative-positive) in social media. • Identify the effect of using emojis on persuasive messages. • Identifying the correlation between the use of emojis (negative-positive) and motivations for using social media6. • Identifying the correlation between the use of emoji (negative-positive) and self-presentation strategies in social media. The researchers use Content Analysis and Qualitative approach to investigate the research questions. The primary findings is that students who use emoji to support the written messages are more persuasive than the written messages without including either negative or positive emoji what we called (E-Emotions). The cultural influence on online interaction styles will be discussed. The application of this study will benefit human interactions in social and marketing contexts.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Mobile health (mHealth) applications allow to amplify the access and quality of health services, as they can be useful tools at low cost, easy to use, interactive and personalized (Kazdin & Blase, 2011). Despite these advantages, the technologies are not exempt from problems such as the high level of dropouts, the lack of adherence, or the lack of quality checking in the content. In order to address this problem there is a need to use methodologies that allow us to understand the requirements of the targeted population. To solve this problem there is a need to consider the user experience perspective, providing them with an active role in mHealth application development. Using the potential of digital interventions, we intend to design and develop a mHealth solution to enhance mental health in clinical populations. This application will be grounded on the Dual Factor Model of wellbeing (Keyes & López, 2002), which highlights the need to directly address the mental disorder while tackling the well-being dimension at the same time, in order to fully enhance mental health. The mobile application will aim to improve well-being by assessing and dispensing positive techniques through ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and interventions (EMIs). The main components of this intervention will be enhancing positive affect (i.e., hedonic well-being), valued living actions, and character strengths (i.e., eudaimonic well-being). The present study is aimed at analyzing the needs of the users in order to develop the mHealth application using a co-design framework. Objective: The goal of this study is to gather information on the user experience and the state of psychopathology and well-being of different clinical populations (i.e. oncological patients, emotional and adjustment disorders, gambling disorders and borderline personality disorders). Methodology: Several focus groups will be held with each of the targeted clinical populations. The level of psychopathology, well-being, and digital alphabetization will be gathered with questionnaires prior to the focus groups. The groups will be composed of 7-8 people selected from different health services that meet the criteria of seeking for therapy or already being receiving therapy and will be conducted by two researchers. We anticipate conducting multiple focus groups until data saturation is reached for each population and no additional novel information or themes arise from the focus group discussions (Morse, 2000). A structured interview with open-ended questions regarding their needs and wellbeing experiences will be asked to the participants, that will be based on the Engaged Living Scale (ELS; Trompetter et al., 2013) and Strengths use Scale (SUS; Govindji and Linley, 2007) questionnaires and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT and UTAUT-2; Venkatesh et al., 2003, 2012). Consensual Qualitative Research methodology (Hill, 2012) will be followed for the qualitative data analysis. Results: The results are still in progress. It is expected to recruit data related to the: 1) contents of the application in terms of need for improving well-being (i.e., values and strengths); and 2) constructs related to the use of the technology (i.e., performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, etc). Moreover, it is expected that different needs will arise in the different populations. Discussion: Transfering the effects of traditional positive interventions beyond the one-to-one approach entails considering aspects such as the accessibility, attractiveness, personalization or profitability. As the number of mHealth applications continues to increase, it is crucial to take into account the user perspective from the beginning of the process to increase efficacy, usability and adherence.

ABSTRACT. Traditional behavioral and psychological assessment approaches include qualitative and quantitative measures. Although these tools have been well validated, they have some limitations that could lead to biases. Considering the limitations of traditional assessment methods, virtual reality (VR) proves to be very useful to improve assessment methods, since its characteristics allow simulating real experiences, which evoke high levels of presence and generate a more realistic perception in concrete situations, and besides, they facilitate the real-time collection of information regarding human behavior. As a response to contribute to this aspect of measurement and assessment based on virtual reality, the present study evaluates the use of virtual environments to assess psychological constructs based on Grawe's (2007) theoretical model, which attempts to explain the etiology of mental disorders and, in turn, mechanisms of integrative interventions. This paper describes the results obtained in a Mexican population derived from the validation of the virtual environments that make up the ATHENEA system in terms of the measurement of basic psychological needs in comparison with traditional assessment scales. Method: A total of 61 participants with a mean age of 35.6 (SD=10.03) of which there were 29 males and 31 females participated in the study. A battery of psychological tests were given which were focused on the four basic psychological needs proposed in Grawe's model. Following this, the interaction with the ATHENEA system began. It is worth mentioning that each of the 5 sessions had a duration of one hour, except for the third one, which required 90 minutes, during which a 15-minute break was taken 45 minutes after the session had begun. Results: Machine Learning models were built to assess the extent to which interaction with virtual environments is predictive of the psychological constructs assessed based on their accuracy and Cohen's Kappa. In the case of attachment, good results were obtained, where it can be seen that all subscales show an accuracy above 80%, as well as a Cohen's Kappa above .6, except for the subscale 3 (secure affection) which shows an kappa of .55. Regarding self-esteem, similarly, the different variables show good accuracy and adequate Cohen's Kappa, above 80% and .6 respectively. Regarding self-efficacy, the results obtained also show adequate models for the different variables, especially in attention (95% and .9), memory (94% and .87) and velocity (87% and .73). Finally, regarding the coping variables, despite presenting adequate scores for accuracy, low scores were obtained in terms of Cohen’s Kappa index, being the variables, which worst predict the constructs. Discussion: The present study aimed to investigate ecological assessment using virtual reality for psychological constructs based on Grawe's model in a Mexican population. In general, the results obtained show an adequate accuracy in terms of the recognition of these constructs through interaction with virtual environments compared to scales and subscales based on traditional assessment methods, which assessed the four basic psychological. Results suggest that the virtual environments developed to assess these constructs have great potential in terms of behavioral assessment through interactive actions, which provides a useful tool in the assessment of psychological constructs.

ABSTRACT. Background: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is characterized by a group of symptoms that appear after the exposure to one or more life-threatening events. Although there are specialized evidence-based treatments, some limitations have been identified regarding the training of mental health professionals for therapeutic management and the lack of accessibility to specialized treatment programs (Adams et al., 2016; Bishop et al., 2017; Cook et al., 2019; McElroy et al., 2016). The group of the Virtual Teaching and Cyberpsychology Lab from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, based on previous studies regarding PTSD and Virtual Reality Therapy that they’ve conducted (Cárdenas & De la Rosa, 2012; Cárdenas, De la Rosa, Durán, & Durón, 2016), designed an online training program to evaluate and attend trauma patients through evidence-based treatments, such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy and novel interventions integrating VR. The program aimed to cover the training needs of professionals that work with trauma patients in healthcare institutions and improve the national services related to trauma attention. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact and effect of an online teaching program for the identification and treatment of PTSD and related disorders in healthcare personnel. Specifically, to identify the extent to which the online program was consistent with the projected outcomes in the acquisition of skills and competencies in trauma care, crisis intervention, and diagnosis and intervention for Acute Stress Disorder, PTSD and associated substance abuse. Methods: An assessment protocol was developed by a group of specialists in trauma, which was based on attitudes, values, the usefulness of knowledge and acquired skills. For this purpose, the protocol analyzed the effect of knowledge and skills acquired, in order to obtain relevant information regarding the application of these skills in the clinical-work context in terms of trauma assessment and management through an impact assessment questionnaire (Bernardino & Curado, 2020; Cook et al., 2019). The experience of 167 graduate participants was rated on their performance in assessing and attending patients exposed to trauma within six months after completed the training program. Results: The results in the six-month follow-up measure show a positive impact of the program. Participants report differences attributable to the use of the program in case detection. The participants also inform of positive differences after the program in the diagnosis and treatment plans implemented in their daily clinical activities. Conclusions: This study allowed us to support the idea that teaching and training programs mediated by new technologies are viable and can be effective in skills development within the healthcare professionals. In addition, considering the negative impact that traumatic events have on mental health, it is important to have trained healthcare professionals with specific skills to attend the victim’s needs. Using technology in education and training can improve the clinical practice regarding assessment and treatment in trauma. Finally, this study provides a novel online training program using evidence-based treatment programs for mental health professionals, integrating novel interventions such as VR exposure therapy.

ABSTRACT. Introduction and objectives: Evidence-based cognitive-behavioral treatments for emotional disorders (ED) (i.e., depressive and anxiety disorders) exist (Nathan & Gorman, 2015), however, they only reach less than 50% of patients who need them (Kohn et al., 2004). Due to ED are the most common psychological disorders (WHO, 2022) and involve significant disability as well as large costs (Baxter et al., 2014; Kessler, 2012), it is critical to develop and implement evidence-based, cost-effective treatments that reach all people with ED. In this regard, the combination of three strategies may help: the transdiagnostic perspective, the group format and the blended format. The transdiagnostic approach (Brown & Barlow, 2009) allows different disorders to be treated with a single protocol, in addition to better addressing comorbid presentations. The group format also reduces costs and has been shown to be comparable to the individual format (e.g., Burlingame et al., 2013; Jónsson et al., 2011). Regarding the blended format (face-to-face therapy + online therapy), it facilitates treatment accessibility and reduces therapist time, while allowing greater personalization than totally self-administered online treatments and probably implies lower dropout rates (e.g., Kooistra et al., 2019; Romijn et al., 2021). To our knowledge, treatments combining these three intervention strategies for ED have not yet been studied. The present work is part of a broader study that aims to analyze the feasibility and acceptability of a treatment protocol for ED based on transdiagnostic perspective and applied in group and blended format. This pilot feasibility study is currently ongoing (Díaz-García et al., 2021). In the present work, we intend to study and present preliminary data on the acceptability and usability of the participants who have completed the treatment so far. Sample and method: Participants (n = 13) were adults (92.31% females) from a community sample with a DSM-5 diagnosis for ED, with an average age of 30.54 years (SD = 10.98; range = 19 to 54). The intervention lasts 24 weeks and combined a total of 8 group sessions via videoconference (2 hours, every 3 weeks) with self-applied online therapy. This is a single group trial, with three assessment moments: pre-treatment, post-treatment and follow-up (3 months). Post-module and post-group sessions measures are also collected. Results: According to the Expectations and opinion of treatment scales (Borkovec & Nau, 1972), participants showed high expectations towards the treatment before starting therapy. A mean of 46.77 (SD = 12.32; range = 13 to 60) was obtained, with 60 being the maximum score on the scale. In addition, they also showed high satisfaction with the treatment after completion of the intervention, with a mean score of 48 (SD = 10.16; range = 26 to 60). Regarding the usability of the system after using the online platform (SUS; Bangor et al., 2008; Brooke, 1996), participants obtained a mean score of 77.5 (SD = 18.14; range = 37.5 to 95). This scale ranges from 0 to 100 and higher scores imply better usability. Regarding the participants’ opinion, the modules were valued at 7.47 on average (SD = 0.38) on a scale ranging from 0 to 10. Data on adherence to the platform and videoconference group sessions will be also presented in the poster. Discussion/Conclusions: These preliminary results showed the appropriateness of this treatment to the problem and target population. They also suggested that the web platform and the content of the modules were well accepted by the participants. Although more research is needed on this topic, these results seem to indicate that a blended transdiagnostic group treatment would be well accepted by patients with ED. This type of intervention would mean reaching more people, reducing resources and time of therapists.

ABSTRACT. Awe experiences stem from vast stimuli that defy individuals’ accustomed mental schemas, thus engendering the need to accommodate them. Nature-based experiences have resulted as the most frequent elicitors of awe including the case of simulated naturalistic scenarios in Virtual Reality. Nature itself holds a key potential to improve wellbeing, and when it is enriched by awe, it can invite a positive transformation, as suggested by the Matryoshka model. According to this model, one of the awe’s highest transformative potential consists in ameliorating depressive symptoms, starting from contrasting the decay of mood by enhancing positive emotions and decreasing negative ones. An increasing number of studies have shown the unique potential of virtual reality for inducing awe, even resembling natural scenarios as well as paradoxical situations in a controlled and ecological way. However, the extent to which repeated simulated nature-based experiences of awe in the long run can impact an individual's wellbeing is still to be investigated. In this study, participants participated in 5 VR sessions of nature-based awe-inspiring scenarios over 3 weeks, and they were asked the frequency they felt positive emotions during the week post-intervention. The tools used were the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, the Big Five OCEAN Assessment, and the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale. The simulations were derived from the app “Within”. Participants were high school students at an A​merican curriculum-based international school in Hong Kong. There was one experimental group throughout the entire study, which began with N=20 participants. However, only 7 participants remained at the end of the study, and the data analyzed were from these 7 participants (all female). Dispositional variables were measured (i.e., disposition to live positive emotions including awe on a frequent base; Openness to Experience personality trait) as potential moderators of awe’s impact on emotions intensity. The most salient result was the increase in participants’ level of contentment. A statistical test was conducted to determine which changes in emotion were significant. To test the statistical significance of the change in emotions and openness levels, a one sample t-test for difference in means between initial and final scores was conducted. The null hypothesis was that there is no significant difference between the participants initial and final scores. The significance level used was a = 0.05. Only the increase in contentment was shown to be statistically significant. Overall happiness, Openness to Experience, and frequency of experiencing positive emotion including awe post-VR did not show statistically significant change. Moreover, the data showed a strong positive correlation between the participants’ Openness to Experience and disposition to awe. The results still posit interesting considerations about the ability of VR to treat mood disorders through increasing positive emotions: 1) it may only take a brief moment of awe to initiate a cascade of benefits for well-being, including increased connection to surroundings, human agency, and contentment, 2) patients can be considered for VR interventions according to their level of openness for optimal success, and 3) contentment, while not necessarily superior to happiness, may be more useful in treating mood disorders in terms of reaping more long-term benefits for mental well-being.

ABSTRACT. All human experiences revolve around emotions. However, because emotions are characterized by quick changes and individual heterogeneity, eliciting, and measuring them has proven to be one of the most challenging tasks. Traditional techniques for evoking emotional responses until recently mainly relied on the presentation of visual or auditory stimuli. However, the spread of novel technologies has opened a debate about which medium is more effective. Virtual reality has been suggested for the study of psychology's foundational principles and other fields since it can be defined as an "Experiential technology". Thanks to its ability to evoke a sense of presence, sharing virtual content can result in a more reliable replication and emotional reaction. In fact, recent research demonstrated its capability in eliciting complex emotions, such as awe, in an ecological and controlled setting. Among virtual reality technologies, 360-degree videos allow one to interact with the content and experience a variety of emotions through head movements. The ability to move one's head and have the scene react realistically is one of the most striking characteristics that distinguish VR and 360-degree videos from other immersive technologies. Since VR offers a more realistic and immersive audio-visual experience, the primary objective of this study was to examine how it might be used as an affective medium. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of 360-degree images in eliciting basic emotions. To create standardized images that can evoke these emotions, we also want to determine whether each image is linked to emotional activations that can be classified as basic emotions. The goal is to create a database of immersive 360-degree images and make it accessible to everyone so that it can be used as a resource for research. 50 participants will watch a set of 360-degree images for 15 seconds on a computer exploring the environment by dragging the viewpoint with a mouse or a finger. After each image, they will be required to self-report, directly on the screen, their level of valence, arousal, dominance, and sense of presence and rate the intensity of some emotions on a Likert scale. 46 images have been selected from online websites and databases of 360° contents and a priori divided into positive, negative, and neutral categories through consensus between five people. Each subject will watch a different set of 23 images equally distributed between positive, negative, and neutral images. Additionally, we conducted an ad hoc selection of high-quality images, choosing naturalistic (eg., views of mountains, lakes, seas, parks) and urbanistic (eg., squares, streets, buildings) scenarios without semantic and verbal cues, allowing thus a worldwide use. This contrasts with existing databases that have used videos on public portals like YouTube - that could not be available forever - or that have used spots of films or existing videos. Preliminary results will be presented during the conference. Data about the emotional experience will be presented for each image and the relation between valence/arousal and sense of presence will be analyzed. A standardized 360-degree database of images that can elicit particular emotions would be very helpful for research on basic emotions, emotion recognition and regulation, and human-computer interaction but also for the study of emotional and cognitive processes under realistic conditions. Due to the growing popularity of virtual reality, this is crucial for research and understanding how users interact with different sources of VR content.

ABSTRACT. Background: Smartphones have evolved to become an advantageous device to utilize across the healthcare domain (Baumgart, D.C., 2011). As such, videoconferencing software has evolved as well, and has previously been utilized in various healthcare settings such as in consultations between patients and doctors (Ignatowicz, A., et al., 2019) and, in a similar context, to enable families to share the death experience during the COVID-19 pandemic (Billingsley, L., 2020). However, videoconferencing has yet to be used during childbirth to enable families to connect and observe the birth, to directly observe newborns’ faces, and to also overcome the distance between family members as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sample: Within two studies examining mothers utilizing a face shield as a projector on which to videoconference with family and her newborn (Vázquez, J., et al., 2022a, Vázquez, J., et al., 2022b), a specific case followed a French family’s ability to connect despite the location and time difference between Mexico and France.

Method: The mother is fitted with a single-use face shield with a 19 cm cloth square affixed to it. A micro-projector (Miroir, model MP30) projects a smartphone’s video onto the mother’s face shield from which she can communicate with family and observe her newborn. Connected via WhatsApp, the mother’s family can observe the birth of the newborn, and the newborn can also observe his mother’s face on a screen of his own. Such methodology was utilized to overcome the boundaries created by the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the optimum health and well-being of the mother and newborn. The mothers, fathers, parents, pediatric team, and obstetric team were asked to rate their satisfaction with utilizing the videoconferencing technology and with displaying the delivery on the mother’s face shield.

Results: Utilizing this non-invasive videoconferencing technique worked to decrease fear, anxiety, and pain in mothers undergoing the labor of childbirth. Additionally, in connecting families through the use of smartphones and WhatsApp, social distancing practices improved and enabled the safety and well-being of all parties involved in the childbirth. Such technique gives way to high satisfaction and happiness for the mothers as they can observe their newborns and safely connect with family members during the pandemic. All parties involved with the delivery reported a 100% satisfaction rate with the technology utilized during delivery. In this specific case study, a French family was able to connect across the globe while the mother gave birth. As the mother gave birth in Mexico (at 7 P.M. Mexico time), her husband was able to connect with his father in France (at 2 A.M. France time) who was able to observe and communicate with the mother and father during the birth of their child. Having the ability to communicate as such evokes strong, positive emotions and fosters a closer bond between family members.

Conclusion: While videoconferencing has been utilized in various healthcare situations, it has yet to be utilized to such a degree wherein the videoconferencing technique is created with the purpose of overcoming the limits that presented themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the context of active childbirth. This is the first case in which we observe a family connecting across time and space via videoconference to observe the miracle of childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT. Education is crucial at any stage of the individual development, as it enables students to acquire the knowledge and skills essential for personal growth. Engaged and motivated students tend to be more invested in their education, set goals for themselves and adopt a positive attitude towards learning (Bryson & Hand, 2007; Singh, Granville & Dika, 2002; Zimmerman, Bandura & Martinez-Pons, 1992). Despite the advent of technology and the availability of innovative educational tools and resources, traditional methods such as teacher-led and textbook-based classrooms are still prevalent in the educational context. However, the growing body of literature about gamification of learning and game-based learning (Kapp, 2012; Al-Azawi, et al., 2016), demonstrates the almost infinite possibility of implementing game-design principles and digital tools to enhance the learning experience. In the present study, we primarily investigate the platform usability and the user-experience of a gamified problem-solving experience in the Metaverse.

The experiment follows a within-subjects research design involving university students (healthy adults with > 18 years) who are invited in a virtual reality Metaverse to take part to a gamified mathematical problem-solving activity (i.e., a treasure hunt with logical-mathematical problems). We make use of the Metaverse affordances (i.e., the possibility to socially interact in real-time and the possibility to customize virtual environments) to design the gamified activity. After the experience, the System Usability Scale (SUS, Triberti & Brivio, 2017) and the short version of the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ-s, Schrepp, Hinderks &Thomaschewski, 2017) will be assessed to participants.

Data collection is still ongoing. The relevance of this study deals with the fact that the Metaverse is a cutting-edge technology that provides an unparalleled platform for conducting educational activities that can be engaging and interesting. The study will explore the possibility of online platforms to sustain effective game-based activities able to positively affect learners’ motivation, creativity and affect. This study can inform future research on game-based activities for educational purposes.

ABSTRACT. Context and Research gap

Education plays a crucial role in society by helping individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for personal development and active participation in society. However, traditional educational methods, such as teacher-led classrooms and content transmission based on textbooks, can limit student engagement and stifle natural curiosity. The Metaverse, a post-reality universe in which physical reality and digital virtuality are mixed, offers exciting new opportunities for education. The Metaverse technology possesses several affordances that can be used to learn and teach in an immersive and interactive way, overcome limitations of traditional education, and promoting dynamic, personalized, and collaborative learning experiences. However, at present, it remains to clarify how to use the potential of the Metaverse to optimize learning experiences.

Project

The project aims to design, develop, and evaluate, in a three-year period, a soft skills online training, considering Experiential Learning theory as a framework and taking advantage of the Metaverse affordances to create activities and customized virtual environments. User Experience (UX) design thinking strategy (i.e., empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) will be used to understand users ‘needs, define problems, and create an innovative prototype of an online soft skill training.

Theoretical framework

One approach to optimizing learning in the Metaverse is through learning through experience. Research has shown that actively participating in the learning process and connecting new information to prior knowledge and experiences can enhance retention and create strong emotional connections to the contents. Morris (2020) reviewed Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) model, which is still the most influential theory on experiential learning. In his work, Morris (2020) proposes a new view of what “concrete experience” means and lays the foundations of a new approach in considering the 4-step learning cycle, giving important role to context-specific information. The revised experiential learning framework is suitable for an implementation in the Metaverse, since this technology has several characteristics that place it at a privileged level for doing first-person learning experiences.

Metaverse affordances

Among some of the Metaverse's unique features there are the “sense of presence” that allow the user to feel as if he is really in the environment and the interactivity, namely the possibility to interact with virtual scenario, objects, and even other users. The latter point connects to the possibility of this technology to sustain real-time social interactions. Being immersed in contextually rich virtual environments can lead to increased engagement with the learning process, as well as increased emotional connection with contents. The Metaverse offers a wide range of opportunities for personalization and collaboration, which are often lacking in traditional educational methods. With the Metaverse, education can be tailored to individual needs and preferences, and students can collaborate and learn from one another in real-time. In turn, all this can lead to a more dynamic and engaging learning experience and can foster a sense of community among students.

Expected Contribution to Psychological Research

Overall, the project is expected to contribute to the current research on experiential learning and online tools, by investigating the potential of the Metaverse for sustaining optimal education and effective learning experiences. Eventually, the project will also establish some guidelines for designing effective online learning experiences in the Metaverse.

ABSTRACT. Background Virtual reality (VR) technology has been successfully used to study the influence of virtual food-related cues on behavioral responses. Emotional eating has been used to refer to a tendency to eat palatable food in response to negative emotions and it could contribute to obesity. One of the advantages of VR is the possibility to control the intensity of stressors used to induce negative emotions when conducting research. Our study aimed to validate a VR laboratory stressor as a tool to study stress induced-eating. Given the importance of publishing research protocols before the study begins, the objective of the current poster presentation is to present the study protocol before the study begins.

Methods This experimental randomized study will be carried out in volunteer adults exposed to one of the following stressor conditions, a VR stressor (ability game) (N=25) or a digital stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test (digital-TSST) (N=25). At baseline, the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) will be applied to assess the eating problems. The VR stressor consists of playing a game of skills on an arcade video game while a group of virtual characters is looking at the player and making comments on his or her performance. A digital Trier Social Stress test (d-TSST) was designed to induce controlled stress by performing three digital tests using a tablet. The first digital test consisted of a motor skill task, the second one involved performing arithmetic subtraction calculations, and the third one was an intelligence test requiring drawing a geometric figure. The digital tests were performed in front of a camera and two judges dressed in white coats. The stress induction will be assessed by saliva cortisol and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). After the exposure to laboratory stressors, participants will immediately assess for anxiety and craving by filling in a questionnaire consisting of the following 4 questions: How much do you want to eat right now? Are you craving sweet foods right now? How much?, How stressed are you feeling right now? How anxious are you feeling right now? Next, the participants will be exposed to a virtual supermarket for shopping the foods they declare craving and the types of food and amount will be recorded. A virtual reality exposure to food cues will last 15 min (maximum). The anxiety and craving will be assessed again at the end of the virtual reality food exposure. Electrocardiograms, respiratory movements, electrodermal activity, and plethysmography will be monitored during the experiment.

Conclusions Based on the research results, we will compare VR and digital laboratory stressors to test the psychological and physiological reactions and the food choice as a response to stress exposure. The differences between experimental methods in stress-induced eating will be evaluated.

Funding: Research relating to this abstract was funded by the RO-MD Cross-Border Program, Priority 4.1 - "Support to the development of health services and access to health", project code: 1HARD/4.1/93.

ABSTRACT. Context: There is an increasing emphasis on physical appearance in Western culture, especially among women. Societal norms convey ideas that a perfect physical appearance symbolizes the admiration of others, success, and happiness. Many women tend to evaluate themselves physically against these unrealistic societal norms. Objectification theory suggests that because women are increasingly objectified in multiple social contexts, they are more likely to succumbing to an outsider's perspective of their own bodies, which is associated with shame, anxiety and eating disorders. Objectification theory states that because women are more aware of their physical appearance, they have fewer attentional resources with which to focus on their internal state (i.e., hunger and satiety). Because women tend to adopt another person's point of view of their own body, which may diminish attention to internal cues, it would be relevant to assess the effects of the fear of negative judgment of others in relation to one's own body (i.e., social physique anxiety) on interoceptive awareness. However, to date, no study has examined the relationship between social physique anxiety and interoceptive awareness. In recognition of the importance of publishing research protocols before study begins, the objective of this presentation is to present the protocol of a study that aims to explore the effects of exposure to a virtual environment (VE) potentially inducing physical social anxiety on interoceptive awareness in adult women from the general population.

Method: Participants will be women from a non-clinical population. Inclusion criteria will be as follows: over 18 years old, under 40 years old, self-identifying as female, never have been diagnosed with an eating disorder or an anxiety disorder and being able to read and understand French. Participants will be randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: (a) a potentially anxiety-provoking condition (anx VE) featuring a swimming pool with the presence of other virtual humans, and (b) a control condition (neutral VE). The anxiety-provoking VE is expected to induce physical social anxiety in participants with an ecologically valid immersive environment in which physically fit virtual humans in swimsuits around a pool will glare, chat with each other, laugh, and approach the participant. This VE will allow to manipulate social physique anxiety (independent variable) on interoceptive awareness (dependent variable). Participants will be asked to complete self-report questionnaires before and after the immersion using measurement of interoceptive awareness such as the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ; Shields et al., 1989), the Body Responsiveness Scale (BRS; Daubenmier, 2005) and The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA; Mehling et al., 2012). The Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS; Hart et al., 1989) will be used as a manipulation check to determine the effectiveness of the anxiety-provoking condition. Anxiety will also be assessed by using physiological measures during the immersion. Potential confound variables will be measured, such as immersive tendencies (at pre), unwanted negative side effects (at pre and post) and the presence of social presence (at post). Repeated measures ANOVAs will be used to assess the relation between social physique anxiety and interoceptive awareness. This study will be approved by the ethics committee of the Université du Québec en Outaouais (Quebec, Canada).

Conclusion: The publication of the protocol of this study enhances transparency in the research process, reduce publication bias and may prevent unnecessary duplication of research by informing the research community about what research activity is currently being carried out in this research field. Moreover, the results of this study could make a unique contribution to the literature by experimentally testing the relationship between social physique anxiety and interoceptive awareness, with the long-term goal of preventing the development of mental health problems, especially body image disturbances.

ABSTRACT. The covid-19 pandemic has encouraged the development of teleconsulting. For some people already affected by anxiety disorders, travel restrictions have been added. The presentation will illustrate a case of complete management of anxiety disorders (claustrophobia, belonephobia) carried out exclusively in teleconsulting. This treatment includes accompanied graduated exposures carried out using sites allowing 360° visits to hospital departments and a site allowing exposure to feared situations with a smartphone placed in a head-mounted display. The presentation will address the place of the sense of presence in the therapeutic process. The presentation will be illustrated with video recordings of therapy sessions. Instructions for carrying out these treatments will be provided.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: In pediatrics, virtual reality (VR) has been mainly used as a distracting task during medical care by disengaging the attention from the anxiety-provoking and painful stimuli. Beyond its distracting potential, some suggest the interest of VR to learn self-regulation techniques, such as deep breathing relaxation. However, studies examining a VR protocol engaging young patients in active self-regulation are rare. During a hospitalization, fear and helplessness are frequently reported in pediatric unit which lead to negative impacts during the hospitalization (e.g., prolonged care, pain, non-collaboration), and afterwards (e.g., medical fears, prolonged convalescence). Through the attractiveness of VR, young patients might learn breathing techniques and the use of an active regulation technique in the management of care. The objective of this study is to validate of a virtual reality environment with breathing exercise for children. Method: The sample is composed of children hospitalized in a pediatric unit (N = 100), aged between 7 and 15 years. The intervention consists of immersions in relaxing virtual environments including an avatar guiding the relaxing breathing. Several questionnaires are fulfilled by the children in order to assess the validity of the virtual environments (e.g., cybersickness, sense of presence) and the effect on state anxiety. The satisfaction with the tool is also assessed based on the holistic model for VR program design developed by Ahmadpour and colleagues (2020). Three aspects are investigated (i.e., intervention, product and experience) through three items on a Likert-type scale from 0-3. Results: Data collection is still ongoing. However, on a sample of 22 children, we obtain a mean of 28.87 (SD = 8.15) for the sense of presence questionnaire. The cybersickness scores obtained post-immersion are low. Differences between the pre- and post-immersion cybersickness and anxiety means are significant (respectively Z = 2.87, p = .004, d = .82 and Z = 3.119, p = .002, d = .82), with a decrease in post-immersion scores. Concerning the satisfaction of the tool, means of 8.05 (SD = 1.13), 7.68 (SD = 1.46), 8.14 (SD = 1.04) are obtained for the aspects of intervention, product and experience, respectively. Results on the total sample will be presented during the poster session. The moderating effects of gender, age, and trait anxiety on the studied variables will also be investigated. Discussion: These preliminary results are encouraging since the virtual environment presents a good feeling of presence, low levels of cybersickness, and decrease of post-immersion anxiety. Good satisfaction with the tool is reported by the children. The results that will be obtained at the end of data collection will be discussed.

ABSTRACT. The process of integrating technology into mental health pathways represents a social transformation that we are gradually getting used to. But does it represent a valid alternative to face-to-face care processes? In this paper we will consider telesychology as a tool for treating anxiety and depression and its validity. Anxiety and depression are harmful to individuals, suffering from these disorders, their caregivers, and the economy. Remote delivery of psychotherapy has been established as a viable alternative to traditional in-person psychotherapy for treating anxiety and depression. However, literature comparing and evaluating the variety of remote delivery modalities of psychotherapy has not yet been integrated. This review examines the efficiency – to - practice and the limits of e-therapy and its mediums: telephone, video, and online-administered psychotherapy, for treatment of anxiety and depression.

ABSTRACT. Educational technology is an emerging field in pedagogy. Existing literature has studied the risk factors of dropout behavior and persistence in e-learning environments (Dalipi et al., 2018). However, not many studies have investigated these factors among adolescent populations receiving tech-focused vocational education. There is also a dearth of literature exploring these trends in French populations. This study will map out the profiles of French adolescents aged 12-18 (N = 32) that dropped out of formal school and joined a tech-based vocational educational program. Previous studies have established that important factors leading to dropout behavior in adolescents include depressive symptoms (Askeland et al., 2022), and health problems (physical, social, psychological, and physical environment) (Chau et al., 2016). Other studies have established that factors that contribute to persistence in e-learning include student satisfaction, motivation, and engagement (cognitive, behavioral, and emotional) (Jung, Y., and Lee, L. 2018; Lakhal et al., 2021). As the sample under study voluntarily joined the educational program, it can indicate different academic orientations, hence we will also study academic interests. Our research questions are: i. What are the profiles of students who persist in tech-focused vocational educational programs? ii. If any students drop out of the program, how are their profiles different from those who persist?

We will make use of administrative data and questionnaires including the Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref) which has been validated cross-culturally, the Academic Motivation Scale (French version), Academic Interest Scale for Adolescents as well as qualitative data using open-ended questionnaires to explore untapped factors. Items on the Academic Interest Scale for Adolescents will be adapted to technology-focused courses they are learning at the institution. We will examine factors in the new cohort: students that persist and drop out by the end of the program and contrast them with a sample that has persisted in the program for one year beginning a year before to detect similarities and differences using machine learning algorithms.

The findings of this study will help in developing dropout predictive modeling systems in such programs for adolescents. Future studies can investigate more variables to establish more comprehensive profiles with larger sample sizes and use behavioral measures in combination with self-report measures.

Keywords: Dropout behavior, persistence behavior, e-learning, psychopedagogy, educational technology, machine learning

References:

Askeland, K.G., Bøe, T., Sivertsen, B. et al. Association of Depressive Symptoms in Late Adolescence and School Dropout. School Mental Health 14, 1044–1056 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-022-09522-5

Chau, K., Kabuth, B., Causin-Brice, O., Delacour, Y., Richoux-Picard, C., Verdin, M., ... & Chau, N. (2016). Associations between school difficulties and health-related problems and risky behaviours in early adolescence: A cross-sectional study in middle-school adolescents in France. Psychiatry research, 244, 1-9.

Dalipi, F., Imran, A. S., & Kastrati, Z. (2018, April 1). MOOC dropout prediction using machine learning techniques: Review and research challenges. IEEE Xplore. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2018.8363340

Jung, Y., & Lee, J. (2018). Learning Engagement and Persistence in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS). Computers & Education, 122, 9–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.02.013

Lakhal, S., Khechine, H., & Mukamurera, J. (2021). Explaining persistence in online courses in higher education: a difference-in-differences analysis. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(1), 1-32.

ABSTRACT. Literature review Elderly individuals are vulnerable to falls due to age-related declines in gait, balance, and cognition (Bergen, 2017; Cuevas-Trisan, 2017). Fried et al. (2001) defined frailty as a decreased reserve and resistance to stressors that result in vulnerability to adverse outcomes. Screening tools can assess these factors to prevent falls in nursing homes. Cognitive factors such as attention, sensory integration, and motor planning increase fall risk, while reduced brain volumes are associated with impaired gait and cognitive function. A comprehensive approach is necessary to reduce falls in older adults, including gait and balance assessment, cognitive function assessment, strength, balance exercises, environmental modifications, and medication review. Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence-based screening tools are utilized in nursing homes to track patients' activities and identify those most at risk of falling, providing personalized fall prevention recommendations based on individual patient data (Quijoux et al., 2021; WHO, 2021).

Research Questions i. What are the indicators of gait and balance quality in the frail elderly? ii. What are the cognitive markers of the frail elderly? General and Operational Hypothesis i. We hypothesize that gait and balance analyses can identify sub-clinical fall risk factors. ii. We assume that cognition plays a crucial role in the fall, particularly in its context (location, cause, and consequences like; traumatic, psychomotor).

Methodology This study aims to enroll 50 elderly people (10 men and 40 women) who live at the ORPEA nursing home and do not have neurological, vestibular, or visual disorders that prevent them from walking 10m without assistance. The French Committee for the Protection of Persons (CPP Nord Quest-IV) and the French data regulation agency (CNIL) have authorized this protocol. Informed consent will be obtained, and data confidentiality will be maintained. Standardized Mini-Mental State Exam in French version will be used to collect data on cognitive abilities. Clinical examinations will also be conducted to assess the participant’s ability to understand instructions, orientation, memory, and thymic state. Wearable sensors, such as accelerometers, and gyroscopes, will be used to collect data. Sampling theory, Discrete Fourier Transform, digital filters, stationarity, ergodicity, spectrogram analysis, and autocorrelation function will be used to extract meaningful information from the signals obtained from these sensors. Static data from a force platform will also be collected. Data analysis will be performed using Python, a favored signal-processing tool due to its open-source nature, vast libraries, and user-friendly syntax. Results will be presented in a way that facilitates the acceptability of the tools by the nursing staff, with a focus on data visualization, comprehensibility, and the addition of information to the clinical examination. Overall, 72 features will be grouped according to one of four families: positional, dynamic, frequency, or stochastic markers.

REFERENCES

Bergen, G. (2017). Falls and Fall Injuries among Adults Aged >/=65 Years — United States 2014 | MMWR. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6537a2

Cuevas-Trisan, R. (2017). Balance Problems and Fall Risks in the Elderly. 28(4), 727–737. doi:10.1016/j.pmr.2017.06.006

Fried, L. P., et al. (2001). Frailty in Older Adults: Evidence for a Phenotype. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/56.3.M146

Quijoux, F., et al. (2021). Postadychute-AG, Detection, and Prevention of the Risk of Falling among Elderly People in Nursing Homes: https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2020.604552

WHO. (2021). WHO Global Report on Falls Prevention in Older Age. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/falls#

ABSTRACT. Fear, phobia, and trauma are complex psychological phenomena that impact individuals' well-being and quality of life (Bonevski & Naumovska, 2018). Understanding the underlying mechanisms and neural correlates of these conditions is crucial for effective diagnosis, treatment, and interventions (Lanius et al., 2011). Traditional psychometric assessments have limitations, such as self-report biases and the inability to capture physiological responses (Cripps, 2017) while neurophysiological measures provide objective and continuous monitoring of physiological responses (Petrescu et al., 2020). Physiological measures and psychometric assessments are two dimensions separately used in psychiatric or psychological diagnosis and treatment planning (Reichenberg & Seligman, 2016). According to Patrick et al. (2019), there are still significant challenges that have not been completely addressed in the literature and that is to incorporate neurophysiological variables into psychological assessments. To address this limitation, researchers have turned to neurophysiological data obtained through biometric sensors to complement traditional psychometric assessments.

Research Questions:

i. To what extent is there synchronization between self-reported psychological states (fear, phobia, and trauma) and neurophysiological data obtained using biometric sensors?

ii. Are there specific temporal patterns or associations between declarative responses to psychometric tests and the corresponding neurophysiological markers related to fear, phobia, and trauma?

Hypothesis:

i. There will be a significant positive correlation between self-reported psychological states (fear, phobia, and trauma) and neurophysiological data obtained using biometric sensors, indicating synchronization between subjective experiences and objective physiological manifestations.

ii. Certain specific temporal patterns or associations will be observed between declarative responses to psychometric tests and the corresponding neurophysiological markers related to fear, phobia, and trauma, suggesting a temporal relationship and potential synchronization between these two domains.

The study will recruit 50 normal-functioning young adults aged 18-30 years old who must not be diagnosed with any psychological or psychiatric disorder. Informed consent will be obtained from each participant, outlining the purpose, procedures, and confidentiality measures. Participants will be evaluated using a combination of (1) Psychometric Assessments: Phobia Questionnaire (PHQ), Fear Survey Schedule (FSS), and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Questionnaire and (2) Biometric Data Acquisition: heart rate variability (HRV) and galvanic skin response (GSR) will be used to collect neurophysiological data. The sensors will be applied according to standard protocols and to ensure accurate recording of the collected data two protocols will be implemented: data recording management and data processing. Correlation analysis and machine learning algorithms will be used to determine the association between self-reported psychological states and neurophysiological markers, indicating synchronization between subjective experiences and objective physiological manifestations. Temporal patterns will be explored using time-series analysis to examine patterns in physiological responses over time, while event-related potentials will be used to investigate the neural responses triggered by specific stimuli.