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Lifelong learning can be indispensable for the adaptation to continuously evolving labor markets and societal demands. In the current study, we examined psychological factors, notably aspects of personality (personality traits in the five-factor model and trait curiosity), self-reflection and motivation in relation to attitudes to lifelong learning. A specific aim was to examine the relative importance of these factors in their contribution to attitudes to lifelong learning. The study was carried out by use of a digital survey and included 717 adults (M_age = 47.93) within working life. The results showed that self-reflection and trait curiosity were the strongest predictors of attitudes to lifelong learning but work intrinsic motivation and openness to experience (a personality trait in the five-factor model) also contributed with unique explanatory power, although to a lesser degree. The results can inform individualized accessibility strategies for lifelong learning.

Purpose: To examine associations between time perspective and health promotion behaviors of physical activity and weight management.

Design: Quantitative cross-sectional.

Setting: This study is part of the Betula project on aging, memory, and dementia in Northern Sweden.

Subjects: 417 older adults aged between 55 and 85 years.

Measures: Swedish-Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory; Physical Activity in the past year, past week, and in comparison with others of similar age; Weight Management = Body Mass Index (BMI; kg/m²).

Results: After controlling for age, sex, and years of education, hierarchical linear regression indicated a Balanced Time Perspective was significantly associated with more physical activity in the past year (P =.04), the past week (P <.001), and in comparison with others (P <.01). Past Negative time perspective was associated with less physical activity in the past year (P =.03), and in comparison with others (P =.03). Present Fatalistic was associated with less physical activity during the past week (P =.03), and in comparison with others (P =.01). Present Hedonistic was associated with more physical activity the past week (P =.03), and in comparison with others (P =.03). Past Negative was associated with higher BMI (P =.02), and Future Negative were associated with lower BMI (P =.01). Taken collectively, greater positivity and flexibility across time perspectives was associated with more physical activity, whereas negative oriented time perspectives related with less physical activity and poorer weight management.

Conclusion: Time perspective can be associated with health behaviors in older adults and have implications for health across the lifespan. Health promotion interventions may target older adults’ enjoyment of exercise and weight management in the present, rather than highlight potential negative health outcomes in the future. 

Introduction: Prior research indicates that depressive symptoms in unselected or sub-clinical samples are associated with time perspective biases, including a more negative view of the past and a more fatalistic attitude toward the present. In the current study, we compared time perspective profiles for a clinical sample, with a depression diagnosis with that of a control group. Additionally, we considered a measure known as deviations from the balanced time perspective (DBTP) that capture deviations across time frames, not considered in previous studies. A second obejctive was to test a model involving DPTP as a mediator of the links between cognitive fusion and self-compassion with depressive symptoms.

Method: In total, 300 individuals participated in the study, 150 participants with a depression diagnosis and 150 without a depression diagnoses. All participants filled in questions regarding background variables together with Polish adaptations of ZTPI, CFQ, SCS-S, and DASS-21 using a web-survey.

Results: The results showed significantly higher scores on Past Negative and Present Fatalistic in the clinical sample. In line with the hypothesis the clinical group also displayed elevated DBTP scores (d = 0.75), a difference that remained significant when current symptoms were adjusted for. The results of structural equation modeling moreover indicate a major role of cognitive fusion (which, as expected, was strongly associated with DBTP) in predicting symptom burden, regardless of the clinical/non-clinical distinction, but. Still, DBTP accounted for significant (unique) variance in depressive symptoms. By contrast, the inclusion of cognitive fusion and DBTP eliminated the association of self-compassion and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: Taken together, the results indicate that levels of DBTP/fusion for persons with depression diagnosis is present regardless of current symptom burden. Thus, DBTP could be regarded as a risk factor of developing depression. Prospective research designs are needed to further evaluate the associations of the main constructs in this study and the extent to which they are predictive of future diagnosis and changes in symptom level.

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to react negatively on affective, cognitive and behavioural levels to uncertain situations and to harbour negative beliefs about the implications of uncertainty. IU has been linked to psychopathology and shown to impact treatment outcomes. This study systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis of the effects of psychotherapy on IU. A total of 22 studies (1491 participants) were identified in online searches and included in the meta-analyses. Analyses were performed on studies with passive and active control conditions. The pooled effect on IU from studies with passive control was large (g = −0.94 [95% CI −1.25 to −0.62]) but with significant heterogeneity. Pooled effects on IU from studies with active controls were not significant. Moderator analysis showed that among studies with a passive control condition, studies that recruited participants from clinical care facilities produced smaller effect sizes. Among studies with an active control condition, study quality significantly moderated the results, with higher quality leading to a larger effect size. These results indicate that changes in IU may be difficult to reliably achieve in psychotherapy and leave many questions about the effect of psychotherapy on IU unanswered, such as what active components produced the observed changes in studies with passive control.

The aim of the study was to examine the influence of smartphone use on time perception during exercise. Twenty-four physically active participants (16 females, MVO2max = 43.0 ml/kg/min; 8 males, MVO2max = 56.9 ml/kg/min; Mage = 24.40, SD = 4.35) completed an experimental study comprised of randomized conditions alternating between cycling at a hard intensity and seated rest, whilst their smartphone was: a) used to view ‘Tik Tok’ videos; b) present but not viewed; or c) out of sight. In each condition participants were asked to verbally produce a target amount of time (i.e., 37s) during the trial and upon its completion estimate the duration of the trial (i.e., 330s). Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated smartphones significantly affected participants’ perception of time during and following intervals of cycling and rest. Bonferroni corrected post hoc tests showed that the time production during cycling viewing was significantly shorter when watching videos compared to when the phone was present but not viewed (Mdiff = −6.19, p = .012), 95% CI [−11.2, −1.17], as well as when the phone was out of sight (Mdiff = −4.65, p = .022), 95% CI, [−8.72, −.575]. Following each condition participants estimated the duration of the trial was less time than actual chronometric time, a significant effect of the smartphone conditions was observed F(2, 44) = 7.10, p = .002, ηp2 = .24, although not of physical activity F(1, 23) = 3.33, p = .08, ηp2 = .13. Participants were more accurate in estimating the duration of the trial when they viewed videos on their smartphone. The results of the present study suggest that viewing videos on a smartphone can induce participants to perceive time passing more quickly during exercise, and upon completion of the physical activity judge the duration of exercise to be less than reality.

Today, adult individuals must be able to continuously learn and adapt to the rapid changes occurring in society. However, little is known about the individual characteristics, particularly personality traits, that make adults more likely to engage in learning activities. Moreover, few studies have longitudinally and objectively investigated the influence of personality on engagement in lifelong learning throughout working age. This study therefore used longitudinal data (15 years) to examine which personality traits predicted level and long-term changes in learning activities among 1329 Swedish adults aged 30–60. The results from growth curve modelling showed that over the follow-up period, novelty seeking and self-transcendence were both positively related to overall level of engagement in learning activities, although not to rate of change. Regarding specific activities, novelty seeking was related to higher levels of engagement in attending courses, taking on new education, and making occupational changes, while harm avoidance was negatively related to the likelihood of changing occupation. The results of this study underscore the importance of considering personality in relation to engagement in lifelong learning activities. Insights from this study can potentially increase the likelihood of finding methods to promote lifelong learning, which can be beneficial for educators, policymakers, and companies.

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) using classical test theory and item response theory (IRT). The CORE-OM is a commonly used 34-item self-report instrument measuring psychological problems/distress covering four domains: subjective well-being, problems/symptoms, functioning and risk. Despite its broad application, only a few studies have used IRT to examine the psychometric properties, and the properties of the Swedish version have only been examined in one initial study. The present study included 1,011 clients with mild to moderate symptoms of distress, applying for psychotherapy at an outpatient training clinic in Sweden. Clients' responses were subjected to classical item analyses as well as IRT (Rasch) analysis using the partial credit model. The classical analyses demonstrated high levels of internal consistency and acceptable levels of item discrimination for the majority of the items, although lower for some items, particularly in the Risk domain. IRT analyses showed that there was a rather good match between item and respondent locations and the measurement precision was high. Disordered step and average measures for some of the items in the Risk domain indicate that these items were problematic from a psychometric point of view and only applicable for a minority of the participants. Differential item functioning for gender in some of the items suggests that they might need to be revised to minimise potential gender bias.

Clinical burnout has been associated with impaired cognitive functioning; however, inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the pattern and magnitude of cognitive deficits. The aim of this systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis was to assess cognitive function in clinical burnout as compared to healthy controls and identify the pattern and severity of cognitive dysfunction across cognitive domains. We identified 17 studies encompassing 730 patients with clinical burnout and 649 healthy controls. Clinical burnout was associated with impaired performance in episodic memory (g = −0.36, 95% CI −0.57 to −0.15), short-term and working memory (g = −0.36, 95% CI −0.52 to −0.20), executive function (g = −0.39, 95% CI −0.55 to −0.23), attention and processing speed (g = −0.43, 95% CI −0.57 to −0.29) and fluency (g = −0.53, 95% CI −1.04 to −0.03). There were no differences between patients and controls in crystallized (k = 6 studies) and visuospatial abilities (k = 4). Our findings suggest that clinical burnout is associated with cognitive impairment across multiple cognitive domains. Cognitive dysfunction needs to be considered in the clinical and occupational health management of burnout to optimise rehabilitation and support return-to-work.

A major aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between time perspective, i.e., habitual ways of relating to the past, present, and future and sleep quality. A second aim was to test a model by which the expected negative relationship between deviation from a balanced time perspective (DBTP), a measure taking temporal biases across all three frames into account, and life satisfaction was mediated by poor sleep quality. To these ends, a sample of young adults (N = 386) completed a version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A measure of chronotype was in addition included for control purposes. Bivariate analyses revealed that the S-ZTPI subscales Past Negative, Future Negative, and Present Fatatlistic were associated with poorer sleep quality (higher PSQI scores), with significant associations in the opposite direction for Past Positive and Future Positive. However, DBTP was the strongest predictor of (poor) sleep quality, suggesting that time perspective biases have and additive effect on sleep quality. Regression analyses with PSQI as the dependent variable and alll six ZTPI subscales as the predictors indicated that time perspective accounted for about 20% of the variance in sleep quality (17% beyond chronotype), with Past Negative, Past Positive, and Future Negative as the unique predictors. The results additionally confirmed a strong relation between DBTP and life satisfaction. Finally, data were consistent with the hypothesis that the association of DBTP and life satisfaction is mediated, in part, by sleep quality. Taken together, the results confirmed a substantial link between time perspective and sleep-related problems, factors that may have a negative impact on life satisfaction. 

Chemical intolerance is a surprisingly prevalent condition or affliction characterized by adverse reactions to low levels of chemical, often odorous stimulation. Sufferers often assume that their plight is due to an uncommon sensory acuteness, yet studies repeatedly fail to reveal altered detection thresholds. Here, we investigated whether self-reported chemical intolerance is associated with altered sensory sensitivity or response bias. The sensory acuity (sensitivity; A) and sensory decision rule (criterion; B) to n-butanol was assessed using the method of constant stimuli in 82 participants with different degrees of chemical intolerance (low to high). Higher self-reported chemical intolerance was associated with a lower criterion, but not with sensitivity.