Objective: The current study examined the efficacy of a virtual reality (VR) education system that simulates the experience of the positive symptomology associated with schizophrenic spectrum and other psychotic disorders. Method: The sample comprised of 50 participants from the general public and various psychology undergraduate programs. Participants completed pre-test measures exploring knowledge of diagnosis, attitudes, and empathetic understanding, before being exposed to an immersive VR simulation of a psychotic episode. Participants then completed the original measures with the addition of a user-experience scale, which explored sub-factors understood to share a relationship with VR effectiveness (i.e., fidelity, immersion, presence, and user buy-in). Results: Participants' scores were significantly enhanced at post-test across each outcome measure, with significant correlations found between a number of the gain and user-experience scores. Conclusions: The findings suggest that VRbased simulations of psychopathology may offer a promising platform for delivering a constructionist approach to psychology education.

People who have difficulty identifying and describing their emotions are more likely to seek out the experience of emotions in the high-risk domain. This is because the high-risk domain provides the experience of more easily identifiable emotions (e.g., fear). However, the continued search for intense emotion may lead such individuals to take further risks within this domain, which, in turn, would lead to a greater likelihood of experiencing accidents. Across three studies, we provide the first evidence in support of this view. In Study 1 (n = 762), alexithymia was associated with greater risk taking and a greater propensity to experience accidents and close calls. In Study 2 (n = 332) and Study 3 (n = 356), additional bootstrapped mediation models confirmed these relationships. The predictive role of alexithymia remained significant when controlling for sensation seeking (Study 1) and anhedonia (Study 2 and Study 3). We discuss the practical implications of the present model as they pertain to minimizing accidents and close calls in the high-risk domain.

Electronic intrusiveness is a form of cyber dating abuse that includes monitoring a partners’ location, whom a partner is talking to, and other private information via technology and social networking sites. The aim of this study was to further explore the prevalence of electronic intrusiveness, as well as to assess how electronic intrusiveness relates to in-person dating violence while controlling for known risk factors for in-person dating violence, namely, depression, emotion regulation, and acceptance of couple violence. Data for this study were drawn from the baseline assessment of a larger clinical trial. A sample of high-risk adolescent females between the ages of 14 and 17 with a lifetime history of prior dating violence victimization or perpetration was used. Participants completed self-report measures for all study variables. Findings demonstrate that perpetration of electronic intrusiveness within the past 3 months is common among a sample of high-risk adolescent females, with rates across various modes of technology ranging from 30% to 57%. Results also revealed electronic intrusiveness is associated with in-person dating violence perpetration after accounting for known risk factors. This study highlights the need to increase awareness of electronic intrusiveness and to better incorporate electronic intrusiveness into theoretical and empirical models of dating violence.

Date SMART appears to effectively reduce physical dating violence perpetration in those with higher levels of initial risk. Current findings support that adolescents with different risk profiles respond differently to violence prevention programs.

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