Many studies showed the ability of movies and imagery techniques to elicit emotions. Nevertheless, it is less clear how to manipulate the content of interactive media to induce specific emotional responses. In particular, this is true for the emerging medium virtual reality (VR), whose main feature is the ability to induce a feeling of "presence" in the computer-generated world experienced by the user. The main goal of this study was to analyze the possible use of VR as an affective medium. Within this general goal, the study also analyzed the relationship between presence and emotions. The results confirmed the efficacy of VR as affective medium: the interaction with "anxious" and "relaxing" virtual environments produced anxiety and relaxation. The data also showed a circular interaction between presence and emotions: on one side, the feeling of presence was greater in the "emotional" environments; on the other side, the emotional state was influenced by the level of presence. The significance of these results for the assessment of affective interaction is discussed.

Although research has extensively examined the link between cognitive\ud emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms, scant attention has been given to\ud the relationship between dispositional use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and\ud individuals’ positive functioning. In a cross-sectional study on 470 adults, we examined\ud whether individual differences in the use of nine cognitive strategies were associated with\ud subjective and psychological well-being. Results show that positive reappraisal and refocus\ud on planning are positively related to both subjective and psychological well-being.\ud Rumination, catastrophizing and self-blame are linked to poorer well-being, while positive\ud refocusing, putting into perspective, and acceptance show few significant associations.\ud These results suggest that cognitive emotion regulation strategies may be differently\ud effective in promoting individual’s well-being

Although all professions are susceptible to work-related stress, the nursing profession has been identified as particularly stressful; indeed, oncology nursing is often described as being among the most stressful specialty areas. The current study tested the short-term effects of an innovative self-help stress management training for oncology nurses supported by mobile tools. The sample included 30 female oncology nurses with permanent status employed in six oncology hospitals in Milan, Italy. The stress inoculation training (SIT) methodology served as the basis of the training, with the innovative challenge being the use of mobile phones to support the stress management experience. To test the efficacy of the protocol, the study used a between-subjects design, comparing the experimental condition (SIT through mobile phones) with a control group (neutral video through mobile phones). The findings indicated psychological improvement of the experimental group in terms of anxiety state, anxiety trait reduction, and coping skills acquisition. This paper discusses implications for the implementation of this protocol in several contexts.

Videogames offer several opportunities for ER and a challenge for educational and psychological interventions.

Spirituality and religiosity have been found to be positive predictors of subjective well-being, even if results are not altogether consistent across studies. This mixed evidence is probably due to the inadequate operationalization of the constructs as well as the neglect of the moderation effect that the individuals’ religious status can have on the relation between spirituality/religiosity and subjective well-being. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship of spirituality and religiosity with subjective well-being (operationalized as both life satisfaction and balance between positive and negative affect) and to test whether differences exist according to individuals’ religious status (religious, non-religious, and uncertain). Data were collected from 267 Italian adults aged 18–77 ( M = 36.68; SD = 15.13), mainly women (59.9%). In order to test the role of spirituality (operationalized as Purpose, Innerness, Interconnection, and Transcendence) and religiosity (operationalized as three dimensions of the religious identity: Commitment, In-depth Exploration, and Reconsideration of Commitment) in subjective well-being, two path analysis models were run, one for each predictor. To test the invariance of the two models across the individuals’ religious status, two multi-group models were run. The models concerning spirituality were tested on the entire sample, finding that spirituality had a positive impact on subjective well-being (except for the dimension of Interconnection) and that this relation is unaffected by the individual’s religious status. The models concerning religiosity were instead tested only on religious and uncertain, finding that the relationship between religiosity and subjective well-being changes across religious status. In particular, the main difference we found was that religious identity commitment positively predicted satisfaction with life among religious, but not among uncertain individuals. An interpretation of the results and their implications are discussed.

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) systems offer several learning affordances, that is, characteristics that can elicit learning behaviors promoting learning outcomes in educational contexts. In particular, the immersive and interactive properties of these systems represent a strong opportunity to support the effective learning experiences. The present review aims at mapping IVR systems' use in K-12 and higher educational contexts and investigating their effectiveness in facilitating learning in terms of knowledge attainment and retention and motivational outcomes. The synthesis of the reviewed studies (n = 18) show that IVR can support a number of activities and experiences that in turn improve learning and motivate students to fulfill educational goals by eliciting their interest and engagement with the learning materials. The main advantage of IVR seems related to the possibility for users to have first-hand experiences that would not be possible in the real world, simultaneously offering unique opportunities for experiential and situated learning, as well as promoting students' motivation and engagement. Despite the promising findings, the reviewed studies present several methodological flaws: non-randomized trials, small sample sizes, unbalanced samples and non-validated measures. This in turn makes it difficult to generalize from these results. Future research is needed to investigate the unique opportunities of IVR in education.

No abstract

Key Points Question What were the worries and perceptions experienced by residents of different exposure areas during the first week of outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy? Findings This survey study including 2886 participants found that people were well informed about COVID-19 and its implications. Higher scores for cognitive rigidity and emotional instability were associated with more worries and concerns regarding the COVID-19 outbreak regardless of exposure region. Meaning These findings suggest that at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, people who were cognitively flexible and emotionally stable were more likely to be more resilient to worries and concerns relating to COVID-19.