The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of harmonious and obsessive passion for playing video games with behavioral school engagement, and to determine whether these two types of passion are indirectly related to behavioral school engagement through time spent playing video games. Data for this correlational, on-line study were collected from a convenience quota sample of 568 high-school students (55.5% boys) between 14 and 19 years old (M = 15.89; SD = 1.16). Participants self-reported their passion for playing video games, the amount of time they spent playing video games, and their behavioral school engagement. Path analysis showed that both harmonious and obsessive passion exerted direct effects on behavioral school engagement, as well as indirect effects through time spent playing video games. Higher harmonious passion was directly related to higher school engagement, but it was also indirectly related to lower school engagement because of its association with more time spent playing video games. In contrast, higher obsessive passion was related to lower school engagement both directly as well as indirectly through its association with more time spent playing. The results are discussed in the context of the dualistic model of passion.

The role of attachment to friends in the explanation of adolescents’ susceptibility to peer pressure was explored, regarding the way these two constructs are measured. In Study 1, 475 high school students (194 boys and 281 girls) were given Susceptibility to Peer Pressure Questionnaire, and their attachment to friends was measured with Modified Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory and Relationship Scales Questionnaire. One month later, 80 boys and 80 girls participated in Study 2, where they completed the same Susceptibility to Peer Pressure Questionnaire in a chat-room simulation, convinced that they can see other students’ answers and that their own answers could be seen by others. When susceptibility to peer pressure was measured by self-report questionnaire, the level of avoidance proved to be a significant predictor for boys, while the level of anxiety and the model of others were significant predictors for girls. When susceptibility to peer pressure was measured experimentally, the results showed that attachment dimensions predict only girls’ susceptibility and that the only significant predictor is their model of others

Background Conservation of resources theory (COR) establishes a link between resource loss and the stress response. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of resource loss in the form of home damage and the choice of active or passive coping strategies to PTSD symptoms in survivors of the 2020 Petrinja (Croatia) earthquake. Methods A total of 374 adults (29.9% men) aged 18–64 years living in the counties surrounding the epicenter of the Petrinja (Croatia) earthquake participated in an online cross-sectional survey. The questionnaire included the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Coping Inventory, and the binary item assessing whether or not the participants' home was damaged. Results Hierarchical regression analysis showed that home damage was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms. Participants whose homes were damaged by the earthquake were significantly more likely to use passive coping strategies, namely avoidance and emotional venting, and one active coping strategy, action, than those whose homes were spared. Finally, more frequent use of passive coping was associated with a higher risk of PTSD symptoms. Conclusions The study corroborates the COR theory link between resource loss and the stress response, as well as the general consensus that passive coping is a less adaptive strategy than active coping. In addition to passive coping, individuals who lacked resources may have been inclined to take some active steps because they either needed to repair or relocate their homes and because most buildings were only moderately to minimally damaged in the Petrinja earthquake.

-Strong evidence exists that alcohol consumption and violent offending are linked, and the "common cause" model suggests that this link results from shared risk factors. To test this model and further explore the connection between alcohol consumption and violent offending, the present study used regression analysis to examine possible relationships among alcohol consumption, violent offending and personality characteristics (extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism) in 1464 male prisoners aged 17 to 79 years who entered in Croatian prison system in 2013. and were evaluated in the Center for Diagnostics in Zagreb. The results suggest that alcohol consumption and violent offending share some personality risk factors, and that alcohol consumption mediates the relationship between personality and violent offending. These results are discussed within the framework of the common cause model, providing more detailed insights into the complex relationship among personality, alcohol consumption, and violent offending.

BACKGROUND: General population surveys present a useful tool for getting information on drug use prevalence, but they often fail to reach a sufficient number of users, which is required to get detailed information on use patterns or other characteristics. Web surveys, especially when they use social networking sites, might present a complementary mechanism for getting a better picture of drug use by reaching hard-to-reach populations. AIM: The main objective of this study was to examine Facebook advertisements as a recruitment strategy in the “European Web Survey on Drugs: patterns of use”, a project organized by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. METHODS: Recruitment campaigns invited adults aged 18+ years who had consumed at least one drug (cannabis, MDMA/ ecstasy, amphetamines, or cocaine) in the past 12 months to complete an online survey. The advertisements were created in Facebook’s Advertisement program and were used in Croatia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. RESULTS: Among the eligible participants recruited via Facebook (N=5256), 68.1% were from Croatia, 24.4% from Switzerland, and 7.5% from the Netherlands. The Croatian and Swiss participants were younger and more likely to be males compared to the Dutch participants. Chi-square tests showed that there were significant differences in the frequency of drug use between the samples from the different countries for almost all drugs. CONCLUSION: The Facebook recruitment strategy was successful in reaching young adults, as well as recreational drug users, although the costs, campaign duration, available budget, and content of the ad images differed among the countries.

Brojni istraživači (npr. Farrington, 2003; Joliffe i Farrington, 2004) navode kako je potrebno bolje proučiti mehanizam povezanosti empatije i činjenja kaznenih djela, pri čemu nude nekoliko objašnjenja istoga. Jedno od njih se temelji na rezultatima sustavnog pregleda istraživanja odnosa empatije i činjenja kaznenih djela, autora Joliffea i Farringtona (2004). Prema ovim autorima, postoji mogućnost da empatija posreduje u odnosu između nekog drugog rizičnog čimbenika i činjenja kaznenih djela, a njihov pregled istraživanja je pokazao da je inteligencija jedan od tih rizičnih čimbenika. Prema tome, kako bismo bolje razumjeli odnos između inteligencije, empatije i kriminalnog recidivizma, cilj ovog rada bio je provjeriti posreduje li empatija u odnosu između inteligencije i kriminalnog recidivizma. Pretpostavilo se da će niža inteligencija predvidjeti izraženiji kriminalni recidivizam samo neizravno, preko smanjene empatije. Uzorak se sastoji od svih muških zatvorenika (N=1600) koji su u 2013. godini ušli u zatvorski sustav u Republici Hrvatskoj, a sa zatvorskom kaznom duljom od 6 mjeseci. Prosječna dob zatvorenika bila je 39 godina (SD=11,79), a prosječno trajanje zatvorske kazne iznosilo je 27 mjeseci (SD=34,39). Svi zatvorenici su tijekom 2013. u Centru za dijagnostiku u Zagrebu bili na psihodijagnostičkom testiranju. Za potrebe rada, korišteni su podatci o kriminalnom recidivizmu, inteligenciji te empatiji, ali i o crtama ličnosti koje su služile kao kontrola. Kriminalni recidivizam mjeren je ukupnim brojem zatvorskih kazni, inteligencija s Beta testom, empatija sa subskalom empatije iz Eysenckovog upitnika impulzivnosti (IVE), dok su crte ličnosti (psihoticizam, ekstraverzija i neuroticizam) mjerene revidiranim Eysenckovim upitnikom ličnosti. Rezultati medijacijske analize provedene u PROCESS makrou za SPSS (Hayes, 2012) su pokazali da ne postoji značajan izravan učinak inteligencije na kriminalni recidivizam, ali da postoji značajan neizravni učinak niže inteligencije na izraženiji kriminalni recidivizam preko smanjene empatije. Dobiveni nalazi razmatrani su iz teorijske i praktične perspektive.

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