Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher educational institutions worldwide switched to emergency distance learning in early 2020. The less structured environment of distance learning forced students to regulate their learning and motivation more independently. According to self-determination theory (SDT), satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness affects intrinsic motivation, which in turn relates to more active or passive learning behavior. As the social context plays a major role for basic need satisfaction, distance learning may impair basic need satisfaction and thus intrinsic motivation and learning behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic need satisfaction and procrastination and persistence in the context of emergency distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-sectional study. We also investigated the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in this relationship. Furthermore, to test the universal importance of SDT for intrinsic motivation and learning behavior under these circumstances in different countries, we collected data in Europe, Asia and North America. A total of N = 15,462 participants from Albania, Austria, China, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Malta, North Macedonia, Romania, Sweden, and the US answered questions regarding perceived competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, persistence, and sociodemographic background. Our results support SDT’s claim of universality regarding the relation between basic psychological need fulfilment, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, and persistence. However, whereas perceived competence had the highest direct effect on procrastination and persistence, social relatedness was mainly influential via intrinsic motivation.

Objectives As the world population ages, psychiatrists will increasingly need instruments for measuring constructs of psychopathology that are generalizable to diverse elders. The study tested whether syndromes of co‐occurring problems derived from self‐ratings of psychopathology by US elders would fit self‐ratings by elders in 19 other societies. Methods/design The Older Adult Self‐Report (OASR) was completed by 12 826 adults who were 60 to 102 years old in 19 societies from North and South America, Asia, and Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, plus the United States. Individual and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) tested the fit of the seven‐syndrome OASR model, consisting of the Anxious/Depressed, Worries, Somatic Complaints, Functional Impairment, Memory/Cognition Problems, Thought Problems, and Irritable/Disinhibited syndromes. Results In individual CFAs, the primary model fit index showed good fit for all societies, while the secondary model fit indices showed acceptable to good fit. The items loaded strongly on their respective factors, with a median item loading of .63 across 20 societies, and 98.7% of the loadings were statistically significant. In multigroup CFAs, 98% of items demonstrated approximate or full metric invariance. Fifteen percent of items demonstrated approximate or full scalar invariance, and another 59% demonstrated scalar invariance across more than half of societies. Conclusions The findings supported the generalizability of OASR syndromes across societies. The seven syndromes offer empirically based clinical constructs that are relevant for elders of different backgrounds. They can be used to assess diverse elders and as a taxonomic framework to facilitate communication, services, research, and training in geriatric psychiatry.

Objectives: To conduct international comparisons of self-reports, collateral reports, and cross-informant agreement regarding older adult psychopathology. Participants: We compared self-ratings of problems (e.g. I cry a lot) and personal strengths (e.g. I like to help others) for 10,686 adults aged 60–102 years from 19 societies and collateral ratings for 7,065 of these adults from 12 societies. Measurements: Data were obtained via the Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) and the Older Adult Behavior Checklist (OABCL; Achenbach et al., 2004). Results: Cronbach’s alphas were .76 (OASR) and .80 (OABCL) averaged across societies. Across societies, 27 of the 30 problem items with the highest mean ratings and 28 of the 30 items with the lowest mean ratings were the same on the OASR and the OABCL. Q correlations between the means of the 0–1–2 ratings for the 113 problem items averaged across all pairs of societies yielded means of .77 (OASR) and .78 (OABCL). For the OASR and OABCL, respectively, analyses of variance (ANOVAs) yielded effect sizes (ESs) for society of 15% and 18% for Total Problems and 42% and 31% for Personal Strengths, respectively. For 5,584 cross-informant dyads in 12 societies, cross-informant correlations averaged across societies were .68 for Total Problems and .58 for Personal Strengths. Mixed-model ANOVAs yielded large effects for society on both Total Problems (ES = 17%) and Personal Strengths (ES = 36%). Conclusions: The OASR and OABCL are efficient, low-cost, easily administered mental health assessments that can be used internationally to screen for many problems and strengths.

Šiame straipsnyje analizuojami savižudybių pateikimo 1991–2004 m. Klaipėdos spaudoje ypatumai. Straipsnių analizei taikyta 28 požymių vertinimo schema (žr.: Gailienė, Trofimova 1999). Atlikta kiekybinė ir kokybinė straipsnių apie savižudybes analizė parodė, kad dauguma straipsnių apie savižudybes pagrindiniuose Klaipėdos dienraščiuose neatitinka rekomenduojamų savižudybių pateikimo spaudoje reikalavimų. Pagrindiniai Klaipėdos dienraščiai skiria mažai dėmesio savižudybių prevencijai ir pagalbai bei pateikia nedaug pranešimų apie statistinius ir mokslinių tyrimų duomenis.

Lietuvoje jau adaptuoti ir naudojami ASEBA grupės klausimynai, skirti vaikų bei paauglių elgesio ir emocijų sunkumams įvertinti. Šiame straipsnyje pristatomos ASEBA suaugusiųjų klausimyno formų – Asmens savęs vertinimo lapo (ASR) ir Asmens vertinimo lapo (ABCL) – lietuviškojo varianto psichometrinės charakteristikos, naudojant reprezentacinės 18–59 metų Lietuvos suaugusiųjų imties duomenis. Tyrimo duomenų analizė parodė pakankamas ASR ir ABCL skalių, skirtų įvertinti elgesio ir emocijų sunkumus, psichometrines charakteristikas. Nustatyta, kad patikimiausios yra Nerimastingumo / depresiškumo ir Agresyvaus elgesio skalės, o mažiausiai patikima Mąstymo sunkumų skalė. ASEBA varianto skalių tarpusavio koreliacijos iš esmės nesiskiria nuo originalaus varianto ir patvirtina klausimyno struktūros bei išvestinių skalių pagrįstumą. Tyrimas parodė, kad Lietuvos suaugusiųjų elgesio ir emocijų sunkumams įvertinti galima naudoti normas, sudarytas remiantis reprezentacinės 18–59 metų imties duomenimis.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: elgesio ir emocijų sunkumai, ASEBA suaugusiųjų klausimyno formų patikimumas ir validumas.The psychometric properties of the Lithuanian version of aseba adult forms Šimulionienė R., Brazdeikienė L., Rugevičius M., Gedutienė R., Žakaitienė A. SummaryASEBA Adult Forms are designed to obtain information about the adaptive and maladaptive functioning of 18–59-aged adults and to facilitate comparisons between people’s perceptions of their own functioning and other people’s perceptions of their functioning. This article presents the major psychometric properties of Syndrome scales of the Lithuanian version of ASEBA Adult forms developed to evaluate behavioral and emotional problems. ASRs (Adult Self-Report) were administered to 18–59-aged adults comprising a random sample drawn from the whole Lithuania (N = 600). ABCL (Adult Behavior Checklist) forms were completed by people nominated by the participants (spouses, partners, friends etc.). After excluding ASRs and ABCLs of participants who reported mental health and substance use problems or did not respond to more than 8 items, the remaining 510 forms were used in data analysis. Four issues were examined: 1) the internal consistency of the forms, 2) item–total correlations, 3) cross-informant agreement, and 4) correlations between scales. Data analysis showed adequate psychometric properties of Syndrome scales. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.62 to 0.95 for different ASR and ABCL scales. The Anxious / Depressed and Aggressive Behavior scales had the highest level of internal consistency, and the Thought Problems scale had the lowest alpha in both forms. The cross-informant correlations ranged from 0.36 for the Thought Problems to 0.61 for the Anxious / Depressed scale. The mean of the Q correlations between 0–1–2 scores on the problem items of ASRs and on the counterpart items of ABCLs was 0.51, indicating the moderate level of agreement between different informants. Correlations between scales confirmed the proposed structure of both forms and derivative scales (Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems). Differences between Lithuanian and USA samples were most strongly expressed among 18–35-aged females and 36–59-aged males. The majority of scale scores in the Lithuanian sample were higher than in the USA sample. The effect size of the differences between Lithuanian and American samples was moderate for most of the scales. Future research is needed to improve the psychometric properties of the Lithuanian version of ASEBA Adult forms.Keywords: behavioral and emotional problems, reliability and validity of ASEBA Adult forms.