Trigger warnings are precautionary messages designed to help individuals prepare for potentially upsetting content. Originally developed in fan communities and support groups, they have evolved to serve as protective measures against traumatic material in educational environments. While recent studies suggest their clinical effectiveness may be limited, the broader sociopolitical impact remains unclear. This study investigates attitudes toward trigger warnings in Poland, aiming to adapt and validate the Trigger Warning Attitudes Scale (TWAS) and explore its relationship with trauma-related factors in academic contexts. A total of 196 students participated (134 online, 62 via paper-and-pencil), with the two-factor model showing an excellent fit (RMSEA = 0.039) and good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .86). Measurement stability (test-retest over 3 weeks) and construct validity (correlations with trauma-related constructs: The Impact of Events Scale Revised, Disclosure of Trauma Questionnaire, and Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory) were confirmed. The Polish version of TWAS demonstrates strong psychometric properties, making it a reliable tool for assessing attitudes toward trigger warnings. The identification of a two-factor structure – Institutional Expectations and Personal Relevance – provides preliminary evidence that attitudes toward trigger warnings are multidimensional, a distinction that may inform future research on their role in educational settings.
Background: Problematic social media use among university students is increasingly recognized as a multidimensional phenomenon. However, few studies have examined its heterogeneity based on symptom severity and motivational pathways. Objectives: This study aimed to identify distinct latent classes of social media users, assess psychological burden across classes defined by the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. Methods: A sample of 936 university students from Poland completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale and measures of depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-esteem, daily time spent on social media, and perceived excessive internet use. Latent class analysis was conducted. Results: Four classes were identified: No-Risk/Minimal Symptoms (25.1%), Addictive Use/Severe Symptoms (15.0%), Gratification-Driven/Moderate Symptoms (34.4%), and Situational Use/Mild-Moderate Symptoms (25.5%). The two moderate-risk groups differed qualitatively: the Gratification-Driven class was characterized by the pursuit of positive experiences, whereas the Situational Use class reflected context-dependent engagement without strong emotional drivers. High-risk users reported significantly greater depression, anxiety, and lower self-esteem. Loneliness was elevated across all symptomatic classes but did not differentiate between them, suggesting its role as a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor. Conclusions: The findings highlight the heterogeneity of problematic social media use among Polish university students and underscore the importance of addressing emotional vulnerabilities and motivational profiles in prevention and intervention efforts.
The discourse on the harmful effects of social media (SM) platforms on mental well-being, while dynamic and extensive, is at the same time inconclusive. Researchers still have not settled fundamental issues, such as whether the use of SM can be attributed to a harmful causal effect, and, if so, whether this effect has practical significance. The reason for this inconclusiveness may lie in the complex nature of SM, which makes it difficult to distinguish the real risks within a pool of diverse effects, both positive and negative. The paper addresses this challenge by identifying and presenting theoretically grounded causal links between (1) the business model of platforms, (2) specific platform design, and (3) the psychological harm identified among SM users. The first part of the paper describes an SM business model based on the attention economy as a source of specific technical solutions. The second part elaborates on specific social media features that support the platform’s business goals (e.g., infinite newsfeed, autoplay video) and discusses the mechanisms of their harmful potential. The third part presents a classification of harms that can be linked with SM design, including: behavioural harms – mainly related to excessive SM use; psychopathological harms – related to SM potential to contribute to the development of mental disorders; and cognitive harms – associated with lower cognitive abilities resulting from SM use. Finally, practical and regulatory implications are proposed. The paper provides the argument for the harmful potential of SM arising from the attention economy business model.
Patient empowerment has been linked to physical health outcomes and recovery; however, its relationship with mental health remains insufficiently explored, particularly in oncology populations, as most prior research has focused on non-oncology patients. Given the growing number of individuals diagnosed with cancer, this gap warrants investigation. This study examined the associations between overall patient empowerment and key indicators of mental functioning in oncology patients undergoing treatment, and aimed to develop a Polish adaptation of the Patient Empowerment Scale (PES). The analyzed indicators- coping strategies, health locus of control, quality of life, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic growth- correspond to the intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral components of psychological empowerment as conceptualized by Zimmerman. The sample comprised 120 patients (65 women, 55 men; aged 30-83). Measures included the PES, MINI-MAC, MHLC, EORTC QLQ-C30, HADS-M, and PTGI. Empowerment was significantly associated with all examined psychological indicators. The findings enhance understanding of psychosocial functioning in cancer patients and support the development of empowerment-based psychological interventions. The study also resulted in the development of PES-PL, a Polish adaptation of the Patient Empowerment Scale.
Objective: This study employed network analysis to examine the structural interrelations among key psychological constructs linked to mental health functioning in a sample of female university students. By mapping the interplay between dispositional traits, emotional vulnerabilities, and interpersonal dynamics, the study sought to identify central variables that may serve as leverage points for psychological intervention. Method: A total of 214 female university students completed validated self-report measures assessing goal pursuit, perceived self-esteem, sociability, integration with the opposite sex, social alienation, depression, neuroticism, extraversion, emotional threat, manipulation, and emotional surrender. Data were analyzed using a regularized partial correlation network estimated via EBICglasso in JASP (version 0.19.3). Network centrality metrics, strength, closeness, betweenness, and expected influence, were computed to determine the psychological prominence of each variable. Results: The resulting network was moderately sparse (sparsity index = 0.491), comprising 11 nodes and 28 non- zero edges. Depression emerged as the most central construct, exhibiting the highest strength and expected influence, thereby functioning as a core emotional hub. Manipulation, a dimension of emotional blackmail, also demonstrated substantial centrality, underscoring its role in psychosocial dysregulation. In contrast, variables such as emotional surrender and goal pursuit occupied peripheral positions, indicating limited influence within the psychological perspective. Notably, perceived self-esteem demonstrated a strong negative expected influence, suggesting a protective or buffering role. Sociability and cross-gender integration occupied moderately central positions, potentially contributing to emotional resilience. Conclusion: The network structure revealed a psychologically dense and clinically informative configuration in which depression and manipulation act as central drivers of emotional distress, while self-esteem and sociability may serve as key resilience factors. These findings highlight the utility of network analysis in identifying targets for intervention and advancing personalized approaches to mental health support among young adult populations.
