In digitized welfare countries, an increasing number of services to fulfill essential needs related to finances, housing, health care, social security, and mobility have been moving from physical to internet services. Scholars, policy makers, and social practitioners are interested in monitoring who cannot use these essential internet services and, therefore, are excluded. Drawing on a media literacy perspective and capability theory, this study applies an alternative way to investigate digital exclusion or the third level of the digital divide. Using a survey administered among a sample of adults (n = 674, 57% female, Mage = 49.93, SDage = 14.44) in the Flemish region of Belgium, this study empirically examined the associations between exclusion from essential internet services, socio-economic resources, and internet resources. Overall, the study found that people living in poverty, without a secondary education, experiencing loneliness, or having a poor health status were three to five times at a greater risk of digital exclusion compared with their counterparts. This association between socio-economic resources and digital exclusion can be partially explained by the individuals' levels of internet access, skills, and use frequency. In addition, we also found that people with high socio-economic resources can still be digitally excluded, and vice versa, people with low socio-economic resources can be digitally included. Therefore, digital inclusion initiatives should avoid stereotypical targeting and must target all citizens. Furthermore, internet skills and use experience are highly important for preventing digital exclusion, but other social mechanisms that may preclude people from using essential internet services should be explored in the future.

To date, few studies have investigated within-group differences in internet use among people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Previous research on internet use among people with disabilities has compared the internet access and use of people with and without disabilities, has investigated general benefits and risks associated with internet use for people with ID, or has examined how their internet skills and use can be improved. The present study aims to examine whether differences can be found in varying aspects of internet access, use purposes, skills and use support among a group of people with ID. Face-to-face survey data were collected among 94 people with ID (57.4% men; Mage = 45.28, SDage = 12.20). Our study revealed that particularly younger people with ID have more access, use the internet for more different purposes, have more skills and report to be more supported when they encounter problems compared to older people with ID. We further found that employed persons with ID have higher skills than unemployed ones, and that people who rely less on professional caregivers have more skills than those who rely more on professional caregivers. Given these results, we suggest that people with ID should be considered as a heterogeneous group of internet users. Consequently, we recommend organizations and caregivers to differentiate when teaching or applying internet use among this population.

It remains unclear whether poor people have personal access to ICTs, whether they can use ICTs to fulfill basic needs, and whether they can rely on support for ICT problems. Knowledge about the ICT resources of poor people is however crucial as governments, profit and non-profit organizations aim to digitize their services and administrations. Survey data were collected among 58 income-poor people (58.6% men, Mage = 47.2, SDage = 11.5) and compared with a sample of 569 non-income-poor people (48.7% men, Mage = 39.6, SDage = 13.2). Our results demonstrate that compared to non-income-poor people, significant more income-poor people do not have a computer, laptop or tablet and internet connection at home because they cannot afford it. Also, more income-poor people experience difficulties to look for a job online, to apply for financial benefits, or to search important information, while income-poor people receive fewer instrumental and emotional support for ICT problems. Consequently, we recommend policy and organizations to invest in an internet and computer subsidy system and minimal non-digital services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected people's lives and relationships. On March 13, 2020, the Belgian government issued lockdown measures which constrained most people's work and social life to the confines of their own home. For couples who lived together, being locked down together potentially placed a lot of stress on their relationship. As relationship stress can have detrimental (mental) health outcomes, it is important to identify which relationship aspects were particularly stressful during the pandemic lockdown. The present study aimed to investigate whether perceived relationship stress about five specific relationship aspects (i.e., conflict, diverging attitudes, restrictions, less connectedness, and neglect) differed before and during the lockdown, and between men and women. We conducted an online survey study among 2,889 respondents between April 3 and 17, 2020. A total of 1,491 respondents (76.3% female, Mage = 41.23) lived together full-time with their partner at the time. Our findings indicate that during the lockdown, women experienced more relationship stress than men because of conflict and diverging attitudes within their relationship. Furthermore, both men and women experienced more stress during the lockdown than before because they felt restricted in their relationship. Lastly, women reported significantly more perceived relationship stress during the pandemic lockdown compared to before because of conflicts they experienced within their relationship. Our findings provide important information for policymakers and health-care professionals to help couples who endure relationship hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown or in possibly similar situations in future crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

The global spread of the coronavirus has drastically impacted people's lives. Due to governmental lockdown measures, most people's work and social life were suddenly confined to their own home. For partners who lived together, this could put serious strain on their relationship, which could result in conflicts and violence. In this study, we aimed to identify which groups of people particularly experienced verbal partner violence during the pandemic lockdown, and how stress regarding the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the occurrence of partner conflicts. Through an online survey, which was distributed through online (social) media channels, we gathered data from 2889 people in Flanders, of which 1491 people lived together with their partner during the lockdown. We found that partner violence during the lockdown particularly occurred among women; younger age groups; students; people whose partner was long-term unemployed or was (temporarily) unemployed due to the pandemic; parents of children younger than 18 years; people without the ability to seclude themselves from other members of the household; and people with less personal contacts. In addition, higher levels of stress about the COVID-19 pandemic itself and lower levels of stress about potential coronavirus infection were associated with more partner violence during the lockdown. These findings provide important information for policy makers and health professionals, offering guidance to direct greater resources in prevention and intervention efforts towards higher risk individuals and groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The omnipresence of smartphones has reshaped the nature of our social interactions (Sbarra et al., 2018), especially parent-child interactions (Kildare & Middlemiss, 2017). This paper departs from a family system approach. It highlights the idea of a family as a complex and integrated whole, with interdependent family members (Cox & Paley, 1997). By questioning both mothers and children within the same family, we investigate their mutual phubbing behavior. Phubbing refers to smartphone interruptions in social relationships (Roberts & David, 2016). To date, few studies on parent–child relationships included dyadic data, thereby ignoring their mutual phubbing behaviour. We collected dyadic data from 318 mother-adolescent dyads.

This report describes main findings from a longitudinal survey study in Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020-2021. It shows the longitudinal impact of the pandemic and governmental lockdown measures on many aspects of people's life, such as their mental health, work, parenthood, finances, and their intimate relationships.

The global spread of the coronavirus has provided many challenges for people’s daily lives. Due to governmental lockdown measures, many people found their social life constrained to their own home and the people they share this with. For people who live together with their partner, new challenges also arise for their relationship. Although the increased amount of time and activities spent together can be beneficial for some, this isolation could have detrimental consequences for the relationship of others and could lead to increased conflict or in some cases even verbal and physical violence. In our study, we aimed to identify which groups of people were particularly vulnerable for reciprocal partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic and which stressors may play a role in this. As such, we conducted a large scale online survey study (n = 1491, 74% women). We found that the occurrence and frequency of partner aggression during the corona lockdown differed based on a person’s gender, age, work situation, parenthood, the ability to seclude oneself from other members of the household, and social capital. Furthermore, we found that reciprocal verbal partner violence was associated with parenting stress, financial stress, work stress,mental health issues, and stress about the corona crisis. At the conference, we would like to discuss scientific and societal implications of our findings.

Today, some individuals may be at a disadvantage by experiencing difficulties in using a smartphone or computer to reach specific outcomes (e.g., looking for a job, searching for information on insurances) or in general (e.g., not knowing how to change the settings of an app or website). The aim of this study is to develop and examine the psychometric properties of a new instrument, called the Digital Difficulties Scale (DDS). A multi-phase method was performed to develop the questionnaire in the period from January 2019 to November 2019. The item pool was generated based on a literature review, informal observations and interviews. Then, this item pool was presented both to experts (n = 6) and non-experts (n = 492) to assess content and face validity. In a second stage, construct validity (both exploratory and confirmatory), convergent and divergent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the questionnaire were tested. These analyses were based on a representative sample (n = 1000), and an independent sample for test-retest reliability (n = 44). Twenty-four items were generated and refined during content and face validity assessment. The exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors (Specific Digital Difficulties, General Digital Difficulties, and Worries about Future Digital Difficulties) containing sixteen items, together explaining 73.03% of the observed variance. The confirmatory factor analysis proved adequate model fitness. Both convergent and divergent validity were good, and internal consistency was excellent, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging between .93 and .97. Finally, our instrument demonstrated good test-retest reliability, with interclass correlation coefficients between .73 and .86. Consequently, the DDS can be used both in future research and practice, as it is a valid and reliable instrument to measure who is disadvantaged to fulfill basic needs by experiencing difficulties in using a smartphone or computer.

Elke laatstejaarsscholier die van plan is om verder te studeren in het hoger onderwijs dient een keuze te maken tussen verschillende hogescholen of universiteiten. Om deze keuze gericht te kunnen maken, worden verschillende factoren tegenover elkaar afgewogen. Terwijl buitenlandse studies hebben aangetoond dat zowel factoren met betrekking tot de kwaliteit van de opleiding als het sociale klimaat van de campus aan de basis van de schoolkeuze liggen, is het onderzoek in Belgie nog beperkt. Daarnaast werd tot op heden weinig rekening gehouden met het belang van veiligheid in dit beslissingsproces. In deze studie werden 385 laatstejaarsscholieren bevraagd over het belang van veiligheid in hun schoolkeuze. De resultaten tonen aan dat zowel de kwaliteit en de reputatie van de hogeronderwijsinstelling als de kenmerken van de stad waarin de hogeschool of universiteit is gelegen de sterkste determinanten zijn, maar dat ook veiligheid een belangrijk aandeel heeft in het beslissingsproces. Verder blijkt dat de verwachting om zelf slachtoffer te worden van criminaliteit een grotere rol speelt in de keuze voor een onderwijsinstelling dan de algemene risicoperceptie. Deze studie geeft een eerste inzicht in het belang van veiligheid in de schoolkeuze van Vlaamse laatstejaarsscholieren.

The ever-connected world created by smartphones has led to initiatives like a 'digital detox', in which smartphone users consciously disconnect from email, social media and internet in general for a certain period of time. Since research based on subjective self-reports indicates that extensive smartphone usage and stress are often related, we checked whether a digital detox is effectively associated with a decrease in stress in the short-term and whether this could be measured with objective markers of both smartphone usage and physiological stress. More particularly, we monitored participants for two consecutive weeks: one week of normal smartphone usage and one week of digital detox. We asked them to continuously wear a state-of-the-art wristband device, measuring physiological stress based on skin conductance (SC). In addition, we developed an app called 'mobileDNA' to capture detailed information on which apps participants use throughout the day and how much time they spend on them. Although this was a pilot study with a rather low sample size, we found decreased levels of stress during a digital detox week. This finding provides evidence that a digital detox can be an interesting coping mechanism for people experiencing problematic smartphone usage and that further and more extensive research with our methodology has a lot of potential in the future.

Although Augmented Reality (AR) technology is still in its infancy, applications have been rapidly developed. Claimed advantages are the ability to visualize processes, to increase motivation of users and to produce safer, cost-reducing and more effective skills training. Recently, a large number of studies examined determinants of AR effectiveness to maximize the potential benefits. However, no overview of AR effectiveness determinants is available to guide researchers, developers, and investors. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review of user performance and user subjective experience determinants of AR applications. In our preliminary analyses on 30 papers we identified three types of determinants, i.e. AR system aspects, device aspects and task aspects. Although aspects that simplifies the task, visually supports the user and provide high view quality seems to improve performance and experience, too overwhelming augmentations should be avoided. Further research can use this review to design effective experiments and examine unexplored determinants.

Existing theories that cover engagement with games largely ignore important elements, such as the role of context and the dynamic nature of gaming over time, while the few theories that do apply to disengagement are too general and thus provide few tools for understanding actual behavior. The current study aims to advance our understanding of game engagement by contrasting existing theoretical approaches with bottom-up, qualitative data collected in 30 interviews about game engagement with children and parents.