This paper validates the Croatian version of a new instrument for assessing burnout syndrome at both the individual and group level – the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23). The Croatian version of the BAT-23 was applied to a representative sample of the Croatian working population (n = 768) with the aim of testing its construct validity and obtaining national statistical norms. The results indicated high internal consistency for the BAT-23 total score as well as its subscales: Exhaustion, Emotional Impairment, Cognitive Impairment, and Mental Distance (coefficients ranged from .81 to .90). Additionally, the subscales demonstrated the expected positive intercorrelations, ranging from .49 to .66. The best-fitting model was a bifactor latent model containing the four factors describing core symptoms, along with a general factor of burnout encompassing all items. Furthermore, the theoretical validity of the model was tested by applying the basic tenets of the Job Demands-Resources Model. The results demonstrated a positive association between an individual’s level of burnout (total score and four specific dimensions) and perceived job demands, reported secondary symptoms of impaired mental health, and turnover intention, as well as a negative association with self-rated job resources and in-role performance. Statistical norms are provided for the working population of Croatia.

This paper validates the Croatian version of a new instrument for assessing burnout syndrome at both the individual and group level – the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23). The Croatian version of the BAT-23 was applied to a representative sample of the Croatian working population (n = 768) with the aim of testing its construct validity and obtaining national statistical norms. The results indicated high internal consistency for the BAT-23 total score as well as its subscales: Exhaustion, Emotional Impairment, Cognitive Impairment, and Mental Distance (coefficients ranged from .81 to .90). Additionally, the subscales demonstrated the expected positive intercorrelations, ranging from .49 to .66. The best-fitting model was a bifactor latent model containing the four factors describing core symptoms, along with a general factor of burnout encompassing all items. Furthermore, the theoretical validity of the model was tested by applying the basic tenets of the Job Demands-Resources Model. The results demonstrated a positive association between an individual’s level of burnout (total score and four specific dimensions) and perceived job demands, reported secondary symptoms of impaired mental health, and turnover intention, as well as a negative association with self-rated job resources and in-role performance. Statistical norms are provided for the working population of Croatia.

The study examines the structure and dimensionality of emotional intelligence (EI) in early adolescents using multiple operationalisations within the ability-based framework. The observed and latent level relationships between the abilities to perceive, understand, and manage one's own and others' emotions were analysed in a sample of 517 primary school students, aged 10 to 15 years old (45.3 % female). In addition to three performance-based instruments-the Perception of Affective Content in Art Test (TAES), the Analysis of Emotions Test (TAE) and the Emotion Management Test (TUE), the study included peer and teacher ratings of abilities related to the three branches of the Mayer and Salovey's (1997) EI model. Descriptive, correlational and confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for the validity and appropriateness of the EI tests administered for use with early adolescents. The findings support the hypothesised distinction between self- and other-related emotion management abilities, but the conceptual division into experiential and strategic levels of EI could not be discerned in the adolescent sample data of our study. The other-rating measures of the three EI dimensions failed to show discriminant validity, however, the latent correlations obtained indicate that they share substantial common variance with all performance-based measures.

Burnout poses severe health-related and financial risks. However, valid and reliable measurement of this occupational phenomenon has been impeded by the conceptual, psychometric and pragmatical shortcomings of the extant burnout instruments. The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is a new measure of burnout that was developed to overcome these deficiencies. The purpose of this study was to validate the Croatian version of its short form, BAT-12, using a representative sample of the Croatian working population. To do so, we examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of BAT-12 across gender, age, and occupational type, as well as convergent and discriminant data on BAT-12 vis-a-vis an alternative burnout measure, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, job resources, job demands and job outcomes. The results obtained on online survey data from 966 employees supported the hierarchical structure of BAT-12, although with slight modifications. We also found comparable loading structure across age, gender, and occupational type, whereas the intercept invariance depended on the moderator. Convergent and discriminant validity was supported in relation to all examined variables. Therefore, the psychometric soundness of the Croatian version of BAT-12 adds new evidence to the current validation process of the BAT-12 and supports the application of this measure on the Croatian working population.

The paper examines the role of school experiences in accounting for behavioural and subjective aspects of high- -school student adjustment. The study data were collected on a stratified random sample of students (N = 978) of both genders and attending all 4 grades of high schools in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Age and gender differences in the level and structure of relationships among the selected measures of school experiences, leisure-time variables, and adaptation outcomes were examined. Higher levels of students’ attachment and commitment to fulfilling school obligations were detected among younger students and females, while the exposure to alcohol and substance use was expectedly found to be more common among higher- -grade students. Multigroup structural equation analyses confirmed significant direct relationships of latent measures of school experiences with general satisfaction with life, and indirect relationships of the same school experiences variables with the regularity of substance use among students. Somewhat different magnitudes of structural parameters were observed between the samples defined by gender, whereas age differences in the obtained pattern of structural relationships were not supported by the empirical data.

Personality has widely been documented to play an important role in the cognitive appraisal and stress processes. Emerging studies highlight the stress mindset as a new concept that could add to the understanding of individual differences in stress experiences. This study aimed to examine the relative contribution of Big Five personality dimensions and stress mindset in accounting for measures of cognitive appraisals of stress among the competing athletes. The study was conducted on a sample of 125 collegiate athletes of both genders who actively compete in sport. All the participants were regular undergraduate or graduate students at the Faculty of Kinesiology of the University of Zagreb. A questionnaire including demographic information about athletes and their sport career, stress mindset measure (SMM), situation-specific cognitive appraisal scale, sources of stress scale, and personality scale measured by IPIP-50 was administered in an online form using the Google Forms platform. Multivariate hierarchical regression procedures resulted in somewhat different predictor structures accounting for cognitive appraisals of threat, loss, and challenge, used as criterion variables. The set of Big Five personality dimensions and stress mindset measure proved to have a significant additive contribution to the explanation of each of the three cognitive appraisal criterion variances. The study results support the current body of literature suggesting a unique role of the stress mindset construct in explaining individual differences in cognitive stress appraisal among athletes above and beyond general personality dimensions.

Vastly changed schooling arrangements due to the COVID-19 crisis have generally limited the opportunities and resources for schools to provide necessary psychological and other support to their students. Given this, all parties involved in the schooling system need to understand the kinds of experiences students have via distance learning and how students adapt to novel living and studying conditions. This study examines the relevant sources of stress that students encounter with regard to online classes, and the frustrations they face due to living in social isolation, as well as how these stressors relate to the measures of students' emotional wellbeing and psychological adjustment. Data were collected in April 2020 via an online questionnaire administered to a sample of 4,492 students (62.6% female) attending all four grades of high school within two Croatian counties. The results point to the differential effects of particular aspects of online teaching practices on the stressful experiences of students. Furthermore, the results of multivariate analysis of variance and canonical discriminant analyses demonstrated notable gender and grade differences in the structure of students' emotional and behavioral adaptation to the health crisis. Female students and those predominantly studying at the highest grade reported higher frequency and intensity of short-term emotional and psychosomatic difficulties. Male students in the final grade year scored highest on the dimension defined by the number and intensity of online teaching stressors. The results are interesting in light of hypothetical accounts of adjustment mechanisms based on existing stress theories. Moreover, the findings serve as a basis for teachers' self-reflection and self-evaluation of schools, which can then lead to designing specific programs of support in learning and adaptation to the new living and studying conditions.

In longitudinal studies of pornography use, selective loss of participants who may be more vulnerable to the effects of pornography than their peers is a serious concern. To explore the potential for such selective dropout, we used data from two independent large-scale panel studies of adolescents' pornography use. Of the three types of attrition-early attrition, later attrition, and gaps in participation-only the first was substantially higher among more vulnerable adolescents, compared with other participants. Panel type (online vs. classroom-based) moderated only the association between vulnerability and participation gaps, which was significant in the classroom-based but not the online panel. Overall, this study's findings point to the importance of delaying selective dropout by developing a comprehensive plan of action, for which we offer some guidelines.

This study focuses on the developmental changes in emotional intelligence (EI) abilities during early adolescence. During class hours, 561 students in the first wave (Mage = 12.32, SDage = 1.22, 54.5% of boys) and 369 students in the second wave (M = 13.40; SD = 0.98, 52.3% of boys) completed Perception of Affective Content in Art Test, Analysis of Emotions Test, Emotion Management Test and rated their peers’ EI at two waves, 18 months apart. They also completed a Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale within the first wave. Students’ EI was also rated by their home room teacher and one teacher who completed Teacher Ratings of EI Questionnaire specifically designed for this study. Results showed that girls and older students scored higher on EI tests and peers’ ratings. Oldest students achieved the lowest scores on teacher ratings. The longitudinal analysis confirmed positive changes between the first and the second wave. Results of both the crosssectional and two waves analysis revealed significant effects of gender and general cognitive ability, measured with vocabulary test, on EI measures.

This study focuses on the developmental changes in emotional intelligence (EI) abilities during early adolescence. During class hours, 561 students in the first wave (Mage = 12.32, SDage = 1.22, 54.5% of boys) and 369 students in the second wave (M = 13.40; SD = 0.98, 52.3% of boys) completed Perception of Affective Content in Art Test, Analysis of Emotions Test, Emotion Management Test and rated their peers’ EI at two waves, 18 months apart. They also completed a Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale within the first wave. Students’ EI was also rated by their home room teacher and one teacher who completed Teacher Ratings of EI Questionnaire specifically designed for this study. Results showed that girls and older students scored higher on EI tests and peers’ ratings. Oldest students achieved the lowest scores on teacher ratings. The longitudinal analysis confirmed positive changes between the first and the second wave. Results of both the crosssectional and two waves analysis revealed significant effects of gender and general cognitive ability, measured with vocabulary test, on EI measures.

Content progression thesis (CPT), a direct application of conditioning theories to conceptualizing exposure to pornography, proposes that pornography use leads to viewing increasingly more extreme material due to the effect of satiation. To test this assumption, association between the frequency of pornography use and the preference for violent and coercive content were examined over a 24-month period using an online panel sample of male adolescents. Participants were 248 high school students who took part in at least three of five waves of the PROBIOPS study. The average baseline age was 16.1. Dual-domain latent growth curve modeling was used to test the CPT. The preference for violent/coercive pornography was found to decrease over time. Moreover, its dynamics was unrelated to latent growth in pornography use. In this first longitudinal assessment, the CPT was not found to be a useful model for understanding the patterns and potential consequences of adolescent pornography use.

Although there is now a substantial body of research suggesting a positive association between the exposure to sexualized content in the media and self-objectification/body surveillance, most of the studies have been cross-sectional, conducted in exclusively female samples, focused on the use of traditional media (e.g., printed magazines and TV), and have not assessed the role of the internalization of appearance ideals, which is potentially an important intervening variable in the relationship between media exposure and outcomes related to body concerns. Addressing the need for further assessments of self-objectification in more diverse samples, this study used five-wave longitudinal data to investigate the parallel changes in the use of social networking sites and sexually explicit material and the internalization of appearance ideals and body surveillance in Croatian adolescent men (M-age at baseline = 15.9, SD = 0.54; n= 743). Over a period of 22 months during the transition from middle to late adolescence, both the internalization of appearance ideals and body surveillance decreased. Furthermore, although the internalization of appearance ideals and body surveillance were associated both at baseline and over time, this study's results did not indicate a longitudinal relationship between respectively the use of online social networking sites and sexually explicit material and either the internalization of appearance ideals or body surveillance among adolescent males. Overall, this study's findings highlight the potential for a more specific assessment of the role of the use of social networking sites and sexually explicit material in self-objectification and body surveillance among young men. Future research may benefit from exploring the relationship between young men's modes of engagement with and motives for the use of social networking sites and body surveillance, as well as the possible association between the use of sexually explicit material and competency-based self-objectification, in particular sexual body functionality.

Processing tendencies refer to individual differences in the automatic processing of affective stimuli. Using the affective priming paradigm one can tap these processing tendencies and differentiate positive and negative affective priming scores. In this study we used a classical evaluative decision task with nouns as primes and adjectives as targets to assess individual differences in positive and negative affective priming in two time points. Using Steyer’s (Steyer et al. in Methods of Psychological Research Online 2(1), 21–33, 1997) true intraindividual change modeling approach, the positive and negative priming scores were defined on a latent level. No significant relationships were found between positive affective priming and trait positive affect nor extraversion, as well as between negative affective priming and trait negative affect and neuroticism. As these findings are not in line with previous research (Robinson et al. in Emotion 10(5), 615–626, 2010; Robinson et al. in Personality and Individual Differences 42(7), 1221–1231, 2007) possible moderating influences are discussed.