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14situation. 2. The situation of the pandemic did not lead to a clear increase in health anxiety in children of primary school age: in the third-grade students during the pandemic, the fear of getting sick was lower than before the pandemic; 5th graders had lower body vigilance than 3rd graders. 3. Health anxiety was positively associated with preventive behaviors that lead to a decrease in the level of biological threat. As the observation of children from grades 3-5 showed, the associations between values and heath anxiety increased in the pandemic situation. This indirectly points to the role of anxiety in the dynamics of value preferences, especially in relation to the values of conservation, personal success, and power. 4. Health anxiety was predominantly associated with behaviors that directly reduce biological threat (eg, handwashing, visiting a doctor), and values were predominantly associated with social isolation measures.
Keywords: anxiety, Covid-19 pandemic, schoolchildren DOI:
CLINICAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
Daidy Pérez Quintana
Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Havana, Havana, Cuba; e-mail:
daidy95710@gmail.com
Abstract: The pandemic caused by Covid-19 forced governments around the world to take preventive and restrictive measures to stop contagion and loss of human lives. However, despite all the efforts made, humanity has had to face the economic, social, and psychological consequences generated by this health crisis for two consecutive years. Physical isolation at home forced people to restructure their lives. This factor, in addition to the uncertainty, fear, and hopelessness of the situation, led to the emergence of negative emotions and some psychological disorders among the adult population. The children have not been exempt from this reality, and due to the characteristics of their psychological development, they are a vulnerable population, very sensitive to changes in their routines and life habits. In Cuba, on March 26th 2020, a group of professionals specialized in child clinical psychology began to provide support and psychological help to families with children and adolescents, using Telegram and WhatsApp. This allowed clinical psychology, through the use of technology, to discover new resources and tools to develop its work. It involved the direct evaluation of the psychological well-being of children with families as mediators. In this way, the use of technologies and virtual platforms by children and their families, allowed clinical psychology to reach every home in need of guidance and psychological support in a time of crisis.
in times of crisis for mental health,
Keywords: Covid-19, psychological help, technologies, mental health DOI:
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VR-BASED EXPOSURE THERAPY ON TEST ANXIETY AMONG HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS
Si Zhuoran
Postgraduate student, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; e-mail: sizhuoran123@163.com
Kuerban Kudunige
Postgraduate student, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; e-mail: 2442248030@qq-com
Guangxin Wang
44
Professor, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; e-mail: wgx8868@163.com
Abstract: Test anxiety, caused by excessive stress, is on the rise and continues to affect adolescent academic performance and mental health before, during and after exams. Effective methods are needed to alleviate test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, and to enhance self-efficacy. Virtual reality (VR) can provide immersive exam scenarios, which can help evoke and intervene in test anxiety, but its effectiveness needs further research. Therefore, this study explored the effects of VR-based exposure therapy on test anxiety and negative emotions and cognitions among high school students. A randomized control group pre- and post-test experimental design was adopted. 46 high school students with high test anxiety (Test Anxiety Scale ^>20) were randomly assigned to the VR-based exposure group (n=15), imaginary exposure group (n=15), and the control group (n=16) to receive the intervention once a week for four sessions. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires, including test anxiety, test context anxiety, subjective units of distress, fear of negative evaluation, and general self-efficacy. The results showed that VR-based exposure and imaginary exposure were effective in preventing negative emotions and cognitions associated with test anxiety, significantly reducing test anxiety, test context anxiety and subjective distress units. Compared to the imaginary exposure group, VR-based exposure had greater potential to reduce test anxiety and test context anxiety but less improvement in subjective units of distress and self-efficacy. Fear of negative evaluation decreased in all groups, but neither group showed a significant difference. In conclusion, VR-based exposure therapy is an effective method to intervene in test anxiety among high school students, especially showing unique advantages in activating and alleviating negative emotions, but its effects on adolescents' self-perceptions still need to be further explored. Future research can investigate the mechanisms of VR interventions for adolescent test anxiety more systematically in terms of emotion and cognition.
Keywords: VR-based exposure, imaginary exposure, high school students, test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, general self-efficacy
DOI:
THE IMPACT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DIGITAL ADDICTION ON COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Aleksei Zavgorodnii
Psychologist, Private practice, Sevastopol, Russia; e-mail: alexey.psychologist@gmail.com
Abstract: Digitalization has a detrimental effect on the yet unformed neural networks of the child's brain. The development of the child's brain affects the brain stem at the initial stage, and the cerebral cortex at the final stage. The first period is in the womb at 20-27 days, when the baby's brain begins to form from the front of the neural tube. The second period is considered to be the most critical: 1 - 8 weeks after birth, due to the formation of visual functions, and 6 - 24 months, a sensitive period when a set of psychological properties and behaviors are formed. And so on until the age of20-23, when the final maturation of the prefrontal cortex of the brain occurs. The development of the brain has a wave diagram, but the most significant period is the period of the first three years due to its intensity of formation of the foundations of conditioned reflex connections, which are distinguished by their strength and can persist until the end of life. During this period of the formation of the child's psyche, replacing the real world with a virtual one, we replace the skills that have not yet been formed with third-party ones. In fact, slowing down the development of their own and grossly interfering in their formation, causing irreparable harm to the child's psyche for life. A deep addiction comparable to a drug addiction is established following the substitution of skills formed with the use and capabilities of artificial intelligence. When programs and various algorithms intuitively replace imaginative thinking, feelings, communicative qualities and more. The child's time must be filled with anything that will force him to
