NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

26 Sep

When psychotherapy hurts: what we know about clients' negative experiences

Psychotherapy has been proven to help – but not every experience with it is healing. An overview article by Z. Vybíral, T. Řiháček, P. Borovička, and B. Oglese summarizes how clients describe negative experiences, how often they occur, who is more at risk, and what this means for practice. The term "negative experiences" encompasses everything from temporary worsening of symptoms to feelings of misunderstanding to boundary violations from the client's perspective. Although therapy helps most people, long-term reviews show that approximately 5-10% of clients experience an increase in symptoms after therapy and that client dissatisfaction has long been neglected in clinical studies. This is precisely what the team from the Center for Psychotherapy Research at INPSY focused on.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

21 Sep

How can we reliably measure children's well-being? Czech research provides answers

Well-being can be understood as an overall state of well-being that combines emotions, relationships, a sense of achievement, and meaningful activities. It is an experience in which a person perceives their life as good and fulfilling. Monitoring mental well-being is particularly important in children – good well-being strengthens motivation to learn, contributes to better school results, helps develop healthy relationships, and acts as a protection against anxiety and depression. If the concept of mental well-being is to be used in research, prevention, and practice, we need tools that can reliably capture how children actually perceive their well-being.

NewsFor parents and teachersINPSY in media

19 Sep

Love, Likes, and Loneliness: The Upsides and Downsides of Gay Dating Apps

Gay dating apps have become an essential tool in Czechia for queer people to meet, seek relationships, and find community - especially where safe offline spaces are lacking. In a new article for Brno Daily, Ondřej Musil focuses on how these apps affect the lives of their users and shows why, for many queer people, apps are often the only way to meet people, but also a source of frustration and loneliness. The article describes not only the benefits, such as anonymity and the possibility of quick connections, but also the risks in the form of discrimination, pressure to look a certain way, and addiction.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

18 Sep

When it's enough that “someone” is on the other side: what research has shown about online crisis chats

The COVID pandemic has brought a huge increase in interest in online psychological support. Many people who would previously have only considered in-person therapy are now turning to chat or video calls. A study based on Katarína Azzamová's thesis, supervised by Zbyněk Vybíral from INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research, focused on the experiences of three women who used a chat crisis line in their most difficult moments when they were considering self-harm or suicide.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

8 Sep

Psychotherapy as a double-edged sword: how to investigate its negative effects?

Psychotherapy is a widely recognized tool for promoting mental health, and its positive effects are well documented. In recent years, however, professional attention has increasingly turned to its other side—namely, its potential risks and negative effects. Understanding the negative effects of psychotherapy and reaching a consensus on their assessment would greatly improve the way these negative effects are addressed and contribute to better care for clients in general. A new review article published in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Psychology, to which Zbyněk Vybíral from INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research contributed, reflects the trend in the growth of research into the negative effects of psychotherapy and offers a comprehensive view of what is actually meant by "negative effects."

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

3 Sep

Sexual health in mature age: Why problems often remain unresolved

Sexuality remains an important part of human life also in older age – it contributes to relationship satisfaction, well-being, and overall quality of life. Although research shows that most people maintain an interest in intimacy even after the age of 50, various problems are more common during this period, such as a decrease in sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, or pain during sexual intercourse. Despite this, people of mature age rarely seek professional help – the reasons for this "silence" around sexual difficulties have been little researched to date. A new study, conducted as part of the PRINS project, has therefore focused on this gap, with significant contributions from INPSY members Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska (the lead researcher) and Anna Ševčíková.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

2 Sep

INPSY members attended the European Developmental Psychology Conference in Vilnius

Lukas Blinka, Adam Klocek, Jana Firklová, and Linda Oweisová actively participated in this year's European Developmental Psychology Conference, which took place in Lithuania. Lukas accepted an invitation to be one of the main speakers at the conference and, in his lecture on Youth Digital Gaming: Excessive or Expected?, he talked about the role digital technologies play in the lives of today's children and how to distinguish normal consumption of digital media from excessive or problematic consumption. Adam, Jana, and Linda also actively participated and each presented their own contribution at the conference.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

21 Aug

How to ask about the negative effects of psychotherapy? Systematically and comprehensively, advises a new study.

Psychotherapy is an increasingly sought-after tool for psychological help. Those who place their trust in it expect relief or a desired change. In some cases, however, they may also experience disappointment. In a new study, Tomáš Řiháček from the INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research scientific team, together with his co-author from the prestigious Swedish university, Alexander Rozental, focuses on understanding the possible negative experiences in psychotherapy. The authors have compiled the latest studies and meta-analyses and described their findings on measuring these negative effects.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitionersFor parents and teachers

17 Aug

When gaming gets out of hand: Mental health issues associated with problematic gaming and gambling

Nowadays, digital technologies and screens are an integral part of our everyday lives – whether for work, communication, or entertainment. Among the leisure activities that have long attracted the attention of experts and the public are computer games and gambling. However, if these activities lose their healthy boundaries and become uncontrollable, they can take the form of so-called addictive disorders. Studies focusing on the co-occurrence of both problem behaviors and their connection to mental health issues are still rare, especially in representative samples of the general population. However, a recent study published in the Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, in which our Lukas Blinka participated, is now helping to fill this gap.

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

10 Aug

Help that sometimes doesn't help: How people build trust in the social system

Public trust in institutions grows when people believe that the state acts fairly - for example, that support is given to those who really need it. However, we still know little about the role played by the complexity of the processes within institutions themselves. Social assistance systems are sometimes composed of contradictory rules and inconsistent procedures, which can cause confusion and uncertainty among users. The authors of a new study, which included INPSY members Lenka Štěpánková and Honza Šerek, focused on how people perceive fairness and trust in such a confusing and inconsistent system, which they call an "institutional enigma".

NewsFor parents and teachersConferences, lectures, and collaboration

8 Aug

Andrea Stašek v debatě o queer lidech ve sportu

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

25 Jul

Fast, playful and accurate: A new cognitive development test for preschoolers

Cognitive development in preschool is an important indicator of school readiness. It is in this period that possible developmental difficulties can be reliably detected and the necessary support can be given to the child in time. In the Czech environment, there is still no consensus on what tools to use for assessing school readiness, and the available methods are not very reliable and tend to be used rather unsystematically. Modern approaches such as adaptive testing and tablet-based administration are common abroad - and it is this gap that a team of Czech researchers, including Hynek Cígler from INPSY, decided to fill with a new tool called Brief Adaptive Nonverbal Test (BANT).

NewsFresh studies

17 Jul

When the rules aren't enough: Why trust in social service workers often matters more than the system itself

Trust is crucial for the effective functioning of social services. The relationship between the social services worker and the client is not just technical - it is personal. Although research has long focused on the quality of relationships between service users and frontline workers, it often neglects how users perceive the very formal procedures in which these relationships take place and how this context influences the formation of those relationships. The new study, co-authored by our member Lenka Štěpánková, therefore focuses on how trust in social service workers is formed in the context of bureaucratic processes that determine access to support.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

11 Jul

Video instead of text? The authors tested a new way of asking questions in online questionnaires

Online questionnaires are now a standard part of research in psychology, sociology and other social sciences. Yet their design has not changed much over the past decade - most still rely on text-based items that the participant reads and completes. But in an era when the vast majority of content on the internet consists of short videos, it begs the question: what if, instead of reading the items, the participant watched a video where the question was read by a person on the screen? However, such a format has not yet been thoroughly tested in the field of psychological scales. A new study by Adam Stroil and Hynek Cígler addresses this research gap.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

10 Jul

Health, Media and Sexuality team at the Behavioural Addictions Conference

Anna Ševčíková, Lukas Blinka and Andrea Stašek visited the 10th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions, which took place in Nantes, France. They have been attending this prestigious conference since its inception and have been able to contribute to the international debate on measuring, problematizing and addressing (excessive) use of the Internet, gaming and pornography.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

8 Jul

How do anti-bullying programmes work? New study shows hidden connections

Preventing bullying in schools is a long-standing goal of many research studies and school programmes. Despite the prevalence and severity of the problem, many interventions have so far proved only partially effective. However, some researchers argue that understanding exactly how these programmes work - i.e. what mechanisms lead to behaviour change or what role related protective and risk factors such as empathy, self-confidence or moral disengagement play in these interventions - is crucial. It is these questions that the research team, led by our member Adam Klocek, has tried to answer.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

8 Jul

The Center for Psychotherapy Research attended a SPR conference in Krakow

The membership of the Center for Psychotherapy Research visited the international conference of the Society of Psychotherapy Research (SPR) in Krakow at Jagiellonian University. Zbyněk Vybíral, Tomáš Řiháček, Michal Čevelíček, Adam Klocek, Petra Hubatka, Laura Jakalová and Ondra Fajstavr each presented their own papers at the conference. The overarching theme of the conference was Psychotherapy Research-Practice Integration: Who Are the Voices We Need to Hear? More information about the individual papers from the conference can be found at the link.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitionersFor parents and teachers

13 Jun

Children, screens and the mental state of mothers: Longitudinal research shines a light on the connections

Nowadays, we are experiencing a phenomenon where children are getting to digital technologies earlier and earlier - babies as young as one to two months old can spend time watching cartoons on TV screens or mobile phone screens. Some studies suggest that mothers who experience stress or symptoms of anxiety or depression may be more likely to let their babies use screens as a form of respite or relief - for the baby and for themselves. However, research in this area is often only cross-sectional - which is why a new study from the INPSY team has taken a more detailed and longitudinal approach to exploring these relationships.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

2 Jun

Lukas Blinka and Anna Ševčíková visited the annual meeting of the HBSC research team in Athens

The Brno and Olomouc branches of the international project Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) health from the annual meeting of the entire research network in Athens. The HBSC study focuses its research on gathering scientific evidence that contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors influencing the health of young people in their social context. The meeting reflected on the work of international teams on publications or the preparation of the next data collection scheduled for 2026.

NewsFresh studies

1 Jun

How do Serbian, Italian and Czech adolescents build trust in others and in politics? Emotions and reason play a role

Trust is a key component of interpersonal and social relationships. Existing research suggests that the process of building trust involves both affective and cognitive components. Yet questions remain about how emotions and cognitions are involved in the formation of trust in adolescents, both in their relationships with other people and towards the political system. A new qualitative study examined how adolescents from Serbia, Italy and the Czech Republic formed these two types of trust during the Covid-19 pandemic.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

26 May

Andrea Stašek presented at a webinar on the topic of LGBTIQ+ refugees in the Czech Republic

Our member Andrea Stašek presented at a webinar organized by Minorities Organization and The Afghanistan LGBTIQ+ Organization (ALO)! The webinar featured a new report detailing the life experiences, challenges and needs of LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in the Czech Republic. Also presented was a new platform that has been created specifically to support forcibly displaced LGBTIQ+ people in the Czech Republic. The platform serves as a space offering resources, advice and connections to services and support networks.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

25 May

Anna Ševčíková participated at the DIGI-net meeting in Krakow

As part of the DIGI-net project, a meeting was held at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, which was attended by our member Anna Ševčíková. The DIGI-net project focuses on inequalities at work in later life redefined by digitalisation and the theme of this year's meeting was the challenges of studying older workers from an insider's perspective. The meeting reflected on the achievements of the project over the past year, as well as the future of the project and the way forward.

NewsFresh studies

8 May

Does pornography addiction contribute to the sexualization of women? Researchers bring new insight into the context of objectification

Can viewing pornography lead men to see women as objects rather than human beings? A new study co-authored by Anna Ševčíková and Lukas Blinka from INPSY shows that the problem goes beyond the issue of frequent porn viewing.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

28 Mar

Are you listening to your body? The Czech version of the MAIA questionnaire brings new insights

The perception of one's own body, known as interoceptive awareness (IA), plays a key role in both mental health and the psychotherapeutic process. It helps us to recognize bodily signals such as hunger, heartbeat or breathing and connect them to our emotions. Scientists are still trying to better understand how people perceive their bodily signals and how these signals relate to their mental health. The team of authors from INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research set out to investigate the interrelationships between different aspects of IA, and to test the properties of the Czech version of the MAIA questionnaire that measures IA.

NewsFresh studies

21 Mar

Why do men choose younger partners? Evolutionary theory gives clues

Choosing a partner is one of the key decisions in our lives and age plays an important role in this process. Research shows that men tend to prefer younger partners, while women usually choose older partners. But how do these preferences change over the course of a lifetime and what all influences our decisions? A new large-scale study, in which the INPSY research team was involved, has looked at this very question in more detail.

NewsFresh studies

17 Mar

Independence versus political ideology. Does legal decision-making know the winner?

Ideology is the set of beliefs, values, and ideas about society that shape our understanding of the world. They can have a strong impact on the way lawyers interpret legal norms, although the public expects them to set aside their personal views and act neutrally. In the case of judges in particular, neutrality is the basis for trust in the legal system and justice. A new study by researchers from INPSY and the Faculty of Law MU shows the ways in which ideology can enter into legal interpretation.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitionersFor parents and teachers

13 Mar

Giant meta-analysis of 177 studies: What are the effects of psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is often evaluated by the changes in symptoms that clients experience. But what other benefits do clients themselves see and rate as important? An analysis of all available studies that have looked at this topic has been published by Michaela Ladmanová and her team at the Center for Psychotherapy Research in one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the field - The Lancet Psychiatry. This meta-analysis provides insights into what clients identify as the most important outcomes of psychotherapy.

NewsFresh studies

9 Mar

How do we form trust in others? Intuition and experience play a role

Trust is the foundation of any close relationship. But how do relationships based on trust form over the course of a lifetime? This question remains under-researched, especially during adolescence, which is one of the most important periods for establishing deeper close relationships. A new study by the INPSY team led by Jana Fikrlová looked at the process of trust formation in friends from early adolescence to adulthood. The research provides new insights into the different ways of forming trust in friends and the specifics of making friends in adolescence.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

5 Mar

Anna Ševčíková and Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska presented their findings at an international conference in Vienna

Our members Anna Ševčíková and Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska attended the conference of The European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM) in Vienna. The ESSM aims to promote sexual health and the highest standards of evidence-based clinical care in sexual medicine through education, research and health care formulation.

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

23 Feb

Motherhood and insecurity: what do mothers deal with during their children's early childhood?

Imagine the mother of a small toddler. All day long, she tries to do everything right - serving a balanced diet, watching developmental milestones and reading up on educational trends. Yet every day she asks herself the same question: "Am I doing this right?" This uncertainty is a natural part of motherhood, but in modern society, where perfection is expected of mothers, it can be especially intense. A new study involving our INPSY members therefore decided to explore how Czech mothers perceive insecurities when caring for their toddlers.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

12 Feb

Active inference: A new approach to understanding change in psychotherapy

Psychotherapy has long been seen as an effective way to address psychological difficulties and personal growth. However, researchers are still struggling to understand what actually leads to therapeutic change and how best to describe the process. One modern approach that has recently gained attention is the active inference framework (AIF). A study by Petra Hubatka and Tomáš Řiháček from INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research therefore focused on linking common factors in psychotherapy to active inference and sought answers to how this framework can explain mechanisms of change in psychotherapy.

NewsFresh studies

11 Feb

Women's sexuality under socialism: equality on paper, divided roles in private

While a sexual revolution was developing in post-war Western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, European countries ruled by communist regimes remained more conservative and restrictive of sexual expression. Yet, some researchers have suggested that socialist regimes may have paradoxically contributed to some form of sexual revolution, particularly through women's economic independence. As the author of her new study, Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska focused on examining how socialist norms, especially officially proclaimed gender equality, have influenced women's perceptions and expressions of sexuality in their private lives.

NewsFresh studies

8 Feb

What causes pedestrian falls on the streets? Lack of attention and inadequate infrastructure

Walking is an essential part of everyday life for a large part of the world's population, the easiest way to get from place to place and contributes to better physical fitness. Despite its benefits, pedestrians remain vulnerable, with falls being a more common cause of injury than traffic accidents. An international study, co-authored by INPSY's Eva Šragová, aimed to fill this gap by examining the frequency of pedestrian falls and identifying associated risk factors.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

3 Feb

Anna Ševčíková as a guest on a panel discussion on Sex, Urge, Shame at the Husa na provázku Theatre

Anna Ševčíková was a guest on a panel discussion on Sex, Urge, Shame at the Husa na provázku Theatre on 28 January 2025. Anna spoke together with Marcela Poláčková from the Konsent organization. Discussions included the importance of sex education, whether young people are having less sex than before, or what role social networks, dating apps and pornography play in sexuality. The event attracted a wide audience, showing that although the topic of sexuality may not be easy, it is important to talk and discuss it openly.

NewsFor practitionersFor parents and teachers

3 Jan

Andrea Stašek's project mapped the mental well-being of queer immigrants in the Czech Republic

How are queer people from Ukraine living in the Czech Republic? This is what INPSY member Andrea Stašek's project sought to answer. The EEA/Norwegian funds project from the non-profit organization Jiný Pohled, FSS MUNI and Skeiv Verden Norway looked at the mental and physical well-being, safety and inclusion in the Czech environment of immigrants who belong to the queer community. Very powerful stories emerged from the interviews and focus groups conducted as part of the project. You can read some of them, along with information about the goals of the project, in the article on the Prague Pride website.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

17 Dec 2024

Short therapy, big changes: the effectiveness of a pilot programme in Czech practice

Psychotherapy has long been recognised as an effective tool for treating mental disorders and improving mental health. However, questions about its effectiveness are still relevant, especially when it comes to new forms of provision or specific periods (for example, the provision of psychotherapy during the Covid-19 pandemic). It was as a result of the pandemic that the Czech Republic established the Increasing Access to Psychosocial Support programme in 2022, under which selected insurance companies contributed a certain amount to psychotherapy for their clients. Therefore, the current Czech study, conducted by members of the Center for Psychotherapy Research team, focused on evaluating the effectiveness of short-term psychotherapy with private psychotherapists funded by this preventive programme.

NewsAwards

12 Dec 2024

Andrea Stašek was awarded MUNI Scientist 2024

For excellence and significant achievements in the field of research, the Masaryk University Grant Agency awarded selected scientists for the period 2023 to 2024. Among the awardees was our member Andrea Stašek, who received an award for excellent scientific articles and popularization of science. She was the only person to receive the award for both of these categories this year and only the second person in recent years to receive this prestigious award without a Ph.D. degree. Congratulations!

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

9 Dec 2024

When faith meets therapy: How psychotherapists perceive spirituality in their practice

Spirituality and religiosity (S/R) have long been a complex and often controversial topic in the field of psychotherapy. Although many clients express interest in incorporating spiritual and religious elements into the therapeutic process, therapists often face challenges related to inadequate education and training, ethical issues, and historical tensions between science and religion. Therefore, the team of authors from FSS MU decided to create a summary of findings from available qualitative studies dealing with how psychotherapists experience S/R in the process of psychotherapy.

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

7 Dec 2024

Me and my avatar: When the virtual world reveals how we want to be

Current research on virtual identities is increasingly concerned with the relationship between the user and his avatar in virtual environments, typically in computer games, for example. One of the key themes is the exploration of the differences between how the user perceives himself and how his avatar perceives him. However, until now there has been a lack of a standardized tool to quantify these differences. It was indeed created by Lukas Blinka and Kateřina Škařupová, but only a new international study brings validation of this tool in the form of the User-Avatar Disparity Scale (UADS).

NewsAwards

6 Dec 2024

Team Invenio wins third place in the Transfera Technology Day 2024 competition

The Invenio project, led by the Talented Children team under the leadership of Šarka Portešová, won a beautiful third place in the Transfera Technology Day 2024 competition! On Monday, 2 December, the final of the 5th edition of this competition was held by the national association Transfera.cz, which aims to connect the academic world with the commercial sphere and to facilitate the implementation of innovative ideas in practice. Eleven of the most interesting projects of Czech science and research made it to the final.

NewsFor practitionersFor parents and teachersConferences, lectures, and collaboration

5 Dec 2024

We are organising a workshop on the consequences of political polarisation

Please accept our invitation to an interdisciplinary workshop organized by the Department of Political Science at the FSS and INPSY. The workshop will feature presentations by a number of leading researchers from Europe and the USA, including Alexander Dalheimer from the University of Vienna and Sean Westwood from Dartmouth College.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

4 Dec 2024

Standa Svačinka spoke at the Cyberspace conference

The Cyberspace conference focused on the legal and social aspects of cyberspace. It was held in Brno in the last week of November. It was organised by the Institute of Law and Technology at the Faculty of Law together with the Faculty of Social Studies of MU and The European Academy of ICT Law in Vienna. The conference brought together scholars from diverse disciplines to present their recent research achievements to each other. Standa Svačinka presented his paper on behalf of INPSY.

NewsAwards

3 Dec 2024

A team from the Center for Psychotherapy Research published in The Lancet Psychiatry

In one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the field, Michaela Ladmanová and a team of authors published their study. The study focused on a qualitative meta-analysis evaluating psychotherapy outcomes from the perspective of clients, with the aim of emphasizing a client-centered approach versus the usual focus on symptom relief.

NewsPress releasesAwards

2 Dec 2024

Anna Ševčíková obtained a giant OP JAK project for INPSY - congratulations!

How are modern times and individualisation changing our society? We are facing new challenges - from greater personal freedom and responsibility to the weakening of interpersonal relationships and social bonds - and this is what the PRINS project will focus on. Its main research focuses will include family and intergenerational relations, the mental health of society, the polarisation of society, and methodological research for an individualised and risk-taking society.

NewsAwards

28 Nov 2024

Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska has received support from The Czech Science Foundation (GACR) for a new project

Our member Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska has received support from the GACR for her project titled Sexual health and well-being among Czechs and Poles 50+ in the context of information and support seeking! The aim of the project is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that relate to sexual health and well-being information/support seeking among adults 50+, as well as information on the extent of support needed, their concerns, expectations and needs related to sexual health and well-being in their daily lives.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

19 Nov 2024

How do clients rate their improvement after psychotherapy? Study shows the benefits and pitfalls of retrospective questionnaires

Current research in the field of psychotherapy often focuses on measuring the changes that clients experience during therapy. The most common methods used to do this are so-called indirect (pre-post) measures, which compare client outcomes obtained before and after therapy. However, this approach can be problematic, for example if initial measurements are not available. A new study involving members of INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research explores the suitability of an alternative approach by psychometrically validating the Czech version of the Questionnaire of Personal Change (Q-PC), which directly retrospectively captures client-perceived changes after psychotherapy.

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

12 Nov 2024

Freedom in online learning: Did autonomy support the well-being of gifted adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic brought sweeping changes to the lives of adolescents, including the introduction of online learning. Mandatory online learning is often associated in research with a number of negative effects, such as decreased motivation or loss of interest in school. Recently, however, research has also emerged exploring the potential positive aspects of this situation, particularly for specific groups of students. These studies point to the possibility that students with specific learning needs and gifted students could benefit from the greater autonomy that online learning could afford them. However, research is lacking for children in early adolescence. Therefore, our research team from INPSY took the initiative to focus on the school well-being of gifted students during this developmental period.

NewsFor parents and teachersConferences, lectures, and collaboration

6 Nov 2024

Lenka Štěpánková and Zuzana Masopustová debated about the film Inside out 2

Psychology students organized a screening of the film Inside out 2 at the Kino Art cinema on October 21.This film deals with various psychological topics, such as how emotions affect us, in a way that is understandable even for younger viewers. The screening was followed by a discussion with our member Lenka Štěpánková and Zuzana Masopustová from the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Social Sciences about the psychological themes that appeared in the film. The event was open to the public, but most of the audience consisted of psychology students who had many interesting questions for the guests.

NewsFresh studies

28 Oct 2024

What contributes to progress in psychotherapy? New self-discoveries and distancing from one's own thoughts play a role

In psychotherapy, client responses to individual therapy sessions have long been considered a key factor in determining the success of therapy. These reactions range from feelings of relief and discovery of new perspectives on self or relationships to negative experiences such as emotional overload or feelings of failure. This study, which also involved researchers from INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research, used a dynamic network model to explore how different client responses to therapy sessions relate to each other and how they influence each other over time.

NewsAwards

25 Oct 2024

Invenio is a finalist of the Transfer Technology Day 2024

The Invenio project, led by the Gifted Children team under the leadership of Šárka Portešová, has been nominated by the MU MU Technology Transfer Office for the Transfera Technology Day 2024 competition and has advanced to the finals.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

23 Oct 2024

We attended the conference of the HoDeKoProM project in Bratislava

Our members Zuzana Scott, Jan Šerek and Lukas Blinka attended the HoDeKoProM conference in Bratislava. The project is a collaboration between the Research Institute of Child Psychology and Patopsychology (VÚDPaP) and INPSY and its main goal is to seek a deeper understanding of the impact of hoaxes, misinformation, conspiracies and propaganda in the online environment on the lives of young people.

NewsFor parents and teachersINPSY in media

22 Oct 2024

Vyhořelý rodič se může cítit uvězněný v rodičovské roli, říká Lenka Štěpánková

NewsFor parents and teachersINPSY in media

12 Oct 2024

Lukas Blinka as a guest of Studio 6 on Czech Television

Why do we play computer games? When can gaming become problematic? And what gaming mechanisms are most likely to create gaming addiction? These and other questions about the situation with risky video game playing in the Czech Republic were answered by our member Lukas Blinka in an interview for Czech Television in Studio 6.

NewsFresh studies

11 Oct 2024

Consequences of the war in Ukraine: is the conflict changing children's ability to recognise basic emotions?

In recent decades, emotion recognition has become an important topic in child development research. Most studies to date have focused on children living in normal conditions, so we have less information about how these skills develop in children who grow up in hostile environments, such as during war. The new study from INPSY researchers looked at how war trauma affects children's ability to recognise basic emotions such as joy, sadness or fear.

NewsFor parents and teachersINPSY in media

7 Oct 2024

Just disabling the cell phone is not the solution. Let's ask whether we are offering something better to children, says Lukas Blinka for Deník N

Are you interested in how social media and computer games affect today's children and adolescents? In an interview for Deník N, our member Lukas Blinka discusses why it is not enough to ban mobile phones from children, but to offer them meaningful alternatives. He also talks about why social media and video games are so appealing to teens, what can tell parents that their child is spending too much time online, and how we can work together to create a healthier environment for their development.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitionersFor parents and teachers

2 Oct 2024

What keeps us playing: The connection between need fulfilment and Gaming disorder

Andrea Stašek and Lukas Blinka from INPSY and Vasileios Stavropoulos from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia set out to investigate how the satisfaction of different needs is related to the symptoms of computer game addiction and how these needs affect gamers' behaviour. They used a network analysis method involving 3895 adult male and female gamers. They completed questionnaires on need satisfaction, gaming behaviour and symptoms of gaming disorder.

NewsFor parents and teachersINPSY in media

30 Sep 2024

Lukas Blinka on the growing number of teenage risk users of digital media

How serious is the situation of problematic social media use among teenagers? Which groups are more vulnerable to gaming disorder than others? And how can we help them? These and other interesting questions were answered by our member Lukas Blinka in an interview for iRozhlas. In the interview he refers, among other things, to the study Teens, screens and mental health, which he co-authored with the World Health Organization.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

29 Sep 2024

Citizenship and democracy team sends greetings from an international conference in Cyprus

Our researchers Jan Šerek, Petr Macek, Jakub Brojáč and Jana Fikrlová visited the prestigious conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA). The aim of the conference was to promote solidarity and mental well-being in adolescents by focusing on the potential pitfalls they may encounter during this developmental period.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

10 Sep 2024

Lenka Štěpánková attended a conference in Porto on parental burnout

Our colleague Lenka Štěpánková attended the third annual conference on parental burnout, which took place in Porto. She presented her poster on Czech participants' perceptions of maternal emotions and the prevalence of burnout in a sample of Czech parents.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

8 Sep 2024

Juniors from the Health, Media & Sexuality team at the ČMPS conference in Olomouc

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

27 Aug 2024

"Will it stay just between us?" Ethical challenges of data sharing in qualitative research

The ethical issues of data sharing in qualitative research have received considerable attention recently. Research data is a building block for scientific knowledge. To fit into the concept of open science research must be transparent, meaning that all research data should be publicly available. However, this becomes problematic when “data” means full transcripts from long interviews conducted with study participants, not just numerical data from a survey. Data sharing involves ethical challenges of how to make it accessible, and to whom, without compromising the trust or anonymity of participants.

NewsFresh studiesResearch reports

14 Aug 2024

Výzkumná zpráva z velkého projektu Czech Gamers

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

11 Aug 2024

Czech adaptation of the Gaming Disorder Test

The World Health Organization officially included Gaming Disorder in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2019. One of the most used tools to measure this disorder is the Gaming Disorder Test, but it is relatively new, its features have not been fully explored, and it has only been adapted into a limited number of languages so far.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

6 Aug 2024

Health, Media, and Sexuality team at prestigious conference in Berlin

Members of the Health, Media, & Sexuality research team Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska and Anna Ševčíková presented their papers at a conference in Berlin. Vít Suchý, a recent master's graduate who will be a PhD student and join the team as a researcher in September, collaborated with Anna on her paper. The conference was organized by the prestigious International Academy of Sex Research (IASR).

NewsFresh studies

30 Jul 2024

Depression in pregnancy, postpartum and beyond the perinatal period: the role of somatic symptoms through the lens of network analysis

Pregnancy and the postpartum period are generally considered happy periods in life, but very often, women experience symptoms of depression during these times.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaborationAwards

24 Jul 2024

Aneta Siroňová won the award for the best poster at an international conference

INPSY researcher Aneta Siroňová won the award for the best poster at the International Attachment Conference (IAC) 2024 held in Rouen, France.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

12 Jul 2024

Researchers from INPSY visited a conference in Granada

Standa Ježek and Hynek Cígler from INPSY presented the preliminary results of their  project at the prestigious International Test Commission (ITC) conference in Granada, Spain.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

10 Jul 2024

Jana Fikrlová at the international conference in Lisbon, Portugal

INPSY member Jana Fikrlová visited the ISSBD 2024 conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD) focuses on the study of human development and brings together experts and practitioners from a range of disciplines who come from different parts of the world.

NewsFresh studies

26 Jun 2024

Young, engaged and happy? How civic engagement affects mental wellbeing

The civic engagement of young people is important for developing democratic functioning of society. It includes volunteering, pro-social activities, online activism, political protest, and electoral participation. However, these activities can also be beneficial for the psychosocial development of young people. Involvement in civic life can give them valuable experience, strengthen their voice in society, and thus have a positive impact on their mental well-being.

NewsFresh studies

12 Jun 2024

Are young people politically engaged? Elections can play a key role

NewsAwards

30 May 2024

Jan Šerek received the Rector's Award

Jan Šerek, Head of INPSY, received the MUNI Rector's Award for Outstanding Research Achievements for Scientists under 40 in the Social Sciences and Humanities. His research has successfully focused on political psychology, specifically on civic and political socialization and the psychology of democracy. The award was presented on the occasion of the academic holiday Dies academicus and is given to researchers who have made a significant contribution to the building of Masaryk University.

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

30 May 2024

Meditating for mental comfort? Nausea can get in the way

Buddhist meditation practices, such as Samadhi meditation, form the basis of mindfulness practice, or awareness of the present moment. They are often promoted as ways to achieve mental well-being. However, evidence is beginning to emerge of their adverse effects. Meditation requires intense focus on the breath, which can affect the autonomic nervous system. In what way?

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

27 May 2024

Health, Media and Sexuality team at an international conference in Bologna, Italy

The Health, Media and Sexuality team visited the international conference of the Congress of the European Federation of Sexology in Bologna, Italy. The gathering of experts from all over world focused on various aspects of sexual health, mental well-being and legal issues. The program included presentations of scientific findings.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

13 May 2024

Health, Media and Sexuality team at the CzechSex press conference in Prague

Anna Ševčíková, Lukas Blinka and Andrea Stašek spoke at the press conference of the CzechSex project, which they are working on together with the National Institute of Mental Health. It is a unique representative survey, which for the sixth time in the Czech Republic is mapping the sexual behaviour of Czech men and women. Anna Ševčíková is working on pornography use, Lukas Blinka is working on digital sexuality and Andrea Stašek is working on LGBTQ+ population.

NewsFor practitionersAwards

6 May 2024

Invenio expanding from the South Moravian Region to the whole Czech Republic

The authors of Invenio visited the conference Supporting Talent in Ústí nad Labem, which took place on Wednesday 10th, April in the beautiful conference hall of the Regional Office of the Ústí nad Labem Region. The conference was intended for school principals, educational advisors, coordinators of giftedness in schools, and others interested in the issue of giftedness from the Ústí nad Labem Region. The event was sponsored by Ing. Jindra Zalabáková, Councillor for Education, Youth and Sport. The conference was opened by the leading Czech neurosurgeon, prof. MUDr. Vladimír Beneš, DrSc.

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6 May 2024

The Test for the Identification of Mathematically Gifted Children (TIM3-5) adapted into Slovak

TIM^3–5 is a screening tool that can be used not only by psychologists but also by teachers to identify children who are gifted in mathematics. The test was developed at INPSY in 2017, and now the method is also available for Slovak users.

NewsFresh studies

30 Apr 2024

How to recognize computer game addiction? Difficulty recognising and processing emotions can offer a clue

Hours spent on the computer playing games can give many people the impression that they are becoming addicted. However, psychologists also recognize other gaming behaviors that are characterized by high frequency and intensity of play but do not meet the characteristics of addiction. It can be described as active, unproblematic gaming (engagement). Distinguishing when it is addiction and when it is not may not be easy. However, other phenomena experienced by the player may give a clue.

NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

24 Apr 2024

How important is sex in middle age and older age? Ageist stereotypes may play a role

Understanding partners' intimate lives can help to discern relationship satisfaction. There are various stereotypes around sex life, especially among older people. If a person internalizes stereotypes, i.e., accepts them as their own, they can influence their behavior and think about themselves. How might ageist stereotypes relate to partner life and relationship satisfaction in older adults?

NewsAwards

20 Apr 2024

The Public Administration Act of the Year award went to a team including INPSY junior researcher Jana Fikrlová!

INPSY junior researcher Jana Fikrlová is a team member that won the award in the first year of the Public Administration Act of the Year project. The Ministry of Education team was awarded in the Innovation in Public Service category for its plan to improve and unify the quality of education for future generations of teachers.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

11 Apr 2024

The effectiveness of psychotherapy under the magnifying glass: what did the network analysis reveal?

Mental illness often manifests itself in specific symptoms, but recognition is usually not straightforward. Symptoms can occur in various combinations. At the same time, they may be common to several mental illnesses (so-called comorbidity). We can imagine a network where we can see individual symptoms and their interconnectedness. The structure of this network can be grasped methodologically, and the analysis can be used to discern, for example, how the different symptoms of anxiety and depression are interrelated. This is what Adam Klocek and Tomáš Řiháček have focused on in their new study.

NewsConferences, lectures, and collaboration

18 Mar 2024

INPSY junior researchers presented their research at the international Psychoco conference in Rotterdam

Karel Rečka and David Elek attended this year's Psychoco: International Workshop on Psychometric Computing conference at the end of February and the beginning of March. The conference was organized by the Erasmus School of Economics of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

NewsFresh studies

27 Feb 2024

Do young people get involved in volunteering? School and family play a role

Volunteering not only strengthens social solidarity, but also has a positive effect on the volunteers themselves. They gain practical experience in interpersonal relations and at the same time this activity can contribute positively to their psychological well-being. Do young people get involved in volunteering? Various factors can play a role in the decision, such as family or school background. Has their influence changed over the years as the current democratic society has gradually taken shape?

For parents and teachers

16 Oct 2021

Jak přežít pubertu svých dětí? Stačí si vzpomenout, jací jsme byli my

Současná generace adolescentů prožívá životní události více emocionálně, méně spí a taky už tolik nedá na názory autorit. Zároveň platí, že byť se svět zásadně proměňuje, pocity adolescentů zůstávají stejné. „Zásadní je nemyslet si, že vaše děti prožívají věci nějak významně jinak, než když jsme byli mladí my,“ říká Petr Macek.

For practitioners

15 Oct 2021

Komplexní diagnostický systém Invenio

Pojďme společně zjistit, ve kterých schopnostech Vaše dítě vyniká a které by bylo vhodné dále rozvíjet nebo zlepšit.

For parents and teachers

15 Oct 2021

Jak vychovávat a učit nadané děti? A jak jejich nadání rozpoznat?

For parents and teachers

Jak změřit mimořádný intelekt? Na výsledek testů má vliv rodinné zázemí i sebevědomí, říká expert na psychometriku

O psychometrice nejen ve vztahu k nadání s psychologem Hynkem Cíglerem z Fakulty sociálních studií Masarykovy univerzity.

For parents and teachers

15 Oct 2021

Náruživé hraní online her podle výzkumu zpravidla není závislost

Online hry, u kterých lidé tráví i desítky hodin týdně, nejsou z hlediska závislosti zdaleka tak nebezpečné, jak se někdy usuzuje.

For parents and teachers

15 Oct 2021

Konečně si sex užíváme, tvrdí lidé po padesátce. Někomu stačí držení za ruku

Nakolik patří ke stále se prodlužujícímu životu sex, zjišťovala psycholožka Anna Ševčíková z Masarykovy univerzity v Brně.

For practitioners

15 Oct 2021

Výzvy pedagogicko psychologické diagnostiky v českém školském systému

Jak zajistit kvalitní pedagogicko‑psychologickou diagnostiku ve školství?

Zapojte se do Czech Gamers - výzkumu o hraní online počítačových her

For parents and teachers

Politika mladé zajímá. To ale nutně neznamená, že přijdou k volbám

O zájmu mladých lidí o politiku, jejich volební účasti a o tom, zda je jejich účast vlastně velká či malá, hovoří v podcastu Respektu Jan Šerek

For practitioners

Požadavky na znalecké posudky v psychologii panelová diskuze

Paleta otázek, na které odpovídají psychologové-znalci ve svých posudcích je velmi široká, stejně jako paleta používaných diagnostických metod.

For practitioners

Proč nelze SPARO používat v psychodiagnostické praxi?

Dotazník SPARO tradičně patří k jedněm z nejčastěji používaných metod v české psychodiagnostické praxi. V nedávno publikované sérii dvou studií (Cígler a Rudá, 2021a; 2021b) jsme však však narazili na řadu problémů, které se s touto metodou pojí.

For practitioners

TIM3-5 - test pro identifikaci nadaných žáků v matematice

19 Jun 2017

Praktická analýza komplexních sítí v prostredí R a Wolfram Language