Claus Vögele

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Verified

Claus verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Head of the Institute for Advanced Studies at University of Luxembourg

Subjective age, that is the age a person feels like in relation to their chronological age, is indicative of a variety of biological, psychological, and social aging processes. Despite its importance, studies that investigate multi-variate, dynamic, longitudinal relations of subjective age with its potential determinants and potential mechanisms of...

This study aims to improve our understanding of how previous life experiences (psychosocial adversity, PSA) affect mental health through biological mechanisms. We examine how PSA affects DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns, and its implications for mental health. Using a sample of monozygotic (MZ) twins, this study controls for confounding genetic fact...

Background Given the rise of remote work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have investigated how working from home (WFH) is related to employee well-being. So far, findings have been mixed and based predominantly on cross-sectional analyses. Methods We used multi-level regression models to describe the longitudinal relationship be...

OBJECTIVE: Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, an increasing number of people report long-term physical and psychological impairments. Research on the immunological sequalae of long COVID (LC) is growing, though its relationship with mental health remains underexplored. We investigated the psychological impairments associated with LC, identify relat...

This systematic review provides an overview of the current literature on the effects of physical activity (PA) as an intervention to treat anxiety symptoms in adolescents and young adults. Three searches (March and May 2022; July 2024) focusing on RCTs using a PA intervention of at least moderate intensity were carried out in PubMed, PsycInfo, Spor...

Background: Overcommitment (OC) is highly prevalent in health care employees, and may predict depression symptoms. The literature suggests that the relationship between OC and depression is mediated by Effort-Reward-Imbalance (ERI), burnout and physical pain. This study tested a two-step mediation effect between OC and depression by ERI in a first,...

In their study, Stavropoulos et al. (2023) capitalized on supervised machine learning and a longitudinal design and reported that the User-Avatar Bond could be accurately employed to detect Gaming Disorder (GD) risk in a community sample of gamers. The authors suggested that the User-Avatar Bond is a “digital phenotype” that could be used as a diag...

Interoception encompasses both the processing and the perception of signals from inside the body. While the processing of afferent signals occurs partially at an automatic, pre-conscious level, their conscious perception involves several higher cognitive processes that affect each other bi-directionally. The current chapter focuses on cognitive pro...

Enactive cognition emphasizes co‐constructive roles of humans and their environment in shaping cognitive processes. It is specifically engaged in the mental simulation of behaviors, enhancing the connection between perception and action. Here we investigated the core network of brain regions involved in enactive cognition as applied to mental simul...

We use quarterly panel data from the COME-HERE survey covering five European countries to analyse three facets of the experience of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, in terms of prevalence, loneliness peaked in April 2020, followed by a U-shape pattern in the rest of 2020, and then remained relatively stable throughout 2021 and 2022....

This paper investigates the association between several mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness) and the overall tendency to follow official recommendations regarding self-protection against COVID-19 (i.e., overall compliance). We employ panel data from the COME-HERE survey, collected over four waves, on 7,766 individu...

Background Attentional processing of pain has been theorized to play a key role in the severity of pain and associated disability. In particular attentional bias towards pain information, resulting in poor pain outcomes, has been extensively researched. Recently, the idea was put forward that attention bias malleability (AM), i.e. , the readiness t...

In their study, Stavropoulos et al. (2023) capitalized on supervised machine learning and a longitudinal design and reported that the User-Avatar Bond could be accurately employed to detect Gaming Disorder (GD) risk in a community sample of gamers. The authors suggested that the User-Avatar Bond is a “digital phenotype” that could be used as a diag...

Early-life adversity as neglect or low socioeconomic status is associated with negative physical/mental health outcomes and plays an important role in health trajectories through life. The early-life environment has been shown to be encoded as changes in epigenetic markers that are retained for many years. We investigated the effect of maternal maj...

Background: Effective emotional regulation (ER) skills are important for sexual function, as they impact emotional awareness and expression during sexual activity, and therefore, satisfaction and distress. Emotion regulation interventions may offer a promising approach to improve sexual health. Web-based emotion regulation may be a therapeutic stra...

We investigated distinct profiles in emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) and their associations with sexual function and mental health. The online survey sample consisted of 5436 adult participants. The gender stratified cluster analysis resulted in a four-cluster solution for both men and women. Better sexual function and m...

With the advent of digital technologies, online sports betting is spurring a fast‐growing expansion. In this study, we examined how sports betting availability modulates the brain connectivity of frequent sports bettors with [problem bettors (PB)] or without [non‐problem bettors (NPB)] problematic sports betting. We conducted functional connectivit...

Enactive cognition emphasizes co-constructive roles of humans and their environment in shaping cognitive processes. It is specifically engaged in the mental simulation of behaviors, enhancing the connection between perception and action. Here we investigated the core network of brain regions involved in enactive cognition as applied to mental simul...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic swift implementation of research cohorts was key. While many studies focused exclusively on infected individuals, population based cohorts are essential for the follow-up of SARS-CoV-2 impact on public health. Here we present the CON-VINCE cohort, estimate the point and period prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 inf...

Enactive cognition emphasizes co-constructive roles of humans and their environment in shaping cognitive processes. It is specifically engaged in the mental simulation of behaviors, enhancing the connection between perception and action. Here we investigated the core network of brain regions involved in enactive cognition as applied to mental simul...

Using neurophysiological measures to model how the brain performs complex cognitive tasks such as mental rotation is a promising way towards precise predictions of behavioural responses. The mental rotation task requires objects to be mentally rotated in space. It has been used to monitor progressive neurological disorders. Up until now, research o...

Background: The high co-occurrence of chronic pain and mental disorders is well-established. Yet, an up-to-date account of the prevalence of mental disorders according to revised diagnostic criteria is lacking. Aims: The present study investigated the point and lifetime prevalence of a broad range of mental disorders according to DSM-5 in patients...

Interoceptive deficits—particularly with respect to the perception of emotions, hunger, and satiety—constitute important targets for intervention in eating disorders (EDs). Suitable self-report measures to identify these deficits, however, are lacking. We, therefore, developed and validated a multidimensional questionnaire to assess eating disorder...

With the advent of digital technologies, online sports betting is spurring a fast-growing expansion. In this study, we examined how sports betting availability modulates the brain connectivity of frequent sports bettors with (problem bettors, PB) or without (non-problem bettors; NPB) problematic sports betting. We conducted functional connectivity...

Introduction Chronic post-viral syndromes, including Long-COVID, are characterized by a range of persistent symptoms that occur following a viral infection. Psychological symptoms are prevalent in Long-COVID patients and can have a significant impact on their quality of life. However, the specific patterns of psychological symptoms, their associati...

BACKGROUND Emotion regulation interventions may offer a promising approach to improve sexual health. Internet-based emotion regulation may be a therapeutic strategy for men and women with sexual health concerns. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of intervention trials investigating their effects in this context, much less using the Internet. OBJEC...

Using neurophysiological measures to model how the brain performs complex cognitive tasks such as mental rotation is a promising way towards precise predictions of behavioural responses. The mental rotation task has frequently been used to monitor progressive neurological disorders. Up until now, research on neural correlates of mental rotation hav...

Even if for most people playing video games is a healthy leisure activity, a minority of vulnerable users present an excessive use associated to negative consequences (e.g., psychosocial maladjustment, sleep interference) and functional impairment. The current study first aims to identify psychological factors that contribute to discriminate highly...

Objective: Visceral hypersensitivity is considered a key symptom in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), both of which seriously affect health-related quality of life (HrQoL). Previous findings are mostly based on invasive procedures that may interfere with the assessment of visceral perception. The current study, t...

We here investigate the role of risk aversion in COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy. The theoretical effect is ambiguous, as both COVID‐19 infection and vaccination side‐effects involve probabilistic elements. In large‐scale data covering five European countries, we find that vaccine hesitancy falls with risk aversion, so that COVID‐19 infection is perceiv...

Using a unique harmonized real‐time data set from the COME-HERE longitudinal survey that covers five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden) and applying a non-parametric machine learning model, this paper identifies the main individual and macro-level predictors of self-protecting behaviors against the coronavirus disease 20...

Brain imaging studies have shown that stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), which plays a pivotal role in high-order cognitive control processes, modulates brain reactivity to reward-related cues. Nevertheless, the impact of contextual factors such as reward availability (the reward that is depicted in the cue exposure tas...

Background Cyberchondria is characterized by repeated and compulsive online searches for health information, resulting in increased health anxiety and distress. It has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct fueled by both anxiety and compulsivity-related factors and described as a “transdiagnostic compulsive behavioral syndrome,” which...

Background: Infections with SARS-CoV-2 have a pronounced impact on the gastrointestinal tract and its resident microbiome. Clear differences between severe cases of infection and healthy individuals have been reported, including the loss of commensal taxa. We aimed to understand if microbiome alterations including functional shifts are unique to s...

Improvements in the clinical management of anorexia nervosa (AN) are urgently needed. To do so, the search for innovative approaches continues at laboratory and clinical levels to translate new findings into more effective treatments. In this sense, modern learning theory provides a unifying framework that connects concepts, methodologies and data...

Real time electroencephalogram (EEG) based neurofeedback has been shown to be effective in regulating brain activity, thereby modifying cognitive performance and behavior. Nevertheless, individual variations in neurofeedback learning rates limit the overall efficacy of EEG based neurofeedback. In the present study we investigated the effects of lea...

Background Internalizing behaviors are an indicator of children’s psychological and emotional development, predicting future mental disorders. Recent studies have identified associations between DNA methylation (DNAm) and internalizing behaviors. This prospective study aimed at exploring the associations between pace of biological aging and the dev...

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to lifestyle changes across Europe with a likely impact on sleep quality. This investigation considers sleep quality in relation to the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in five European countries. Using panel regressions and keeping policy responses to COVID-19 constant, we show that an increase in the four-week aver...

Using nationally representative panel data on 7,766 individuals (22,878 observations), we investigate the association between several well-being indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness) and the general tendency to follow official recommendations regarding self-protection against COVID-19, in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden...

We validate whether social media data can be used to complement social surveys to monitor the public’s COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Taking advantage of recent artificial intelligence advances, we propose a framework to estimate individuals’ vaccine hesitancy from their social media posts. With 745,661 vaccine-related tweets originating from three We...

Rationale The coronavirus pandemic has forced governments to implement a variety of different dynamic lockdown-stringency strategies in the last two years. Extensive lockdown periods could have potential unintended consequences on mental health, at least for at-risk groups. Objective We present novel evidence on the heterogeneous direct and indire...

We assessed parental reflective functioning (PRF) with the Parent Development Interview-Revised and investigated its association with parenting behaviors, that is, autonomy support and psychological control (operationalized in terms of behaviors promoting and undermining autonomy relatedness), and stress responses (cortisol reactivity) during a par...

Models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) stress the relevance of physiological arousal. So far, limited research has been conducted in children with SAD in experimental stress designs. Thus, examining autonomic arousal, children with and without SAD completed a standardized social stressor (Trier Social Stress Test for Children-C; TSST-C). Pre-exist...

The perception-filter model posits that the generation of medically-unexplained symptoms is associated with (I.) more intense afferent bodily signals, (II.) impaired filter system activity to differentiate relevant from irrelevant signals, and (III.) altered perception of bodily signals. We tested these assumptions for cardiac perception in patient...

As on-demand streaming technology rapidly expanded, binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of TV series back-to-back) has become a widespread activity, and substantial research has been conducted to explore its potential harmfulness. There is, however, a need for differentiating non-harmful and problematic binge-watching. This is the firs...

BACKGROUND Cyberchondria is characterized by repeated and compulsive online searches for health information, resulting in increased health anxiety and distress. It has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct fueled by both anxiety and compulsivity-related factors and described as a “transdiagnostic compulsive behavioral syndrome,” which...

Background In recent years, more importance is being given to the assessment of quality of life (QoL) among diabetic patients as a measure of their health and the goal of all health interventions. Other studies have reported a high prevalence of diabetes-related effects on; however, there is a knowledge gap in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, as i...

Background and aims: Cyberchondria is characterized by repeated and compulsive online searches for health information, resulting in increased health anxiety and distress. This behaviour has been considered an emerging public health issue, which may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aimed to investigate changes in the...

Background: With the expansion of on-demand viewing technology, binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of TV series back-to-back) has become widespread practice, thereby attracting growing research interest, especially to explore its potential harmfulness. Initial studies on this topic, however, have underlined the need to promote a balan...

Individuals with impaired gustatory perception may have altered ingestive behaviors, which contribute to unhealthy weight status and disordered eating. Whether and to what extent weight status or eating symptomatology depend on flavor perception is still a controversial issue. Thus, the ability to discriminate among different levels of sweetness/fa...

Adolescence is a sensitive developmental period, with important changes occurring at biological, cognitive, emotional and social levels. As evidenced by several studies, adolescence is also a vulnerable period for the onset of serious mental disorders, which then tend to persist into adulthood. While there is ample evidence concerning risk factors...

Watching sport and attending a sport event are generally considered popular, enjoyable, and valorized activities in our society. The last few years have seen a development in digital technologies (i.e. smartphones, tablets, computers), which now offers the possibility to gamble on almost every sport events, at every moment, e.g. before or during a...

Concepts of health and well-being have evolved ever since ancient Greek and Roman history. Based on new approaches, which define health as the ability to adapt and manage even in the face of adversity, the concept of wellness can be understood as its proactive complement, which reflects our ability to fulfil our personal and collective human potent...

Background: Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) during childhood and adolescence is crucial as it usually results in adequate PA levels in adulthood. Given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by adolescents, these devices may offer feasible means to reach young populations and deliver interventions aiming to increase PA participation and d...

Background There is solid evidence that lack of physical activity (PA) is a risk factor for chronic diseases. Sufficient levels of PA in childhood and adolescence are particularly important, as they can set the standards for PA levels in adulthood. The latest reports show that only a small percentage of adolescents reach the recommended levels of P...

Aim To identify the impact of COVID-19 measures on sexual behaviors and sexual satisfaction in Luxembourg residents. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of adults (> 18 years of age) residing in Luxembourg, while COVID-19 restrictions were in place. The survey was available from January 15 to February 12, 2021 in four languages (F...

Brain imaging studies have shown that stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), which plays a pivotal role in high-order cognitive control processes, modulates brain reactivity to reward-related cues. Nevertheless, the impact of contextual factors such as reward availability (the reward that is depicted in the cue exposure tas...

Journal: "Emotion". We assessed parental reflective functioning (PRF) with the Parent Development Interview - Revised, and investigated its association with parenting behaviors, i.e., autonomy support and psychological control (operationalized in terms of behaviors promoting and undermining autonomy relatedness), and stress responses (cortisol reac...

The current study examined the effects of attachment on autonomy, relatedness, and emotion regulation during an attachment interview (Friends and Family Interview; FFI) and a Parent×Child Conflict interaction (Family Interaction Task; FIT) in 49 adolescents (11 to 17 years old). Disorganized adolescents displayed behaviors promoting autonomy and re...

Objectives: To determine the relationship between sustainable and healthy food shopping behaviour comparing general motivation with the immediate intention to act. Method: We conducted an online survey of 144 staff at the Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland, using a questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Self-Determinatio...

Introduction Sexual problems are characterized by difficulties in the ability to respond sexually or to obtain sexual pleasure. Their etiology is assumed to be multifactorial, demanding a biopsychosocial treatment approach. Positive sexual experiences involve the dynamic interplay between cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors. Difficulties...

Aim: To identify the impact of COVID-19 measures on sexual behaviors and sexual satisfaction in Luxembourg residents. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of adults (> 18 years of age) residing in Luxembourg, while COVID-19 restrictions were in place. The survey was available in four languages (French, German, English and Portugues...

BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) during childhood and adolescence is crucial as it usually results in adequate PA levels in adulthood. Given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by adolescents, these devices may offer feasible means to reach young populations and deliver interventions aiming to increase PA participation and dec...

Modeling behavior has been a core topic of Psychology and the Social Sciences since their respective inception as academic disciplines. This has resulted in a fractured landscape of different theories, all addressing different aspects of behavior. At the same time the need to formalize the design of computer and smartphone applications has spawned...

Introduction Emotion regulation difficulties have been associated with mental disorders and sexual dysfunctions. Traditional face-to-face transdiagnostic emotion regulation interventions have shown positive results for emotional and personality disorders. Only recently have the effects of these interventions on sexual health started to be investiga...

Introduction The use of social marketing strategies to induce the promotion of cognitive health has received little attention in research. The objective of this scoping review is twofold: (i) to identify the social marketing strategies that have been used in recent years to initiate and maintain health-promoting behaviour; (ii) to advance research...

Background Awareness of health and sustainability is increasing and can be supported by suitable smartphone applications. Most applications are designed based on commercial or ad-hoc considerations, although models for improving behavioural patterns and motivation have been studied in psychology and the social sciences. These models have so far not...

BACKGROUND There is solid evidence that lack of physical activity (PA) is a risk factor for chronic diseases. Sufficient levels of PA in childhood and adolescence are particularly important, as they can set the standards for PA levels in adulthood. The latest reports show that only a small percentage of adolescents reach the recommended levels of P...

Interoceptive accuracy (IAcc) as assessed with the heartbeat counting task (IAccHBCT) may be affected by a range of factors including (1.) the ability to adequately detect cardiac signals, indicated by IAcc in a heartbeat discrimination task (IAccHBDT), (2.) cardiac signal properties, affected by sympathetic and parasympathetic tone, and (3.) non-i...

Background High prevalence rates in diabetes-related distress have been observed in several studies; however, in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa evidence is lacking as is, for example, the case for Rwanda, where diabetes prevalence is expected to increase over the next decade. The aim of this study is to report on the translation and cultural adap...

Background: Several reviews of mobile health (mHealth) physical activity (PA) interventions suggest their beneficial effects on behavior change in adolescents and adults. Owing to the ubiquitous presence of smartphones, their use in mHealth PA interventions seems obvious; nevertheless, there are gaps in the literature on the evaluation reporting p...

Purpose The authors track the well-being of individuals across five European countries during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and relate their well-being to working from home. The authors also consider the role of pandemic-policy stringency in affecting well-being in Europe. Design/methodology/approach The authors ha...

Background Recent neuroimaging evidence suggests that mindfulness practice may mitigate the biasing influence of prior cognitive and emotional expectations on pain perception. The current study tested this hypothesis using a pain-cueing paradigm, which has reliably been shown to elicit conditioned hypoalgesic and hyperalgesic effects. Specifically,...

The preservation of our environment requires sustainable ways of thinking and living. This study aimed to explore the core network of brain regions involved in the prospective thinking about (un)sustainable behaviors. We used a neuroimaging cue-exposure paradigm requesting participants (N=86) to report behaviors that were the most feasible for them...

Introduction: Emotion regulation difficulties have been associated with mental disorders and sexual dysfunctions. Traditional face-to-face transdiagnostic emotion regulation interventions have shown positive results for emotional and personality disorders. Only recently have the effects of these interventions on sexual health started to be investig...