Psicothema最新文献

Background: Adolescence is an important period for development, when psychological problems may appear, including suicidal behavior. Experiencing Stressful Life Events (SLEs) is associated with increased risk of such problems, although the impact of distinct types of SLEs has seldom been examined. This study aims to analyze associations between different SLEs, psychological problems, subjective well-being, and suicidal behavior in adolescents. A new instrument was developed—the Stressful Life Events Checklist for Adolescents (SLECA)—where SLEs were classified as: minor/major, dependent/independent, interpersonal/non-interpersonal, and chronic/episodic.

Method: Two waves of data collection were included. Wave 1 involved 5,610 adolescents whereas wave 2 involved 2,312 adolescents.

Results: Major dependent interpersonal episodic SLEs were strongly associated with externalizing problems. Major dependent non-interpersonal episodic SLEs showed the highest association with attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems. Major independent chronic SLEs were associated with low subjective well-being, and internalizing problems. Peer problems and academic SLEs were associated with psychological problems and low subjective-well-being. Controlling for mental health variables, suicidal behavior was related to major independent chronic SLEs and to those linked to victimization and sexuality- related problems.

Conclusions: The SLECA is a useful instrument for assessing SLEs in adolescents, unravelling the interrelations between SLEs, mental health, and suicidal behavior.

Background: Applying a three-level meta-analysis, the goal of our investigation was to examine the relationship between parental homework involvement and students’ achievement, and to investigate whether certain study features could have resulted in the inconsistent results relating to this relationship from prior studies.

Method: We identified a total of 28 studies (32 independent samples) with 252 effect sizes for a total of 378222 participants.

Results: Our meta-analysis revealed an overall weak negative relationship between parental homework involvement and students’ achievement ( r = −0.064, p < 0.001). The overall relationship was moderated by the dimension of parental homework involvement. Specifically, students’ achievement was positively related to autonomy support, but largely unrelated to content support, parental control, frequency, and mixed. Additionally, the overall relationship was moderated by achievement measure, grade level, and parent gender.

Conclusions: Given that parental autonomy support was the only dimension that was positively related to students’ achievement, it would be important to conduct qualitative research that provides longitudinal descriptions of parent-child interactions relating to homework tasks as children make their transition from elementary to middle and high school.

Background: The Self-Absorption Scale (SAS) is one of the few instruments that measure dysfunctional self-focused attention or self-absorption, a transdiagnostic factor of vulnerability to various emotional disorders. The internal structure of the Spanish version of the SAS and its relationship with other variables have not been examined, nor has whether its subscales provide relevant information. These were the two goals of the present study.

Method: The factor structure of the SAS, its internal consistency, and its relationship with depression and post-traumatic stress were analyzed in a Spanish community sample of 519 adults.

Results: The SAS presented a symmetrical bifactor structure with a general factor of self-absorption that explained most of the variance in the items and two specific factors of private and public self-absorption. The total scale and the two subscales of the SAS exhibited excellent, good or adequate reliability coefficients (alphas/omegas = .70 – .88) and correlated with depression and post-traumatic stress ( r = .34 – .46).

Conclusions: The SAS provides reliable, valid measures of dysfunctional self-focused attention in Spanish adults, but its Private and Public Self-absorption subscales are not much more useful than the information provided by its total scale.

Background: Society is witnessing two parallel phenomena: an increase in the number of mobile phone users worldwide and a growing concern about problematic smartphone use. Leading explanatory models suggest that social reward may explain some problematic smartphone use. Given that experimental evidence about the impact of social variables on problematic smartphone use is scarce, the impact of social expectancy on emotional arousal measured with skin conductance response (SCR) was analysed during instant messaging.

Method: A sample of 86 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two groups. Experimental group participants were instructed to send a social expectation-generating message to their more active contacts in their preferred social network. After experiencing a virtual reality distraction environment, participants’ SCR was measured when they were allowed to use the smartphone and when it was withdrawn.

Results: Participants in the experimental group showed a higher SCR response than the control group. Peaks analysis also showed that peak amplitude was higher in experimental participants when their smartphones were used and withdrawn. Experimental participants also showed a longer half recovery time when using the smartphone.

Conclusions: Social expectancy is a critical variable in understanding problematic smartphone use and it should be considered in clinical contexts.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2023.193 Text:This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version: 1. The investigated alternative models have now been described more clearly. The method for comparing them with the original model has been correctly specified based only on Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) and not on the delta Comparative Fit Index, given that the models are not nested. 2. The formula for computing the critical value to which comparing the Mardia’s index for verifying if the data are multivariate normally distributed is equal to k(k+2) and not, as previously written, equal to k(k+1). 3. We have now specified that, in the Structural Equation Model, the correlations introduced between the dependent variables are correlations between the unexplained variance and thus may be described as partial correlations. 4. Finally, we have corrected the direction of the arrows of the lines from Participating, Consuming, and Expert Using observed variables toward the corresponding Cultural Capital latent variable and from Bonding and Bridging observed variables toward the corresponding social capital latent variable. DOI of original article: (https://doi.org/10.7334/ psicothema2021.231)

Background: The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) is the reference instrument for measuring anxiety sensitivity. The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the ASI-3 have been examined in university students but not in adults from the general population. Whether the ASI-3 subscales provide relevant information has not yet been examined either.

Method: The ASI-3's factor structure, internal consistency, temporal stability, and relationship with neuroticism were examined in a Spanish community sample of 919 adults.

Results: In two subsamples of participants, the ASI-3 presented a structure of three correlated factors (physical, cognitive, and social concerns) that loaded on a higher-order factor, but the three factors did not explain much item variance. The total scale and subscales of the ASI-3 showed excellent or good indices of internal consistency (alphas and omegas = .81 – .91), and adequate indices of test-retest reliability at two months ( r = .57 – .73) and the relationship with neuroticism and its facets ( r = .19 – .52).

Conclusions: The ASI-3 provides reliable, valid measures of anxiety sensitivity in Spanish adults, but its subscales are not very useful beyond the information provided by the total scale.

Background: The Intensification of Job Demands Scale (IDS) is a multidimensional instrument designed to capture the phenomenon of work intensification that characterizes modern Western societies. However, in Spain the instrument has not been validated to assess this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the IDS adaptation with a heterogeneous sample of Spanish workers.

Method: The sample consisted of 722 Spanish workers (57.8% female, 42.2% male) who completed a survey between January and April 2022.

Results: A five-factor correlated model, as in the original IDS, had an optimal fit with 15 items, and displayed invariance across gender, level of education, and organizational tenure. Reliability coefficients were all satisfactory, and scale adaptation showed evidence of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity.

Conclusions: The Spanish adaptation of the IDS is a valid, reliable measure for analyzing the phenomenon of work intensification and intensified job demands in Spain.

Background: Need for affect (NA) refers to individual differences in the motivation to approach or avoid emotion-inducing situations and activities. Prior research has demonstrated that NA is a relevant construct for understanding psychological processes related to affect. The present study aimed to adapt and validate the English version of the Need for Affect Questionnaire (NAQ), as well as the short version (i.e., the NAQ-S), to Spanish. We examined evidence of validity and reliability in the NAQ and NAQ-S scores.

Method: Study 1 ( N = 416) analyzed the psychometric properties of scores from the Spanish adaptation of the NAQ, as well as the relationships with measures of other relevant psychological constructs. Study 2 ( N = 118) tested the validity and reliability of scores from the Spanish adaptation of the NAQ-S.

Results: We found two main factors (i.e., Emotion Approach and Emotion Avoidance), and the internal consistency of both the NAQ and the NAQ-S scores, as well as their test-retest reliability, were adequate. Relationships with other measures were in line with prior research, providing positive evidence of concurrent validity.

Conclusions: Scores from both instruments showed validity and reliability, so should be considered in future research related to NA.

Background: Validity is a core topic in educational and psychological assessment. Although there are many available resources describing the concept of validity, sources of validity evidence, and suggestions about how to obtain validity evidence; there is little guidance providing specific instructions for planning and carrying out validation studies.

Method: In this paper we describe (a) the fundamental principles underlying test validity, (b) the process of validation, and (c) practical guidance for practitioners to plan and carry out sufficient validity research to support the use of a test for its intended purposes.

Results: We first define validity, describe sources of validity evidence, and provide examples where each of these sources are addressed. Then, we describe a validation agenda describing steps and tasks for planning and developing validation studies.

Conclusions: Finally, we discuss the importance of addressing validation studies from a comprehensive approach.

Antecedents: In recent years, telepractice has become widespread as an intervention strategy in Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services. However, studies supporting its use in this field remain scarce. Because reliable instruments are needed to evaluate the perceived quality, satisfaction and the acceptability of telepractice from the families' perspective, the present study aims to report the psychometric properties of an ECI-specific instrument that includes a variety of social validity indicators that are also important and consistent with a family-centered approach.

Method: This study, with a sample of 738 families, introduces an instrument aimed at evaluating the social validity of telepractice. The scale includes the main indicators of social validity: Usability, Effectiveness; Feasibility, Utility, intervention with natural caregivers, and Future Intentions. The study aims to report its psychometric properties through a split-sample method, conducting both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with randomly assigned sub-samples.

Results: We found that all seven items fit into one factor measuring social validity of telepractice, with acceptable internal consistency and sensitive enough to capture differences between the type of service delivery families received.

Conclusions: In addition, the proposed instrument provides relevant information for professionals to improve the quality of service-delivery in ECI.