La construcción situacional en la ingesta alcohólica

RESUMEN

En la primera parte de este artículo se elabora un modelo de “construcción situacional de ingesta alcohólica”; en la segunda parte se aplica este modelo al estudio de la influencia de la publicidad sobre la ingesta alcohólica. El presupuesto básico de esta investigación era que mientras el sistema perceptivo es diferentemente afectado por los estados momentáneos, los estados experimentales o la propaganda sufrida, la estructura abstracta reflejada por la taxonomía situacional es escasamente afectada por la influencia de las variables experimentales, en este caso, por la propaganda alcohólica recibida. Los resultados encontrados manifiestan que la construcción de las situaciones de ingesta alcohólica está, al menos, modelada por los factores publicitarios, y que esta influencia es mayor cuanto menos es la edad de quien recibe la información.     

Androginia psicológica y flexibilidad comportamental

RESUMEN

Los autores investigan la hipótesis de que los sujetos andróginos son más flexibles en su implicación y bienestar ante tareas que se tipifican culturalmente como pertenecientes al “otro” sexo. Comienzan repasando la literatura psicológica acerca de androginia psicológica y flexibilidad comportamental y seguidamente concretan sus hipótesis: comprobar que los individuos andróginos a) mostrarán una mayor implicación en tareas tanto masculinas como femeninas, b) preferirán en menor medida actividades apropiadas a su sexo y c) experimentarán un mayor bienestar psicológico al desarrollar este tipo de actividades que cualquier otro grupo de rol sexual. Tras describir el método y los resultados del trabajo, los autores ofrecen una discusión final de éstos, en la que destacan que su investigación parece confirmar los resultados de Bem: parece que es el rol sexual andrógino el que siente un mayor grado de bienestar al realizar conductas que son sancionadas socialmente como inapropiadas a su sexo y el que escoge un mayor número de este tipo de comportamientos. Los autores finalizan afirmando que también parece haber quedado respaldada la validez predictiva del Bem Sex Role Inventory.     

The Short Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS-S) in Spanish smokers

We present a brief scale derived from the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS). We used a sample of 1.061 daily smokers, which was obtained from five Primary Care Health Centers, a Unit of Alcoholism, and a Smoking Cessation Unit. All smokers were evaluated with the NDSS and the SCID to assess nicotine dependence according to DSM-IV criteria. The results indicate the existence of a general factor of nicotine dependence according to the NDSS. We selected the items with a higher factor loading (>.50), obtaining a short scale of 6 items. With this brief scale, we obtained results similar to those of the total scale in the diverse variables (sociodemographic and smoking) of the study. Scale reliability is satisfactory (a= .79), the correlation between the short and the total scale is very high (r=.95, p<.001) and the short scale discriminates the smokers in terms of cigarette consumption and nicotine dependence, as assessed with the SCID. The operation under the ROC curve is excellent (area under the curve .84). The data indicate the usefulness of this brief scale (NDSS-S) to assess nicotine dependence in smokers.     

Chronicity and severity of maternal postpartum depression and infant sleep disorders: a population-based cohort study in southern Brazil

A cohort study was conducted with 397 women randomly selected from the Brazilian National System of Public Health, to describe the prevalence rates of infant sleep problems at 12-month of life, and its association with chronicity and severity of maternal depressive symptoms. Mothers were assessed, first, from the 9th to the 12th week postpartum and then at 12 months after delivery, with EPDS and a self-rating questionnaire regarding babies’ sleep behavior. After controlling for possible confounders, babies whose mothers had severe chronic depressive symptoms were at higher risk for sleep disorder at 12 months of birth.     

Social perceptions of achieving students and achievement goals of students in Malaysia and the Philippines

The study investigates the hypothesis that country differences in achievement goals of students are associated with differences in how students with different achievement goals are perceived by students in different cultures. University students from Malaysia and the Philippine were asked to complete questionnaires on their achievement goals and on their perceptions of hypothetical students who exemplify the different achievement goals. The perception questions related to social goals such as peer affiliation, personal qualities, and likeability. The achievement goals data indicated that Filipino students reported higher levels of mastery goals compared to their Malaysian counterparts, who in turn reported higher levels of performance approach goals. Hierarchical regression analysis indicate that country differences in mastery and performance goals can be accounted for by differences in perceptions of mastery- and performance-goal oriented peers, particularly those perceptions that relate to social affiliation and social approval. The results are discussed in terms of how achievement goal constructs are perceived in different countries, and how differences in perception may relate to some social dimensions in the adoption of achievement goals.     

Belonging Without Belonging: Utilizing Evangelical Self-Identification to Analyze Political Attitudes and Preferences

Research typically defines evangelical belonging as affiliation with an evangelical denomination, but this approach excludes many self-identified evangelicals, even though previous studies of religious groups find that self-identification is a powerful predictor of political preferences. Using data from the National Survey of Religion and Politics, we investigate the usefulness of self-identification for classifying evangelicals. The effects of three types of evangelical belonging (religious tradition-only, self-identification-only, and a combination of religious tradition and self-identification) on respondents' political attitudes, party identification, and vote choice suggest that religious tradition is a good predictor of political attitudes while self-identification is a good predictor of party identification. We conclude that self-identification and tradition are both important to understanding evangelicalism and politics in America.     

Brain stimulation techniques in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: current and future directions

Recent studies on the epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) estimate 50 million patients suffer from OCD worldwide, thus making it a global problem. The treatment of OCD has changed substantially over the last 2 decades following the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which provide symptom improvement in approximately 60% of patients. However, some patients remain resistant to the standard pharmacologic and behavioral treatments. Although some treatment-resistant patients respond to pharmacologic augmentations, others do not, and there is evidence that some of the most severe cases benefit from treatment with neurosurgical interventions. Besides pharmacologic, behavioral, and neurosurgical approaches, different brain stimulation methods-transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and electroconvulsive therapy-have been investigated in treatment-resistant patients with OCD. However, available data about the use of these techniques in OCD treatment are quite limited in terms of sample size and study design, given the difficulty in conducting standard blinded trials for these procedures. In addition, none of the mentioned treatments have received Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of OCD. Nevertheless, promising findings regarding efficacy, tolerability, and non-invasiveness and/or reversibility of these techniques have increased interest in investigating their use in treatment-resistant OCD.     

Spanish adaptation of the Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWBS)

The aim of this paper is to adapt to Spanish the D. van Direndonck version of Carol Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales, and to analyse its consistency and factorial validity. All the scales exhibited good internal reliabilities, with Cronbach alpha's ranging from 0.83 (Self-acceptance) to 0.68 (Personal growth). However, confirmatory factor analyses didn't corroborate the six-factor model (Self-acceptance, Positive relations, Autonomy, Environmental mastery, Purpose in life, and Personal growth) with a second order factor called Psychological Well-Being . To improve the psychometric properties, a new reduced version was proposed that indeed will facilitate the application. The scales of the new version maintain and raise its internal consistency (Cronbach alpha's 0.84 to 0.70). Furthermore, the scales shown an excellent fit to the theoretical model proposed by D. van Dierendonck.     

Thinking styles and academic achievement among Filipino students

The authors' objective in this study was to determine whether the precepts of R. J. Sternberg's (1988, 1997) theory of mental self-government apply to a non-Western culture. They administered R. J. Sternberg and R. K. Wagner's (1992) Thinking Styles Inventory, which is based on the theory of mental self-government, to 429 Filipino university students. The results of item analysis, scale intercorrelations, and factor analysis were consistent with the general provisions of the theory. Correlational analysis between thinking styles and grade point average showed that thinking styles are related to acade micachievement. The results are explained with respect to the concepts and practices of Philippine culture and schools and discussed in relation to the developmental assumptions of the theory of mental self-government.     

Language and mathematical problem solving among bilinguals

Does using a bilingual's 1st or 2nd language have an effect on problem solving in semantically rich domains like school mathematics? The author conducted a study to determine whether Filipino-English bilingual students' understanding and solving of word problems in arithmetic differed when the problems were in the students' 1st and 2nd languages. Two groups participated-students whose 1st language was Filipino and students whose 1st language was English-and easy and difficult arithmetic problems were used. The author used a recall paradigm to assess how students understood the word problems and coded the solution accuracy to assess problem solving. The results indicated a 1st-language advantage; that is, the students were better able to understand and solve problems in their 1st language, whether the 1st language was English or Filipino. Moreover, the advantage was more marked with the easy problems. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.