Stress assessment during adolescence: Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Student Stress Inventory-Stress Manifestations across gender and age

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties and measurement invariance across gender and age of the Student Stress Inventory-Stress Manifestations (SSI-SM) scores in a large sample of adolescents. The sample was comprised by a total of 1108 students (482 were male), with a mean age of 14.61 years (SD = 1.71). The results indicated that the SSI-SM scores presented adequate psychometric properties from both classical test theory and Item Response Theory (IRT). Confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA), showed that both the bifactor model and a three-factor model (emotional, physiological, and behavioural) were adequate. Multi-group CFA showed that the three-factor model had strong measurement invariance across gender and age. Statistically significant differences in gender were found between latent means as well as raw scores of SSI-SM. Ordinal alpha was .78 for Physiological, .90 for the Emotional, and .79 for the Behavioural subscales. Using IRT, the SSI-SM provides more accuracy information at the medium level of the latent trait. SSI-SM subscales were associated with emotional and behavioural problems. These results provided new sources of validity evidence of the SSI-SM scores in adolescents from general population. The SSI-SM appears to be a useful, brief, and easy to administrate self-report instrument for the screening of stress manifestations at school and educational settings.     

Changing prejudiced attitudes by thinking about persuasive messages: implications for resistance

This research showed that changing attitudes toward stigmatized groups can result from both the simple processes that require little thinking and the traditional elaborative forms of persuasion that require high thinking processes. Importantly, even when the obtained attitude change was equivalent for situations in which there was high and low message elaboration, the changes produced in high thinking conditions were found to be more resistant to further attacks than equivalent changes produced by less thoughtful mechanisms. Not only were those attitudes more resistant as measured objectively (Study 1) but participants also perceived their attitudes to be subjectively more resistant (Study 2). These studies suggest that examining the processes by which prejudice is changed can be important for understanding the consequences and long‐term implications of treatments and campaigns oriented to changing attitudes toward stigmatized groups.     

On Bourbaki’s axiomatic system for set theory

In this paper we study the axiomatic system proposed by Bourbaki for the Theory of Sets in the Éléments de Mathématique. We begin by examining the role played by the sign \(\uptau \) in the framework of its formal logical theory and then we show that the system of axioms for set theory is equivalent to Zermelo–Fraenkel system with the axiom of choice but without the axiom of foundation. Moreover, we study Grothendieck’s proposal of adding to Bourbaki’s system the axiom of universes for the purpose of considering the theory of categories. In this regard, we make some historical and epistemological remarks that could explain the conservative attitude of the Group.     

Knowing What To Do,When, and How: An Integrative Approach to the Use of Psychoanalytic Play Therapy with Children Affected by Cancer

This article delineates a comprehensive approach to play therapy in work with children with cancer. It considers different psychological needs experienced by the patient in connection with significant moments related to cancer treatment and the psychological tasks it involves. Different therapeutic aims are presented, and the therapeutic components related to each are described in detail. The therapeutic aims approached by play therapy are reality testing and ego strengthening, unveiling and working through of unconscious conflicts related to disease, and defense maturation. Therapeutic components leading to the attainment of those aims include the provision of realistic information about diagnosis and treatment by means of play, the use of play as a space for containment, the detection and interpretation of unconscious anxieties and defenses within play, and the exploration and trial of adaptive defenses in the face of illness-related anxiety. Implications of this approach in terms of the precision and flexibility of therapeutic actions and the diversity of roles played by the therapist are discussed.     

Identifying Students at Risk: An Examination of Computer-Adaptive Measures and Latent Class Growth Analysis

Multitiered systems of support depend on screening technology to identify students at risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a computer-adaptive test and latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to identify students at risk in reading with focus on the use of this methodology to characterize student performance in screening. Participants included 3,699 students in Grades 3–5. Three time points of administration (fall, winter, and spring) of the computer-adaptive reading measure were selected. LCGA results indicated 6–7 classes, depending on grade, informed by level and growth in student performance that significantly predicted failure on the statewide test administered at the end of the year. The lowest-performing classes had failure rates above 90% across all grades. The results indicate that identifying homogeneous groups of learners through LCGA may be valuable as an approach to determining students who need additional instruction. Practical implications and future directions are discussed.     

The Satisfaction with Life Scale in Adolescent Samples: Measurement Invariance across 24 Countries and Regions,Age, and Gender

Measurement of adolescent life satisfaction across cultures has not received much attention in previous empirical research. The present study evaluated measurement invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) among adolescents in 24 countries and regions (N = 22,710; age range = 13–19 years; 53% female). A single-factor model with residual covariance between a pair of items tapping past life satisfaction fitted well in 19 countries and regions and showed a partial metric invariance. In a subset of nine countries and regions, partial scalar invariance was supported. Partial metric invariance across all 24 countries and regions was achieved when custom model modifications in five countries and regions were included. Three SWLS items showed evidence of noninvariance across cultures. The measurement model was found to operate similarly across gender and age. Our findings suggest that caution is needed when using the SWLS for measuring life satisfaction among adolescents from different cultures.

     

Spanish drivers' beliefs about speed. Speeding is a major issue of road safety

Extending and updating our knowledge concerning drivers' motivational and cognitive processes is of essential importance if we are to apply policies with long-lasting effects. This study presents data from a representative national survey analyzing the Spanish drivers' beliefs about speed, the risks of speeding, the degree of violation of speed-limits and the reasons for speeding. Results indicate that Spanish drivers rate speeding as a serious offence, yet not among the most dangerous ones. All in all, they claim to comply mostly with the speed limits. However, some interesting violation patterns emerge: observance is lower for generic speed limits according to road type (vs. specific limits shown by certain road signs), and particularly in motorways (vs. single carriageways and urban areas). Risk perception and reasons for speeding emerge as the main factors predicting the levels of speed violations reported. Results suggest that any effective intervention strategy should consider such factors, namely the link between speed, road safety, and drivers' specific reasons for speeding.     

Testing the properties of the triarchic model of psychopathy in a community sample: Self‐reported trait aggression and drug consumption associations

The triarchic model of psychopathy encompasses different conceptions of psychopathic personality characterized by three phenotypic components: boldness, disinhibition, and meanness. Psychopathy is a complex construct at both emotional and behavioral level. The aim of this study was to determine the core elements of psychopathic personality in a community sample and analyze the relation between these elements and other personality traits such as aggression, and certain specific behavioral manifestations such as substance use. The study sample comprised 1,159 participants aged between 17 and 74 years, who were administered the Triarchic Psychopathy Questionnaire, the Impulsive‐Premeditated Aggression Scale, and the Aggression Questionnaire. The results show that the constructs of meanness and disinhibition are more highly associated with different forms of both impulsive and premeditated aggression. Furthermore, men scored higher on all three components of the triarchic model compared to women. Finally, higher substance use (tobacco and drugs) was associated with higher scores in meanness, boldness, and disinhibition. These findings demonstrate the importance of assessing psychopathy in a community sample, and the detection of possible risk factors for the disorder.     

A Defence of the Indispensability of Metaphor

I argue for the possibility of the thesis that metaphors are indispensable for grasping and expressing certain propositions. I defend this possibility against the objection that, if metaphors express propositions, once these propositions are identified they should be specifiable by non‐metaphorical means. I argue that this objection loses its strength if one adopts a Wittgensteinian, particularist view of thought, according to which grasping a propositional thought requires the ongoing exercise of a suitable skill often not characterizable by algorithmic rules. Within this particularist framework, thus, it becomes possible that metaphorical skills have an indispensable role in cognition and communication.