Incommensurability,Comparability, and Non-reductive Ontological Relations

We begin by highlighting some points related to Kuhn’s later thoughts on the incommensurability thesis and then show to what extent the standard version of the thesis given by the structuralist metatheory allows us to capture Kuhn’s ideas. Our main aim is to establish what constitutes the basis of comparability between incommensurable theories, even in cases of incommensurability with respect to theoretical and non-theoretical terms. We propose that comparability between (radical) incommensurable theories requires some connection between their respective ontologies that can be captured by means of an ontological non-reductive relation. At this point, the structuralist notion of “echeloned partial substructure” may be of help. When the incommensurability is very drastic, the existence of ontological connections between the theories involved may only be evident by common terms of their non-characteristic vocabularies. So, this notion of non-characteristic vocabulary becomes relevant in our proposal.     

Creativity and Psychopathology: Sex Matters

The association between creativity and psychopathology has, for decades, been a focus of heated debate fuelled by contradictory findings. Nevertheless, the findings suggest complex associations between creativity and psychopathology. Other studies have investigated the association between creativity and sex, with inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sex on the association between creativity and psychopathology. In total, 106 participants (37 men and 69 women) were administered the Symptom Check List (SCL90-R) and the CREA test of creativity. There were no significant associations in the total sample between the variable creativity and the psychopathology scales. Strikingly, when the sample was divided by gender, a moderate-to-high significant positive association between creativity and psychopathology was found among men. Previously, the associations between creativity and gender and between creativity and psychopathology were studied in relative isolation from each other, rather than together as the main focus of research. Our results suggest that the complex associations between psychopathology and creativity differ between men and women.     

Psychometric Properties of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form: A Study of Portuguese Speaking Children/Youths

The development of measures of children and adolescents’ subjective well-being is crucial to the conceptualization and evaluation of positive mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the factorial structure and invariance of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF—adolescents) across children and youths. Participants were from two different samples: 208 elementary school children (sample 1) and 216 middle school youths (sample 2). Results confirmed the three-dimensional structure of subjective well-being in both samples. The three sub-scales of the MHCSF yielded high internal consistency and results from the HTMT85 indicated discriminant validity. Measurement invariance testing across three different age groups (7–8, 9–10 and 11–14 years) confirmed the full metric and approximate scalar invariance of the MHC-SF. Full scalar invariance was achieved across gender. The study also compared the latent means for mental well-being in the three age groups, and found that the younger groups showed significantly higher levels of wellbeing. The present research study strongly suggests that the MHC-SF (adolescents) is an appropriate instrument to measure the positive mental health and well-being of children and pre-adolescents as multidimensional construct.     

Risk Factors for Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in the Preschool Years: Systematic Literature Review Based on the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5

Early childhood is a common period for the onset of internalizing and externalizing problems. Many are the risk factors that contribute to the emergence of these types of problems. Literature enhances the importance of viewing the child as part of a system, in order to better understand the origin, the trajectory and the impact of risk factors in child mental health in preschool age. The current systematic literature review aims to examine empirical evidence based on the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5 for risk factors related to the presence of internalizing and externalizing problems in children aged between 3 and 6 years old. The literature review includes articles published from January 2001 to December 2014. Twenty-eight articles that attend to pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria were reported throughout the review. In general, results indicate that risk factors for internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool age can be organized into three main groups of risks: environment factors, parental/parenting factors, and child factors. It is clear that frequently more than one risk related to the emergence of internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool age children are reported. It is also possible to note that are few risks factors consistently studied in this age, highlighting the need for further investigation.     

Polemics on Ethical Aspects in the Compost Business

This paper focuses on compost use in overpasses and underpasses for wild animals over roads and other similar linear structures. In this context, good quality of compost may result in faster and more resistant vegetation cover during the year. Inter alia, this can be interpreted also as reduction of damage and saving lives. There are millions of tones of plant residue produced every day worldwide. These represent prospective business for manufacturers of compost additives called “accelerators”. The opinions of the sale representatives’ with regards to other alternatives of biowaste utilization and their own products were reviewed. The robust analyzes of several “accelerated” composts revealed that the quality was generally low. Only two accelerated composts were somewhat similar in quality to the blank sample that was produced according to the traditional procedure. Overlaps between the interests of decision makers on future soil fertility were weighed against the preferences on short-term profit. Possible causes that allowed the boom of these underperforming products and the possible consequences are also discussed. Conclusions regarding the ethical concerns on how to run businesses with products whose profitability depends on weaknesses in the legal system and customer unawareness are to follow.     

The moderating impact of temporal separation on the association between intention and physical activity: a meta-analysis

Previous meta-analyses have estimated that the intention–behaviour association in physical activity (PA) is large in magnitude. However, these prior meta-analyses have also revealed a large degree of heterogeneity, suggesting the presence of moderating variables. This study examines the impact of one such moderator, testing the hypothesis that the magnitude of the association between intention and behaviour decreases as the temporal separation between the two increases. A systematic literature search was used to identify published and unpublished studies that met the inclusion criteria. A random-effects meta-regression was conducted to test the study hypothesis. A total of 78 journal articles and 11 unpublished dissertations were identified, yielding 109 effect sizes. The mean number of weeks between the measurement of intention and behaviour was 5.4 (SD = 6.6, range = .43, 26). The average correlation between intention and behaviour was r = 0.51. In line with theoretical predictions, temporal separation was a significant moderator of the intention–behaviour correlation (B = ?.014, p < .001) and explained 24% of the between-study variance. This result remained unchanged when entered simultaneously with several control variables. The results of this analysis have important implications both for researchers and for intervention designers aiming to increase rates of PA.     

Building Life Satisfaction Through Well-Being Dimensions: A Longitudinal Study in Children with a Life-Threatening Illness

Recent literature suggests that people increase their life satisfaction over time as a result of developing positive psychological resources (e.g. benefit finding). However, this hypothesis has not yet tested in children. Since suffering from illness is usually associated with challenge and growth, we hypothesized that changes in life satisfaction in a sample of ill children would depend on to what extent they developed resources. Children with a life threatening illness (N = 67 at T1 and N = 49 at T2, ages 7–18 years) completed the Student Life Satisfaction Scale, a measure of health-related functioning problems, a measure of positive emotions (PE), the Benefit Finding Scale for Children, and a measure of strengths from the Values in Action Inventory of Character Strengths for Youth. The same measures were assessed 6 months after the first assessment. Using structural equation modeling techniques, results revealed that health-related functioning problems were associated with negative changes in life satisfaction over time. Moreover, increases in benefit finding and character strengths (i.e., love and gratitude) predicted positive changes in LS over time. Finally, PE predicted changes in benefit finding over time through several personal strengths (i.e., vitality and gratitude). The development of positive psychological resources in children experiencing high levels of stress may promote desirable psychological outcomes. Therefore, in order to help clinicians prevent negative outcomes, future research should strive to better understand life satisfaction and its underlying predictors in children experiencing difficult life circumstances.     

Characterising the Personality of the Public Safety Offender and Non‐offender using Decision Trees: The Case of Colombia

The aim of this paper was to create a decision tree (DT) to identify personality profiles of offenders against public safety. A technique meeting this requirement was proposed that uses the C4.5 algorithm to derive decision rules for personality profiling of public safety offenders. The Mini‐Mult test was used to measure the personality profiles of 238 individuals. With the test results as our database, a C4.5 DT was applied to construct rules that classify each profile into one of two groups, those without and those with records of offences against public safety. The model correctly classified 80% of the personality profiles and delivered a set of decision rules for distinguishing the profiles by group, and the principal personality profiles were interpreted. We conclude that DTs are a promising technique for analysing personality profiles by their offender or non‐offender status. Finally, we believe that the development of a classifying model using DT may have practical applications in the Colombian prison system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.