Efficacy of the program "Testas's (mis)adventures" to promote the deep approach to learning

This paper provides information about the efficacy of a tutorial training program intended to enhance elementary fifth graders' study processes and foster their deep approaches to learning. The program "Testas's (mis)adventures" consists of a set of books in which Testas, a typical student, reveals and reflects upon his life experiences during school years. These life stories are nothing but an opportunity to present and train a wide range of learning strategies and self-regulatory processes, designed to insure students' deeper preparation for present and future learning challenges. The program has been developed along a school year, in a one hour weekly tutorial sessions. The training program had a semi-experimental design, included an experimental group (n=50) and a control one (n=50), and used pre- and posttest measures (learning strategies' declarative knowledge, learning approaches and academic achievement). Data suggest that the students enrolled in the training program, comparing with students in the control group, showed a significant improvement in their declarative knowledge of learning strategies and in their deep approach to learning, consequently lowering their use of a surface approach. In spite of this, in what concerns to academic achievement, no statistically significant differences have been found.     

Development of a brief questionnaire of smoking urges--Spanish

Using 2 different samples of smokers, the authors developed and cross-validated a Spanish, brief version of the Questionnaire of Smoking Urges (QSU; S. T. Tiffany & D. J. Drobes, 1991). The smokers in Study 1 (N = 245) and Study 2 (N = 225) were from the province of Alicante, Spain. In both samples, a 2-factor model provided an excellent fit for a 10-item, all positively worded version of the QSU. Moreover, in both studies each factor uniquely contributed to predict nicotine dependence. Overall, there was clear evidence of construct validity for the multidimensionality of smoking cravings among Spanish smokers.     

Utility of the Spanish translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised in Spain

This study examined psychometric characteristics of the Spanish translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (MSI-R) in a community sample of 205 couples from Spain. Overall, analyses of the scales' internal consistency compared favorably with findings for both the English and Spanish versions of this instrument with U.S. samples. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed similar scale factor structures across the original measure and Spanish translation, lending further support to using the MSI-R with couples from diverse cultural backgrounds whose sole or preferred language is Spanish. Mean profile comparisons between the current Spanish sample and the original standardization sample revealed significant differences on several scales. Implications of findings for clinical applications and further research are discussed.     

Spiritual Health and Outcomes in Muslim ICU Patients: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of the present study is to describe how religiosity and spirituality affect the psychiatric morbidity of Muslim intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We conducted a prospective nationwide cross-sectional study of ICU patients discharged from 45 medical centers spanning 31 proivinces in Iran. Adults (age ≥ 18 years) admitted to the ICU and treated with invasive mechanical ventilation were eligible. Nine validated survey tools were administered to detect direct and indirect associations between spiritual health (SH) and depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic disorder. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Impact of Event Scale—Revised (IES-R), Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome 14 question (PTSS-14) quality-of-life (QoL), and quality of patient to physician or nurse communication (PP-QoC and PN-QoC) scales were modeled through two mediators by structural equation modeling (SEM). Sex, ICU type, LOS, and APACHE II score were added in the independent variable list. 338 eligible patients were discharged from the ICUs during the study period. 56 were excluded (clinical status), and 282 were administered the survey. 278 returned it, with 272 complete and 6 partial responses. SH displayed no direct or indirect association to QoL. SH was indirectly associated with decreased depression and anxiety (B = ? 0.081, p < 0.05) via PP-QoC mediator. Both direct and indirect positive associations were observed between SH and IES-R (B = 0.293, p < 0.05; via PP-QoC) and PTSS-14 scores (B = 0.267, p < 0.001; via PP-QoC). Medical ICU location was associated with decreased PTSS-14 scores via the same mediator. In this survey of Muslim ICU patients treated with invasive mechanical ventilation, SH correlated with decreased depression and anxiety, but paradoxically increased post-traumatic stress. The most influential mediator was patient–physician quality-of-communication.