The violent matrix: a study of structural,interpersonal, and intrapersonal violence among a sample of poor women

One goal of this paper is to present an integrated tripartite model of violence, with a focus on structural violence within an oppression paradigm. Using qualitative and quantitative data from 27 women (70% African American and 30% European American) who participated in a national substance abuse treatment demonstration program, we describe a model of violence in which structural violence is presented within a transactional relationship with interpersonal, and intrapersonal violence. We suggest that the effects of structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal violence are magnified when race and poverty are considered. The second goal of the paper is to present a preliminary test of the new model of violence. Results indicated that different levels and types of violence are interrelated. Implications of these findings for empowering solutions are suggested.     

Self-reported competences and problems in Spanish adolescents: a normative study of the YSR

The aim of the study was to provide a standardization of self-reported competences and emotional/behavioural problems in Spanish adolescents, using the Achenbach's Youth Self-Report (YSR), and to compare our results to those from other countries. The YSR was completed by 2822 adolescents aged 11-18 years, recruited from secondary schools in two regions of Spain. There were significant differences in Total behaviour problems and in most problem scales in boys and girls, scoring boys higher on externalizing syndromes, whereas girls score higher on internalizing syndromes . Males' mean scores were higher than females' scores for social competence. Age effects also showed significant differences with respect to internalizing problems, thought problems, social problems and depression. Cut-off points based on the 90th and 98th percentile developed from this sample are presented for the competences and the problem scales. To test the overall range of variations across cultures, comparisons were made between broad band and narrow band measures of the YSR in Spanish adolescents and those from other countries. Gender differences in the YSR were similar to those found across different cultures; there is a consistent trend to increase behavioural problems with age; and social competence seem to be a relevant protective factor against behavioural problems.     

Social and Emotional Processes in the Classroom Setting: A Goal Approach

Goals can be defined as cognitive- and as value-related motivational constructs. Consequently, both goal elaboration and personal valuing of goals are emphasized as critical determinants of motivated action. From this perspective, it is argued that goals play an influential role in students' cognitions, and in their social and emotional processes. I explore students' strategies for dealing with potentially stressful classroom circumstances in relation to their goals by examining students' reactions to imagined specific academic stressors, focusing on their emotions, behavior, and goals. Four distinct strategies were defined: strategic flexible action, strategic rigid action, passive behavior, and disorganized behavior. It is suggested that (a) goals play a major role in articulating and integrating behaviors and emotions within a whole strategy, (b) particular combinations of goal characteristics - goal-setting, personal goal valuing, and goal difficulty - are required for successful coping, and (c) both productive behavior and emotional regulation are predicted by specific goal characteristics.     

Factor Structure of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Verbal Form B in a Spanish‐speaking Population

The objective of this study was to compare, through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, two different theoretical models that explain the operationalized creativity construct with the Verbal Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), Form B. Model 1 is represented by six factors which correspond to each activity and its respective indicators while Model 2 is integrated by three factors which correspond to each TTCT ability (i.e., Fluency, Originality, and Flexibility) and the corresponding indicators for each variable. The study was carried out with a sample consisting of 432 Spanish‐speaking youngsters of both sexes aged 15–26. According to the research findings, the model which showed the most satisfactory fit identifies six correlated factors that correspond to each of the activities proposed (χ² = 414.48; df = 116; χ²/df = 3.57; GFI = .90; NFI = .95; CFI = .96 and RMSEA = .077). These results are discussed according to its psychometric implications for the construct assessment in different fields.     

Role of the Disease in the Psychological Impact of Pre-Symptomatic Testing for SCA2 and FAP ATTRV30M: Experience with the Disease, Kinship and Gender of the Transmitting Parent

To identify possible factors affecting the psychological impact of pre-symptomatic testing for spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) and familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP ATTRV30M), we studied (1) the effect of previous experience with the disease in the family, (2) kinship with the closest affected relative and (3) gender of affected parent, when adapting to test results; as well as (4) differences in the course of psychological wellbeing in 63 subjects ( 28 at-risk for FAP ATTRV30M, and 35 at risk for SCA2), who pursued predictive testing for these diseases, in Cuba and in Portugal. Our research shows that individuals with little or no experience with the disease in their family exhibited more anxiety; at-risk subjects for SCA2 or FAP ATTRV30M who had a first degree relative with the disease showed lower levels of anxiety and depression during pre-symptomatic testing. Also those with an affected mother had lower levels of depression, either immediately, or one year after receipt of test results. Adaptation to pre-symptomatic testing results differed for subjects at-risk for the two different conditions. Unlike the FAP ATTRV30M families, carriers for SCA2 reported pathological levels of depression immediately after-testing (3 weeks), although those levels had returned to normal levels at 6 months. Subjects at-risk for FAP ATTRV30M tended to have less anxiety than those tested for SCA2, at the one-year follow-up. Overall, depression levels improved over time, while anxiety remained more constant. A longer awareness of the disease in the family, closer kinship, and a transmitting mother all lessened the impact of pre-symptomatic testing, as expressed by the post-test levels of anxiety and depression.