A comparison of the peers method and traditional methodologies, and risk behaviors in studies of the prevalence of drug consumption in a population of female, Chilean students

The present study investigates drug consumption and risk behaviors among female students between 8th and 12th grade in two communities in the city of Santiago, Chile. Based on studies of university populations, we hypothesize that the students' reports of their consumption of licit drugs will tend to be consistent with their actual use of said drugs using two methods to investigate consumption, while their consumption of illicit drugs will be susceptible, and will tend to be under-reported when evaluated through traditional self-report measures. In order to compare the two methods, a cross-sectional study was designed that would compare reported drug consumption, first using the peers method, and then by means of traditional self-report in a group of 350 students. The results show that women's reports of licit drug consumption converge using the two methods, while as earlier suggested, women's illicit drug consumption was found to be under-reported when traditional methodologies were used.     

Assessing workplace bullying: Spanish validation of a reduced version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire

The aim of the present study was to validate a reduced Spanish version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ; Einarsen & Raknes, 1997). This instrument, which has been widely used in various studies, was developed to measure workplace bullying. Two samples, the first comprising 352 employees from 11 organizations, and the second comprising victims of bullying who were recruited from 15 Spanish associations against bullying, participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis conducted with the data from the first sample revealed a two-factor solution that accounted for 63.3% of the total variance. The data from the second sample were used for confirmatory factor analyses to compare three structure models of the NAQ (one factor, two independent factors, and two correlated factors). The results indicate that the correlated two-factor model provided the best fit to the data (chi2/df = 2.1, CFI = .93, GFI = .95, RMR = .04, RMSEA = .06, AIC = 215.4). Reliability analysis showed that this 14-item Spanish version had high internal consistency. Significant correlations between the NAQ and its dimensions and diverse health and perceived stress scales were found, which provided evidence of construct validity. Taken conjointly, the results of this study support the use of the Spanish version of the reduced NAQ in future research.     

Poststimulation time interval-dependent effects of motor cortex anodal tDCS on reaction-time task performance

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) induces long-term potentiation-like plasticity, which is associated with long-lasting effects on different cognitive, emotional, and motor performances. Specifically, tDCS applied over the motor cortex is considered to improve reaction time in simple and complex tasks. The timing of tDCS relative to task performance could determine the efficacy of tDCS to modulate performance. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a single session of anodal tDCS (1.5 mA, for 15 min) applied over the left primary motor cortex (M1) versus sham stimulation on performance of a go/no-go simple reaction-time task carried out at three different time points after tDCS—namely, 0, 30, or 60 min after stimulation. Performance zero min after anodal tDCS was improved during the whole course of the task. Performance 30 min after anodal tDCS was improved only in the last block of the reaction-time task. Performance 60 min after anodal tDCS was not significantly different throughout the entire task. These findings suggest that the motor cortex excitability changes induced by tDCS can improve motor responses, and these effects critically depend on the time interval between stimulation and task performance.     

Acquired surface alexia in Spanish: a case report

This paper reports a case study of acquired surface alexia in Spanish and discusses the most suitable tests to detect this syndrome in a writing system that is very regular for reading at the segmental and supra-segmental levels. Patient MM has surface alexia characterized by quantitatively good performance in reading words and pseudowords; accurate but slow and syllabic reading of words, nonwords and sentences; good performance in lexical decision tasks including words and nonwords; errors in lexical decision with pseudohomophones; and homophone confusions. This pattern of reading can be interpreted as a disorder in the lexical reading route and overdependence on the non-lexical route. We discuss nonlexical impairments and the interpretation of alexia and suggest tasks to identify surface alexia in a shallow orthography.     

Math anxiety: A review of its cognitive consequences,psychophysiological correlates,and brain bases

A decade has passed since the last published review of math anxiety, which was carried out by Ashcraft and Ridley (2005). Given the considerable interest aroused by this topic in recent years and the growing number of publications related to it, the present article aims to provide a full and updated review of the field, ranging from the initial studies of the impact of math anxiety on numerical cognition, to the latest research exploring its electrophysiological correlates and brain bases from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. Finally, this review describes the factors and mechanisms that have been claimed to play a role in the origins and/or maintenance of math anxiety, and it examines in detail the main explanations proposed to account for the negative effects of math anxiety on performance: competition for working memory resources, a deficit in a low-level numerical representation, and inhibition/attentional control deficit.     

Mentoring relationships from early adolescence through emerging adulthood: A qualitative analysis

This study compared perceptions of mentoring relationships among early adolescents, middle adolescents, and emerging adults. In ten focus groups, 56 middle school, high school, and college students described relational experiences that were analyzed thematically. Differences in the characteristics of the mentors nominated by the youth across the age groups were noted and five broad themes identified. Three themes were similar across the different age groups: (a) the importance of spending time together and engaging in shared activities, (b) trust and fidelity, and (c) role modeling and identification. Two themes were present in the narratives of all three age groups but played out differently in ways that were consistent with developmental issues and needs of that age group: (a) balancing connection and autonomy and (b) empowerment. These data can help guide future research and practice involving youth mentoring relationships across developmental and disciplinary divides.     

A study of physicians' intention to quit: the role of burnout, commitment and difficult doctor-patient interactions

Research on burnout and turnover intentions offers some inconsistent findings about the effects of commitment. In addition, a factor which is insufficiently studied in the turnover field is the relationship with the recipient of physicians' work, that is, the patient. This study contributes to the research literature by examining how the moderating effect of commitment depends on difficult doctor-patient relations. A total of 480 physicians, representative of Madrid, completed the survey. According to the interaction effects and the three-way interaction analyses, the results support the argument that differences in commitment lead to differences in the way physicians perceive job, interpersonal, and chronic stress. These results add a new approach to the general assumption that commitment has a unilateral negative effect, and difficult patients have a positive effect on turnover intentions, suggesting an integrated perspective, rather than a diametrical one, that allows us comprehend the complexity of physicians' turnover intentions.     

Psychological inertia in adolescence: Sexist attitudes and cognitive and social strategies that hinder gender equality

Current Psychology - This work analyses sexist attitudes, cognitive strategies and social attitudes in young people between 12 and 16 years of age, attending secondary education. The...