Revista Interamericana de Psicología/Interamerican Journal of Psychology

Desperation among university students during SARS-COV-2 virus quarantine

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Due to the quarantine implemented by the COVID-19, an important psychological impact has been identified in college students, who are a vulnerable group in relation to the hopelessness analysis. The objective of the present research was to evaluate the levels of hopelessness in 213 Colombian university students, under a quantitative approach of descriptive-comparative scope, with a non-experimental design, in a cross-sectional focus. The Beck Hopelessness Scale was implemented and it was found that 39.9% of the participants had a minimum-normal level; 46.6% mild level; 10.3% intermediate level; and 2.8% high level, founding differences according to gender and social - economic condition. The importance of developing strategies from a comprehensive perspective to care psychosocial consequences associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in students is concluded.

Parenting self-efficacy on autism spectrum disorder context: a literature review

Mariana Costa e Silva, Rauni Jandé Roama-Alves — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a disease whose diagnostic characteristics require a significant change in daily life and family dynamics. Incorporating parents or caregivers into the treatment and ensuring their well-being becomes important for the development of the person with ASD. A construct that is associated with these issues is parental self-efficacy. Thus, the objective of the recent study is to identify studies with the topic "parental self-efficacy in the context of ASD" and the psychometric instruments used and characterise them. To this end, a bibliographic review was carried out with studies indexed in PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Sciences and CAPES Magazines that addressed the topic and used a psychometric instrument to evaluate self-efficacy. Bibliometric analysis of the data and thematic categorical content analysis were carried out. The results point to three thematic foci in the analysis of parental self-efficacy in the context of ASD with constructs related to parental cognition as the main variables. Most of the instruments used for evaluation are related to parental self-efficacy in the general context, with only two specific instruments identified for ASD. The need to carry out more studies in the area and to have specific instruments for ASD is emphasised.

From University to Lockdown Due to COVID-19: Coping and Psychological Factors in Students

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The COVID-19 lockdown led to a sudden transition from face-to-face classes to virtual platforms, causing important changes in academic, social and personal life. The aim of this study was to explore coping and psychological factors in college students during COVID-19 quarantine through an exploratory mixed-methods concurrent triangulation design. To describe and compare coping strategies, personality and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress of N=497 students from public and private universities, the DASS-21, COPE-28, Mini-IPIP-20 tests and two focal groups of N=20 were conducted. The results show risk levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. The most frequent coping strategy was acceptance, linked to lower levels of anxiety and depression; followed by distraction, active coping, positive reframing, and planning. Least frequent were substance use, denial, and disconnection, related to higher symptoms. Main personality traits were agreeableness, related to higher stress, depression, and anxiety; openness, and conscientiousness. Multiple linear regression models predicted stress, anxiety and depression by coping skills of denial, self-blame, disconnection, catharsis, as well as personality traits of agreeableness and low emotional stability. Adding stress, anxiety or depression as predictors in models for each variable, total explained variance increases.

Emotion Regulation in Mexican and U.S. White Adults: Cultural and Gender Differences

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between (a) cultural differences (reflected in family values and family environments) and gender and (b) cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression among Mexican and White U.S. undergraduate college students. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) to assess Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression; the Family Environment Scale (FES) to assess Cohesion, Conflict, and Expressiveness within the family environment; the Family Attitude Scale (FAS) to assess traditional values; and a demographic questionnaire were completed by 337 participants from Mexico (267 women, 70 men) and 192 White participants from the U.S. (108 women, 83 men, and 1 nonbinary-identified adult). Mexican respondents scored statistically significantly higher on Cognitive Reappraisal than did U.S. participants. Mexicans also scored statistically significantly lower on the Conflict and Expressiveness subscales of the FES. Regression analyses showed that higher scores on Cohesion and lower scores on Expressiveness among Mexicans were related to higher scores on Cognitive Reappraisal and lower scores on Expressive Suppression. Women in both countries scored statistically significantly lower on Expressive Suppression and higher on Cognitive Reappraisal than did men. These findings highlight how specific cultural, familial, and gender factors predict critical emotion regulation processes. Recommendations for future research and intervention are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of Social Connectedness Scale

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The perceived social connectedness (CS) is a one-dimensional construct conceptualized as the cognitive assessment that there is a close relationship with others, with whom contact can be made. This study aims to adapt the Social Connectedness Scale (SCS) to the Brazilian context, gathering evidence of psychometric adequacy. Two studies were conducted, the first (N = 285, mean age 24 years, SD = 4.92; 62% male) to obtain the exploratory factorial structure and the second (N = 300; mean age 23 years; SD = 5.43; 51% male) directed to confirmatory analysis of the unidimensionality and parameters of the item response theory. Internal consistency was satisfactory, as well as the evidence of convergent validity obtained from the negative correlations with the scale of depression, anxiety and stress. The results showed that the Portuguese version of the SCS gathered adequate psychometric evidence supporting its use in the measurement of SC.

Social Cognition on Stage: Review of the Relationship between Acting and Theory of Mind

Nathan de Oliveira Ribas Martins, Sara Del Prete Panciera — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

In the framework of social cognition, theory of mind is the socio-cognitive ability to attribute mental states, such as desires, intentions and beliefs, to oneself and others. Apart from studies carried out with children, research on typical adults’ theory of mind has sought to understand the impact of individual differences and distinct contexts on the use of this skill. The goal of this research was to carry out an integrative review of studies that investigate theory of mind and stage acting. The “Population, Concept and Context” strategy helped establish the criteria used for selecting research for analysis. The search was carried out in 5 databases and identified 976 texts, of which 14 became part of the qualitative synthesis. Results were analyzed using Content Analysis and allowed us to notice that, under certain conditions, the experience of acting, seems to be linked to theory of mind: acting methods, training practices, and the extension of the scenic experiences are factors that seem to relate to the way we read other people. Thus, this study intends to contribute with an overview of the field, pointing towards gaps and directions for future research.

Cluster analysis and artificial neural networks to assess and diagnosis suicide ideation in school adolescents

Efraín Javier De la hoz-Granadillo, Lizeth Reyes-Ruiz, Milgen Sanchez-Villegas — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Worldwide, suicide is considered a health problem where adolescents are most at risk. This work developed a method to assess and predict an early diagnosis of suicidal ideation among school adolescents through multivariate techniques: cluster analysis and artificial neural networks. Variables related to suicidal thoughts, plans and manifestation were analyzed in (n=638) adolescents. Cluster analysis identified 73.2% of adolescents with low suicidal ideation, 18.5% with medium suicidal ideation and 8.3% with high suicidal ideation. A neural network was designed with a correct classification capacity of 95.5%. The proposed method can discriminate and diagnose suicidal ideation in school adolescents. These results seek to create and develop initiatives focused on early detection and intervention to implementing educational and public policies preventing suicide among adolescents.

Cyberchondria during the COVID-19 pandemic: Its relationship with health anxiety, state anxiety and trait anxiety

Gianluis Ortega Germosén, Iris Bello-Castillo, Laura Sánchez-Vincitore — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Introduction: Cyberchondria is a compulsive cycle of seeking medical information that, instead of satisfying the need for information, increases anxiety. Objective: This cross-sectional study explored how health anxiety, trait anxiety, and state anxiety impact the levels of cyberchondria in young Dominicans during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the differences between people who are considered to be at risk for complications from COVID-19 and those who are not in these variables. Method: 87 participants answered an online booklet: A sociodemographic section; State-trait anxiety questionnaire (STAI); Brief Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI); Short version of the Cyberchondria severity scale (CSS-12). Results: A multiple regression analysis with forward selection found that the best fit model of cyberchondria selected two predictors: health anxiety (β = .38, p < .001) and trait anxiety (β = .28, p = .004), explaining 25% of the variance (p < .001). People who believe are at risk of complications from COVID-19 are 4.77 times more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for hypochondriasis than those who do not think that are at risk. Discussion and conclusion: High levels of health anxiety and trait anxiety is associated with cyberchondria and hypochondriasis, specifically in people at risk of complications from COVID-19, representing a threat to public health that must be intervened to moderate its social and economic impact.

Youth Ethical Perspectives on The Socioenvironmental Dilemma in Hydroeletric Construction in the Amazon

Maria Inês Gasparetto Higuchi, Eloisa de Sousa Santos — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Many of the environmental problems currently experienced find resonance in the ethical issue that drives people's behavior. This study investigated the variations in the application of environmental ethics and the respective ethos attributed to responsibility for social and environmental problems in elementary school students in Manaus-AM, aged between 10 and 18 years. An interview centered on a dilemma about the construction of a hydroelectric plant and its socio-environmental impacts in the Amazon was applied. Faced with the dilemma narrated, most participants were against the execution of the project, evidencing a categorical imperative strongly anchored in a pro-environmental social desirability and associated with altruistic and biospheric motivations. However, the moral reasoning present in most participants manifested an anthropocentric ethical perspective for solving the problem presented. Those who took a stand in favor of installing the hydroelectric plant, despite the impacts, showed more egoist and apathic attitudinal motivations, with an eminently anthropocentric ecological moral reasoning in the solutions given to the dilemma.

Researching in Trans Key: Recommendations for Research with Trans people

Jorge Eduardo Moncayo Quevedo, María Del Mar Pérez Arizabaleta — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Research and academic production related to various topics that involve people with transgender life experiences have experienced a significant increase in recent decades. However, in the approach to the Trans population in research processes, some tensions between researchers and participants can be evident. These tensions are particularly manifested in the objectives set and the results obtained, often influenced by the heterocisnormative context in which the researchers operate. In this sense, it is essential to initiate an academic and scientific dialogue that addresses the question of how to carry out research from a transgender perspective, what in this article is called research in a trans key, that is, focused on action without harm, Sensitivity and social responsibility in the investigative approach to Trans people. The objective of this article is to offer recommendations on the development of trans research, in order to avoid possible ethical misconduct in the development of research projects. In total, eleven recommendations are presented that are divided into three specific stages of the research process: outreach to participants, field work and information analysis.