Laura Hernández-Guzmán

A Short-Term Longitudinal Study of Pubertal Change, Gender, and Psychological Well-Being of Mexican Early Adolescents

This study examined the role of pubertal development on depression, externalizing behavior problems, self-esteem, and body-image of 951 Mexican early adolescents. The 5th through 7th grade students were assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. The main finding of this study is that the acute experience of menarche adversely affected Mexican adolescent girls psychological well-being, most specifically in terms of depressive symptomatology. On the other hand, pubertal change in Mexican boys, as measured by voice-change, did not appear to adversely affect psychological well-being above and beyond a nonsignificant minimal and temporal readjustment and in fact had a positive effect on body-image. Results suggest that perceived maternal control, prior social–emotional adjustment, and menstrual attitudes may moderate the effects of pubertal change.

El Inventario de Depresión de Beck: Su validez en población adolescente

El Inventario de Depresion de Beck, IA (BDI-IA), ha demostrado buenas propiedades psicometricas durante los ultimos cuarenta anos. El proposito de este estudio fue evaluar la estructura factorial y las propiedades psicometricas del BDI-IA para adolescentes mexicanos. Participo un total de 385 adolescentes en dos muestras (comunidad general, pacientes psiquiatricos externos con y sin trastorno depresivo). Los participantes completaron el BDI-IA y una bateria de instrumentos para medir constructos relacionados. El AFE mostro una solucion de dos factores: el Cognitivo-Afectivo y el Somatico. El AFC indico un ajuste aceptable del modelo propuesto por Beck. El BDI-IA mostro un α = .92, y mantuvo una relacion significativa con medidas de afrontamiento evitativo, respuesta de rumia y ansiedad. Asimismo, mostro buena sensibilidad y especificidad para discriminar entre deprimidos y no deprimidos. El BDI-IA es una medida valida y confiable de los sintomas depresivos en adolescentes mexicanos de poblacion clinica y no clinica.

Effect of guided imagery on children's social performance

The study examined the effect of guided imagery on overt social behavior of children during free play. Forty withdrawn and rejected first-graders (6 to 8 years of age) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions. Four of them were guided imagery conditions: mastery plus peer acceptance, mastery with no social contingency, coping, and gradual rehearsal. A fifth control condition involved no intervention. It was predicted that the four imagery conditions would increase and maintain positive socialization, but the coping condition would be the most effective. Children under the coping condition, which involved guided imagery of failure to get peer acceptance, but progressively mastering the social interaction and finally being accepted by peers, consistently increased positive socialization behaviors from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up, as compared to gradual rehearsal and control. Both mastery conditions increased socialization at post-treatment, but reverted to baseline levels during follow-up.

Sustained attention during learning activities: an observational study with pre‐school children

The purpose of the present study was to analyse possible developmental trends in sustained attention through the pre‐school period, as well as the influence of social and physical distractions. Three samples of children, one per each pre‐school grade, were observed during learning activities required by the teacher. Children’s behaviour was coded as sustained attention, and as social and non‐social categories of disengagement. Sustained attention was observed to linearly increase with pre‐school level, while the frequency of social interference of attention decreased. These findings are discussed within the context of studies on developmental trends of sustained attention in natural settings, the influence of social stimuli and the possible involvement of self‐control abilities.

Validez de constructo de la versión corta de la Escala de Desregulación Emocional para niños y adolescentes

espanolObjetivo. Someter a prueba el modelo unidimensional de la escala de desregulacion emocional, version corta (EDS-short) para ninos y adolescentes; examinar su invariancia entre sexos y edades; e indagar acerca de su validez convergente. Metodo. Mediante un muestreo intencional participaron, en un estudio y su replica, 407 y 546 menores, respectivamente, quienes respondieron la EDS-short y la subescala de afecto negativo de la Positive and Negative Affect Scale para ninos. Se empleo el analisis factorial confirmatorio para analizar la estructura unidimensional de la EDS-short y se examino la asociacion entre la desregulacion emocional y el afecto negativo por medio de la correlacion de Pearson. Resultados. En ambos estudios, el modelo unidimensional mostro un ajuste adecuado (χ² / gl ≤ 2.76; RMSEA ≤ 0.06; CFI = 0.99; IFI = 0.99; NFI = 0.98; NNFI = 0.99), asi como invariancia entre mujeres y hombres, y entre ninos y adolescentes (ΔCFI = 0.00). Hubo asociacion positiva y moderada entre la desregulacion emocional y el afecto negativo (r ≥ 0.57). Conclusion. La EDS-short posee un modelo de medida unidimensional y validez convergente. Se recomienda como una medida viable de la desregulacion emocional de ninos y de adolescentes. EnglishObjective. The aims of this research were to test the unidimensional model of the Emotional Dysregulation Scale, short form (EDS-short), for children and adolescents, to examine its invariance across sex and age, and to investigate its convergent validity. Method. By intentional sampling, 407 and 546 young people answered the EDS-short and the Negative Affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children in a fi rst study and its replication, respectively. Confi rmatory factor analysis was used to analyze the unidimensional structure of the EDS-short, and Pearson correlation was used to examine the association between emotion dysregulation and negative affect. Results. In both studies the unidimensional model showed an adequate fi t (χ² / gl ≤ 2.76; RMSEA ≤ 0.06; CFI = 0.99; IFI = 0.99; NFI = 0.98; NNFI = 0.99), as well as invariance between girls and boys, and children and adolescents (∆CFI = 0.00). A positive and moderate relation between emotion dysregulation and negative affect was found (r ≥ 0.57). Conclusion. The EDS-short has a unidimensional measurement model and convergent validity. It is recommended as a viable measure of child and adolescent emotional dysregulation portuguesEscopo. Os propositos de esta pesquisa foram someter a prova o modelo unidimensional da Escada de Desregulacao Emocional, versao curta (EDS-short), para criancas e adolescentes, examinar sua nao variacao entre sexos e idades e indagar sobre sua validade convergente. Metodologia. Mediante uma amostra intencional participaram, em um estudo e sua replica, 407 e 546 menores, respetivamente, os quais responderam a EDSshort e a sub-escada de afeto negativo da Positive and Negative Affect Scale para criancas. Foi empregada a analise fatorial confi rmatoria para analisar a estrutura unidimensional da EDS-short e foi examinada a associacao entre a desregulacao emocional e o afeto negativo por medio da correlacao de Pearson. Resultados. Em ambos os estudos o modelo unidimensional mostrou um ajuste adequado (χ² / gl ≤ 2.76; RMSEA ≤ 0.06; CFI = 0.99; IFI = 0.99; NFI = 0.98; NNFI = 0.99), assim como uma nao variacao entre homens e mulheres e entre criancas e adolescentes (∆CFI = 0.00). Existiu uma associacao positiva e moderada entre a desregulacao emocional e o afeto negativo (r ≥ 0.57). Conclusao. A EDS-short tem um modelo de medida unidimensional e validade convergente. E recomendada como uma medida viavel da desregulacao emocional de criancas e adolescentes.

Consistencia interna y validez de criterio de la versión mexicana del Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5)

OBJECTIVE To investigate the validity and internal consistency of the Mexican version of the CBCL/1.5 -5 that assesses the most common psychopathology in pre-school children in clinical and epidemiological settings. PATIENTS AND METHOD A total of 438 parents from two groups, clinical-psychiatric (N= 62) and community (N= 376) completed the CBCL/1.5-5/Mexican version. RESULTS The internal consistency was high for total problems α=0.95, and internalized α=0.89 and externalized α=0.91 subscales. The test re-test (one week) using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was ≥ 0.95 for the internalized, externalized, and total problems subscales. The ROC curve for the criterion status of clinically-referred vs. non-referred using the total problems scale ≥ 24 resulted in an AUC (area under curve) of 0.77, a specificity 0.73, and a sensitivity of 0.70. CONCLUSIONS The CBCL/1.5 -5/Mexican version is a reliable and valid tool.