Analysis of the psychometric properties of the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire in Colombian adolescents

Background/objective: Decision-making is a set of skills useful for daily functioning which allow people to perform their tasks and control objectives and goals, generating responses to the environment’s demands from their resources. Research and intervention with adolescents require reliable instruments to assess decision-making. The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ) is an instrument that assesses decision-making styles and has been successfully validated in different cultural contexts. This study analysed the psychometric properties, construct validity (factorial, convergent, and discriminant), and predictive validity of the MDMQ in Colombian adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 822 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years (Mage = 16.09, SD = 1.31, 33.7% girls), 410 from the regular school system (Mage = 15.50, SD = 1.29, 48.54% girls) and 412 adolescents from the Criminal Responsibility System (Mage = 16.6, SD = 1.04, 18.93% girls) participated. Decision-making styles, emotional intelligence, cognitive distortions, prosocial behaviour and antisocial behaviour were assessed. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), reliability, correlational and predictive analyses were performed. Results: The CFA showed satisfactory fit indices for the original model of four factors and 22 items. Sufficient reliability conditions were observed. The results indicated that rational decision-making (vigilance) is positively associated with emotional intelligence and influences prosocial behaviour. Negative decision-making styles are associated with cognitive distortions and influence antisocial behaviour. Conclusions: After analysing the psychometric properties, it is concluded that the MDMQ is a valid instrument to assess the decision-making styles of Colombian adolescents.

The effect of emotional ventilation on the psychosocial development of school age children during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The World Health Organization has officially declared the coronavirus as a pandemic The impact of the pandemic is also experienced by children. Children experience major changes in their lives, one of which is child psychosocial. Psychosocial support needs for the children. This study aims to determine the effect of emotional ventilation on the psychosocial development of school-age children during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research design is a quasi-experiment with a one-group pretest and posttest design approach. Respondents were 43 school-age children. Psychosocial development was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Emotional ventilation is done once a week and twice a week. a week after the second intervention, a post-test was performed. The results showed that before the intervention prosocial behaviour, emotional problems and hyperactivity were mostly normal, behavioural problems and relationship problems with peers before the intervention showed mostly abnormal. After prosocial behaviour intervention, emotional problems, behavioural problems and hyperactivity were mostly normal and only peer relationship problems were still mostly abnormal. There are differences between emotional problems, behavioural problems, hyperactivity before and after emotional ventilation with a p-value ≤ 0.05.

Workplace incivility and bystanders’ helping intentions

Purpose Using observational and experimental designs, the purpose of this study was to explore if the power relation between the offender and the victim of incivility and the level of perceived severity of the incivility were associated with bystanders’ intentions to help when witnessing workplace incivility. Design/methodology/approach In Study 1, 160 participants completed a questionnaire where they described a recent uncivil incident they had witnessed, and completed measures of perceived severity and measures of their behavioural response as bystanders. In Study 2, 183 participants were randomised to read one of two vignettes (a manager being uncivil towards a subordinate or vice versa), and completed measures of perceived severity and of their motivation to intervene. The authors investigated whether the power relation between perpetrator and victim, and the perceived severity of the uncivil exchange, were associated with prosocial bystander behaviours in Study 1 and with motivation to defend the victim of incivility in Study 2. Findings Higher perpetrator power was significantly associated with the incident being perceived as more severe, and higher perpetrator power was directly related to greater tendency to confront, and lower tendency to avoid, the perpetrator. Perpetrator power was indirectly associated with social support according to the perceived severity. A supervisor acting in an uncivil manner was rated as more severe than a subordinate acting in such a way. Perceived severity mediated the relationship between perpetrator power and the witness’s introjected, identified and intrinsic motivation to intervene. Originality/value This study extends previous work by investigating how the perpetrator’s power influences both the bystander’s prosocial behaviour and their motivation to defend the victim. Furthermore, previous research has not considered how perceptions of severity might mediate the relationship between power, behaviour and motivation.

My Friends Always Know When I’m Sad: How Children’s Emotion Understanding is Associated with Socio-Emotional Development

<p>The current study examined whether prosocial, social, and psychological development in children are more strongly associated with an overall understanding of emotions, or whether certain aspects of development are associated with specific components of emotion understanding. 38 children aged between 6 and 9 years old were administered the Test of Emotion Comprehension and the Kusche Affective Interview-Revised. Their parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Overall emotion understanding was found to be associated with conduct problems. Specific components of emotion understanding were associated with peer and emotional problems and inattention-hyperactivity. Prosocial behaviour was not significantly associated with emotion understanding. Results suggest that social and psychological development are primarily associated with specific components of emotion understanding rather than overall understanding.</p>

My Friends Always Know When I’m Sad: How Children’s Emotion Understanding is Associated with Socio-Emotional Development

<p>The current study examined whether prosocial, social, and psychological development in children are more strongly associated with an overall understanding of emotions, or whether certain aspects of development are associated with specific components of emotion understanding. 38 children aged between 6 and 9 years old were administered the Test of Emotion Comprehension and the Kusche Affective Interview-Revised. Their parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Overall emotion understanding was found to be associated with conduct problems. Specific components of emotion understanding were associated with peer and emotional problems and inattention-hyperactivity. Prosocial behaviour was not significantly associated with emotion understanding. Results suggest that social and psychological development are primarily associated with specific components of emotion understanding rather than overall understanding.</p>

Relating Compassion, Spirituality, and Scandal before Unjust Suffering: An Empirical Assessment

Recent studies in the field of cognitive science of religion have proposed a connection between religious beliefs, theory of mind, and prosocial behaviour. Theory of mind appears to be related to empathy and compassion, and both to a special sensitivity towards unjust suffering, which could trigger a religious crisis, as has often happened and is revealed in the “theodicy question”. To test such relationships, adolescents were surveyed by an exploratory questionnaire. The collected data point to a more complex, less linear interaction, which depends more on cultural factors and reflexive elaboration than cognitive structures. In general, compassion and outrage before unjust suffering appear to be quite related; compassion is related to religious practice and even more to spiritual perception.