Evidence of validity for a Health Teaching Skills Scale

There are few studies found in the literature that analyze the university professor duties, specifically in the area of health. The purpose of this article was to describe the construction of a scale to evaluate the importance of health teaching skills and to seek evidence of validity using factorial (exploratory and confirmatory) analyzes based on the internal structure. The sample was composed by university students of Nursing and Medical courses (n = 315). The results indicated the presence of 4 factors that remained in the model after performing the confirmatory factorial analysis, which are: use of information and communication technologies in teaching (13 items, α = 0,87); Teaching in practical health scenarios (10 items, α = 0,81); Interpersonal relationship (6 items, α = 0,89); and Didactics (5 items; α = 0,63). We concluded that the instrument has initial evidence of validity and may be applicable in studies to diagnose the learning needs of university professors.

Students with ADHD: Social Skills, Behavioral Problems, Academic Performance, and Family Resources

ADHD constitutes a developmental risk. The general aim was to identify social skills, behavior problems, academic performance and family resources of children with ADHD, with the specific aim being to compare students regarding indicators of ADHD and the use or not of medication. Participants were 43 Elementary Education I students (M=9.6 years, SD=1.5), 43 parents (M=39.1 years, SD=7.6) and 38 teachers (M=43.1 years, SD=8.4). The instruments used were the Inventory of Social Skills, Behavior Problems and Academic Competence (SSRS-BR), Conners’ Scale and the Inventory of Family Resources. The collection was carried out in public schools. The results showed that the students had scores higher than the reference sample in Behavior Problems and Social Skills and lower in classes of social skills and Academic Competence; the presence of family resources; and grades above 5.0 as a school mean. We concluded that there is a need for interventions with the studied population.

Validity of Zulliger-SC in the Cognitive Assessment of Elderly and Long-Lived Adults

This study sought evidence of validity of the Zulliger method to evaluate cognitive processes in elderly and long-lived adults and to verify the relationship between cognition and external variables. Participated 142 subjects, aged between 18 and 96 years old. The Zulliger Comprehensive System (ZSC), Mini-Mental State Examination and sociodemographic protocols were used as of data collection. The older and long-lived adults presented a significant decrease in mediation (X-%, XA%, P) and abstract reasoning (M) when compared to young and middle-aged adults. Education and socioeconomic status (SES) demonstrated significant and positive correlations with cognitive processes (R, ZF, W, M, DQ+ and Intellectualization). The findings are fundamental to psychological practice and to directing measures for cognitive preservation in human aging.

Adolescent Social Skills, Perception of Social Support and Motivation to Learn: the impact on School Performance

The aim of this study was to verify whether the School Performance variable can be explained by the Adolescent Social Skills (ASS), Motivation to Learn and Perception of Social Support constructs in groups of students that were with and without an age/grade discrepancy in Elementary School and in Acceleration classes. This study also aimed to compare the constructs in the groups. Participants were 500 students from public schools, aged 15 to 18 years, divided into two groups according to the school progression. The Social Skills Inventory for Adolescents, the Learning Motivation in Elementary Education Scale, the Social Support Appraisals Scale and the Class Council Maps of the participating institutions were used. For the data analysis, Multiple Linear Regression was performed and Student’s t-test. The results showed that Adolescent Social Skills, Motivation to Learn and the Perception of Social Support better explained the school performance of the regular progression students. When comparing the groups, the regular progression students presented higher mean scores in Empathy, Self-Control, Civility, Assertiveness, Social Development and in the overall total of the ASS scale. The same occurred when comparing the means of Perception of Social Support and Motivation to Learn of students with and without age/grade discrepancy. The data obtained can contribute to preventive intervention actions for academic competences and social skills, aiming at improving school performance and maintaining regular progression.

Pure Procrastination Scale e Irrational Procrastination Scale: Validation of a Brazilian Version

This study aimed to adapt and validate the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS) and Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS) for Brazilian Portuguese. Therefore, 2666 university students were invited to participate in the study (M = 26.08; SD = 6.6; 77% female). The factorial structures were analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The validity was investigated through Pearson’s correlations between the subscales of the Academic Procrastination Questionnaire ─ Negative Consequences and DASS-21. The reliability of the scales and their factors were evaluated through Cronbach’s alpha. The results indicated a one-dimensional IPS structure and a three-factor solution with a higher-order factor for PPS. Significant correlations were found between the IPS and PPS with the other measurements, revealing concurrent and convergent validity for both scales. The instruments showed good internal consistency, with alphas ranging from 0.80 to 0.91.

Psychometric Properties of the Emotional Competence Inventory - Short Revised Version (ECI-R)

A previous study presented the Emotional Competence Inventory, which was designed with basis on the emotional intelligence theory. It was very long and had a disproportionate number of items for each factor. Therefore, this study aimed to seek for validity evidence based on its internal structure and carry out an analysis of items of the short version of the instrument supported by the Item Response Theory (IRT). The study included 626 Brazilian participants with a mean age of 24.8 years (SD = 8.2). They were predominantly females (68.5%) who answered to the 34 items in the instrument. A confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit indices, thus confirming the original structure of the instrument. IRT analyses also resulted in good fit indices and revealed the aspects involved in the increased difficulty of the items in each scale. It was concluded that the instrument shows good psychometric properties and can be recommended for research purposes.

Narratives of bullying and emersion of self-compassion expressions in adolescents

This study aimed to investigate the narratives of bullying and the expression of self-compassion in statements written by adolescents as a possible coping strategy. Participated 162 adolescents from a state in northern Brazil. The data collected in written testimonials were categorized based on Bardin’s Content Analysis. The instructions provided for preparing the testimonies supported the structuring of four categories: 1) bullying experience; 2) reasons for bullying; 3) consequences of bullying; 4) coping strategies and self-compassion expressions. The results suggest 63.7% of adolescents witnessed bullying behaviors. Physical characteristics were the main motivation reported toward bullying. Negative feelings and psychosomatic symptoms were the main consequences reported. The adolescents reported forms of self-compassion as a coping resource before receiving psychoeducation about the concept. The implications of these findings and the use of psychoeducational interventions on bullying and self-compassion are discussed.

Executive Functions in Parkinson’s Disease

The objective of this study was to investigate executive functions (EFs) in older adults with Parkinson’s disease (PD). It was a cross-sectional and comparative study, composed of 62 participants divided into PD group (n = 31; M age = 75.26; SD age = 7.26) and control group (n = 31; M age = 74.03; SD age = 6.95), aged 61 to 93 years, recruited for convenience in 5 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The instruments used were a sociodemographic data questionnaire; MMSE; GDS-15; BIS-11; verbal fluency tasks (FAS and animals), DEX; WCST-64 and FDT. Descriptive analyzes and Student’s t and Chi-square tests were used. The PD group had a lower performance in the WCST-64 and FDT tests compared to controls, indicating worse performance in tasks that required reasoning, cognitive flexibility and processing speed, in addition, showed difficulties in performing tasks that require EF (DEX).

Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire: New Evidences of Validity

This study aimed to investigate new evidence of internal and external validity of the Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (CRBQ) for the context of the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A total of 252 people participated this study, being in a marital relationship, with an average age of 38.3 years (SD = 10.87), the majority of whom were married (70%) and female (57.1%). An Exploratory Factorial Analysis of the CRBQ pointed an adequate structure with three factors (agreement, avoidance, and attack), with alphas ranging from 0.75 to 0.77, which were related to personality traits. In this direction, the results are discussed, in the light of the specialized literature, and it is concluded that the psychometric adequacy of the CRBQ expands the evidence of validity and can be used in future studies in the Brazilian context by researchers and those interested in the subject.

Crescimento Pós-Traumático no Câncer de Mama: Centralidade de Evento e Coping

Resumo Crescimento pós-traumático (CPT) refere-se à mudança positiva em algum aspecto da experiência humana como resultado do enfrentamento de adversidades. Investigou-se a relação entre CPT, estilos de enfrentamento e centralidade de evento. Participaram do estudo 65 mulheres que concluíram os tratamentos recomendados para o câncer de mama. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa cujos instrumentos foram respondidos on-line. Identificou-se correlações altas entre CPT e centralidade de evento e moderadas entre CPT e os estilos de enfrentamento: estratégia focada no problema, busca de suporte social e práticas religiosas. A centralidade de evento e as estratégias focadas no problema mostraram-se melhores preditoras de CPT. Os resultados sugerem que quanto maior a adversidade percebida, maior a possibilidade de crescimento, sendo as estratégias de enfrentamento focadas no problema um componente importante para a sua ocorrência. Este estudo apontou a possibilidade de crescimento pessoal relacionado ao enfrentamento do CA de mama e indicou estratégias relevantes para desenvolvê-lo.