Validation of the inventory: lockdown and its impact on the university Community.

BACKGROUND: Significant consequences of COVID-19 within academic/professional life are, at the psychological level, related to worry, tension, stress; coping strategies and lifestyle changes. This study describes the process of design and validation of an inventory (QPIC), which aims to assess the psychological impact that a situation of confinement can produce among university students and teachers. METHODS: Design of the instrument and psychometric tests. A sample of 862 students and 229 professors affiliated to Spanish and Colombian universities was used. Data were collected in April 2020 with the request of the favourable Bioethics Committee IR/2020. RESULTS: Six experts carried out the content validation. A confirmatory factor analysis of the theoretical dimensions proposed for the scales was performed and the internal consistency of each of the three initial scales was confirmed (0.866, 0.813 and 0.834). CONCLUSION: A rigorous and reliable instrument is achieved, consisting of two final scales: (a) Worry, tension and stress scale (b) Coping scale, which helps to measure individual psychological effects in housebound situations. It is an instrument designed, constructed ad hoc to assess the impact of confinement and subjected to validation. The factor structure and reliability of the instrument are examined and good psychometric properties are obtained. The application of this inventory will make it possible to assess the impact on people's mental health during a period of confinement.

Efficacy of EMDR in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has spread, in both the number of publications and professionals who use this technique in the clinical setting. The objective of this meta-analysis was to verify the efficacy of EMDR in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. METHOD: Based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 18 articles were selected ( n = 1213 subjects), published between 1991-2022. RESULTS: The effect sizes found in the meta-analysis were small in the reduction of symptoms associated with PTSD, anxiety and depression, both in post-treatment and in maintenance. The analysis of the moderating variables revealed that both intervention time, the number and duration of the sessions, the experience of the therapist, and the type of therapist in charge of the intervention play an important role in the size of the final effect. No statistically significant data were found in the meta-regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study had restrictive criteria for study selection, there is a certain risk of bias in the selected articles, which lack sufficient methodological quality to be extrapolated to the clinical field.

Pilot Study on the Effects of the Teaching Interpersonal Skills Program for Teens Program (PEHIA).

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Social skills are essential in adolescence, both for their relational dimension and for their influence on other areas of adolescent life, so it is essential to include Social skills in the formal education of students. METHOD: This paper presents the results of an experimental mixed factorial design pilot study in which an Interpersonal Skills Training Program for Adolescents (PEHIA) was applied. The convenience sample consisted of 51 adolescents. An evaluation was carried out before and after the intervention, using the CEDIA (Adolescent Interpersonal Difficulties Assessment Questionnaire) and SAS-A (Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents) questionnaires. RESULTS: The mixed factorial ANOVA show significant differences in the overall measures and in most of the subscales of both questionnaires, indicating that PEHIA is effectiveness, at least in the short term. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in assertiveness, interpersonal relationships and public speaking suggest that the program is feasible and shows promising results in reducing anxiety. However, a larger scale study should be conducted.

A systematic review on nomophobia prevalence: Surfacing results and standard guidelines for future research.

BACKGROUND: Mobile phones allow us to stay connected with others and provide us a sense of security. We can work, chat with family and friends, take pictures, buy clothes or books, and even control home appliances. They play such a significant role in our lives that we feel anxious without them. In some cases, the relationship between humans and these communication devices have become problematic. Nomophobia (NMP) is the fear of becoming incommunicable, separated from the mobile phone and losing connection to the Internet. Since this social phobia was coined in the first decade of the XXI century, a growing number of studies have studied it and reported the prevalence of this technology-related problem. However, this research activity has generated mixed results regarding how we assess and report nomophobia and who may be at a higher risk of suffering or developing it. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of 108 studies published in English and Spanish and collected them in Parsifal. We searched for assessment and prevalence data on nomophobia. Also, we looked at gender and age differences to identify risk factors and see if these differences exist and emerge worldwide. RESULTS: In this study, we find that women and younger individuals suffer more from nomophobia. The disparity in reporting the prevalence of nomophobia is enormous since the percentages of "at-risk" participants go from 13% to 79%, and participants suffering from it are between 6% and 73%, being the score in the range of 45.5 and 93.82. Within the group of nomophobic people, moderate cases vary between 25.7% and 73.3%, and severe cases, between 1% and 87%. Such disparity is due to differences in assessment criteria. Females and young people seem to be more vulnerable to nomophobia although methodological disparity makes it difficult to reach definitive conclusions. We conclude our review by recommending some common guidelines for guiding future research.

[Utility of a statistical model of cognitive styles in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]. / Utilidad de un modelo estadístico de estilos cognitivos en el trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad.

The purpose of this study was to determine the best statistical model of cognitive styles, based on the MFFT-20, CEFT and Stroop tests to predict attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), analyzing the validity of the model for the diagnosis of the disease. We studied 100 ADHD cases (DSM-IV criteria) and 100 controls, age ranging between 7 and 11 years. Controls were randomly recruited and matched in age, gender and sociodemographic area with ADHD cases. On average, ADHD cases showed more impulsiveness (d: 1.28), less cognitive flexibility (d: 0.91) and more field dependence (d: 1.62) than controls. The logistic regression model that predicts ADHD best is made up of age, CEFT, MFFT-20 and Stroop tests and the formula derived from the model shows 85% sensitivity and 85% specificity for ADHD, regarding the DSM-IV criteria as the standard. The statistical model of cognitive styles presents valid indicators to diagnose ADHD, contributing to an increase in the objectivity of its analysis.

[Usefulness of the Stroop test in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]. / Utilidad del test de Stroop en el trastorno por déficit de atencion/hiperactividad.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to analyse the differences in the Stroop effect between cases with attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD) and controls. It also seeks to find the best model based on the third task of the colours and words test (Stroop-CW) for predicting ADHD and to analyse the validity of the Stroop-CW test for diagnosing the disorder. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The sample studied consisted of 100 cases of ADHD -according to Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV) criteria- and 100 controls, between 7 and 11 years of age, who were evaluated using the Stroop test. The controls were recruited at random and paired by age, sex and sociodemographic area with the cases. RESULTS: The cases present a mean cognitive style that is significantly less flexible (d = -1.06) and they also display a lower capacity to inhibit or control automatic responses than the controls at all ages (7 years: d = 1.67; 8 years: d = 1.02; 9 years: d = 1.32; 10 years: d = 2.04; 11 years: d = 0.89). The model of logistic regression analysis that best predicts ADHD is made up of age and Stroop-CW. The formulation derived from the model offers a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 72%, taking the criteria of the DSM-IV for ADHD as the reference test. CONCLUSIONS: The Stroop-CW test presents usefulness and complementary criteria validity for the diagnosis of ADHD.