The Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Affects in the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Happiness.

BACKGROUND: Affects, both positive and negative, can act as mediators between self-esteem and happiness. The present study is undertaken among 812 university students in order to examine the relationship between these variables. METHODS: The sample included 812 university students - 361 men (44.46%) and 451 women (55.54%) - who participated voluntarily. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Self-Esteem Scale were the instruments used in this study. RESULTS: The results revealed that men have greater self-esteem and positive affects, while women scored higher in terms of subjective happiness. The analysis revealed a significant correlation between the variables under analysis. Positive affects show a strong positive correlation between self-esteem and happiness, while negative affects show a negative correlation. Mediation analysis suggests that affects, both positive and negative, mediate the relationship between self-esteem and subjective happiness. The results of this study may present us with new perspectives concerning the role that affects play between self-esteem and happiness. CONCLUSION: The data present evidence of the mediating role-played by affects, both positive and negative, in the relationship between self-esteem and happiness. More research is needed to examine to what extent these results can be extrapolated, and how to design measures to improve psychological health and well-being.

School motivation, goal orientation and academic performance in secondary education students.

BACKGROUND: In the students' school stage can appear many psychological variables that can positively or negatively affect the academic life of the students as well as their learning process. Therefore, the present study aims to explore the relation between school motivation, goal orientation and academic performance in adolescent students. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on adolescent students (N=3512) from 18 public Secondary Education (ESO) centers. The Scale of School Motivation (EME-S), the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ) and academic performance, quantified by each student's mean mark, were instruments used. RESULTS: The results revealed significant relations among, on the one hand, intrinsic school motivations, task-oriented goal orientations and academic performance in a more adaptive pattern behavior and, on the other hand, relations between extrinsic motivations and ego-oriented goal orientations. The influence of intrinsic motivations, task-oriented goal orientations and low amotivation indices on predicting academic performance was deduced. CONCLUSION: The importance of promoting adaptive behaviors that improve adolescent students' academic lives focus on adequate levels of school motivation and task-oriented goal orientations at their education centers was revealed.

The relationship of internalizing problems with emotional intelligence and social skills in secondary education students: gender differences.

Internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, social anxiety, somatic complaints, post-traumatic symptoms, and obsession-compulsion) are very important in adolescents' development. These problems can be related with people who lack social skills and poorly handle their emotions. This study assessed 1358 secondary education students (12-17 years) to analyze the relationship linking internalizing problems, emotional intelligence, and social skills. The results showed not only how these constructs were related, but how students' internalizing problems varied according to their emotional intelligence and social skills. They also indicated that two in every three males, and just over one in every two females, obtained high scores for internalizing problems. The model showed a good fit: χ2(85) = 201.161 p < 0.001; χ2/gl = 2.367; CFI = 0.919; NFI = 0.869; TLI = 0.900; RMSEA = 0.075, IC 95% (0.062-0.089). Finally, gender influenced the way that internalizing problems, emotional intelligence, and social skills were related, and an inverse relation appeared to link internalizing problems, emotional intelligence (r = - .77), and social skills (r = - .52) for females, while this relationship was poorer for males. By way of conclusion, we state that internalizing problems are related with emotional intelligence and social skills in secondary education students, but this relationship differs according to gender.

The relationship of internalizing problems with emotional intelligence and social skills in secondary education students: gender differences

Internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, social anxiety, somatic complaints, post-traumatic symptoms, and obsession-compulsion) are very important in adolescents' development. These problems can be related with people who lack social skills and poorly handle their emotions. This study assessed 1358 secondary education students (12-17 years) to analyze the relationship linking internalizing problems, emotional intelligence, and social skills. The results showed not only how these constructs were related, but how students' internalizing problems varied according to their emotional intelligence and social skills. They also indicated that two in every three males, and just over one in every two females, obtained high scores for internalizing problems. The model showed a good fit: χ2(85) = 201.161 p <0.001; X2/g/ = 2.367; CFI = 0.919; NFI = 0.869; TLI = 0.900; RMSEA = 0.075, IC 95% (0.062-0.089). Finally, gender influenced the way that internalizing problems, emotional intelligence, and social skills were related, and an inverse relation appeared to link internalizing problems, emotional intelligence (r = - .77), and social skills (r = - .52) for females, while this relationship was poorer for males. By way of conclusion, we state that internalizing problems are related with emotional intelligence and social skills in secondary education students, but this relationship differs according to gender.(AU)

Comorbidity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with personality disorders in homeless people.

BACKGROUND: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that begins in childhood but can continue into adulthood, and may be the cause of many disadaptive behaviors, as in the case of homeless people, who often display a high incidence of personality disorders. The goal of this study is to analyze the comorbidity of ADHD with axis II disorders in a Spanish homeless population. RESULTS: The outcomes show high comorbidity between these two kinds of disorders, and that the prevalence of axis II disorders is higher among people with ADHD than among the general population. CONCLUSIONS: From these results we can draw the conclusion that in homeless people ADHD in childhood continues into adulthood, when it is very often observed together with personality disorders. Finally, the implications of this study both for clinical practice and for future lines of research are discussed.

Semantics, pragmatics, and formal thought disorders in people with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to analyze how formal thought disorders (FTD) affect semantics and pragmatics in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: The sample comprised subjects with schizophrenia (n = 102) who met the criteria for the disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition Text Revision. In the research process, the following scales were used: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for psychopathology measurements; the Scale for the Assessment of Thought, Language, and Communication (TLC) for FTD, Word Accentuation Test (WAT), System for the Behavioral Evaluation of Social Skills (SECHS), the pragmatics section of the Objective Criteria Language Battery (BLOC-SR) and the verbal sections of the Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale (WAIS) III, for assessment of semantics and pragmatics. RESULTS: The results in the semantics and pragmatics sections were inferior to the average values obtained in the general population. Our data demonstrated that the more serious the FTD, the worse the performances in the Verbal-WAIS tests (particularly in its vocabulary, similarities, and comprehension sections), SECHS, and BLOC-SR, indicating that FTD affects semantics and pragmatics, although the results of the WAT indicated good premorbid language skills. CONCLUSION: The principal conclusion we can draw from this study is the evidence that in schizophrenia the superior level of language structure seems to be compromised, and that this level is related to semantics and pragmatics; when there is an alteration in this level, symptoms of FTD appear, with a wide-ranging relationship between both language and FTD. The second conclusion is that the subject's language is affected by the disorder and rules out the possibility of a previous verbal impairment.