Análisis psicométricos del Inventario de los Cinco Continuos de la Personalidad, versión corta (ICCP-SF) / Psychometric analyses of the Five Continua Personality Inventory, Short Form (FCPI-SF)

Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo fue generar una versión corta del Inventario de Cinco Continuos de la Personalidad (ICCP; de la Iglesia y Castro Solano, 2021). Para ello se analizó una muestra de 2 183 adultos de población general de edad promedio de 39.04 años (DE = 14.18; 51.95 % mujeres, 47.64 % varones, 0.41 % otro). Se obtuvo una versión corta de 55 elementos que cumplían con los criterios de calidad interna, externa y de juicio esperados. Los elementos resultaron claros, no redundantes y altamente correlacionados con la puntuación total de la escala a la que pertenecían (entre .89 y .96). Además, la estructura factorial de diez rasgos de la personalidad presentó un buen ajuste y buena consistencia interna. Las correlaciones entre las versiones cortas de las escalas y las largas fueron todas positivas y altas (entre .89 y .96). Además, los análisis de asociación con los criterios externos resultaron como se esperaba: los rasgos patológicos correlacionaron de manera directa con la presencia de sintomatología psicológica (entre .26 y .64) y de manera inversa con el bienestar (-.18 y -.43); los rasgos positivos y los índices de ajuste correlacionaron de manera inversa con la presencia de sintomatología psicológica (entre -.09 y -.53) y de manera directa con el bienestar (entre .11 y .44). Se concluye que la versión corta del ICCP resulta ser una medida psicométrica apropiada y se sugiere su uso para el ámbito de investigación o para instancias de rastrillaje en el ámbito aplicado.

Abstract This research aimed at developing a short version of the Five Continua Personality Inventory (FCPI; de la Iglesia y Castro Solano, 2021). The FCPI is a 120 item measure that operationalizes the Dual Personality Model (DPM). The DPM proposes that personality traits may and must be assessed in their pathological and positive aspects conjointly. DPM is based on the notion of traits conceived as dimensional and in the notion of continuum of traits. These two pillars allow to study the degree of presence of each trait (dimensionally) and their pathological and positive aspects (continuum). Pathological traits included in the model are negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition and psychoticism. Positive traits are serenity, humanity, integrity, moderation and sprightliness. An assessment of this kind would provide a notion of the total personality adjustment that considers both aspects of the phenomenon as well as an integrated view of personality functioning as a whole, in contrast to a dissociated one. The strengths of the DPM are: (1) the integrated view of personality that includes healthy and pathological aspects simultaneously; (2) the use of dimensional measures in contrast of categories; and (3) its link to current diagnostic nosologies (DSM-5). Since the FCPI could be considered too long for many instances of psychological assessment, the development of a shorter version could provide a more versatile measure. Shorter versions of this type of instruments are recommended for long research surveys and longitudinal studies since they would prevent the undesirable effect than long scales have on attrition rates or attention levels. To develop a shorter version three main aspects were considered: (1) the characteristics of the items that can be assessed by studying their association with each other (internal item qualities); (2) the correlation of the new instrument with other variables or indicators (external item qualities); and (3) the properties that exceed statistical analyses, such as clarity, non-redundancy, invasiveness and "face" validity (judgmental item qualities). Sample was composed of 2 183 adults of the general population with a mean age of 39.04 (SD = 14.18; 51.95 % female, 47.64 % male, 0.41 % other). A shorter version was obtained which had 55 items that met the internal, external and judgement quality criteria expected. Selected elements were clear, non-redundant and had a high correlation with the total score of the scale they belonged to (between .89 and .96). In addition, evidence of the ten-trait personality model (five pathological traits and five positive traits) was obtained by means of a confirmatory factor analysis since the structure showed an excellent fit. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach, ordinal and Omega alphas and their values were as expected and also indicated a good psychometric functioning of the scale. Associations between the long version and the short version of each scale were all positive and strong (between .89 and .96). Additionally, correlation analyses with external criteria resulted as expected: pathological traits were positively associated with psychological symptoms (between .26 and .64) and negatively associated with well-being (between -.18 and -.43); positive traits and adjustment indexes were negatively related to psychological symptoms (between -.09 and -.53) and positively related to well-being (between .11 and .44). An interesting result is that, when compared with the ten individual traits, indexes had stronger associations with psychological symptoms and well-being. It is possible that these combined measures have greater explanatory power since they provide an integrated view of personality in contrast to a disaggregated assessment. It is concluded that the short version of the FCPI meets the three criteria sought and it is an appropriate psychometric measure and it is suggested to be used for research purposes or for screening assessments in the applied fields.

Ansiedad: revisión y delimitación conceptual / Anxiety: review and conceptual delimitation

Probablemente uno de los mayores retos a la hora de abordar la ansiedad sea delimitar adecuadamente aquello que el constructo abarca. El propósito de este trabajo es realizar una revisión del constructo ansiedad desde la psicología, con el fin de contribuir a su delimitación. En primer lugar, se examina el origen del término ansiedad y se lo discrimina de otros términos coincidentes o estrechamente relacionados como angustia, miedo y estrés. A continuación, se realiza un recorrido histórico sobre el concepto ansiedad y su evolución en la psicología hasta arribar a las conceptualizaciones multidimensionales. Finalmente, adoptando como marco teórico la teoría cognitiva de la ansiedad (Clark & Beck, 2012), se delimita el constructo y se realiza una diferenciación entre ansiedad normal, ansiedad como rasgo de personalidad y ansiedad patológica.

One of the greatest challenges when dealing with anxiety is to adequately define what this construct encompasses. The purpose of this work is to review the construct of anxiety from the viewpoint of psychology, in order to contribute to its delimitation. In the first place, the origin of the term is examined and discriminated from other closely related or coinciding terms such as anguish, fear, and stress. In the second place, it is carried out a historical review of anxiety as a concept and its evolution in psychology up to multidimensional conceptualizations. Finally, by adopting the cognitive theory of anxiety as a theoretical framework (Clark & Beck, 2012), the construct is delimited and a distinction is made among normal anxiety, pathological anxiety, and anxiety as a personality trait.

The Positive Personality Model (PPM): Exploring a New Conceptual Framework for Personality Assessment.

The aim of this paper is to explore a new framework for personality assessment that may function as sanity nosology of personality traits: the Positive Personality Model (PPM). The recent publication of DSM-5 created the opportunity to assess personality traits as dimensional constructs (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In Section III, five maladaptive personality traits are proposed as the maladaptive versions of Five Factor Model (FFM) traits (Costa and McCrae, 1985). This approach draws on the existing idea of conceptualizing pathological and typical personality traits as part of a continuum. It places DSM-5's maladaptive traits in a sickness pole and FFM's traits in a "typical" pole. This spectrum, however, does not include a positive perspective that represents healthy behavior: a sanity nosology. The Positive Traits Inventory-5 (PTI-5; de la Iglesia and Castro Solano, 2018) is a measure designed to assess the positive reverse of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Adult (PID-5; Krueger et al., 2013). The 220 positive personality criteria were studied psychometrically using a sample of 1902 Argentinean adults from the general population (M age = 39.10, SD = 13.81, Min = 18, and Max = 83; 50.1% females, 49.9% males). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a five-factor solution. The dimensions were labeled Sprightliness, Integrity, Serenity, Moderation, and Humanity and subsumed under the denomination of PPM. Analyses of convergent validity provided some grounds for interpreting the five positive traits as positive versions of the pathological traits and the typical traits. When tested for its predictive capability on mental health, the PPM outperformed the variance explained by the FFM. It is concluded that the PPM may constitute a positive pole in the continuum of personality traits -possibly functioning as a sanity nosology- and that it is somewhat more related to optimal functioning than typical trait models. The PPM should be confirmed in other populations, its predictive capability ought to be tested with other relevant variables, and longitudinal studies should be done to analyze the stability of the traits over time.

The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) in the Argentinean Context: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Measurement Invariance.

The present research aimed at studying the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2005) in a sample of 1,300 Argentinean adults (50% males; 50% females). Their mean age was 40.28 years old (SD = 13.59). The MHC-SF is a 14 item test that assesses three components (i.e., emotional, social, and psychological) of well-being. Convergent and divergent evidence of construct validity was assessed by conducting confirmatory factor analysis, cross-validation, factorial invariance, and correlations with external criteria. Internal consistency was studied using Cronbach's alphas. Results indicated an adequate fit of a three-dimensional model. This structure was also confirmed, and was invariant throughout sex and age. The emotional well-being scores converged with life satisfaction and positive affect measures; the psychological well-being scale had a positive association with the presence of meaning in life; and the social well-being scores showed a positive and strong correlation with an external measure of well-being. Also, all scores were negatively associated with negative affect, search of meaning in life, and presence of depression symptoms. Internal consistency was .89 for the MHC-SF. Furthermore, the findings supported the two - continua model of mental health.

Perceived parenting and social support: can they predict academic achievement in Argentinean college students?

The aim of this study was to test the ability to predict academic achievement through the perception of parenting and social support in a sample of 354 Argentinean college students. Their mean age was 23.50 years (standard deviation =2.62 years) and most of them (83.3%) were females. As a prerequisite for admission to college, students are required to pass a series of mandatory core classes and are expected to complete them in two semesters. Delay in completing the curriculum is considered low academic achievement. Parenting was assessed taking into account the mother and the father and considering two dimensions: responsiveness and demandingness. Perceived social support was analyzed considering four sources: parents, teachers, classmates, and best friend or boyfriend/girlfriend. Path analysis showed that, as hypothesized, responsiveness had a positive indirect effect on the perception of social support and enhanced achievement. Demandingness had a different effect in the case of the mother as compared to the father. In the mother model, demandingness had a positive direct effect on achievement. In the case of the father, however, the effect of demandingness had a negative and indirect impact on the perception of social support. Teachers were the only source of perceived social support that significantly predicted achievement. The pathway that belongs to teachers as a source of support was positive and direct. Implications for possible interventions are discussed.

Academic Motivation Scale: adaptation and psychometric analyses for high school and college students.

The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), supported in Self-Determination Theory, has been applied in recent decades as well in high school as in college education. Although several versions in Spanish are available, the underlying linguistic and cultural differences raise important issues when they are applied to Latin-American population. Consequently an adapted version of the AMS was developed, and its construct validity was analyzed in Argentine students. Results obtained on a sample that included 723 students from Buenos Aires (393 high school and 330 college students) verified adequate psychometric properties in this new version, solving some controversies regarded to its dimensionality.

[Dimensionality of the Coping Inventory for adolescents and college students]. / Dimensionalidad del Inventario de Afrontamiento para adolescentes y universitarios.

Assessing coping has been a controversial subject and to this day, there is no consensus about its dimensionality. A short version for adolescents and college students of Moos' Coping Responses Inventory-Youth Form is presented. Psychometric analyses performed with 1,160 Argentinean students included: a) descriptive statistics, b) confirmatory factor analysis, and c) internal consistency. Three models (1-factor, 2-factor and 4-factor) were compared in two randomized samples, and by a bootstrap procedure carried out in 500 different samples. Nested models with progressive restrictions were also established successively in samples split by sex and age. Results indicated a better fit of the 4-factor model as well as its stability across different groups.

Adaptación de un inventario de estrategias de afrontamiento para adolescentes y adultos: an adaptation to adolescent and adult population / Coping respones inventory

Se presenta la adaptación lingüística y psicométrica del Inventario de Respuestas de Afrontamiento para Jóvenes (Moos, 1993, 1995), realizada sobre una muestra de estudiantes de nivel medio y universitario, residentes en dos regiones de la Argentina: las ciudades de Buenos Aires y de San Miguel de Tucumán. El instrumento original, en inglés, fue traducido al español y adaptado a modismos locales, siendo luego evaluado por jueces expertos. Se efectuó, también, una administración piloto que permitió refinar la depuración preliminar. A continuación se calcularon diversos análisis psicométricos, evaluándose la homogeneidad de los elementos, examinándose evidencias de validez de constructo mediante la consecución de un estudio factorial exploratorio, y estudiándose, finalmente, su consistencia interna. Se obtuvo así, un instrumento abreviado constituido por 22 reactivos agrupados en cuatro dimensiones que evalúan el uso de estrategias de afrontamiento por aproximación y por evitación del problema, de un modo cognitivo y conductual.

The paper describes the psychometric adaptation of the Coping Responses Inventory - Youth Form - (Moos, 1993, 1995) made from a sample of high school and college students from two regions of Argentina: Buenos Aires City and San Miguel de Tucumán City. The original version was translated from English to Spanish, and then adapted to the local speaking. Afterwards, it was evaluated by expert judges. A pilot administration was conducted, ending the preliminary item depuration. Finally, a psychometric analysis was performed, studying test homogeneity, examining construct validity evidences from an exploratory factor study, and calculating internal consistency. These procedures resulted in a shorter 22-item-instrument, composed of four dimensions to measure coping strategies by approximation and by avoidance of the problem, each one in a cognitive and behavioral way.