Experiential avoidance and excessive smartphone use: a Bayesian approach. / Evitación experiencial y uso abusivo del smartphone: un enfoque bayesiano.

The smartphone is a common tool in our everyday lives. However, recent research suggests that using the smartphone has both positive and negative consequences. Although there is no agreement on the concept or the term to label it, researchers and clinical practitioners are worried about the negative consequences derived from excessive smartphone usage. This study aims to analyse the relationship between smartphone addiction and experiential avoidance. A sample of 1176 participants (828 women) with ages ranging from 16 to 82 (M = 30.97; SD = 12.05) was used. The SAS-SV scale was used to measure smartphone addiction and the AAQ-II to assess experiential avoidance. To model the relationship between variables, Bayesian inference and Bayesian networks were used. The results show that experiential avoidance and social networks usage are directly related to smartphone addiction. Additionally, the data suggests that sex is playing a mediating role in the observed relationship between these variables. These results are useful for understanding healthy and pathological interaction with smartphones and could be helpful in orienting or planning future psychological interventions to treat smartphone addiction.

El uso del teléfono móvil se ha convertido en una actividad cotidiana en nuestro entorno más cercano. Dicho uso, según investigaciones recientes, tiene tanto aspectos positivos como negativos. Aunque hay controversia en cuanto a la denominación del fenómeno, se aprecia cierta preocupación por las consecuencias negativas que tiene el uso excesivo del teléfono móvil. Este estudio analiza la relación que se establece entre el uso abusivo del teléfono móvil y la evitación experiencial. Se utilizó una muestra compuesta por 1176 participantes (828 fueron mujeres) con edades comprendidas entre los 16 y los 82 años (M = 30.97; DT = 12.05). Se empleó la escala SAS-SV para valorar el uso problemático del móvil y el AAQ-II para la evitación experiencial. Para modelar la relación que se establece entre las variables se hizo uso de inferencia bayesiana y redes bayesianas. Los resultados muestran una relación directa entre el uso abusivo, la evitación experiencial y las redes sociales. Además, los datos sugieren que el sexo juega un papel mediador entre estas variables. Estos resultados son útiles para entender el uso saludable y patológico del teléfono móvil así como para orientar el tratamiento de los trastornos que pueden surgir de un mal uso de estos dispositivos.

Social Expectancy Increases Skin Conductance Response in Mobile Instant Messaging Users.

BACKGROUND: Society is witnessing two parallel phenomena: an increase in the number of mobile phone users worldwide and a growing concern about problematic smartphone use. Leading explanatory models suggest that social reward may explain some problematic smartphone use. Given that experimental evidence about the impact of social variables on problematic smartphone use is scarce, the impact of social expectancy on emotional arousal measured with skin conductance response (SCR) was analysed during instant messaging. METHOD: A sample of 86 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two groups. Experimental group participants were instructed to send a social expectation-generating message to their more active contacts in their preferred social network. After experiencing a virtual reality distraction environment, participants' SCR was measured when they were allowed to use the smartphone and when it was withdrawn. RESULTS: Participants in the experimental group showed a higher SCR response than the control group. Peaks analysis also showed that peak amplitude was higher in experimental participants when their smartphones were used and withdrawn. Experimental participants also showed a longer half recovery time when using the smartphone. CONCLUSIONS: Social expectancy is a critical variable in understanding problematic smartphone use and it should be considered in clinical contexts.

A comparative study on entrepreneurial attitudes modeled with logistic regression and Bayes nets.

Entrepreneurship research is receiving increasing attention in our context, as entrepreneurs are key social agents involved in economic development. We compare the success of the dichotomic logistic regression model and the Bayes simple classifier to predict entrepreneurship, after manipulating the percentage of missing data and the level of categorization in predictors. A sample of undergraduate university students (N = 1230) completed five scales (motivation, attitude towards business creation, obstacles, deficiencies, and training needs) and we found that each of them predicted different aspects of the tendency to business creation. Additionally, our results show that the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is affected by the rate of missing data in both techniques, but logistic regression seems to be more vulnerable when faced with missing data, whereas Bayes nets underperform slightly when categorization has been manipulated. Our study sheds light on the potential entrepreneur profile and we propose to use Bayesian networks as an additional alternative to overcome the weaknesses of logistic regression when missing data are present in applied research.

Attachment style and prenatal expectations from a Bayesian perspective.

BACKGROUND: The transition to motherhood is sometimes characterized by ambivalent emotions. This paper attempts to explore whether this transition may be triggering attachment insecurities in first-time pregnant women during their first trimester, and thus affecting their prenatal expectations and caregiving representations. METHOD: A sample of 100 first-time pregnant women during their first trimester was studied. Prenatal expectations were explored in terms of desire to have children (DTC), perceived ability to relate to children (PARC), personal meaning ascribed to motherhood, and preoccupations regarding becoming a mother. RESULTS: The estimated Bayesian network shows that attachment style is a predictor for prenatal expectations, either directly or indirectly. Results also suggest that PARC mediates the relationship between attachment and the preoccupations related to motherhood. Pregnant women with an insecure attachment style reported lower PARC and higher preoccupations about becoming a mother. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with secure attachment have more positive pre-parenthood expectations and parenting representations than those with insecure attachment. These results may be useful in clinical settings to help women have a smoother transition to motherhood.

Deciding on Null Hypotheses using P-values or Bayesian alternatives: A simulation study.

BACKGROUND: The p-value is currently one of the key elements for testing statistical hypothesis despite its critics. Bayesian statistics and Bayes Factors have been proposed as alternatives to improve the scientific decision making when testing a hypothesis. This study compares the performance of two Bayes Factor estimations (the BIC-based Bayes Factor and the Vovk-Sellke p-value calibration) with the p-value when the null hypothesis holds. METHOD: A million pairs of independent data sets were simulated. All simulated data came from a normal population and different sample sizes were considered. Exact p-values for comparing sample means were recorded for each sample pair as well as Bayesian alternatives. RESULTS: Bayes factors exhibit better performance than the p-value, favouring the null hypothesis over the alternative. The BIC-based Bayes Factor is more accurate than the p-value calibration under the simulation conditions and this behaviour improves as the sample size grows. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that Bayesian factors are good complements for testing a hypothesis. The use of the Bayesian alternatives we have tested could help researchers avoid claiming false statistical discoveries. We suggest using classical and Bayesian statistics together instead of rejecting either of them.

Propiedades psicométricas de la versión corta del Inventario Friburgo de Mindfulness / Psychometric properties of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory short version

Resumen Antecedentes El mindfulness está cobrando un interés cada vez más creciente desde el ámbito de intervención psicológica, pero también desde ámbitos educativos o laborales. Este interés está suscitando, como consecuencia, la necesidad de disponer de herramientas que ayuden a medirlo. Objetivo Presentar las propiedades psicométricas de la versión corta de la adaptación española del Inventario Friburgo de Mindfulness (IFM) que tiene sus raíces teóricas en la tradición budista. Método Se contó con una muestra de 543 participantes (161 hombres y 379 mujeres) cuya edad media fue de 35.27 ( DT = 13.66), con unos niveles educativos y situaciones laborales heterogéneos. Resultados La consistencia interna ( α = .86, ω = .87) así como otros aspectos relacionados con la validez de constructo pueden considerarse apropiados. Los análisis factoriales exploratorios llevados a cabo apuntan a que los ítems de la escala se agrupan en dos factores relacionados, aceptación incondicional y atención plena, frente al modelo unifactorial planteado inicialmente desde el punto de vista teórico. Conclusiones Consideramos que la versión breve del IFM puede ser utilizada con éxito tanto a nivel clínico como para la investigación y, en este sentido, se sugiere que se siga indagando en la estructura factorial de la escala.

Abstract Background Mindfulness is getting more and more attention from psychological intervention contexts, but also from educational and organizational settings. As a consequence, there also is a growing need for tools to measure mindfulness. Objective The aim of this work is to present the Spanish adaptation psychometric properties of the short version Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI), a test based on Buddhist tradition. Method A sample of 543 participants (161 males and 379 females) with age average of 35.27 ( SD = 13.66) and heterogeneous educational and occupational background was studied. Results The scale internal consistency ( α = .86, ω = .87) as well as construct validity evidences can be considered appropriated. Exploratory factorial analyses suggest the FMI items are clustered in two related factors, unconditional acceptance, and full attention, as opposed to the initially proposed unifactorial model. Conclusions the FMI short version can be successfully used for clinical and research purposes although its factorial structure should be additionally tested.

[Dispositional optimism, pessimism and realism in technological potential entrepreneurs]. / Optimismo, pesimismo y realismo disposicional en emprendedores potenciales de base tecnológica.

Optimism has been classically considered a key trait in entrepreneurs' personality but it has been studied from a psychological point of view only in recent years. The main aim of this research is to study the relationship between dispositional optimism, pessimism and realism as a function of the tendency to create technology-based businesses. A sample of undergraduate students (n= 205) filled in an electronic questionnaire containing the Life Orientation Test-Revised after they were classified as potential technological entrepreneurs, potential general entrepreneurs and non-potential entrepreneurs. Our results show that technology-based entrepreneurs are more optimistic than non-potential entrepreneurs, whereas there were no statistical differences in pessimism and realism. The results are interpreted theoretically to define the potential entrepreneur and, from an applied perspective, to design training programmes to support future technological entrepreneurs.