Estimating the effect of emotional intelligence in wellbeing among priests.

Background/Objective: Emotional intelligence is a variable which has been the subject of significantly increased research in recent years. Relationships have been shown with both physical and psychological problems. The aim of this study is to analyse the direct and indirect effect that emotional intelligence exerts over the manifestation of physical and psychological clinical symptomatology and to severe disorders such as burnout syndrome in a professional group in which social function is fundamental. Method: So that, 881 Latin-American catholic priests (M age = 45.89; SD age = 11.58) were evaluated using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-22 and the General Health Questionnaire-28. Results: Using path analysis, emotional intelligence, especially Attention and Emotional Clarity, shows a high effect on psychological and somatic issues. Conclusions: Thus, both specific disorders and general well-being are related to emotional intelligence. Providing effective emotional intelligence training sessions seems to be able to reduce possible physical and emotional disorders.

Antecedentes/Objetivo: La inteligencia emocional es una variable que ha sido objeto de un incremento notable de investigación a lo largo de los últimos años. La inteligencia emocional ha mostrado numerosas relaciones con múltiples variables psicológicas, destacando su conexión con diversos trastornos físicos y psicológicos. El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar los efectos directos e indirectos que la inteligencia emocional ejerce sobre la manifestación de sintomatología somática y psicológica, así como sobre el desarrollo de trastornos como el síndrome de burnout en un grupo de profesionales cuya labor social resulta esencial. Método: Se aplicaron las escalas Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24, Maslach Burnout Inventory-22 y General Health Questionnaire-28 a un total de 881 sacerdotes católicos latinoamericanos (M edad = 45,89; DT edad = 11,58). Resultados: Mediante path analysis se muestra el efecto que la inteligencia emocional, especialmente la atención y claridad emocional, ejerce sobre las alteraciones somáticas y psicológicas. Conclusiones: Tanto los trastornos específicos como el bienestar general presentan una relación clara con la inteligencia emocional. Proporcionar programas formativos efectivos que desarrollen la inteligencia emocional podría reducir la aparición de trastornos físicos y emocionales.

Application of the Social Appeal Scale to a Selected Spanish Population.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to validate the Social Appeal Scale (SAS) among the Spanish general population, exploring the underlying dimensions of the construct assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The SAS test was applied to 555 participants between 16 and 75 years of age. The scale is divided into four dimensions: social competence (SC), intellectual ability (IA), psychologic adjustment (PA), and relationship satisfaction (RS). RESULTS: The SAS (12 items) had a Cronbach alpha of .93, and SC had a Cronbach alpha of .83. For IA it was .85, for PA .87, and for RS .84. CONCLUSION: Bearing in mind the limitations of the present study, it may be concluded that the Social Appeal Scale is a valid and reliable instrument to assess social perceptions related to changes in tooth color.

Oral pain and eating problems in Spanish adults and elderly in the Spanish National Survey performed in 2005.

AIMS: To analyze and quantify the sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical factors influencing the oral pain and eating difficulties reported by Spanish 35- to 44-year-old adults and more elderly people in the most recent Spanish National Oral Health Survey. METHODS: Pain and chewing difficulties were gathered in a Likert-scale format from a representative sample of the Spanish general population between the ages of 35 and 44 years (n = 540) and 65 to 74 years (n = 540). Risk factors were identified using bivariate analysis, after which the crude association between risk factors (sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical) and outcome variables (pain and eating problems) was assessed by adjusted odds ratios, calculated by means of multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: In the 35- to 44-year-old adults, eating problems were mainly associated with caries and prosthetic treatment needs and oral pain by the number of decayed teeth. In the more elderly individuals, eating problems and oral pain were influenced by prosthetic needs and the number of missing teeth. Female sex was seen to be a risk factor for suffering pain and eating restrictions. Additionally, several independent variables such as social class, place of residence, brushing habits, or periodontal needs became nonsignificant after logistic regression modelling. CONCLUSION: According to this high-specificity regression model, caries and prosthetic treatment needs should be considered key factors in determining the oral well-being of the Spanish population. Missing teeth represent the most relevant influencing factor for the elderly and decayed teeth for younger adults.

Dimensional structure of the oral health-related quality of life in healthy Spanish workers.

BACKGROUND: Oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) is conceived as a multidimensional construct. Here our aim was to investigate the dimensional structure of OHQoL as measured by the Spanish versions of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaires applied simultaneously. METHODS: We recruited a consecutive sample of 270 healthy Spanish workers visiting the Employment Risk Prevention Centre for a routine medical check-up. OHIP-14 was self-completed by participants but the OIDP was completed in face-to-face interviews. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to identify the underlying dimensions of the OHQoL construct assessed by both instruments. This factorial structure was later confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using several estimators of goodness of fit indices. RESULTS: EFA and the CFA identified and respectively confirmed a set of 3 underlying factors in both questionnaires that could be interpreted as functional limitation, pain-discomfort, and psychosocial impacts. The model achieved was seen to fit properly for both instruments, but the factorial structure was clearer for the OIDP. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide evidence for construct equivalence in the latent factors assessed by both OIDP and OHIP-14, suggesting that OHQoL is a three-dimensional construct. The prevalence of impact on these three factors was coherent between both indicators, pain-discomfort having the highest prevalence, followed by psycho-social impact, and functional limitation.