The Influence of Self-Regulation Behaviors on University Students' Intentions of Persistance.

The implementation of the European higher education area (EHEA) is a true paradigm change in university education in which the student, with particular consideration given to autonomous work, takes the place of the teacher as the central element of the teaching-learning process. In this autonomous work, the strategies the students regularly use become particularly important, given the supposition that doing that work will lead to academic success. The objective of this study is to analyze the variables that influence students' expectations of success, measured through their intention to persist on the course they are doing. A questionnaire designed ad hoc was given to a sample of 1037 university students. It included aspects related to reasons for choosing the course, institutional integration, use of self-regulation strategies, and intention to drop out. Data analysis allowed the identification of satisfaction with the course chosen and appropriate study skills acquired in secondary education as predictors of expectations of academic persistance, with some differences in terms of gender. Other strategies such as class attendance or going deeply into course content did not figure. These results are at odds with the principles underlying the EHEA and show that they have not yet been interiorized by the students, who continue to perceive their studies more traditionally.

Changes in Body Mass Index in Girls with Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty under Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Analogue Therapy: The Spanish Registry.

BACKGROUND: The influence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa) treatment on body mass index (BMI) evolution in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (CPP) is unclear. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the effect of GnRHa treatment on BMI-standard deviation score (SDS) from diagnosis of idiopathic CPP until adult height. METHODS: An observational study of girls diagnosed with CPP in Spain was carried out between January 2008 and December 2014. A computer program was designed to process clinical and biological data from patients treated in 55 departments of pediatric endocrinology throughout the country. The inclusion criteria were (1) girls diagnosed with CPP before 8 years of age; (2) born after 1992; (3) with a difference between bone and chronological age of at least 1 year, and (4) with a luteinizing hormone peak >7 U/l during luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone testing. The influence of GnRHa treatment on BMI-SDS evolution was analyzed. RESULTS: Data from 333 girls (22.2% adopted) were evaluated. We report follow-up data at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months and adult height from 269, 232, 198, 153, 105, 56 and 49 girls, respectively. During treatment, there was an increase in BMI-SDS of 0.43 ± 1.17 (95% CI: 0.20-0.64). At adult height (n = 49), BMI-SDS was 1.51 ± 1.38, which was 0.60 ± 1.09 higher than at diagnosis (95% CI: 0.43-0.75). CONCLUSIONS: During treatment with GnRHa, girls experience a significant increase in BMI-SDS that persists after therapy is stopped and adult height has been reached. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Medios electrónicos y comportamiento antisocial en adolescente / Electronic mass media and antisocial behaviour in adolescents

El comportamiento antisocial o inadaptado viene determinado por diversas variables, tanto individuales como contextuales, que pueden actuar como factores de riesgo. Uno de estos factores es el uso de los medios de comunicación electrónicos, especialmente de las más nuevas tecnologías, aunque diversos estudios aseveran que este consumo no ejerce una responsabilidad exclusiva en la adquisición de conductas antisociales por parte de los adolescentes. Utilizando una muestra de 331 jóvenes de ambos sexos, y con edades que oscilan entre los 14 a 20 años, este estudio pretende, por un lado, y a través del modelo de redes neuronales, comprobar el poder predictivo de las variables de personalidad, motivacionales y de consumo de medios electrónicos en la conformación de conductas antisociales y, por otro lado, identificar el rol que cada variable tiene en la construcción del modelo que permita predecir los actos antisociales.

The antisocial behavior is determined by individual and contextual variables that may act as risk factors. One of these factors is the use of electronic mass media, specially the use of the newest technologies, even when its effects are not exclusive as shown by diverse studies. Data for this study were obtained from a sample of 331 young of both sexes, with ages between 14 and 20 years. This study intends, with a model of neural networks, to verify the predictive value of variables of personality, motivation, and consumption of electronic media, in the development of antisocial behavior. Another objective was to study the role that every variable has on the construction of the model that allows predicting the antisocial acts.