Psychometric Properties of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale in a Sample of Adolescents from Ecuador.

The Kessler psychological distress scale is a useful tool for identifying possible psychological problems and has been widely used in research and health services. Unfortunately, its application in various populations has not always been psychometrically supported. For this reason, the present study investigated the psychometric properties of its Spanish version in adolescents, verifying its factorial structure, measurement invariance by gender, internal consistency and the discrimination and difficulty parameters of its items according to the Item Response Theory (IRT). A sample of 5132 Ecuadorian adolescents was evaluated. The sample is equally distributed between male and female participants (50%) and basic and higher education (51% the former). All participants were between 11 and 20 years old. The results show that a 9-item version with correlated intercepts presents the best fit. In addition, it is invariant by gender at a strict level and has adequate internal consistency. IRT analyses indicated that all the items, except for item eight, present adequate discrimination and difficulty. Based on these results, we conclude that the 9-item version of the Psychological Distress Scale is the most appropriate for this population.

COVID-19 Bereavement in Ten Latin American Countries: Measurement Invariance of the Pandemic Grief Scale and Its Relation to Suicidal Ideation.

The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) in ten Latin American countries. A total of 2,321 people who had lost a family member or other loved one due to COVID-19 participated, with a mean age of 34.22 years old (SD = 11.99). In addition to the PGS, a single item of suicidal ideation was applied. The unidimensional model of the PGS had adequate fit in most countries and good reliability estimates. There was evidence of measurement invariance by country and gender. Also, a one-point increase in the PGS was associated with an almost twofold increase in the odds of suicidal ideation. Scores greater than or equal to 4 on the PGS are proposed as a cut off to identify individuals with suicidal ideation. Strong evidence of the cross-cultural validity of the PGS is provided.

Assessment of Obsessive Thoughts About COVID-19 in 7 Latin American Countries: Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Obsession With COVID-19 Scale.

The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS) among seven Latin American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Although the OCS has been used in several countries and languages, there is a need for approaches that better integrate the cross-cultural equivalence of the scale. A total of 3185 people participated in the study. The results indicated the presence of a unidimensional structure and good reliability indices for the OCS in each country. The alignment method indicated that the OCS is an invariant measure of COVID-19 obsession among the populations of seven Latin American countries. The findings based on IRT analysis indicated that all OCS items had adequate discrimination and difficulty parameters. The findings contribute to the understanding of the internal structure of the scale in different countries at the same time, something that has been pending evaluation.

Is it possible to find a bifactor structure in the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S)? Psychometric evidence in an Ecuadorian sample.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the construct validity based on the internal structure, the relationship with other variables, and the internal consistency among items of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in a sample of 743 Ecuadorians. The findings confirm the presence of a bifactor structure, which includes a general factor and two specific factors: one emotional and the other physiological. The general factor, and the specific factors presented adequate levels of internal consistency. Finally, the FCV-19S showed a highly significant relationship with GAD-7 at the latent level. The scale has adequate psychometric properties for its application.

Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: New psychometric evidence for the Spanish version based on CFA and IRT models in a Peruvian sample.

The aim of the study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), using Item Response Theory (IRT) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The participants were 790 Peruvians, selected through a convenience sampling, where the majority were women. The CFA models indicated that the one-dimensional structure better represents the data, is reliable and invariant between men and women. Likewise, IRT findings indicate that CAS is more informative for high levels of COVID-19 anxiety. The CAS in Spanish has adequate psychometric properties to be used as a short measure of COVID-19 anxiety.

Cross-cultural measurement invariance of the fear of COVID-19 scale in seven Latin American countries.

The objective was to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in 7 Latin American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay). The participants were 2944 people, selected through non-probability sampling for convenience, where the majority were women. Data collection occurred between 12 June and 14 September 2020. The results indicated that the model with two related factors presents a better fit to the data and has partial scalar invariance among the 7 countries. Differences in emotional and physiological reactions were observed between the countries.

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and psychological distress during lockdown due to COVID-19.

Several governments have implemented strict measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, such as lockdown measures. However, these measures have brought negative consequences at an individual level by exacerbating the psychological distress caused by the pandemic. We evaluated the role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) on the levels of anxiety and depression during the lockdown in a sample of 663 Spanish-speaking adults, while controlling for variables related to social support, hobbies, seeking information related to COVID-19, perceived risk of infection, time of assessment, number of deaths and contagions during the assessment and age. Using multiple regression analyses with a stepwise model selection procedure, 29% of the variance in anxiety and 38% of the variance of depression were found to be predicted by specific CERS. The impact of CERS on anxiety and depression was moderated by the sex of participants and the time of assessment, indicating that CERS did not have the same protective or harmful effects in all participants and situations. Based on our results, recommendations are provided for improving coping with stressful events where lockdown measures are taken.

Cross-cultural measurement invariance of the purpose in life test - Short form (PIL-SF) in seven Latin American countries.

The aim was to test the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL-SF in a sample of people from seven Latin American countries. Additionally, the characteristics of the PIL-SF items were evaluated and to assess the relationship between purpose in life, as measured by the PIL-SF, and fear of COVID-19. A total of 4306 people from seven Latin American countries participated in the study. The results indicated that the PIL-SF is invariant in the seven participating countries and, therefore, there is evidence that the items reflect the purpose of life in the same way in all countries. This allows comparisons of purpose in life between countries that are free of bias, reflecting the true differences in how countries respond to items. From IRT, the discrimination parameters are adequate and indicate that the items cover a wide range of the purpose in life construct. The difficulty parameters are adequate and increase monotonically. This indicates that people would need a higher level of purpose in life to respond to the higher response categories. Thus, the PIL-SF items would be useful in determining people with a relatively high degree of purpose in life. Identifying people with different levels of purpose in life would allow them to be part of intervention programs, either to support those with low levels or to maintain and reinforce their purpose in life. The evidence of cross-country measurement invariance of the PIL-SF provides a measure to be used in cross-cultural studies about the meaning of life.

Network analysis of the relationships between conspiracy beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccine and symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of latin american countries.

The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifically relate to symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identified the most important symptoms of fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible differences in the structure and connectivity of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19. The findings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than differences. Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the differences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic.

Cross-cultural validation of the new version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale in twelve Latin American countries.

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) was recently developed to assess dysfunctional anxiety related to COVID-19. Although different studies reported that the CAS is psychometrically sound, it is unclear whether it is invariant across countries. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the CAS in twelve Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). A total of 5196 people participated, with a mean age of 34.06 (SD = 26.54). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the measurement invariance of the CAS across countries and gender. Additionally, the graded response model (GRM) was used to provide a global representation of the representativeness of the scale with respect to the COVID-19 dysfunctional anxiety construct. The unidimensional structure of the five-item CAS was not confirmed in all countries. Therefore, it was suggested that a four-item model of the CAS (CAS-4) provides a better fit across the twelve countries and reliable scores. Multigroup CFA showed that the CAS-4 exhibits scalar invariance across all twelve countries and all genders. In addition, the CAS-4 items are more informative at average and high levels of COVID-19 dysfunctional anxiety than at lower levels. According to the results, the CAS-4 is an instrument with strong cross-cultural validity and is suitable for cross-cultural comparisons of COVID-19 dysfunctional anxiety symptoms in the general population of the twelve Latin American countries evaluated. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02563-0.

Factorial Validity, Reliability, Measurement Invariance and the Graded Response Model for the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale in a Sample of Ecuadorians.

The aims of the research are to evaluate the factorial validity, internal consistency, measurement invariance, discrimination, and difficulty of the Covid-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS) applied to a sample of Ecuadorian adults (N = 451). The study is based on an instrumental design with Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) technics. The results confirmed the validity of the CAS single-factor structure, with measurement invariance across gender and high internal consistency. Additionally, all CAS items displayed adequate discrimination indexes and proper ordering of the difficulty thresholds. In a conclusion, the CAS is a valid measurement scale for Ecuadorian adults.

Factor Validity of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) Using Robust Estimations in Ecuadorian Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Confirm the three correlated factors model of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) using robust estimations and evaluate its internal consistency with a sample of Ecuadorian adolescents. METHOD: Descriptive and instrumental analysis that includes confirmatory factor analysis with robust estimation and the calculation of its internal consistency. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1113 adolescents in which 56.1% are men and 43.9% are women), and they were between 11 and 19 years old ($\overline{X} $= 14.9 years; s = 1.67). Students from eight educational centres in Cotopaxi (54.1%) and Tungurahua (45.9%) in Ecuador were also included. RESULTS: The three correlated factors model from the AUDIT is confirmed with χ2 = 95.67; P < 0.001; df = 32; χ2/df = 2.98; comparative adjustment index = 0.93; Tucker-Lewis index = 0.90; standardized root mean square residual = 0.046; root mean square error of approximation = 0.042; 95% confidence interval [0.033-0.052]. CONCLUSIONS: The three correlated factors model from the AUDIT using robust estimations has an adequate fit and is also reliable in a sample of Ecuadorian adolescents.

Theory of Planned Behavior and alcohol use in adolescents in Ecuador. Structural linear regression analysis.

The general aim is to identify the explanatory potential of Alcohol use intentions in drinking behaviors in a sample of adolescents in Ecuador. The method consists of a descriptive, explanatory and cross-sectional study using SEM techniques. The participants were 384 adolescents (57% male and 43% female), aged among 14 and 18 years (M= 16.51; SD= 2.64), who are students attending between the 1st and 3rd year of high school in a public educational institution in Ambato, Ecuador. Like principal results, the presence of Alcohol use intention is moderate; the practice of alcohol use is low and mostly does not represent a risk, although 3.9% of the participants could report significant problems with consumption. Intentionality and drinking covary positively with low and moderate intensity. Drinking intentionality explained 15.3% the variance of drinking. We conclude that the Alcohol use intentions are a predictor of adolescent drinking behaviors.

Psychometric network analysis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) in Paraguayan general population.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders worldwide, both in the general population and in outpatient clinical settings. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) based on network analysis metrics. METHODS: A total of 911 Paraguayans (23.71% women and 76.29% men; mean age 31.25 years, SD = 10.63), selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, participated in the study. Network analysis was used to evaluate the internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance between men and women. RESULTS: The results revealed that the PHQ-4 is a unidimensional measure through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, through structural consistency, identified that 100% of the time, only a single dimension was obtained, and all items remained stable, as they were always replicated within the empirical dimension. The unidimensional structure has shown evidence of configural invariance; therefore, the network structure functioned equally among the different sex groups. CONCLUSION: The PHQ-4 presented optimal preliminary evidence of validity based on its internal structure, reliability, and invariance between sexes. Therefore, it may be useful as an accurate and brief measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the Paraguayan context.

Pandemic Grief and Suicidal Ideation in Latin American Countries: A Network Analysis.

This study aimed to characterize the network structure of pandemic grief symptoms and suicidal ideation in 2174 people from eight Latin American countries. Pandemic grief and suicidal ideation were measured using the Pandemic Grief Scale and a single item, respectively. Network analysis provides an in-depth characterization of symptom-symptom interactions within mental disorders. The results indicated that, "desire to die," "apathy" and "absence of sense of life" are the most central symptoms in a pandemic grief symptom network; therefore, these symptoms could be focal elements for preventive and treatment efforts. Suicidal ideation, the wish to die, and the absence of meaning in life had the strongest relationship. In general, the network structure did not differ among the participating countries. It identifies specific symptoms within the network that may increase the likelihood of their co-occurrence and is useful at the therapeutic level.

Psychometric Properties of the Acoso Sexual en las Instituciones de Educación Superior Scale (ASIES) in an Ecuadorian Sample.

Sexual harassment has become increasingly common in Ecuador's higher education centers. However, due to the lack of instruments that evaluate sexual harassment, the magnitude of this phenomenon in Ecuador is unknown. This research aims to analyze the construct validity and internal consistency reliability of a sexual harassment measurement scale in higher education institutions (ASIES). The instrument analyzes 21 behaviors related to sexual harassment. The sample consisted of 4628 people. A descriptive analysis of the items, item-total correlation analysis, and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are performed to test the internal structure of the scale. It was found that the 4-factor model and a second-order factor presented a better fit (CFI = .99, TLI = .99, SRMR = .075, and RMSEA = .018). The results confirm the four dimensions proposed.

El acoso sexual constituye un fenómeno que se evidencia cada vez con mayor frecuencia en la educación superior. Sin embargo, debido a la falta de instrumentos que evalúen el acoso sexual, se desconoce la magnitud de este fenómeno en el Ecuador. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la validez de constructo y la confiabilidad por consistencia interna de una escala de medición de acoso sexual en instituciones de educación superior (ASIES). El instrumento analiza 21 comportamientos relacionados con el acoso sexual. Se aplicó en 4.628 personas. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo de los ítems, un análisis de correlación ítem-total y un análisis factorial, tanto exploratorio como confirmatorio, para probar la estructura interna de la escala. Se encontró que el modelo de 4 factores y un factor de segundo orden fueron los que presentaron mejor ajuste (CFI = .99, TLI = .99, SRMR = .075 y RMSEA = .018). Los resultados confirman las cuatro dimensiones planteadas para la medición del acoso sexual.

The role of negative affects as mediators in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Stress and negative emotions have adverse consequences for the mental health of adolescents, an area that deserves further examination. These attributes are associated with each other and regularly interact in different ways. The way they exert an influence can be both direct and indirect, so the general objective is to elucidate the potential mediating effect of negative affects in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: An explanatory and mediation design based on structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied with 1154 high school students from Ecuador (67.7% women) aged 14 to 19 years (M = 15.69). RESULTS: In our sample, the presence of stress and negative affect is moderate, while that of mental health problems is low. According to our final model, these variables covary with and influence each other in the following way: stress (X) has a direct effect on mental health (Y) and also an indirect effect mediated by negative affect (M). The structural regression model proposed explains 63.0% of the variance in mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Stress exerts a relevant impact on mental health, both through direct and indirect pathways. The indirect pathway, mediated by negative affect, opens the door to novel interventional strategies to foster mental health.

Is the meaning of subjective well-being similar in Latin American countries? A cross-cultural measurement invariance study of the WHO-5 well-being index during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need to assess changes in well-being on a multinational scale during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus culturally valid scales must be available. METHODS: With this in mind, this study examined the invariance of the WHO well-being index (WHO-5) among a sample of 5183 people from 12 Latin Americans countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). RESULTS: The results of the present study indicate that the WHO-5 is strictly invariant across samples from different Latin American countries. Furthermore, the results of the IRT analysis indicate that all items of the WHO-5 were highly discriminative and that the difficulty required to respond to each of the five items is ascending. Additionally, the results indicated the presence of moderate and small size differences in subjective well-being among most countries. CONCLUSION: The WHO-5 is useful for assessing subjective well-being in 12 Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, since the differences between scores can be attributed to differences in well-being and not in other characteristics of the scale.

Relationship Between Fear of COVID-19, Conspiracy Beliefs About Vaccines and Intention to Vaccinate Against COVID-19: A Cross-National Indirect Effect Model in 13 Latin American Countries.

The present study explored the predictive capacity of fear of COVID-19 on the intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and the influence in this relationship of conspiracy beliefs as a possible mediating psychological variable, in 13 Latin American countries. A total of 5779 people recruited through non-probabilistic convenience sampling participated. To collect information, we used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Vaccine conspiracy beliefs Scale-COVID-19 and a single item of intention to vaccinate. A full a priori Structural Equation Model was used; whereas, cross-country invariance was performed from increasingly restricted structural models. The results indicated that, fear of COVID-19 positively predicts intention to vaccinate and the presence of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines. The latter negatively predicted intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. Besides, conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines had an indirect effect on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 in the 13 countries assessed. Finally, the cross-national similarities of the mediational model among the 13 participating countries are strongly supported. The study is the first to test a cross-national mediational model across variables in a large number of Latin American countries. However, further studies with other countries in other regions of the world are needed.

Cross-cultural invariance of the Spanish version of the COVID-19 Assessment Scorecard to measure the perception of government actions against COVID-19 in Latin America.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of a general measure of the perception of governmental responses to COVID-|19 (COVID-SCORE-10) in the general population of 13 Latin American countries. METHODS: A total of 5780 individuals from 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries selected by non-probabilistic snowball sampling participated. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed and the alignment method was used to evaluate invariance. Additionally, a graded response model was used for the assessment of item characteristics. RESULTS: The results indicate that there is approximate measurement invariance of the COVID-SCORE-10 among the participating countries. Furthermore, IRT results suggest that the COVID-SCORE-10 measures with good psychometric ability a broad spectrum of the construct assessed, especially around average levels. Comparison of COVID-SCORE-10 scores indicated that participants from Cuba, Uruguay and El Salvador had the most positive perceptions of government actions to address the pandemic. Thus, the underlying construct of perception of government actions was equivalent in all countries. CONCLUSION: The results show the importance of initially establishing the fundamental measurement properties and MI before inferring the cross-cultural universality of the construct to be measured.