Cognitive training with modern board and card games in healthy older adults: two randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive intervention based on modern board and card games. METHODS: We conducted two two-arm parallel-group, randomized controlled trials. The first one (pilot study) was nonblind. The second one (main study) was a double-blind design. Participants (14 in a pilot study and 35 in the main study) were healthy older adults over 65 years old who were assisting to adult care institutions. In the pilot study, participants in the experimental group (n = 6) played modern board and card games which activated cognitive processes; whereas the control group (n = 6) was in the wait-list condition. In the main study, participants in the experimental group (n = 12) also played modern board and card games; whereas the control group (n = 15) performed standardized paper-and-pencil cognitive tasks. Psychologists specialized in older-people conducted all the interventions. In both studies, intervention sessions were bi-weekly for 5 weeks. The outcomes of both studies were cognitive status and executive functioning, depressive symptomatology, and quality of life measures. All assessment and intervention sessions took place in their habitual centers. RESULTS: In the pilot study, participants in the games intervention showed a significant improvement in semantic verbal fluency. In the main study, both interventions showed significant improvements in phonemic verbal fluency. Whilst board and card games maintained motor impulsivity control, paper-and-pencil tasks improved speed in an inhibition task. CONCLUSIONS: Modern board and card games could be an effective cognitive intervention to maintain some cognitive functions.

Trait emotional intelligence mediates the dispositional gratitude and subjective well-being in young adults.

Gratitude has proved to be an enhancer of subjective well-being in previous studies. However, studies that linked the relation between emotional intelligence and its facets when interacting with gratitude, are still limited. In this sense, this study examined the mediating roles of emotional intelligence between gratitude and subjective well-being indicators, by introducing the general factor of emotional intelligence. The first approach to data analysis was to examine the descriptive statistics; the second approach consisted of an Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling, applying also a bifactor analysis. Data was collected from 406 Spanish students, through an online survey that includes the gratitude, trait meta mood scale, satisfaction with life and subjective happiness scale. The mean age of participants was 20.27 years (SD = 4.68), whereas 79.5% were females. The results provided preliminary evidence of the mediation role of the general factor of emotional intelligence between gratitude and subjective well-being, which provided a meaningful insight about the role of trait emotional intelligence. These findings suggested that gratitude promotes emotional intelligence, allowing to an increase in subjective well-being. Nonetheless, there is a need for further research to achieve a better understanding of the role of the emotional intelligence facets between gratitude and subjective well-being.

Benefits of Playing at School: Filler Board Games Improve Visuospatial Memory and Mathematical Skills.

The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness of cognitive interventions based on modern board games in school settings to improve memory outcomes and math skills. A parallel, quasi-experimental study was carried out with children (n = 234) into third and fourth grades (8-10 years old). School centres were allocated into a general domain intervention (playing memory board games), a specific domain intervention (playing mathematical board games) or a control group (regular classes without playing). Teachers carried out bi-weekly sessions during the last 30 min of mathematical lessons (8 weeks, 15 sessions). Before and after intervention, we individually measured verbal and visuospatial memory outcomes (short-term memory and working memory updating) and mathematical skills (number operations, number ranking, number production and problem solving). The results showed significant transfer effects of both memory and math trainings. In third grade, we found that playing math games showed medium-large effect sizes in visuospatial short-term memory and updating memory, number operations and number ranking compared to the control group. In fourth grade, we found that playing memory games showed significant small effect sizes in problem solving compared to the control group. Playing board games could be a methodology that enhances cognitive and mathematical development in children.

Happy Software: An interactive program based on an emotion management model for assertive conflict resolution.

Emotions are key to conflict resolution: to resolve conflict situations assertively, we must be able to manage the emotions that cause them. After a detailed analysis of the relevant theoretical framework, this paper presents a theoretical emotion management model aimed at assertive conflict resolution. The model, which is described step by step, has been transformed into an interactive program for students, implemented, and assessed in a population aged 8-16 years. The model is divided into four steps or phases. The first is emotional awareness, which consists of understanding and legitimating emotions; the second focuses on reducing emotional intensity and impulsivity; the third encompasses the use of different emotion regulation strategies; and the fourth and final step is assertive communication. Training in this process results in better emotion management, which eventually leads to greater wellbeing and a more positive assessment of new conflicts and aids in the assertive resolution thereof. The final section of the paper summarizes the most important evidence and outcomes of the use of the Happy software so far.

Evaluation of Happy Sport, an Emotional Education Program for Assertive Conflict Resolution in Sports.

BACKGROUND: Interpersonal conflicts occur in any kind of social relation, including the field of sports. Proper emotional management can improve athletes' well-being, coexistence, and performance. This study presents the initial results of the gamified emotional education program Happy Sport in a sample of athletes in the field of non-formal education. METHODS: The study sample consists of 194 athletes from the benjamín and alevín categories (3rd- to 6th-grade primary school children). A quasi-experimental pre-intervention and post-intervention design with a control group is followed using the Games and Emotions Scale (GES), Social Support Scale, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA), and Bullying in Sports Questionnaire. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found across participants in the experimental group between the pre- and post-intervention evaluations for the variables satisfaction and bullying. An analysis of the competencies related to emotion regulation revealed significant results for the experimental group for both scales (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that after a training session with the gamified software Happy Sport, children's satisfaction increased and bullying levels decreased. Changes in cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression may also be explained by the training received.

Process of adaptation to Spanish of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE).

INTRODUCTION: Research on vulnerability factors of psychosis and its secondary prevention is currently an area of great clinical interest. The objective of this study is to make a linguistic and cultural adaptation of the "Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale." The CAPE is a self-rated scale assessing three basic dimensions of the psychosis spectrum (positive, negative and depressive) in order to evaluate psychotic-like experiences and psychotic symptoms in the general population and therefore the potential risk of developing a psychotic disorder. METHOD: The translation-backtranslation methodology was applied to the 42-item CAPE version. The items translated to Spanish were backtranslated to English and rated on a semantic and conceptual equivalence scale to determine the coincidence of the backtranslated items with the original English version. RESULTS: All items translated and adapted by the Spanish bilingual consultant, and rated by an expert on the CAPE, received a type A (perfect) or B (satisfactory) equivalence assessment. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the CAPE has good parity with the original English version. This guarantees proper measurement of psychotic-like symptoms in samples of Spanish-speaking populations. Future studies should assess the reliability and validity of this adapted instrument.

The Assertive Resolution of Conflicts in School With a Gamified Emotion Education Program.

Coexistence in schools inevitably carries a higher risk of conflicts among peers. This fact can be detrimental to the well-being and academic achievement of the students. In many developed countries, about 90% of the pupils in compulsory secondary education report witnessing assaults among peers. In this regard, recognizing, controlling and managing emotions is key to ensure a healthy and effective interaction with others. Negative emotions, such as anger, can trigger conflicts or even episodes of violence if not regulated properly. Interactive tools, such as specialized software's, have shown high rates of efficacy for the training of different kinds of competences like the regulation of emotions. The aim of the present work is to describe the Happy Emotional Education Program and its effects over a sample of secondary school students. This software focuses in the training of emotional competences of the students with the objective of solving conflicts in a more assertive way. The design employed in the present work was a quasiexperimental design with pretest and posttest with a control group. Results show that Happy Emotional Education Program contributes to the management of emotions and the absence of negative affect or anxiety in a significant way. Additionally, the constant use of this interactive tool enhances motivation and the learning process of students. Results also indicate the importance of assessing the effects of the program in the long term. This would enable researchers to further assess the effects of the program over those emotional competences that are more resistant to change given its stable nature.

Symptoms and Etiological Attribution: A Cross-Sectional Study in Mexican Outpatients with Psychosis and Their Relatives.

This cross-sectional study aimed at identifying the most common attributions of their mental disorder in a Mexican patients who have experienced psychosis and their relatives and exploring how having experienced or not characteristic psychotic symptoms and their present clinical status might affect their etiological attributions. Past and current symptom profiles of 66 patients were as assessed with the SCID-I (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders) and the PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), respectively. The etiological attribution of psychosis of patients (n = 62) and the relatives (n = 65) was assessed with the Angermeyer and Klusmann scale comprising 30 items into five categories: biology, personality, family, society, and esoteric. Patients and relatives attribute psychosis mainly to social factors. Relatives' attributions were not influenced by clinical profile of patients, whereas in the case of patients it was only current clinical status that showed a difference, with those in nonremission scoring higher personality and family factors. Acknowledging patients' and relatives' beliefs about mental disorders at onset and later on is particularly important in psychosis, a mental condition with severe and/or persistent symptoms, in order to promote better involvement in treatment and in consequence efficacy and recovery.

Association between attachment prototypes and schizotypy dimensions in two independent non-clinical samples of Spanish and American young adults.

Attachment theory offers a powerful theoretical framework for elucidating the developmental pathway through which childhood interpersonal trauma confers vulnerability to psychosis. In the present study, the association between attachment and schizotypy was explored in two independent non-clinical samples of Spanish (n=547) and American (n=1425) young adults. Participants completed the Relationship Questionnaire and the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales. Following attachment theory and cognitive accounts of psychosis, it was hypothesized that preoccupied attachment would be associated with positive schizotypy, dismissing attachment with negative schizotypy, and fearful attachment with both schizotypy dimensions. Results confirmed these predictions, thus supporting the theoretical frameworks invoked. Also, the associations found in these non-clinical samples are consistent with those in clinical psychosis, supporting the continuum model of schizotypy and schizophrenia. Finally, there was cross-cultural consistency of these associations. Overall, the findings support the application of attachment theory for furthering our understanding of whether different insecure styles, characterized by different self and other representations and affect regulation strategies, play a role in the pathways to positive and negative symptoms.

An examination of neuroticism as a moderating factor in the association of positive and negative schizotypy with psychopathology in a nonclinical sample.

Personality traits such as neuroticism are associated with schizophrenia and schizotypy. However, studies thus far have not clarified the differential association of neuroticism with individual schizotypy dimensions and the role it plays in the expression of schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology. 204 nonclinically ascertained participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing neuroticism and the positive and negative schizotypy dimensions, and underwent structured interviews assessing schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology (psychotic-like experiences, negative symptoms, cluster A personality disorders and traits), mood episodes, substance abuse, and global functioning. Results indicated that neuroticism predicted positive symptoms of schizophrenia and depression, over-and-above the effects of both schizotypy dimensions. Also, neuroticism moderated the association of positive schizotypy with interview measures of psychopathology and functioning. The results of this study are consistent with other research indicating that neuroticism is etiologically relevant for schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology and that it cannot be considered solely a 'secondary effect' of spectrum disorders. Current psychological models of psychosis can accomodate the finding of neuroticism being a shared vulnerability factor for affective and psychotic disorders.