The Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory: A Spanish Adaptation and Further Validation in Adult Population.

Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills encompass a broad range of interpersonal and intrapersonal abilities that are crucial for establishing and maintaining relationships, managing emotions, setting and pursuing goals, and exploring new learning opportunities. To address the lack of consensus regarding terminology, definition, and assessment of SEB skills, Soto et al. developed the Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI), which consists of 192 items, 32 facets, and 5 domains. The objective of the current study was to adapt the BESSI to Spanish (referred to as BESSI-Sp) and enhance the overall understanding of the BESSI framework. A sample of 303 people was employed with a mean age of 30.35 years (SD = 14.73), ranging from 18 to 85 years. The results indicate that the BESSI-Sp demonstrates strong psychometric properties. Its facet- and domain-level structure aligns with the theoretical expectations and closely resembles the English-language source version. The facets exhibit high reliability (mean ω = .89), and the scores demonstrate adequate stability after 3 to 4 weeks (mean rICC = .77). The BESSI-Sp also displays evidence of convergent validity and integrates well with the Big Five framework, providing incremental validity for various outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the assessment of SEB skills and future research in this field.

Giving Meaning to the Dark Triad: Comparison of Different Factor Structures of the Dirty Dozen Through Eight Regions of the World.

The traits of the dark triad (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) capture the individual differences in the aversive personality. The dark triad has shown significant relations with behaviors that affect people's lives. One of the best-known instruments to assess the dark triad is the Dirty Dozen. However, controversy continues over the use of one general dark triad score or, conversely, three different scores. This study aimed to investigate the factor structure of the Dirty Dozen across eight global regions. There were 11,477 participants in 49 countries grouped into eight regions. Different factor structures were studied using confirmatory factor analyses. Both the three-dimensional models and the bifactor models (symmetrical or traditional and non-symmetrical or bifactor-[S - 1]) showed a good fit to the data. The bifactor-(S - 1) models (with psychopathy or Machiavellianism as the reference factors) show adequate fit to the data, supported by the coherence of the factorial loadings and the bifactor indices. Regarding measurement invariance for both models, configural, metric, and scalar invariance were satisfied. The results indicate that it is not clear whether a psychopathy or Machiavellianism reference factor predominates in the Dirty Dozen. For both models, templates are provided to obtain standardized scores for applied researchers in the eight studied world regions until future studies offer a greater amount of validity evidence for this instrument.

Common peroneal nerve injury after tibial plateau fractures: A case series.

Introduction: Common peroneal nerve (CPN) injury is a rare but significant complication of knee trauma. Given its low incidence, there is limited published evidence, but reports have shown dislocations and fractures associated with varus deformity are more likely to injure the nerve, causing foot drop. This study aims to document the incidence and outcome of CPN palsy in tibial plateau fractures (TPF). Methods: We reviewed 746 cases of tibial plateau fractures treated between 2011 and 2020. We analysed patients' demographics, injury mechanisms, clinical course, and complications, and identified those with CPN palsies. Fractures were classified using the Schatzker, Luo and AO/OTA systems. The details of the CPN injury, including nerve conduction studies, duration of symptoms and outcome were recorded. Results: We identified 11 patients who had concurrent TPFs and CPN palsies, an overall incidence of 1.47 %. Most fractures involved the medial column (n = 9), with the C3 fragmentary TPF pattern being the most common (n = 4). The incidence of CPN injury was higher in medial fractures (5 %) and bicondylar fractures (3 %). We also found that most patients (n = 9) recovered full neurological function within 2 years. Discussion: This is the first study looking at a patient cohort sustaining concurrent TPFs and CPN injuries. It is a rare complication but should be looked for in high-risk medial and bicondylar fractures. We found that prognosis is better in TPF-associated CPN palsy than in other knee trauma, and that the majority of patients can expect a full recovery of nerve function.

To be Direct or not: Reversing Likert Response Format Items.

Likert items are often used in social and health sciences. However, the format is strongly affected by acquiescence and reversed items have traditionally been used to control this response bias, a controversial practice. This paper aims to examine how reversed items affect the psychometric properties of a scale. Different versions of the Grit-s scale were applied to an adult sample (N = 1,419). The versions of the scale had either all items in positive or negative forms, or a mix of positive and negative items. The psychometric properties of the different versions (item analysis, dimensionality and reliability) were analyzed. Both negative and positive versions demonstrated better functioning than mixed versions. However, the mean total scores did not vary, which is an example of how similar means could mask other significant differences. Therefore, we advise against using mixed scales, and consider the use of positive or negative versions preferable.

Using Social Networking Sites During Lockdown: Risks and Benefits.

BACKGROUND: Previous research about use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) use during the COVID-19 lockdown has examined benefits and risks of SNS use (i.e., support through SNS, problematic SNS use and interaction about COVID-19) without comparing them. This study has two objectives: (i) to evaluate which SNS uses (problematic SNS use and interaction about COVID-19 on SNS) predict increased emotional distress, and (ii) to analyse if social support and interaction about COVID-19 mediated the relationship between time spent on SNS and increased emotional distress. METHOD: A total of 1,003 participants (75.5% women) over 18 years old took part (M = 42.33; SD = 14.32 years). Three hierarchical linear regressions were performed for the first objective and a path analysis was performed for the second. RESULTS: Results showed that negative social comparison on SNS had the highest positive regression weight, followed by interaction about COVID-19 and addictive consequences. Also, an indirect effect of time spent on SNS on anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction through interaction about COVID-19 and support through SNS was found. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that comparative SNS use is the best predictor of emotional distress. The mediation model proposed was confirmed, highlighting the importance of assessing specific SNS uses.

Magnetic-Activated Cell Sorting (MACS): A Useful Sperm-Selection Technique in Cases of High Levels of Sperm DNA Fragmentation.

Magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) can be used to separate apoptotic sperm with high proportions of fragmented DNA from the rest, thus improving the overall quality of the seminal sample. Therefore, the aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the efficiency of the MACS technique to increase reproductive outcomes in patients with high levels of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm-injection (ICSI) cycles. In this study, we analyzed a total of 724 assisted-reproduction-technique (ART) cycles that were divided into two groups: the study group (n = 366) in which the MACS selection technique was performed after density-gradient centrifugation (DGC), and the control group (n = 358) in which only DGC was used for sperm selection. Reproductive outcomes were analyzed in both groups according to three different ART procedures: preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A), and autologous and oocyte-donation cycles. The MACS group showed significantly lower miscarriage rates in autologous ICSI cycles, higher pregnancy rates in oocyte-donation cycles, and a significant increase in live-birth rates in both autologous and oocyte-donation cycles. Overall, these results suggested that the MACS technique can be effectively used to eliminate sperm with high SDF levels, and therefore may help to improve reproductive outcomes in couples undergoing ART.

Endometriosis and Reproduction: What We Have Learned.

Endometriosis, despite only affecting 10-15% of women of fertile age, is still an enigmatic disease. Recent developments in assisted reproductive technology have contributed to a better understanding of where and how endometriosis could compromise fertility. In this mini-review we will show how the main point of damage in endometriosis is quantitative impairment of the ovaries, if the "less is more" mantra should be applied when considering ovarian surgery, and when fertility preservation prior to ovarian surgery could be considered. Endometrial receptivity, however, does not seem to be affected.