RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed patterns of human interaction, including in the educational sector, which was forced to transform relationships among students, families, and the academic community. The present study sought to establish the interrelationships between performance on cognitive tests during the preschool stage and the perceptions of parents about remote education in school children during the pandemic. The study included 100 preschool children from socially vulnerable sectors who underwent remote and distance learning in 2020 and 2021. The reliability of the applied questionnaire was determined through a confirmatory factor analysis. A structural equation model was constructed to determine the perceptions of parents about remote education based on cognitive performance during the preschool stage. The model fit yielded favorable results for predictive variables (χ2 = 7.734, DF = 9 [p = 0.561], the comparative goodness-of-fit index [CFI] = 1.000, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.000, standardized mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.069), and executive function (χ2 = 3.711, DF = 5 [p > 0.592], CFI = 1.000, RMSEA = 0.000, SRMR = 0.039) as latent variables that affected parents' perceptions. These results indicate that parents' perceptions of remote education are mediated by predictive aspects of learning and executive function during the preschool stage.
RESUMO
Background: Recent reports suggest that by 2050 there will be an increase of around 310% of cases affected by dementia in Latin American countries. A previous study in a Southern region reported one of the highest prevalences of dementia in Latin America. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment associated with low education, rurality, and demographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study recruited a community-dwelling sample of 823 adults from rural and urban areas of two Southern provinces of Colombia from 2020-2022. Participants were assessed with a neuropsychological protocol validated in Colombia. To obtain general and region-specific prevalence rates, age, sex, schooling, and socioeconomic level were considered and controlled for. Results: Most of the participants reported low education and socioeconomic level, the participation of women was higher. It was determined that the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was 53.6%, with 56.6% in the province of Caquetá followed by 51.9% in the province of Huila. The amnestic MCI represented 42.6%, the amnestic multi-domain was 39%, the non-amnestic 16.55%, and the non-amnestic multi-domain 1.81%. Our participants reported comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension. We also observed a relationship between exposure to pesticides and MCI. Conclusions: We observed one of the highest prevalences of MCI in Latin America reported to date. Variables such as age, gender, and education proved risk factors for MCI in the explored regions. Our findings are very much in line with recent studies that highlight the influence of non-canonical risk factors of dementia in underrepresented countries from Latin America.
RESUMO
Resumen La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo comparar el desempeño en ejecución de las pruebas de cognición social en los perfiles de niños y niñas vinculados al acoso escolar en una institución educativa pública de la ciudad de Neiva. Con un diseño de tipo transversal y a través de un muestreo no probabilístico de tipo intencional, se evaluaron 103 estudiantes de básica primaria, seleccionados de acuerdo con los criterios de elegibilidad. Los resultados mostraron una mayor frecuencia de niños que se identificaron como observadores-víctimas y un desempeño inferior en las pruebas de faux pas (metida de pata), historias extrañas de Happé y test de miradas en la comparación por perfiles de acoso escolar y la edad. Los resultados sugieren profundizar en estudios que relacionen la convivencia escolar y el desarrollo de la cognición social con las características sociodemográficas y culturales en la población estudiada.
Abstract The objective of this research was to compare the performance of social cognition tests in the profiles of boys and girls linked to bullying in a public educational institution in the city of Neiva. With a cross-type design and through a non-probabilistic sampling of intentional type, 103 primary school students selected according to the eligibility criteria were evaluated. The results showed a higher frequency of children who identified themselves as observers-victims and a lower performance in faux pas-boobs, strange stories by Happé and a comparison test by profiles of bullying and age. The results suggest deepening studies that relate school life and the development of social cognition with sociodemographic and cultural characteristics in the population studied.