RESUMEN
El presente estudio tuvo como propósitos investigar sistemáticamente los factores actitudinales e interpersonales que inciden en el uso del condón en las relaciones sexuales coitales entre estudiantes de bachillerato, así como elaborar modelos estructurales que muestren las interrelaciones y los efectos directos e indirectos de dichos factores sobre la frecuencia del uso del condón. Participaron 527 adolescentes quienes reportaron haber tenido relaciones sexuales alguna vez en la vida. Se usó un cuestionario que mide prácticas sexuales y frecuencia del uso del condón durante los encuentros sexuales, así como 80 preguntas de tipo ordinal divididas en cinco factores: 1) asertividad sexual, 2) sumisión sexual, 3) baja percepción de riesgo sexual, 4) enamoramiento y 5) aceptación del uso del condón. Con el uso de ecuaciones estructurales, se trazaron modelos de trayectorias con los factores obtenidos y la frecuencia de uso de condón. Los modelos estructurales para hombres y para mujeres muestran niveles aceptables de ajuste a los datos así como efectos directos significativos entre todas las variables, específicamente se reporta el efecto directo de las variables de aceptación del uso del condón y asertividad sexual sobre la frecuencia del uso del condón. Estos resultados amplían las posibilidades de explicación e intervención psicosocial sobre la conducta sexual de riesgo entre adolescentes.
The purpose of this study was to systematically investigate the attitudinal and interpersonal factors that influence condom use in coital sex between high school students and to develop structural models that show the interrelationships and the direct and indirect effects of these factors on frequency of condom use. Participants were 527 adolescents who reported having consensual sex at least once in life. For this matter a questionnaire measuring frequency of sex and condom use during sexual encounters was used, also 80 ordinal questions divided into five factors: 1) sexual assertiveness, 2) sexual submission, 3) low sexual risk perception, 4) infatuation and 5) acceptance of condom use. Using structural equations trajectories and frequency of condom use were drawn. Structural models for men and women show acceptable levels of fitness to the data as well as significant direct effects between all the variables, specifically direct effect of variables acceptance on condom use and sexual assertiveness on the frequency of preservative use. These results extend the possibilities of explanation and psychosocial intervention on sexual risk behavior among adolescents.
RESUMEN
Quinientos cincuenta y cuatro niños de población general, de 8 a 12 años, respondieron a la Escala de Ansiedad para Niños de Spence en español (SCAS), al ITA-UNAM, que mide ansiedad y al CES-D, que mide depresión. Se investigó si se confirmaba el modelo estructural de la SCAS hallado por Spence. Mediante análisis confirmatorio, se probaron dos modelos: uno de 38 ítems y otro de 32 ítems, ambos con 6 factores relacionados, englobados bajo un factor de orden superior de ansiedad general. El modelo de 38 ítems se ajustó razonablemente, confirmando el encontrado por Spence. Pero, el modelo de 32 ítems ajustó mejor. Ambos coinciden con los trastornos de ansiedad más comunes clasificados por el DSM-IV-R. Los análisis psicométricos adicionales refuerzan la validez de constructo de la SCAS y muestran una consistencia interna aceptable.
Five hundred and fifty four school children, 8 to 12 years of age, completed the Spanish version of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS), the ITA-UNAM, which measures anxiety in children, and the CES-D measuring depression. The study investigated the structural model of the SCAS found by Spence. Two models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis: one 38-item and a second 32-item model, both involving 6 related first-order factors loading in a higher-order factor. The 38-item model provided a reasonably good fit, confirming the one reported by Spence. However, the second model provided the best fit of the data. Both models coincide with the most common anxiety disorders classified by the DSM-IV-TR. Further psychometric analyses reinforced construct validity of the SCAS and showed acceptable internal consistency.
RESUMEN
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SUMMARY Introduction: Childrearing or parenting is the assumption of responsibility for the emotional, social and physical growth and development of a child. Research literature has identified three related components commonly associated to rearing or parenting: a) spontaneous emotions and attitudes that are non-goal directed parental behaviors such as gestures, changes in the tone of voice, temperamental bursts, body language; b) specific goal-directed parental practices, which are better understood in the context of a socialization domain (academic achievement, peer cooperation), and c) the value system and beliefs of parents related to socialization goals of their children. Based on sound empirical data, there is no doubt about the impact of child-rearing environments on a wide variety of outcomes, ranging from normal variations of adaptive functioning and school success to an array of psychopathological results such as drug abuse, aggressive behavior, and anxiety in children and adolescents. During adolescence, parenting implies the transformation of the relationships between parents and children. This is a critical transition period in which the emerging social demands turn it into a particularly vulnerable period of life. Psychological distress that arises in adolescents may threaten their mental health on a medium and long term-basis. Based on an exhaustive literature study related to the parentchild relationship and the shared family environment, Repetti et al. suggest that conflict, lack of cohesion and organization, as well as unsupportive, cold and neglectful environments, were characteristic of families in risk of developing physical and mental problems. Adolescent studies provided evidence related to alcohol and drugs abuse, involvement in pregnancy, aggressive behaviour and delinquency as outcomes for children from families lacking cohesion and orderliness, as well as emotional warmth, support and involvement in parenting. Thus, it is important to rely on instruments that measure parenting and whose dimensions have proven to be relevant to the outcomes evaluated. One empirically evaluated instrument, in terms of internal consistency, construct validity, and convergent and divergent validity in transcultural context, is the Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran-My memories of upbringing (EMBU). It has been extensively used and adapted in more than 25 countries, including Spanish-speaking populations from Guatemala, Venezuela and Spain. Factor analyses have revealed four factors (emotional warmth, rejection, control/overprotection and favouring subject), and multiple studies have documented the validity, reliability and cross-national transferability of the EMBU. Criticism regarding the retrospective nature of the EMBU has been overcome by designs with younger samples confirming its cross-stability for all scales except favouritism scale. There is a lack of instruments measuring parenting in Spanishspeaking countries. It is imperative to evaluate parental perceptions with adolescents as the source of information. There is, therefore, a need to empirically evaluate a reliable and valid parenting measurement, whose relational nature dimensions (warmth/rejection, control) can also be compared with those found in other countries. The purpose of the present study was to explore the psychometric properties of the EMBU-I in a sample of Mexican adolescents. In particular, its aim was to test the reliability (internal consistency), the congruency of the dimensions for fathers and mothers and within the scales comprising the EMBU, and its convergent and divergent validity. Method: Seven hundred seventy five adolescents, with a mean age of 13.81 years, from two secondary schools, one public and one private, participated in the study. Instruments: EMBU-C, parental involvement in studies scale, and the cohesion, conflict and organization scales from the FES. All of them showed reliability values above .50. Results: Emotional warmth, rejection, and control showed evidence of good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas above or equal .65), except favoritism, in agreement with previous studies. Correlation between both scales, for father and mother (emotional warmth, rejection and control) was positive and high. Negative correlations were found between emotional warmth and rejection, as expect. Interestingly, perception of father control positively correlated with warmth, whereas perception of mother control was higher loaded on rejection than in warmth. The multiple correlation analysis of each scale of the EMBU and the other instruments were as follows: warmth in both parents correlated positively with organization and cohesion in family and rejection, again in both parents, also correlated with conflict. Warmth and control for father, as well as for mother, correlated with parental involvement in studies, but stronger correlations were documented in the case of perception of father's involvement. For mothers, cohesion and organization showed a tendency to correlate higher with involvement in studies. Results support the convergent validity of the scales. Evidence for the divergent validation was provided through the negative correlations found between warmth and conflict. This was also true for cohesion and organization, with regard to rejection. As expected, rejection also showed a negative correlation with parental involvement in studies. In agreement with other studies, the present study corroborates internal consistency in Mexican adolescents, as well as convergent and divergent validity of the EMBU-C scales of emotional warmth, rejection and control. A finding of this study was the different correlation tendency found between the dimension of control for fathers and mothers, suggesting that control in fathers is perceived more as warmth than rejection, in contrast to other studies. Also warmth and control, again in the fathers' case, correlated higher with involvement in studies. This finding is in agreement with Youniss and Smollar, whose findings suggest a differential perception of fathers and mothers, especially in early adolescence. Mexican boys and girls tend to perceive fathers with more deference and as advisors or instructors. Although the risky families' construct has a wider perspective, it is also important to evaluate separately the family unit with regard to the adolescent-parent relationship because intervention strategies are different. According to adolescent perception, parenting dimensions related to emotional climate are notably related to other parental components, such as parental involvement in school or family cohesion and organization. Psychometric properties of EMBU-C were acceptable in terms of reliability and validity. It proved to be a useful tool for future studies, purported to evaluate adolescent perception of parental childrearing. Future studies should provide further data on test-retest reliability, confirmatory factor analyses testing the three factor resolution found in previous studies and on its convergent validity. Limitations of the present study arise from the sample of students and its socioeconomic or demographic restrictions. Future studies could overcome the fact that data come only from one source, i.e., children. Concurrent validity comparing EMBU-C with other parenting indicators is also needed.
