Trajectories of Parental Daily Stress: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study during the COVID-19 Lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a source of significant stress due to health and safety concerns and measures to control the virus' spread, such as mobility restrictions. This measure was especially demanding for parents with school aged children, who had to find new work-family balance as their children participate in online education while attempting to work remotely. To evaluate parents' stress trajectories during the pandemic, we conducted Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs) during lockdown for 29 days in 68 families in Santiago, Chile. In addition, we evaluated the role of educational level and income, co-parenting, and number of children in parents' stress trajectories. Our results showed that during the first weeks of lockdown expected protective factors (i.e., income and co-parental support) were not able to influence parents' daily stress management. Moreover, parents with higher educational levels reported worse stress adaptation than less educated parents. On the other hand, co-parental conflict was significantly associated with parent's stress. Our study captured an acute response to COVID-19 related challenges. This study contributes to understanding how parents adjust to stress during adverse circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Validation of the Spanish version of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) to identify and assess psychosocial problems among early adolescents in Chile.

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of mental disorders in early adolescents, and their consequences, encourage the need for validated instruments to identify and assess psychosocial problems. OBJECTIVES: i) To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) questionnaires (PSC-Y, 35 items, and PSC-17-Y) and its subscales (Attention, Internalizing and Externalizing subscales), including the assessment of the item structure, concurrent validity, and reliability; and ii) To assess possible associations between bullying experiences, school climate and school membership with psychological problems identified by the PSC questionnaire. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 39 schools in Santiago, Chile. The sample consisted of 3,968 adolescents aged between 10 and 11 years. A descriptive analysis of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist was performed along with measures of dimensionality, reliability, and correlations with a validated questionnaire exploring similar constructs, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Finally, associations of bullying, school climate, and school membership with the three subscales of the PSC were explored. RESULTS: Both versions of PSC had problems with item #7 (Act as if driven by motor), which did not load in any of the latent factors. It was removed from later analyses. The three-factor structure of PSC was confirmed. All remaining items had high factor loadings in their corresponded latent factors, and the reliability was high for the total scales (PSC-34-Y, ω = 0.78; PSC-16-Y, ω = 0.94) and the subscales of PSC-16-Y (Attention, ω = 0.77; Internalizing, ω = 0.79; Externalizing, ω = 0.78). The goodness of fit was adequate, and the correlation between PSC subscales and SDQ subscales was high. Victimization and perpetration were associated with all PSC subscales, and higher school climate and stronger school memberships were negatively associated with PSC symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings seem to demonstrate that the Spanish version of the PSC is a valid and reliable instrument for identifying and assessing psychosocial problems in early adolescents.

Effectiveness of the KiVa Antibullying Program with and without the Online Game in Chile: a Three-Arm Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Bullying is a major health problem. The KiVa antibullying program has been evaluated in Finland and other European countries, showing preventive effects on self-reported bullying victimization and perpetration. No evaluations of this program have been conducted in Latin America. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted at socially vulnerable schools in Santiago, Chile, to assess the effectiveness of the KiVa antibullying program in grades 5 and 6 (aged 10-12 years). Schools were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to three groups: the full KiVa group (including the online game), the partial KiVa group (did not include the online game), and the control group in which the regular school curriculum was implemented. The primary outcome was self-reported bullying victimization, assessed before the intervention (baseline) at the end of the academic year (November 2016) and post-intervention, 12 months after the baseline assessment (November 2017). This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02898324. A total of 39 schools (13 in each group) were included; no schools withdrew. The baseline survey included 5923 participants, and the endpoint survey included 3968 participants. Participants in the partial KiVa group had lower bullying victimization at the endpoint survey than those in the control group (OBVQ-R adjusted mean difference - 0.14; 95% CI, - 0.26 to - 0.01; effect size - 0.13, 95% CI - 0.24 to - 0.01, p = 0.035). There was no effect of the full KiVa group for bullying victimization compared with the control and partial KiVa groups. Compared to the control group, participants in the partial KiVa group had lower witnessing bullying at school (adjusted mean difference = - 0.25; 95% CI - 0.45 to - 0.05; effect size - 0.18, 95% CI, - 0.32 to - 0.04, p = 0.013). No effects were found for other secondary outcomes, including bullying perpetration in any comparisons between arms. The implementation of the KiVa antibullying program had mixed results in Chile. There was only a small effect on bullying victimization and witnessing when KiVa was delivered without the online game.

The Unplugged program in Chile ("Yo Sé Lo Que Quiero") for substance use prevention among early adolescents: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Substance use is among the main contributors to disease among children and adolescents in the Americas region. The call for effective prevention of substance use among adolescents has resulted in numerous school-based programs, and particularly the Unplugged program has been proved to be successful in reducing the prevalence of different substances in seven European countries. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Unplugged program in Chile ("Yo Sé Lo Que Quiero"). METHODS: This is a cluster randomized controlled trial, parallel-group type, where "Yo Sé Lo Que Quiero" is compared to standard school preventive curricula in control schools. A total of 70 schools and 8400 adolescents are expected to be randomized with 1:1 allocation. During formative work, the Unplugged program was culturally adapted to Chile, and the instrument to assess the primary and secondary outcomes was validated. The effectiveness of this program will be assessed using the European Drug Addiction Prevention Trial Questionnaire (EU-Dap), measuring substance use prevalence and risk and protective factors in baseline, post-intervention, and four months after the end of the intervention. DISCUSSION: The proposed study will be the first to test the effectiveness of a school-based substance use prevention program in Chile in a cluster randomized control trial and the first study evaluating the Unplugged program in Spanish-speaking Latin America. A model for disseminating the Unplugged program inside Europe already exists and has been implemented successfully in several countries. Thus, if the effects of the program are positive, wide implementation in Chile and Latin American countries is possible soon. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04236999 . Registered on January 17, 2020.

Use of Technology and Its Association With Academic Performance and Life Satisfaction Among Children and Adolescents.

Introduction: In the last years, there has been a rise in the use of technology among children and adolescents, which has led to a greater concern about its impact on their socioemotional and cognitive development. Aims: To explore the time spent using technology, the risk perception of its use by students, and the association between frequency of technology use and life satisfaction and academic performance among children and adolescents in Chile. Additionally, we explored the mediating effect of sleep deprivation on these outcomes. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, where 2,440 students (9-12 years old) from 13 schools participated. Data was collected using an online survey answered by students during school hours. The association analyses were performed using multivariable regression models considering life satisfaction and academic performance as dependent variables. Additionally, mediating analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. Results: Time watching television and using cellphones were similar on weekdays, and playing video games was the most frequent activity during weekends. A 42.1% of students reported playing online video games with strangers, and 12.7% had sleep deprivation. Lower self-reported academic performance was associated with cyberbullying victimization, sleep deprivation, being hacked, exposure to violent content, time spent using cell phones during weekdays and weekends, and playing video games during weekdays. Students who perceived that playing video games after 9 pm affected their sleep had a higher academic performance. There was a clear mediating effect of sleep deprivation in the relationship between time spent using a cellphone during weekdays and weekends and playing video games during weekdays and GPA. Conclusions: Time spent using technological devices was not associated with life satisfaction; however, the time spent using cell phones and playing video games was related to lower self-reported academic performance, mediated by sleep deprivation. Future research may focus on a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the effect of technology use on sleep routines among adolescents and potential interventions to reduce its impact on academic performance.

Validation of the European Drug Addiction Prevention Trial Questionnaire (EU-Dap) for substance use screening and to assess risk and protective factors among early adolescents in Chile.

BACKGROUND: Substance use is highly prevalent among Chilean adolescents, and the damage it causes at the neurobiological, psychological, and social levels is known. However, there are no validated screening instruments that also assess risk and protective factors for this population in Chile, which is essential for evaluating future prevention interventions. OBJECTIVE: To determine the psychometric properties of the European Drug Addiction Prevention Trial Questionnaire (EU-Dap) questionnaire. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 13 schools in the city of Santiago de Chile. The sample included 2261 adolescents ranging from 10 to 14 years old. Linguistic and cultural adaptation was assessed using focus groups with adolescents, the construct validity was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis, and measures of its reliability were also determined. Furthermore, the associations regarding risk and protective factors with substance use were explored. RESULTS: Substance use questions were well understood and seemed to adequately capture the consumption of different drugs. Regarding the subscales of risk and protective factors, the analyses showed that most subscales had good psychometric properties, and few needed some degree of improvement (e.g., some items were removed). After the changes, most final subscales had good or adequate goodness of fit adjustments and good or acceptable internal consistency. Finally, the main associated factors with the substance use outcomes were: future substance use and school bonding for tobacco use; negative beliefs about alcohol, future substance use, school bonding and refusal skills for alcohol use; and negative beliefs about marihuana, positive attitudes towards drugs, risk perception, and substance abuse index for marihuana use. Normative beliefs increased the risk for all substances use. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that the EU-Dap is a valid and reliable instrument, and it may help to evaluate the effectiveness of drug use prevention interventions.

Revisión teórica de las estrategias de afrontamiento (coping) según el modelo transaccional de estrés y afrontamiento de Lazarus & Folkman en pacientes quirúrgicos bariátricos, lumbares y plásticos / Theoretical review of coping strategies according to the Lazarus & Folkman transactional stress and coping model in bariatric, lumbar and plastic surgical patients

La psicología de la salud está al servicio de la medicina y busca evaluar, estudiar e intervenir en los factores psicológicos que influyen en el proceso de salud y enfermedad. a raíz del aumento de las cirugías y su calidad de evento estresor, que genera comprensivamente ansiedad en cualquier paciente, es aún más relevante el estudio de dichos factores.el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo dar a conocer en una revisión teórica las estrategias de afrontamiento, que son uno de los factores cognitivos-conductuales más importantes. Esta revisión se realizará según el modelo transaccional de estrés y afrontamiento de Lazarus & Folkman en pacientes quirúrgicos bariátricos, lumbares y plásticos.

The psychology of health is at the service of medicine and seeks to evaluate, study and intervene on the psychological factors that influence the health and disease process. as a result of the increase in surgeries, and its quality as a stressor event, which comprehensively generates anxiety in any patient, the study of these factors is even more relevant. The present work aims to present in a theoretical review the coping strategies, which are one of the most important cognitive-behavioral factors. this review will be performed according to the Lazarus & Folkman transactional stress and coping model in bariatric, lumbar and plastic surgical patients.