Psychometric network analysis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) in Paraguayan general population.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders worldwide, both in the general population and in outpatient clinical settings. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) based on network analysis metrics. METHODS: A total of 911 Paraguayans (23.71% women and 76.29% men; mean age 31.25 years, SD = 10.63), selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, participated in the study. Network analysis was used to evaluate the internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance between men and women. RESULTS: The results revealed that the PHQ-4 is a unidimensional measure through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, through structural consistency, identified that 100% of the time, only a single dimension was obtained, and all items remained stable, as they were always replicated within the empirical dimension. The unidimensional structure has shown evidence of configural invariance; therefore, the network structure functioned equally among the different sex groups. CONCLUSION: The PHQ-4 presented optimal preliminary evidence of validity based on its internal structure, reliability, and invariance between sexes. Therefore, it may be useful as an accurate and brief measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the Paraguayan context.

Pandemic Grief and Suicidal Ideation in Latin American Countries: A Network Analysis.

This study aimed to characterize the network structure of pandemic grief symptoms and suicidal ideation in 2174 people from eight Latin American countries. Pandemic grief and suicidal ideation were measured using the Pandemic Grief Scale and a single item, respectively. Network analysis provides an in-depth characterization of symptom-symptom interactions within mental disorders. The results indicated that, "desire to die," "apathy" and "absence of sense of life" are the most central symptoms in a pandemic grief symptom network; therefore, these symptoms could be focal elements for preventive and treatment efforts. Suicidal ideation, the wish to die, and the absence of meaning in life had the strongest relationship. In general, the network structure did not differ among the participating countries. It identifies specific symptoms within the network that may increase the likelihood of their co-occurrence and is useful at the therapeutic level.

Theory of Planned Behavior and alcohol use in adolescents in Ecuador. Structural linear regression analysis.

The general aim is to identify the explanatory potential of Alcohol use intentions in drinking behaviors in a sample of adolescents in Ecuador. The method consists of a descriptive, explanatory and cross-sectional study using SEM techniques. The participants were 384 adolescents (57% male and 43% female), aged among 14 and 18 years (M= 16.51; SD= 2.64), who are students attending between the 1st and 3rd year of high school in a public educational institution in Ambato, Ecuador. Like principal results, the presence of Alcohol use intention is moderate; the practice of alcohol use is low and mostly does not represent a risk, although 3.9% of the participants could report significant problems with consumption. Intentionality and drinking covary positively with low and moderate intensity. Drinking intentionality explained 15.3% the variance of drinking. We conclude that the Alcohol use intentions are a predictor of adolescent drinking behaviors.

The role of negative affects as mediators in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Stress and negative emotions have adverse consequences for the mental health of adolescents, an area that deserves further examination. These attributes are associated with each other and regularly interact in different ways. The way they exert an influence can be both direct and indirect, so the general objective is to elucidate the potential mediating effect of negative affects in the relationship between stress and mental health in Ecuadorian adolescents. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: An explanatory and mediation design based on structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied with 1154 high school students from Ecuador (67.7% women) aged 14 to 19 years (M = 15.69). RESULTS: In our sample, the presence of stress and negative affect is moderate, while that of mental health problems is low. According to our final model, these variables covary with and influence each other in the following way: stress (X) has a direct effect on mental health (Y) and also an indirect effect mediated by negative affect (M). The structural regression model proposed explains 63.0% of the variance in mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Stress exerts a relevant impact on mental health, both through direct and indirect pathways. The indirect pathway, mediated by negative affect, opens the door to novel interventional strategies to foster mental health.

Cross-cultural invariance of the Spanish version of the COVID-19 Assessment Scorecard to measure the perception of government actions against COVID-19 in Latin America.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of a general measure of the perception of governmental responses to COVID-|19 (COVID-SCORE-10) in the general population of 13 Latin American countries. METHODS: A total of 5780 individuals from 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries selected by non-probabilistic snowball sampling participated. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed and the alignment method was used to evaluate invariance. Additionally, a graded response model was used for the assessment of item characteristics. RESULTS: The results indicate that there is approximate measurement invariance of the COVID-SCORE-10 among the participating countries. Furthermore, IRT results suggest that the COVID-SCORE-10 measures with good psychometric ability a broad spectrum of the construct assessed, especially around average levels. Comparison of COVID-SCORE-10 scores indicated that participants from Cuba, Uruguay and El Salvador had the most positive perceptions of government actions to address the pandemic. Thus, the underlying construct of perception of government actions was equivalent in all countries. CONCLUSION: The results show the importance of initially establishing the fundamental measurement properties and MI before inferring the cross-cultural universality of the construct to be measured.

Assessment of Obsessive Thoughts About COVID-19 in 7 Latin American Countries: Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Obsession With COVID-19 Scale.

The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS) among seven Latin American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Although the OCS has been used in several countries and languages, there is a need for approaches that better integrate the cross-cultural equivalence of the scale. A total of 3185 people participated in the study. The results indicated the presence of a unidimensional structure and good reliability indices for the OCS in each country. The alignment method indicated that the OCS is an invariant measure of COVID-19 obsession among the populations of seven Latin American countries. The findings based on IRT analysis indicated that all OCS items had adequate discrimination and difficulty parameters. The findings contribute to the understanding of the internal structure of the scale in different countries at the same time, something that has been pending evaluation.

Psychometric Properties of the Acoso Sexual en las Instituciones de Educación Superior Scale (ASIES) in an Ecuadorian Sample.

Sexual harassment has become increasingly common in Ecuador's higher education centers. However, due to the lack of instruments that evaluate sexual harassment, the magnitude of this phenomenon in Ecuador is unknown. This research aims to analyze the construct validity and internal consistency reliability of a sexual harassment measurement scale in higher education institutions (ASIES). The instrument analyzes 21 behaviors related to sexual harassment. The sample consisted of 4628 people. A descriptive analysis of the items, item-total correlation analysis, and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are performed to test the internal structure of the scale. It was found that the 4-factor model and a second-order factor presented a better fit (CFI = .99, TLI = .99, SRMR = .075, and RMSEA = .018). The results confirm the four dimensions proposed.

El acoso sexual constituye un fenómeno que se evidencia cada vez con mayor frecuencia en la educación superior. Sin embargo, debido a la falta de instrumentos que evalúen el acoso sexual, se desconoce la magnitud de este fenómeno en el Ecuador. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la validez de constructo y la confiabilidad por consistencia interna de una escala de medición de acoso sexual en instituciones de educación superior (ASIES). El instrumento analiza 21 comportamientos relacionados con el acoso sexual. Se aplicó en 4.628 personas. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo de los ítems, un análisis de correlación ítem-total y un análisis factorial, tanto exploratorio como confirmatorio, para probar la estructura interna de la escala. Se encontró que el modelo de 4 factores y un factor de segundo orden fueron los que presentaron mejor ajuste (CFI = .99, TLI = .99, SRMR = .075 y RMSEA = .018). Los resultados confirman las cuatro dimensiones planteadas para la medición del acoso sexual.

Relationship Between Fear of COVID-19, Conspiracy Beliefs About Vaccines and Intention to Vaccinate Against COVID-19: A Cross-National Indirect Effect Model in 13 Latin American Countries.

The present study explored the predictive capacity of fear of COVID-19 on the intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and the influence in this relationship of conspiracy beliefs as a possible mediating psychological variable, in 13 Latin American countries. A total of 5779 people recruited through non-probabilistic convenience sampling participated. To collect information, we used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Vaccine conspiracy beliefs Scale-COVID-19 and a single item of intention to vaccinate. A full a priori Structural Equation Model was used; whereas, cross-country invariance was performed from increasingly restricted structural models. The results indicated that, fear of COVID-19 positively predicts intention to vaccinate and the presence of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines. The latter negatively predicted intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. Besides, conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines had an indirect effect on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 in the 13 countries assessed. Finally, the cross-national similarities of the mediational model among the 13 participating countries are strongly supported. The study is the first to test a cross-national mediational model across variables in a large number of Latin American countries. However, further studies with other countries in other regions of the world are needed.

Is the meaning of subjective well-being similar in Latin American countries? A cross-cultural measurement invariance study of the WHO-5 well-being index during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need to assess changes in well-being on a multinational scale during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus culturally valid scales must be available. METHODS: With this in mind, this study examined the invariance of the WHO well-being index (WHO-5) among a sample of 5183 people from 12 Latin Americans countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). RESULTS: The results of the present study indicate that the WHO-5 is strictly invariant across samples from different Latin American countries. Furthermore, the results of the IRT analysis indicate that all items of the WHO-5 were highly discriminative and that the difficulty required to respond to each of the five items is ascending. Additionally, the results indicated the presence of moderate and small size differences in subjective well-being among most countries. CONCLUSION: The WHO-5 is useful for assessing subjective well-being in 12 Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, since the differences between scores can be attributed to differences in well-being and not in other characteristics of the scale.

Psychometric Properties of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale in a Sample of Adolescents from Ecuador.

The Kessler psychological distress scale is a useful tool for identifying possible psychological problems and has been widely used in research and health services. Unfortunately, its application in various populations has not always been psychometrically supported. For this reason, the present study investigated the psychometric properties of its Spanish version in adolescents, verifying its factorial structure, measurement invariance by gender, internal consistency and the discrimination and difficulty parameters of its items according to the Item Response Theory (IRT). A sample of 5132 Ecuadorian adolescents was evaluated. The sample is equally distributed between male and female participants (50%) and basic and higher education (51% the former). All participants were between 11 and 20 years old. The results show that a 9-item version with correlated intercepts presents the best fit. In addition, it is invariant by gender at a strict level and has adequate internal consistency. IRT analyses indicated that all the items, except for item eight, present adequate discrimination and difficulty. Based on these results, we conclude that the 9-item version of the Psychological Distress Scale is the most appropriate for this population.

COVID-19 Bereavement in Ten Latin American Countries: Measurement Invariance of the Pandemic Grief Scale and Its Relation to Suicidal Ideation.

The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) in ten Latin American countries. A total of 2,321 people who had lost a family member or other loved one due to COVID-19 participated, with a mean age of 34.22 years old (SD = 11.99). In addition to the PGS, a single item of suicidal ideation was applied. The unidimensional model of the PGS had adequate fit in most countries and good reliability estimates. There was evidence of measurement invariance by country and gender. Also, a one-point increase in the PGS was associated with an almost twofold increase in the odds of suicidal ideation. Scores greater than or equal to 4 on the PGS are proposed as a cut off to identify individuals with suicidal ideation. Strong evidence of the cross-cultural validity of the PGS is provided.

Cross-cultural invariance of the Spanish version of the COVID-19 Assessment Scorecard to measure the perception of government actions against COVID-19 in Latin America

Abstract Objectives The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of a general measure of the perception of governmental responses to COVID--19 (COVID-SCORE-10) in the general population of 13 Latin American countries. Methods A total of 5780 individuals from 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries selected by non-probabilistic snowball sampling participated. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed and the alignment method was used to evaluate invariance. Additionally, a graded response model was used for the assessment of item characteristics. Results The results indicate that there is approximate measurement invariance of the COVID-SCORE-10 among the participating countries. Furthermore, IRT results suggest that the COVID-SCORE-10 measures with good psychometric ability a broad spectrum of the construct assessed, especially around average levels. Comparison of COVID-SCORE-10 scores indicated that participants from Cuba, Uruguay and El Salvador had the most positive perceptions of government actions to address the pandemic. Thus, the underlying construct of perception of government actions was equivalent in all countries. Conclusion The results show the importance of initially establishing the fundamental measurement properties and MI before inferring the cross-cultural universality of the construct to be measured.

Cross-national measurement invariance of the Purpose in Life Test in seven Latin American countries.

The Purpose in Life Test (PIL) is a measure of purpose in life widely used in many cultures and countries; however, cross-cultural assessments are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL in the general population of seven Latin American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay). A total of 4306 people participated, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, where Uruguay has the highest mean age (M = 41.8; SD = 16.6 years); while Ecuador has the lowest mean age (M = 24.6; SD = 7.8 years). Furthermore, in each country, there is a higher proportion of women (>60%) than men (<40%). Using Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the factorial structure does not show evidence of invariance among the included countries. However, based on the Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment, there is evidence that a three-dimensional structure of the PIL (Meaning of existence, Freedom to make meaning in daily life and Will to find meaning in the face of future challenges) is the same in the participating countries. Results based on item response theory indicate that most PIL items can significantly differentiate responses according to the level of life purpose. In addition, people with low life purpose will tend to choose the lower response alternatives on the PIL; while people with higher life purpose will choose higher response alternatives. The findings indicate that the PIL has the potential to increase knowledge about how people conceive and experience their purpose in life in different countries.

Miedo y Ansiedad al COVID-19, estrés y percepción de salud. Modelo de predicción en pacientes hospitalarios de atención primaria del Ecuador / Fear and Anxiety of COVID-19, Stress and Health Perception. A Predictive Model in Ecuadorian Hospital Patients

Objetivo: Establecer un modelo predictor de la salud mental a partir del miedo y la ansiedad al COVID-19 y el estrés percibido en pacien-tes de atención primaria del Ecuador. Método: El trabajo corresponde a un estudio correlacional, comparativo y predictor por medio de las escalas de Ansiedad al Coronavirus, Miedo al COVID-19, Estrés Percibido y Salud general. Participantes:460 pacientes hospitalarios de atención primaria (38.9% hombres y 61.1% mujeres) de las ciudades de Ambato y Quito. Con edades entre 18 a 79 años (M= 36 años; DE= 14,48). Resultados: Existen niveles moderados de miedo al covid-19 y estrés y bajos de ansiedad al co-vid-19. Los síntomas que más prevalecen son los de somatización y ansie-dad-insomnio. Se confirma la relación del miedo y la ansiedad al COVID-19 y el estrés percibido con el malestar en salud mental. El miedo y la an-siedad alCOVID-19 predicen el estrés percibido y este a su vez la salud mental con el 54% de explicación de los cambios de la varianza. Conclusión: El miedo y la ansiedad al covid-19 son predictores del estrés y el estrés es un predictor de los síntomas psicológicos y de malestar en la salud mental en muestra ecuatoriana.(AU)

Objective: To develop a predictive model of mental health based on fear and anxiety of COVID-19 and perceived stress in a sample of pri-mary care patients in Ecuador. Method: A correlational, comparativeand predictive study applying Anxiety to Coronavirus, Fear of COVID-19, Perceived Stress and General Health scales, and SEM as a data analysis technique. Participants: 460 primary care hospital patients (38.9% men and 61.1% women) from Ambato and Quito cities, between 18 and 79 years old (M = 36 years; SD = 14.48). Results:Data suggest the presence of mod-erate levels of fear of covid-19 and stress and low levels of anxiety to covid-19. The most prevalent symptoms are somatization and anxiety-insomnia. Therelationship of fear and anxiety to COVID-19 and per-ceived stress with mental health discomfort is confirmed. Fear and anxiety about COVID-19 predict perceived stress and this, in turn, predicts mental health with a 41.2% of explained variance. Conclusion: Fear and anxiety about covid-19 are predictors of stress, and stress is a predictor of psycho-logical symptoms and mental health discomfort in Ecuadorian primary care patients.(AU)

Network analysis of the relationships between conspiracy beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccine and symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of latin american countries.

The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifically relate to symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identified the most important symptoms of fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible differences in the structure and connectivity of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19. The findings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than differences. Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the differences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic.

Cross-cultural measurement invariance of the purpose in life test - Short form (PIL-SF) in seven Latin American countries.

The aim was to test the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL-SF in a sample of people from seven Latin American countries. Additionally, the characteristics of the PIL-SF items were evaluated and to assess the relationship between purpose in life, as measured by the PIL-SF, and fear of COVID-19. A total of 4306 people from seven Latin American countries participated in the study. The results indicated that the PIL-SF is invariant in the seven participating countries and, therefore, there is evidence that the items reflect the purpose of life in the same way in all countries. This allows comparisons of purpose in life between countries that are free of bias, reflecting the true differences in how countries respond to items. From IRT, the discrimination parameters are adequate and indicate that the items cover a wide range of the purpose in life construct. The difficulty parameters are adequate and increase monotonically. This indicates that people would need a higher level of purpose in life to respond to the higher response categories. Thus, the PIL-SF items would be useful in determining people with a relatively high degree of purpose in life. Identifying people with different levels of purpose in life would allow them to be part of intervention programs, either to support those with low levels or to maintain and reinforce their purpose in life. The evidence of cross-country measurement invariance of the PIL-SF provides a measure to be used in cross-cultural studies about the meaning of life.

Design and Cross-Cultural Invariance of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 13 Latin American Countries.

Aims: Over the past 2 years, the vaccine conspiracy beliefs construct has been used in a number of different studies. These publications have assessed the determinants and outcomes of vaccine conspiracy beliefs using, in some cases, pooled data from different countries, and compared the results across these contexts. However, studies often do not consider measurement invariance as a necessary requirement for comparative analyses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the cross-cultural MI of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 12 Latin American countries. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory analysis and alignment method were applied to test measurement invariance in a large number of groups. Results: The COVID-VCBS showed robust psychometric properties and measurement invariance for both factor loadings and crosstabs. Also, a higher level of acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about vaccines is necessary to respond to higher response categories. Similarly, greater acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines was related to a lower intention to be vaccinated. Conclusion: The results allow for improved understanding of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines in the countries assessed; furthermore, they provide researchers and practitioners with an invariant measure that they can use in cross-cultural studies in Latin America. However, further studies are needed to test invariance in other countries, with the goal of developing a truly international measure of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines.

Factorial Validity, Reliability, Measurement Invariance and the Graded Response Model for the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale in a Sample of Ecuadorians.

The aims of the research are to evaluate the factorial validity, internal consistency, measurement invariance, discrimination, and difficulty of the Covid-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS) applied to a sample of Ecuadorian adults (N = 451). The study is based on an instrumental design with Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) technics. The results confirmed the validity of the CAS single-factor structure, with measurement invariance across gender and high internal consistency. Additionally, all CAS items displayed adequate discrimination indexes and proper ordering of the difficulty thresholds. In a conclusion, the CAS is a valid measurement scale for Ecuadorian adults.

El sesgo atencional en los trastornos relacionados con sustancias. Aspectos teóricos, evaluativos y de tratamiento / Attentional bias in substance-related disorders. Theoretical, evaluative and treatment aspects

Resumen En la actualidad, existe mayor interés sobre los estudios acerca de la cognición implícita y su función en la conducta. Los modelos explicativos actuales de la psicopatología tienen como limitante la escasa consideración de los procesos cognitivos automáticos en la conducta psicopatológica, como la relacionada con el consumo de sustancias. En este estudio, se revisa al sesgo atencional en los trastornos por consumo y sus implicaciones en la psicopatología, la medición del fenómeno y su aplicación para la intervención. El sesgo atencional hacia las señales críticas de sustancias o drogas es un mecanismo disfuncional de la atención selectiva que opera frecuentemente a nivel automático o implícito y en el que la asignación y focalización de la atención es desproporcionada en el tiempo, entre un estímulo específico (imagen o palabra relacionada con una droga) versus un estímulo neutro. Atrae la atención de la persona al estímulo crítico del que, posteriormente, resulta difícil de desacoplarse y facilita otros procesos cognitivos subsecuentes al consumo. Se presenta evidencia de la incidencia del sesgo atencional en el consumo, el curso, la gravedad, el craving (necesidad intensa de consumo), la abstinencia, la recaída y la probabilidad de fracaso en el tratamiento. Además, explica sobre el fenómeno del consumo, desde la cognición implícita, el inconsciente y la neurociencia cognitiva. Finalmente, en este estudio, se revisan propuestas de intervención sobre los problemas de consumo con técnicas de modificación del sesgo atencional complementarias a los tratamientos cognitivo-conductuales actuales. Se considera necesario explorar sobre esta línea de investigación y su relación con los trastornos por consumo de sustancias dentro de la región.

Abstract The objective of this work is to investigate attentional bias as an automatic cognitive process and its implications in substance use disorders. Cognitive processes are fundamental in the formulation of the different explanatory models about psychopathology. Of the various cognitive processes, attention is a significant determinant, because although it fulfils various activities such as orientation and wakefulness, it is cognitive control that arouses relevant interest for it. This is due to the fact that it fulfills a task of linking between signal uptake and the achievement of other cognitive processes that intervene in the behavioral response mechanism. When a cognitive process like attention is markedly altered it will trigger impaired sequential cognitive functioning, along with the emission of disturbing behavior. Psychology considers that cognitive processes operate consciously (voluntarily) and automatically (implicitly); that is, in a dual way in which these processes such as attention maintain a continuum of coordinated gradual variations that regulate behavior. Failure to consider automatic cognitive processes is a notorious limitation for current explanatory models of psychopathological behavior (including compulsive substance use); given that many of these underlying cognitive processes are often not considered to influence higher mental processes and therefore behavior, without the individual necessarily being aware of this. In fact, this can help to understand pathological behaviors that for the investigator or the professional of psychology can be incomprehensible or paradoxical. Among the various underlying and altered processes, the attentional bias towards critical signals associated with substances has investigative relevance. Since it is a dysfunctional mechanism of selective attention, which operates frequently at an automatic level and in which the allocation and focus of attention are disproportionate in time, between a specific stimulus (image or word related to a drug) versus a neutral stimulus. And it attracts a person's focus of attention to the critical stimulus, from which it later becomes difficult to decouple. This later facilitates other altered cognitive processes subsequent to consumption. The generation of an attentional bias towards a specific signal has its origin in the association between the signal and the behavior, which can be avoidant (recurrent in phobias) or attractive (frequent in substance or food consumption) and that is conditioned until becoming an automatic process of difficult voluntary control. Although it is true that attention bias may be present in all individuals, the evidence reveals the marked and recurrent presence in various pathologies such as mood disorders (depressive), anxiety, food intake, phobias, of personality among others. And also included in substance use disorders. The findings show that attention bias has an impact on substance use, course, the severity of the disorder, craving, withdrawal, relapse, and the probability of treatment failure. Working with an attentional bias for specific signals on substances can generate difficulty, in the case of evaluation because it is assessed through software that usually measures the eye-hand reaction time or eye movement when faced with neutral and critical signals, which can be a limitation for the usual clinic; while at the intervention level, it is required to formulate bias retraining processes that require continuous exercise as a complementary technique to the usual cognitive-behavioral treatment. It is considered necessary to explore this line of research and its relationship with substance use disorders within the region.

Propiedades psicométricas del Inventario de Sexismo Ambivalente (ASI) en población adulta ecuatoriana

Objetivo. El objetivo del estudio fue realizar la validación del Inventario de Sexismo Ambivalente (ASI) en el contexto ecuatoriano, así como analizar su consistencia interna y validez convergente con el Inventario de Ambivalencia hacia Hombres (AMI). Método. Participaron en el presente estudio, cuantitativo e instrumental, hombres (44.1%) y mujeres (55.9%) de la ciudad de Quito (N = 965) entre los 20 y los 60 años. Resultados. El ASI presenta un ajuste factorial adecuado al modelo original de dos factores; existe además consistencia interna en la escala total (w = .72) y en los dos factores (sexismo hostil: w = .71; sexismo benevolente: w = .53), y una validez convergente estadísticamente significativa con el AMI (r = .652). Se concluye que el instrumento es válido para uso en el contexto ecuatoriano.

Objective. The aim of the study was to validate the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) in the Ecuadorian context, as well as to analyze its internal consistency and convergent validity with the Ambivalence Inventory towards men (AMI). Method. Men (44.1%) and women (55.9%) from the city of Quito (N = 965), aged from 20 to 60 years old, participated in this quantitative and instrumental study. Results. The ASI presents an adequate factorial fit to the original two-factor model; there is internal consistency in the total scale (w = .72) and in the two factors (hostile sexism: w = .71; benevolent sexism: w = .53), and statistically significant convergent validity with the AMI (r = .652). It is concluded that the instrument use in the Ecuadorian context is valid.