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)

New Psychometric Evidence of a Bifactor Structure of the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) in Ecuadorian College Students.

Background: Emotion Regulation comprises a set of strategies (cognitive, emotional, and physiological) that allow individuals faced with internal or external stimuli to manage their emotional response, to adapt to the environment, and to achieve goals. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is used to assess Emotion Regulation. It has been translated into several languages (including Spanish) and has been adapted around the world, but its psychometric properties have not been tested in Ecuador. Objective: To confirm the bifactor structure of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and its reliability in a sample of Ecuadorian college students. Design: A quantitative and instrumental study using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with Robust Maximum Likelihood estimation. The sample consisted of 400 participants (62.5% women), aged 18 to 25 (M = 21.1; SD = 1.95) from two universities in Ecuador and seven different undergraduate courses. Results: The bifactor model of the test is confirmed with an adequate adjustment ꭓ2 = 35.99; p > .001; ꭓ2/df = 1.43; CFI = .98; TLI = .96; SRMR = .034; and RMSE A = .033 CI95%: [.033-.052]; ωH = .70; ωHs1 = .23; ωHs2 = .35. Reliability is high with ω = .86 CI95%: [.81-.88]. Conclusion: The bifactor model of the ERQ is an adequate and reliable test to assess Emotion Regulation among Ecuadorian college students.