Expectations of nursing degree students: A longitudinal analysis.

BACKGROUND: The expectations of students regarding their studies have a strong influence on their academic performance and personal training, and they are closely related with their academic and professional future. OBJECTIVES: To analyze initial expectations and how they are fulfilled, in a cohort of nursing students during the four years of their degree program. DESIGN: Creation and validation of a questionnaire and longitudinal study. SETTING: University nursing school in Catalonia (Spain). PARTICIPANTS: 339 students of the nursing degree. METHODS: Two questionnaires were constructed with 10 items each, of a mixed nature: some items were previously validated in prior studies while other new items were made and included, following a review of the literature. The questionnaires were designed to assess the expectations of the students at the beginning of the academic year (CUDEX questionnaire) and the fulfillment of these at the end of the year (CUDEX-C questionnaire). RESULTS: Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for the CUDEX questionnaire and the CUDEX-C was 0.70. Factorial analysis of the expectations questionnaires suggested a three-factor model, with an acceptable internal consistency for each of the factors. Statistically significant differences were found between the initial expectations and their fulfillment at the end of the academic year for all the factors and in all four years of the degree program. CONCLUSIONS: The three-factor model of the expectations (Academic adaptation, personal development, and academic performance) shows a good fit for the several samples and time points. The nursing students feel that not all of their expectations were fulfilled during their studies, and there were significant differences between their initial expectations and those fulfilled, in terms of all three factors.

[Psychopathological symptoms in patients suffering from chronic cephalea with or without fibromyalgia]. / Síntomas psicopatológicos en pacientes afectos de cefalea crónica con o sin fibromialgia.

INTRODUCTION: The presence of psychopathological symptoms as anxiety and depression in chronic daily headache and in fibromyalgia is common. AIM: To study whether there are any difference in the psychopathological profile and treatment response between patients with chronic headache and fibromyalgia (CHFM) and patients with chronic headache without fibromyalgia (CH). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A comprehensive psychological test battery was administered to 30 patients with CH and 30 patients with CHFM, diagnosed by a rheumatologist. We included chronic migraine and chronic tensional headache in CH group. Patients were matched for age and gender. Depression, anxiety and obsession scores, and the profile of psychopathological symptoms (MMPI-2, SCL-90-R) were compared (t-test). Correlations between symptoms and treatment response were examined. RESULTS: Patients with CHFM showed significant highest scores on hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, paranoia, psychasthenia and schizophrenia (MMPI-2) and more somatization, obsession and anxiety according to SCL-90-R. A poorer response to treatment was observed in CHFM (17.85%) versus CH (42,85%) group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CHFM showed a psychopathological profile with highest scores and symptoms than patients without fibromyalgia. These differences correlated with the therapeutic response.

Prevalence of eating disorders in a Spanish community adolescent sample.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of eating disorders (ED) among Spanish adolescents and to present the reliability of the Catalan version of the EDE-12. METHOD: A community sample of 1155 participants, and a risk sample of 93 participants, aged between 10.9 and 17.3 years old, from the city of Barcelona participated in the study. The study involved two stages: first, an initial screening with the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), and second, a structured clinical interview (EDE-12). Three scales of the EDI-2 (Drive for thinness, Body dissatisfaction and Bulimia) were used to select the at risk sample; the Eating Disorders Examination-12 (EDE-12) was only administered to the at-risk sample. RESULTS: A 1.28% of the total sample was detected as ED (2.31% of girls and 0.17% of boys). Reliability coefficients of EDE-12 ranged from medium to high. DISCUSSION: Symptoms of anorexia and bulimia nervosa were higher among girls than boys. Preoccupation with maintained low weight, with body image and shape, and taking excessive exercise in order to loose weight, are increasing among Spanish adolescents. Prevalence rate of ED is lower than other studies with Spanish' adolescents sample, and could be related to the sample age (13.16% of the sample is smaller than 12 years old), and to the non response bias to the interview because the assessment was carried out in the school setting.

Factor structure of Eating Disorders Inventory-2 in a Spanish sample.

OBJECTIVE: To present basic statistics and analyze factor structure of EDI-2 in an adolescent non-clinical sample from Spain. METHOD: An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was carried out with Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) and oblimin rotation, using raw scores. RESULTS: EFA presented a 21-factor structure with eigenvalues greater than 1. It was then forced into 11 and 5-factor solutions. DISCUSSION: The eleven-factor structure does not correspond with the 11 scales. A five-factor structure seems to be better suited than other factor solutions and presented higher reliability coefficients.

Children's embedded figures test and matching familiar figures test-20: factorial structure for boys and girls from 6 to 11 years old.

The factorial structure of two tests of cognitive style (the Children's Embedded Figures Test and the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20) and one test of cognitive ability (Raven Progressive Matrices) was examined in this study with a sample of 337 boys and 287 girls between ages 6 and 11 years. Factor I related to Impulsivity and Factor II related to cognitive ability and disembedding skills, which were stable across age groups and sex and accounted for 84.6% of variance.

Correlations among scores on measures of field dependence-independence cognitive style, cognitive ability, and sustained attention.

The Children's Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.

Reading ability and differential cognitive profiles of girls and boys.

To compare the differential cognitive and stylistic profiles of Spanish-speaking girls and boys and the relation between these profiles with subjects' reading scores 50 girls and 50 boys, 8 years old, were assessed on a reading test, the Children's Embedded Figures Test, and the Intellectual Test (Escala Diferencial del Rendimiento Intelectual). Analysis showed differential cognitive profiles for the two sexes. While girls used single, essentially verbal strategies for the reading activity, boys with high reading scores used verbal and perceptual strategies. In general, for girls verbal intelligence scores had correlated the highest with reading scores and lowest with independence on the Children's Embedded Figures Test. For boys the two tests contribute to the explained variance of reading scores. Curiously for scores in reading letters, reading strategies of the two groups seemed inverted.

Internal consistency of scores on Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 and correlation of scores with age.

Internal consistency of scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 and patterns of latencies and errors were estimated for 337 boys and 287 girls between the ages of 6 and 11 years, in the first five grades of primary school. The Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 presented moderate coefficients of internal consistency (.77) for errors and high coefficients (.94) for latencies. The correlation between latencies and errors was moderate and significant (-.50).

Relations of scores on Children's Embedded Figures Test with age, item difficulty and internal consistency.

This study analyzes the Children's Embedded Figures Test by examining its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, the order of difficulty of the items, and the change of scores with age. Among the sample 337 boys and 287 girls who were between the ages of 6 and 11 years and in the first five grades of primary school scores increased significantly. The test presented moderate internal consistency (.86), and the test-retest reliability after one year was .63. The order of difficulty of the items did not coincide with the order proposed by the test's authors and varied from grade to grade, i.e., in the Tent series Item 4 and in the House series Item 5 were among the most difficult.

Relationships of personality factors with clinical dimensions and school achievement.

This study analyzes the association traits, psychopathological factors, and school achievement. High School Personality Questionnaire Clinical Analysis Questionnaire, and academic marks of 224 high school students (90 boys and 134 girls) are used. It can be stated that the predictive ability of measures of personality traits and clinical dimensions is very weak for both boys and girls. The Clinical Analysis Questionnaire does not seem to be useful in the prediction of school achievement.

Spanish children's scores on Children's Embedded Figures and Rod and Frame Tests.

The Children's Embedded Figures Test and the Rod and Frame Test were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls of an average age of 9.03 years to measure field dependence-independence. No significant gender-related differences were found on either test. Scores on these tests were moderately and significantly correlated.

Association of scores on McCarthy Scales with field dependence/independence for seven-year-old Spanish children.

The McCarthy Scales and the Children's Embedded Figures Test, as a measure of field dependence-independence, were administered to 32 girls and 18 boys, aged 7 yr. and in their second year of primary education. No significant correlations between the number of correct embedded figures and the total raw scores on the McCarthy Scales were observed, but the embedded figures scores were significantly related to scores on the Perceptual-Performance and Quantitative subscales. Boys and girls show different score patterns. The Verbal, Memory and Motor scales were independent of scores on field dependence-independence for these 7-yr.-olds.