Relaciones entre empatía, conducta prosocial, agresividad, autoefi cacia y responsabilidad personal y social de los escolares / Relationships among empathy, prosocial behavior, aggressiveness, self-effi cacy and pupils’ personal and social responsibility

Los objetivos de este estudio son, por una parte, presentar la versión española de diferentes instrumentos que evalúan Empatía, Conducta prosocial, Agresividad, Autoeficacia y Responsabilidad personal y social; y, por otra, analizar qué variables podrían predecir la responsabilidad. Los participantes, 822 alumnos de 8 a 15 años, pertenecientes a 11 centros educativos de la Comunidad Valenciana, completaron versiones españolas del Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, la Prosocial Behaviour y la Physical and Verbal Aggression, la Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Self-Efficacy y el Contextual Self-Responsibility Questionnaire. Mediante modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) se ha comprobado que Conducta prosocial, Empatía y Percepción de eficacia predicen positivamente la Responsabilidad personal y social de los escolares, mientras que la Agresividad ha mostrado relaciones negativas con la Responsabilidad. Se discuten los resultados y sus implicaciones para la educación (AU)

The aim of this study was, on the one hand, to present/display the Spanish version of diverse instruments that assess Empathy, Prosocial behavior, Aggressiveness, Self-efficacy and Personal and social responsibility, and, on the other hand, to analyze which of these variables could predict responsibility. Participants were 822 pupils, ages 8 to 15 years, who studied in 11 educational centres of the Valencian Community. Measures include Spanish versions of the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, Prosocial Behaviour, and Physical and Verbal Aggression, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Self-Efficacy, and the Contextual Self-Responsibility Questionnaire. Through structural equation modelling (SEM), the results showed positive relationships between Prosocial behaviour, Empathy, Self-efficacy, and Responsibility; and negative relationships between Aggressiveness and Responsibility. The results and implications for education are discussed (AU)

[Relationships among empathy, prosocial behavior, aggressiveness, self-efficacy and pupils' personal and social responsibility]. / Relaciones entre empatía, conducta prosocial, agresividad, autoefi cacia y responsabilidad personal y social de los escolares.

The aim of this study was, on the one hand, to present/display the Spanish version of diverse instruments that assess Empathy, Prosocial behavior, Aggressiveness, Self-efficacy and Personal and social responsibility, and, on the other hand, to analyze which of these variables could predict responsibility. Participants were 822 pupils, ages 8 to 15 years, who studied in 11 educational centres of the Valencian Community. Measures include Spanish versions of the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, Prosocial Behaviour, and Physical and Verbal Aggression, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Self-Efficacy, and the Contextual Self-Responsibility Questionnaire. Through structural equation modelling (SEM), the results showed positive relationships between Prosocial behaviour, Empathy, Self-efficacy, and Responsibility; and negative relationships between Aggressiveness and Responsibility. The results and implications for education are discussed.

Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha and -gamma in auricular tissue from heart failure patients.

OBJECTIVE: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), key transcriptional regulators of lipid and energy metabolism in cardiomyocytes, have recently been proposed to modulate cardiovascular pathophysiological responses in experimental models. However, there is little information about the functional activity of PPARs in human heart failure. AIMS: To investigate PPAR-alpha and -gamma expression and activity, and the association with ET-1 production and fibrosis, in cardiac biopsies from patients with end-stage heart failure due to ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) in comparison and from non-failing donor hearts. All samples were obtained during cardiac transplantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Morphological analysis (by Masson trichrome and image analysis) did not detect fibrosis in the left atrium from non-failing donors (NFLA) or from ICM patients (FLA). However, left ventricles from failing hearts (FLV) contained a greater number of fibrotic areas (NFLA: 3.21+/-1.15, FLA: 1.63+/-0.83, FLV: 14.5+/-3.45%; n = 9, P<0.05). By RT-PCR, preproET-1 expression was similar in the non-failing and failing atrium but was significantly higher in the ventricles from failing hearts (NFLA: 1.00+/-0.06, FLA: 1.08+/-0.11, FLV: 1.74+/-0.19; n = 9, P<0.05). PPAR-alpha and PPAP-gamma mRNA (by RT-PCR) and protein (by Western blot) levels were higher in the ventricles from failing hearts compared with the atrium from failing and non-failing hearts. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that PPAR-alpha and PPAP-gamma were not activated in the ventricles (NFLA: 1.00+/-0.11, FLA: 1.89+/-0.24, FLV: 0.95+/-0.07; n = 9, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that PPAR-alpha and PPAP-gamma are selectively activated in the atria from ICM patients and might be functionally important in the maintenance of atrial morphology.