Child-to-parent Violence Offenders (Specialists vs. Generalists): The Role of Direct Victimization at Home / Menores con medidas judiciales por violencia filio-parental (especialistas vs. generalistas): el papel de la victimización directa en el hogar

Background/Objectives: Current research has identified direct victimization at home as one of the main predictors of child-to-parent violence (CPV). However, the mechanisms involved in this relationship have not been studied. Thus, we first analyze the differences between CPV offenders and offenders who have committed other types of offenses, as well as the differences between two types of CPV offenders: specialists (those who have only committed CPV) and generalists (those who have committed CPV in addition to other offenses), in multiple risk factors. Next, we specifically examine direct victimization at home and its relationship with social-cognitive processing in CPV. Method: The sample consisted of 208 Spanish young offenders recruited from the Juvenile Justice Service (163 males) aged 14-20 years. Concretely, 83 were CPV offenders, 126 other offenders and concerning the CPV group, 57 were specialists and 26 generalists. A wide range of individual, family, and social variables were evaluated. Results: Compared to other offenders, CPV offenders show more socio-cognitive difficulties, less parental warmth and more parental criticism/rejection, more direct victimization at home and more vicarious victimization at school and in the street. Specialist and generalist CPV offenders differ significantly in their characteristics, with the generalists showing a more negative profile than the specialists. (AU)

Antecedentes/Objetivos: La investigación actual ha identificado a la victimización directa en el hogar como uno de los principales predictores de la violencia filio-parental (VFP). Sin embargo, los mecanismos implicados en esta relación no han sido estudiados. Así, en el presente estudio analizamos, en primer lugar, las diferencias entre jóvenes infractores con delitos relacionados con la VFP y jóvenes infractores con otro tipo de delitos, así como las diferencias entre dos tipos de infractores: especialistas (los que han cometido sólo delitos relacionados con la VFP) y generalistas (los que han cometido delitos relacionados con la VFP y además otros delitos), en múltiples factores de riesgo. A continuación, examinamos específicamente la victimización directa en el hogar y su relación con el procesamiento socio-cognitivo en la VFP. Método: La muestra estuvo compuesta por 208 jóvenes infractores españoles reclutados en el Servicio de Justicia Juvenil (163 chicos) con edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 20 años. Concretamente, 83 con delitos relacionados con la VFP (57 especialistas y 26 generalistas) y 126 con otros delitos. Se evaluó una amplia gama de variables individuales, familiares y sociales. Resultados: En comparación con otros infractores, los jóvenes con delitos relacionados con la VFP muestran más dificultades socio-cognitivas, menos calidez parental y más crítica/rechazo parental, más victimización directa en el hogar y más victimización vicaria en la escuela y en la calle. Los especialistas y generalistas difieren significativamente en sus características, mostrando los generalistas un perfil más negativo que los especialistas. (AU)

Analysis of the Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Coping Strategies on the Anxiety, Stress and Depression Levels of University Students.

The present study examines the direct and indirect effects of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) on levels of stress, anxiety and depression, and whether these are moderated by coping strategies. To this end, the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, Coping Strategies Inventory and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales were administered to 567 university students. The findings point to a direct relationship between EI and the levels of anxiety, depression and stress. EI directly explained the university students' levels of anxiety, depression and stress, and it indirectly explained such levels through coping strategies. The article concludes by pointing out practical implications for university education and the improvement of students' socio-emotional well-being.

Impact of Confinement on Coping Strategies and Psychosocial Factors among University Students.

The pandemic has had psychological effects on the university population. Factors such as emotional intelligence, coping strategies and levels of anxiety, depression and stress have been affected by the situation generated by COVID-19. This study aims to analyze how EI, coping strategies and levels of anxiety, depression and stress have been affected by the situation generated by the pandemic in a population of 567 students from the University of Jaén (Spain). For this purpose, we administered three instruments: the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS), the Spanish version of the coping strategies inventory (CSI) and the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS-21). At the same time, we asked students to describe their personal circumstances during confinement and their tendency to follow the measures and recommendations promoted by the Ministry of Health. The results obtained showed a positive relationship between EI and coping strategies and a negative relationship with levels of depression, anxiety and stress. A positive relationship was also found between coping and levels of anxiety, depression and stress. It was also found that the circumstances in which students experienced the period of confinement also modulated their levels of EI, coping strategies and their levels of depression, anxiety and stress.

What are pre-service teachers like? Analysis of their psychosocial profile.

Modern society is becoming increasingly interested in people who are emotionally competent and who have the psychosocial skills required to be successful within the current social environment. However, no studies have been published on the assessment of the role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) on mental health if we assume the possible mediation of resilience and personality factors in the case of pre-service teachers. Therefore, the aim of the study was to analyse the mediating role of resilience and personality factors in the relationship between EI and mental health of 1,022 pre-service teachers enrolled in different educational degrees. The results found support the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health; nevertheless, this was not the case when personality traits were analysed. Furthermore, it has been found that EI and resilience positively affect mental health of university students. Practical implications of this study are oriented towards an advance within the emerging trend of deepening the EI and resilience constructs among mental health care providers. Only if we understand the complex interactions between the constructs which determine people will it be possible to develop educational and health programmes responding to current needs.

Analysis of Sexual Inhibition and Satisfaction from a Gender Perspective among University Students.

University is characterized by a critical stage where students experience their sexuality, across a range of relationships. From these experiences, university students consolidate their personality and their sexual role. Factors such as age, sex, or traumatic experiences of violence or sexual abuse can affect their sexual role. The present study aims to analyze how the variables age, sex and having suffered abuse or violence may predict sexual satisfaction and inhibition. In addition, we analyze the mediating effect that sexual role plays on these relationships. For this purpose, Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI-12), Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R), Inhibited Sexual Desire Test (ISD) and New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NESS) were administered to 403 university students. The findings report that sex (ß = -0.313), age (ß = -0.116) and being a survivor of sexual assault (ß = 0.413) are predictive of male role, but not from the female role. Also, people with more male features tend to have lower levels of commitment and inhibition than those who have more female ones.

The Mediating Role of Engagement on the Achievement and Quality of Life of University Students.

(1) Background: Academic engagement has been reported in the literature as an important factor in the academic achievement of university students. Other factors such as emotional intelligence (EI) and resilience have also been related to students' performance and quality of life. The present study has two clearly delimited and interrelated objectives. First, to study the mediational role that engagement plays in the relationship between EI and resilience on quality of life. Secondly, and similarly, to study the mediational role of engagement in the relationship between EI and resilience, but in this case on academic achievement. (2) Methods: For this purpose, four scales frequently used in the literature to measure emotional intelligence, resilience, academic engagement and quality of life were administered to 427 students of the University of Jaén undertaking education degrees. In addition, students were asked to indicate their current average mark as a measure of academic performance. Two mediational models based on structural equations were proposed to analyse the relationships between the proposed variables. (3) Results: The results obtained showed that emotional intelligence and resilience directly predicted students' life satisfaction, but this direct relationship did not result in academic performance. In addition, and assuming a finding not found so far, engagement was shown to exert an indirect mediational role for both life satisfaction and academic performance of students. (4) Conclusions: The findings of the study support the importance of engagement in the design and development of instructional processes, as well as in the implementation of any initiative.

Analysing Educational Interventions with Gifted Students. Systematic Review.

(1) Background: Educational attention to gifted students has not been a well-established line of research due to the multiple conceptions about their characterisation. While educational attention has tended to respond to students who present learning difficulties due to their limitations, it has been observed that gifted students may also fail in their studies. The purpose of this study is to examine educational interventions carried out with this population worldwide; (2) Methods: The methodological design is a systematic review, following the PRISMA guidelines, in the Scopus and WOS databases on educational interventions and gifted students; (3) Results: The papers were studied through a qualitative content analysis based on a population of 557 articles, with a final sample of 14, finding a great variety of didactic strategies and models oriented to meet the needs of this group. In relation to the quality of the studies, the lack of pre-post methodological designs focused on performance stands out; (4) Conclusions: Educational research with gifted population demands more interventions personalised to the specific characteristics of the students. In addition, there is a need for further research with quasi-experimental designs with this population to identify quality, not generalised, interventions to meet these needs and replace them with individualised adaptations regarding the needs and interests of these students in order to increase their motivation and reduce failure.

Is project-based learning effective among kindergarten and elementary students? A systematic review.

Project-based learning (PjBL) is becoming widespread in many schools. However, the evidence of its effectiveness in the classroom is still limited, especially in basic education. The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic review of the empirical evidence assessing the impact of PjBL on academic achievement of kindergarten and elementary students. We also examined the quality of studies, their compliance with basic prerequisites for a successful result, and their fidelity towards the key elements of PBL intervention. For this objective, we conducted a literature search in January 2020. The inclusion criteria for the review required that studies followed a pre-post design with control group and measured quantitatively the impact of PBL on content knowledge of students. The final sample included eleven articles comprising data from 722 students. The studies yielded inconclusive results, had important methodological flaws, and reported insufficient or no information about important aspects of the materials, procedure and key requirements from students and instructors to guarantee the success of PjBL. Educational implications of these results are discussed.

Self-Concept as a Mediator of the Relation Between University Students' Resilience and Academic Achievement.

Academic achievement is a factor of interest in both psychology and education. Determining which factors have a negative or positive influence on academic performance has produced different investigations. The present study focuses on analyzing the relationship between resilience, emotional intelligence, self-concept and the academic achievement of university students. For this purpose, different self-report tools were administered to a sample of 1,020 university students from Southern Spain. The Structural Equation-based mediational analysis suggests that there is no direct relationship between resilience and academic achievement, nor between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. Likewise, self-concept is positioned as a mediating factor in the relationship between resilience and academic achievement. The findings indicate that university students who exhibit high levels of resilience tend to cope better with difficult moments and understand and value the effort required and invested in study time. This study supports positive beliefs and behaviors for better academic achievement.

Relationship between Punitive Discipline and Child-to-Parent Violence: The Moderating Role of the Context and Implementation of Parenting Practices.

This study examines the influence of punitive parental discipline on child-to-parent violence (CPV). The moderating roles of parental context (stress and parental ineffectiveness), mode of implementation of parental discipline (parental impulsivity or warmth/support) and the gender of the aggressor in the relationship between punitive discipline and CPV are examined. The study included 1543 university students between 18 and 25 years old (50.2% males, Mage = 19.9 years, SD = 1.9) who retrospectively described their experience between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. The results indicated that stress, ineffectiveness and parental impulsivity increase the negative effect of punitive discipline on CPV. There is no moderating effect of parental warmth/support. The gender of the aggressor is only a moderator in the case of violence toward the father, and the effect of punitive discipline is stronger in males than in females. The study draws conclusions regarding the importance of context and the mode by which parents discipline their children, aspects that can aggravate the adverse effects of physical and psychological punishment on CPV. It is necessary for interventions to focus not only on promoting positive disciplinary strategies but also on the mode in which they are administered and on contextual aspects.

Assessing Child-to-Parent Violence With the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire, Parents' Version (CPV-Q-P): Factor Structure, Prevalence, and Reasons.

Child-to-parent violence has dramatically risen in the last decade, becoming a concerning issue in many countries, so research on this issue has also increased. However, most of the studies on this topic have been conducted with samples of adolescents, and very few with samples of parents. In addition, the variety of assessment instruments does not reflect the elements of this type of violence. Thus, the current study was aimed to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Child-to-parent Violence Questionnaire, parents' version (CPV-Q-P), in a sample of Spanish parents of adolescents. Moreover, the prevalence rates of the different types of violence and the reasons for violence were also examined. A total of 1,012 Spanish parents of adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old (55.1% mothers, 44.9% fathers) were assessed using the CPV-Q-P. Data indicated a matrix of four factors with 14 items, assessing psychological violence, physical violence, financial violence, and control/domain over parents, and two factors with 8 items capturing the reasons for child-to-parent violence (instrumental and reactive), with adequate psychometric properties. The more frequent type of violence was control and domain over parents, followed by psychological, financial, and physical violence, with no significant differences between mothers and fathers. Otherwise, instrumental reasons were more frequent than reactive types, with no differences between mothers and fathers. The CPV-Q-P is a useful instrument to assess child-to-parent violence from the parents' perspective in both professional and research settings.

Analyzing the Relationship Between Child-to-Parent Violence and Perceived Parental Warmth.

The relationship between child-to-parent violence (CPV) and the perceived parental warmth dimension has been well established. However, it is necessary to further investigate the nature of this relationship considering the involvement of other variables. The objective of this study was to analyze the role of cognitive (hostile attribution), emotional (anger), and social variables (deviant peer group and drug use) in the relationship between the perceived parental warmth dimension (warmth-communication and criticism-rejection) and CPV motivated by reactive or instrumental reasons. The community sample consisted of 1,599 Spanish adolescents (54.8% girls) between the ages of 12 and 18 years (M age = 14.6, SD = 1.6 years) from different secondary schools in Jaén (75.3%) and Oviedo (24.7%) (Spain). Each participant completed the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire (CPV-Q), the Warmth Scale (WS), adolescents' version, the Social Information Processing (SIP) in Child-to-parent Conflicts Questionnaire and Deviant Peers and Drug Use Questionnaires. The results indicate that perceived parental warmth is negatively correlated with hostile attribution, adolescent anger, relationship with a deviant peer group, while perceived parental criticism is positively linked to these variables. Likewise, hostile attribution and adolescent anger are positively linked to reactive CPV. Relationship with a deviant peer group is associated with drug use, which also predicts both reactive and instrumental CPV. In sum, a lack of perceived parental warmth has important repercussions in the form of the psychological and social maladjustment of children, which in turn is differentially correlated with reactive or instrumental CPV. Thus, prevention and intervention programs for CPV should consider, on the one hand, working with parents on parental practices that incorporate parental warmth as a fundamental element and, on the other hand, working with children on cognitive, emotional, and social aspects, taking into account the different motivations for this type of violence.

The state of transfer of stimulus control after extinction in human instrumental conditioning: A key factor in therapy strategies based in nonhuman animal research.

Previous research has shown that instrumental training can encourage the formation of binary associations between the representations of the elements present at the time of learning, that is, between the discriminative stimulus and the instrumental response (the S-R association), between the stimulus and outcome (the S-O association), and between the response and outcome (the R-O association). Studies with rats have used transfer procedures to explore the effects of discriminative extinction (i.e., extinction that is carried out in the presence of the discriminative stimuli) on these three binary associations. Thus, a reduction in the response rate of the extinguished response (R) can be detected in situations involving a different discriminative stimulus that was associated with the same outcome, and to unextinguished responses controlled by the discriminative stimulus (S) and associated with the outcome (O). These transfer effects suggest that R-O and S-O associations remain active after extinction in nonhuman animals. We carried out an experiment to explore these postextinction transfer effects in humans using a within-subject design. Contrary to nonhuman reports, the S-O association was affected by discriminative extinction, suggesting differences in the associative structure of instrumental conditioning in human and nonhuman animals that should be considered by those therapeutic strategies based in nonhuman animal research aimed to reduce unhealthy instrumental behaviours in human beings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Preimaginal conditioning affects oviposition choices in the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori).

Nowadays we can find a number of experiments that have showed the importance of learning in several situations related with survival of many animal species. For instance, knowledge acquired in the early stages of life could be crucial on the choice of egg-laying site. In this study we explored the influence of Pavlovian conditioning of silkworm larvae on their oviposition behaviour as adult female moths. For this, the larvae learning have to survive the metamorphosis and be shown in oviposition choice. In acquisition phase, a larvae group experienced an odour (conditioned stimulus) paired with mulberry leaves (unconditioned stimulus), another one experienced the odour and the mulberry leaves in an unpaired way and the last one experienced the odour alone during this phase. The results show that when these larvae became moths, only the first group preferred to lay their eggs near the odour when it was present during the test, so that associations learned during the larval stage seem to influence oviposition behaviour during adulthood.

Socio-cognitive variables involved in the relationship between violence exposure at home and child-to-parent violence.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the current cross-sectional study was to examine the role of social-cognitive processing in the relation between violence exposure at home and child-to-parent violence. METHODS: The study included 1,624 adolescents (54.9% girls) aged between 12 and 18 years (Mage = 14.7, SD = 1.7 years) from Jaén and Oviedo (Spain) who completed a set of questionnaires about violence exposure, child-to-parent violence and social-cognitive processing. RESULTS: The data revealed that exposure to violence at home is related to dysfunctional components of social-cognitive processing, and that whereas some of these components (anger and aggressive response access) are positively related to child-to-parent violence motivated by reactive reasons, other components (anticipation of positive consequences and justification of violence) are positively related to the instrumental use of the aggression against parents. CONCLUSIONS: More prevention work is needed with children exposed to violence at home to reduce the risk of intergenerational transmission of violence. Moreover, treatment programs should include intervention on the way in which adolescents process the information in their interactions with parents. These interventions must be focused on different components of social-cognitive processing, depending on whether these aggressive behaviors are motivated by reactive or instrumental reasons.

The role of learning in the oviposition behavior of the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori).

One of the most relevant behaviors in the life of some insects is oviposition, because reproductive fitness largely depends on the choice of egg-laying site. We report one experiment that explored the influence of Pavlovian conditioning on oviposition choices of the silkworm. Our results show that moths that jointly experienced an odor (conditioned stimulus) and mulberry leaves (the preferred oviposition place for the moths) preferred to lay their eggs near the odor when it was present, whereas moths in which the odor and the mulberry leaves never appeared together showed no preference. This result provides evidence of the important role that a psychological process such as Pavlovian conditioning has for the survival of this species.

Of rats and people: a select comparative analysis of cue competition, the contents of learning, and retrieval

Select literature regarding cue competition, the contents of learning, and retrieval processes is summarized to demonstrate parallels and differences between human and nonhuman associative learning. Competition phenomena such as blocking, overshadowing, and relative predictive validity are largely analogous in animal and human learning. In general, strong parallels are found in the associative structures established during learning, as well as in the basic phenomena associated with information retrieval. Some differences arise too, such as retrospective evaluation, which seems easier to observe in human than in nonhuman animals. However, the parallels are sufficient to indicate that the study of learning in animals continues to be relevant to human learning and memory (AU)

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Roles of context in acquisition of human instrumental learning: Implications for the understanding of the mechanisms underlying context-switch effects.

Four experiments in human instrumental learning explored the associations involving the context that develop after three trials of training on simple discriminations. Experiments 1 and 4 found a deleterious effect of switching the learning context that cannot be explained by the context-outcome binary associations commonly used to explain context-switch effects after short training in human predictive learning and in animal Pavlovian conditioning. Evidence for context-outcome (Experiment 2), context-discriminative stimulus (Experiment 3), and context-instrumental response (Experiment 4) binary associations was found within the same training paradigm, suggesting that contexts became associated with all the elements of the situation, regardless of whether those associations played a role in a specific context-switch effect detected on performance.

Contextual control of discriminated operant behavior.

Previous research has suggested that changing the context after instrumental (operant) conditioning can weaken the strength of the operant response. That result contrasts with the results of studies of Pavlovian conditioning, in which a context switch often does not affect the response elicited by a conditioned stimulus. To begin to make the methods more similar, Experiments 1-3 tested the effects of a context switch in rats on a discriminated operant response (R; lever pressing or chain pulling) that had been reinforced only in the presence of a 30-s discriminative stimulus (S; tone or light). As in Pavlovian conditioning, responses and reinforcers became confined to presentations of the S during training. However, in Experiment 1, after training in Context A, a switch to Context B caused a decrement in responding during S. In Experiment 2, a switch to Context B likewise decreased responding in S when Context B was equally familiar, equally associated with reinforcement, or equally associated with the training of a discriminated operant (a different R reinforced in a different S). However, there was no decrement if Context B had been associated with the same response that was trained in Context A (Experiments 2 and 3). The effectiveness of S transferred across contexts, whereas the strength of the response did not. Experiment 4 found that a continuously reinforced response was also disrupted by context change when the same response manipulandum was used in both training and testing. Overall, the results suggest that the context can have a robust general role in the control of operant behavior. Mechanisms of contextual control are discussed.

Within- and between-session variety effects in a food-seeking habituation paradigm.

Appetitive behavior is stronger when organisms are given a variety of foods than when they are repeatedly given the same food (the variety effect). Two experiments examined the variety effect in an operant food-seeking task. In both experiments, rats received a 45-mg food pellet for every 4th lever press over a series of daily 30-min sessions. The rats responded at a high rate early in the session, but the rate declined systematically over time within the session. In Experiment 1, alternating unpredictably between grain and sucrose pellets caused a higher level of responding, and a slower within-session decline in responding, than presenting either type of pellet consistently. In groups receiving one pellet consistently, a switch to the alternate pellet caused lawful changes in response rate that reflected both habituation and incentive contrast processes. In Experiment 2, an experimental group received grain only and sucrose only in daily alternating sessions. In sucrose sessions, they responded more than controls that always received either sucrose or grain (a type of variety effect); in grain sessions, they responded less than the controls. The results indicated a within-session variety effect that was controlled by habituation processes and a between-session variety effect that was controlled by incentive contrast. Both types of processes can come into play when organisms are exposed to food variety.