Validación de las propiedades psicométricas de la escala breve de estrategias resilientes en adultos colombianos / Validation of the psychometric properties of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) in Colombian adults

Resumen La resiliencia es la competencia de afrontamiento y adaptación a las condiciones estresantes que puede experimentar una persona. Se puede expresar a través de varias estrategias como el optimismo, la perseverancia, la creatividad y el crecimiento positivo frente a la adversidad. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo analizar las propiedades psicométricas de la Escala Breve de Estrategias Resilientes (BRCS) en población adulta colombiana. La muestra estuvo conformada por 456 adultos colombianos (41.7 % hombres y 58.3 % mujeres) entre los 18 y los 86 años (M = 46.99). El coeficiente de fiabilidad para el puntaje total de las dos subescalas de la BRCS fue de .77. Se corroboró la validez del constructo a través de la bondad de ajuste del modelo de un factor y la correlación entre los cuatro ítems, por el que se confirmó la estructura del modelo propuesto por Sinclair y Wallston (2004). Se analizó la validez concurrente con medidas de afrontamiento religioso y personalidad Tipo D. Se efectuó un análisis de la discriminación de los reactivos a través del coeficiente de correlación biserial, que indicó que las correlaciones del ítem con la escala total tienen un nivel de discriminación excelente, con valores entre .740 y .807. Los resultados muestran correlaciones significativas entre la resiliencia y el afrontamiento religioso positivo, índices de confiabilidad interna aceptables y consistencia interna, dados los índices del análisis factorial confirmatorio. Se concluye que la evidencia sugiere que la escala BRCS es un instrumento válido y confiable para la evaluación de la capacidad de resiliencia en adultos colombianos.

Abstract Resilience is the ability to cope and adapt to stressful situations that a person may experience. This ability can be expressed through several strategies such as optimism, perseverance, creativity, and positive growth from adversity. Considering the few studies on this subject in the Latin American context and, therefore, the difficulties in evaluating resilient strategies in adults, this research considered to analyze the psychometric characteristics of the Brief Resilient Strategies Scale (BRCS). This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the "Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS)" in the Colombian adult population. The sample consisted of 456 Colombian adults (41.7 % men and 58.3 % women) between 18 and 86 years old (M = 46.99). The reliability coefficient for the total score of the two BRCS subscales was .77. The construct validity was confirmed by goodness of fit results for applying a one-factor model to the scale and the correlation between the four items, confirming the structure of the model proposed by Sinclair y Wallston (2004), the initial solution of a factor was confirmed, with the same items loading the same factor and with factorial weights greater than .3. Likewise, all the values of the goodness of fit indices are within the accepted ranges for a good fit of the model. That is, the data fit the factorial model well. The concurrent validity was analyzed with measures of religious coping and type D personality. Positive correlations of the BRCS scale were found with positive religious coping of the RCOPE, indicating that a greater resilience, more expression of a sense of spirituality. In the same way, the BRCS scale correlates with the DS-14 scale, indicating that a greater resilience, less tendency to experience negative emotions such as dysphoria, tension, worry, irritability, and anger more extensively over time. In addition, the correlations indicated that a higher resilience, lower vulnerability to psychological stress with experiences of strong negative emotions and inhibition of their expression in interaction with other people. The results of the criterion validity suggest that people who use resilient strategies and religious coping are protective factors for the physical and mental health of the adult population, in such a way that people with higher levels of resilience may have a greater expression of a sense spiritual. Likewise, the most resilient subjects use variables such as satisfaction with life, humor, perceived personal competence, optimism, among others, indicative of a heightened sense of internal coherence. Also, the subjects who demonstrated greater resilience capacity were less vulnerable to experiencing negative affect and social inhibition. In general terms, these results suggest that the use of resilient strategies is related to constructs that are theoretically expected from a clinical and mental health perspective. The results show significant correlations between resilience and positive religious coping, acceptable internal reliability indices and internal consistency given the confirmatory factor analysis indices. An item discrimination analysis was performed through the biserial correlation coefficient, the correlations of the item with the total scale have an excellent level of discrimination, with values between .740 and .807. For data analysis, IBM SPSS Software®, Version 25, the R for Statistical Computing program (R Project, 2019) and LISREL 8.80 was used. The evidence suggests that the BRCS scale is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing resilience capacity in Colombian adults. In general, it was found that the BRCS has good psychometric properties in the various countries where it has been evaluated, for all the population groups analyzed, with only significant differences between men and women.

Spatial distribution of the relative risk of Zika virus disease in Colombia during the 2015-2016 epidemic from a Bayesian approach.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the spatial distribution of the risk of Zika virus disease in each region of Colombia during the 2015-2016 epidemic. METHODS: An ecological study was designed to estimate the risks for each Colombian region using first-order neighbors, covariate effects, and three adjacent periods of time (beginning, development, and end of the epidemic) to analyze the spatial distribution of the disease based on a Bayesian hierarchical model. RESULTS: Spatial distribution of the estimated risks of Zika virus disease showed that it increased in a strip that crosses the central area of the country from west to east. Analysis of the three time periods showed greater risk of the disease in the central and southern zones-Arauca and Santander-where the increase in risk was four times higher during the peak phase compared with the initial phase of the outbreak. CONCLUSION: In the identified high-risk areas, integrated surveillance systems for Zika virus disease and its complications must be strengthened to provide up-to-date and accurate epidemiological information. This information would allow those involved in policy and decision making to identify new outbreaks and risk clusters, enabling more focused and accurate measures to target at-risk populations.

Manifestaciones clínicas y factores de riesgo asociados a la infección por Cryptosporidium en pacientes de Barranquilla y tres municipios del Atlántico (Colombia) / Clinical manifestations and risk factors associated with Cryptosporidium spp. infections in patients from Barranquilla and three “municipios” of Atlántico (Colombia)

Objectives: To characterize the clinical manifestations and risk factors associated with cryptosporidiosis.Materials and methods: A descriptive study was performed on 423 patients, with macroscopic and microscopic faecal sample analyses, to identify the clinical manifestations and risk factors associated with cyptosporidiosis in 3 towns and the principal city in Atlantico(Colombia) over a 4-month period. Cryptosporidium spp oocysts were identified after stainingwith modified Ziehl-Neelsen. A saturated NaCl parasite-concentration method was also compared with wet-mount method for the detection of all intestinal parasites in 279/423 (66.0 percent) patients. Statistical analyses were performed using EPI-INFO 6.04.Results: The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. was 1.9percent (8/423). Statistical associationswere found between cryptosporidiosis infections and fever (p=0.01), blood in the faecalsamples (p=0.01) and the presence of household animals (p=0.02). Most of the patients(267/423: 63.1percent) were positive for intestinal parasites. The most commonly identifiedparasites were the non-pathogenic protozoa, Entamoeba coli (118/423: 27.9percent) and Endolimaxnana (86/423: 20.3percent), followed by Blastocystis hominis (76/423: 18percent), Entamoebahistolytica/dispar (28/423: 6.6percent) and Giardia lamblia (23/423: 5.4percent). Ascaris lumbricoides(6/423: 1.4percent) was the most common helminth identified. Sensitivities/specificities of99.4percent/95.2percent and 87.5percent/99.6percent were obtained for protozoa and helminths respectivelyusing the saturated NaCl method.Conclusions: Patients with cryptosporidiosis had fever and bloody faecal samples, andwere probably infected by domestic animals. Microscopy, using the modified Ziehl-Neelsenstain, was essential for Cryptosporidium spp. oocyst identification. The saturated NaClmethod efficiently concentrated the parasites.