Effects of Two Online Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Early Adolescents for Attentional, Emotional, and Behavioral Self-Regulation.

(1) Background: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown interesting preliminary effects on self-regulation processes in early adolescence. However, programs have typically combined different types of interventions with no understanding of the specific effect of each intervention type on attentional, emotional, and behavioral regulation. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of two MBIs-one focused on classic attentional practices and another focused on the recognition and expression of emotions-on attentional, emotional, and behavioral self-regulation in early adolescents. (2) Method: An experimental paradigm was used. A sample of 74 children aged between 8 and 12 years old were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: (1) an MBI with a focus on attentional practices, (2) an MBI with a focus on recognition and expression of emotions, and (3) a control group. The interventions lasted 8 weeks, with a weekly, 1 h online synchronous session plus home practices. Children were evaluated before starting the intervention and at the end of the 8-week period. The assessed outcomes were (1) mindfulness; (2) emotional regulation; (3) attentional regulation, and (4) behavioral regulation. (3) Results: Children who participated in both intervention programs increased their mindfulness and emotional and behavioral regulation scores. Only children who participated in the MBI with a focus on attention showed significant changes in their ability to self-regulate attention. (4) Conclusions: The use of online MBIs, with attention to external and internal stimuli practices, can be a good strategy to strengthen self-regulation skills for attention, emotions, and behavior in early adolescence.

Time Balance and Family Functioning: The Role of Time Perspective in the Cohesion and Adaptability of Families with Adolescents.

Family functioning, understood as cohesion and adaptability, is critical in families with adolescent children, given the changes that this stage implies at the family level. Time perspective is one variable that can facilitate better family functioning through the way people give meaning to the process they live. In this study, we examined the relationship between family functioning and the time perspective of adolescent children's parents. The FACES IV and ZTPI were administered to 276 parents of adolescents. Regression analyses indicated that the past positive, past negative, and future scores predicted family cohesion and adaptability, explaining at least 20% of the variance. Balanced families, with greater cohesion and adaptability, presented a higher level of past positive and future-oriented temporal perspectives, compared to unbalanced families, which presented a greater orientation to the past negative and deviated from the balanced temporal profile. The importance of considering the inter-relationship between family functioning and time perspective was discussed, considering its impact on the health and well-being of families with adolescents.

Time Attitude Profiles and Health-Related Behaviors: Validation of a Spanish Version of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (AATI-TA).

Temporal psychology constructs are an individual difference variable related to behavioral outcomes. Recent research has shown that there are different time attitude profiles based on different configurations of the six Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitude (AATI-TA) subscales. The objective of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of AATI-TA scores in Uruguay and determine the existence of temporal profiles in this context. Participants were a convenience sample of 446 (36.5% males) adults in Uruguay with a mean age of 34.53 years (SD = 13.17, range 18-75 years). Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the AATI-TA, and questionnaires on intentions, behaviors, and attitudes towards healthy food consumption and physical activity. AATI-TA scores had good reliabilities (> .70). The six-factor solution was supported and invariance by gender and age group was established. We identified five profiles - Resilients, High Positives, Negatives, Present Negatives, and Moderate Positives - which were associated differently with healthy food consumption patterns. Negative profiles were related to higher levels of unhealthy food consumption.

The factor structure of The Fear Survey Schedule for Children--II in Trinidadian children and adolescents.

Part of understanding normal and abnormal fear in children and adolescents is having knowledge of how they acquire fears and of how fears change across development. One way to examine the relative contributions of heredity and environment to the experience of fear is to study fear across cultures. The Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II (FSSC-II; Gullone, E., & King, N. J. (1992). Psychometric evaluation of a revised fear survey schedule for children and adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 987-998) is one measure that has some evidence for cross-cultural validity. The present analysis examined the factor structure of the FSSC-II scores of 884 Trinidadian children and adolescents. Factor consistency across age, sex, and nationality (Trinidadian and American) was examined by calculating the coefficients of congruence for each pair of conceptually similar factors. Results indicated a five-factor structure for the overall sample. Although the solution was conceptually similar to those reported in other studies that used versions of the FSSC, the obtained structure was not congruent across age, sex, or nationality.