Argentinean Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ).

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is a self-report measure designed to assess the two most widely studied strategies of Gross' model: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Even though there are two Spanish adaptations of the ERQ, region-specific linguistic factors and dialects must also be considered when adapting a test for another country in order to ensure equivalent evaluations across cultures. The present work developed an Argentinean adaptation of the ERQ. Additionally, the study evaluated its psychometric properties and associations with theoretically related constructs. Study 1 consist of the translation the ERQ into Argentinean Spanish and the analysis of its internal structure and reliability in a sample of 2957 participants. The results supported a two-factor structure with good data fit, adequate factor loadings, and good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Expected age and gender differences in the use of reappraisal and suppression were also observed. Study 2 analyzed the external validity (concurrent and convergent) of the ERQ adaptation in a sample of 2160 participants. Theory-consistent associations were found with emotion regulation mechanisms, anxiety, depression, and personality traits. In summary, the findings support the validity of a new ERQ adaptation and its use in Argentina.

Cognitive flexibility in adulthood and advanced age: Evidence of internal and external validity.

Aging causes changes that affect functioning of cognitive processes such as cognitive flexibility (CF). Given it allows changing both behavior and thinking in dynamic contexts, it constitutes an essential trait of adaptive, goal-oriented behavior. Despite its importance, specific techniques to evaluate CF in older adults are lacking. The goal of this article is to describe and comparatively analyze the functioning of CF in a sample of 169 individuals representing three age groups-younger-age, middle-age and advanced-age adults-by obtaining evidence of internal and external validity. Using a correlational and cross-sectional research design, four studies were conducted in order to evaluate construct validity-fulfillment of experimental paradigm criteria and contrast between groups and tests with different methods. In addition to the Fingers Task, the study used the CAMBIOS Cognitive Flexibility Test, TAC's Conjunction Visual Search Task (which evaluates perceptual inhibition) and a verbal fluency task with changes. The results provide evidence of the functioning of CF in adulthood and advanced age, which has implications for neurocognitive clinical evaluation in these stages of life. Additionally, evidence was obtained in favor of the concurrent validity of the instruments used to measure CF, contributing to the solidity of future studies on this executive function.

Adaptación y evidencias de validez de la Escala de Estilos de Respuesta en niños argentinos / Adaptation and evidence of validity of the Response Styles Scale in Argentinian children

La rumiación se considera un marcador estable de la aparición de la depresión, la recurrencia de episodios depresivos y el mantenimiento del afecto negativo. A pesar de su importancia clínica, esta cuestión no es abordada en profundidad en población infantil. Entre los factores relacionados con la falta de estudios, se encuentra la escasez de instrumentos para evaluar estas variables en niños. Por este motivo, este trabajo se propuso traducir la Escala de Estilos de Respuesta para Niños de Ziegert y Kistner (CRSS, 2002), adaptarla en población infantil con desarrollo típico de Argentina (Escala de Estilos de Respuesta en Niños-Argentina, EERN-A) y analizar sus propiedades psicométricas. Para ello, se evaluó a 434 niños argentinos de 8 a 12 años de edad y se analizó la estructura factorial de la escala y su confiabilidad. También se evaluó la validez concurrente del instrumento mediante su asociación con otras medidas de rumiación y distracción, y su validez convergente con medidas teóricamente relacionadas (ansiedad y depresión). Los resultados apoyan la multidimensionalidad e independencia de la rumiación y la distracción. Asimismo, las subescalas muestran relaciones con variables relacionadas, así como una adecuada estructura interna y fiabilidad. De este modo, este estudio supone un aporte para la evaluación de los estilos de respuestas en población infantil, debido a que permite contar con un instrumento válido para la evaluación de la rumiación y la distracción en niños

Rumination is considered a stable marker of the onset of depression, the recurrence of depressive episodes and the maintenance of negative affect. Despite its clinical importance, this issue is not properly addressed in children. Among the factors related to the lack of studies, is the lack of instruments to evaluate these variables in children. For this reason, this work had the aim to translate the Children's Response Styles Scale of Ziegert and Kistner (CRSS, 2002), adapt it in children with typical development of Argentina (Escala de Estilos de Respuesta en Niños-Argentina-EERN-A-) and analyze its psychometric properties. To this end, 434 Argentinian children aged 8 to 12 were evaluated. The factorial structure of the scale and its reliability were analyzed. The concurrent validity of the instrument was also evaluated through its association with other measures of rumination and distraction. Its convergent validity was evaluated through relationships with theoretically related variables (anxiety and depression). The results support the multidimensionality and independence of rumination and distraction. Likewise, the subscales show relationships with related variables as well as an adequate internal structure and reliability. Thus, this study is a contribution to the evaluation of response styles in children, because it provides a valid instrument for the assessment of rumination and distraction in children

Perceptual inhibition of emotional interference in children.

In daily life, when a bee approaches us while we are sitting in the garden, we must pay attention to that threatening stimulus and give an appropriate response. However, if this bee approaches us while riding a bike, we must inhibit that distractor to avoid an accident. In this case, avoiding the interference of an emotional stimuli and continuing with the task should be preferential. In general, perceptual inhibition is responsible for controlling and suppressing the environmental distractions that interrupt the course of the realization of a goal. In this study, 435 children performed a modified flanker task with entirely irrelevant emotional and neutral stimuli in order to assess perceptual inhibition in contexts with high and low emotional salience. The results showed that entirely irrelevant distractors affected performance, but that there were no significant differences according to whether these distractors were emotionally salient or neutral. These results constitute a first approach to the problem of emotional interference in children considering the multidimensional approach of inhibition.

Mecanismos de desarrollo de la atención selectiva en población infantil / The development mechanisms of selective attention in child population

Resumen La atención selectiva es la función cognitiva que orienta la atención hacia los objetos o estímulos que resultan relevantes evitando la distracción frente a aquellos que son irrelevantes. En general, la literatura indica que el desempeño de la atención selectiva mejora notablemente con la edad, sin embargo, las diferencias vinculadas a esta variable no se cumplen para todas las condiciones de cantidad de estímulos distractores ni para todos los grupos de edad. Asimismo, aún no se ha explorado la contribución del control inhibitorio y la velocidad de procesamiento a esta mejora progresiva. Por este motivo, y debido a la escasez de estudios en población infantil, se propuso analizar la contribución relativa de la velocidad de procesamiento y de la inhibición al desempeño en una tarea de atención selectiva y búsqueda visual en esta etapa evolutiva. Para ello, se administró una tarea de búsqueda de conjunciones y una tarea simple de velocidad de respuesta a 295 niños de 6 a 13 años de edad. Los resultados permitieron plantear dos conclusiones principales: por un lado, que la atención selectiva mejora consistentemente durante la niñez y, por otro lado, que no existe un mecanismo general y exclusivo capaz de explicar estas diferencias durante esta etapa vital. Así, tanto la velocidad de procesamiento como el control inhibitorio contribuyen al desarrollo de la atención selectiva y ambos mecanismos cognitivos actúan de manera complementaria más que excluyente.

Abstract Selective attention allows directs attention to relevant objects or stimuli, while avoiding distraction from those that are irrelevant. The literature indicates that performance in CVS tasks improves markedly with age. However, age-related differences are not met neither for every number of distractor conditions nor for all age groups. In addition, the contribution of inhibitory control and processing speed to this progressive improvement has not yet been explored. For this reason, and due to the scarcity of studies using CVS paradigm to evaluate selective attention in children, the present study aimed to analyze the relative contribution of processing speed and inhibition to performance during this evolutionary period in a selective attention and CVS task. To do this, a CVS and a simple response speed task were administered to 295 children aged 6-13 years old. Results offered two conclusions: first, selective attention improves during childhood; second, there is no general and exclusive mechanism capable of explaining these differences during this period. Thus, both processing speed and inhibitory control contribute to development of selective attention, and they seem to be more complementary mechanisms than excluding ones.

Diseño, Implementación y Análisis de Transferencia de una Tarea de Entrenamiento de Inhibición Cognitiva para Niños Escolares. Un Estudio Piloto / Design, implementation, and transfer analysis of a cognitive inhibition training task for school children. A pilot study

Dentro de un enfoque no unitario de la inhibición, se identifica a la inhibición cognitiva como la capacidad para eliminar información irrelevante de la memoria de trabajo que interfiere con la actividad en curso. Se entiende que su desarrollo experimenta cambios no durante los años de escolaridad primaria y que participa en habilidades fundamentales para dicha etapa. Por ello, este trabajo se propuso analizar los efectos de transferencia de una actividad de entrenamiento de la inhibición cognitiva en niños en los primeros años de educación primaria, con desarrollo típico. Se trabajó con una muestra no probabilística de 39 niños de 6 a 8 años y se implementó un diseño experimental con medidas pre y posttest y grupo control. Luego del entrenamiento se encontraron efectos bajos en el rendimiento en una tarea de inhibición cognitiva y memoria de trabajo viso-espacial

Within a non-unitary approach to inhibition, cognitive inhibition is identified as the ability to remove from working memory irrelevant information which interferes with ongoing activity. Cognitive inhibition undergoes remarkable changes in development during elementary school age and is involved in core skills. Therefore, this work aimed to design, implement, and the transfer effects of a training activity of cognitive inhibition in children over the first years of elementary school with typical development. The sample consisted of 39 children aged 6 to 8 years. An experimental design with pre- and post-test measures and a control group was implemented. After training, low performance effects on a cognitive inhibition task and visual-spatial working memory task were found