Predictors of mental health in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of experiential avoidance, emotion regulation and resilience.

AIMS: This study explores the mediational role of resilience, experiential avoidance and emotion regulation in the levels of anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we explored the association of such levels with personal and professional variables. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Healthcare professionals working in Spain (N = 786) were recruited following a snowball approach in November and December 2021. Resilience, emotion regulation, experiential avoidance, depression, anxiety, PTSD and work-related variables were measured. Mean differences and correlations were computed, and a path analysis with latent variables (PALV) model was tested. RESULTS: In total, 18.8% of the sample scored above the cut-off score for depression, 24.6% for anxiety and 36.4% for PTSD. Higher resilience and lower experiential avoidance and expression suppression were correlated with better mental health. The PALV model explained 42%-53% of mental health outcomes. Experiential avoidance showed the greatest explanatory power and mediated the impact that stressors had on mental health. Some work-related variables correlated with greater psychological impact. These factors encompassed being a nurse, feeling that their job remained stressful and had not yet returned to its pre-pandemic state and having interacted with individuals facing economic difficulties due to the pandemic, and those who had lost their lives to COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Healthcare workers showed high levels of psychological impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such impact was predicted from some work-stress variables and the reliance on maladaptive strategies such as experiential avoidance and expressive suppression. IMPACT: Training healthcare professionals to use coping strategies incompatible with experiential avoidance may improve their mental health. Additionally, better working conditions are fundamental for reducing the impact of critical situations on healthcare workers' mental health. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

The religious faith item of the Spanish Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and its Short Form (PTGI-SF): challenges and solutions.

Background: The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and its Short Form (PTGI-SF) are two instruments highly used in research on posttraumatic growth. They include a religious growth item that has been demonstrated to be problematic in cultures that are not very religious. Previous research has addressed this issue in other countries, but no attention has been paid to this critical problem in Spanish samples.Objective: Our aim is to address the psychometric issues presented by the religious growth item in Spain.Method: To do so, we reviewed several studies conducted with various populations in Spain.Results: The scores of the religious growth item in Spain present very low means and standard deviations, as well as high skewness and kurtosis, all of which point to a floor effect. The item scores show low item-test correlations, and it has failed to load on a specific dimension in factor analyses, thus casting doubts about its validity.Conclusions: The inventory does not seem to work properly in its current form in Spain. The inappropriateness of the item measuring religious growth in Spain may be due to cultural reasons. We recommend using the PTGI expanded version (PTGI-X) instead of the PTGI and exploring the possible substitution of the religious growth item in the PTGI-SF for an alternative item. In both cases, ascertaining the psychometric properties of the scores in Spain will be necessary.

The religious growth item in the PTGI and the PTGI-SF show serious psychometric validity issues in Spain. The PTGI Expanded version (PTGI-X) should be used instead of the PTGI in Spain. For the PTGI-SF, the religious item needs to be substituted.

Designing learning environments for promoting young people's constructive coping with climate change.

This chapter first summarizes how the consequences of global climate change (GCC) can harm young people's well-being through physical health impacts and awareness of GCC. We then outline how youth may cope with GCC by denying the problem, distancing themselves from it, or taking individual actions. However, the coping strategy shown to have the best mental well-being outcomes relates to collective actions and agency. Next, an examination of school-based GCC interventions reveals that engaging, participatory approaches may be more effective in promoting positive outcomes for youth and climate action. Our main contribution is a discussion of how the evidence-based design of learning environments presents an undeveloped but potentially effective way to enhance interventions for the development of constructive GCC coping strategies among youth. Utilizing environmental affordances and design as scaffolding can guide the design of learning environments that give youth opportunities for active cognitive, emotional, and physical engagement with climate change education. Natural environments may be particularly effective in supporting active engagement and pathways to constructive coping. More research is needed to understand what design features underly these pathways to improved well-being and GCC coping strategies that may have positive implications for youth climate action.

The effects of nature-based interventions on individuals' environmental behaviors: protocol for a systematic review of controlled trials.

Background: The paper presents the rationale and methods of the planned systematic review to understand the effects of nature-based interventions on individuals' environmental behaviors. There is ample evidence that experiences in nature not only enhance human well-being but also help promote people's pro-environmentalism. Nevertheless, synthesized evidence regarding the effects of nature-based interventions on individuals' environmental behaviors is lacking. Methods: This protocol follows the Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. The planned literature search will be conducted by using APA PsycInfo, APA PsyArticles, PubMed, ERIC, Education Source, GreenFILE, OpenDissertations, Scopus, and WEB of Science. In the protocol, we present search strategies for each specific database. Data items that we will seek to obtain from the selected publications are described in detail and cover general information about included studies, information about studies' methodology and participants, outcomes of the studies, and nature-based and comparative interventions. The outcomes will be behavioral, including aggregated and specific types of environmental behaviors, as well as reported and observed behaviors. Furthermore, the protocol provides a description of the prospective assessment of the risk of bias in both randomized and non-randomized studies. If studies appear sufficiently homogeneous, we will conduct a meta-analysis using the inverse-variance method. Details of the data synthesis are likewise provided in the paper. Results: Dissemination of the results of the planned review will be carried out via a peer-reviewed open-access journal publication. Implications: Given the great need to address current environmental issues, understanding what encourages people to act pro-environmentally is critical. It is expected that the findings of the planned review will provide valuable insights for researchers, educators, and policymakers who are involved in understanding and promoting human environmental behaviors.

Development and Validation of the Self-efficacy for Writing and Defending Academic Texts Scale1 / El desarrollo y la validación de la escala de autoeficacia para escribir y defender textos académicos

Writing and defending a thesis is a requirement to earn a university degree. Previous findings indicate that self-efficacy is related to academic performance. However, no existing tools register students’ perception of efficacy towards writing and defining academic texts. Our purpose was to develop and validate such a scale. Scale scores content, structural, convergent, and criterion-related validity as well as the measurement invariance across sex was evaluated using data from 418 students from 23 Spanish universities. Our findings showed that the scale holds a unidimensional structure that is invariant across sex. Data also supported the convergent validity, with correlations with self-efficacy and anxiety measures. The scale could track the effect of an educational intervention designed to improve students’ writing and defending academic texts skills, and the scores were related to performance on a writing task. Norms are provided to facilitate the interpretation of the scale scores.(AU)

Redactar y defender una tesina es un requisito para obtener un título universitario. La investigación previa indica que la autoeficacia está relacionada con el rendimiento académico. Sin embargo, no existen instrumentos que registren la percepción de la eficacia de los estudiantes para escribir y definir textos académicos. Nuestro objetivo fue desarrollar y validar una escala de este tipo. Se recopilaron pruebas de validez de contenido, estructural, convergente y de criterio y de invarianza de medida entre sexos, utilizando datos de 418 estudiantes de 23 universidades españolas. La escala presenta una estructura unidimensional invariante en cuanto al sexo. También se encontraron correlaciones con medidas de autoeficacia y ansiedad. La escala pudo seguir el efecto de una intervención educativa diseñada para mejorar las habilidades de escritura y defensa de textos académicos, y se encontró relación con el rendimiento en una tarea de escritura. Se proporcionan baremos para interpretar las puntuaciones.(AU)

Prediction of post-traumatic growth in the face of the COVID-19 crisis based on resilience, post-traumatic stress and social participation: A longitudinal study.

The COVID-19 crisis has generated a severe and negative psychological impact worldwide. Despite this, it is also possible to experience post-traumatic growth (PTG). This study aimed to longitudinally explore the prevalence of PTG in the Spanish population and test a predictive model for PTG from resilience, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and participation in social activities. Data were collected longitudinally in March, July, and November 2020 via an online survey. About 20% of the sample showed moderate-high levels of PTG, with no significant differences over time. The predictive model explained 19% of the variance in PTG, showing that the inverse relation between resilience and PTG was mediated by PTSS. Additionally, participation in social activities acted as a predictor of PTG. Women, young people, those who had lost their job and people who had experienced COVID-19 symptoms or the loss of a loved one presented higher PTG. Thus, people have experienced positive changes (PTG), but these did not protect them from adverse symptomatology (PTSS).

Prevalence of Protein-Energy Wasting in Dialysis Patients Using a Practical Online Tool to Compare with Other Nutritional Scores: Results of the Nutrendial Study.

This cross-sectional study aims to explore the prevalence of protein-energy wasting (PEW) in dialysis patients in Catalonia, Spain, using a new and practical online tool which enables rapid calculation and comparison with other nutritional scores. METHODS: A web tool (Nutrendial) was created to introduce different variables and automatically calculate PEW, Malnutrition inflammation Score (MIS) and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) in 1389 patients (88% in haemodialysis (HD)), 12% in peritoneal dialysis (PD) from different regions of Catalonia. RESULTS: A prevalence of 23.3% (26% HD, 10.2% PD) of PEW was found, with a mean MIS score of 6 and SGA score of C in 7% of the patients. ROC analysis showed MIS as the best nutritional score to diagnose PEW (AUC 0.85). Albumin delivered lower diagnostic precision (AUC 0.77) and sensitivity (66%). A cut off point of 7 (86% sensitivity and 75% specificity) for MIS and 3.7 mg/dL for albumin were found to predict the appearance of PEW in this population. SGA B or C showed an 87% sensitivity and 55% specificity to diagnose PEW. Very low nutritional intervention (14%) was recorded with this tool in patients with PEW. CONCLUSIONS: This new online tool facilitated the calculation of PEW, enabling different professionals-including nephrologists, dieticians and nurses-to efficiently obtain insights into the nutritional status of the Catalonian dialysis population and implement the required nutritional interventions. MIS is the score with more sensitivity to diagnose PEW.

The posttraumatic growth inventory-short form (PTGI-SF): A psychometric study of the spanish population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

People can experience posttraumatic growth (PTG) when faced with potentially traumatic events. One of the most widely-used instruments to measure PTG is the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF). However, it has not been validated for the Spanish population. This study explored the psychometric properties of the PTGI-SF in adults living in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since it is a global disaster, two items were added to assess communal PTG. The participants were adult inhabitants of Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 855). They completed the PTGI-SF in July 2020, along with the Impact of Event Scale - Revised to measure symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They also rated the degree to which they perceived the COVID-19 crisis as being severe. In November 2020, 592 participants once again completed the PTGI-SF. The factorial validity o was tested by Structural Equations Modeling (SEM). McDonald's ω coefficients were calculated to test internal consistency. The Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was obtained to assess test-retest reliability. Sensitivity and criterion-related validity were assessed by exploring the association of the PTGI-SF scores with gender, age, PTSD symptoms, and perceived severity. Results indicated good psychometric properties for an eight-item, four-factor structure of the inventory in terms of structural validity, reliability, sensitivity and criterion-related validity. These factors were: Relating to Others, Personal Strength, Spiritual Change, and Life Value and Opportunities. Communal PTG overlapped with social PTG, and therefore it was not included. Cultural differences need to be addressed when measuring PTG, especially in terms of spiritual growth.

Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients with COVID-19, the Effect of Paricalcitol or Calcimimetics.

BACKGROUND: In COVID-19 patients, low serum vitamin D (VD) levels have been associated with severe acute respiratory failure and poor prognosis. In regular hemodialysis (HD) patients, there is VD deficiency and markedly reduced calcitriol levels, which may predispose them to worse outcomes of COVID-19 infection. Some hemodialysis patients receive treatment with drugs for secondary hyperparathyroidism, which have well known pleiotropic effects beyond mineral metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of VD status and the administration of active vitamin D medications, used to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism, on survival in a cohort of COVID-19 positive HD patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional retrospective observational study was conducted from 12 March to 21 May 2020 in 288 HD patients with positive PCR for SARS-CoV2. Patients were from 52 different centers in Spain. RESULTS: The percent of HD patients with COVID-19 was 6.1% (288 out of 4743). Mortality rate was 28.4% (81/285). Three patients were lost to follow-up. Serum 25(OH)D (calcidiol) level was 17.1 [10.6-27.5] ng/mL and was not significantly associated to mortality (OR 0.99 (0.97-1.01), p = 0.4). Patients receiving active vitamin D medications (16/94 (17%) vs. 65/191(34%), p = 0.003), including calcimimetics (4/49 (8.2%) vs. 77/236 (32.6%), p = 0.001), paricalcitol or calcimimetics (19/117 (16.2%) vs. 62/168 (36.9%); p < 0.001), and also those on both paricalcitol and calcimimetics, to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPTH) (1/26 (3.8%) vs. 80/259 (30.9%), p < 0.001) showed a lower mortality rate than patients receiving no treatment with either drug. Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed this increased survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the use of paricalcitol, calcimimetics or the combination of both, seem to be associated with the improvement of survival in HD patients with COVID-19. No correlation was found between serum VD levels and prognosis or outcomes in HD patients with COVID-19. Prospective studies and clinical trials are needed to support these findings.

COVID-19 in Grade 4-5 Chronic Kidney Disease Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases the risk of mortality during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) episodes, and some reports have underlined the high incidence and severity of this infection in dialysis patients. Information on COVID-19 in nondialysis CKD patients is not available yet. CASE REPORTS: Here we present 7 patients with grade 4-5 CKD who developed symptomatic COVID-19; they comprise 2.6% of our 267 advanced CKD patients. The estimated GFR was between 12 and 20 mL/min during the month prior to COVID-19. The 3 major symptoms were fever, cough, and dyspnea, and 5 patients showed bilateral pneumonia. Hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, ceftriaxone, and steroids were the most frequently prescribed drugs. Two patients needed noninvasive mechanical ventilation. All patients showed minimal to moderate kidney function deterioration during admission, with an eGFR decline below 5 mL/min in 6 cases. No patient required acute dialysis. Six patients were discharged alive and remained dialysis free athe t the time of reporting, and one 76-year-old patient died. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 affects grade 4-5 CKD patients, but prognosis may be acceptable if prompt supportive measures are applied. These findings should be confirmed in larger cohorts, and further observations will be needed to understand the full spectrum of clinical features and the optimal approach to COVID-19 in patients with advanced CKD.

Clinical Profiles in Renal Patients with COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to frequent referrals to the emergency department on suspicion of this infection in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) and kidney transplant (KT) patients. We aimed to describe their clinical features comparing confirmed and suspected non-confirmed COVID-19 cases during the Spanish epidemic peak. Confirmed COVID-19 ((+)COVID-19) corresponds to patient with positive RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 assay. Non-confirmed COVID-19 ((-)COVID-19) corresponds to patients with negative RT-PCR. COVID-19 was suspected in 61 patients (40/803 KT (4.9%), 21/220 MHD (9.5%)). Prevalence of (+)COVID-19 was 3.2% in KT and 3.6% in MHD patients. Thirty-four (26 KT and 8 MHD) were (+)COVID-19 and 27 (14 KT and 13 MHD) (-)COVID-19. In comparison with (-)COVID-19 patients, (+)COVID-19 showed higher frequency of typical viral symptoms (cough, dyspnea, asthenia and myalgias), pneumonia (88.2% vs. 14.3%) and LDH and CRP while lower phosphate levels, need of hospital admission (100% vs. 63%), use of non-invasive mechanical ventilation (36% vs. 11%) and mortality (38% vs. 0%) (p < 0.001). Time from symptoms onset to admission was longer in patients who finally died than in survivors (8.5 vs. 3.8, p = 0.007). In KT and MHD patients, (+)COVID-19 shows more clinical severity than suspected non-confirmed cases. Prompt RT-PCR is mandatory to confirm COVID-19 diagnosis.

Protección de los profesionales sanitarios en nefrología ante la pandemia por COVID-19 / Protection of nephrology health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

La epidemia de COVID-19 representa un riesgo especial para los pacientes renales por sus comorbilidades y edad avanzada, y por la realización del tratamiento de hemodiálisis en salas colectivas, pero también supone un riesgo para los profesionales responsables de su atención. El presente manuscrito recoge una propuesta de actuación para prevenir la infección entre los profesionales en los Servicios de Nefrología

The COVID-19 epidemic represents a special risk for kidney patients due to their comorbidities and advanced age, and the need for hemodialysis treatment in group rooms. It also represents a risk for professionals responsible for their attention. This manuscript contains a proposal for action to prevent infection of professionals in the Nephrology Services, one of the most valuable assets at the present time

Psychological Impact and Associated Factors During the Initial Stage of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Among the General Population in Spain.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Spain started at the end of February. By 9th April 2020 Spain was the second country in confirmed cases and in deaths. On March 14, 2020, the Spanish Government declared the state of alarm to limit viral transmission. During such state, citizens must stay confined at home with few justified exceptions. This whole situation drastically changed the life of the population, which can cause a wide range of psychosocial impacts. This study explored the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the general adult population (N = 3055) during the first stages of the outbreak in Spain, as well as their anxiety, stress and depression levels. We also examined the extent to which the following variables were associated to participants' mental health: (1) demographics; (2) degree of concern about the pandemic; (3) environmental conditions during the home confinement, (4) changes in daily life as a consequence of the pandemic; (5) contact with the COVID-19 disease; (6) actual and perceived severity of the crisis; (7) information about the COVID-19, (8) perceived health status and (9) leisure activities conducted within the last 24 h. Our results show that Spanish consider the current COVID-19 health crisis as fairly severe, and the majority felt that the COVID-19 crisis had greatly impacted on their daily life, including changes in their daily routines and cancelation of important activities. About 36% of the participants reported moderate to severe psychological impact, 25% showed mild to severe levels of anxiety, 41% reported depressive symptoms, and 41% felt stressed. Women, young, and those who that lost their job during the health crisis showed the strongest negative psychological symptoms. What worried Spaniards the most was the likelihood of suffering an economic crisis derived from the pandemic. We found factors associated with better mental health, such as being satisfied with the information received about the health crisis, conducting leisure activities, and the perception of being in good health. These findings can be used to design psychological interventions to help coping with COVID-19 pandemic, both in Spain and other countries.

[Protection of nephrology health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Protección de los profesionales sanitarios en nefrología ante la pandemia por COVID-19.

The COVID-19 epidemic represents a special risk for kidney patients due to their comorbidities and advanced age, and the need for hemodialysis treatment in group rooms. It also represents a risk for professionals responsible for their attention. This manuscript contains a proposal for action to prevent infection of professionals in the Nephrology Services, one of the most valuable assets at the present time.

Psychological impact of COVID-19 in Spain: Early data report.

By the end of March 2020, Spain was one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This commentary provides an initial picture of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak during its initial stage in Spain. Data of 3055 participants aged 18-88 years old were collected over a week (March 17th-24th 2020) using an online forms platform. Participants provided information regarding sociodemographic data and completed the Spanish version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, which assesses psychological distress caused by a traumatic life event in terms of three symptomatic responses (avoidance, intrusion, and hyperarousal). Results revealed that 36.6% of participants showed psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Avoidance was the most prevalent symptom in the total sample and for all genders studied. The psychological impact was consistently higher for young people, and for women compared to men. Our data confirm the great psychological toll that the COVID-19 crisis took on the Spanish general population during the first week of confinement. Women and young people seem particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological impact of the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

COVID-19 in elderly kidney transplant recipients.

The SARS-Cov-2 infection disease (COVID-19) pandemic has posed at risk the kidney transplant (KT) population, particularly the elderly recipients. From March 12 until April 4, 2020, we diagnosed COVID-19 in 16 of our 324 KT patients aged ≥65 years old (4.9%). Many of them had had contact with healthcare facilities in the month prior to infection. Median time of symptom onset to admission was 7 days. All presented with fever and all but one with pneumonia. Up to 33% showed renal graft dysfunction. At infection diagnosis, mTOR inhibitors or mycophenolate were withdrawn. Tacrolimus was withdrawn in 70%. The main treatment combination was hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. A subset of patients was treated with anti-retroviral and tocilizumab. Short-term fatality rate was 50% at a median time since admission of 3 days. Those who died were more frequently obese, frail, and had underlying heart disease. Although a higher respiratory rate was observed at admission in nonsurvivors, symptoms at presentation were similar between both groups. Patients who died were more anemic, lymphopenic, and showed higher D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and IL-6 at their first tests. COVID-19 is frequent among the elderly KT population and associates a very early and high mortality rate.

[Management of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) coronavirus epidemic in hemodialysis units]. / Manejo de la epidemia por coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) en unidades de hemodiálisis.

The current outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 represents a special risk for renal patients due to their comorbidities and advanced age. The usual performance of hemodialysis treatments in collective rooms increases the risk. The specific information at this time in this regard is very limited. This manuscript includes a proposal for action to prevent infection in the Nephrology Services, and in particular in Hemodialysis Units, with the objective of early identification of patients who meet the definition of a suspected case of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and propose circuits and mechanisms to carry out hemodialysis treatments. They are recommendations in continuous review and can be modified if the epidemiological situation, the diagnostic and therapeutic options so require.

The Role of Urban/Rural Environments on Mexican Children's Connection to Nature and Pro-environmental Behavior.

Living in rural areas has been described a driver for behaving in a pro-environmental way, mainly due to the more frequent contact with nature that people from rural areas have. However, the processes that link living in a rural area and behaving in a more ecological manner have not been systematically studied. Moreover, most studies have focused on adults living in developed countries. Given the importance that the actions conducted by people in developing countries have for the future of the environment, as well as the relevance of children's pro-environmentalism for nature conservation, we present a brief research report examining the relationship between Mexican children's place of residence and self-reported pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Participants were 200 children from Mexican rural areas (<1,000 inhabitants) and 200 from a Mexican urban city (>150,000 inhabitants). Children were between 9 and 12 years old. Children's connection to nature was considered as a mediator in the relationship between children's place of residence and PEB. Our findings revealed that rural children hold a stronger sense of connection to nature and behave in a more pro-environmental way than urban children. In addition, place of residence was directly and positively linked to their PEBs, and this relationship was mediated by children's connection to nature. The relationship between connection to nature and PEB was stronger for girls than for boys. The model explained 45% of the variance of children's self-reported PEBs.

Conciencia ecológica y experiencia ambiental en la infancia / Ecological awareness and children's environmental experience

Hasta fechas muy recientes, el estudio de las creencias y actitudes ambientales se ha centrado en muestras de participantes adultos. Sin embargo, conocer el nivel de conciencia ambiental infantil es relevante, ya que facilitará que las generaciones futuras asuman las exigencias de la proambientalidad. Este trabajo destaca la importancia de las experiencias ambientales en la infancia para asumir valores y creencias proambientales. Se ofrecen datos sobre el nivel de conciencia ecológica de muestras infantiles en España utilizando tanto la Escala del Nuevo Paradigma Ambiental (NEP) como la Escala de Percepción de Problemas Ambientales (CEPS). Los datos registrados permiten concluir que el nivel de conciencia ecológica de la población infantil española es medio-alto. Además, se propone un modelo en el que se definen cuatro perfiles ecológicos en la infancia: Eco-orientados, naturalistas de salón, utilitaristas y tecno-orientados. Se concluye destacando el valor de las experiencias de contacto con la naturaleza

Until recently, the study of environmental beliefs and attitudes has been focused on adults. However, a better understanding of chil-dren's environmental awareness is needed, since this will make it easier for future generations to assume the demands of pro-environmentalism. This paper highlights the importance of environmental experiences during childhood for the development of pro-environmental attitudes. We discuss different data about Spanish children's ecological awareness, measured with the New Envi-ronmental Paradigm (NEP) scale and the Children's Environmental Perception Scale (CEPS). According to our findings, Spanish children show a medium-high level of ecological awareness. In addition, we propose a model describing four ecological profiles: eco-oriented, lounge naturalists, utilitarians and techno-oriented. We conclude by highlighting the value of experiences of contact with nature for children's pro-environmentalism

Experiences in Nature and Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: Setting the Ground for Future Research.

There is empirical evidence suggesting a positive link between direct experiences in nature and people's environmental attitudes (EA) and behaviors (EB). This has led researchers to encourage more frequent contact with nature, especially during childhood, as a way of increasing pro-environmentalism (i.e., pro-EA and pro-EB). However, the association between experiences in nature and EA/EB is complex, and specific guidelines for people's everyday contact with nature cannot be provided. This article offers an overview of the research conducted until know about the relation between experiences in nature and pro-environmentalism, and opens up new inquiries for future research. We begin with an introduction to people's current tendency toward an alienation from the natural world and set out the objectives of the article. It is followed by three main sections. The first one reports on what experiences in nature refer to, how and where they occur. The second section describes the different approaches used to investigate and interpret the experiences in nature-EA and EB relation. The last section provides suggestions for future research. We close by making some final remarks about the importance of (re)stablishing a greater interaction with nature for people's pro-EA and EB.