Beyond Work: The Role of "Family-Friendly" Practices in the Subjective Well-Being of Teleworkers and On-Site Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telework emerged as a pivotal strategy to mitigate the spread of the virus. However, telework's feasibility was contingent on job roles. This gave rise to two distinct groups: teleworkers and on-site workers. However, the impacts of social support and well-being extended to both groups. This study investigated the link between organisational and supervisory family support and subjective well-being, examining work engagement as a mediator. Conducted in Portugal, this cross-sectional study surveyed 515 individuals via web-based questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple-group analysis. The findings revealed a positive correlation between perceived organisational family support (POFS) and work engagement for both groups. Additionally, perceived supervisory family support (PSFS) positively correlated with work engagement for telecommuters but not on-site workers. Furthermore, work engagement was positively associated with subjective well-being for both groups. Moreover, work engagement mediated the relationship between POFS and subjective well-being. This study enriches the literature by analysing POFS, PSFS, work engagement, and subjective well-being dynamics among teleworkers and on-site employees.

Tell me who your friends are?! The mediating role of friends' use in cannabis abuse.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between age at onset of cannabis use and cannabis abuse in a sample of Portuguese cannabis users, testing the mediating role of the number of friends using cannabis and comparing these relationships between male and female subsets. METHOD: A sample of 529 Portuguese cannabis users comprising 276 males and 244 females aged from 14 to 21 years completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST), and answered four questions related to cannabis use. Data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS version 26.0. RESULTS: Age at onset of cannabis use was negatively related to the number of friends using cannabis, while the number of friends using cannabis had a positive relationship with cannabis abuse. As predicted, the number of friends using cannabis seems to have a mediating role in the relationship between cannabis onset age use and cannabis abuse, since the indirect effect was found to be significant. The pattern of the relationships among the variables observed was found to be similar for both male and female subsets of the sample. However, males reported higher cannabis abuse than females. CONCLUSION: The results highlight the mediating role of friends' use of cannabis in the relationship between age at onset of cannabis use and users' abuse. These results highlight the importance of early intervention in cannabis use. In particular, the pattern of the relationships observed among the studied variables emphasizes the need to monitor and conduct peer training interventions or interventions to promote of social skills.

Tell me who your friends are?! The mediating role of friends' use in cannabis abuse

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the relationship between age at onset of cannabis use and cannabis abuse in a sample of Portuguese cannabis users, testing the mediating role of the number of friends using cannabis and comparing these relationships between male and female subsets. Method A sample of 529 Portuguese cannabis users comprising 276 males and 244 females aged from 14 to 21 years completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST), and answered four questions related to cannabis use. Data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS version 26.0. Results Age at onset of cannabis use was negatively related to the number of friends using cannabis, while the number of friends using cannabis had a positive relationship with cannabis abuse. As predicted, the number of friends using cannabis seems to have a mediating role in the relationship between cannabis onset age use and cannabis abuse, since the indirect effect was found to be significant. The pattern of the relationships among the variables observed was found to be similar for both male and female subsets of the sample. However, males reported higher cannabis abuse than females. Conclusion The results highlight the mediating role of friends' use of cannabis in the relationship between age at onset of cannabis use and users' abuse. These results highlight the importance of early intervention in cannabis use. In particular, the pattern of the relationships observed among the studied variables emphasizes the need to monitor and conduct peer training interventions or interventions to promote of social skills.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro: Can a Risk Profile Be Identified?

BACKGROUND: Significant exposure to critical incidents characteristic of military police work has a potentially traumatic effect and multiple consequences for the mental health of these professionals, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This study aims to investigate the occurrence of PTSD in this occupational group and its correlations with socio-demographic and occupational variables. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of Rio de Janeiro's Military Police officers (n = 3.577). Data was collected from self-reported questionnaires applied in an institutional health program. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian version was used to assess PTSD. RESULTS: Rates of 16.9% for full PTSD and 26.7% for partial PTSD were found. Based on logistic regression analysis, female officers and police officers in lower ranks of the military hierarchy and performing administrative duties were found to be at most risk of developing PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest the need to further understand the predictive organizational and individual variables of PTSD correlated with the increased vulnerability of professionals in order to contribute to institutional policies for the prevention and rehabilitation of these cases.

A Rasch Analysis of the Personal Well-Being Index in School Children.

The personal well-being index-school children (PWI-SC) is designed as a cross-cultural instrument to measure subjective well-being among high school-aged children. Several published cross-cultural studies have confirmed adequate psychometric performance in terms of reliability, validity, and measurement invariance. This study adds to this literature by applying the Rasch approach to estimate invariant comparison in a cross-cultural context, applied to both Australian and Portuguese high school students. Participants were an age- and gender-matched convenience sample of 1,040 adolescents (520 cases in each group, 51.54% male) who ranged in age from 12 to 18 years (M = 14.25 years, SD = 1.71 years). It is found that both Portuguese and Australian data fit the Rasch measurement model, with excellent levels of reliability at a country level. However, when all of the data were combined, a slight misfit was found. This was resolved by removing some issues with item thresholds in standard of living among the Australian data and splitting the data by country on health. This allowed both Australian and Portuguese cases to differ on the health item. We conclude that the PWI-SC is unidimensional, with some evidence of mild, but acceptable local dependency. This study further supports the cross-cultural validity of the PWI-SC and the use of this measure in the Australian and Portuguese context but also indicates a potential direction that development of the PWI-SC might proceed.

Construct Validity of the Portuguese Version of the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study aims to validate the resilience scale developed by Wagnild and Young for the Portuguese population. METHODS: The instrument validation was conducted with a sample of 313 adults attending the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences, of which 62.3% were female and 37.7% male, between 18 and 58 years old. RESULTS: Three factors were decided upon: life satisfaction, planning-discipline, and independence, and there was a positive average correlation between the three factors. The confirmatory factor analysis showed excellent comparative fit index and root mean square error of approximation values, so we conclude that the model has an excellent fit. Also, Cronbach's alpha coefficient used for internal consistency values reported good values. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the key global indicators of the model's fit and reliability analysis express their quality for Portuguese population.

Autorregulação e consumo de substâncias na adolescência / Self-regulation and substance use in adolescence

O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar o papel da autorregulação desenvolvimental na adolescência como fator diferenciador do consumo de tabaco e álcool. Para isso, foi utilizada uma amostra de 407 alunos do Ensino Médio, avaliada com o recurso a um conjunto de questões sobre o consumo destas substâncias e ao Inventário de Autorregulação Adolescente (Moilanen, 2007), um instrumento baseado na teoria desenvolvimental sobre a autorregulação. Os resultados sugerem que a autorregulação é um fator diferenciador entre adolescentes que consomem, ou não, substâncias e a intensidade deste consumo. Adolescentes que consomem tendem a apresentar, consistentemente, pontuações mais baixas na autorregulação a curto e longo-prazo. As limitações e implicações dos resultados são apresentadas e discutidas.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of developmental self-regulation in adolescence as a differentiating factor of tobacco and alcohol use. It was used a sample of 407 high school students, assessed with a number of questions about such substances use and the Adolescent Self-regulatory Inventory (Moilanen, 2007), a developmentally based measure about self-regulation. Results suggest that self-regulation is a differentiating factor between adolescents who use substances and those who not, and the intensity of consumption. Teenagers who use alcohol and tobacco seem to present consistently lower scores in short and long-term self-regulation. The limitations and implications of the results are presented and discussed.

Autorregulação e consumo de substâncias na adolescência / Self-regulation and substance use in adolescence

O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar o papel da autorregulação desenvolvimental na adolescência como fator diferenciador do consumo de tabaco e álcool. Para isso, foi utilizada uma amostra de 407 alunos do Ensino Médio, avaliada com o recurso a um conjunto de questões sobre o consumo destas substâncias e ao Inventário de Autorregulação Adolescente (Moilanen, 2007), um instrumento baseado na teoria desenvolvimental sobre a autorregulação. Os resultados sugerem que a autorregulação é um fator diferenciador entre adolescentes que consomem, ou não, substâncias e a intensidade deste consumo. Adolescentes que consomem tendem a apresentar, consistentemente, pontuações mais baixas na autorregulação a curto e longo-prazo. As limitações e implicações dos resultados são apresentadas e discutidas.(AU)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of developmental self-regulation in adolescence as a differentiating factor of tobacco and alcohol use. It was used a sample of 407 high school students, assessed with a number of questions about such substances use and the Adolescent Self-regulatory Inventory (Moilanen, 2007), a developmentally based measure about self-regulation. Results suggest that self-regulation is a differentiating factor between adolescents who use substances and those who not, and the intensity of consumption. Teenagers who use alcohol and tobacco seem to present consistently lower scores in short and long-term self-regulation. The limitations and implications of the results are presented and discussed.(AU)

Limitations to photosynthesis in coffee leaves from different canopy positions.

Limitations to photosynthesis were explored in leaves from four canopy positions of field-grown, unshaded coffee (Coffea arabica L.), a tropical tree species classified as shade-obligatory. Overall, compared to shade (lower) leaves, sun (upper) leaves had higher net carbon assimilation rate (A) (4.5 against 2.0 micromol m(-2)s(-1) at most) associated with higher electron transport rate (due to a greater irradiance availability) but unrelated to stomatal and mesophyll conductances, which were similar regardless of leaf position. Neither physiological variable directly involved with photosynthetic carbon gain nor those involved with light capture were able to adjust themselves to match the capacity of the photosynthetic machinery to the light supply. We concluded that: (i) there was no major difference in photosynthetic capacity between sun and shade leaves; (ii) the intrinsic low A in coffee was greatly associated with remarkable low diffusive limitations rather than with biochemical or photochemical constraints; and (iii) morphological (e.g., variations in specific leaf area and leaf inclination) or anatomical plasticity should be of greater acclimative value than physiological plasticity as a mean of coffee leaves to respond to changing irradiance.

Morphological and physiological responses of two coffee progenies to soil water availability.

Drought is a major environmental constraint affecting growth and production of coffee. The effects of water supply on growth, biomass allocation, water relations, and gas exchange in two coffee progenies representing drought-tolerant (Siriema) and drought-sensitive (Catucaí) genotypes were compared. They were grown in 12-L pots until 4-months old, when they were submitted to two watering treatments for 60 d: plants receiving either 100% transpired water (control plants) or a fraction (about 40%) of the amount of water transpired by control plants (drought-stressed plants). Under control conditions, Siriema grew faster than Catucaí. Regardless of the watering regimes and progenies, relative growth rate (RGR) was positively correlated both with net assimilation rate (NAR) and long-term water-use efficiency (WUE), but not with differences in biomass allocation. Both progenies responded to drought stress through (i) similar decreases in both RGR and NAR with marginal, if any, changes in allocation; (ii) decreases in leaf water potential, which occurred to a greater extent in Catucaí than in Siriema, even though they have showed similar abilities to adjust osmotically and elastically; (iii) similar reductions in net photosynthesis due mainly to nonstomatal factors; and (iv) decreases in transpiration rate coupled with increased long-term WUE. However, the lower transpiration rate and the higher long-term WUE as found in Siriema relative to Catucaí under control conditions persisted under drought conditions. Overall, the major differences between these progenies were largely associated with differences in plant water use, which was likely related to the improved water status of Siriema. The possible implications of selecting coffee genotypes for high WUE are discussed.

Diurnal variability of rainfall in southwest Amazonia during the LBA-TRMM field campaign of the austral summer of 1999 / Variação diurna da chuva no sudoeste da Amazônia durante a campanha de campo do experimento LBA-TRMM no verão austral de 1999

The TRMM-LBA field campaign was held during the austral summer of 1999 in southwestern Amazonia. Among the major objectives, was the identification and description of the diurnal variability of rainfall in the region, associated with the different rain producing weather systems that occurred during the January-February season. By using a network of 40 digital rain gauges implemented in the state of Rondônia, and together with observations and analyses of circulation and convection, it was possible to identify details of the diurnal cycle of rainfall and the associated rainfall mechanisms. Rainfall episodes were characterized by regimes of "low-level easterly" and "westerly" winds in the context of the large-scale circulation. The westerly regime is related to an enhanced South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) and an intense and/or wide Low Level Jet (LLJ) east of the Andes, which can extend eastward towards Rondônia, even though some westerly regime episodes also show a LLJ that remains close to the foothill of the Andes. The easterly regime is related to easterly propagating systems (e.g. squall-lines) with possible weakened or less frequent LLJs and a suppressed SACZ. Diurnal variability of rainfall during westerly surface wind regime shows a characteristic maximum at late afternoon followed by a relatively weaker second maximum at early evening (2100 Local Standard Time LST). The easterly regime composite shows an early morning maximum followed by an even stronger maximum in the afternoon.

O experimento de campo do TRMM-LBA ocorreu conteceu durante o verão austral de 1999, na região do sudeste de Amazonia. Entre os principais objetivos deste trabalho pode-se citar a identificação e descrição da variabilidade diurna da chuva nesta região, associada a diferentes fenômenos meteorológicos e sistemas de tempo que ocorreram durante o período de Janeiro-Fevereiro. Usando uma rede de 40 pluviômetros instalados no estado de Rondônia, ,juntamente com outras observações de circulação atmosférica e convecção, foi possível identificar detalhes do ciclo diurno de chuva e os mecanismos de circulação associados. Os eventos de chuva foram caracterizados por regimes de vento nos níveis baixos e no contexto da circulação de grande escala: ventos de oeste e de leste. O regime "de oeste" se associa a Zona de Convergência do Atlântico Sul (ZCAS) e a episódios intensos de jatos de baixos níveis ao leste dos Andes (LLJ), que podem estender seus efeitos até Rondônia. Episódios de eventos "de leste" se associam a sistemas meteorológicos que se propagam desde a Foz do Rio Amazonas em direção oeste (e.g. linhas de instabilidade) e podem ser acompanhados por episódios fracos de LLJ e de ZCAS. A variabilidade diurna de chuva durante episódios de circulação "de oeste" apresenta um máximo característico á tarde (1200-1400 hora local) com um máximo secundário á noite (2000-2200 hora local). O regime de circulação "de leste" mostra um máximo á tarde (1200-1400 hora local), precedido de um máximo secundário durante a madrugada (0000-0200 hora local).