Gender and contextual variations in self-perceived cognitive competence.

School performance and cognitive competence can be conceptualized as social and relational constructs. Thus, we expect their association to vary as a function of other socially-embedded variables which have proven meaningful in the academic domain. The present study takes a critical theory approach to assess gender-related and contextual variability in the association between peer-assessed school performance and self-perceived cognitive competence. The sample consisted of 719 preadolescents (M age = 9.5 years, range = 9 to 12.5 years) living in lower- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods in Montreal, Canada and Barranquilla, Columbia. Multigroup comparisons revealed that (a) peer-assessed school competence was more strongly associated with self-perceived cognitive competence for upper-middle-class than lower-middle-class participants from Barranquilla, whereas the opposite pattern was observed with Montreal participants, and (b) that the association between communal orientation and self-perceived cognitive competence was stronger for girls than for boys across the sample, especially in the upper-middle-class school in Montreal. These findings highlight the nuanced degree of gender differences in preadolescents' perceived academic competence and emphasize the role of SES in shaping self-perceptions.

Intervenciones y estrategias para prevenir y reducir el consumo de alcohol en los jóvenes universitarios / Interventions and strategies to prevent and reduce alcohol consumption in university students

Desde el marco de comprensión de los jóvenes como actores, sujetos de derecho y autónomos, a partir de una revisión realista de la literatura, se buscó recolectar información que permitiera encontrar estrategias en América Latina para favorecer un consumo consciente de alcohol en jóvenes. Método: Se realiza búsqueda en bases de datos y otras fuentes. Resultados: Tras el cribado y selección se incluyeron 13 documentos. Se planteó una teoría de cambio. Conclusiones: Algunas estrategias se identifican con la participación social y el ocio como elementos centrales tanto en lo individual como en lo colectivo. Se reconoce, como la autonomía y la potencialidad de los sujetos para actuar sobre sí son el punto de partida para acompañar las acciones que los jóvenes realizan en la transformación de sus propias vidas y que las estrategias para la disminución del consumo de alcohol en jóvenes deben permitirle reconocerse como sujeto sociohistórico y agente de cambio.(AU)

From the framework of understanding young people as actors, subjects of law and autonomous, based on a Realist review of the literature we sought to collect information that would allow us to find strategies in Latin America to promote conscious consumption of alcohol in young people. Method: A search is made in databases and other sources. Results: After screening and selection, 13 documents were included. A theory of change was raised. Conclusions: Some strategies are identified with social participation and leisure as central elements both individually and collectively. It is recognized, how the autonomy and the potentiality of the subjects to act on themselves are the starting point to accompany the actions that young people carry out in the transformation of their own lives and that the strategies for the reduction of alcohol consumption in young people must allow him to recognize himself as a sociohistorical subject and an agent of change.(AU)

Contextual variations in associations between measures of aggression and withdrawal and functioning with peers: A replication study.

Data from 790 older school-age (Mage = 10.2 years, SD = 1.2 years) girls (N = 427) and boys from Barranquilla, Colombia (N = 449) and Montréal, Canada (N = 331) were used to replicate findings reported by Valdivia et al. (2005). This prior study revealed contextual variations in the association between two measures of social behavior, specifically aggression and withdrawal, and two measures of effective functioning with peers, specifically sociometric preference and friendship. The Montréal participants were primarily from families with European backgrounds. The ethnicity of the participants from Barranquilla can be described as Latinx/Caribbean. Multilevel analyses provided evidence of replication of place differences only for the associations between measures of aggression and sociometric preference. Stronger negative associations were observed between (a) measures of aggression and sociometric preference, (b) measures of withdrawal and sociometric preference, and (c) withdrawal and friendship in peer groups that were high in collectivism. These findings are interpreted as largely replicating the deep structure of the findings from the Valdivia et al. study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychophysiological adjustment to formal education varies as a function of peer status and socioeconomic status in children beginning kindergarten.

The transition to kindergarten can be stressful as children adjust to novel separations from their caregivers and become accustomed to their peer group. A 9-month study of 96 children (Mage  = 5.37 years, SD = 0.42) from Barranquilla, Colombia, assessed socioeconomic differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning across the kindergarten year. Children were from four different classrooms in one school. Saliva samples were collected twice a day across 3 consecutive days at the beginning and end of the school year. We examined whether change in HPA axis activation across the year varied as a function of a child's socioeconomic status (SES) and experience in the peer group. We found that rejected children and lower SES children had lower cortisol levels early in the morning. Rejected children had a flatter morning cortisol slope. Lower SES children had higher cortisol than their higher SES peers at the end of the school year and a flatter morning cortisol slope. Taken together, these findings suggest that diurnal cortisol in children beginning kindergarten may be influenced by both peer rejection and SES.

Síndrome de Currarino: informe de un caso / Currarino’s syndrome: a case report

El síndrome de Currarino es una enfermedad hereditaria rara. La forma completa se caracteriza por la presencia de una malformación ano-rectal (generalmente estenosis), masa presacra y defectos óseos del sacro. El signo más importante es la presencia de estreñimiento desde el nacimiento. Se presenta un paciente de 13 meses de edad que consultó por estreñimiento crónico severo en quien se encontró la presencia de hemisacro y meningocele anterior, ambos hallazgos compatibles con una forma leve del síndrome de Currarino. Se realizó un manejo conservador y se inició polietilenglicol oral (PEG®), con una excelente respuesta al tratamiento. Se hace la presentación del caso junto con la revisión de la literatura actual con el fin de dar a conocer al personal médico la presencia del síndrome, enfatizar en puntos importantes que generen sospecha de su presencia y las diferentes opciones terapéuticas para su manejo.

The Currarino’s syndrome is a rare inherited disorder. The complete form is characterized by the presence of ano-rectal malformation (usually stenosis), presacral mass and bone defects of the sacrum. The most important symptom is the presence of constipation since birth. A 13 month old patient with chronic and severe constipation is presented. Among the studies the presence of hemisacrum and anterior meningocele were found, both findings consistent with a mild form of Currarino’s syndrome. A conservative management with polietilenglycol oral (PEG®), was initiated with an excellent response to treatment. The presentation of the case with a review of current literature is given to the medical staff in order to publicize the syndrome, as well as to emphasize key points that create suspicion of their presence and the different therapeutic options for its approach.