Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: There are no validated instruments in Spain for measuring parental feeding styles. The aim was to validate the Parental Feeding Styles Questionnaires (PFSQ) in a Spanish sample. METHOD: A total of 523 mothers of 523 school-children participated. The children had a mean age of 4.4 years (SD = 1.3), with 51% being boys (M = 4.3 years, SD = 1.4) and 49% girls (M = 4.5 years, = SD 1.3). The PFSQ and the Comprehensive General Parenting Styles Questionnaire (CGPQ) were used. RESULTS: A model of four correlated factors was identified: Prompting/encouraging eating, emotional feeding, instrumental feeding, and control over eating. Cronbach's alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.64 to 0.86, and McDonald's Omega coefficient ranged from 0.66 to 0.86. Emotional feeding and prompting/encouraging eating had values above 0.70, control over eating had a value of 0.68 and instrumental feeding had an alpha coefficient of 0.64 and omega coefficient of 0.66. The factor structure was similar to the original and to other adapted versions. The Spanish sample used more control over eating and prompting/encouraging to eat. CONCLUSIONS: The adapted PFSQ is a suitable instrument for assessing the feeding styles of Spanish parents.

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire / Propiedades Psicométricas de la Versión Española del Cuestionario de Estilos deAlimentación Parental

Background: There are no validated instruments in Spain for measuring parental feeding styles. The aim was to validate the Parental Feeding Styles Questionnaires (PFSQ) in a Spanish sample. Method: A total of 523 mothers of 523 school-children participated. The children had a mean age of 4.4 years (SD = 1.3), with 51% being boys (M = 4.3 years, SD = 1.4) and 49% girls (M = 4.5 years, SD = 1.3). The PFSQ and the Comprehensive General Parenting Styles Questionnaire (CGPQ) were used. Results: A model of four correlated factors was identified: Prompting/encouraging eating, emotional feeding, instrumental feeding, and control over eating. Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.64 to 0.86, and McDonald’s Omega coefficient ranged from 0.66 to 0.86. Emotional feeding and prompting/ encouraging eating had values above 0.70, control over eating had a value of 0.68 and instrumental feeding had an alpha coefficient of 0.64 and omega coefficient of 0.66. The factor structure was similar to the original and to other adapted versions. The Spanish sample used more control over eating and prompting/encouraging to eat. Conclusions: The adapted PFSQ is a suitable instrument for assessing the feeding styles of Spanish parents.(AU)

Antecedentes: No hay suficientes instrumentos validados en España para medir los estilos de alimentación parental. El objetivo fue validar el cuestionario de estilos de alimentación Parental (PFSQ) en muestra española. Método: Participaron 523 madres de 523 escolares con una media de edad de 4.4 años (DT = 1.3), siendo el 51% niños (M = 4.3 años, DT = 1.4) y 49% niñas (M = 4.5 años, DT=1.3). Se utilizaron el PFSQ y el cuestionario de estilos de crianza general (CGPQ). Resultados: Se identificó un modelo de cuatro factores correlacionados: persuadirle/animarle a comer, alimentación emocional, alimentación instrumental, y control de la ingesta. El alfa de Cronbach de las subescalas osciló entre 0.64 y 0.86, y el coeficiente omega de McDonald entre 0.66 y 0.86. Alimentación emocional y persuadirle/animarle a comer obtuvieron valores superiores a 0.70, control de la ingesta obtuvo 0.68 y la alimentación instrumental, un coeficiente alfa de 0.64 y un coeficiente Omega de 0.66. La estructura factorial coincide con la versión original y otras versiones adaptadas. La muestra española utilizó más el control de la ingesta y persuadirle/animarle a comer. Conclusiones: El PFSQ es un instrumento adecuado para evaluar los estilos de alimentación de los padres españoles.(AU)

Nonverbal Oro-Motor Exercises: Do They Really Work for Phonoarticulatory Difficulties?

Articulation disorders are deficiencies in the realization of speech sounds unrelated to organic or neurological disorders. Over the last decade, there has been a debate on the efficiency of non-verbal oro-motor exercises, which are orofacial movements programmed and organized in an intentional and coordinated way to control lips, tongue, and soft palate muscles. Of the 122 children evaluated, 52 presented articulatory difficulties. An intervention with nonverbal oro-motor exercises was applied, and children were again assessed following treatment. The results showed no differences between the experimental and control groups, either in the number of sounds that improved after this period or in the severity of difficulties (we categorized those with articulation difficulties in two to six sounds as 'medium' and those with difficulties in articulating more than seven sounds as 'severe'). These results indicated that nonverbal oro-motor exercises alone are not efficient for intervention in difficulties in the realization of sounds in 4-year-old children.

The Role of Regulation and Emotional Eating Behaviour in the Early Development of Obesity.

The purpose of our research was to explore the role of both parents' use of behavioural regulation with food and children's emotional self-regulation in young children with and without overweight/obesity. For this purpose, 123 participants (n = 62 boys and n = 61 girls) were recruited and classified into two groups by their Body Mass Index (BMI, non-overweight vs. overweight/obese) and into two age groups (four years and seven years). The children's parents/primary caregivers completed two scales of the Childhood Obesogenic Behaviours' Questionnaire (COBQ). The participants were measured and weighed to calculate their BMI to identify overweight, obesity, and non-overweight. The results showed that the means for children who were obese/overweight were significantly higher than those of children who were non-overweight for both the parents' behavioural regulation scale (non-overweight: M = 1.80, SD = 0.69; overweight/obesity: M = 2.94, SD = 0.85) and the child's emotional overeating scale (non-overweight: M = 1.47, SD = 0.56; overweight/obesity: M = 2.65, SD = 0.87). No statistically significant differences were found related to age (4 and 7 years), indicating that the potential impact of obesogenic behaviours starts early in development. Similarly, no differences by gender were found. Due to the implications of obesity for physical and mental health, and the high probability of maintaining this overweight status in the long term, family-based interventions to prevent obesity are highly advisable from birth.

Eficacia del entrenamiento en praxias fonoarticulatorias en los trastornos de los sonidos del habla en niños de 4 años / Efficacy of training on phonoarticulatory exercises in speech sound disorders in 4-year-old children

Durante el desarrollo del lenguaje, algunos niños encuentran dificultades para articular fonemas o grupos consonánticos, sin que haya una causa neurológica ni orgánica aparente. El tratamiento de estas dificultades ha comprendido técnicas diversas, otorgando poca importancia a las praxias fonoarticulatorias. Estas praxias consisten en la realización de movimientos programados y organizados de forma intencional y coordinada dirigidos a controlar los músculos faciales y los órganos activos de la articulación, como son lengua, labios y paladar blando. Ante la falta de conocimiento sobre la relevancia de estas praxias para la prevención y tratamiento de las dificultades articulatorias en los trastornos de los sonidos del habla, nos planteamos como objetivo aplicar un programa de intervención en una muestra de niños de 4 años con problemas articulatorios. Para ello, se evaluó a un grupo de 25 niños de 4.6 años de media de edad. De ellos, 15 no tenían adquiridos todos los fonemas, de modo que fueron distribuidos en un grupo de tratamiento (8 niños) y un grupo de control (7 niños). Los niños del grupo de tratamiento se sometieron a un programa de intervención de 2 sesiones semanales de 30-45 min cada una durante un periodo de 3 meses. Finalizado el tratamiento, los 15 niños fueron evaluados de nuevo y se hizo un seguimiento 10 meses después. Los resultados muestran una tendencia a la mejora en el grupo de tratamiento que además se mantiene en los 10 meses posteriores, y esto es especialmente significativo para los niños con alteraciones más graves, es decir, más de 7 fonemas sin producir (AU)

In language development, some children find difficulties in pronouncing certain phonemes or groups of phonemes, in absence of a clear neurological or organic cause. The intervention on these difficulties has implied different techniques, but it has paid little attention to phonoarticulatory exercises. These exercises consist of programmed movements organised in an intentional and coordinated way, and focused in controlling facial muscles and articulatory active organs, such as the tongue, lips and soft palate. As there is little knowledge about the relevance of motor training to prevent and treat articulatory problems in speech sound disorders, our aim was to apply an intervention program in a sample of four-year-olds with these kinds of difficulties. Thus, 25 children with a mean age of 4.6 years were assessed. 15 of them had missing phonemes or groups of phonemes, so they were distributed in a treatment group (8 children) and a control group (7 children). The 8 children in the experimental group underwent an intervention program with two weekly 30-45 minutes sessions for a period of 3 months. Once the treatment was finished, the 15 children were again assessed and a following test was done 10 months afterwards. Results show a trend of improvement, in the experimental group, that remains for the following 10 months, and this is especially significant for the subjects with more severe disorders, that is, with more than seven missing phonemes (AU)

Efectos psicológicos de la práctica del Método Pilates en una muestra universitaria / Psychological effects of the practice of Pilates Method in a university sample

El propósito general de esta investigación fue comprobar los posibles efectos psicológicos de la práctica del Método Pilates y, en particular, las consecuencias sobre el grado de ansiedad experimentado. Éste es un método de entrenamiento físico enfocado a la mejora de la higiene postural y del bienestar psicológico, altamente recomendado en la actualidad por los profesionales sanitarios, tanto para personas con patologías diagnosticadas como con fines preventivos. Hasta el momento se han comprobado los beneficios físicos y psicológicos asociados a la práctica regular de actividad física. Sin embargo, se han realizado pocos estudios sobre los efectos concretos del Método Pilates. En el presente trabajo se examinó la ansiedad (estado y rasgo) en un grupo sedentario y otro grupo practicante habitual de este método (estudiantes, personal y usuarios de las instalaciones deportivas de la Universidad de Murcia, España). Para evaluar la ansiedad se utilizó el Cuestionario de Ansiedad Estado-Rasgo (STAI) de Spielberger, Gorsuch y Lushene (2002). Se discuten las repercusiones que los resultados de este trabajo pueden tener en la promoción de la salud en el ámbito universitario y su contribución a la salud pública

The overall purpose of this research was to test the possible psychological effects of the practice of Pilates and, in particular, the effect on the degree of anxiety experienced. This is a method of physical training aimed at improving postural hygiene and psychological well-being, highly recommended today by health professionals, both for people with diagnosed diseases and for preventive level. So far, the physical and psychological benefits associated with regular physical activity practice have already been demonstrated. However, only a few studies have investigated the specific effects of the Pilates Method. This paper examined the anxiety (state and trait) in a sedentary group and in another group of usual practitioners of this method (staff, students, and users of sports facilities at the University of Murcia, Spain). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) of Spielberger, Gorsuch and Lushene (2002) was used to assess anxiety. The implications that the results of this work can have from the perspective of health promotion in the university are discussed, as well as its contribution to public health