The Role of Inclusion Benefits in Ethics Committee Assessment of Research Studies.

The relationship between risks and benefits is central to the ethics of research involving human participants. Traditionally, to be ethically justifiable, risks should be reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits (if any) to subjects and to the potential social benefits resulting from research. This calculus is being further complicated by findings from an increasing number of social science studies that reveal that prospective and actual research participants frequently describe various types of inclusion benefits (for example, personal benefits such as access to or improved health care, increased knowledge about their disease or condition, and greater solidarity with the local community) as important to them. What is the ethical significance of such inclusion benefits, particularly those nonmedical in nature, for research ethics committees' risk-benefit assessment of research studies? We argue that, unless participants are clearly mistaken in their perceptions, ethics committees should take these types of inclusion benefits into account, and we suggest a few ways this might look in practice.

Social health and dementia: a European consensus on the operationalization of the concept and directions for research and practice.

BACKGROUND: Because the pattern of illnesses changes in an aging population and many people manage to live well with chronic diseases, a group of health care professionals recently proposed reformulating the static WHO definition of health towards a dynamic one based on the ability to physically, mentally and socially adapt and self-manage. This paper is the result of a collaborative action of the INTERDEM Social Health Taskforce to operationalize this new health concept for people with dementia, more specifically the social domain, and to formulate directions for research and practice to promote social health in dementia. METHOD: Based on the expertise of the Social Health Taskforce members (N = 54) three groups were formed that worked on operationalizing the three social health dimensions described by Huber et al.: (1) capacity to fulfil potential and obligations; (2) ability to manage life with some degree of independence; (3) participation in social activities. For each dimension also influencing factors, effective interventions and knowledge gaps were inventoried. After a consensus meeting, the operationalizations of the dimensions were reviewed by the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD). RESULTS: The social health dimensions could be well operationalized for people with dementia and are assessed as very relevant according to the Social Health Taskforce and EWGPWD. Personal (e.g. sense of coherence, competencies), disease-related (e.g. severity of cognitive impairments, comorbidity), social (support from network, stigma) and environmental factors (e.g. enabling design, accessibility) that can influence the person with dementia's social health and many interventions promoting social health were identified. CONCLUSION: A consensus-based operationalization of social health in dementia is proposed, and factors that can influence, and interventions that improve, social health in dementia identified. Recommendations are made for research and practice.

"Family Education and Support" program for families at psychosocial risk: The role of implementation process / El programa de "Formación y apoyo familiar" para familias en situación de riesgo psicosocial: el papel del proceso de implementación

This paper analyses the implementation characteristics of the Family Education and Support program, a theory-driven, needs-based, and evidence-based positive parenting program originally developed for the Andalusian family preservation services. The implementation process of 34 trials of the FAF program with 155 participants was analyzed. Cluster analyses were also performed to explore variability in implementation conditions from a comprehensive perspective. Results showed different implementation profiles that moderated the FAF effectiveness (namely lengthier interventions, higher program fidelity, and practitioners' positive perceptions and satisfaction with the program). The relevance of examining implementation process across several trials is discussed in order to distinguish core and non-core FAF components, as well as the need for combining faithful and adaptable implementations that guarantee the ecologic validity of evidence-based positive parenting programs

Este artículo analiza las características de implementación del programa de 'Formación y apoyo familiar' (FAF). A partir de un análisis de necesidades, con una sólida fundamentación teórica y cumpliendo con los criterios de los programas basados en evidencias, el FAF se aplica en los servicios de preservación familiar de Andalucía para la promoción de la parentalidad positiva. En este artículo se analiza el proceso de implementación de 34 aplicaciones del programa FAF en las que participaron 155 madres. Desde una aproximación integral, se realizó un análisis de clústeres para explorar la variabilidad en las condiciones de implementación. Los resultados mostraron diferentes perfiles de implementación que moderaban la efectividad del programa FAF. Los grupos que mostraron mejores resultados fueron los de más duración, mayor tamaño y los que fueron aplicados con más fidelidad y por profesionales que valoraban muy positivamente el programa. Se discute la utilidad de examinar el proceso de implementación de diferentes aplicaciones del programa para identificar los elementos centrales del mismo y que necesitan ser respetados. Asimismo, se concluye con la necesidad de combinar fidelidad y flexibilidad para asegurar la validez ecológica de los programas de parentalidad positiva basados en la evidencia

Resisting the binarism of victim and agent: Critical reflections on 20 years of scholarship on young women and heterosexual practices in South African contexts.

The last 20 years have seen a proliferation of research, spurred by the imperatives of the HIV epidemic and reportedly high rates of gender-based violence, on heterosexual practices in the South African context. Research has focused on how poverty, age and gender within specific cultural contexts shape sexual agency and provide a context for unequal, coercive and violent practices for young women. This paper takes stock of what we currently 'know' about heterosex and critically reflects on the political and ideological effects of such research, specifically in the light of young women's agency. A primary concern is that efforts to address gender inequality and the normative gender practices that shape inequitable heterosexual practices may have functioned to reproduce the very discourses that underpin such inequalities. The paper 'troubles' the victim-agency binarism as it has been played out in South African research on heterosex, raising concerns about how the research may reproduce gendered, classed and raced othering practices and discourses and bolstered regulatory and disciplinary responses to young women's sexualities. The paper argues for critical, feminist self-reflexivity that should extend to re-thinking methodologies entrenched in frameworks of authority and surveillance.

Taking time seriously: changing practices and perspectives in work/organizational psychology / Tomarse en serio el tiempo: cambios en la praxis y en las perspectivas de la psicología del trabajo y de las organizaciones

Although dedicated to the study of processes in people and organizations, W&O Psychology has shown little sensitivity to the fact that processes happen in time and evolve over time. This paper describes how the field has become more aware of time, after an initial neglect of time, and is now engaged in developing theories and empirically investigating when things happen and how they change. We discuss proposals from Molenaar, Van de Ven, Roe, and colleagues to make our conceptual apparatus better suited to the study of temporal dynamics and to make research methods more sensitive to temporal issues, changing their focus on individual differences to within-person variations. We finish with a discussion of how taking time seriously may lead W&O Psychology to explore new frontiers and to enter new paths in the future which can lead to a better recognition of complexities in organizational behavior (AU)

Aunque se ocupa del estudio de los procesos en las personas y en las organizaciones, la Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones ha mostrado escasa sensibilidad hacia el hecho de que los procesos suceden en el tiempo y evolucionan a lo largo del mismo. Este trabajo describe cómo se ha tomado conciencia del tiempo en este campo después de un periodo inicial de ignorarlo, con una gran implicación actual en el desarrollo de teorías e investigación empírica sobre cuándo ocurren las cosas y cómo cambian. Se comentan las propuestas de Molenaar, Van de Ven, Roe y colaboradores dirigidas a adecuar mejor nuestro aparato conceptual al estudio de la dinámica temporal y a conseguir que los métodos de investigación sean más sensibles a los aspectos temporales, cambiando su enfoque desde las diferencias individuales a las variaciones intra-persona. Se concluye comentando que considerar en serio el tiempo puede hacer que la Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones explore nuevas fronteras y abra nuevas rutas en el futuro que conduzcan a un mejor reconocimiento de las complejidades del comportamiento organizativo (AU)

Risk of bias assessment of clinical trials published in iberoamerican urological journals / Evaluación del riesgo de sesgo en los ensayos clínicos publicados en revistas urológicas iberoamericanas

OBJECTIVES: To assess the risk of bias of clinical trials published in iberoamerican indexed journals from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012. METHODS: We performed a descriptive study based on the clinical trials published from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2012 in the iberoamerican urological journals. We assessed the risk of bias by the Cochrane tool. We used descriptive statistics in Stata 13 and Revman 5.2 to create the risk of bias graphs within and across studies. RESULTS: We identified 41 clinical trials: 21 trials in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology, seven trials in Actas Urológicas Españolas, six trials in Archivos Españoles de Urología, two trials in the Boletin Mexicano de Urología, four trials in Revista Mexicana de Urología and one trial in Revista Urología Colombiana. Most of these trials had unclear risk for the generation of the randomization (selection bias), the allocation concealment (selection bias) and the blinding (performance and detection). There was low risk of bias for incomplete results data (Attrition bias) and selective notification (notification bias). High risk of bias was found in other possible sources of bias, mainly because of low sample size. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the Cochrane risk of bias tool assessment, most of the published trials do not accomplish an adequate description of the methods. We should also be aware that most of the trials lack an adequate sample size calculation that limits the power of these trials. We recommend better description of the methods for randomization, and increasing the sample size to improve the quality of the trials published in urologic iberoamerican journals

OBJETIVO: Evaluar el riesgo de sesgo en los ensayos clínicos publicados en revistas iberoamericanas indexadas desde el 1 de enero del 2008 al 31 de Diciembre del 2012. MÉTODOS: Realizamos un estudio descriptivo basado en los ensayos clínicos publicados en las revistas urológicas iberoamericanas desde el 1 de Enero del 2008 y el 31 de diciembre del 2012. Evaluamos el riesgo de sesgo mediante la herramienta Cochrane. Utilizamos estadísticas descriptivas en Stata 13 y Revman 5.2 para crear gráficas del riesgo de sesgo dentro de los estudios y entre ellos. RESULTADOS: Identificamos 41 ensayos clínicos: 21 ensayos en el International Brazilian Journal of Urology, siete ensayos en Actas Urólogicas Españolas, seis ensayos en Archivos Españoles de Urología, dos en el Boletín Mexicano de Urología, cuatro en la Revista Mexicana de Urología y un ensayo en la Revista Urología colombiana. La mayoría de estos ensayos presentan un riesgo confuso para la generación de la aleatorización (sesgo de selección), la ocultación de la asignación (sesgo de selección) y el enmascaramiento (ejecución y detección). Había un bajo riesgo de sesgo para datos de resultados incompletos (sesgo de abandono) y de notificación selectiva (sesgo de notificación). El alto riesgo de sesgo se encontró en otras posibles fuentes de sesgo, principalmente debido a tamaño muestral bajo. CONCLUSIONES: Basándose en la herramienta Cochrane de evaluación del riesgo de sesgo, la mayoría de los ensayos publicados no llevan a cabo una adecuada descripción de los métodos. También debemos ser conscientes de que la mayoría de los ensayos carecen de un cálculo del tamaño muestral adecuado lo que limita su poder. Recomendamos una mejor descripción de los métodos de asignación aleatoria y aumentar el tamaño muestral para mejorar la calidad de los ensayos publicados en las revistas urológicas iberoamericanas

Análisis del expediente judicial: Evaluación de la validez de la prueba testifical / Analysis of the judicial file: assessing the validity of testimony

En el marco del enfoque holístico para la evaluación de la prueba testifical (HELPT), el presente trabajo describe un protocolo para el análisis de toda aquella información susceptible de ser extraída de un expediente judicial, a la luz de los conocimientos del procesamiento heurístico de la información, y del análisis de los factores de influencia de las declaraciones desde la Psicología del Testimonio. El objetivo es brindar una sistematización de los tópicos que pudieran explorarse en un expediente, ya sea como parte de un peritaje directo o como un metaperitaje, extrayendo el máximo de información no sesgada a fin de establecer las hipótesis relevantes del caso y valorar los posibles factores de influencia

Under the holistic approach to the assessment of testimony (HELPT), this paper describes a protocol for the analysis of all the information that can be extracted from a judicial file, regarding the knowledge of heuristic principles and psychology of testimony. The aim is to provide a systematization for expert reports about the topics that could be explored in a file, extracting the maximum unbiased information to establish the relevant hypotheses of the case and evaluate possible factors of influence

Distance to the object and social representations: replication and further evidences

Distance to the object is a new approach that highlights the complex nature of the link between groups and social representations. It is composed of three elements: knowledge, involvement, and level of practices associated with the social object. This study aims to replicate a previous study that has demonstrated the validity of distance to the object in order to explore social representations of cannabis. We carried out a research on the social representations of cocaine. Respondents (n = 200) completed a questionnaire including opinions related to cocaine and constitutive elements of the distance to cocaine. The regression analysis on the representational dimensions revealed a significant effect of the distance variable on two dimensions (social facilitator, addiction and social dangerousness). The groups that were «distant» from the object showed stronger adherence to the normative component than to the functional component of SR, in opposition to those who were «close» to the object. The concept of distance to the object is thus heuristic as it offers an integrative grid of reading that permits to understand and highlight the link individuals maintain with a social representation (AU)

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Organizational citizenship behaviour in schools: validation of a questionnaire

The present study examines the psychometric properties (including factorial validity) of an organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) scale in a school context. A total of 321 middle and high school teachers from 59 schools in urban and rural areas of central Portugal completed the OCB scale at their schools. The confirmatory factor analysis validated a hierarchical model with four latent factors on the first level (altruism, conscientiousness, civic participation and courtesy) and a second order factor (OCB). The revised model fit with the data, χ2/gl = 1.97; CFI = .962; GFI = .952, RMSEA = .05. The proposed scale (comportamentos de cidadania organizacional em escolas- Revista CCOE-R)- is a valid instrument to assess teacher’s perceptions of OCB in their schools, allowing investigation at the organizational level of analysis (AU)

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Fiabilidad de los cuestionarios utilizados en ciencias de la salud / Reliability of the questionnaires used in the health sciences

La entrevista al paciente es una de las actividades más frecuentes en la actividad biomédica. Es necesario ayudarse de herramientas que faciliten la recolección de los datos de una forma oportuna. Esta es una de las razones por la que se utilizan cuestionarios. No obstante, para que un cuestionario, pueda ser considerado útil, existen ciertas características que debe cumplir, como es su validez y fiabilidad. La consistencia interna, el test retest y la fiabilidad inter-observador son pruebas que demuestran que un cuestionario es fiable. Todas ellas deben ser demostradas con el fin de asegurar que los valores obtenidos son repetibles. Por esta razón, estas propiedades deberían ser comprobadas en cada muestra de estudio para asegurar la bondad de los resultados y apoyar la evidencia existente de que es una buena herramienta de medida o no

The interview is one of the most frequently used strategies in health research. Tools which help to obtain accurate data are essential. This is why questionnaires are used. However, a questionnaire is considered useful only if it has certain characteristics such as validity and reliability. Internal consistency, test- retest and inter-observer reliability are evidence that a questionnaire is reliable. All of the above must be demonstrated in order to ensure reproducible results. These properties should be tested in each study sample, to ensure the reproducibility of the results and support the existing evidence that the tool is a good measurement or not