Academic performance, emotional intelligence, and academic burnout: A cross-sectional study of a mediational effect in nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Course failure arises as the ultimate result of students' declining academic performance in the face of high course demands. It can eventually lead to dropout and academic dissatisfaction. Emotional intelligence may play an essential role in decreasing the emotional effects of stress, such as academic burnout in nursing students. However, emotional intelligence is conceptualized multidimensionally, and each of its attributes may have a different impact on burnout reduction. OBJECTIVE: To explore the dimensions of emotional intelligence that may mediate the association between academic performance (course failure) and academic burnout in nursing students. DESIGN: The design was cross-sectional, with survey-based data collection. SETTINGS: Educational setting, undergraduate nursing students at a private university in Metropolitan Lima, Peru. PARTICIPANTS: 154 students (77.3 % female) with a mean age of 25.9 years. METHODS: A multiple mediation strategy was used, using the Wong-Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Four emotional intelligence attributes (self-emotional appraisal, others' emotional appraisal, use of emotion, and regulation of emotion) were evaluated in the relationship of failed courses (dichotomous variable: yes/no) and academic burnout (single item based on physical and emotional exhaustion). The structural equation modeling framework was used. RESULTS: Course failure (academic performance) positively affects academic burnout. Regulation of emotion is the only dimension of emotional intelligence mediating between course failure and academic burnout. The proportion of the mediating effect was 0.315, while the rest was around zero. Statistically significant gender differences were detected concerning burnout, with men scoring moderately higher than women. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the regulation of emotion may have a relevant role in reducing burnout compared to other emotional intelligence attributes. These regulatory skills are important for developing health care and positive patient relationships. Interventions focused on the regulatory characteristics of emotions and distinguishing different attributes of emotional intelligence while exploring its mediating effect should be strengthened. These implications are linked to the growing call to include EI in university education.

Review of the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Spanish version in a sample of Puerto Rican workers.

Background: This study aimed to examine the internal structure and assess the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in a Puerto Rican sample of workers. This instrument is a nine-item questionnaire, which was conceptualized as a unidimensional structure; however, there are mixed results regarding this internal structure. This measure is used in the occupational health psychology context in organizations in Puerto Rico; nevertheless, there is little evidence of its psychometric properties with samples of workers. Materials and methods: A total of 955 samples from two different study samples were used in this cross-sectional study design in which the PHQ-9 was used. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis, bifactor analysis, and random intercept item factor analysis to examine the internal structure of the PHQ-9. Moreover, a two-factor model was examined by randomly assigning items to the two factors. Measurement invariance across sex and the relationship with other constructs were examined. Results: The best-fitted model was the bifactor model followed by the random intercept item factor. The five sets of two-factor models with items randomly assigned obtained acceptable and similar fit indices regardless of the items. Conclusion: The results suggest that the PHQ-9 appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure depression. The more parsimonious interpretation of its scores, for now, is a unidimensional structure. Comparison across sex appears to be useful in occupational health psychology research settings since the results suggest that the PHQ-9 is invariant regarding this variable.

Psychometric properties of the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) in a sample of workers.

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the GAD-7 by obtaining evidence of internal structure (dimensionality, precision and differential functioning of items) and association with external variables. Methods: A total of 2,219 protocols from three different studies conducted with Puerto Rican employees that administered the GAD-7 were selected for the current study. Item response theory modeling was used to assess internal structure, and linear association with external variables. Results: The items were adapted to a graduated response model, with high similarity in the discrimination and location parameters, as well as in the precision at the level of the items and in the total score. No violation of local independence and differential item functioning was detected. The association with convergent (work-related rumination) and divergent (work engagement, sex, and age) variables were theoretically consistent. Conclusion: The GAD-7 is a psychometrically robust tool for detecting individual variability in symptoms of anxiety in workers.

Medical outcomes study social support survey (MOS-SSS) in patients with chronic disease: A psychometric assessment.

Purpose: Currently, information on the psychometric properties of the Medical outcomes study-social support survey (MOS-SSS) for patients with chronic disease in primary health care, suggests problems in the dimensionality, specifically predominant unidimensionality in a multidimensional measure. The aim of this study was to determine the internal structure (dimensionality, measurement invariance and reliability) and association with other variables. Methods: A total of 470 patients with chronic disease from a Family Medicine Unit at the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS, with a mean age of 51.51 years were included. Participants responded to the Questionnaire of Sociodemographic Variables (Q-SV), SF-36 Health-Related Quality of Life Scale-version 1.1, and MOS-SSS. Results: Non-parametric (Mokken scaling analysis) and parametric (confirmatory factor analysis) analyses indicated unidimensionality, and three-factor model was not representative. A new 8-item version (MOS-S) was developed, where measurement invariance, equivalence with the long version, reliability, and relationship with the SF-36 were satisfactory. Conclusion: The MOS-SSS scale is unidimensional, and the shortened version yields valid and reliable scores for measuring social support in patients with chronic disease at the primary health care.

Conclusiones imprecisas respecto a la confiabilidad de la Florida Patient Acceptance Survey / Indeterminate conclusions as regards the reliability of the Florida Patient Acceptance Survey

Señor Editor En un estudio reciente1 se obtienen evidencias psicométricas del Florida Patient Acceptance Survey, FPAS2, una medida útil para la investigación científica y la práctica clínica. No obstante, existen imprecisiones en sus conclusiones de la confiabilidad, que pueden conducir a un insostenible optimismo sobre su uso. La presente carta señala estos puntos y presenta respaldo analítico para fundamentarlos mediante varios métodos estadísticos, que incluyen una prueba de contraste para dos coeficientes alfa independientes, magnitud de la diferencia entre ambos coeficientes e intervalos de confianza. Los autores obtienen una confiabilidad del puntaje total igual a 0.724 (n=126), y declaran cualitativamente que este alcanza un nivel aceptable de acuerdo con el criterio de George y Mallery; también afirman que este resultado es similar al estudio original (alfa=0.83). Sin embargo, con la aplicación del método de Feldt3 para contrastar estadísticamente ambas estimaciones se halló que existe una diferencia estadísticamente significativa (χ2=8.743, gl=1, p 0.003). Este resultado contrasta seriamente con la afirmación de similaridad que los autores hacen. Para detallar más esta discrepancia se puede calcular el tamaño de esta diferencia. En la métrica de diferencias estandarizadas4, entre ambas hay una distancia de 0.331 (método Lui-Weng5), lo que puede sugerir una diferencia pequeña4; pero dado que el nivel de confiabilidad es apenas aceptable y el impacto en la precisión del puntaje es clínicamente importante, la diferencia entre ambas puede nominarse como grande, y el coeficiente alfa del estudio de Castillo es inferior, no similar, al estudio original

Escala de inteligencia Emocional Wong-Law (WLEIS) en estudiantes de Enfermería peruanos / Wong-Law Emotional Intelligence Scale in peruvian Nursing students

Introducción: Los profesionales de enfermería muestran mayores prevalencias de desgaste profesional emocional, por lo que contar con instrumentos válidos y fiables que permitan conocer su inteligencia emocional es una prioridad. Objetivos: Evaluar la validez de constructo del WLEIS en enfermeros en formación de su carrera en contexto peruano, así como examinar la ausencia de sesgo, identificar el nivel de varianza verdadera e interpretar las puntuaciones en base a correlaciones divergentes y convergentes con otros constructos. Métodos: Se le aplicaron una serie de instrumentos a una muestra de 154 estudiantes universitarios de Lima (Perú), con el fin de alcanzar los objetivos: WLEIS de inteligencia emocional; GAD-2 de ansiedad; PHQ-2 de depresión, SISE para la autoestima y SIMSS para evaluar el apoyo social tangible. Resultados: De acuerdo al análisis realizado, se indicó que el instrumento tiene una adecuada validez para expresar conductas específicas del modelo de inteligencia emocional, así como aceptables propiedades psicométricas respecto a la estructura interna, confiabilidad y relación con otros constructos. Conclusiones: El instrumento puede ser una herramienta importante para conocer la inteligencia emocional en profesionales de la enfermería peruanos. Las implicaciones en materia de prevención y creación de tratamientos de intervención en función de los resultados obtenidos en el instrumento que ha demostrado ser apropiado psicométricamente, podrían permitir mejorar la calidad de vida de dichos profesionales(AU)

Introduction: Nursing professionals show higher prevalence figures of emotional professional burnout, so having valid and reliable instruments that allow knowing their emotional intelligence is a priority. Objectives: To evaluate the construct validity of the Wong-Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) in nurses in their major training in Peruvian context, as well as to examine the absence of bias, identify the level of true variance, and interpret the scores based on divergent and convergent correlations with other constructs. Methods: A series of instruments were applied to a sample of 154 university students from Lima, Peru, in order to reach the objectives. Those instruments were the WLEIS for emotional intelligence, the 2-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 for depression, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale, and the Single Item Measure of Social Support. Results: According to the analysis, the instrument was indicated to have an adequate validity to express specific behaviors of the emotional intelligence model, as well as acceptable psychometric properties regarding the internal structure, reliability and relationship with other constructs. Conclusions: The instrument can be an important tool to know the emotional intelligence of Peruvian nursing professionals. The implications in terms of prevention and creation of intervention treatments based on the results obtained in the instrument that has been shown to be psychometrically appropriate could make it possible to improve the quality of life of these professionals(AU)