The present study developed a Brazilian adaptation of the BAS for young adolescents, testing its factor structure by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), concurrent and criterion validity, and its internal consistency. Participants were 347 adolescents (171 male and 176 female, aged between 10 and 13 years old). Three psychologists experts in psychological evaluation and three teachers of Portuguese of elementary school also participated for the adaptation stage of the items in order to be properly understood by the sample age group. There were few changes from the version culturally adapted for the Brazilian adult population. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were satisfactory for the general population and both sexes (.804; female =.851; male =.752). The one-factor model of the BAS was confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis with good indicators for the measurements of adjustment to the model, χ2 = 77.9; GFI = 0.967; NFI = 0.940, CFI = 0.979; TLI = 0.968; RMSEA;.038). The convergent validity analyzes revealed significant correlations between BAS scores and BMI (r = –.230; p < .001) and between the first and body image satisfaction (r = .309; p < .001). The BAS version for Brazilian young adolescents had adequate levels of validity and reliability, keeping the one-dimensional structure which indicates its use in Brazilian adolescent’s samples.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors are self-injurious behaviors inflicted without intending death. Literature has shown the relationship between stressful life events (SLE) and NSSI behaviors. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Dysregulation Profile (SDQ-DP) is defined as an index of self-regulatory problems, related to higher risk for suicidal ideation and attempts in adolescents. In this study the relationship between SDQ-DP and NSSI behaviors, mediated by SLE in a clinical sample of children and adolescents is analyzed. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 239 subjects (aged from 11 to 17) to test the mediation model. SDQ-DP significantly correlates with NSSI behaviors (Wald = 6.5477, p = .0105); SDQ-DP significantly correlates with SLE (T = 5.7229, p < .001); SLE significantly correlates NSSI behaviors, and the relation remains significant whilst controlling for SDQ-DP (Wald = 4.1715, p = .041); the relation between SDQ-DP and NSSI behaviors stops being significant whilst controlling for the potential mediator (SLE) (Wald = 2.9951, p = .0835). Study of indirect effect supports the mediation model (.0585 CI [.0016, .1266]). Findings are compatible with the complete mediation scenario. These results point out the importance of self-regulatory problems in coping strategies with regards to SLE and the development of NSSI behaviors.

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between adolescents’ life satisfaction and individual and social health assets. A nationally representative sample of 3,494 Portuguese adolescents (mean age = 14.94 ± 1.30 years; 53.6% girls) completed the Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey measuring a variety of health behaviors and beliefs. A sequential regression analysis was conducted with gender, individual assets (academic achievement, social competence, self-regulation and life objectives) and social assets (family support, peer support, parental monitoring and school connectedness) entered in separate steps. A second regression analysis was conducted with social assets entered before individual assets. The final model explained 18.3% of life satisfaction. School connectedness (β = .198, p < .001) and family support (β = .154, p < .001) were the strongest predictors of adolescents’ life satisfaction followed by social competence (β = .152, p < .001), academic achievement (β = .116, p < .001) and self-regulation (β = .064, p < .001). Social assets explained a larger variance of life satisfaction than individual assets when entered first in the regression (r2 = .134 and r2 = .119, respectively, p < .001). When entered last step in the regression analysis, social assets added more to life satisfaction’s variance than when individual assets were added in the last step (r2 = .060 and r2 = .045, respectively, p < .001). These results reinforce the role social interaction and social capital models in the promotion of well-being.

Free time is considered to be a very important aspect of adolescents’ psychosocial development. One of the instruments that has been developed to explore motivation in relation to free time activities is Baldwin and Caldwell’s (2003) Free Time Motivation Scale for Adolescents (FTMS-A), based on Ryan and Deci (2000) Self-Determination Theory. The main aim of this study is to explore the psychometric properties of the FTM S-A after its translation and adaptation to Catalan, administering it to a sample of 2,263 adolescents aged between 11 and 18 (M = 14.99; SD = 1.79) from Catalonia, Spain. To explore structural validity we follow two steps: Firstly, we analyze how the scale fits with the original model by conducting a CFA on the whole sample; secondly, we conduct an EFA on one half of the sample and a CFA on the other half in order to identify which structure best suits the sample. We also analyze convergent validity using three indicators of subjective well-being: The Personal Well-Being Index (PWI), the Satisfaction with Life scale (SWLS) and the Overall Life Satisfaction scale (OLS). The initial CFA produces a 5-factor model like the original, but with goodness of fit indices that do not reach the acceptable minimum. The EFA and the second CFA show a good fit for a 3-dimensional model (χ2(90) = 320.293; RMSEA = .048; NNFI = .92; CFI = .94) comprising introjected motivation, intrinsic motivation and amotivation. The correlations obtained between the FTMS-A and the three measures of subjective well-being scales show an association between free time motivations and this construct. Due to the model of scale used in the present study differs from the original, it is proposed that the new scale structure with 16 items be tested in the future in different cultural contexts.

The present study explored some common thematic domains which characterized workplace bullying stories of adult Italian participants. Emotional Text Analysis was performed on 28 workplace bullying stories in order to detect the main themes (cluster analysis) and latent factors (correspondence analysis) emerging in bullied workers’ narratives. Five thematic domains were detected in the textual corpus (p < .05, at 95% confidence level), which are respectively referred to as: organizational constraints (14.10%), treatment discrimination (10.04%), unjust accusations (30.77%), emotional abuse (14.53%), and job duty changes (30.56%). Four latent factors explained the overall data variance: Sense of precariousness (F1, 34.38% of variance), lack of recognition (F2, 26.35%), feeling of exclusion (F3, 23.01%) and job disengagement (F4, 16.27%). From the emotional experience shaping the relationship between bullied workers and their work environments, this research study allows the identification of some organizational situations that are “at risk” for workplace bullying in order to promote better organizational health.

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) To validate a successful aging model in a Spanish older adult’s sample, and (b) to predict successful aging from psychosocial factors and physical activity. Participants were 725 Spanish older people, of whom 478 were women and 247 men, aged between 55 and 100 years. Of these, 501 were physically active and 197 persons did not practice physical activity. The sample was collected in three areas: Sport centers, day centers and public areas of several Spanish towns. Factorial validity of the Successful Aging Inventory was studied by confirmatory factor analysis, and four multiple regressions to predict each of the dimensions of successful aging (functional performance, intrapsychic factors, gerotranscendence, and spirituality) were estimated. The model of successful aging in Spanish elderly through the Successful Aging Inventory was adequate. The four multiple regressions predicted highly successful aging, with effect sizes of: R2 = .037 for spirituality; .267 for functional performance; .531 for intrapsychic factors; and .356 for gerotrascendece. A main conclusion derived from the results is that older people who do exercise achieve better aging. Another point is that aspects of health and life satisfaction are directly related to better aging while social aspects influence indirectly.

The action property of an object appears to function as an intrinsic part of its mental representation. This phenomenon has been demonstrated in cases where although the grasp response evoked by a visual object is irrelevant to a participant’s task it still appears to be encoded. This is an affordance effect. Recent findings have shown that dangerous objects can modulate the motor system by evoking aversive affordances. However, the way the time course of response activation generated by the dangerous object develops remains unclear. To investigate this process, we used a priming paradigm that varied the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) between a prime and a target. Participants were asked to judge a symbol after presentation of a dangerous object. Results showed a significant congruency effect between the affordance of the ignored object and the requisite response when the SOA was 800 and 1,200 ms, (t(29) = 4.13, p < .001; t(29) = 2.56, p < .05, respectively). However, with briefer SOAs (0 and 400 ms), this congruency effect was not observed (ps > .10). Results indicate the time course of response activation with a dangerous object are relatively long-lasting.

To analyze the mediation effect of perinatal health on the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and postpartum depressive symptoms 180 women filled the Edinburgh Postnatal Depressive Scale (EPDS) at 35 weeks of gestation and two months after childbirth. Perinatal health data was collected during the first 4 days after childbirth, using the Optimality Index. 25.6% of the mothers-to-be presented clinically significant depressive symptoms, and of these, 80.4% still show clinically significant depressive symptoms at 2-months postpartum. Prenatal depressive symptoms predict higher postpartum depressive symptoms. Additionally, results also showed that the effect of prenatal depressive symptoms on postnatal depressive symptoms is not mediated by perinatal health. Mothers-to-be with prenatal depressive symptoms seem to be at risk for postnatal depression, even when perinatal health is not compromised. This highlights the importance of early screening of prenatal depressive symptoms in order to promote an early intervention on women’s mental health, leading to a better transition to parenthood and to a decrease of the burden of this public health problem on children and families.

The main goal of the study is to analyze the metric goodness of the Spanish version of the Adult Prosocialness Scale (Caprara, Steca, Zelli, & Capanna, 2005). Analysis of construct and concurrent validity in two similar samples of young adults, a Spanish sample (target of the adaptation) and an Italian sample (source language), revealed the adequacy of the Spanish version of instrument, with adequate fit of the model in the Spanish group, χ2(96) = 405.28, p = .001, RMSEA = .071, CFI = .94, GFI = .93, and the Italian group χ2(97) = 224.5, p = .001, RMSEA = .075, CFI = .91, GFI = .90. The results also replicated the adequacy of the instrument found in the Italian sample, as the configural and metric invariance was verified in both groups. Analyses of benevolent and power values related to prosociality and differences between genders supported the validity of the scale. In short, the present study confirms the adequacy and sensitivity of the instrument to study prosociality in young adults in a Spanish sample.

The Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) is an ultra-brief measure of well-being designed to track outcome in psychotherapy. This research studied the psychometric properties of the ORS in a Spanish clinical sample. One-hundred and sixty-five adult participants from different primary care centers of the city of Barcelona were recruited. The psychometric properties of the ORS in the sample were explored and described, comparing them to the properties of other instruments already validated in Spain. Our results showed good reliability (α = .91 [.88, .93]; α = .96; test re-test correlations from .61 to .84), good validity (convergent validity correlations with distress and symptoms measures from –.32 to –.76), and good sensitivity to change (pre-post comparison through Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mdnpre = 31.0, Mdnpost = 19.6, z = –7.38, p < .05, r = .42). These results are consistent with previous findings in other countries. We conclude suggesting that the instrument can be applied to monitor outcome in psychotherapy and to test the effectiveness of treatments imparted with Spanish speaking clients. However, further research with the ORS in Spanish could provide more evidence of its psychometric properties.

This study aimed to assess the risks and opportunities associated with Facebook usage and to explore the moderating role of psychosocial (mal)adjustment, nationality and age in these relationships. This correlational study involved a sample of 452 Brazilian and 500 Portuguese youths, aged between 14 and 20 years. Results showed that these youths spent a daily average of 61-120 minutes on Facebook, three to four times per week, displaying a positive attitude towards its use. These characteristics were most notable in the Brazilian youths [t(950) = 5.64, p < .001; t(950) = –5.07, p < .001; and t(950) = – 6.85, p < .001, respectively]. The Portuguese youths ran more risks than the Brazilians [t(950) = 6.36, p < .001], but both youths equally enjoyed the opportunities. In the case of the Portuguese youths, the risks and opportunities were moderated by the frequency of use, in other words “the higher the usage, the more risks and opportunities” (β = –.235 p < .001and β = –.167, p < .001, respectively). The psychosocial adjustment indicators did not moderate the effects of Facebook usage habits in risks and opportunities. The less psychosocially adjusted youths were those who ran more risks and also made the most of the opportunities. The results are discussed in light of the role of psychological, socio-cultural and developmental factors.

The nature of the turnover process calls for the study of more complex relationships among variables beyond simple bivariate or multiple associations between predictors and turnover intentions. The present article aims to examine the predictive value of job demands and resources in the explanation of nurses’ intention to leave the organization and to test the mediating roles of professional burnout and engagement in these relationships, within a Portuguese nursing population. The research models were tested within the scope of the Registered Nurse Forecasting project. Data included the self-report questionnaires of 2,235 Portuguese nurses from 31 hospitals, collected through stratified random sampling procedures. The statistical analyses of the structural models showed that nurses’ participation in hospital affairs, a job resource at the work organization level, was the only significant predictor of nurses´ intention to leave the organization (β = –.45, p < .001). Analyses of the mediation models revealed that the emotional exhaustion symptoms of burnout (β = –.11, p < .001) and job engagement feelings (β = –.15, p < .001) were both significant mediators between nurses’ decisional involvement and their intentions to leave the organization. Results suggest that including nurses in decision-making processes regarding their professional practice policy and environment, and improving nurses’ professional well-being are two crucial strategies to reduce nurses’ turnover intentions.

Visual-motor skill forms an important psycho diagnostic component and is associated with psycho-neurological aspects. The Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test, widely used for the evaluation of this area, is meant for children up to 11 years. In adolescence, the changes associated with puberty generate nonlinear anthropometric development resulting in mild and temporary incoordination. This study investigated the relation between visual-motor development measured by the Bender test and pubertal changes according to the Tanner scale. In all 134 adolescents of both sexes, aged from 10 to 15, who kept routine medical appointments, participated. We used the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test, Raven’s Progressive Matrices Test, and medical chart data. The techniques were applied individually. Pubertal changes were associated with the Bender test results showing higher scores at the G3 stage, the period corresponding to a growth spurt, compared to the G5 stage (p = .007, ES = .187), the post-growth spurt period in boys. Age and gender did not influence the Bender test scores. According to the Raven test, the g intelligence factor, interfered significantly in the visual-motor performance (r = –57%, p < .001). Schooling, repetition of a school year, and developmental problems (p = .002, ES = .156; p = .002, ES = .623; p < .001, ES = .880, respectively) obtained similar results. The Bender Test was sensitive to schooling and maturational problems during adolescence. There was an association between visual-motor development and sexual maturity in male adolescents. Our results indicate the usefulness of the Bender Test at older ages than those used in the test standardization.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is considered a transdiagnostic variable underlying common symptoms (e.g., depressed mood) across various mood disorders. Depressive rumination is one typical and frequent manifestation of RNT and is a well-known vulnerability factor of depression onset, maintenance and recurrence. Due to the time-related constraints in assessment settings and the association of rumination on sadness with diagnosis of depression, the rapid identification of individuals scoring high on this construct may become a useful screening tool in non-clinical samples. The main aim of the present study was to test the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Short Depressive Rumination Scale (SDRS) in a large sample (N = 649). Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported a one-factor model accounting for 75% of variance with an excellent internal consistency (α = .93) in spite of the reduced number of items (4 items). Criterion validity results based on associations with other well-established rumination (sub)scales, age, scores in depression and gender differences, were congruent. The results suggest that the SDRS, the shortest existing scale assessing depressive rumination to our knowledge, can be a useful instrument for a rapid assessment of depressive rumination in community samples.

The investigation of personality using the Rorschach Method has been historically established, however, its proper use requires continuous study, especially in regard to reliability, validity and normative references. This study’s objective was to verify stability indicators of Rorschach (French Approach) through a reassessment (after 15 years) of non-patient adults previously addressed in the normative study by Pasian (1998). A total of 88 adults, aged between 34 and 69 years old, of both sexes, with different socio-economic and educational levels, were reassessed in 2013 in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The responses were independently rated by different judges, with adequate precision. The average results obtained collected in 1998 and 2013 were analyzed to determine if these two sets of data were significantly different from each other (Student’s t test, p ≤ .05) and the following variables were compared: Productivity indices, Apprehension Modes/Location, Formal Quality, Determinants, Contents and Banality. The overall stability level in these variables is considerable (mean r = .28, ± SD = 0.21). We discuss the theoretical approach of the Rorschach method regarding structural aspects of personality and developmental issues in personality assessment.

School performance is a critical aspect of adolescents’ lives. Several factors have an impact on school performance. The aim of this study is to analyze the relevant personal and contextual variables associated with top performance and low achievement in a sample of Portuguese and Spanish adolescent students. The sample included 1,564 adolescents, mean age 14 years old, and was collected from the HBSC (Health Behavior in School-aged Children) survey. The questions in this study covered sociodemographic, health and wellbeing, health-related behaviors, family, school and peers. Results show that students with low performance more frequently have worse social-contextual and personal/health-related indicators, while the opposite is the case for top performers. Student-teacher relationships appeared as the most influential variable on school performance paths, χ2(2) = 328.11, p < .001; but other variables within families, e.g. mother studies, χ2(2) = 50.54, p < .001, and schools, e.g. liking the school, χ2(1) = 16.27, p < .001 and χ2(1) = 22.54, p < .01 (in the low and high student-teacher relationship branches of the decision tree, respectively), as well as some health and wellbeing variables, e.g. health related-quality of life, χ2(2) = 53.58, p < .001, and χ2(2) = 63.86, < .001 (in the low and high student-teacher relationship branches, respectively), appeared significant in the paths.

Medicalizing beliefs about schizophrenia (biogenetic causes and psychiatric labels) are connected to the belief that people with schizophrenia are dangerous and to discriminating intentions towards them. In this research, we draw on the Social Dominance theory and we examine these beliefs as legitimizing myths that are connected to the individuals’ social dominance orientation (SDO) and that legitimize discrimination. In total, 238 Humanities students participated in the current research (Mage = 20.4; SD = 3.03; 107 male and 131 female). A vignette presenting a person with schizophrenia symptoms that offered no labels or explanations about the depicted person’s condition was presented to research participants. A structural equation modeling analysis was carried out, in order to confirm our hypotheses in accordance with social dominance theory. Participants’ social dominance orientation (SDO) was associated with higher endorsement of medicalizing (β = .16, p < .01) and dangerousness beliefs (β = .22, p < .001). In turn, medicalizing beliefs were connected to dangerousness (β = .21, p < .001) and higher discriminating intentions, both for desired social distance (β = .15, p < .05) and for deprivation of sociopolitical rights (β = .14, p < .05). Dangerousness was highly associated with both these measures (β = .28, p < .001 and β = 43, p < .001 respectively) while SDO was not significantly associated with discriminating intentions. Our model showed good fit to the data. This study confirms the role of SDO in schizophrenia stigma and the fact that ideological and power factors underpin the stigma of schizophrenia.

It has been suggested that achieving greater effectiveness in psychotherapeutic treatment requires analyzing what therapists actually do and say, how they do this and when it is done. Based on this approach, in this study we focused on the rules emitted by therapists, since providing rules is thought to be of fundamental importance in promoting effective and efficient clinical change. Specifically, we sought to determine whether the experience level of therapists and the brevity of therapy would be related to patterns of therapist rule emission as categorized by the Category System of Rules emitted by the Therapist (SISC-RULES-T) (Vargas-de la Cruz & Pardo-Cebrián, 2014). Greater therapist experience and shorter therapy duration were found to be reliably predictive of more rule emissions across most rule categories (Z values between: Z = –3.68 and Z = –2.05; p values: p < .05 and p < .001). These variables were also predictive of more emissions of rules that specified all three operant contingency elements (situation, behavior, and consequence) rather than fewer elements (Z = –2.59, p < .05; Z = –2.26, p < .05). In the expert therapists and therapist with shorter cases, there was a nonsignificant tendency for the emission of general and conceptual rules to increase over sessions whereas emissions of concrete and particular rules tended to decrease; the explicitness of the three contingency elements also tended to decrease as treatment progressed. These findings may help to identify verbal characteristics of therapists that could lead to improved therapeutic practice.

Although resilience varies depending on the specific type of adverse situation faced by the individual, to date resilience questionnaires do not consider its situational character. This study aims to develop and validate the Situated Subjective Resilience Questionnaire for Adults (SSRQA), which assesses resilience in five different adverse contexts. A total of 584 Spanish adults (including general population and clinical samples individuals) completed the SSRQA and other measures of resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the SSRQA structure fitted the situational model better (χ2/df = 1.90; CFI = .96; TLI = .95; RMSEA = .07) than the non-situational version (χ2/df = 4.99; CFI = .79; TLI = .76; RMSEA = .15). The SSRQA was shown to be reliable (α = .90) and to be significantly and positively correlated with other resilience measures (p < .001) and, to a lower degree, with optimism and self-efficacy (p < .001). Degree of exposure to each adverse situation was negatively correlated with resilience in the face of that situation (p < .05), supporting a vulnerability to stress model. The SSRQA has been demonstrated to be a reliable and valid situated measure for resilience towards different adverse contexts.

The Protestant work ethic (PWE), or the belief that hard work leads to success, is a popular belief across cultures. Much work indicates that PWE contributes to negative evaluations of disadvantaged groups presumably through the notion that they deserve their disadvantage for not working hard enough (“PWE-Justifier”). But there is another dimension of PWE that expresses the belief that everyone could succeed through hard work (“PWE-Equalizer”). We propose that the PWE-Justifier is meaningful in cultures that emphasize individualism and personal responsibility, but not in others. In a cross-cultural study, we compare how PWE-Justifier relates to evaluations of poor persons in the USA (individualist culture) and the Philippines (low individualist culture). In the USA sample, regression analysis indicated that internal attributions of poverty mediated the relationships of PWE-Justifier with negative stereotypes (R2 = .32) and with negative attitudes towards poor persons (R2 = .13). Bootstrapping analysis indicated that both indirect effects of PWE-Justifier were significant: Negative stereotypes, B = .17, SE = .03, p < .0001, 95% CI [.11, .24]; negative attitudes, B = 2.52, SE = 1.11, p = .014, 95% CI [0.49, 4.84]. The results were not found in the Philippine sample, where instead, PWE-Equalizer negatively predicted negative attitudes (R2 = .05) and positively predicted empathy (R2 = .05) for poor persons. The results are discussed in terms of how the negative consequences of PWE may derive from the cultural syndrome of individualism that emphasizes personal control and responsibility.