More Kindness, Less Prejudice against Immigrants? A Preliminary Study with Adolescents

Prejudice against immigrants is a relevant research topic within social psychology. Researchers identified several individual variables affecting anti-immigrant prejudice, such as morality and personality. However, until now, prejudice has never been studied in relation to kindness, which might be a significant protective factor against prejudice. Based on Kohlberg's theory of moral judgement, four stage dimensions of kindness were identified, from egocentric to authentic kindness (i.e., a means for social progress and improvement). This study aims to explore the relationship between the four kindness dimensions and blatant and subtle prejudice against immigrants in adolescence, by also considering the moderating role of adolescents' sex. It involved 215 Italian participants (77% girls), who were asked to fill in a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that boys scored higher on egocentric kindness than girls, but no sex differences emerged for prejudice. Egocentric and extrinsically motivated kindness appeared to be risk factors for prejudice, whereas the most authentic form of kindness was a protective factor. In addition, adolescents' sex moderated the relationship between egocentric kindness and blatant prejudice, whereby this association was stronger for boys. The implications of these findings, the study's limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed

A modern network approach to revisiting the positive and negative affective schedule (PANAS) construct validity

Introduction: The factor structure of the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS) is still a topic of debate. There are several reasons why using Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) for scale validation is advantageous and can help understand and resolve conflicting results in the factor analytic literature. Objective: The main objective of the present study was to advance the knowledge regarding the factor structure underlying the PANAS scores by utilizing the different functionalities of the EGA method. EGA was used to (1) estimate the dimensionality of the PANAS scores, (2) establish the stability of the dimensionality estimate and of the item assignments into the dimensions, and (3) assess the impact of potential redundancies across item pairs on the dimensionality and structure of the PANAS scores. Method: This assessment was carried out across two studies that included two large samples of participants. Results and Conclusion: In sum, the results are consistent with a two-factor oblique structure.Fil: Flores Kanter, Pablo Ezequiel. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Garrido, Luis Eduardo. Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra; República DominicanaFil: Moretti, Luciana Sofía. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra; República Dominicana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Medrano, Leonardo. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra; República Dominicana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Propensión al riesgo en deportistas de Córdoba, Argentina

Risk propensity is a decision which entails either becoming involved in – or avoiding risks. Risk propensity has a general and specific aspect. The premise is that risk propensity has to encompass several domains and a temporal dimension. The level of propensity, situational demand, gender, age and past experience produce inconsistency in risk approaches. An instrumental study was developed to adapt the Risk Taking Index (RTI) in athletes from Córdoba, Argentina. The RTI is a simple and short measure with a Likert response format where people must rate their risk propensity in the present and past in six domains. In addition, differences between groups were performed, based on socio-demographic and sports variables, as well as correlation analysis between risk propensity and sports injuries occurrence. First, it was found that the RTI is a valid and consistent scale for assessing risk propensity in athletes. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the fit of the data to the theoretical model is satisfactory and reliability analysis showed high rates. Secondly, differences in risk propensity were found based on sex, age, and sports modality, as well as an interaction effect between these variables. Thirdly, small and positive associations were found between risk propensity and occurrence of both current and past sports injuries. In the future, it is suggested to evaluate differences between groups contemplating the type of sport, analizing risk in risky sports and delving into the study of this variable in the sports populationLa propensión al riesgo es una decisión acerca de involucrarse o evitar los riesgos; tiene un aspecto general y otro específico. La premisa es que debe abarcar varios dominios y evaluarse temporalmente, ya que las inconsistencias en las aproximaciones al riesgo pueden deberse al nivel de propensión, las demandas de la situación, sexo, edad y experiencia pasada. El objetivo del estudio fue adaptar a deportistas cordobeses el índice de toma de riesgos; una medida simple y corta con formato de respuesta Likert donde las personas deben puntuar su frecuencia de asunción de riesgos en el presente y pasado en seis dominios distintos y, además, realizar análisis de diferencias entre grupos en función de variables socio-demográficas y deportivas, así como análisis de correlación entre las variables propensión al riesgo y ocurrencia de lesiones deportivas. Primero, el índice de toma de riesgos es una escala válida y consistente para evaluar propensión al riesgo en deportistas; el análisis factorial confirmatorio indicó que el ajuste de los datos al modelo teórico planteado es satisfactorio. La confiabilidad mostró índices elevados. Segundo, se hallaron diferencias en la propensión al riesgo en función del sexo, la edad y la modalidad deportiva, así como un efecto de interacción entre estas variables. Tercero, se encontraron correlaciones bajas y positivas entre propensión y ocurrencia de lesiones deportivas. Se sugiere, a futuro, evaluar diferencias entre grupos contemplando el tipo de deporte, analizar esta variable en deportes de riesgo y profundizar el estudio de esta variable en población deportiva

Impact of bronchiolitis guidelines publication on primary care prescriptions in the Italian pediatric population

In Italy, two clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of bronchiolitis were published in October 2014 and December 2015. We evaluated prescriptions for bronchiolitis in children aged 0\u201324 months before (December 2012\u2013December 2014), in between (December 2014\u2013December 2015) and after (December 2015\u2013December 2018) the guidelines publications. Data were retrieved from the Pedianet database; the measured outcomes were prescriptions rates of antibiotics, corticosteroids, \u3b22-agonists, and other respiratory drugs. In 1011 out of 1581 episodes, patients received at least one treatment, with a total of 2003 prescriptions. The rate of treated bronchiolitis decreased from 66% to 57% (p < 0.001) after the publication of the second guideline; the highest reduction was in younger patients (from 57% to 44%, p = 0.013). Overall antibiotic prescriptions rate did not change, with 31.6% of the patients still receiving them. Our results confirm unnecessary non-evidence-based treatments in the primary care setting, with few changes after the guidelines publications

Assessing the burden of bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infections in children ≤24 months of age in Italy, 2012–2019

BackgroundBronchiolitis is the most common lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children and is mainly caused by the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Bronchiolitis presents seasonally and lasts about five months, usually between October to March, with peaks of hospitalizations between December and February, in the Northern Hemisphere. The burden of bronchiolitis and RSV in primary care is not well understood.Materials and methodsThis retrospective analysis used data from Pedianet, a comprehensive paediatric primary care database of 161 family paediatricians in Italy. We evaluated the incidence rates (IR) of all-cause bronchiolitis (ICD9-CM codes 466.1, 466.11 or 466.19), all-cause LRTIs, RSV-bronchiolitis and RSV-LRTIs in children from 0 to 24 months of age, between January 2012 to December 2019. The role of prematurity (<37 weeks of gestational age) as a bronchiolitis risk factor was evaluated and expressed as odds ratio.ResultsOf the 108,960 children included in the study cohort, 7,956 episodes of bronchiolitis and 37,827 episodes of LRTIs were recorded for an IR of 47 and 221 x 1,000 person-years, respectively. IRs did not vary significantly throughout the eight years of RSV seasons considered, showing a seasonality usually lasting five months, between October and March, while the peak of incidence was between December and February. Bronchiolitis and LRTI IRs were higher during the RSV season, between October and March, regardless of the month of birth, with bronchiolitis IR being higher in children aged <= 12 months. Only 2.3% of bronchiolitis and LRTI were coded as RSV-related. Prematurity and comorbidity increased the risk of bronchiolitis; however, 92% of cases happened in children born at term, and 97% happened in children with no comorbidities or otherwise healthy.ConclusionsOur results confirm that all children aged <= 24 months are at risk of bronchiolitis and LRTI during the RSV season, regardless of the month of birth, gestational age or underlying health conditions. The IRs of bronchiolitis and LRTI RSV-related are underestimated due to the poor outpatient epidemiological and virological surveillance. Strengthening the surveillance system at the paediatric outpatient level, as well as at the inpatient level, is needed to unveil the actual burden of RSV-bronchiolitis and RSV-LRTI, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of new preventive strategies for anti-RSV