Format validation of the PHQ-15 questionnaire version for the Mexican population to assess psychosomatic symptoms

Psychosomatic symptoms are physical manifestations of psychological origin that are not adequately explained by organic causes. For this reason, it is difficult to differentiate them from other conditions, so health sciences must consider their diagnosis and research on them a priority. The PHQ-15 (Patient Health Questionnaire) is an instrument that allows its diagnosis through a list of 15 psychosomatic symptoms. The purpose of this research was to validate the PHQ-15 for the Mexican adult population, obtaining indicators of reliability, construct, and convergent validity. First, the instrument was translated and culturally adapted. This version was evaluated by mental health specialists and doctors. The PHQ-15 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were applied to 420 Mexican participants through an online survey. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed that rectified the unifactorial structure. The results showed acceptable fit indicators and a significant contribution of all the reagents to the model. The correlations between the PHQ-15 and the HADS showed a directly proportional relationship between psychosomatic symptoms with depression and anxiety, which provides evidence of convergent validity. Regarding internal consistency, it showed adequate levels of reliability

Validación de la Escala Corta de Empatía (ECE) para población mexicana

Díaz-Loving et al. (1986) diseñaron la Escala Multidimensional de Empatía (ease), un instrumento culturalmente válido para población mexicana inspirado en la estructura conceptual del Índice de Reactividad Interpersonal (iri) (Davis, 1980). En esta investigación presentamos evidencias de validez y confiabilidad de la Escala Corta de Empatía (ece), una versión breve de la ease aplicada a 674 participantes (50.8 % mujeres) mexicanos (m = 22.8 años, de = 9.2), además del iri, preguntas de conductas prosociales y el Inventario de Personalidad de diez ítems como criterios externos de validez. El análisis factorial exploratorio mostró tres factores —malestar personal, toma de perspectiva y compasión— con niveles de confiabilidad adecuados. El análisis factorial confirmatorio verificó la estructura con indicadores de bondad de ajuste aceptables, obteniendo evidencias de equivalencia estructural para mujeres y hombres. Las relaciones de los tres factores de ece con prosocialidad, personalidad y sexo proporcionan criterios de validez externa del instrumento

Need for approval from others and face concerns as predictors of interpersonal conflict outcome in 29 cultural groups

The extent to which culture moderates the effects of need for approval from others on a person's handling of interpersonal conflict was investigated. Students from 24 nations rated how they handled a recent interpersonal conflict, using measures derived from face-negotiation theory. Samples varied in the extent to which they were perceived as characterised by the cultural logics of dignity, honour, or face. It was hypothesised that the emphasis on harmony within face cultures would reduce the relevance of need for approval from others to face-negotiation concerns. Respondents rated their need for approval from others and how much they sought to preserve their own face and the face of the other party during the conflict. Need for approval was associated with concerns for both self-face and other-face. However, as predicted, the association between need for approval from others and concern for self-face was weaker where face logic was prevalent. Favourable conflict outcome was positively related to other-face and negatively related to self-face and to need for approval from others, but there were no significant interactions related to prevailing cultural logics. The results illustrate how particular face-threatening factors can moderate the distinctive face-concerns earlier found to characterise individualistic and collectivistic cultural groups

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions

El discurso del miedo: por qué nos convence más la emoción que la razón.

El discurso del miedo consiste en comunicar riesgos asegurándonos que hay algo que temer, con una narrativa de control que asegura mantenernos a salvo a través de cierta intervención. Este discurso, masificado a través de las redes y los medios de comunicación masiva, tiene una predominancia de contenido emocional por encima del contenido racional. Se recurre al miedo como una fuente pode-rosa de persuasión por cuanto vuelve saliente nuestra vulnerabilidad, activa el deseo de sobrevivir y aumenta las decisiones rápidas no fundamentadas en un pensamiento central y cuidadoso. El obje-tivo de este artículo consiste en abordar, desde la literatura de la psicología social, cómo funciona la persuasión a través del miedo, de qué forma activa heurísticos y rutas periféricas y sus efectos en la toma de decisiones. Partiendo de esta literatura, se analiza un ejemplo de mensajes políticos sobre un gobernante mexicano, su contenido y sus repercusiones en el electorado. Finalmente, se discute la forma en que las personas reciben la información y se cuestiona el papel pasivo que se les ha asig-nado, donde se las asume como meros recipientes, y no agentes transformadores. De igual forma, se discuten los límites del discurso del miedo.The discourse of fear consists on communicating risks, assuring us that there is something to fear, with a narrative of control that ensures that we are kept safe through a certain intervention. This mass discourse through networks and mass media has a predominance of emotional content over rational content. Fear is used as a powerful source of persuasion as it makes our vulnerability salient, activates the desire to survive, and increases snap decisions not grounded in careful, central thinking. The objective of this article is to address, from the literature of social psychology, how persuasion through fear works, how it activates heuristics and peripheral routes, and the effects it has on decision-making. From this literature, an example of political messages about a Mexican ruler, its content and its repercussions on the electorate is analyzed. Finally, the way in which people receive information is discussed and the passive role assigned to them is questioned, where they are assumed as mere recipients and not transforming agents. In the same way, the limits of the discourse of fear are discussed

Creación de disonancia cognoscitiva a partir de una Premisa Histórico Sociocultural de la pareja

The historical-sociocultural premises (PHSC's) are norms and beliefs that regulate the behavior of a particular culture and are transmitted from generation to generation. In the couple, a premise in Mexico is that "The commitment gives formality to the couple relationship." However, individuals do not passively receive PHSCs, modify or contradict them with their actions, which can create cognitive dissonance. So, dissonance occurs when two incongruous cognitions coexist in an individual. This can occur due to the arrival of new information or to transgress a cultural norm. The objective of the study is to verify if the opinion against attitudinal about PHSC`s about the commitment in couple relationships causes cognitive dissonance in individuals, measured as anxiety. An experiment was designed where the PHSC was manipulated on the couple relationship that the individuals received and the status of the source from: 2 (PHSC: Concordant / Contra attitudinal) x 2 (Source of high and low status). State anxiety was measured as a dependent variable and the level of commitment of the participants in their partner relationship was measured as a covariate. 41 individuals participated. The results showed in the low-status source group, participants with a concordant PHSC were more concerned, while those who received a counter-attitudinal PHSC were calmer. In the first group, dissonance was created due to two incongruous cognitions (educational level and thinking like a low-status source), which affected their self-concept. While the condition of high status article did not generate differences.Las premisas histórico-socioculturales (PHSC´s) son normas y creencias que regulan el comportamiento de una cultura en particular y se transmiten de generación en generación. En la pareja, una premisa en México es que “El compromiso da formalidad a la relación de pareja”. Sin embargo, los individuos no reciben pasivamente las PHSC´s, las modifican o las contradicen con sus acciones lo que puede crear disonancia cognoscitiva. Entonces, la disonancia ocurre cuando coexisten dos cogniciones incongruentes en un individuo. Esto puede ocurrir por la llegada de nueva información o por trasgredir una norma cultural. El objetivo del estudio es comprobar si la opinión contra actitudinal sobre PHSC`s acerca del compromiso en las relaciones de pareja ocasiona disonancia cognoscitiva en los individuos, medida como ansiedad. Se diseñó un experimento donde se manipuló la PHSC sobre la relación de pareja que los individuos recibían y el estatus de la fuente proveniente: 2 (PHSC: Concordante/ Contra actitudinal) x 2 (Fuente de alto y bajo estatus). Como variable dependiente se midió la ansiedad estado y como covariante el nivel de compromiso de los participantes en su relación de pareja. Participaron 41 individuos. Los resultados mostraron en el grupo de fuente de bajo estatus los participantes con una PHSC concordante se mostraron más preocupados, mientras que los que recibieron una PHSC contra actitudinal estuvieron más tranquilos. En el primer grupo se creó disonancia debido a dos cogniciones incongruentes (nivel educativo y pensar igual que una fuente de bajo estatus) lo que afectó su autoconcepto. Mientras que la condición de artículo de alto estatus no generó diferencias

Fear of Negative Social Evaluation: Construct and Criterion Validity of the Measurement Instrument

El Instrumento de Temor a la Evaluación Social Negativa (ITESN) ha mostrado evidencias de validez y confiabilidad al utilizarse en muestras culturalmente distintas y al traducirse a diferentes idiomas (Duke et al., 2006; Gallego, 2010; Gallego et al., 2007; Weeks et al., 2005; Tavoli et al., 2009). Dada la relevancia del estudio de la ansiedad y fobia social, y con la intención de aportar herramientas para estudiar estas variables en muestras mexicanas, este proyecto presenta evidencias de validez y confiabilidad de una traducción al castellano del ITESN (Leary, 1983) en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios de Ciudad de México. Se realizaron análisis de discriminación de reactivos, factoriales exploratorios y factoriales confirmatorios mediante modelamiento de ecuaciones estructurales. Los resultados muestran una estructura unifactorial que agrupa ocho de los doce reactivos del instrumento original, explica el 53.8 % de la varianza total y muestra consistencia interna adecuada (α = 0.88). Se obtienen evidencias de validez de criterio del ITESN, así: a) se asocia positivamente con el Instrumento de Ansiedad Rasgo y b) mediante un procedimiento experimental, se observan asociaciones positivas entre el ITESN y mediciones de ansiedad estado y motivación de autopresentación ante la expectativa de conocer a otra persona. Se discute el funcionamiento de los cuatro reactivos redactados de forma negativa y la interpretación teórica de las relaciones que respaldan la validez de criterio.The Brief fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE) has shown good validity and reliability properties in different cultural samples, as well as when it has been translated to other languages (Duke et al., 2006; Gallego, 2010; Gallego et al., 2007; Weeks et al., 2005; Tavoli et al., 2009). Given the relevance of the study of anxiety and social phobia and the need for research tools for Mexican samples, this study presents validity and reliability evidences for a translation to Spanish language of the BFNE (Leary, 1983) in a sample of undergraduate students from Mexico City. Psychometric tests included discrimination analysis for each item, principal component factorial analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis through structural equation modeling. Results show a one factor structure with just eight of the 12 original items. It explains 53.8% of total variance and has good reliability (α = 0.88). In addition, evidence was found concerning criterion validity for the BFNE: a) It correlates positively with a Trait Anxiety Scale; and b) through an experimental procedure, positive correlations for the BFNE with a State Anxiety Scale and a Self-Presentation Motivation Scale when participants had the expectation of being introduced to another person. The discussion verses in relation to the performance of score reversed items and the theoretical meaning of items and to the observed relationships that support the criterion validity of this translation to Spanish language of the BFNE scale

Fear of Negative Social Evaluation: Construct and Criterion Validity of the Measurement Instrument

El Instrumento de Temor a la Evaluación Social Negativa (ITESN) ha mostrado evidencias de validez y confiabilidad al utilizarse en muestras culturalmente distintas y al traducirse a diferentes idiomas (Duke et al., 2006; Gallego, 2010; Gallego et al., 2007; Weeks et al., 2005; Tavoli et al., 2009). Dada la relevancia del estudio de la ansiedad y fobia social, y con la intención de aportar herramientas para estudiar estas variables en muestras mexicanas, este proyecto presenta evidencias de validez y confiabilidad de una traducción al castellano del ITESN (Leary, 1983) en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios de Ciudad de México. Se realizaron análisis de discriminación de reactivos, factoriales exploratorios y factoriales confirmatorios mediante modelamiento de ecuaciones estructurales. Los resultados muestran una estructura unifactorial que agrupa ocho de los doce reactivos del instrumento original, explica el 53.8 % de la varianza total y muestra consistencia interna adecuada (α = 0.88). Se obtienen evidencias de validez de criterio del ITESN, así: a) se asocia positivamente con el Instrumento de Ansiedad Rasgo y b) mediante un procedimiento experimental, se observan asociaciones positivas entre el ITESN y mediciones de ansiedad estado y motivación de autopresentación ante la expectativa de conocer a otra persona. Se discute el funcionamiento de los cuatro reactivos redactados de forma negativa y la interpretación teórica de las relaciones que respaldan la validez de criterio.The Brief fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE) has shown good validity and reliability properties in different cultural samples, as well as when it has been translated to other languages (Duke et al., 2006; Gallego, 2010; Gallego et al., 2007; Weeks et al., 2005; Tavoli et al., 2009). Given the relevance of the study of anxiety and social phobia and the need for research tools for Mexican samples, this study presents validity and reliability evidences for a translation to Spanish language of the BFNE (Leary, 1983) in a sample of undergraduate students from Mexico City. Psychometric tests included discrimination analysis for each item, principal component factorial analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis through structural equation modeling. Results show a one factor structure with just eight of the 12 original items. It explains 53.8% of total variance and has good reliability (α = 0.88). In addition, evidence was found concerning criterion validity for the BFNE: a) It correlates positively with a Trait Anxiety Scale; and b) through an experimental procedure, positive correlations for the BFNE with a State Anxiety Scale and a Self-Presentation Motivation Scale when participants had the expectation of being introduced to another person. The discussion verses in relation to the performance of score reversed items and the theoretical meaning of items and to the observed relationships that support the criterion validity of this translation to Spanish language of the BFNE scale