Factorial validity and group invariance of the Portuguese short version of the Social Physique Anxiety Scale in adolescents

Social physique anxiety (SPA) has been associated with a range of psychosocial and health-related variables, thus it can be considered is an indicator of social-psychological adjustment. The purpose of this paper is to determine factorial validity and group invariance of Motl and Conroy (2000) translated 7-item SPA among Portuguese adolescents. A nationally representative sample of 3330 8th and 10th grade students (15.07 1.34 years old; 47.5% males and 52.5% females) answered a survey as a part of a larger collaborative cross-national survey, the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) 2006 study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted on a uni-dimensional factor structure of 6 items [Satorra-Bentler c2 = 30.85, df = 8, p<.01; CFI = .996; NNFI = .992; RMSEA = .038 (90% C.I.: .024 - .052); SRMR = .010]. Further analises, confirmed configurational (all CFI and RMSEA > .99) and metric invariances (CFI difference between restricted and unrestricted models were lower than .01 for all groups) across gender, grade level, diet beliefs, physical activity, perception of body, and BMI. The present version can be used confidently by researchers in analysing and interpreting scores of SPA across a variety of samples in Portuguese adolescents, and that this instrument can be used in cross-cultural research

Life satisfaction in adolescents:the role of individual and social health assets

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

As viagens de Colombo e a náutica portuguesa de quinhentos

pags. 27-5

Scalar Field Dark Matter mass model and evolution of rotation curves for Lsb galaxies

We study the evolution of gas rotation curves within the scalar field dark matter (SFDM) model. In this model the galactic haloes are astronomical Bose-Einstein Condensate drops of scalar field. These haloes are characterized by a constant-density core and are consistent with observed rotation curves of dark matter dominated galaxies, a missing feature in CDM haloes resulting from DM-only simulations. We add the baryonic component to the SFDM haloes and simulate the evolution of the dark matter tracer in a set of grid-based hydrodynamic simulations aimed to analyse the evolution of the rotation curves and the gas density distribution in the case of dark matter dominated galaxies. Previous works had found that when considering an exact analytic solution for a static SF configuration, the free parameters of the model allows for good fits to the rotation curves, we confirm that in our simulations but now taking into account the evolution of the baryonic component in a static dark matter and stellar disk potential. Including live gas is a step forward from the previous work using SFDM, as for example, the rotation velocity of the gas is not always exactly equal to the circular velocity of a test particle on a circular orbit. Contrasting with the data the cored mass model presented here is preferred instead of a cuspy one.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The relationship between social physique anxiety and psychosocial health in adolescents

Social physique anxiety (SPA) is a subtype of social anxiety that relates to body concerns in social contexts and has been proposed as an indicator of psychosocial adjustment in adolescents. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of SPA with a number psychosocial and behaviour variables in adolescents. A nationally representative sample of 3331 8th- and 10th-grade students completed a survey as a part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. SPA was positively associated with poor health symptoms, larger body shape and being on a diet, while it was negatively associated with physical activity and social support. Girls, those who thought were much too fat and those who were or should be on a diet had higher SPA scores than their counterparts.Hierarchical regression analysis indicate that gender (β = .20), being on a diet (β = -.27), physical activity behaviour (β = -.06), body shape (β = -.14), psychological symptoms (β = .15) and parental (β = -.07) and peer communication (β = -.07) were significant predictors of SPA. No significant interactions with gender were significant. Interventions should help adolescents deal with the pressures of achieving a socially desirable body shape and weight, including self-acceptance and seeking appropriate social support