Positive identity predicts psychological wellbeing in Chilean youth: A double-mediation model

Positive youth development (PYD) allows the youth to be comprehended from their potential, strengths and assets, in contrast to the traditional deficit view that focuses on their weaknesses. The PYD model promotes constructive behaviours in youth by highlighting the positive attributes usually found during the transition from childhood to adulthood to achieve healthy and optimal development in later life. Overall, PYD comprises five key competence (5C), the flourishing models and forty developmental assets. In the present study, a structural equation model is tested with the Chilean dataset of the PYD project on the premise that Positive Identity is the core internal developmental asset explaining Psychological wellbeing and that Confidence and Character are mediators of the relationship between Positive Identity and Psychological Wellbeing. The sample comprised 261 participants (nWomen = 189, nMen = 72), MeanAge = 22 years old, who were approached by an online survey uploaded to Qualtrics. The measures of the study included: The Developmental assets Scale, the Short-form of the Five Cs included in the PYD and the Mental Health Continuum Short-Form. The results indicated a good model fit (β = 1.74, Ztotal = 10.63, χ2 = 424.95, df = 277, χ2/df = 1.53, p < 0.001, Robust CFI = 0.945, Robust RMSEA = 0.049, 90% CI (0.040, 0.058), AIC = 17689.91, saBIC = 17719.08 and SRMR = 0.061), highlighting the relevance of studying Latin-American adolescents and young ‘s wellbeing in times of COVID-19, as the participants’ Positive Identity significantly predicted their Psychological Wellbeing, and simultaneously, this relationship was mediated by both their level of Confidence and Character.publishedVersio

A positive-psychology-based multiple regression model predicting wellbeing in Chilean youth

El Desarrollo Positivo Juvenil (PYD) aborda a los jóvenes desde su potencial, fortalezas y activos, en contraste con la visión deficitaria que se enfoca en sus debilidades. El modelo PYD promueve comportamientos constructivos en los jóvenes al subrayar los atributos positivos que generalmente se encuentran durante la transición de la niñez a la edad adulta para fomentar un desarrollo saludable. En pocas palabras, PYD comprende cinco competencias clave (5C), cuarenta activos del desarrollo y el modelo florecimiento. En el presente estudio, se abordó a 261 participantes mediante una encuesta en línea (nMujeres= 189, nHombres = 72, Edad promedio = 22 años), como parte del Proyecto transnacional sobre PYD (CN-PYD), que incluía varias medidas, entre los que se incluyeron en la investigación: La Escala de activos del Desarrollo, la Forma Abreviada de las Cinco C y la Forma Abreviada del Continuo de Salud Mental (MHC-SF). Las puntuaciones de Bienestar Emocional, Social, Psicológico y General se evaluaron bajo la premisa de que las mujeres obtendrían una puntuación significativamente más baja que los participantes masculinos (H1). Además, se probaron dos modelos de regresión múltiple con la primera ola chilena del proyecto PYD, bajo la premisa de que la Identidad Positiva, la Confianza, el Carácter y la Conexión predecirían la varianza del Bienestar General (H2) y el Bienestar Psicológico (H3). Los hallazgos proporcionaron apoyo total para H1 y H2, y apoyo parcial para H3. En general, la investigación complementa investigaciones previas realizadas con jóvenes latinoamericanos y chilenos, destacando la importancia de investigar los activos del desarrollo, las competencias del PYD, y los tipos de bienestar subjetivo de los adolescentes latinoamericanos.publishedVersio

There is more to the picture than meets the eye: adaptation for crypsis blurs phylogeographical structure in a lizard

Aim: We examined dorsal coloration in and genetic relationships among Iberian populations of the lizard Psammodromus algirus to determine the extent to which the current distribution of phenotypic variation is correlated with phylogeographical history or local environmental conditions. Location: Iberian Peninsula, western Palaearctic.Methods: We sequenced mitochondrial DNA (ND4 and adjacent tRNAs genes) in 36 populations, and seven microsatellite loci in eight representative populations. In 23 populations, lizards were classified according to the presence and intensity of a dorsal striped pattern, the heritability of which was estimated by means of mother–offspring regressions. To determine whether colour pattern is an adaptation for crypsis, we compared the time taken by humans to detect striped and unstriped lizards in different environments.Results: The analysis of mtDNA revealed an ancient split between a western clade, subdivided into south- and north-western haplogroups, and an eastern clade with central, south-eastern and eastern haplogroups. In contrast, nuclear markers showed a post-glacial admixture of central and western haplogroups, with the central haplogroup apparently isolated from the rest of its clade. This was consistent with variation in the dorsal striped pattern, a heritable phenotypic trait: central and western lizards were unstriped, whereas eastern lizards were striped. We then suggest that dorsal coloration promotes crypsis: in eastern locations detection times were longer for striped than for unstriped lizards, whereas the opposite was true in western and central locations.Main conclusions: Our results indicate that natural selection for crypsis may promote not only divergence within clades, as suggested by the apparent isolation between unstriped central lizards and striped members of eastern haplogroups, but also admixture between them. We conclude that ecologically driven selection is crucial for understanding the phylogeographical background of phenotypic variation, because recent adaptation to the environment can blur the effects of ancestral isolation.This study is a contribution to projects CGL2010-17928/BOS and CGL2013-41642-P, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and SciencePeer reviewe

Trait Emotional Intelligence in Surgeons.

Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI or trait emotional self-efficacy) concerns people’s perceptions of their emotional functioning. Two studies investigated this construct in surgeons and comparison occupations. We hypothesized that trait EI profiles would differ both within surgical specialties as well as between them and other professions. Study 1 (N = 122) compared the trait EI profiles of four different surgical specialties (General, Orthopedic, Head and Neck, and Miscellaneous surgical specialties). There were no significant differences amongst these specialties or between consultant surgeons and trainees in these specialties. Accordingly, the surgical data were combined into a single target sample (N = 462) that was compared against samples of engineers, executives and senior managers, lawyers, junior military managers, nurses, and salespeople. Surgeons scored significantly higher on global trait EI than junior military managers, but lower than executives and senior managers, salespeople, and nurses. There were no significant differences vis-à-vis engineers or lawyers. A MANOVA confirmed a similar pattern of differences in the four trait EI factors (Wellbeing, Self-control, Sociability, and Emotionality). Global trait EI scores correlated strongly with single-question measures of job satisfaction (r = 0.47) and job performance (r = 0.46) in the surgical sample. These findings suggest that interventions to optimize the trait EI profiles of surgeons can be helpful in relation to job satisfaction, job performance, and overall psychological wellbeing

Continuous surveillance of points by rotating floodlights

Let P and F be sets of n ≥ 2 and m ≥ 2 points in the plane, respectively, so that P∪F is in general position. We study the problem of finding the minimum angle α ∈ [2π/m, 2π] such that one can install at each point of F a stationary rotating floodlight with illumination angle α, initially oriented in a suitable direction, in such a way that, at all times, every target point of P is illuminated by at least one light. All floodlights rotate at unit speed and clockwise. We give an upper bound for the 1-dimensional problem and present results for some instances of the general problem. Specifically, we solve the problem for the case in which we have two floodlights and many points, and give an upper bound for the case in which there are many floodlights and only two target points.Ministerio de Educación y CienciaEuropean Science FoundationMinisterio de Ciencia e InnovaciónComisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Chile)Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile

Drawing the double circle on a grid of minimum size

In 1926, Jarník introduced the problem of drawing a convex n-gon with vertices having integer coordinates. He constructed such a drawing in the grid [1, c ·n 3/2]2 for some constant c > 0, and showed that this grid size is optimal up to a constant factor. We consider the analogous problem of drawing the double circle, and prove that it can be done within the same grid size. Moreover, we give an O(n log n)-time algorithm to construct such a point set.Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (México)Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Chile)Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile