El rol moderador de la eficacia percibida de las medidas de prevención frente al COVID-19 en la relación entre la percepción de riesgo y la salud mental percibida

The pandemic situation caused by COVID-19 led countries to adopt harsh and prolonged (over time) measures that—along with the high number of infections and deaths and continuous negative information—have affected the mental health of individuals. In this study, the impact on mental health of the COVID-19 health crisis in Spain was explored through the perceived efficacy of pandemic containment measures as a moderator of the relationship that COVID-19 perceived risk establishes with stress and depression. A questionnaire composed of scales conceived to measure COVID-19 perceived risk, perceived efficacy of COVID-19 prevention measures, stress, and depression was completed by 478 adults living in Spain (66.9% females, Mage= 36.30, SD= 15.32) between May 16, 2021, and June 6, 2021. The results confirmed the moderating role of per-ceived efficacy. Perceived efficacy acted as a protective factor for stress and depression by decreasing the negative impact that perceived risk had on both variables related to mentaldistress. Also, the perception that participants had about the effectiveness of prevention measures appeared to be a relevant protective factor regarding mental health during the pandemic. This study highlights the relevance of psychological interventions and government policies that improve positive risk communication and provide adequate information regarding the effectiveness of health-prevention measuresLa pandemia del COVID-19 ha llevado a los países a adoptar severas y prolongadas medidas que junto con el alto número de contagios y muertes y la continua información negativa ha afectado la salud mental de las personas. Este estudio analiza el impacto de la crisis sanitaria del COVID-19 en España explorando el rol moderador de la eficacia percibida de las medidas de contención en la relación que establece la percepción del riesgo del COVID-19 con el estrés y la depresión. Un total de 478 adultos residentes en España (un66.9% mujeres; Medad= 36.30, DT= 15.32) completaron un cuestionario con escalas concebidas para medir el riesgo percibido del COVID-19, la eficacia percibida de las medidas de protección, el estrés y la depresión entre el 16 de mayo y el 6 de junio de 2021. Los resultados confirmaron el rol moderador de la eficacia percibida, la cual actuó como un factor protector del estrés y la depresión al disminuir el impacto negativo que la percepción de riesgo del COVID-19 tiene en ambas variables relacionadas con el distrés mental. La percepción que tienen los individuos sobre la efectividad de las medidas de protección parece ser un factor protector relevante en relación con la salud mental durante una pandemia. Se subraya la relevancia de intervenciones psicológicas y de políticas gubernamentales que mejoren la comunicación positiva del riesgo y la información adecuada sobre la eficacia de las medidas de protección

Spanish Validation of the Self-Perceived Food Literacy Scale: A Five-Factor Model Proposition

Food literacy is a combination of functional, critical, and relational skills that pave the way for navigating the food system properly, taking personally and contextually available resources into account. The aim was to validate the Spanish version of the self-perceived food literacy scale in university students to explore the factorial structure of it and to correlate food literacy with other variables. The sample was composed of 362 Spanish university students (314 women). The full questionnaire was administered online and also assessed adherence to a Mediterranean diet, impulsivity, and health-related quality of life for convergent validity testing purposes. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure of the food literacy scale. The Spanish version of the scale showed good indices of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.894). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a five-factor model that had a better fit index than the seven-factor model of the original scale. External validity was assessed by showing significant correlations with the rest of the variables. Therefore, the Spanish version of the scale is a reliable and valid measure of food literacy. It could be used to promote policies at Spanish universities to improve the food-related behaviors of students

The influence of psychosocial and motivational variables in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus from a multidisciplinary and multilevel approach

El aumento constante de la esperanza de vida reportado durante el último siglo debido a una mejora exponencial de las condiciones higiénicas y al avance de la ciencia biosanitaria, especialmente en los países desarrollados, ha provocado un cambio de paradigma en el constructo binomial salud-enfermedad: del tratamiento casi monopólico de las enfermedades transmisibles, al arrinconamiento de estas y consolidación de las enfermedades no transmisibles en el paisaje epidemiológico, a excepción puntual de periodos de emergencia pandémica como el vivido recientemente durante el covid-19 . Este cambio de pauta se conoce como transición epidemiológica. Entre las enfermedades no transmisibles destaca la diabetes mellitus o diabetes. La diabetes se trata de una patología crónica en la que las células beta del páncreas no generan la insulina necesaria para regular en sangre los niveles de glucosa o también cuando, aun produciéndose, el organismo no consigue una regulación efectiva. Existen tres tipos principales de diabetes: tipo 1, en la que el cuerpo no produce insulina, puede ser autoinmune o bien idiopática; tipo 2, donde el organismo no gestiona correctamente la insulina, relacionada con la obesidad y el sedentarismo; y gestacional, cuando el cuerpo no produce una cantidad suficiente de insulina durante el embarazo. Otras variantes minoritarias incluirían la diabetes LADA o MODY. La diabetes mellitus tipo 1 (DM1) se diagnostica fundamentalmente en edades infantojuveniles. Este hecho provoca que los pacientes multipliquen, en comparación con otras enfermedades no transmisibles, el tiempo de convivencia con la enfermedad, abarcando prácticamente la totalidad del ciclo vital. Esta condicióńn aumenta considerablemente el riesgo de sufrir complicaciones a largo plazo asociadas concretamente a esta dolencia como pueden ser problemas visuales, úlceras en la piel, hipertensióńn, daño renal o debilidad del sistema inmunitario. Aunque las últimas investigaciones apuntan a posibles factores ambientales que parecen tener influencia en la aparición de la DM1, lo cierto es que hasta este momento se trata de una enfermedad de la que no existen evidencias científicas para su cura ni para su prevención. Ahora bien, más allá del tratamiento y control que las ciencias biomédicas posibilitan de esta patología a los pacientes que la padecen, y adentrándonos en una concepción integral del binomio salud-enfermedad desde una perspectiva biopsicosocial, en los campos de las ciencias de la educación y de las ciencias comportamentales podría existir un dilatado margen de actuación en el que trabajar para favorecer patrones conductuales que propicien un mejor control de la DM1 y el bienestar de estos pacientes. Aquí radica el objetivo principal de la presente tesis doctoral: explorar y analizar la influencia de variables psicosociales y motivacionales sobre el bienestar en menores con DM1. Este se complementa con un segundo objetivo: encontrar evidencias de efectividad de intervenciones educativas y psicoeducativas sobre menores con DM1, detectar estrategias educativas y metodológicas de éxito en ellas, y revelar que variables trabajar en estas intervenciones que pudieran tener un mayor impacto sobre el bienestar de estos pacientes. Para su consecución, se han articulado cinco trabajos empíricos, cuatro de ellos ya publicados en revistas indexadas en las más importantes bases de datos nacionales e internacionales, y otro actualmente en revisión por pares. Dos de estos estudios se han incluido como preliminares, mientras los tres restantes responden directamente al objetivo fundamental de la tesis. El hecho de incluir dos trabajos empíricos como preliminares responde a la necesidad del tratamiento previo de variables psicosociales y motivacionales relacionadas con el objeto de la tesis en poblacióńn adolescente y juvenil no clínica, siempre desde un enfoque que ha permitido la medición de, atendiendo a la Organizacióńn Mundial de la Salud (OMS), patrones comportamentales modificables, y también metabólicos, que podrían convertirse en factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de una enfermedad no transmisible.The constant increase in life expectancy reported during the last century due to an exponential improvement in hygienic conditions and the progress of biosanitary science, especially in developed countries, has led to a paradigm shift in the binomial health-disease construct: from the almost monopolistic treatment of comunicable diseases, to the cornering of these and consolidation of non-communicable diseases in the epidemiological landscape, with the occasional exception of periods of pandemic emergency such as the one recently experienced during covid-19 . This change in pattern is known as epidemiological transition. Among the non-communicable diseases, diabetes mellitus or diabetes stands out. Diabetes is a chronic pathology in which the beta cells of the pancreas do not generate the insulin necessary to regulate glucose levels in the blood or when, even if it is produced, the body does not achieve effective regulation. There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, in which the body does not produce insulin, it can be autoimmune or idiopathic; type 2, where the body does not manage insulin correctly, related to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle; and gestational, when the body does not produce enough insulin during pregnancy. Other minority variants include LADA or MODY diabetes. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) is diagnosed mainly in childhood and adolescence. This fact causes patients to multiply, in comparison with other noncommunicable diseases, the time they live with the disease, covering practically the entire life cycle. This condition considerably increases the risk of suffering long-term complications associated specifically with this disease, such as visual problems, skin ulcers, hypertension, kidney damage or weakness of the immune system. Although the latest research points to possible environmental factors that seem to have an influence on the onset of T1D, the fact is that up to now there is no scientific evidence for its cure or prevention. However, beyond the treatment and control that the biomedical sciences make possible for patients suffering from this pathology and going into an integral conception of the health-disease binomial from a biopsychosocial perspective, in the fields of educational sciences and behavioral sciences there could be a wide margin of action in which to work to favor behavioral patterns that favor better control of T1D and the well-being of these patients. This is the main objective of this doctoral thesis: to explore and analyze the influence of psychosocial and motivational variables on the well-being of children with T1D. This is complemented by a second objective: to find evidence of the effectiveness of educational and psychoeducational interventions on children with T1D, to detect successful educational and methodological strategies in them, and to reveal which variables to work on in these interventions could have a greater impact on the well-being of these patients. To achieve this, five empirical studies have been articulated, four of which have already been published in journals indexed in the most important national and international databases, and another one is currently under peer review. Two of these studies have been included as preliminary, while the remaining three respond directly to the fundamental objective of the thesis. The fact of including two empirical studies as preliminary responds to the need for the previous treatment of psychosocial and motivational variables related to the object of the thesis in a non-clinical adolescent and juvenile population, always from an approach that has allowed the measurement of, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), modifiable behavioral patterns, and also metabolic, that could become risk factors for the development of a non-communicable disease

Psychometric Properties of the Revised Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Self-Management Scale among Spanish Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

A longitudinal design was used to examine the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Self-Management (SEDM) for children and adolescents with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). The SEDM was adapted to Spanish and the best factorial solution was selected to test the invariance of the measures of age and gender. Individuals between the ages of 10 and 19 years old with a diagnosis of T1D completed a self-reported questionnaire (167 at Time 1 [mean age = 14.49, SD = 2.76; 56.9% boys] and 122 at Time 2 [mean age = 14.77, SD = 2.58; 56.6% boys]). Two unifactorial solutions were tested. The psychometric properties of the scale were validated. The proposed validation obtained excellent reliability indices (χ2 (26) = 25.59, p > 0.49, RMSEA = 0.00, 95% CI [0.00, 0.07], CFI = 1.00, GFI = 0.96, AGFI = 0.92, TLI = 1.00, and CMIN = 0.98), and it appeared to be invariant for gender and for age groups. The Cronbach’s α was 0.85. The test–retest reliability was high (r = 0.69 [p < 0.001]). Convergent, discriminant, and external validity were proven. The nine-item SEDM is a brief measure with satisfactory structural validity. From our knowledge, this study provides the first reliable tool to assess self-efficacy in the management of T1D for Spanish children and adolescents