Efficacy of a self-applied online program to promote resilience and coping skills in university students in four Spanish-speaking countries: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: There is evidence of a high prevalence of depression and anxiety in university students. Therefore, college time is a key period where prevention of mental disorders through interventions that promote resilience and mental health can be relevant. Currently, there are interventions available, but these are insufficient for those who need them. Online interventions are tools that can facilitate global accessibility and are easy for young people to use. CORE (Cultivating Our Resilience) is a self-administered online program, based on Ryff’s psychological well-being model, to promote resilience and coping skills in university students at risk of developing symptoms of depression or anxiety. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention protocol in comparison with an active control condition targeting healthy lifestyle, and a waiting list control condition. The study will be conducted in four populations of Spanish-speaking university students (Spain, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico). Methods: The study design is a randomized controlled trial (RCT). At least 324 university students will be randomly assigned to three conditions: 1) CORE, a 6-week training program to improve resilience; 2) HLP, a 6-week training to promote a healthy lifestyle; and 3) WL, waiting list control condition. The primary outcome measure will be the Connor-Davidson resilience scale. Additionally, measures of anxiety, depression, quality of life and socio-demographic variables (age, sex, incomes, marital status, among others) will be collected. Participants will be evaluated at pre-treatment, after each module, 6 weeks after allocation, and at 3-month follow-up. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses will be performed. Discussion: The results of this study will contribute to research on Internet-administered interventions and the implementation of a protocol that includes a series of components designed to improve resilience and coping skills, increase psychological well-being, and prevent depression and anxiety disorders in Spanish-speaking university students. In addition, avenues will be opened up for new research on the effectiveness of these interventions focused on the prevention and promotion of mental health in Spanish-speaking countries

Propiedades psicométricas de la escala de comunicación familiar en población colombiana

Family communication establishes a vehicle for the transmission of information between family members and completely marks the nature and quality of family life. Family communication can be understood as an index of the climate and quality of the family system. Objective: To determine the psychometric properties of the Family Communication Scale of Olson et al. (1982) in its 20-item version. The participants were 934 Colombian university students between 18 and 35 years old. Method: A descriptive analysis of items and correlation with the scale was carried out, additionally a confirmatory factor analysis was carried out with the maximum likelihood method and varimax rotation. The internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s Omega, followed by the analysis of the discrimination of the items through the biserial correlation coefficient. Results: The results indicate that the scale is reliable for its use in the Colombian population between 18 and 35 years old

Secuelas Psicológicas de la Guerra en Mujeres Forzadas a Desplazarse

The psychological after-effects of violence due to the armed conflict have left traumatic memories or indelible stigma in victimized women. Females are overrepresented since they compose more than half of the victims in the Colombian warfare. (Sierra, Calle, and Vélez, 2015). Thus, we considered the following research question: What psychological after-effects of war prevail in displaced women? In this research project, we defined psychological after-effects of war as signs, symptoms and psychological disorders based on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Moreover, we defined forced migration as the movement of people, families and groups away from their homes to other places. This movement is coerced by a powerful actor or group to expel, harass and uproot a person, group or community.   We adopted a social psychological perspective to study the after-effects of war in displaced women. This is a narrative review in which we included manuscripts from academic journals, institutional reports and books. The inclusion criteria were the following: manuscripts published and indexed from 2005 to 2015, and generalizability of the results.  We selected the following academic data-bases: Academic Search Complete, Medline, Redalyc, EBSCO, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. We selected 7 out of 50 papers that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The results showed that displaced women suffer from mood, impulse control and behavioral disorders. These disorders prevail due to the after-effects of war. Whereas fear, helplessness, anger and uprooting are equally conducive to the emotional stability that they experience. We conclude that war directly and indirectly affects the mental health of women forced to emigrate, causing mental disorders and psychological alterations.Las secuelas psicológicas de la violencia por efecto del conflicto armado se convierten en huellas traumáticas que permanecen en la existencia de las mujeres victimizadas a modo de estigmas imborrables, y dado que en Colombia las mujeres que son víctimas de los vejámenes de la guerra superan la mitad de afectados totales, el género femenino se encuentra sobrerrepresentado entre las víctimas (Sierra, Calle, y Vélez, 2015). Por consiguiente, es importante preguntarse ¿qué secuelas psicológicas de la guerra prevalecen en mujeres forzadas a emigrar? En esta investigación se entiende que las secuelas psicológicas de la guerra, están representadas por los signos, síntomas y trastornos psicológicos cuya referencia se encuentra en el Manual Diagnóstico y Estadístico de los Trastornos Mentales en su quinta edición (DSM-V) de la American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013), mientras que la migración forzada se concibe se entiende la acción de desplazamiento de personas, familias y grupos hacia otro lugar, región o país (emigración), que tiene como origen la intensión y actividad de expulsión, acoso y desarraigo de una persona, grupo o comunidad por parte de un actor o colectivo que manipula el poder según sus intereses. Este es un estudio acerca de las secuelas psicológicas que la guerra causa a las mujeres abordada desde una mirada psicosocial. En esta revisión fueron incluidos estudios publicados en revistas especializadas, informes institucionales y libros. Esta es una revisión narrativa con fines interpretativos. Los criterios de inclusión fueron los siguientes: ser una investigación publicada e indexada en el periodo 2005-2015, con un alcance departamental y/o nacional en relación a resultados obtenidos. Se llevaron a cabo búsquedas electrónicas de literatura en las siguientes fuentes: Academic Search Complete, Medline, Redalyc, EBSCO, Google Scholar, y Science Direct. Se seleccionaron 7 investigaciones de 50 que cumplían con los criterios de inclusión. La literatura revisada muestra que los estudios enfocados en la salud mental de las mujeres referencian que los trastornos del humor, del control de impulsos y del comportamiento. Éstos prevalecen como consecuencias plausibles de la guerra, al tiempo que el temor, la impotencia, la ira y la sensación de desarraigo son igualmente coadyuvantes en la inestabilidad emocional que experimentan. Lo anterior significa que la guerra afecta de forma directa y diversa la salud mental de las mujeres forzadas a emigrar, generando afecciones mentales (trastornos) y alteraciones psicológicas.

La vulnerabilidad de la mujer en la guerra y su papel en el posconflicto

Abordar la violencia contra la mujer en el marco del conflicto armado colombiano, y su papel en el postconflicto implicar hacer énfasis en los efectos de la violencia en las mujeres, la instrumentalización de su cuerpo, las secuelas psicológicas que el desplazamiento forzado genera, y su papel de restitución social. El papel femenino en el postconflicto es innegable y necesario para construir paz y paces, en este sentido experiencias de mediación muestran que cuando la mujer es parte de las negociaciones, los procesos de conciliación son más viables y efectivos.Addressing violence against women, within the Colombian armed conflict framework and their role in the post-conflict, implies making emphasis on the effects of violence against women, the instrumentalization of their body, the psychological hardship produced by the forced displacement, and their role of social restitution. Women’s role in the post-conflict is unquestionable and necessary in order to make Peace. In this sense, mediation experiences show that when women are part of negotiations, the conciliation processes are more feasible and effective

A Precision Treatment Model for Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression among University Students:A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (i-CBT) is a low-cost way to address high unmet need for anxiety and depression treatment. Scalability could be increased if some patients were helped as much by self-guided i-CBT as guided i-CBT. Objective: To develop an individualized treatment rule using machine learning methods for guided i-CBT vs self-guided i-CBT based on a rich set of baseline predictors. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prespecified secondary analysis of an assessor-blinded, multisite randomized clinical trial of guided i-CBT, self-guided i-CBT, and treatment as usual included students in Colombia and Mexico who were seeking treatment for anxiety (defined as a 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder [GAD-7] score of ≥10) and/or depression (defined as a 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] score of ≥10). Study recruitment was from March 1 to October 26, 2021. Initial data analysis was conducted from May 23 to October 26, 2022. Interventions: Participants were randomized to a culturally adapted transdiagnostic i-CBT that was guided (n = 445), self-guided (n = 439), or treatment as usual (n = 435). Main Outcomes and Measures: Remission of anxiety (GAD-7 scores of ≤4) and depression (PHQ-9 scores of ≤4) 3 months after baseline. Results: The study included 1319 participants (mean [SD] age, 21.4 [3.2] years; 1038 women [78.7%]; 725 participants [55.0%] came from Mexico). A total of 1210 participants (91.7%) had significantly higher mean (SE) probabilities of joint remission of anxiety and depression with guided i-CBT (51.8% [3.0%]) than with self-guided i-CBT (37.8% [3.0%]; P =.003) or treatment as usual (40.0% [2.7%]; P =.001). The remaining 109 participants (8.3%) had low mean (SE) probabilities of joint remission of anxiety and depression across all groups (guided i-CBT: 24.5% [9.1%]; P =.007; self-guided i-CBT: 25.4% [8.8%]; P =.004; treatment as usual: 31.0% [9.4%]; P =.001). All participants with baseline anxiety had nonsignificantly higher mean (SE) probabilities of anxiety remission with guided i-CBT (62.7% [5.9%]) than the other 2 groups (self-guided i-CBT: 50.2% [6.2%]; P =.14; treatment as usual: 53.0% [6.0%]; P =.25). A total of 841 of 1177 participants (71.5%) with baseline depression had significantly higher mean (SE) probabilities of depression remission with guided i-CBT (61.5% [3.6%]) than the other 2 groups (self-guided i-CBT: 44.3% [3.7%]; P =.001; treatment as usual: 41.8% [3.2%]; P &lt;.001). The other 336 participants (28.5%) with baseline depression had nonsignificantly higher mean (SE) probabilities of depression remission with self-guided i-CBT (54.4% [6.0%]) than guided i-CBT (39.8% [5.4%]; P =.07). Conclusions and Relevance: Guided i-CBT yielded the highest probabilities of remission of anxiety and depression for most participants; however, these differences were nonsignificant for anxiety. Some participants had the highest probabilities of remission of depression with self-guided i-CBT. Information about this variation could be used to optimize allocation of guided and self-guided i-CBT in resource-constrained settings. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04780542.</p

Quality of life in the older adults: The protective role of self-efficacy in adequate coping in patients with chronic diseases

The purpose of the present study was to establish the association between self-efficacy, perception of disease, emotional regulation, and fatigue and the health-related quality of life in older adults living in the departments of Cesar and Atlántico in Colombia and who have been diagnosed with a chronic disease. The participants were 325 older adults of both sexes, with literacy and no presence of cognitive impairment in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); A non-probabilistic sampling was carried out. We used the MOS-SF-36 questionnaire, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire scale for measuring the perception of disease, the Stanford Patient Education Research Center’s Chronic Disease Self self-efficacy questionnaire for chronic patients, the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale, and the Fatigue Severity Questionnaire as measurement instruments. The design was non-experimental cross-sectional with a correlational scope. The results indicate that self-efficacy, disease perception, emotional regulation and severity of fatigue are variables that could impact the physical function of quality of life, confirming that self-efficacy would work as a factor that decreases the probability that a participant score low on this dimension of quality of life. On the other hand, both the perception of the disease and the severity of fatigue were identified as factors that probably negatively influence quality of life

Funcionamiento familiar en hogares con niños desplazados por la violencia

Objetivos: Evaluar el funcionamiento, adaptaci&oacute;n y cohesi&oacute;nfamiliar en v&iacute;ctimas del desplazamiento con ni&ntilde;os.Materiales y m&eacute;todos: La investigaci&oacute;n se desarrolla bajoun enfoque cuantitativo, mediante una investigaci&oacute;n descriptivay cuenta con un dise&ntilde;o no experimental; el instrumentopara la recolecci&oacute;n de la informaci&oacute;n es el Cuestionariopara la Evaluaci&oacute;n del Estilo de Funcionamiento Familiar deDavid Olson (FACES III), tiene como prop&oacute;sito la evaluaci&oacute;nde la adaptabilidad y cohesi&oacute;n familiar.Resultados: Los resultados obtenidos con mayor valor enlos diferentes dominios, tanto en la tipolog&iacute;a familiar comoen la adaptabilidad, se relacionan de la siguiente manera:el 36.28% de las familias tienen una adaptabilidad de tipoca&oacute;tica, y en cuanto a la tipolog&iacute;a medida por la cohesi&oacute;n, el32.30% de las familias son semirelacionada.Conclusiones: A nivel del funcionamiento familiar se encuentraque, en un 36.5% los ni&ntilde;os desplazados por la violencia,viven en familias ca&oacute;ticas, mientras que, el nivel deadaptabilidad es del 32.30%, siendo la tipolog&iacute;a familiar conmayor dominio cuando se eval&uacute;a la cohesi&oacute;n, es decir queson las semirelacionada. Esto indica que, las familias estudiadastienen falta de responsabilidad, de l&iacute;mites, sin normasy reglas definidas, prefieren las actividades individuales m&aacute;sque las familiares. Los riesgos a que estas poblaciones presententrastornos mentales son altos

Funcionamiento familiar en hogares con niños desplazados por la violencia

Objetivos: Evaluar el funcionamiento, adaptaci&oacute;n y cohesi&oacute;nfamiliar en v&iacute;ctimas del desplazamiento con ni&ntilde;os.Materiales y m&eacute;todos: La investigaci&oacute;n se desarrolla bajoun enfoque cuantitativo, mediante una investigaci&oacute;n descriptivay cuenta con un dise&ntilde;o no experimental; el instrumentopara la recolecci&oacute;n de la informaci&oacute;n es el Cuestionariopara la Evaluaci&oacute;n del Estilo de Funcionamiento Familiar deDavid Olson (FACES III), tiene como prop&oacute;sito la evaluaci&oacute;nde la adaptabilidad y cohesi&oacute;n familiar.Resultados: Los resultados obtenidos con mayor valor enlos diferentes dominios, tanto en la tipolog&iacute;a familiar comoen la adaptabilidad, se relacionan de la siguiente manera:el 36.28% de las familias tienen una adaptabilidad de tipoca&oacute;tica, y en cuanto a la tipolog&iacute;a medida por la cohesi&oacute;n, el32.30% de las familias son semirelacionada.Conclusiones: A nivel del funcionamiento familiar se encuentraque, en un 36.5% los ni&ntilde;os desplazados por la violencia,viven en familias ca&oacute;ticas, mientras que, el nivel deadaptabilidad es del 32.30%, siendo la tipolog&iacute;a familiar conmayor dominio cuando se eval&uacute;a la cohesi&oacute;n, es decir queson las semirelacionada. Esto indica que, las familias estudiadastienen falta de responsabilidad, de l&iacute;mites, sin normasy reglas definidas, prefieren las actividades individuales m&aacute;sque las familiares. Los riesgos a que estas poblaciones presententrastornos mentales son altos

Comprensión lectora en escolares de grado primero del municipio de Villavicencio

Objetivos: Describir la compresi&oacute;n lectora de escolares delgrado primero de b&aacute;sica primaria del municipio de Villavicencio.Materiales y m&eacute;todos: Estudio de enfoque cuantitativo, tipodescriptivo, de corte transversal. Participaron 47 estudiantesde grado primero de b&aacute;sica primaria de una Instituci&oacute;n Educativadel municipio de Villavicencio, a quienes se les aplic&oacute; labater&iacute;a PROLEC-R para identificar los niveles de los procesosllevados a cabo en la comprensi&oacute;n lectora. La sistematizaci&oacute;nde datos se apoy&oacute; en el uso del software estad&iacute;stico SPSSversi&oacute;n 23, utilizando par&aacute;metros de estad&iacute;stica descriptivacomo frecuencias absolutas, gr&aacute;ficas porcentuales, paracada prueba (analizando las correspondientes subpruebas).Resultados: En promedio una leve mayor&iacute;a de los participantesposeen niveles normales en los procesos de comprensi&oacute;nlectora, siendo los procesos l&eacute;xicos donde mayormentese presentan dificultades leves (41.5% en promedio),y en los procesos sint&aacute;cticos donde se registraron mayoresdificultades severas (38.3% en promedio).Conclusiones: En consideraci&oacute;n a los resultados se dise&ntilde;&oacute;una estrategia pedag&oacute;gica para mitigar la problem&aacute;ticaevidenciada, previendo la articulaci&oacute;n con la asignatura deLengua Castellana y con el Programa Todos a Aprender

Critical study of the written discourse of the suicide news published by a local newspaper in the city of Valledupar during 2015

The objective of the research was to carry out a critical study of the written discourse of suicide news in a local newspaper in the city of Valledupar during 2015, considering the recommendations delivered by the World Health Organization (WHO), to disseminate this type of acts. Quantitative descriptive research was carried out and the particular variables of analysis (suicide news) were systematized and established, based on the use of written language, the suicide news reported by the newspaper during the chosen year was analyzed.El objetivo de la investigaci&oacute;n fue realizar un estudio cr&iacute;tico del discurso escrito de noticias suicidas en un diario local de la ciudad de Valledupar durante 2015,considerando las recomendaciones entregadas por la Organizaci&oacute;n Mundial de la Salud (OMS), para difundir este tipo de acto