Factor structure of mood over time frames and circumstances of measurement: Two studies on the Profile of Mood States questionnaire

This paper presents the results of two studies on the invariance of the Profile of Mood States questionnaire across response time frames and circumstances of administration. We applied Spanish versions of the instrument to gather data from 1146 athletes. In the first study (N = 700), we tested the factor structure of the questionnaire in training sessions by using two different time frames: ‘right now’ (n = 350) and ‘past week’ (n = 350). In the second study (N = 446), we compared the factor structure of the questionnaire with data collected using the instruction ‘right now’ at two different circumstances: ‘training’ (n = 223) and ‘competition’ (n = 223). Data analysis was similar in both studies. We conducted multi-group confirmatory factor analyses and applied the scaled difference chi-square statistic to examine whether discrepancies in successive constrained models were significant. We observed configural equivalence between the two time frames. Furthermore, we observed metric equivalence but not scalar invariance between the different circumstances of measurement. The findings highlight the need for studies of equivalence before using a single self-report with more than one set of instructions, or under diverse circumstances. Invariance of mood scores should be examined and taken into account when interpreting individual and group mood state assessmentsThis research was supported in part by the Galician Department of Culture, Education and Universities [grant number ED431B2016-017 (with cooperation and English style review of the manuscript under grant GPC2014-047)]. The first author belongs to the CRETUS Strategic Partnership [grant number AGRUP2015/02]. All these programmes are co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund of the European UnionS

Multidimensional scaling: recovery of metric information wit incomplete designs

La presente investigación tenía por objeto comprobar la eficiencia de tres diseños incompletos para la selección de datos de entrada, en problemas de Escalamiento MultiDimensional, con un número elevado de estímulos. Los diseños comparados fueron un diseño cíclico (Spence y Domoney, 1974), dos diseños aleatorios y un diseño con las desemejanzas más grandes. Cuando se satisfacía el umbral de información propuesto por Spence y Domoney (1974), todos los diseños empleados mostraron un grado de eficiencia similar. Sin embargo, con cantidades de información inferiores, el diseño cíclico fue el que produjo los peores resultados; mientras que los otros dos tipos de diseños mantenían su eficiencia aún por debajo del umbral, siendo los diseños aleatorios los que permitieron obtener soluciones satisfactorias incluso con las cantidades más bajas de información de entradaThe objective of this investigation was to prove the efficiency of three incomplete designs which can be used to select the data entry in MultiDimensional Scaling when the number of stimuli is high. Three types of designs were compared: a ciclic design (Spence & Domoney, 1974), two aleatory designs and a design with the biggest dissimilarities. When the minimum percentage of necessary information proposed by Spence and Domoney was used, all of the designs showed a similar degree of efficiency. However, with lower levels of information the ciclic design showed the worst results, while the other two types of designs mantained their efficiency, being the aleatory designs the ones which allowed to obtain satisfactory solutions even with the lowest percentages of entry informationS

Adaptation of the Profile of Mood States into Spanish with a sample of athletes

El POMS es un cuestionario para la medida del estado de ánimo, con aplicaciones en diferentes ámbitos, particularmente en el entorno deportivo. En un trabajo preliminar (Arce, Andrade y Seoane, 2000), el POMS fue traducido al castellano y administrado a una muestra formada por 374 estudiantes. Teniendo en cuenta criterios tanto psicométricos como semánticos, algunos de los items de esa versión inicial tuvieron que ser reformulados y dos de ellos fueron eliminados. En el presente estudio se examinaron las propiedades psicométricas de la versión resultante, con 63 items, en una muestra de 216 deportistas. Mediante análisis de items y análisis factorial, el cuestionario fue reducido a 48 items, que abordan 6 estados de ánimo: Cólera, Depresión (estado deprimido), Tensión, Fatiga, Vigor y Amistad. Los coeficientes de consistencia interna de los factores oscilaron entr e 0.76 (Amistad) y 0.91 (Cólera). Además, se han comparado las puntuaciones de deportistas con las obtenidas por una muestra de 268 estudiantes universitarios que no practicaban deporte. Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre deportistas y no-deportistas en Cólera, Tensión, Vigor y Amistad. Las diferencias observadas entre ambos grupos en Depresión no resultaron significativas. Ambos mostraron también puntuaciones similares en FatigaThe POMS is a questionnaire for the measurement of moods, that has shown to be useful in different settings, particularly in sports. In a preliminary work (Arce, Andrade & Seoane, 2000) the POMS was translated into Spanish and administered to a 374 students’ sample. Considering both psychometric and semantic criteria, some items had to be replaced and two of them were eliminated from the original scale. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the 63-item POMS version with a sample of 216 athletes. Using item and factor analyses the questionnaire was shortened to 48 items measuring six mood factors: Anger, Depression, Tension, Fatigue, Vigor, and Friendliness. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s Alphas) for the factors ranged from .76 (Friendliness) to .91 (Anger). Besides, athletes’ scores were compared with the scores obtained b y a sample of 268 non-athletes. Significant differences were found between athletes and non-athletes on Anger, Tension, Vigor, and Friendliness. The observed differences between both samples on Depression were not significant. They also showed similar mean scores on FatigueS

Evaluation of an urban-bus system: the users view

Se han analizado las diferencias existentes en la valoración del servicio de autobús en función de las variables sexo, edad y profesión de los usuarios. Los datos procedían de una muestra representativa de cuatro ciudades. Trescientos setenta y seis usuarios cumplimentaron un cuestionario compuesto por 16 items, referidos a 8 aspectos de interés. Los resultados del análisis de varianza indican que apenas existen diferencias entre hombres y mujeres en las características contempladas. La edad, sin embargo, se revela como un factor importante. El grupo de personas mayores de 59 años obtuvo una puntuación superior a la de los jóvenes y a las personas de edad media en todos los items. Por último, la variable profesión reproduce los resultados anteriores. Los pensionistas mostraron un grado de satisfacción con las condiciones y el funcionamiento del servicio de autobús mayor que los grupos formados por amas de casa, trabajadores y estudiantesThis paper analyzes the differences in the evaluation of the urban-bus system depending on users’ gender, age and work. The data were gathered from a four cities’ representative sample. Three-hundred and seventy six users filled a questionnaire which consisted of 16 items measuring 8 urban-bus relevant characteristics. The analysis of variance revealed that little difference existed between males and females. Nevertheless, age appeared to be an important factor. The 59 years-old group showed higher mean item scores than the younger and middle-age groups. Finally, the results for work were very similar: pensioners showed a higher level of satisfaction with bus-system condition and functioning than house-wives, subjects with other jobs and studentsS

Spanish adaptation of the Profile of Mood States (POMS)

El POMS (McNair, Lorr y Droppleman, 1971) es una lista compuesta originalmente por 65 adjetivos, destinados a medir siete factores de estado de ánimo: Tensión, Depresión, Cólera, Vigor, Fatiga, Confusión y Amistad. Aunque ha sido diseñado para el ámbito clínico, su uso se ha extendido a otras áreas de la Psicología. Los resultados más concluyentes con el cuestionario provienen de las muestras que son comparables en edad y nivel educativo con los estudiantes universitarios de Estados Unidos. En este estudio se ha llevado a cabo la traducción del POMS al castellano y una primera aplicación a una muestra de 374 estudiantes universitarios. El análisis psicométrico de los datos ha revelado que algunos de los adjetivos han sido interpretados por los sujetos como indicadores de un estado de ánimo diferente al que originalmente les correspondía, siendo el factor Confusión el más difícil de replicarThe POMS is a 65-item, adjective rating scale for the measurement of seven mood states labelled Tension, Depression, Anger, Vigor, Fatigue, Confusion and Friendliness. Although it has been designed for clinical settings, his use has become popular in other Psychological areas. The most concluyent results with the POMS come from samples which are comparable to those of the United States university students in terms of age and educational level. The aim of this study has been the translation and a preliminary administration of the scale to a 374 Spanish university students’ sample. The psychometric analysis revealed that, relative to the original description of each mood state, some of the adjectives have lost their original meaning and have been associated to a different mood factor. One of the seven POMS scales, Confusion, was not replicated successfullyS

Psychometric properties of the spanish version of the Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 with athletes

El objetivo del presente trabajo consistió en obtener una versión adaptada al español del inventario de ansiedad competitiva CSAI-2, revisado recientemente. Se llevó a cabo la traducción de la escala y se estudiaron sus propiedades psicométricas con una muestra de 149 deportistas. Los datos se sometieron a procedimientos de análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio. Como resultado se obtuvo una forma del CSAI-2R con 16 ítems, distribuidos en las tres subescalas hipotetizadas: Ansiedad somática, Ansiedad cognitiva y Autoconfianza. El ajuste del modelo fue satisfactorio, con índices CFI y NNFI de 0.97 y RMSEA igual a 0.045. Los valores de consistencia interna de los factores se situaron entre 0.79 y 0.83. Se concluye que esta versión posee propiedades, en términos de dimensionalidad y de consistencia interna, adecuadas, y se sugieren pautas para trabajos futuros sobre su validez como medida del estado de ansiedad en situaciones de competiciónThe aim of this work was to develop a Spanish adaptation of the Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. The scale was translated and its psychometric properties were analyzed with data from a sample of 149 athletes. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed which supported a 16-item CSAI-2R assessing the three hypothesised dimensions of anxiety: Somatic anxiety, Cognitive anxiety, and Self-confidence. Overall fit of the model was good with a value of .97 for Comparative and Non-Normed Fit Indexes, and .045 for Root Mean Square Error of Approximation. Cronbach alpha coefficients for the factors ranged from .79 to .83. It is concluded that this version shows adequate properties, in terms of its dimensionality and internal consistency. Guidelines are also provided for future research on its validity as a measure of state anxiety in competitive situationsS

Multidimensional Model of Environmental Attitudes: Evidence Supporting an Abbreviated Measure in Spanish

We conducted three independent studies to support the Spanish version of the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI). The first study consisted of translating and pre-testing on a sample of 125 college students. The second consisted of testing the EAI on a sample of 225 university students in several undergraduate courses. Student data were collected using two different methods, through an online teaching platform and in the classroom. The findings were symmetrical in terms of precision and dimensionality. The third study completed the aforementioned ones testing the items on a representative sample from the general population in Spain. The participants were 630 citizens from 17 regions and responded to the EAI using an online platform. The results of the factor analysis led us to propose a measurement model, with 18 items and six first-order factors: environmental movement activism, conservation motivated by anthropocentric concern, confidence in science and technology, personal conservation behaviour, human dominance over nature, and support for population growth policies. External validity evidence was assessed by the correlation with the following variables: neuroticism, ecological behaviour, limits to economic growth, economic liberalism, sustainability, altruism, and social desirability. These estimations stayed away from demographic and personal aspects such as age, sex, political ideology, and regionThis research was funded by the Galician Department of Education, University, and Professional Training (grant number ED431B 2019/07). The authors belong to the Cross-Disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS) Center. These programmes are supported by the European Regional Development Fund of the European UnionS

Assessing the sustainability dimension at local scale: Case study of Spanish cities

Nowadays, cities host most of the world population. As a result of human activities within their boundaries, most greenhouse gases emissions, natural resources consumption and waste generation are concentrated in urban areas. For these reasons, studies focusing on assessing the sustainability of cities have increased in recent decades. Bearing in mind the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental), this study aims to evaluate the level of sustainability of 31 representative Spanish cities through multiple sustainability indicators, which have been aggregated into a composite sustainability indicator that is reported by a three-letter code. Thus, each pillar of sustainability is represented by a letter A, B or C in the three-letter code, so that the letter A corresponds to the best rate and C to the worst. Within the geographical and socio-demographic framework of Spain, the results show considerable differences between the cities in the south and the north of the country. Accordingly, most of the cities with the best sustainability scores according to the award of at least two A in the three-letters code are located in the north of the country. Examples of this category are Pamplona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (both ranked as AAA). Cities such as Murcia, Gijon, Badajoz and Huelva obtained the worst ranking with the CCC rating. For this group of cities, actions for the improvement of sustainability have been identifiedThis research was supported by a project granted by the Spanish Government and FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation – Spanish National Research Agency (CTQ2016-75136-P) and by a project granted by Xunta de Galicia (project ref. ED431F 2016/001). Dr. S.G.-G. would like to express her gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for financial support (Grant reference RYC-2014-14984). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC ED431C 2017/29 and to the CRETUS Strategic Partnership (ED431E2018/01). All these programs are co-funded by FEDER (UE)S

Adaptation of the MSCI for the measurement of cohesion in spanish young soccer players

El presente trabajo describe el proceso de adaptación al español del Instrumento Multidimensional de Cohesión en Deporte (MSCI) de Yukelson, Weinberg y Jackson (1984) y estudia sus propiedades psicométricas con los datos procedentes de una muestra de 173 jugadores de fútbol. La versión española está compuesta por 22 ítems, distribuidos en cuatro factores: calidad de trabajo-aspectos relativos a la ejecución, atracción hacia el grupo, roles valorados y calidad de trabajo-relaciones interpersonales, que explican el 53,30% de la varianza total. Los coeficientes de consistencia interna oscilaron entre 0.84 (factor 1) y 0.56 (factor 4). Se sugieren pautas para la investigación futura sobre la validez de la escala principalmente en términos de convergencia con otras medidas multidimensionales de cohesión deportivaThis work describes the Spanish adaptation and studies the psychometric properties of Yukelson, Weinberg, and Jackson’s Multidimensional Sport Cohesion Instrument (MSCI) with a sample of 173 soccer players. The Spanish version is composed of 22 items grouped in four factors: quality of teamwork (performance aspects), attraction to the group, valued roles and quality of teamwork (interpersonal relationships), that accounted for 53.30% of the total variance. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s Alphas) for the factors ranged from .84 (factor 1) to .56 (factor 4). Suggestions are made for future research on the validity of the scale, mainly in terms of convergence with other multidimensional measures of sport cohesionS

Psychological and Situational Variables Associated with Objective Knowledge on Water-Related Issues in a Northern Spanish City

This study brings together the level of objective knowledge on water-related issues and other variables of psychological and situational nature. A random sample of 459 participants was employed, selected proportionally based on sex and age. In this sample, knowledge on the water-related issues tended to be low, particularly related to the direct source of water in the household, the type of services involved in the management, and consumption itself. In order to understand both the relationship with knowledge on water and the relative importance of all the other factors, a regression model was formulated. The highest standardised effect was for sex, followed by occupation, political leaning, and water-related emotions. The best level of knowledge was attained if the residents were male, if they were actively employed or unemployed, if their political leaning was towards the left, and if they demonstrated greater emotional involvement with the water use. Consequently, the design of programmes would need to consider that the information flow must be greater for citizens as a whole, particularly for certain groups such as women and students. It should contribute to the realistic perception of water as a problem and to seek emotional involvementThis research was funded by VIAQUA, Gestión Integral de Aguas de Galicia, S.A.U.S