Careless responses and construct validity of Wong-Law Emotional Intelligence Scale

Parental practices and their association with alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents in Chile

Background

Adolescent alcohol and cannabis use are common in Chile. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between perceived parenting practices and alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents in a Latin American context.

Methods

We adapted and implemented a substance use prevention strategy in Chile, which included surveys of tenth-grade students from six municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Greater Santiago. We assessed the reliability and factorial structure of the parenting scale with 16 items, which formed part of the survey. We dichotomized parenting scores into high (above the median) and low. The association of parenting practices with alcohol and cannabis use in adolescents was assessed using multivariate multilevel regression models.

Results

A total of 7,538 tenth-grade students from 118 schools were included in the study. The 16-item scale of parenting practices showed good internal consistency (Omega total = 0.84), and three factors representing Relationship between parents and adolescents, Norms and monitoring, and Parents knowing their children's friends and the parents of their children's friends. High total scores of parenting were associated with lower odds of lifetime alcohol use (OR 0.57; 95% CI: 0.49-0.65), past-month alcohol use (OR 0.63; 95% CI: 0.57-0.70), lifetime drunkenness (OR 0.64; 95% CI: 0.58-0.72), and lifetime cannabis use (OR 0.54; 95% CI: 0.47-0.61). Above median scores on each parenting subscale were associated with significantly lower odds of substance use. The strongest associations were observed for the subscale Norms and monitoring. Interactions between parenting and gender showed a significantly stronger effect of parenting practices on alcohol and cannabis use among girls.

Conclusion

Different types of parenting practices were associated with a lower prevalence of adolescent alcohol and cannabis use. Improving parenting practices has the potential to prevent adolescent substance use in Chile, especially among girls.

Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis of Internet Gaming Disorder Scale

The objective of this study was to carry out a reliability generalization meta-analysis of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS) to find out if it presents adequate values that justify its application in its four versions: original and abbreviated with dichotomous or ordinal response. A systematic review including 26 studies that apply this instrument from 2015 to June 2022 was conducted. For each version, a reliability generalization meta-analysis was performed with the random coefficients (RC) and varying coefficients (VC) model. Results showed reliability levels > 0.80 in the ordinal versions (IGDS9P and IGDS27P) and in the dichotomous 27-item version (IGDS27D), while the dichotomous 9-item version (IGDS9D) produced levels > 0.70. High heterogeneity was found in all versions (I2 > 95%; Rb > 90%). Cronbach’s α means with both models (RC-VC) did not differ significantly except for the IGDS9D version. It is concluded that, considering the dependence of the results on sample size, abbreviated versions do not guarantee that reliability remains acceptable, and dichotomous versions may provide limited but acceptable reliability. Finally, IGDS27P version is recommended in contexts where high precision is required.

Psychometric Properties of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale in a Colombian Manager Sample

Within the organizational field, emotional intelligence is linked to socially competent behaviors, which allow the development of labor and organizational abilities necessary for professional development. Thus, in workers, emotional intelligence is related to a wide range of organizational variables. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) in the Colombian context, specifically, in a population of managers. The study was instrumental. The sample consists of 489 Colombian managers, obtained through non-probability sampling (a purposive sample), who work in companies located in Bogota. The results indicated that the four-factor oblique model presents favorable fit indices, as well as the higher-order model, the latter having additional theoretical support. These results indicate that it is possible to consider partial scores for each of the four factors of the WLEIS, as well as an overall emotional-intelligence score. Also, the WLEIS scores have validity evidence based on relations to other variables (convergent and discriminant evidence) and are reliable. These first findings for Colombian managers contribute to the accumulation of international evidence of emotional intelligence measured with the WLEIS.