Intellectual Virtues for Interdisciplinary Research: A Consensual Qualitative Analysis

Through a qualitative approach, this study identified a specific subgroup of intellectual virtues necessary for developing interdisciplinary research. Cognitive science was initially conceived as a new discipline emerging from various fields, including philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and anthropology. Thus, a frequent debate among cognitive scientists is whether the initial multidisciplinary program successfully developed into a mature interdisciplinary field or evolved into a set of independent sciences of cognition. For several years, interdisciplinarity has been an aspiration for the academy, although the difficulties limiting the success of interdisciplinary collaborations have begun to erode that initial optimism. Our analysis suggests that the problems hindering the success of interdisciplinarity can be overcome by fostering certain intellectual character strengths in scholars. The Consensual Qualitative Research method was used to analyze nine semi-structured interviews involving researchers with a long personal trajectory of interdisciplinary research between the sciences and the humanities. Three virtue domains emerged from the interviews' analysis: (i) intellectual virtues, (ii) social virtues, and (iii) interpersonal intellectual virtues. The virtues of the third domain intersect with intellectual and social ones. They are intellectual because they pursue epistemic goods. But, unlike other intellectual virtues, they only develop in interpersonal settings, so they can also be considered to have a social component. Interpersonal intellectual virtues can be thus defined as intellectual character traits that facilitate the acquisition of knowledge (intellectual motivation) with and through other people in a reciprocal way (social environment). These virtues are essential for developing any successful collective epistemic enterprise, interdisciplinary research being a privileged context where these qualities manifest themselves in a relevant way.

Parenting, Gender, and Perception of Changes in Children's Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In a previous Argentine study, we found that, in the critical context of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were changes in maternal practices that influenced the relationship with their children. We also found that the impact of mandatory isolation was moderated positively by protective factors such as positive parenting and maternal school support or negatively by risk factors such as maternal stress. Although this study only analyzed maternal behavior, we were interested in studying the behavior of both parents, comparing the parenting (positive parenting, parental stress, and school support) of the father and mother and the perceived behavioral changes in their children. A quantitative ex post facto study was carried out. The sample consisted of 120 Argentinean parents (70 mothers and 50 fathers) aged between 27 and 56 (M = 38.84; SD = 5.03). Questionnaires were administered on sociodemographic and behavioral data of the children, as well as a brief scale to assess parenting. Mann-Whitney U and MANOVA were used to analyze the influence of gender on perceived changes in children's behavior and perceived parenting, respectively. Mothers perceived more significant changes than fathers in their children's behavior. In addition, women reported more parental stress, greater child school support, and greater perceived positive parenting compared to men. These findings support the hypothesis that parenting developed differently in fathers and mothers. These results imply the need for psycho-educational intervention programs aimed at promoting greater involvement of fathers in parenting and better management of parental stress in mothers' and family psychological well-being.

Promoting positive emotions and instilling concern for the needs of others during the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this research is to study the efficacy of the home-based Hero program in promoting positive emotions and prosocial behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included 237 12- to 15-year-old adolescents from Argentina. The level of positive emotions and prosocial behavior toward strangers, friends and family in the adolescent intervention group increased through the three evaluation periods. The Hero program was focused on recognizing one's own emotions and provided an opportunity to reflect on different positive aspects of life, thus allowing a change in perspective related to immediate negative events. Moreover, the program provided an opportunity to change adolescents' perspective from personal worries to concerns about others, including friends, family members, and even strangers in need.

Parenting and Children's Behavior During the COVID 19 Pandemic: Mother's Perspective

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents have felt anxious, overwhelmed, and stressed out due to the changes in education and family and working routines. This work aimed to (a) describe three dimensions of perceived parenting (positive parenting, parenting stress, and parental school support) in the COVID-19 pandemic context, (b) describe possible changes perceived by mothers in their children's behavior during the social isolation phase, (c) analyze if behavioral changes vary according to the dimension of perceived parenting, and (d) analyze whether the characteristics of perceived parenting dimensions vary with mother's age, number of children and number of work hours. The purposive sample consisted of 646 mothers of school-aged children in Argentina. Questionnaires on sociodemographic and work-related data, and on children's behavior were administered, as well as an instrument (Vargas Rubilar et al., 2021) that assessed the three parenting dimensions (positive parenting, parenting stress, and parent-school support). The sociodemographic and work-related variables of the study were described using descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency, frequencies, and percentages. The changes perceived in children's behavior according to the reports given by the mothers regarding positive parenting, parenting stress, and school support were compared using the Mann Whitney's U test, respecting the qualitative nature of the evaluated indicators. A factorial MANOVA was conducted to analyze the effect of mother's age, ä number of children, and the number of work hours on parenting perceived by mothers. Parenting dimensions influenced the perceived children's behavior. Mothers with higher positive parenting perceived more changes in their children's behavior. In addition, those mothers who were more stressed out perceived more problems in almost all the measured behaviors than less stressed mothers. The mothers who reported to have provided more school support to their children perceived that they adapted better to online classes. Finally, mothers' age and the number of children I parenting, particularly on parenting stress and school support, whereas work hours did not. A number of children affected stress and school support, and age only affected parenting stress. The only significant interaction regarding parenting was observed between the number of children and the number of work hours, which specifically affected parenting stress. Although social isolation due to COVID-19 affected children's behavior, according to mothers, this might be partially linked to the number of children, mothers' age, and the mothers' parenting style. These initial findings may allow the identification of some protective factors and some risk factors of parenting in the Argentine context of a pandemic, and the design of preventive psychoeducational interventions to optimize the psychological wellbeing of families.

Perceived Concerns and Psychological Distress of Healthcare Workers Facing Three Early Stages of COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

This study analyzed the difference in psychological distress of the healthcare workers in three different periods of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Argentina. Specifically, from the third week of the mandatory quarantine through the two following weeks.

Methods

Analysis of the responses of 1,458 members of the health personnel was done on a questionnaire on healthcare workers concerns regarding the care of patients with coronavirus, indicators of depression, anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and coping.

Results

The psychological indicators that were considered presented differences between the evaluated periods. Perceived concerns about the possibility of infecting loved ones and infecting themselves were greatest in the periods after the onset of the pandemic. In addition, the perception of how the work environment worsened and how lack of sleep interfered with their work was also higher in periods 2 and 3. The same results were found in the indicators of depression, anxiety, and intolerance of uncertainty. Finally, the indicators of high tension and concurrent lack of emotional control, which was greater in the last periods evaluated, were also expressed in the coping strategies (showing emotional lability, only contained by hypercontrol).

Conclusion

The differences found in the psychological indicators between the evaluated periods support the need for early psychological care of health personnel which should be a priority of public health and a fundamental fact to increase its immediate effectiveness in the care of infected patients.

The long-term course of cognition in bipolar disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of patient-control differences in test-score changes

Neuropsychological impairment represents a key aspect of bipolar disorder (BD) that is evident even in early-course patients and is a strong predictor of functional outcomes among those affected. Previous meta-analyses of longitudinal studies suggest that BD-related cognitive deficits may not progress along the course of the disorder. However, short test-retest periods were used in most primary studies and comparisons with healthy controls were limited. The aim of this review was to synthesize the findings of research reports comparing long-term neurocognitive trajectories between BD patients and healthy individuals. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were searched from inception through July 2021. Publications were considered for inclusion if they reported cognitive test scores of BD patients and healthy controls at two different time points, with a minimum test-retest interval of 5 years. Fifteen studies compared the long-term course of cognition in BD patients with that of healthy controls. Ten of these were included in the quantitative analysis and involved 540 BD patients and 644 healthy individuals (mean follow-up period: 8.9 years). Patient-control effect sizes (standardized mean differences) were calculated for test-score changes in 24 neuropsychological variables and combined by means of meta-analytic procedures. No significant differences were found between patients and controls regarding long-term cognitive outcomes. These findings are consistent with previous shorter-term longitudinal meta-analyses and do not provide evidence for progressive cognitive deterioration in most bipolar individuals. Future studies should address the longitudinal course of cognition in different subgroups of BD patients and its prognostic and therapeutic value.

A New Multidimensional Questionnaire of Empathy for Early and Middle Adolescents in Spanish

The aim of this study was to develop a Multidimensional Questionnaire of Empathy for Adolescents, since a model of cognitive social neuroscience, operationalizing the dimensions of emotional contagion, self-awareness, perspective-taking, emotional regulation, and empathic attitude. For the psychometric study of the instrument, 320 young adolescents in school participated, from both genders (125 male, 195 female), aged 13 to 16 (M = 14.23; SD = .95). The discriminant power of the items was evaluated, as well as the underlying structure of the instrument, its internal consistency, and different evidences of external, convergent, discriminant, and group-comparison validity. The results indicated that all the items were discriminative. The adjustment indexes of confirmatory factorial analysis allowed confirming the pentafactorial structure of the scale, consisting of 15 items. The internal consistency indexes of the different dimensions were between moderate and adequate. Likewise, differences in empathy between men and women were analyzed, the results of which indicated differences in favor of women. The different collected evidences of validity were consistent with what was expected theoretically. In this way it is possible to conclude that this Multidimensional Empathy Questionnaire for Adolescents (CMEA) is a valid and reliable measure for the evaluation of empathy in adolescents.

Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI): Factor structure, convergent validity, and reliability of a Spanish adaptation

Although there are several ratings to assess Executive Functions (EF) in adults, most of these are lengthy and comprise items which describe extreme or pathologic behaviors (e.g., ADHD symptoms), proving inadequate for the assessment of EF in general population. The Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI) seeks to assess EF taking these limitations into account. The aims of the present study were to analyze the factor structure, the convergent and divergent validity, and the reliability of a Spanish adaptation of the ADEXI in a non-clinical population. The Spanish adaptation of the ADEXI, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS), and an adaptation of the Aggression Scale (AS) were administered to 369 healthy adults between 18 and 60-years-old. To analyze the factor structure of the ADEXI, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used. In addition, the relationship between the inventory and the IRI, the CFS and the AS was analyzed. Finally, Cronbach's α index was calculated. CFA showed that the two-factor model including (1) Working memory and (2) Inhibition best fit the data. Significant correlations were found between the ADEXI scores and the CFS, the IRI and the AS, providing additional evidence of construct validity. The internal consistency of the ADEXI was high (α = 0.87). Taken together, our results indicate that the Spanish adaptation of the ADEXI shows satisfactory psychometric properties and would be a valid and reliable measure to assess EF in non-clinical populations both for clinical and research purposes.

Adaptación y validación argentina de una versión breve de la Escala de Parentalidad Positiva (E2p)

Antecedentes: la parentalidad positiva se caracteriza por promover relaciones saludables en la familia basadas en el ejercicio de la responsabilidad parental, garantizar los derechos de los hijos y optimizar su potencial desarrollo y bienestar. Dada la importancia de esta temática para el buen desarrollo de los niños, es fundamental contar con instrumentos adecuados para su evaluación. Objetivo: adaptar y validar a la Argentina una versión breve de la Escala de Parentalidad Positiva (E2p) de Gómez y Muñoz (2014). Método: la escala fue administrada a una muestra de 546 padres y madres (edad: M = 38.54; DE = 6.37). Se estudió el funcionamiento de los ítems, se realizaron análisis factoriales confirmatorios para establecer si la estructura factorial de la forma breve permanecía estable con respecto a la de la forma completa y se calculó la consistencia interna de la escala. Resultados: el modelo factorial propuesto fue puesto a prueba a través de un AFC con el método ULS que indicó un ajuste muy satisfactorio del modelo abreviado. La consistencia interna de la prueba fue adecuada para la escala total y por dimensiones. Conclusiones: Finalmente, se discuten los hallazgos, limitaciones y futuras líneas de investigación.

Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire for latency age: Psychometrics properties of Argentine Sample

The purpose of this article was to perform a psychometric study of the Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire (ASCQ) in Spanish language. This paper included three studies. The objectives of study 1 were to analyze the discriminative power of items, to carry out an EFA to determine the structure of the questionnaire, and to calculate the internal consistency of factors. The objectives of study 2 were to test the questionnaire structure through a CFA, and to determine if the model obtained was invariant between sex and age. The objective of Study 3 was to study the convergent validity. The three studies were carried out with three different samples of 180, 200, and 425 Argentinian children, aged 9 to 12 years, respectively. The results confirm the three factor structure of the adapted questionnaire, showing good psychometric properties (satisfactory internal consistency and adequate validity).

Programa de promoción de la parentalidad positiva en la escuela: un estudio preliminar en un contexto de vulnerabilidad social

Introducción: la parentalidad positiva requiere la conjunción equilibrada de diversos factores indispensables, tales como el apego, el afecto, la comunicación, la disciplina y la autonomía otorgada a los hijos.Objetivo: este estudio exploró el impacto de un programa de fortalecimiento parental desde la valoración de las madres participantes y de sus hijos.Metodología: el programa se implementó de manera grupal por medio de encuentros expositivo-participativos en una escuela de contexto socialmente vulnerable. Luego de su aplicación, se realizaron con las madres entrevistas semiestructuradas; además, se evaluaron el apego y el estilo parental percibidos por sus respectivos hijos antes y después del programa, y se compararon con un grupo control.Resultados: se encontró que los talleres, según lo informaron las participantes, aportaron información novedosa que contribuyó a su crecimiento personal y a la sensibilidad parental, produjo un cambio en las creencias respecto a la crianza, una mejoría en la expresión del afecto, la comunicación verbal y la disciplina, significó una importante fuente de apoyo social y activó su interés en la situación escolar de sus hijos, lo cual mejoró —en algunos casos— la comunicación entre las madres y la escuela. Por otra parte, la percepción de los hijos sobre el apego y el estilo de crianza fue mejor después de la intervención con las madres, y fue mayor que la observada en el grupo control.Conclusiones: el programa de intervención tuvo un impacto favorable en diferentes aspectos maternos que propician el ejercicio de una parentalidad positiva.

Personality and Creativity: A Study in Spanish-Speaking Children

This work aimed at studying the relationship between personality from the Big Five Personality model and creativity through different techniques (i.e., a paper and pencil task, and scales) and informants (i.e., the child and parents). We evaluated a sample of 359 Spanish-speaking school children of both genders, aged 9 to 13 years. Personality was assessed with the Argentine Questionnaire of children's Personality (CAPI). Creativity was evaluated using the following instruments: The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking-Figural Form B; and the Creative Personality Scale (EPC). Pearson correlations and multiple linear regressions consistently showed that Neuroticism related negatively to creativity while competence has a positive relation. The results suggested that more creative children presented less vulnerability, irritability and psychological distress, eventually becoming more independent, competent and emotionally self-regulated in coping with environmental demands.

Parenting, Peer Relationships, Academic Self-efficacy, and Academic Achievement: Direct and Mediating Effects

The aim of the present study is to analyze the relation between authoritative and permissive parenting styles with the kinds of adolescent peer relationships (attachment, victimization, or aggression), and of the latter ones, in turn, with academic self-efficacy, and academic performance, in three waves that range from the early-mid adolescence to late adolescence. Five hundred Spanish adolescents, of both sexes, participated in a three-wave longitudinal study in Valencia, Spain. In the first wave, adolescents were either in the third year of secondary school or the fourth year of secondary school. The mean age in the first wave was 14.70 (SD = 0.68; range = 13–16 years). Child Report of Parental Behavior Inventory (Schaefer, 1965; Samper et al., 2006), Peer Attachment (from the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment by Armsden and Greenberg, 1987), Victimization (from the Kit at School, Buhs et al., 2010), Physical and Verbal Aggression Scale (Caprara and Pastorelli, 1993; Del Barrio et al., 2001), items of academic self-efficacy, and items of academic performance were administered. Structural equations modeling—path analysis was employed to explore the proposed models. The results indicated that parenting styles relate to the way the adolescents develops attachments to their peers and to academic self-efficacy. The mother's permissive style is an important positive predictor of aggressive behavior and a negative predictor of attachment to their peers. At the end, peer relations and academic self-efficacy are mediator variables between parenting styles and academic performance.

Parenting Styles, Prosocial, and Aggressive Behavior: The Role of Emotions in Offender and Non-offender Adolescents

The aim is to analyse the parenting styles effects (acceptance, negative control and negligence) on prosociality and aggressive behavior in adolescents through the mediator variables empathy and emotional instability, and also, if this model fits to the same extent when we study adolescents institutionalized due to problems with the law and adolescents from the general population, and at the same time, if the values of the different analyzed variables are similar in both groups of adolescents. We carried out a cross-sectional study. 220 participants from schools in the metropolitan area of Valencia took part in the study. Also, 220 young offenders took part recruited from four Youth Detention Centres of Valencia, in which they were carrying out court sentences. The age of the subjects range from 15-18 years. The results indicate that the emotional variables act as mediators in general, in the non-offender adolescents, but it has been observed, in the offender adolescents, a direct effect of support on aggressive behavior in a negative way and on prosociality in a positive way; and of negligence on aggressive behavior and of permissiveness on prosociality in a negative way.

Engagement, Flow, Self-Efficacy, and Eustress of University Students: A Cross-National Comparison Between the Philippines and Argentina

This study examined how self-efficacy, eustress, and flow interact with academic engagement. First, it aimed to test a theoretical model that proposes that self-efficacy and eustress promote both flow and engagement and that, in turn, the state of flow promotes academic engagement in undergraduate student. We hypothesized that the theoretical model would be invariant for two countries: the Philippines and Argentina. Secondly, this research aimed to compare the levels of self-efficacy, eustress, study-flow and academic engagement experiences in students from both countries. One hundred seventy-six Filipinos and 171 Argentinean students participated in the study by completing inventories using the Utrecht Student Engagement Scale (Schaufeli, Martínez, et al., 2002), Optimal Experience Survey (Mesurado, 2008), Self-efficacy Scale (O'Sullivan, 2011), and Eustress Scale (O'Sullivan, 2011). Results show that the theoretical model fits the data well in both countries and is invariant across the Philippines and Argentina. Self-efficacy has a positive effect on flow and engagement, whereas eustress has a significant positive relationship with flow but is not directly associated with engagement. However, eustress has an indirect effect, through flow, on student engagement. On the other hand, there are different levels of engagement, flow, self-efficacy, and eustress. Argentinean students scored higher on absorption, dedication, self-efficacy, and flow. Filipino students, meanwhile, scored higher on eustress.

Contributions to the study and promotion of resilience in socially vulnerable children

Young children are particularly susceptible to the adverse effects of social vulnerability. Resilient children are those who resist adversity, manage to cope with uncertainty, and are able to recover successfully from trauma. Becoming familiar with the characteristics of naturally resilient children allows preventive intervention policies to be designed. Given that resilience interventions are an integrative process, it is necessary to work in different environments: family, school, and neighborhood. Interventions addressing the resources of socially vulnerable children appear to have quite an important role when children are faced with threats. But for the intervention's effects on the child's resources to be maintained or improved, the intervention needs to be intensive and continued over time. The child's age when the intervention begins is also an important factor. It has been determined that the earlier the intervention begins, the better the obtained results will be. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Expectations and Prosocial Behavior of Adolescents From Low-Income Backgrounds

Parental expectations are influenced by cultural models, which in turn are subject to a great influence from historically fluctuating features of the socioeconomic background. Parental expectations seem to be linked to children’s social and emotional development in terms of empathy and prosocial behavior. The current study aims to (a) compare low-income adolescents’ perceptions of parental expectations of prosocial and antisocial behavior across three Latin countries (Argentina, Colombia, and Spain), (b) compare the empathy and prosocial behavior between the three countries, (c) compare the prosocial behavior between the three countries, and (d) study the effect of perceived parental expectations and empathy on the prosocial behavior of adolescents in all three of the countries studied in this research. The sample was made up of 446 Argentinean adolescents, 474 Colombian adolescents, and 632 Spanish adolescents. The Expected Parental Reactions Scale, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire were used to measure the variables included in this study. Results reveal considerable differences between children’s perceptions of parental expectations in different countries. Results also show the existence of significant differences between male and female adolescents. In all three countries, girls score more highly than boys in prosocial behavior and empathy. Furthermore, we find that low-income Argentinean adolescents score more highly than Spanish and Colombian adolescents in prosocial behavior measures. Finally, expected parental reactions toward prosocial behavior and empathy seem to have an influence on the adolescents’ development of prosocial behavior in all three countries.