En el presente trabajo se expone una aproximación conceptual y práctica a los Modelos de Ecuaciones Estructurales o Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Los SEM están considerados entre las herramientas más potentes para el estudio de relaciones causales en datos no experimentales. Son una combinación del análisis factorial y la regresión múltiple y están compuestos por dos componentes: el modelo de medida y el modelo estructural. El modelo de medida describe la relación existente entre una serie de variables observables; mientras que en el modelo estructural se especifican las relaciones hipotetizadas entre las variables, es decir, se describen las relaciones entre las variables latentes mediante el uso de flechas. Llevar a cabo un SEM involucra cinco etapas: 1) Especificación del Modelo; 2) Identificación del Modelo; 3) Estimación del Modelo; 4) Evaluación del Modelo y 5) ...

This methodological article explains a conceptual and practical approach to Structural Equation Models or Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SEMs are considered among the most powerful tools for the study of causal relationships in non-experimental data. They are a combination of factor analysis and multiple regression and are composed of two components: the measurement model and the structural model. The measurement model describes the relationship between a series of observable variables; while in the structural model the relationships between variables are hypothesized; i.e., the relationships between latent variables are described with the use of arrows. Performing a SEM involves five stages: (1) A specification of the Model; (2) Identification of the Model; (3) Estimation of the Model; (4) Evaluation of the Model and (5) Re-specification of the Model. This article provides a series...

This methodological article explains a conceptual and practical approach to Structural Equation Models or Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SEMs are considered among the most powerful tools for the study of causal relationships in non-experimental data. They are a combination of factor analysis and multiple regression and are composed of two components: the measurement model and the structural model. The measurement model describes the relationship between a series of observable variables; while in the structural model the relationships between variables are hypothesized; i.e., the relationships between latent variables are described with the use of arrows. Performing a SEM involves five stages: (1) A specification of the Model; (2) Identification of the Model; (3) Estimation of the Model; (4) Evaluation of the Model and (5) Re-specification of the Model. This article provides a series...

Within self-report measures, one of the most mentioned scales in the scientific literature on emotions is the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Taking into account previous research, the present work has a main objective, to replicate in a sample of Argentine university students the previous findings found in other countries about the factorial dimension of PANAS. For this, it was used the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Although in general the results showed that the hierarchical, discriminant and convergent affection properties proposed by Watson (2000) cannot be fully corroborated. Thus, it is evident that the observable variables Alert and Excited have a cross weighting, affecting the overall adjustment of the models. Finally, the trifactorial model of the Affect is the one that presents better indices of adjustments, both for the oblique and orthogonal cases.

The pursuit of happiness is one of the most coveted goals of human beings. There are increasingly more psychology studies seeking to find which factors are involved in happiness. There are two main approaches to this study: the hedonic and the eudaemonic paradigms. The hedonic paradigm proposes that well-being depends primarily on living a life with pleasant experiences, while the eudaemonic paradigm refers that well-being is not only achieved through pleasure, but mainly through upgrading the human potential. In the present study we worked with a sample consisting of 340 citizens of Cordoba (Argentina) to investigate which conceptions they have about happiness by the technique of Natural Semantic Networks (NSN). Two hypotheses were proposed in this regard: 1) participants will conceive happiness both in hedonic and eudaemonic terms, and 2) those participants with higher levels of happin...

Las Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (ECV) son unas de las principales causas de mortalidad a nivel mundial. Diversos estudios han propuesto que los factores psicológicos explican la morbilidad y mortalidad de las ECV tanto a nivel primario como secundario. La presente investigación tuvo como principal objetivo verificar los niveles de depresión, ansiedad e ira en personas que han sufrido ataque de miocardio. Mediante un diseño de caso-control, se contrastaron dos grupos, un grupo conformado por personas que habían padecido un ataque al miocardio (ECV, n=33), y otro grupo que sirvió de control equiparado en edad y sexo (n=33). Si bien todas las variables contrastadas presentan niveles más altos en el grupo ECV, solo la depresión presenta una diferencia estadísticamente significativa.

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are one of the main causes of mortality worldwide. Several studies have proposed that psychological factors explain the morbidity and mortality of CVD, both at the primary and secondary levels. The main objective of the present investigation was to verify the levels of depression, anxiety and anger in people who have suffered a myocardial infarction. Using a case-control design, two groups were contrasted, a group consisting of people who had suffered a myocardial infarction (CVD, n = 33), and another group that served as a control matched by age and sex (n = 33). Although all the contrasted variables present higher levels in the CVD group, only depression presents a statistically significant difference.

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are one of the main causes of mortality worldwide. Several studies have proposed that psychological factors explain the morbidity and mortality of CVD, both at the primary and secondary levels. The main objective of the present investigation was to verify the levels of depression, anxiety and anger in people who have suffered a myocardial infarction. Using a case-control design, two groups were contrasted, a group consisting of people who had suffered a myocardial infarction (CVD, n = 33), and another group that served as a control matched by age and sex (n = 33). Although all the contrasted variables present higher levels in the CVD group, only depression presents a statistically significant difference.