Letter to the editor.

El objetivo de la investigación fue determinar la relación existente entre la Autoeficacia Académica y la Procrastinación Académica en una muestra de adolescentes de la ciudad de Quito, Ecuador. La investigación presenta un enfoque descriptivo, correlacional de corte transversal por medio de las escalas de Procrastinación Académica, Procrastinación Académica de Tuckman, Autoeficacia General y Autoeficacia Percibida Específica de Situaciones Académicas. Participaron 424 adolescentes (49,8% hombres, 50,2% Mujeres) entre 12 a 17 años (M= 14 años; DT= 1,71). Estudiantes de diversas instituciones educativas secundarias (73,8% privado, 25,2% pública y 0,9% Fiscomisional) de la ciudad de Quito, Ecuador. La Autoeficacia General y Académica es moderada, mientras que la Procrastinación es baja; únicamente se presentan diferencias por género en la Autoeficacia General, siendo los...

El presente estudio pretende identificar la relación entre la victimización por bullying (VB) y por cyberbullying (VCB) en las dificultades de regulación emocional (DRE) en una muestra de adolescentes del Ecuador. El presente trabajo se fundamenta en un diseño cuantitativo, descriptivo, correlacional, comparativo por género y de corte transversal. La muestra estuvo conformada por 384 adolescentes, el 44% corresponden a mujeres y el 56% restante a hombres, con edades entre los 14 a 19 años (M= 15.7; DE= 4.4). Los estudiantes provenían de 9 centros educativos de dos ciudades del Ecuador. Los niveles de VB y de VCB son bajos, mientras que las DRE son moderadas. Únicamente existen diferencias por género en la VB con mayor presencia en hombres que en mujeres. Finalmente, existen relación positiva entre la VB (moderada) y la VCB (leve) con las DRE. La VB y la VCB también se encuentr...

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en identificar cómo los impactos de los Informes de Comisiones de Verdad en Chile y Ecuador han promovido el cumplimiento de medidas de reparación integral y su relación con la construcción de la Cultura de Paz (CP). Se realizaron dos estudios: el primero, cuyo objetivo fue diseñar y validar el contenido un instrumento para medir la percepción de cultura de paz. El segundo, busca evaluar el conocimiento de medidas de reparación integral como variable interviniente entre las actitudes al trabajo de las Comisiones y las funciones estatales de CP. Se discuten las implicancias de la falta de cumplimiento de medidas de reparación integral y su relación con la construcción de CP en sociedades posconflictos. 

The objective of this work is to identify how the impacts of the Truth Commissions Reports in Chile and Ecuador have promoted compliance with comprehensive reparation measures and their relationship with the construction of the Culture of Peace (CP). Two studies were carried out: the first one, whose objective was to design and validate the content, an instrument to measure the perception of a culture of peace. The second one seeks to evaluate the knowledge of integral reparation measures as an intervening variable between the attitudes towards the work of the Commissions and the state functions of the CP. The implications of the lack of compliance with comprehensive reparation measures and their relationship with the construction of CP in post-conflict societies are discussed.

The objective of this work is to identify how the impacts of the Truth Commissions Reports in Chile and Ecuador have promoted compliance with comprehensive reparation measures and their relationship with the construction of the Culture of Peace (CP). Two studies were carried out: the first one, whose objective was to design and validate the content, an instrument to measure the perception of a culture of peace. The second one seeks to evaluate the knowledge of integral reparation measures as an intervening variable between the attitudes towards the work of the Commissions and the state functions of the CP. The implications of the lack of compliance with comprehensive reparation measures and their relationship with the construction of CP in post-conflict societies are discussed.

“The objectives of this study are to evaluate the measurement invariance of the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS) three-item version (UCLA-LS-3) in older adults in Peru and Spain, to compare the latent means of loneliness, and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale with Item Response Theory (IRT) models, and evaluate the possible moderating effects of the country on loneliness-health relationships. Peruvian sample was composed of 235 old adults from the city of Lima. The Spanish sample was composed of 443 old adults. The three-factor structure of RUCLA-3 anchored to the health measure fitted the data reasonably well in Spain and Peru. The R-UCLA-3 may be considered invariant for these two samples. The latent means of loneliness are different, the Peruvian average of loneliness being greater than that of Spain. The R-UCLA-3 is an invariant mea...

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), using Item Response Theory (IRT) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The participants were 790 Peruvians, selected through a convenience sampling, where the majority were women. The CFA models indicated that the one-dimensional structure better represents the data, is reliable and invariant between men and women. Likewise, IRT findings indicate that CAS is more informative for high levels of COVID-19 anxiety. The CAS in Spanish has adequate psychometric properties to be used as a short measure of COVID-19 anxiety.

The objectives of this study are to evaluate the measurement invariance of the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS) three-item version (UCLA-LS-3) in older adults in Peru and Spain, to compare the latent means of loneliness, and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale with Item Response Theory (IRT) models, and evaluate the possible moderating effects of the country on loneliness-health relationships. Peruvian sample was composed of 235 old adults from the city of Lima. The Spanish sample was composed of 443 old adults. The three-factor structure of RUCLA-3 anchored to the health measure fitted the data reasonably well in Spain and Peru. The R-UCLA-3 may be considered invariant for these two samples. The latent means of loneliness are different, the Peruvian average of loneliness being greater than that of Spain. The R-UCLA-3 is an invariant measur...

The brief God Mysticism Scale (GMS-B) is a 12-item scale that assesses the perception of God mysticism. The study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the GMS-B. The sample consisted of 421 young Peruvians from the city of Lima with a mean age of 26.76 years, recruited by convenience sampling using a snowball method. Construct validity, internal consistency reliability, difficulty and discrimination indices of the items, and measurement invariance across sex of the GMS-B were evaluated using procedures derived from classical test theory and item response theory. A confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the original model of two correlated factors did not show adequate fit indices. For this reason, after testing a set of factorial models, it was determined that a brief model of five items written in a positive manner (GMS-5) presented the best fit. ...

Background: Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders worldwide, both in the general population and in outpatient clinical settings. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) based on network analysis metrics. Methods: A total of 911 Paraguayans (23.71% women and 76.29% men; mean age 31.25 years, SD = 10.63), selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, participated in the study. Network analysis was used to evaluate the internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance between men and women. Results: The results revealed that the PHQ-4 is a unidimensional measure through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, through structural consistency, identified that 100% of the time, only a single dimension was obtained, and all items remained stable, as they w...

Background: Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders worldwide, both in the general population and in outpatient clinical settings. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) based on network analysis metrics. Methods: A total of 911 Paraguayans (23.71% women and 76.29% men; mean age 31.25 years, SD = 10.63), selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, participated in the study. Network analysis was used to evaluate the internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance between men and women. Results: The results revealed that the PHQ-4 is a unidimensional measure through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, through structural consistency, identified that 100% of the time, only a single dimension was obtained, and all items remained stable, as they w...

The aim was to test the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL-SF in a sample of people from seven Latin American countries. Additionally, the characteristics of the PIL-SF items were evaluated and to assess the relationship between purpose in life, as measured by the PIL-SF, and fear of COVID-19. A total of 4306 people from seven Latin American countries participated in the study. The results indicated that the PIL-SF is invariant in the seven participating countries and, therefore, there is evidence that the items reflect the purpose of life in the same way in all countries. This allows comparisons of purpose in life between countries that are free of bias, reflecting the true differences in how countries respond to items. From IRT, the discrimination parameters are adequate and indicate that the items cover a wide range of the purpose in life construct. The difficulty parame...

The aim was to test the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL-SF in a sample of people from seven Latin American countries. Additionally, the characteristics of the PIL-SF items were evaluated and to assess the relationship between purpose in life, as measured by the PIL-SF, and fear of COVID-19. A total of 4306 people from seven Latin American countries participated in the study. The results indicated that the PIL-SF is invariant in the seven participating countries and, therefore, there is evidence that the items reflect the purpose of life in the same way in all countries. This allows comparisons of purpose in life between countries that are free of bias, reflecting the true differences in how countries respond to items. From IRT, the discrimination parameters are adequate and indicate that the items cover a wide range of the purpose in life construct. The difficulty parame...

“The Purpose in Life Test (PIL) is a measure of purpose in life widely used in many cultures and countries; however, cross-cultural assessments are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL in the general population of seven Latin American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay). A total of 4306 people participated, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, where Uruguay has the highest mean age (M = 41.8; SD = 16.6 years); while Ecuador has the lowest mean age (M = 24.6; SD = 7.8 years). Furthermore, in each country, there is a higher proportion of women (>60%) than men (<40%). Using Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the factorial structure does not show evidence of invariance among the included countries. However, based on the Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment, th...

“The Purpose in Life Test (PIL) is a measure of purpose in life widely used in many cultures and countries; however, cross-cultural assessments are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL in the general population of seven Latin American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay). A total of 4306 people participated, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, where Uruguay has the highest mean age (M = 41.8; SD = 16.6 years); while Ecuador has the lowest mean age (M = 24.6; SD = 7.8 years). Furthermore, in each country, there is a higher proportion of women (>60%) than men (<40%). Using Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the factorial structure does not show evidence of invariance among the included countries. However, based on the Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment, th...

The Grief Impairment Scale (GIS) is used to measure functional impairment due to grief following the death of a loved one. However, there is no information on its cross-cultural utility. Thus, this study assessed the measurement invariance of the GIS using a large sample of bereaved adults (N = 2060) from Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Colombia. Specifically, we employed two measurement invariance techniques: multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) and the alignment optimization method. The results indicated that the GIS demonstrated configural and metric invariance, but not scalar invariance through MG-CFA. The alignment optimization method indicated the presence of an approximate invariance. Therefore, the results suggest that the GIS measures grief-related impairment similarly across the four Latin American countries. Among the countries examined, Peru reported the highest ...

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 began to emerge immediately after the first news about the disease and threaten to prolong the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting people’s willingness of receiving a life-saving vaccine. In this context, this study aimed to explore the variation of conspiracy beliefs regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine against it in 5779 people living in 13 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) according to sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, educational level and source of information about COVID-19. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic between September 15 and October 25, 2021. The Spanish-language COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (ECCV-COVID) and a sociodemographic survey were used. The results indicate...

“The aim was to test the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL-SF in a sample of people from seven Latin American countries. Additionally, the characteristics of the PIL-SF items were evaluated and to assess the relationship between purpose in life, as measured by the PIL-SF, and fear of COVID-19. A total of 4306 people from seven Latin American countries participated in the study. The results indicated that the PIL-SF is invariant in the seven participating countries and, therefore, there is evidence that the items refect the purpose of life in the same way in all countries. This allows comparisons of purpose in life between countries that are free of bias, refecting the true diferences in how countries respond to items. From IRT, the discrimination parameters are adequate and indicate that the items cover a wide range of the purpose in life construct. The difculty paramete...

The aim was to test the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL-SF in a sample of people from seven Latin American countries. Additionally, the characteristics of the PIL-SF items were evaluated and to assess the relationship between purpose in life, as measured by the PIL-SF, and fear of COVID-19. A total of 4306 people from seven Latin American countries participated in the study. The results indicated that the PIL-SF is invariant in the seven participating countries and, therefore, there is evidence that the items reflect the purpose of life in the same way in all countries. This allows comparisons of purpose in life between countries that are free of bias, reflecting the true differences in how countries respond to items. From IRT, the discrimination parameters are adequate and indicate that the items cover a wide range of the purpose in life construct. The difficulty parame...