https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP <p><em>The Spanish Journal of Psychology</em> (ISSN 1138-7416, ISSN-e 1988-2904) is an annual journal that aims to promote international dissemination of empirical research and relevant methodological proposals in several areas of research within Psychology. Cambridge University Press has been responsible for its publication since January 2013.</p> Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid en-US The Spanish Journal of Psychology 1138-7416 <div><p><strong>LICENCIA DE USO</strong>: Los artículos a texto completo incluidos en el Portal de Revistas Científicas Complutenses son de acceso libre y propiedad de sus autores y/o editores. Por tanto, cualquier acto de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública y/o transformación total o parcial requiere el consentimiento expreso y escrito de aquéllos. Cualquier enlace al texto completo de los artículos del Portal de Revistas Científicas Complutenses debe efectuarse a la URL oficial de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid</p></div><p><strong><br /></strong></p> https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220344A Sin resumen Sin autor Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 344 344 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220349A The neuronal activity in the rabbit’s visual cortex, lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus was investigated in responses to 8 color stimuli changes in pairs. This activity consisted of phasic responses (50-90 and 130-300 Ms after stimuli changes) and tonic response (after 300 Ms). The phasic responses used as a basis for the matrices (8 &#61655;&#61472;8) constructed for each neuron included the average of spikes/sec in responses to all stimuli changes. All matrices were treated by factor analysis and the basic axes of sensory spaces were revealed. Sensory spaces reconstructed from neuronal spike discharges had a twodimensional (with brightness and darkness axes) or four-dimensional (with two color and two achromatic axes) structure. Thus it allowed us to split neurons into groups measuring only brightness differences and the measuring of color and brightness differences between stimuli. The tonic component of most of the neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus showed linear correlation with changes in intensities; therefore, these neurons could be characterized as pre-detectors for cortical selective detectors. The neuronal spaces demonstrated a coincidence with spaces revealed by other methods. This fact may reflect the general principle of vector coding (Sokolov, 2000) of sensory information in the visual system Dmitry V. Evtikhin Vladimir B. Polianskii Dzekshen E. Alymkulov Evgenii N. Sokolov Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 349 362 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220363A An electroencephalograph (EEG) study was carried out from 1990 to 2006, using power spectra, averaged coherence, and integral EEG coherence asymmetry coefficients to compare 189 clean-up workers of the Chernobyl accident with 63 age matched healthy controls. Most of the Chernobyl workers showed three abnormal EEG patterns, as indicated by EEG power mapping. The higher power, most prominent in slow alpha and theta bands, or in fast alpha frequencies, were observed in persons 3-5 years after the clean-up works (the early stage). The lower EEG power in alpha band was found in Chernobyl workers 10 or more years after the accident (the late stage). EEG coherence analysis revealed the existence of two stages in EEG alterations following the Chernobyl clean-up. In the early stage, an increase of EEG coherence in the central brain areas was observed, whereas at the later stage, a decrease of EEG coherence, most prominent in the frontal brain areas, and reduced brain asymmetry prevailed. These results allow us to propose that the described EEG signs may be a reflection of radiation-induced brain dysfunction at the late period after the Chernobyl clean-up and were similar to the EEG markers of brain ageing. The results, in comparison to data of the literature, provide additional support to the premature brain ageing hypothesis in Chernobyl survivors as a result of the radiation brain damage after-effect. Ludmila A. Zhavoronkova Nina B. Kholodova Alexey P. Belostocky Mikhail A. Koulikov Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 363 373 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220374A This research has two aims: (a) To study the concurrent validity of three measures of mental workload, NASA TLX rating scale, pupil dilation and blink rate, testing the hypothesis that they will provide convergent results using a single-task, and dissociative results for dual-task; and (b) To analyse their capability to predict visual search impairment. These three measures were analyzed in the same cognitive tasks in singletask and dual-task (cognitive task and visual search) conditions in a within-subjects experiment with twenty-nine participants. Mental workload measures showed concurrent validity under single-task condition, but a complex pattern of results arose in the dualtask condition: it is suggested that NASA TLX would be a subjective addition of the rating of each task; pupil dilation would measure the average arousal underlying the cognitive tasks; and the blink rate would produce opposite effects: whereas mental workload of cognitive tasks would increase blink rate, visual demand would inhibit it. All three measures were good predictors of visual impairment. The soundness of these measures is discussed with regard to the applied field of driving and other activities. Elisa Pérez Luis Miguel Nunes Ángela Conchillo Miguel Ángel Recarte Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 374 385 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220386A We report the results of two experiments investigating conditional inferences from conditional unless assertions, such as Juan is not in León unless Nuria is in Madrid. Experiments 1 and 2 check Fillenbaum’s hypothesis about the semantic similarity of unless with if not and only if assertions; both also examine inferential endorsements (Experiment 1) and endorsements and latencies (Experiment 2) of the four logically equivalent conditional formulations: if A then B, if not-B then not-A, A only if B and not- A unless B. The results of these experiments show the similarity of unless and only if, confirming that the representation of both conditionals from the outset probably include two possibilities directionally oriented from B to A; results also confirm the especial difficulty of unless assertions. The implications of the results are discussed in the context of recent psychological and linguistic theories of the meaning of unless. Nuria Carriedo Sergio Moreno-ríos Walter Schaeken Juan A. García-madruga Francisco Gutiérrez Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 386 399 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220400A This article presents a study whose objective was to identify certain personal and institutional variables that are associated with academic achievement among Spanish, secondary school students, and to analyze their influence on the progress of those students over the course of that stage of their education. In order to do this, a longitudinal, multi-level study was conducted in which a total of 965 students and 27 different schools were evaluated in Language, Math and Social Science at three different times (beginning, middle and end of the period). The results show progress in all the schools and in all areas. As for the personal, student variables, the longitudinal, HLM analyses confirmed the importance of sex and sociocultural background and, distinguishing it from other studies, also the predictive capacity of meta-cognitive abilities and learning strategies on success in school. On the institutional level, the school climate and teachers’ expectations of their students were the most relevant of the variables studied. The size of the school, the percentage of students who repeat grades, and the leadership of the administration also explained a portion of the variance in some areas. Elena Martín Rosario Martínez-arias Alvaro Marchesi Eva M. Pérez Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 400 413 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220414A This study examines the mediational role of gender in the effects of two patterns of cognitive and self-regulatory strategy interventions in the writing self-efficacy calibration of students with learning disabilities (LD). 121 5th and 6th Primary grade students with LD (43 girls and 78 boys), ranging in age from 10 to 12 years old were randomly allocated either to one of the experimental intervention groups, (n = 48, 19 girls and 29 boys), and followed a intervention program based on the Self-Regulated Strategy Development Model, or they received training based on the Social Cognitive Model of Sequential Skill Acquisition (n = 31, 15 girls and 26 boys), or alternatively they were allocated to the ordinary instruction group (n = 32, 9 girls and 23 boys). Writing performance was assessed using two types of writing evaluation: a readerbased score concerned with structure, coherence and quality, and a text based score regarding productivity, coherence and structure. Writing self-efficacy beliefs were also assessed using a self-report scale including eight items about the students’ confidence in completing a writing task and to gain specific writing skills. The results suggest that the miscalibration of writing self-efficacy in girls with LD was significantly modified to a more realistic calibration of their writing competence after experimental intervention. However, the findings do not confirm the same clear statement for boys. Jesús-nicasio García Raquel Fidalgo Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 414 432 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220433A Objective: to establish the prevalence and associations of peer aggression as manifested in preschool children, in community-based populations and to study links with DSM-IV externalizing diagnoses. Method: Subjects were 1,104 children, 3-to-5-year-olds attending rural and urban pre-schools classes. Teachers completed the Peer Conflict Scale (PCS) to inform about direct physical and verbal aggression, object aggression and symbolic aggression and the questionnaire on psychopathology ECI-4. Results: 6.6% (n = 73) had at least one positive item on the PCS. This percentage dropped to 2.6% (n = 29) if we take into account a minimum of three positive items. Physical direct aggression was the more prevalent type of aggressive behavior, followed by verbal aggression, object aggression and symbolic aggression. Significant differences by gender and age were found. Peer aggression was associated with male gender from three years of age. Physical, object and verbal aggressive behavior was linked with externalizing disorders. This association was very strong with oppositional disorder. Conclusions: The present research with a Spanish population confirms the existence of peer aggression in preschoolers and the gender differences. Our chief contribution is about the age of emergence of sex differences and gender differences in different types of peer aggression. Josepa Canals Mercé Mitjavila Edelmira Domènech-llaberia M. Claustre Jané Teresa Corbella Sergi Ballespí Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 433 442 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220443A El objetivo principal de este estudio es analizar la opinión de alumnos, familias y profesores en cuatro países europeos (España, Hungría, Austria y la República Checa) sobre la prevalencia del comportamiento violento y otros aspectos problemáticos relacionados con la convivencia en la escuela, y sobre la forma en que los individuos se ven afectados personalmente por ellos. Para ello, se empleó un solo instrumento. De los resultados, se observa, primero, que hay diferencias significativas en función de quién analiza los problemas de la escuela. En general, las familias perciben los problemas analizados como menos habituales y se sienten menos afectados por ellos. Hungría se consideró el país con los niveles más bajos de violencia escolar. Los alumnos comentan su preocupación por los altos niveles de falta de motivación o aburrimiento, mientras que los profesores están más preocupados por los problemas serios de convivencia, debidos en particular a la presencia o el uso de armas y drogas y a los conflictos interculturales. José Jesús Gázquez Linares Adolfo Javier Cangas Díaz María Del Carmen Pérez Fuentes Francisca Lucas Acién Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 443 452 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220453A This research analyzes, for the first time using a Spanish sample, the behavioral problems of adolescents in the custody of their grandparents. The sample consisted of 68 adolescents (31 boys and 37 girls, with a mean age of 13.7 years) in the custody of 54 grandparents with an average age of 65.9 years for the grandfathers, and 63.6 years for the grandmothers. The instrument employed was the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL;; Achenbach, 2001). The results indicate that the majority of both boys and girls can be classified within the normal range on scales of internal behavior, external behaviour and total behavioral problems. When gender and age differences were analyzed, it was found that boys had more behavioral problems than girls on scales of incompliance with rules and external behavior. Meanwhile, it was shown that older adolescents had more somatic problems, as well as more behavioral problems, as measured by both the internal scale and total scale of the CBCL, than the younger participants. Isabel Mª Bernedo María Jesús Fuentes Milagros Fernández Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 453 463 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220464A This study seeks to determine how certain social situations cannot help but influence subjectivity and family ties. The Keynesian age encouraged and promoted a relatively stable socioeconomic matrix based on a probable future and achievable promise. The installation of a family model related to protective parents who were capable of caring for and protecting their children has been observed. Adolescent subjectivity is constructed based on parameters like generational confrontation and growth, and happiness before the possibility of exercising autonomy. On the other hand, neoliberalism produces a “retraction” of social spaces, dismisses the future, and feelings of instability and insecurity are prevalent, making the family model a “structure that overwhelms parents.” Adolescent subjectivity seems incapable of executing generational confrontation, predominantly showing a desire to “protect” the family (“exacerbated messiah complex”) by means of a fantasy that acts as a “threading scene” capable of annulling the search for autonomy and growth. Alejandro Klein Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 464 479 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220480A E. S. Barratt proposed the term impulsive aggression to define a kind of aggression that is characterized by acting without thinking because of high levels of impulsivity. Previous research using psychometric measures has shown that impulsivity and aggression are related as far as psychometric measures are concerned. Nevertheless, most of the research has been done with samples of university students. Our research tests whether this relationship is stable across different samples; university students, teenagers and workers. Our results show that impulsivity and aggression have a consistent pattern of relationships across these samples, with impulsivity being specially related to emotional and instrumental aspects of aggression. Furthermore, the effects of anger on aggression seem to show a pattern of relationship that depends on age, with a tendency to physical aggression in young people and verbal aggression in adults. Jordi Tous Andreu Vigil-colet Fabia Morales-vives Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 480 487 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220488A Lipreading proficiency was investigated in a group of hearing-impaired people, all of them knowing Spanish Sign Language (SSL). The aim of this study was to establish the relationships between lipreading and some other variables (gender, intelligence, audiological variables, participants’ education, parents’ education, communication practices, intelligibility, use of SSL). The 32 participants were between 14 and 47 years of age. They all had sensorineural hearing losses (from severe to profound). The lipreading procedures comprised identification of words in isolation. The words selected for presentation in isolation were spoken by the same talker. Identification of words required participants to select their responses from set of four pictures appropriately labelled. Lipreading was significantly correlated with intelligence and intelligibility. Multiple regression analyses were used to obtain a prediction equation for the lipreading measures. As a result of this procedure, it is concluded that proficient deaf lipreaders are more intelligent and their oral speech was more comprehensible for others. Isabel De Los Reyes Rodríguez Ortiz Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 488 502 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220503A Posttraumatic stress related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and general psychological distress were examined in six cohorts of college students (N=5,412) enrolled at an American public university between Spring 2000 and Fall 2002 some 2,500 miles from New York. Consistent with data from Schuster et al.’s (2001) national survey, which used a very low threshold criterion, our findings revealed that 44% of women and 32% of men experienced at least one symptom of posttraumatic stress 6-17 days after the attacks. In contrast to these results, depression levels showed only small differences, and self-esteem and trait anxiety showed no changes. Findings indicate that 9/11-related stress responses among distant witnesses were very mild, transitory and focused in scope, suggesting resilience with respect to broader psychological and psychopathological reactions. Findings are discussed with respect to the role of physical and psychological proximity on the reactions to traumatic events in the general population. Georg E. Matt Carmelo Vázquez Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 503 515 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220516A Tonic immobility is a basic defense strategy which has not been studied in depth in humans. Data suggest that it may be a relatively frequent phenomenon in victims of rape and sexual abuse, but its occurrence has not been systematically explored in other types of trauma. We carried out a retrospective study in a sample of 100 university students to establish whether tonic immobility varies depending on the nature of the worst trauma experienced, defined subjectively by each participant. Immobility was assessed using the Tonic Immobility Scale and traumas were assessed using the modified Traumatic Events Questionnaire. Seventy percent of the sample had experienced trauma of some kind. There were no significant differences in tonic immobility between different types of trauma (e.g., physical abuse, assault or aggression, serious accident), except that the mean tonic immobility score was significantly higher in the group with trauma due to physical/psychological or sexual abuse than in the group with trauma due to receiving news of the mutilation, serious injury, or violent or sudden death of a loved one. We conclude tentatively that tonic immobility may be typical not only of sexual traumas, but of other kinds of directly experienced traumas as well. Arturo Bados Lidia Toribio Eugeni García-grau Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 516 521 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220522A Two groups of women were assessed in psychological aspects considered by some authors of interest for personal well being. The sample consisted of 118 women, 58 diagnosed with breast cancer and 60 healthy women, of similar ages and personal circumstances. The purpose of the study was: (a) to explore the existence of stressful life events in the women’s history and their degree of subjective distress and (b) to determine whether or not there is an emotional avoidance style in the group of women with breast cancer. The following assessment instruments were employed: the “Cuestionario de Formas de Afrontamiento” (CEA), the Five-Factor Inventory NEOPI- R, and the State-Trait Anger Inventory (STAXI). The results revealed more stressful vital events in the last two years in the group of women with breast cancer and significant differences in the degree of current distress. They also obtained higher scores in current anger, resignation, and neuroticism. Violeta Cardenal Margarita Ortiz-tallo Isabel Martín Frías Joaquina Martínez Lozano Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 522 530 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220531A This study investigated the relationship between clinical personality patterns and cognitive appraisal as well as their repercussions on adjustment to chronic pain in a sample of 91 patients. It was predicted that clinical personality patterns would be related to adjustment and cognitive appraisal processes, whereas cognitive appraisals would be related to anxiety, depression and levels of perceived pain. The instruments used were as follows: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, the Cognitive Appraisal Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Mann Whitney U-test were used to analyse the data obtained. The results show that certain clinical personality patterns were associated with poor adjustment to chronic pain. The use of cognitive appraisal of harm predicted higher anxiety levels and greater perceived pain in chronic pain patients. The use of cognitive appraisals of challenge predicted lower depression levels. Ana Mª Herrero Carmen Ramírez-maestre Vanessa González Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 531 542 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220542A The aim of this research was to compare two different case-identification designs: (a) a one-stage anonymous design using the Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q; Fairburn & Beglin, 1994) as diagnostic instrument and (b) a two-stage-non-anonymous design using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and the EDE-Q as screening instruments and the clinical interview Eating Disorders Examination (EDE; Fairburn & Cooper, 1993) as diagnostic instrument, in the estimation of eating disorders prevalence in community samples. Both epidemiological designs were compared in: eating disorders prevalence, population at risk, and weekly frequency of associated symptomatology (binge eating episodes, self-vomiting) within a sample of 559 scholars (14 to 18 year-old males and females) studying in the region of Madrid. Eating disorders prevalence estimation using single-stage design was 6.2%, and 3% using the two-stage design; however, these differences were not significant (p = .067). No significant differences between the two procedures were found either in population at risk or in weekly frequency of reported self-vomiting. Reported binge eating episodes were higher in the one-stage design. The use of a two-stage procedure with clinical interview (vs. questionnaire) leads to a better understanding of the items (specially the most ambiguous ones) and thus, to a more accurate prevalence estimation. Francisco Javier Labrador María Angeles Peláez-fernández Rosa María Raich Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 542 550 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220551A In current society, body and beauty’s cult emerge as one of the main factors of adolescence. That leads adolescents to be dissatisfied with their own appearance, to psychological maladjustment, and nutritional disorders. This quantitative, exploratory, and cross-sectional research evaluates how adolescents perceive their weight and the prevalence of obesity in a sample of adolescents from the district of Viseu (Portugal). It also attempted to compare the relation of body-image and obesity with sociodemographic (school, sex, age, socioeconomic status, family functioning), psychological (self-concept, depression, school success) and behavioral aspects (physical inactivity). After data analyses, it was verified that the prevalence of obesity was 8.8% but 12.7% considered themselves obese. These adolescents had higher physical inactivity, poorer family functioning, a lower self-concept, and a higher depression index. The really obese adolescents were older and had poorer academic results. Obesity was higher in boys, but girls perceived themselves more as being obese. In conclusion, it is essential to evaluate weight perception in addition to body mass index (BMI), because the main problem could be related not only to being obese, but also to the perception of having a higher than ideal weight. Pedro Miguel Lopes de Sousa Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 551 563 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220564A The present study investigates drug consumption and risk behaviors among female students between 8th and 12th grade in two communities in the city of Santiago, Chile. Based on studies of university populations, we hypothesize that the students’ reports of their consumption of licit drugs will tend to be consistent with their actual use of said drugs using two methods to investigate consumption, while their consumption of illicit drugs will be susceptible, and will tend to be under reported when evaluated through traditional self-report measures. In order to compare the two methods, a cross-sectional study was designed that would compare reported drug consumption, first using the peers method, and then by means of traditional self-report in a group of 350 students. The results show that women’s reports of licit drug consumption converge using the two methods, while as earlier suggested, women’s illicit drug consumption was found to be under reported when traditional methodologies were used. Jorge Rodríguez T. Ana Maria Fernández Macarena Valdés C. Enrique Hernández A. Sergio Ramírez P. América Román Q. Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 564 572 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220573A Considering that the intersexual condition has a negative impact on the individual, their family, and society, health professionals and researchers have dedicated themselves to studying and assisting families faced with such an experience. The purpose of this study is to describe and understand the perceptions of primary caregivers regarding intersexuality and its developmental aspects. Six mothers and one grandmother of school age children were interviewed. The data indicated that living with the stigma of intersexuality can mean a permanent state of crisis within the family system. Issues such as guilt about the child’s suffering and questions related to the choice of gender follow the family from the moment of diagnosis. It is suggested that the therapeutic follow-up should foster the necessary conditions for the family group to be organized as a model of competence, replacing the model of guilt. Moara De Medeiros Rocha Santos Tereza Cristina Cavalcanti Ferreira de Araujo Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 573 580 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220581A The objective of the present study was: (a) to identify the concerns, verbally expressed, of 50 mothers regarding their preterm infants (PT) and then compare their verbal expression with those of 25 mothers of full-term infants (FT); and (b) to correlate the mothers’ verbal expressions with maternal and infant variables. The following instruments were used to compose and characterize the sample: Structure Clinical Interview for DSM III-R Non-Patient (SCID/NP), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and medical charts. Results showed that there was no difference between groups in term of mothers’ expectations and conceptualizations; both groups exhibited predominantly positive expectations and concepts. In comparison with FT mothers, PT mothers verbally expressed more feelings and reactions predominantly negative or conflicting in relation to infant birth. Higher levels of maternal anxiety and depression in the PT Group were correlated with more verbal expressions about negative or conflicting emotions. In addition, lower birth weight, higher neonatal risk and longer length of stay in intensive care nursery of the infants were related with more negative or conflicting concepts by the mothers. Flávia Helena Pereira Padovani Maria Beatriz Martins Lindares Ingrid Duarte Pinto Geraldo Duarte Francisco Eulógio Martinez Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 581 592 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220593A Objectives: estimate the prevalence and track the risk factors associated with, Maternity blues (MB). Methods: a transversal study was performed with 113 women, on the tenth day of puerperium. The following instruments were used: Pitt Scale (1968), Stein (1980), Inventory for stressful life events by Holmes & Rahe (1967), and a questionnaire with sociodemographic and obstetric data. Results: the prevalence of MB was 32.7% according to the Stein scale. In the univariated analysis, civil status and tobacco use were associated with MB. Legally married women and nonsmokers showed a risk approximately 4 times lower of experiencing the problem. Conclusions: MB was very prevalent in this sample. Obstetricians must be aware of this condition which may be associated with postpartum depression. Alexandre Faisal-cury Paulo Rossi Menezes Jose Júlio A Tedesco Soubhi Kahalle Marcelo Zugaib Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 593 599 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220600A The purpose of this study was: (a) to assess and to compare anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers of preterm neonates during hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, after discharge, and at the end of the infants’ first year of life; and (b) to assess the child’s development at 12 months of chronological corrected age (CCA). Thirty-six mothers, with no psychiatric antecedents assessed with the SCID-NP, were evaluated by STAI and BDI. The infants were assessed with Bayley-II Scales. There was a significant decrease in clinical symptoms of state-anxiety in mothers (p = .008), comparing the period during hospitalization and after discharge of the infants. Clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression were observed in 20% of the mothers at the end of the infants’ first year of age. The majority of the infants exhibited normal development on Bayley-II at 12 months CCA; however, 25% of the infants displayed cognitive problems and 40% motor problems. The mothers’ anxiety and depression symptoms decreased at the end of the first year of life of the pre-term infants and the children showed predominately normal development at this phase. Ana Emilia Vita Carvalho Francisco Eulógio Martinez Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 600 608 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220609A The aim of this study is twofold: to determine whether (and how) gender stereotypes have changed over time through a comparison of two different sets of data collected in 1993 (N = 1255) and 2001 (N = 1255) from a representative sample of the Spanish population, and to examine the relation between gender traits and roles and its stability over time. In addition, special attention is paid to the psychometric properties of the measures of gender traits and roles used in the study. The content of gender stereotypes was found to remain stable over the target period of time, confirming the classical typology (a higher assignment of expressive-communal traits to women and of instrumental-agentic traits to men). The structure of the gender-role questionnaire allows us to distinguish between family-role and work-role stereotyping. Gender-role stereotyping shows a marked decline between 1993 and 2001, a result that contrasts with the stability of trait-role stereotyping. The fact that a very low correlation is observed at the two time points between these two components of gender stereotyping strongly suggests their independence. J. Francisco Morales Mercedes López-sáez Ana Lisbona Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 609 617 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220618A If examinees were to know, beforehand, part of the content of a computerized adaptive test, their estimated trait levels would then have a marked positive bias. One of the strategies to avoid this consists of dividing a large item bank into several sub-banks and rotating the sub-bank employed (Ariel, Veldkamp & van der Linden, 2004). This strategy permits substantial improvements in exposure control at little cost to measurement accuracy. However, we do not know whether this option provides better results than using the master bank with greater restriction in the maximum exposure rates (Sympson & Hetter, 1985). In order to investigate this issue, we worked with several simulated banks of 2100 items, comparing them, for RMSE and overlap rate, with the same banks divided in two, three… up to seven sub-banks. By means of extensive manipulation of the maximum exposure rate in each bank, we found that the option of rotating banks slightly outperformed the option of restricting maximum exposure rate of the master bank by means of the Sympson-Hetter method. Juan Ramón Barrada Julio Olea Francisco José Abad Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 618 625 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220626A This is the first study that provides normative, reliability, factor validity and discriminant validity data of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) in the Spanish general population. Sanz and Navarro’s (2003) Spanish version of the BAI was administered to 249 adults. Factor analyses suggested that the BAI taps a general anxiety dimension comprising two related factors (somatic and affective-cognitive symptoms), but these factors hardly explained any additional variance and, therefore, little information is lost in considering only full-scale scores. Internal consistency estimate for the BAI was high (&#61665;&#61472;= .93). The BAI was correlated .63 with the BDI-II and .32 with the Trait Anger scale of the STAXI 2, but a factor analysis of their items revealed three factors, suggesting that the correlations between the instruments may be better accounted for by relationships between anxiety, depression, and anger, than by problems of discriminant validity. The mean BAI total score and the distribution of BAI scores were similar to those found in other countries. BAI norm scores for the community sample were provided from the total sample and from the male and female subsamples, as females scored higher than males. The utility of these scores for assessing clinical significance of treatment outcomes for anxiety is discussed. Jesús Sanz Inés Magán María Paz García-vera Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 626 640 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220641A The factor structure of the Reynolds Child Depression Scale (RCDS; Reynolds, 1989), analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis and the scale’s psychometric characteristics in a sample of 315 participants (140 boys and 175 girls) and a clinical sample of 62 participants (37 boys and 25 girls) between 10 and 12 years old, are presented. Two models are tested with confirmatory factor analysis: a one-factor model and a five-factor model. Both models show a good fit, but the one-factor model was chosen because it is the most parsimonious. The reliability coefficient ranged from .87 (at test) to .89 (at retest) in the community sample, and was .90 in the clinical sample (at test). Test-retest reliability was .66 in the community sample. Concurrent validity with other self-reports that measure depressive symptomatology was high, both in the community sample (.76) and the clinical sample (.71). There were no significant sex differences but there were differences due to age (school grade). Anna Figueras Masip Juan Antonio Amador Campos Joan Guàrdia Guàrdia Olmos Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 641 649 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220650A This paper introduces the validation of the Spanish adaptation of the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) by Wegner and Zanakos (1994). A sample of 833 people from the general population completed the WBSI along with other questionnaires. The exploratory factor analysis and the confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution accounting for 51.8% of the cumulative variance. This structure is comprised of the two following factors: unwanted intrusive thoughts (&#61537;&#61472;= .87, r = .70) and actions of distraction and suppression of thoughts (&#61537;&#61472;= .80, r = .60). Both internal consistency reliability (&#61537;= .89) and test-retest reliability (r = .71) showed adequate homogeneity, sound consistency, and stability over time. The results are discussed bearing in mind both isolated factors and the possible relationships of the suppression factor with automatic negative thoughts and insomnia. Manuel González Rodríguez Pedro Avero Delgado Anna Teresa Rovella Rosario Cubas León Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 650 659 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220660A The purpose of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the Flow State Scale (FSS; Jackson & Marsh, 1996). This instrument is used to assess the Flow State in participants of physical activity, although it can be adapted to other contexts (such as work, educational contexts, etc.). This construct can be considered the optimal psychological state to carry out an activity, being closely related to motivation and personal enjoyment (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). A sample of 2036 athletes was recruited from diverse sports activities. The results revealed satisfactory validity and internal consistency of the instrument, obtaining a factor model made up of a main factor and nine subscales. The correlations between motivational orientations and the flow state are highlighted. The Spanish translation of this instrument is found to be acceptable, with similar psychometric properties as the original scale, although future research in other contexts is needed to support these outcomes. Tomás García Calvo Ruth Jiménez Castuera Francisco Javier Santos-rosa Ruano Raúl Reina Vaíllo Eduardo Cervelló Gimeno Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 660 669 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220670A The present study examined the structure of Bryant’s Empathy Index (BEI) using different samples for conducting exploratory and confirmatory analyses. The BEI was administered to a sample of 2,714 children (mean age 11.12, SD = 1.59). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed a three-factor structure: Feelings of Sadness, Understanding Feelings and Tearful Reaction. The results revealed both the multidimensionality of the instrument and appropriate fit indices for the model proposed. Although these results were very similar to those reported in other studies with a Spanish population, the analyses were conducted in a more robust way: with a larger sample and using polychoric correlations and cross validation estimation. Amaia Lasa Aristu Francisco Pablo Holgado Tello Miguel Ángel Carrasco Ortiz María Victoria Del Barrio Gándara Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 670 677 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220678A The lack of standardized instruments to evaluate communication disorders related to the right hemisphere was verified.A new evaluation tool was developed: Protocole Montréal d’Évaluation de la Communication – Protocole MEC, adapted to Brazilian Portuguese – Bateria Montreal de Avaliação da Comunicação – Bateria MAC (Montreal Evaluation of Communication Battery). The purpose was to present stratified normative data by age and educational level, and to verify the reliability parameters of the MEC Battery. 300 individuals, between the ages of 19 and 75 years, and levels of formal education between 2 and 35 years, participated in this study. They were divided equally into six normative groups, according to three age categories (young adults, intermediary age, and seniors) and two educational levels (low and high). Two procedures were used to check reliability: Cronbach alpha and reliability between evaluators. Results were established at the 10th percentile, and an alert point per task for each normative group. Cronbach’s alpha was, in general, between .70 and .90 and the average rate of agreement between evaluators varied from .62 to .94. Standards of age and education were established. The reliability of this instrument was verified. The psychometric legitimization of the MEC Battery will contribute to the diagnostic process for communicative disorders. Rochele Paz Fonseca Yves Joanette Hélène Côté Bernadette Ska Francine Giroux Jandyra Maria Guimarães Fachel Gabriela Damasceno Maria Alice De Mattos Pimenta Parente Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 678 688 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220689A Theoretical, psychoanalytical constructs referring to the unconscious, the superego, and id, enjoy an autonomy within the I. As such, this study contemplates the discussion of these foreign entities that inhabit the interior of the I, producing an effect of foreignness. In the first section, I will develop a reflection on the state of foreignness of the unconscious. I will begin with an analogy used by Freud, which addresses the thesis of universality of consciousness with the psychoanalytical thesis of the subconscience within the I. Affirmation of consciousness in the other may be used analogously for affirm the idea of another inhabiting our own being. I shall continue, seeking to understand how the process of unconscious repression produces the effect of foreignness. The idea of a moral censor present in the entity of the superego constitutes the theme of the second section. The superego follows the principle of otherness in its constitution and in its effects on the I. Finally, a reflection on the dimension of otherness in the Id seems urgent to me, as with this concept, Freud radicalized in the idea of the foreign as the origin of the subject. Jacqueline De Oliveira Moreira Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 689 701 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/SJOP/article/view/SJOP0808220345A Sin resumen Alexandr N. Chernorizov Adriana Dergam Javier Bandrés Copyright (c) 2008-01-01 2008-01-01 11 2 345 348