Vol. 9 No. 2 (2022)

This article describes the adaptation and factorization of the New Active Procrastination Scale (NAPS) and the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ. The study involved 515 students aged 18-42 years (M = 20.35 years, SD = 3.08), 79.4 % women. The factor structure was obtained by Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) and the weighted least squares mean- and variance-adjusted estimator (WLSMV). The results show that a four-factor structure is the optimal model in both cases. The factors obtained for the Active Procrastination Scale (APS) are: Satisfaction with results, Preference for pressure, Intentional decision, and Ability to meet deadlines. The factors obtained for the Decision Making Scale (DMS) are: Stress and dissatisfaction, Vigilance, Avoidance, and Deferral of task. The reliability coefficients of the scales are greater than .80. Both scales capture the hypothesized dimensions of the procrastination construct and have adequate psychometric properties that make them useful for the assessment of students’ procrastination profiles.

Emerging adulthood is a period of transition that poses multiple psychosocial demands that can affect people’s mental health and well-being. The general aim of this work is to analyze the connections between general well-being, anxiety and gratitude according to perceptions of adulthood. The participants were 344 Venezuelans (69.19% women) with an average age of 22 years, selected by non-probabilistic sampling. The data were collected using an online form comprising: PERMA well-being scale, Gratitude questionnaire-6, ANSILET anxiety scale, and an open question about self-perception of adulthood. The results showed: medium levels of overall well-being, anxiety and gratitude among the sample; statistically significant differences for well-being and gratitude among women with a small effect size; significant increases in gratitude and well-being during emerging adult recentering, and a significant decline in anxiety (in comparison with the stages of late and extended adolescence); significant negative correlations between anxiety and overall well-being, gratitude and perception of adulthood, and significant positive correlations for the rest of the study variables. Emerging adult recentering was also found to have a predictive role in relation to well-being, with gratitude and anxiety treated as covariates in the model. It is concluded that perceptions of recentering are an important variable to explain mental health, gratitude, anxiety and well-being in the process of emerging adulthood.

RReading is a fundamental skill in a literate society and is essential for academic development. However, in Brazil, students underperform in reading, which makes it essential to create instruments for assessment and action planning in this area. In addition to cognitive and individual factors, issues inherent to the text, such as genre and structure, also influence reading. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of the words, syntactic structure and cohesion elements of the Reading Comprehension Cloze Test (RCCT) based on a comparison of RCCT-N (narrative text) and RCCT-E (expository text) using Coh-Metrix software. The results show that the RCCT-E is slightly more complex than the RCCT-N, as supported by the literature, but they also reinforce that reader characteristics should be into account when defining the difficulty of the text.

University dropout is a growing area of research owing to the diverse negative consequences it can entail. It is a complex phenomenon involving multiple variables, including emotional-motivational factors. Some of these variables, such as satisfaction with higher education and expectations of the degree, are especially relevant among first-year students, and even more so in a context of forced virtualization, as has been the case during the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between emotional-motivational variables and dropout intention among a group of students, and to assess their perception of their academic performance during the pandemic. The sample for the study comprised 513 first- and second-year students from different Social Sciences and Health Sciences degrees at two Spanish public universities. An ad hoc questionnaire was used to measure dropout intention and its relationship with a series of variables. Descriptive analyses and decision tree modelling were performed. The results reveal that the most significant predictor variables to explain dropout intention are satisfaction with degree choice, expectations, and learning knowledge that is relevant to their professional future. Students’ perception that their academic performance had decreased during COVID-19 was also found to be one of the predictors of dropout. 

The study of academic performance and its relation to children and teenagers’ mental health is a growing area of interest among educators and health professionals. The aim of this article is to identify the degree of association between academic performance, mental health and socio-demographic data, and to assess whether academic performance is a variable associated with mental health in a sample of 83 middle school students from public schools and their legal guardians. The study uses a quantitative cross-sectional methodology, and data were obtained using the following instruments: a socio-demographic questionnaire; the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for students and legal guardians; and an academic performance score. Data analysis was conducted by means of descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple linear regression. Notable among the results was the high perception among students of ‘total of difficulties’ in the SDQ, indicating the presence of clinically relevant mental health problems. The results also found that students with medium and low performances present significantly higher levels of mental health issues. The article examines the prevalence of child and adolescent mental health problems, possible risk factors, and future studies that might broaden the sample population. The overall findings indicate high levels of mental illness, particularly among students with medium and low performance.

This study is grounded on Systems Theory and Emotional Security Theory, and aims at extending past work by examining relations among children’s emotional security in the family system and the quality of family relationships among college students, a population scarcely addressed by the Emotional Security Theory. Participants were 236 female and male students attending a public Spanish University (mean_age = 20.13 years old). We used the Security in the Family System Scale (SIFS), the Family Stress Scale, the Family Satisfaction Scale, the Bidirectional Parent-Adolescent Relationships Scale (BiPAR), and measures of destructive and constructive interparental conflict. The variables “living with family” and “parental divorce” were also studied. Results showed that parental divorce related to higher family stress, less interparental conflict resolution and worse bidirectional relationships with fathers. There were not significant differences in any of the variables under analyses between students who lived with their families while at college compared to those who did not live with their families. Emotional security in the family explained 52% of the variance of family satisfaction. This study has theoretical implications as it applies Emotional Security Theory to study young adults from divorced and intact families and who either live or not with their families while attending college. Our results agree and support this Theory. It also has practical implications for mental health and counselling services pointing to potential risk and protective family variables in college students.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between parenting practices, social abilities, behavioural problems and academic performance, based on data from middle school students and their parents along the 6th, 7th and 8th grades of Middle School. The study analysed 288 parents and 288 public school students aged between 10 and 15 years. Data for students and parents were collected using the Parental Styles Inventory (PSI), the Parental Practices Inventory (PPI) (parents’ version), the Parental Practices Scale (PPS) (students’ version), the Social Skills Repertoire System (SSRS) (parents’ version), and the Scale of Problematic Behaviour (students’ version). The results of the analysis of the structural equation models indicate a significant impact of social skills on students’ and guardians’ assessment of performance, and a positive assessment of students’ social skills by parents during the three years of middle school. Noticeably, improvement was observed in cognitive, social and physical students' development, indicating that positive practices and social skills play an important role in academic success, and help to develop healthier social relationships.

The motivation to learn can lead to better academic performance and better conditions for the acquisition of knowledge; moreover, collaborative behaviors between students and teachers, which require social competence, can provide more agreeable and cooperative environments, generating a better perception of the school climate. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the variables Social Skills (SH), Learning Motivation (LM) and School Climate (SC), and to identify the variables that explain SC. The sample for the study comprised 384 final-year primary school students and 393 first-year middle school students from public schools in Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected using the Adolescent Social Skills Inventory, Learning Motivation Rating Scale for College Students, and Delaware School Climate Scale, and analysed using correlation tests, comparisons of means and multiple linear regression (MLR). The main results show a weak, positive association between LM and SC. The results of the MLR show that only LM explains SC, as one of the psychosocial factors related to academic performance and a determining factor in learning and academic success. The study provides data about the impact of students’ SH, LM and SC on their learning.

The book “Psychology Seen by its Protagonists. Psychology in Spain during the last decades”, refers to a set of great moments, reflected by its protagonists, as significant steps taken in the history of each one of them, which actually configures a “History of the stories of psychologists”.

Throughout the 374 pages of the book, each of the authors, 17 protagonists in Psychology, narrates their experiences, their contributions, their vision of lived and learned psychology, their contributions and the evocative memories of their most significant teachers and teachers. Above all, each one offers us a rich and scientific vision of the change that occurred throughout their studies and later their dedication and teaching profession, all of them important professionals in the teaching and practice of psychology, during the last 50 years.

PRISMA could be an essential tool to research associated to systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis associated. This new version is conformed with two main elements, a checklist (with an extended version to facilitate the checklist comprehension) and four flow diagrams (to carry on new Systematic Reviews or updated Systematic Reviews). Both are tailored to the needs of a broader spectrum of fields of study, ranging from the clinical and quantitative field to those with a mixed methods or qualitative profile as in Social Sciences, and among them the Sciences of Education.