Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in an elderly Portuguese retirees students sample

El objetivo principal de este estudio ha sido analizar las propie- dades psicométricas de la escala de Satisfacción con la Vida (SWLS) en una muestra de 363 estudiantes jubilados pertenecientes a varias universidades portuguesas. El 70% de los participantes eran mujeres frente a un 30% de hombres, con una media de edad de 67 años (SD = 7.59) y un rango de edad comprendido entre 48 y 90 años. Se realizó un Análisis Factorial Ex- ploratorio con R Commander y un Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio con Amos 18.0. El modelo que obtuvo un mejor ajuste estaba compuesto por un único factor. El índice de consistencia interna de la escala en su conjun- to fue de .777. En cuanto a la validez concurrente,…

Benefits of a dance group intervention on institutionalized elder people: A Bayesian network approach

[EN] The present study aims to explore the effects of an adapted classical dance intervention on the psychological and functional status of institutionalized elder people using a Bayesian network. All participants were assessed at baseline and after the 9 weeks period of the intervention. Measures included balance and gait, psychological well-being, depression, and emotional distress. According to the Bayesian network obtained, the dance intervention increased the likelihood of presenting better psychological well-being, balance, and gait. Besides, it also decreased the probabilities of presenting emotional distress and depression. These findings demonstrate that dancing has functional and …

Study of the leisure influence on attitude for leisure and mental health in a sample of portuguese seniors

Increased human longevity has been attributed to technological and medical advances, as well as improved hygiene and nutritional conditions, access to health care, changes in eating habits and cognitive development strategies (Osório, 2007). The present study examined the influence of leisure actions in the psychological well-being, leisure attitude and distress of seniors. The sample consisted of 403 participants (37,2% male; 62,8% female). Concerning the perception of health condition, 82,6% subjects were considered independent and 17,4% participants were considered dependent. The instruments used were the MHI (Ribeiro, 2001) and the LAS (Freire & Fonte, 2007). Main results exposed that p…

Brain reaction times: Linking individual and collective behaviour through Physics modelling

An individual's reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function (EGF). In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the EGF function in relation to psychological phenomena. We will focus on interpreting the reaction times (RTs) of a group of individuals rather than a single person's RT, which is relevant for the different contexts of social sciences. In doing so, the same model as for the Ideal Gases (IG) (an inanimate system of non-interacting particles) emerges from the experimental RT data. Both systems are characterised by a collective parameter which is …

Global Cognitive Functioning versus Controlled Functioning throughout the Stages of Development

According to the All or None Hypothesis (Diamond, 2009), the cognitive system can operate in a global manner that is not very discriminate or in a more discriminate mode that demands greater precision, control, and cognitive effort. There are five corollaries to this hypothesis that describe, in an operative way, the conditions under which the controlled mode of functioning in the cognitive domain can be activated and thus tested. Given the impact this theory has generated and the absence of studies analyzing the corollaries in a collective and systematic way at different stages of development, this study was proposed, first of all, to test three of these corollaries in children, adolescent…

Monte Carlo Simulation of a Modified Chi Distribution with Unequal Variances in the Generating Gaussians. A Discrete Methodology to Study Collective Response Times

The Chi distribution is a continuous probability distribution of a random variable obtained from the positive square root of the sum of k squared variables, each coming from a standard Normal distribution (mean = 0 and variance = 1). The variable k indicates the degrees of freedom. The usual expression for the Chi distribution can be generalised to include a parameter which is the variance (which can take any value) of the generating Gaussians. For instance, for k = 3, we have the case of the Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB) distribution of the particle velocities in the Ideal Gas model of Physics. In this work, we analyse the case of unequal variances in the generating Gaussians whose distribution w…

Corrigendum: ExGUtils: A Python Package for Statistical Analysis With the ex-Gaussian Probability Density

Natural visibility graphs for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

“NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics, [Volume 54, October 2016, Pages 337-342] DOI 10.1016/j.endm.2016.09.058 ¨

Factor structure and stability of a quality questionnaire within a postgraduate program

En este trabajo se describe un instrumento basado en el uso de una técnica de análisis factorial con el fin de medir la calidad de la educación a través de una muestra de estudiantes de postgrado de una universidad pública española. El instrumento tiene unas aceptables propiedades psicométricas (fiabilidad y validez). En cuanto a la solución factorial, tres dimensiones principales se han determinado: la importancia dada a la materia; recursos educativos y conocimiento de la materia (anterior y posterior). Es importante destacar que estas tres dimensiones se han detectado consistentemente en todo el análisis factorial: muestra total y cursos separados. Estas tres dimensiones deben ser consid…

Demographic and Parental Factors Associated With Developmental Outcomes in Children With Intellectual Disabilities

The aim of the study was to examine the relation between demographic variables, parental characteristics, and cognitive, language and motor skills development in children with intellectual disabilities (ID). A sample of 89 children with ID, aged 20 to 47 months, completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to measure cognitive, motor and linguistic development. Parents were administered questionnaires about demographic information and parental anxiety, depression, parental stress, conjugality and familial functioning. Parenting behaviors (affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching) were observed using the Spanish version of PICCOLO (Parenting Interactions with Children: Che…

Comparison between Spanish young and elderly people evaluated using Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test

The first objective of this work was to compare scores obtained in the daily memory function between young and elderly people, and to check whether there are differences between the groups for each of the profile scores obtained in the memory test. A second aim of this paper is to study the relationship between everyday memory and age, while controlling for gender and educational level. The total and profile scores obtained in the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test were compared in a sample of 60 young and 120 elderly people from Valencia (Spain). Results showed significant differences between the two groups: those between 18 and 30 years obtained a higher average than those over 65. Once th…

Bem-estar psicológico na reforma: a importância da preparação dos trabalhadores para a transição

O envelhecimento da população é uma realidade atual da nossa sociedade e, portanto, torna-se fundamental a criação de estratégias para que esta fase da vida seja vivida de forma positiva e saudável. Não obstante, é impossível evitar certas perdas que vão ocorrendo ao longo do envelhecimento, pois fazem parte do próprio processo. A reforma é uma dessas perdas, a nível social, com um grande impacto na vida dos indivíduos e nas famílias uma vez que todos nós somos profssionalmente ativos durante grande parte das nossas vidas. Torna- se, assim, importante a criação de estratégias precoces que habilitem as pessoas adultas e profssionalmente ativas para prepararem o seu próprio processo de reform…

Mathematical Modeling for Neuropathic Pain: Bayesian Linear Regression and Self-Organizing Maps Applied to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A better understanding of the connection between risk factors associated with pain and function may assist therapists in optimizing therapeutic programs. This study applied mathematical modeling to analyze the relationship of psychological, psychophysical, and motor variables with pain, function, and symptom severity using Bayesian linear regressions (BLR) and self-organizing maps (SOMs) in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The novelty of this work was a transfer of the symmetry mathematical background to a neuropathic pain condition, whose symptoms can be either unilateral or bilateral. Duration of symptoms, pain intensity, function, symptom severity, depressive levels, pinch tip grip force, a…

Spectral Clustering Reveals Different Profiles of Central Sensitization in Women with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Identification of subgroups of patients with chronic pain provides meaningful insights into the characteristics of a specific population, helping to identify individuals at risk of chronification and to determine appropriate therapeutic strategies. This paper proposes the use of spectral clustering (SC) to distinguish subgroups (clusters) of individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), making use of the obtained patient profiling to argue about potential management implications. SC is a powerful algorithm that builds a similarity graph among the data points (the patients), and tries to find the subsets of points that are strongly connected among themselves, but weakly connected to others.…

Happiness in advanced adulthood and the elderly

The purpose of this study was to critically analyse the role that positive emotions, flourishing and mindfulness have among the elderly. It was explored how these concepts can contribute to successful aging and higher levels of happiness in this population. To this end, we conducted a non-experimental correlational study with 329 participants, aged from 55 to 98 years. Questionnaires were used to collect data through the following instruments: a socio-demographic questionnaire, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), FS (Flourishing scale), PST (Positivity test), MHI-5 (Mental Health Inventory -- 5).

Frailty and Comorbidities. Frailty in Women

Serious Games for Elderly Continuous Monitoring

Information technology (IT) and serious games allow older population to remain independent for longer. Hence, when designing technology for this population, developmental changes, such as attention and/or perception, should be considered. For instance, a crucial developmental change has been related to cognitive speed in terms of reaction time (RT). However, this variable presents a skewed distribution that difficult data analysis. An alternative strategy is to characterize the data to an ex-Gaussian function. Furthermore, this procedure provides different parameters that have been related to underlying cognitive processes in the literature. Another issue to be considered is the optimal dat…

Efecto moderador de la institucionalización en las actividades de la vida diaria y bienestar en el envejecimiento

OBJETIVO: El envejecimiento con éxito es un concepto multidimensional que se puede evaluar a partir de componentes objetivos y subjetivos como el funcionamiento físico, psicológico y social. El objetivo de este trabajo es comparar el funcionamiento en variables relacionadas con el envejecimiento exitoso en ancianos institucionalizados y no institucionalizados. MÉTODO: Se realizó un diseño de dos grupos independientes, institucionalizados (N=242) y no institucionalizados (N=607), todos de más de 65 años, evaluándose sus actividades de la vida diaria (AVD) y el bienestar psicológico. RESULTADOS: El Índice de Barthel mostró diferencias significativas, siendo inferior la media de los institucio…

Direct and Indirect Effects of Function in Associated Variables Such as Depression and Severity on Pain Intensity in Women with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Objective To determine the direct and indirect effects of function on clinical variables such as age, pain intensity, years of the disease, severity of symptoms, and depression in women with electrodiagnostic and clinical diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Patients from an urban hospital referred to a university clinic. Methods Two hundred and forty-four (n = 224) women with CTS were included. Demographic and clinical data, duration of symptoms, function, symptom's severity of the symptoms, pain intensity, and depression were self-reported collected. Correlation and path analysis with maximum likelihood estimation were conducted to assess the …

Sleep disturbances in tension-type headache and migraine

Current research into the pathogenesis of tension-type headache (TTH) and migraine is focused on altered nociceptive pain processing. Among the potential factors that influence sensitization mechanisms, emotional stress, depression, or sleep disorders all have an essential role: they increase the excitability of nociceptive firing and trigger hyperalgesic responses. Sleep disturbances and headache disorders share common brain structures and pathogenic mechanisms and TTH, migraine, and sleep disturbances often occur together; for example, 50% of individuals who have either TTH or migraine have insomnia. Moreover, insomnia and poor sleep quality have been associated with a higher frequency an…

Corrigendum: ExGUtils: A Python Package for Statistical Analysis With the ex-Gaussian Probability Density

The study of reaction times and their underlying cognitive processes is an important field in Psychology. Reaction times are usually modeled through the ex-Gaussian distribution, because it provides a good fit to multiple empirical data. The complexity of this distribution makes the use of computational tools an essential element in the field. Therefore, there is a strong need for efficient and versatile computational tools for the research in this area. In this manuscript we discuss some mathematical details of the ex-Gaussian distribution and apply the ExGUtils package, a set of functions and numerical tools, programmed for python, developed for numerical analysis of data involving the ex…

Machinery Failure Approach and Spectral Analysis to Study the Reaction Time Dynamics over Consecutive Visual Stimuli: An Entropy-Based Model.

[EN] The reaction times of individuals over consecutive visual stimuli have been studied using an entropy-based model and a failure machinery approach. The used tools include the fast Fourier transform and a spectral entropy analysis. The results indicate that the reaction times produced by the independently responding individuals to visual stimuli appear to be correlated. The spectral analysis and the entropy of the spectrum yield that there are features of similarity in the response times of each participant and among them. Furthermore, the analysis of the mistakes made by the participants during the reaction time experiments concluded that they follow a behavior which is consistent with …

Spanish versión of the Short Depression-Happiness Scale (SDHS): A Reliability and Validity study in a simple of Spanish elderly people

The psychometric properties of the Short Depression-Happiness Scale (SDHS) were analyzed in a sample of 216 Spanish elderly people with an average age of 73.89 (SD = 6.49). An exploratory factor analysis and confirm­atory factor analysis were developed in order to identify the factorial solution and the best model fit. Just on factor was identified. Regarding reliability and validity, internal consistency index was .757 and the correlation between the Short Depression-Happiness Scale (SDHS) and measures of others construct, General Health Question­naire (GHQ) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD) (CESD), were significance. The practical implications of the scale and…

Patient Profiling Based on Spectral Clustering for an Enhanced Classification of Patients with Tension-Type Headache

Profiling groups of patients in clusters can provide meaningful insights into the features of the population, thus helping to identify people at risk of chronification and the development of specific therapeutic strategies. Our aim was to determine if spectral clustering is able to distinguish subgroups (clusters) of tension-type headache (TTH) patients, identify the profile of each group, and argue about potential different therapeutic interventions. A total of 208 patients (n = 208) with TTH participated. Headache intensity, frequency, and duration were collected with a 4-week diary. Anxiety and depressive levels, headache-related burden, sleep quality, health-related quality of life, pre…

Relationship Between Mental Health and the Education Level in Elderly People: Mediation of Leisure Attitude.

Purpose The present study intends to explore the influence of education on the mental health of retired people and the mediating role of a leisure attitude in this relationship. Design/methodology The sample was simple random, and a confidentiality agreement was established. The sample was composed of 403 Portuguese participants (37.2% male; 62.8% female). The participants completed the MHI and the LAS. Findings The hypothesized mediation model showed that a leisure attitude mediated the association between education and well-being. In addition, higher levels of distress were found in participants with higher levels of education. Scientific contribution Our results suggest that old-aged peo…

The effects of age and emotional valence on recognition memory: An ex-Gaussian components analysis

[EN] The aim of this work was to study the effects of valence and age on visual image recognition memory. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) battery was used, and response time data were analyzed using analysis of variance, as well as an ex-Gaussian fit method. Older participants were slower and more variable in their reaction times. Response times were longer for negative valence pictures, however this was statistically significant only for young participants. This suggests that negative emotional valence has a strong effect on recognition memory in young but not in old participants. The tau parameter, often related to attention in the literature, was smaller for young than …

Ageing: Not only an age-related issue.

Developments in the last century have led to an unprecedented increase in life expectancy. These changes open opportunities for humans to grow and develop in healthy and adaptive ways, adding life to years as well as years to life. There are also challenges, however - as we live longer, a greater number of people will experience chronic illness and disability, often linked to lifestyle factors. The current paper advances an argument that there are fundamental biological sex differences which, sometimes directly and sometime mediated by lifestyle factors, underpin the marked differences in morbidity and mortality that we find between the sexes. Furthermore, we argue that it is necessary to c…

Is the association between health-related quality of life and fatigue mediated by depression in patients with multiple sclerosis? A Spanish cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the mediating effects of depression on health-related quality of life and fatigue in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Tertiary urban hospital. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and eight patients (54% women) with MS participated in this study. OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic and clinical data (weight, height, medication and neurological impairment), fatigue (Fatigue Impact Scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II) and health-related quality of life (Short-Form Health Survey 36) were collected. RESULTS: Fatigue was significantly associated with bodily pain, physical function, mental health and depression. Depression wa…

Community detection-based deep neural network architectures: A fully automated framework based on Likert-scale data

[EN] Deep neural networks (DNNs) have emerged as a state-of-the-art tool in very different research fields due to its adaptive power to the decision space since they do not presuppose any linear relationship between data. Some of the main disadvantages of these trending models are that the choice of the network underlying architecture profoundly influences the performance of the model and that the architecture design requires prior knowledge of the field of study. The use of questionnaires is hugely extended in social/behavioral sciences. The main contribution of this work is to automate the process of a DNN architecture design by using an agglomerative hierarchical algorithm that mimics th…

La construcción de la sexualidad en la adolescencia

ResumenSe presenta un estudio en el que se analizan las representaciones que elaboran de la sexualidad chicas y chicos a la edad de la pubertad. Se analiza tambien como evolucionan esas representaciones a lo largo de un periodo de seis anos. El estudio se ha realizado a partir del analisis del contenido de 1.204 preguntas sobre sexualidad formuladas por chicos y chicas de 13 y 14 anos en diversos talleres de educacion sexual. El principal resultado es el escaso interes de las chicas por aspectos eroticos de la sexualidad, frente a un gran interes por su cuerpo, la salud reproductiva y el control del embarazo. Se propone la nocion del erotismo subrogado para explicar las multiples diferencia…

Characterising Spanish retirees enrolled in university programs: four differentiated profiles

A Systematic Review on the Impact of the Social Confinement on People with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had imposed a variety of containment measures on the general population for prolonged periods. Confinement has had, and still has, social, economic, educational, health, and psychological consequences on the entire population. Objective: In this article, a systematic search has been performed based on studies carried out since the beginning of the pandemic, regarding the impact of these containment measures on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population and their caregivers. Method: We consulted six databases (i.e., PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct) and selected ten studies that met the inclusion criteria. The chosen studies have be…

Study of the perception of active workers in preparation for retirement

In a reality where we assist aging population, it is important to create more strategies to make this stage of life more positive and healthy. We know that many losses occur in this process on social and individual levels. The retirement is one of these losses, this one with great impact on the elderly people, once they've been professionally active during a great part of their lives. Thus, emerges the interest on creating early strategies that able adult and active people to prepare their retirement process, to the transition from active work to retirement. We proposed a study that permit us to examine the impact that education for retirement (with, for example, courses) could have in how …

Desarrollo de habilidades de modelación desde las ecuaciones más simples de la Hidrodinámica

[EN] The development of modeling skills is a very important issue in Science teaching nowadays. The present workillustrates how, from the simplest equations of hydrodynamics, it is possible to contribute to this end. Bernoulliand continuity equations are included in Physics syllabi of secondary and university levels, and can be seen as alinking between general and professional education. By means of the proposed project, students are taken throughgeneral stages which are usually present in any engineering project or research work based on modeling and simu-lation. such as the formulation of the problem, the statement of the Physics model, a computational simulationand the comparison between…

Propiedades psicométricas y estructura de los factores de la escala de Satisfacción con la Vida en una muestra de estudiantes mayores portugueses jubilados

Abstract The main purpose of this study is to analyse the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in a 363 retirees students sample from several Portuguese universities. The 70% were female (253) and 30% were male (110) with an average age of 67 years (SD = 7.59) and a range from 48 to 90 years. R Commander was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Amos 18.0 module for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). One factor solution was the best-fitting model. The internal consistency of the SWLS was .777. Correlational analysis showed negative relationships with loneliness (UCLA Scale) and symptoms of depression (GDS-15), supporting concurrent validity. The SWLS …

Spanish validation of the PICCOLO (Parenting Interactions With Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes)

Background/Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO; Roggman et al., 2013a). This observational measure is composed of 29 items that assess the quality of four domains of parenting interactions that promote child development: affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching. Methods: The sample included 203 mother-child dyads who had been video-recorded playing together. Fifty-six percent of the children were male, and 44% were female, aged from 10 to 47 months. Video-recorded observations were rated using PICCOLO items. Results: …

Grandparent-grandchild relationships from the children's perspective: shared activities and socialization styles.

The objective of this study is to describe the relationships between grandchildren and their favourite grandparents, by studying the socialization styles used by latter and the shared activities undertaken. The participants were 360 children between 10 and 12 years old, who completed the grandparent-grandchild relationship questionnaire of Rico, Serra and Viguer (2001) and the socialization questionnaire of Rey and Ruiz (1990). The results demonstrate the importance of gender and family line in the selection of the favourite grandparent, differences being shown in the types of shared activities and in socialization styles. It is concluded that in the majority of cases the profile of the fav…

Prevalence of Cognitive Frailty, Do Psychosocial-Related Factors Matter?

Cognitive frailty (CF) is a topic of growing interest with implications for the study of preventive interventions in aging. Nevertheless, little research has been done to assess the influence of psychosocial variables on the risk of CF. Our objectives were to estimate the prevalence of CF in a Spanish sample and to explore the influence of psychosocial variables in this prevalence. Physical frailty and cognitive, functional, psychosocial, and socio-demographic aspects were assessed in a sample of 285 participants over 60 years. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were carried out. A prevalence of 21.8% (95% CI 17.4&ndash

Progression in healthy ageing: frailty, cognitive decline and gender in the European Innovation Partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives: Lifespan is getting longer at a global level. More people, therefore, live past 65 years of age. Ageing favors frailty, a condition that makes the body more susceptible to diseases. We present updated information of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA), and particularly, the Cognitive Decline (CD) group in Action Group 3 (A3), focused in the prevention of frailty and functional decline. Moreover, details of one of the commitments in CD, which deals with the specificities of women in frailty and ageing (Chronic Ailment Reduction after Menopause, CARMEN), will be presented as well. Objectives of EIPAHA are to increas…

Análisis del bienestar en la vejez según la edad

Introduccion el objetivo de este trabajo es conocer como el bienestar evoluciona con la edad una vez llegados al periodo de la vejez y si existen cambios en esta variable tan relacionada con la calidad de vida. Material y metodo se aplico a una muestra de 169 personas de mas de 65 anos la Life Satisfaction Index (LSI) y las escalas de bienestar de Ryff; se realizaron regresiones lineales simples y curvilineas para ver su relacion con la edad. Resultados las correlaciones de Pearson mostraron que parece existir una relacion de disminucion, tanto del bienestar como indicador global como de tres de sus dimensiones, con la edad. Por otra parte, la satisfaccion vital muestra como mejor ajuste el…

Resilience and the Aging Process: Assessment Tools and Needs

Abstract Successful resilience is a variable often related to an optimal aging process and that might have a role on education. However, literature is rather limited when dealing with assessment instruments for the elderly in the Spanish language. The objective of this work is to examine the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (Sinclair &Wallston, 2004), a four item likert scale, in the Spanish elderly. This scale was administrated to a sample of 920 elderly Spanish participants, and the data set analysed in terms of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency. The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties. Furthermore, the homogeneity indices were higher than in th…

Mild cognitive impairment: classification method and procedure

Title: Mild cognitive impairment: classification method and procedure. Abstract: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is one of the most important clinical entities in the field of cognitive neuroscience, the size of their numbers and the possible evolution of some of the subtypes of dementia. The aim of this study is to test a method and procedure for classification of MCI in terms of neuropsychological test scores and its convergence with established clinical criteria, and analyze the differences between the resulting groups. After applying the inclusion-exclusion criteria, was as- sessed using a battery of neuropsychological tests to 39 people aged be- tween 60 and 89 years. Diagnostic groups…

Sex Hormones and Healthy Psychological Aging in Women

Besides their key role in reproduction, estrogens have effects in several organs in the body, as confirmed by the identification of estrogen receptors (ER) in multiple tissues. Experimental evidence has shown that estrogens have significant impacts on the central nervous system (CNS), and a key question is to what extent the fall in estrogen levels in the blood that occurs with increasing age, particularly around and following the menopause, has an impact on the cognitive function and psychological health of women, specifically regarding mood. This review will consider direct effects of menopausal changes in estrogens on the brain, including cognitive function and mood. Secondary pathways w…

Differences Between Young and Old University Students on a Lexical Decision Task: Evidence Through an Ex-Gaussian Approach

This work compared two common variants of a lexical decision task (LDT) through two different analysis procedures: first, the classical ANOVA method, and second, by fitting the data to an ex-Gaussian distribution function. Two groups of participants (old and young university students) had to perform, blocks of go/no-go and yes/no tasks. Reaction times and error rates were much lower in the go/no-go task than in the yes/no task. Changes in the ex-Gaussian parameter related to attention were found with word frequency but not with the type of LDT tasks. These findings suggest that word frequency shows an attentional cost that is independent of age.

Age slowing down in detection and visual discrimination under varying presentation times

[EN] The reaction time has been described as a measure of perception, decision making, and other cognitive processes. The aim of this work is to examine agerelated changes in executive functions in terms of demand load under varying presentation times. Two tasks were employed where a signal detection and a discrimination task were performed by young and older university students. Furthermore, a characterization of the response time distribution by an exGaussian fit was carried out. The results indicated that the older participants were slower than the younger ones in signal detection and discrimination. Moreover, the differences between both processes for the older participants were higher,…

Frailty and multimorbidity: Two related yet different concepts.

The extension of life expectancy is a global phenomenon. The growth in the ageing population has created a new health scenario in which there is a higher prevalence of frailty and multimorbidity. The attention received by both conditions derives from their strong association with disability, hospitalization, and death. The aim of the present paper is to conceptualize and differentiate these terms and to discuss their interrelations. We conclude that, yet related, they represent two different clinical conditions. Frailty identifies the increased vulnerability to stressors due to a dynamic, non-linear, and multidimensional depletion of physiological reserve and redundancy, whereas multimorbid…

Mild cognitive decline. A position statement of the Cognitive Decline Group of the European Innovation Partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing (EIPAHA)

Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a term used to describe a level of decline in cognition which is seen as an intermediate stage between normal ageing and dementia, and which many consider to be a prodromal stage of neurodegeneration that may become dementia. That is, it is perceived as a high risk level of cognitive change. The increasing burden of dementia in our society, but also our increasing understanding of its risk factors and potential interventions, require diligent management of MCI in order to find strategies that produce effective prevention of dementia. Aim: To update knowledge regarding mild cognitive impairment, and to bring together and appraise evidence abou…

Normative scores for the Timed UpGo in a Spanish sample of community-dweller adults with preserved functionality.

Our aim was to calculate the ‘Timed Up & Go’ (TUG) normative scores in a Spanish sample composed of functional older adults. The TUG test provides a measure of global ambulation skills and its total score has been successfully related with functionality and other important health variables in older adults. Reliable norms are needed for adults 50 years and older that allow the early identification and intervention in motor disturbances. The study was carried out with adults from Galicia and Valencia living in the community. A total of 314 Spanish community-living participants, aged from 50 to 90 years and functionality preserved were assessed through the implementation of a cross-sectional d…

Diagnóstico y tratamiento del trastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividad: diferencias entre entrevista clínica y prueba psicométrica

Dada la prevalencia del trastorno por déficit de atención e hiperactividad (TDAH) en la infancia y adolescencia y las difi- cultades diagnósticas que se evidencian tanto en la práctica clínica como en la literatura1, se planteó un estudio para analizar la concordancia entre los diagnósticos realizados mediante entrevista clínica en pediatría de atención primaria y los realizados en una unidad de salud mental de infancia y adolescencia (USMIA) mediante evaluación psicométrica y entrevista; además, se evaluó la relación entre el tipo de TDAH diagnosticado en la USMIA y el tratamiento prescrito desde esta unidad.

Estructura factorial y estabilidad de un cuestionario sobre la calidad de un programa de postgrado

In this work we describe an instrument based on the use of a factor analysis technique in order to measure the quality of education within a Postgraduate degree offered by a public Spanish university. We showed that the instrument has satisfactory psychometric properties (reliability and validity). Regarding the factorial solution, three main dimensions have been determined, namely: importance given to the subject; educational resources and knowledge of the subject (previous and posterior). It is important to remark that these three dimensions were consistently detected in all the factorial analyses performed (total sample and separate academic years). These three dimensions should be consi…

Envejecimiento y bienestar: Avances en investigación

Los importantes cambios demograficos del ultimo siglo han provocado un aumento de la longevidad y, por tanto, del numero de adultos mayores, lo cual ha un incremento en la investigacion con este grupo de edad y mas concretamente en relacion con el bienestar. Asi, se ha podido constatar que en el envejecimiento, el bienestar subjetivo, compuesto por un componente cognitivo y otro afectivo tanto negativo como positivo, parece mantenerse estable y poco sujeto a cambiar con el tiempo. Por otra parte, en relacion con el bienestar psicologico, estudiado a partir de las escalas de bienestar de Ryff, se ha observado, en diferentes trabajos, que las dimensiones crecimiento personal y proposito en la…

Análisis de las redes sociales en la vejez a través de la entrevista Manheim Analyses of the social networks for the elderly through the Manheim interview

OBJETIVO: Reconocer quiénes son las figuras suministradoras de apoyo, psicológico e instrumental, en la vejez, así como precisar si existen diferencias en función de la edad y el sexo. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se utilizó la entrevista Manheim de apoyo social y se recogieron las opiniones de 101 personas mayores (>65 años) de la provincia de Valencia (España), entre enero y mayo de 2006. RESULTADOS: Se han encontrado diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el apoyo psicológico y el instrumental y tanto en relación con la edad como con el sexo del entrevistado. CONCLUSIONES: Respecto del género, los datos muestran que los hombres reciben más apoyo de sus parejas, mientras que las mujeres ti…

Comparación del bienestar psicológico de personas mayores dominicanas y españolas

Resumen Introduccion El bienestar y su relacion con diferentes variables se ha convertido en los ultimos anos en un aspecto central en los trabajos de Gerontologia. Dada su importancia, este trabajo examina diferentes factores que potencialmente pueden influir en el bienestar psicologico de las personas mayores. Material y metodos La investigacion, de caracter transcultural, se basa en una encuesta que se realizo a 2 muestras de personas mayores de 65 anos, una de la Republica Dominicana (n=1.296) y otra de Espana (n=476), extraidas, respectivamente, mediante muestreo estratificado y por cuotas. Los analisis incluyen datos estadisticos descriptivos, correlaciones y analisis de covarianza mu…

Gender differences in variables associated with sleep quality in chronic tension type headache

We aimed to evaluate gender differences in the relationships between headache features, sleep quality, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and burden of headache in 193 patients (73 percent women) with chronic tension type headache (CTTH). Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Headache features were collected with a four-week diary. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to assess anxiety/depressive symptoms. Headache Disability Inventory was used to evaluate the burden of headache. In men with CTTH, sleep quality was positive correlated with headache frequency (r = 0.310; p = .018), emotional (r = 0.518; p < .001) and physical (r = 0.468; p < .001) burde…

Can Word Puzzles be Tailored to Improve Different Dimensions of Verbal Fluency? A Report of an Intervention Study

Verbal fluency is commonly used as a proxy measure of executive functioning, as it involves cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. Previous research has demonstrated that crosswords can be a useful means of improving verbal fluency, results consistent with the cognitive reserve hypothesis; the form of verbal fluency affected has, however, differed across studies. The present study sought to assess the extent to which it was possible to target phonemic (PVF) and semantic verbal fluency (SVF) separately through word puzzles designed to focus on semantic/thematic and structural clues respectively. Fifty-three university students were randomly assigned to one of three gr…

The small-world of 'Le Petit Prince': Revisiting the word frequency distribution

[EN] Many complex systems are naturally described through graph theory, and different kinds of systems described as networks present certain important characteristics in common. One of these features is the so-called scale-free distribution for its node s connectivity, which means that the degree distribution for the network s nodes follows a power law. Scale-free networks are usually referred to as small-world because the average distance between their nodes do not scale linearly with the size of the network, but logarithmically. Here we present a mathematical analysis on linguistics: the word frequency effect for different translations of the Le Petit Prince in different languages. Compar…

The Effect of Corrective Feedback on Performance in Basic Cognitive Tasks: An Analysis of RT Components

[EN] The current work examines the effect of trial-by-trial feedback about correct and error responding on performance in two basic cognitive tasks: a classic Stroop task (n = 40) and a color-word matching task (n = 30). Standard measures of both RT and accuracy were examined in addition to measures obtained from fitting the ex-Gaussian distributional model to the correct RTs. For both tasks, RTs were faster in blocks of trials with feedback than in blocks without feedback, but this difference was not significant. On the other hand, with respect to the distributional analyses, providing feedback served to significantly reduce the size of the tails of the RT distributions. Such results sugge…

Fluência verbal fonêmica e semntica: dados normativos de idosos Brasileiros

This study aims to investigate the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on the performance of older people on two tasks of verbal fluency and provide normative data for a Brazilian population of healthy elderly individuals with different educational levels. The initial sample included 521 individuals aged from 60 years, participating in the Program Family Health Strategy. Participants who had scores suggestive of cognitive decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination, depressive symptoms in Geriatric Depression Scale and self-reported neurological or psychiatric disorders were excluded. The final sample consisted of 218 participants in phonemic verbal fluency task (letters F, A and…

Análisis de las redes sociales en la vejez a través de la entrevista Manheim

Objective. To analyse who are the people giving psychological and instrumental support to the elderly, as well as potential dif- ferences among these caregivers according to age and/or sex of the elderly. Material and Methods. Manheim interview for social support was used to gather the opinions of 101 elder people (>65 years) living in Valencia (Spain), from Janu - ary to May, 2006. Results. Statistically significant differences were found on both psychological and instrumental support depending on age and sex of the interviewed elderly. Con - clusions. With respect to sex differences old men seek for support mainly from their partners, while son and daughters are the main source of support…

The Impact of Estrogen Decline on Other Noncommunicable Diseases

Estrogens have specific receptors spread out in various systems of the organism. The drastic hormonal fall after menopause may be followed by a series of effects, which may be more or less relevant in the different areas of the organism. The bone constitutes a field that clearly reflects that impact, and postmenopausal osteoporosis has received attention in one ad hoc chapter. The present chapter reviews the impact on functions of the central nervous system, particularly cognition and mood, the skeletal system, specifically osteoarthritis, and the cardiovascular system. The obvious interest of the chapter derives from the importance of the selected systems, which may house highly prevalent …

A Probabilistic Classification Procedure Based on Response Time Analysis Towards a Quick Pre-Diagnosis of Student's Attention Deficit

[EN] A classification methodology based on an experimental study is proposed towards a fast pre-diagnosis of attention deficit. Our sample consisted of school-aged children between 8 and 12 years from Valencia, Spain. The study was based on the response time (RT) to visual stimuli in computerized tasks. The process of answering consecutive questions usually follows an ex-Gaussian distribution of the RTs. Specifically, we seek to propose a simple automatic classification scheme of children based on the most recent evidence of the relationship between RTs and ADHD. Specifically, the prevalence percentage and reported evidence for RTs in relation to ADHD or to attention deficit symptoms were t…

Diagnostic Tools for Autism Spectrum Disorders by Gender: Analysis of Current Status and Future Lines

Studies on the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders have shown gender disproportion. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in this investigation area. There are two main research lines; the first is focused mostly on gender-related biological reasons that could account for low ASD prevalence in women (i.e., related to some protective factors related to hormones or the immune system, among others), and the second research line studies possible diagnostic biases. In the present study, a review of the latter line of research is made based on two main objectives: (a) analysis of possible biases in diagnostic tools and (b) other nonbiological ASD prevalence explained by gende…

The number of symptoms at the acute COVID-19 phase is associated with anxiety and depressive long-term post-COVID symptoms: A multicenter study

Subgrouping factors influencing migraine intensity in women: A semi-automatic methodology based on machine learning and information geometry

[EN] Background Migraine is a heterogeneous condition with multiple clinical manifestations. Machine learning algorithms permit the identification of population groups, providing analytical advantages over other modeling techniques. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze critical features that permit the differentiation of subgroups of patients with migraine according to the intensity and frequency of attacks by using machine learning algorithms. Methods Sixty-seven women with migraine participated. Clinical features of migraine, related disability (Migraine Disability Assessment Scale), anxiety/depressive levels (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), anxiety state/trait levels (S…

The Impact of Hormone Therapy on Health

Hormone therapy (HT) has menopausal symptom control as the main indication. However, and because estrogens have receptors spread over many systems in the body, the use of hormones may have consequences on health. Hormone therapy consists of estrogens essentially, since menopausal symptoms mainly derive from estrogen deprivation at different target tissues. However, the normal ovarian cycle includes the regular secretion of progesterone during the days of the luteal phase. Progesterone has a neutralizing effect over endometrial proliferation, this being the reason for adding progestogens to HT formulations in order to protect endometrium. So, guidelines recommend that women with uterus use e…

Post-COVID functional limitations on daily living activities are associated with symptoms experienced at the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection and internal care unit admission: A multicenter study

Percentile Study of chi Distribution. Application to Response Time Data.

As a continuation of our previous work, where a Maxwell&ndash

Relaciones entre variables físicas y de bienestar en la calidad de vida de las personas mayores

De las dimensiones de la calidad de vida -psicologicas, fisicas y sociales-, se analizaron las relaciones entre las dos primeras. Como medida de ABVD se utilizo el Indice de Barthel y, para el bienestar, la LSI-A y las Escalas de Ryff. Se aplicaron a una muestra de 176 jubilados de la provincia de Valencia. Se realizaron correlaciones de Pearson y regresiones jerarquicas, encontrandose relaciones positivas entre el Indice de Barthel y el dominio del ambiente y la satisfaccion general, y negativas con el factor relaciones positivas con otros. Ademas, las variables predictoras del Indice de Barthel son las propias del bienestar subjetivo.

Identification of Subgroups of Women with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with Central Sensitization.

Identification of subjects with different sensitization mechanisms can help to identify better therapeutic strategies for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The aim of the current study was to identify subgroups of women with CTS with different levels of sensitization.A total of 223 women with CTS were recruited. Self-reported variables included pain intensity, function, disability, and depression. Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) were assessed bilaterally over median, ulnar, and radial nerves, C5-C6 joint, carpal tunnel, and tibialis anterior to assess widespread pressure pain hyperalgesia. Heat (HPT) and cold (CPT) pain thresholds were also bilaterally assessed over the carpal tunnel and the the…

A auto-eficácia na adaptação aos desafios do envelhecimento

Este artigo aborda a problemática do envelhecimento com qualidade de vida e bem-estar, estudada no contexto de adultos portugueses que frequentam Universidades Seniores em Portugal. Pretende-se especificamente, numa análise exploratória, conhecer a perceção da auto-eficácia na compreensão do bem-estar e qualidade de vida destas pessoas, através do construto de bem-estar subjetivo (BES). Para o efeito, foi realizado um trabalho empírico de natureza não experimental correlacional, que abrangeu 214 alunos de 7 Universidades Seniores portuguesas, com idades compreendidas entre os 51 e 86 anos, média de 68,26 anos. Os dados foram recolhidos por questionário, através dos seguintes instrumentos: q…

Propiedades psicométricas y estructura factorial del BRCS en una muestra de personas mayores españolas

Successful resilience is a variable often related to an optimal ag-ing process. However, literature is rather limited when dealing with assess-ment instruments for the elderly in the Spanish language. The objective of this work is to validate the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (Sinclair & Wallston, 2004), a four item likert scale, in the Spanish elderly. For this propose, the scale was administrated to a sample of 991 elderly Spanish participants, and the data set analysed in terms of exploratory and confirm-atory factor analysis, internal consistency and criterion validity. The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties. Furthermore, the homogenei-ty indices were higher than the recentl…

Human Reaction Times: Linking Individual and Collective Behaviour Through Physics Modeling

An individual’s reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function. In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the ex-Gaussian function which are known to correlate with cognitive disorders. Based on the recent evidence of correlations between the reaction time series to visual stimuli produced by different individuals within a group, we go beyond and propose a Physics-inspired model to represent the reaction time data of a coetaneous group of individuals. In doing so, a Maxwell–Boltzmann-like distribution appeared, the same distribution as for the velocities …

The Role of Feedback on Learning: Evidence through Ex-Gaussian Components

Abstract In the performance of any task if a subject does not understand the instructions given they will hardly be able to fulfil the requested goals. The aim of this work was to evaluate the role of feedback through a stroop task for University students. Two experiments were conducted where participants had to perform, into a counterbalanced design, stroop blocks with and without feedback. The classical ANOVA and a fit of the reaction times (RT) into an ex-Gaussian distribution function were carried out. RTs were much lower in feedback blocks than controls. The differences did not reach the statistical significance, however, the parameters often related in the literature to attention in a…

The role of age and emotional valence in word recognition: an ex-gaussian analysis

[Otro] Cie¿om práce je posúdi¿ vplyv veku a emo¿nej valencie na znovupoznávanie slov v rámci ex-Gaussových distribu¿ných komponentov. Dvom vekovým skupinám sme administrovali test znovupoznávania slov, v ktorom sme manipulovali emo¿nou valenciou. U mladších respondentov sa prejavili štatisticky signifikantné rozdiely pri negatívnych slovách v experimentálnej podmienke a v podmienke s distrakciou. U starších respondentov sme v odpove¿ových ¿asoch nezistili jasnú tendenciu. Vzh¿adom na ex-Gaussovský parameter ¿, ktorý sa v literatúre ¿asto spája s nárokmi na pozornos¿, vekovo podmienené rozdiely v emo¿nej valencii nemali žiaden vplyv na negatívne slová. Ak sa zameriame na emo¿nú valenciu v ob…

A happiness degree predictor using the conceptual data structure for deep learning architectures

Abstract Background and Objective: Happiness is a universal fundamental human goal. Since the emergence of Positive Psychology, a major focus in psychological research has been to study the role of certain factors in the prediction of happiness. The conventional methodologies are based on linear relationships, such as the commonly used Multivariate Linear Regression (MLR), which may suffer from the lack of representative capacity to the varied psychological features. Using Deep Neural Networks (DNN), we define a Happiness Degree Predictor (H-DP) based on the answers to five psychometric standardized questionnaires. Methods: A Data-Structure driven architecture for DNNs (D-SDNN) is proposed …

Data from: Is the association between health-related quality of life and fatigue mediated by depression in patients with multiple sclerosis? A Spanish cross sectional study

Objectives: To determine the mediating effects of depression on health-related quality of life and fatigue in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Tertiary urban hospital. Participants: One hundred and eight patients (54% women) with MS participated in this study. Outcome measures: Demographic and clinical data (weight, height, medication, and neurological impairment), fatigue (Fatigue Impact Scale-FIS), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-BDI/II) and health-related quality of life (Short-Form Health Survey 36 - SF36) were collected. Results: Fatigue was significantly associated with bodily pain, physical function, mental health and depressio…