BACKGROUND: The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) screener is a brief scale widely used to assess suicidal risk. In Chile, its psychometric properties have not been examined in a university population. OBJECTIVE: to examine the psychometric properties of the C-SSRS screener in university students in Chile. METHODS: 2,547 university students (61.7% female; mean age: 20.6 years) participated in an online survey that included the six-item self-report C-SSRS screen version, instruments to measure symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, well-being, and sociodemographic variables. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the scale, its reliability was assessed, and validity based on the relationship with other variables was estimated. RESULTS: the single-factor structure of the C-SSRS showed acceptable fit and adequate internal consistency (alpha = 0.78 and omega = 0.81). Weak to strong positive correlations were observed with measures of depression, suicidal ideation and/or self-injury, and with generalized anxiety (rho between 0.38 to 0.75; p < 0.001), as well as a moderate negative correlation with the well-being measure (rho =-0.41; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: the results support the use of the C-SSRS screener in the university population.
Human suffering is a complex phenomenon that has been central to psychotherapy. However, despite its relevance, there is no clear consensus regarding what it means or entails within this professional domain. The meanings attributed to suffering are fundamental to clinical practice and to those training to become psychotherapists. This study aimed to analyze how trainee psychotherapists from four university psychology centers in the Maule Region understand this phenomenon. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 22 trainee psychotherapists, followed by a content analysis with emergent categorization. The findings showed that suffering is conceived as a multidimensional and subjective experience shaped by affectivity, temporality, and meaning-making. Therapeutic approaches were described as interpretative frameworks that guide clinical practice; personal experiences of suffering were identified as sources of motivation and empathy; and encountering others' suffering emerged as an emotional and ethical challenge inherent to clinical work. The study contributes to delimiting the notion of suffering within the psychotherapeutic context, emphasizing its complexity and the influence of therapeutic orientations, the formative role of personal experiences, and a critical stance toward its psychopathologization. These findings deepen the understanding of the phenomenon and provide valuable insights for the training of future psychotherapists.
BACKGROUND: Conflicts naturally arise in intimate relationships, and the strategies used to manage them play a crucial role in relationship satisfaction, functioning, and stability. When conflicts are not adequately resolved, they may escalate into violent dynamics. OBJECTIVE: To examine conflict management strategies and types of violence among women and men with and without marital satisfaction. METHOD: The sample consisted of 229 women, of whom 55.5% reported marital satisfaction, and 169 men, of whom 65.1% reported marital satisfaction. This was a cross-sectional, comparative, and correlational study using a non-probabilistic, quota-based intentional sampling strategy, with two independent samples of women and men involved in a romantic relationship. RESULTS: Among women with marital satisfaction, the most frequently used conflict management strategies were affection, reflection-communication, and self-modification; among men, reflection-communication, self-modification, and affection predominated. In both sexes, avoidance was the most commonly used strategy in contexts of marital dissatisfaction. Additionally, perceptions of partner-perpetrated violence among individuals with marital dissatisfaction were mainly characterized by controlling behaviors and psychological violence. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding couple conflicts and the strategies used to manage them makes it possible to develop targeted intervention strategies aimed at preventing these conflicts from escalating into violent dynamics, with negative consequences not only for the couple but also for their children and society as a whole.
AIM: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R SF), an instrument with international evidence that measures enhancement, social, coping, and conformity motives. METHODS: A non-probabilistic sample of 376 participants (67.6% women; age average 30.8 years) completed the DMQ-R SF, the short version of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and self-reported measures of alcohol use. RESULTS: The tetra-factorial structure of the DMQ-R SF showed adequate reliability. However, it was not invariant between young people and adults. Associations with emotional distress in young people were limited to the coping motives. In addition, the social motives were longitudinally associated with binge drinking among young people, whereas in adults, the enhancement motives were related to weekly quantity of drinks. CONCLUSIONS: the DMQ-R SF presented evidence of structural validity and reliability, it is not invariant between young people and adults, showed concurrent associations with emotional distress in young people, and presented evidence of predictive validity with alcohol use in young people and adults. Information provided by the DMQ-R SF about drinking motives in young people and adults may contribute to the design of prevention and treatment strategies related to alcohol use.
OBJECTIVE: To adapt and analyze the validity, invariance, and reliability properties of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale in Southern Aymara-speaking Peruvian adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This psychometric study was conducted in two phases. The first involved cultural adaptation, using both forward and backward translation of the GAD-7. Subsequently, the instrument was culturally adapted to the Aymara context by expert judges. This phase concluded with a focus group of the target population to evaluate item quality. In the second phase, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the GAD-7, and its reliability and measurement invariance were assessed in a non-probabilistic sample of 584 Aymara-speaking adults of both sexes aged 18 years and older. RESULTS: The Southern Aymara version of the GAD-7 demonstrated a unidimensional model with adequate fit indices (CFI = .981, TLI = .972, SRMR = .053, RMSEA = .068) and acceptable reliability (alpha = .77, omega = .77). Measurement invariance was also confirmed across age, sex, place of residence, educational level, marital status, religion, family income, number of children, and employment status (Delta CFI, Delta TLI, or Delta RMSEA < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The GAD-7 adapted to Southern Aymara proved to be a valid, reliable, and invariant measure across intervening covariates. Therefore, its use is recommended for assessing anxiety with equity and sociocultural sensitivity among Aymara-speaking Peruvian adults.
The most important tool for a psychotherapist is the word and the therapeutic bond. This study evaluated the psychometric properties (factorial structure, reliability, and validity) of the Alliance Negotiation Scale (ANS-A) in a sample of 246 Peruvian patients undergoing psychotherapy (>3 sessions). A confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution with acceptable fit: chi 2(53) = 96.00, p < .001, CMIN/DF = 1.82, CFI = .95, TLI = .94, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .04, AIC = 1,013. A second-order model was also tested and showed acceptable fit: chi 2(53) = 121.94, p < .001, CMIN/DF = 2.3, CFI = .99, TLI = .98, RMSEA = .08, SRMR = .06, OFI = .99. Internal consistency vas satisfactory (alpha = .82; omega = .83). The ANS-A demonstrated concurrent validity via significant correlations with the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised (WAI-S), and provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, the findings indicate that the ANS-A exhibits a stable factorial structure and adequate reliability and validity for use in Peruvian clinical population.
This study focused on evaluating the psychometric properties of the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children (PWI-SC) and the Brief Adolescents' Subjective Wellbeing in School Scale (BASWBSS) among high school students from rural areas in Chile. Previous research on students' subjective wellbeing has shown high wellbeing scores among urban students, but evidence regarding rural students is still scarce. The study was conducted with 320 students (M = 16.5 years; SD = 1.24) from rural public high schools in the Biobio Region, Chile. Both the PWI-SC and BASWBSS proved suitable for use in rural contexts, showing validity and reliability results similar to those found in studies with urban students. Validating these scales for rural contexts is crucial to better understand and promote wellbeing in rural school environments. The findings contribute to the field of subjective wellbeing assessment among Chilean students from rural areas and have implications for both research and the promotion of wellbeing in rural schools, emphasizing the importance of considering context when developing and applying measurement instruments.
Background: in recent years, network psychometrics has emerged from the application of network theory to the analysis of psychological instruments, which derives from the network approach to psychopathology. One of the contributions of the latter is the understanding of comorbidity and contagion between syndromes as the action of shared symptoms between them: the bridge symptoms. Objective: to illustrate the identification of bridge symptoms by analyzing the orientation and memory dimensions of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III test in a sample of older adults. Identifying symptoms that act as key factors connecting different cognitive areas could lead to the design of more targeted and personalized interventions to slow down their progression. Method: the R language is used to estimate the network as an ising model. Results: in a sample of 1,164 older adults, we identified five bridge nodes between both dimensions according to the strength of the bridge: two belong to orientation (year and month) and three to memory (military government, Copiapo 3, and current president). Conclusions: the progression of cognitive deterioration from the memory area to the orientation area would occur mainly from problems in recovering general spatial and temporal information in the medium and long term to difficulties in locating oneself in global temporal terms (year and month).
Background: In Chile, there are long waiting lists for adolescents who are victims of interpersonal violence and require specialized care. A recent pilot study provides preliminary evidence in favour of minimally invasive group psychotherapies (focused on symptom stabilization) during the waiting period. However, more needs to be learned about their impact in the national context. Objective: To evaluate the acceptability and applicability of group interventions with adolescents on the waiting list in the Chilean context. Method: Using a open ended survey and a semi structured interview, the testimony of 85 people involved in the pilot experience of group interventions (patients, responsible adults, therapists, and staff at specialized centres) was obtained. The data were analysed qualitatively thematic analysis, Results. The participants have a favourable evaluation of these interventions; however, it is noted that their implementation in the Chilean context presents clinical and contextual challenges. These challenges include operational, technical, budgetary, and public policy-making aspects. Conclusions: Despite the preliminary evidence of the usefulness of the interventions, implementation problems must be resolved before their more widespread application in Chile.
