Mother Behavior Q-Set (MBQS)Dimensionalidad del Q-set del comportamiento materno en muestras de México, Colombia y Uruguay / Mother Behavior Q-Set (MBQS): Dimensionality of the Mother Behavior Q-Set in samples from Mexico, Colombia and Uruguay

La sensibilidad se refiere a la capacidad del cuidador para percibir las señales del niño, interpretarlas correctamente y responder a ellas de manera contingente y apropiada. El Q Set del Comportamiento Materno (MBQS) fue creado a partir de descripciones teóricas y empíricas de la sensibilidad. Los Q-sorts se asocian con la metodología cuantitativa debido a que asignan puntajes; además, combinan la metodología cualitativa al hacer un estudio sistemático de la subjetividad. Son pocos los artículos que se ocupan de explorar el análisis, la validez interna, la confiabilidad o la replicabilidad externa de los Q-sorts. Usualmente los datos se reducen por medio de un análisis de componentes principales o análisis factorial. Sin embargo, en los Q-sorts se correlacionan los participantes para dilucidar las relaciones entre ellos en lugar de correlacionar las variables. El objetivo de la presente investigación fue encontrar evidencia respecto a la validez basada en la estructura interna del MBQS con el apoyo del software R y el paquete qmethod. Colaboraron 37 díadas mexicanas mamá-bebés, 35 colombianas y 24 uruguayas. En el 2002, Posada y colaboradores propusieron siete escalas. Las escalas en las que nuestro modelo factorial presentó un buen ajuste son las que tienen menos ítems, lo cual puede ser indicativo de que la falta de ajuste tiene que ver con la identificación del modelo debido a que se cuenta con pocas observaciones. Consideramos que tanto el uso del MBQS para evaluar la sensibilidad como del paquete qmethod para realizar el análisis resulta novedoso, relevante y pertinente

Sensitivity refers to the caregiver's ability to perceive infant's cues, interpret them correctly, and respond to them in a contingent and appropriate way. The Maternal Behavior Q Set (MBQS) was created from theoretical and empirical descriptions of sensitivity. Q-methodology is associated with the quantitative methodology because it assigns scores; in addition, it combines qualitative methodology by making a systematic study of subjectivity. Few papers are concerned with exploring the analysis, internal validity, reliability, or external replicability of Q studies. Usually analyses reduce data to a few summarizing factors, based on principal component analysis or centroid factor analysis. Q-factor analysis method was developed especially for q-sorted data; it is a by-person factor analysis which is used to identify groups of participants who make sense of a pool of items in comparable way. The aim of this study was to find evidence regarding the validity based on the internal structure of the MBQS using the R software and the qmethod package. Thirty-seven Mexican, 35 Colombian and 24 Uruguayan mother-baby dyads collaborated. In 2002, Posada et al. proposed seven scales. The scales in which our factorial model presented a good fit are those with the fewest items, which may be indicative that the lack of fit has to do with the identification of the model because there are few observations. We consider that both the use of the MBQS to assess sensitivity and the qmethod package to perform the analysis is novel, relevant and pertinent.

Competência social, inclusão escolar e autismo: um estudo de caso comparativo / Social competence, school inclusion and autism: a comparative case study

A presente pesquisa analisou o perfil de competência social (CS) de uma criança pré-escolar com autismo, na escola comum comparado a uma criança com desenvolvimento típico e investigou a influência do ambiente escolar (sala de aula ou pátio) no perfil de CS de ambas. As interações sociais com seus pares foram filmadas, na escola, e a codificação dos vídeos foi realizada por um avaliador independente. Utilizou-se como instrumento a versão adaptada da Escala Q-sort de CS. Os resultados demonstraram que enquanto o perfil de competência social da criança com desenvolvimento típico pouco variou entre os contextos, a criança com autismo demonstrou maior frequência de comportamentos de cooperação e asserção social e menor frequência de agressão e desorganização do self, no pátio.

The aim of this study was to investigate the social competence ((SC) profile) of a child with autism in a regular in school, comparing it with a typically developing child and to investigate the influence of the school context (classroom or playground) on their SC profile. The social interactions with their peers were recorded at school and an independent judge coded the videos. The adapted version of the Q-Sort SC scale was used. The results demonstrated that while the SC profile of the typically developing child practically did not vary between contexts, the child with autism demonstrated a higher frequency of cooperation and social assertion behavior and a lower frequency of aggression and disorganization of the self in the playground.