ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of optimism, hope, and gratitude as psychosocial factors for healthy development, especially with regard to anxiety in college students in the context of COVID-19. METHODS: This is a quantitative and descriptive cross-sectional research. The sociodemographic questionnaire and the Brazilian versions of the anxiety scale B-GRAT, LOT-R, Hope Index, and BIG-FIVE were applied. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney correlation, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman, and hierarchical linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 297 students were assessed. In the hierarchical linear analysis, the relationship of gratitude with anxiety becomes positive, contradicting the negative association of these variables in Spearman's correlation. The contradictions may result from the suppression effect. When gratitude was added to the model, these three variables together accounted for 38% of the variance in anxiety. This indicates that optimism, hope, and gratitude together are significant predictors, but optimism alone accounts for a large part of the variance for decreased anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The data confirm that family and religiosity are protective factors against mental illness, specifically non-adaptive anxiety. Furthermore, developing optimism as a protective factor makes it possible to experience less anxiety while hope has the potential to provide the individual with multiple pathways to healthy development. This study has highlighted that gratitude plays a dual role in these relationships as it has the potential to be associated with anxious feelings with likely negative outcomes while at the same time it can drive positive psychosocial factors of optimism and hope in decreasing anxiety.
ABSTRACT
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) has been gaining increased attention as a sound and innovative instrument in its conceptualization of burnout. BAT has been adapted for several countries, revealing promising validity evidence. This paper aims to present the psychometric properties of the Brazilian and Portuguese versions of the BAT in both the 23-item and 12-item versions. BAT's validity evidence based on the internal structure (dimensionality, reliability, and measurement invariance) and validity evidence based on the relations to other variables are the focus of research. A cross-sectional study was conducted with two non-probabilistic convenience samples from two countries (N = 3103) one from Brazil (nBrazil = 2217) and one from Portugal (nPortugal = 886). BAT's original structure was confirmed, and it achieved measurement invariance across countries. Using both classic test theory and item response theory as frameworks, the BAT presented good validity evidence based on the internal structure. Furthermore, the BAT showed good convergent evidence (i.e., work engagement, co-worker support, role clarity, work overload, and negative change). In conclusion, the psychometric properties of the BAT make this freely available instrument a promising way to measure and compare burnout levels of Portuguese and Brazilian workers.