MEASURING BOREDOM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The aim of this study was to translate into Spanish and validate the Boredom Proneness Scale-Short (SBPS) in a sample of young people and adults in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 588 people between 17 and 53 years of age (M = 21.70;SD = 5.22) was selected as a sample. The methodology used combined Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Item Response Theory (IRT) to determine the internal structure, factor weights and reliability, which was estimated by means of the omega coefficient test information functioning and empirical or marginal reliability. Evidence of convergent validity of the SBPS was explored based on its relationship with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). Results reveal that the SBPS is a measure that should be interpreted uni-dimensionally. Reliability was excellent and convergence with the GAD-2 and PHQ-2 presented the expected relationship in both magnitude and direction.

Love, jealousy, satisfaction and violence in young couples: A network analysis.

In recent years, couples have been affected by health measures related to COVID-19, a circumstance that forces us to examine couple interactions in terms of crucial variables of their functioning. In this sense, the present study aimed to examine the association between love, jealousy, satisfaction, and violence in young couples through network analysis. A total of 834 young people and adults between 18 and 38 years of age (Mean = 20.97, SD = 2.39) participated; 646 women (77.50%) and 188 men (22.50%), who completed the Sternberg's love scale (STLS-R), Brief Jealousy Scale (BJS), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) and Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST-2). A partial unregularized network was estimated using the ggmModSelect function. The Bridge Strength index was calculated because the aim was to identify the bridge nodes between the variables under study. The results reveal that two nodes of the love variable, Commitment, and Intimacy, had a direct and moderate relationship with the Satisfaction node. The latter is the central node in the network. However, in the male group, the most intense associations are in Satisfaction-Intimacy, Violence-Passion, Jealousy-Commitment. It is concluded that there are relevant connections between the nodes of the network, which invite further research on couple relationships after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anxiety, depression, stress, worry about COVID-19 and fear of loneliness during COVID-19 lockdown in Peru: A network analysis approach.

This study aims to examine the relationships between symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress, worry about COVID-19 and fear of loneliness during COVID-19 lockdown in Peru using network analysis. There were 854 participants aged 18 to 50 years (Mean = 36.54; SD = 9.23); 634 females (74.20%) and 220 males (25.80%), who completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Preoccupation with COVID-19 Contagion (PRE-COVID-19), Brief Scale of Fear of Loneliness (BSFL). A partial unregularized network was estimated through the ggmModSelect function. Expected influence (EI) and bridging EI values were calculated to identify central symptoms and bridging symptoms respectively. The results reveal those two symptoms of depression-stress and anxiety-were the most central symptoms in the network. Depressive symptoms are at the same time the most comorbid and it is shown that there are no differences in the network when compared between those who left home and those who did not leave home during lockdown. Depressive symptoms are concluded to be central and bridging in the network and interconnected with some symptoms of stress and anxiety. These findings may be important to understand the experience of COVID-19 lockdown in Peru.

Network analysis of the relationships between conspiracy beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccine and symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of latin american countries.

The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifically relate to symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identified the most important symptoms of fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible differences in the structure and connectivity of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19. The findings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than differences. Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the differences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic.

Satisfaction towards virtual courses: Development and validation of a short measure in COVID-19 times.

This study was aimed to develop and validate a short scale to measure satisfaction with virtual courses (SVC-S) in a sample of higher education students during the covid-19 pandemic; specifically, in the year 2021. A total of 3080 students between 16 and 56 years of age participated (Mean = 25.71; SD = 8.83); 1836 were female (59.60 %) and 1244 male (40.40 %). The participants were students from three cities in Peru (77.90% from Lima, 12.70% from Trujillo and 9.42% from Cajamarca). Qualitative and quantitative procedures were followed for the construction of the SVC-S. Item response theory (IRT) considering Samejima's two-parameter Graded Response Model (GRM) (2PL) and the test-item information function was used to establish accuracy/reliability, and the relationship of the SVC-S with a similar measure was examined to demonstrate convergence and discrimination. The results reveal that the data present an optimal fit (M2 (2) = 3.62; RMSEA = .016; CFI = 1.00). Reliability is excellent (r xx = .93) and the information function suggests that the instrument is more accurate at low levels of the latent trait. Regarding convergence with an academic satisfaction scale, the SVC-S showed an appropriate correlation (r = .70) whose average variance extracted (AVE) reported good discrimination of the constructs; despite being conceptually similar. SVC-S is concluded to be a valid and reliable measure that can be used in future studies in higher education.

Design and Cross-Cultural Invariance of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 13 Latin American Countries.

Aims: Over the past 2 years, the vaccine conspiracy beliefs construct has been used in a number of different studies. These publications have assessed the determinants and outcomes of vaccine conspiracy beliefs using, in some cases, pooled data from different countries, and compared the results across these contexts. However, studies often do not consider measurement invariance as a necessary requirement for comparative analyses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the cross-cultural MI of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 12 Latin American countries. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory analysis and alignment method were applied to test measurement invariance in a large number of groups. Results: The COVID-VCBS showed robust psychometric properties and measurement invariance for both factor loadings and crosstabs. Also, a higher level of acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about vaccines is necessary to respond to higher response categories. Similarly, greater acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines was related to a lower intention to be vaccinated. Conclusion: The results allow for improved understanding of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines in the countries assessed; furthermore, they provide researchers and practitioners with an invariant measure that they can use in cross-cultural studies in Latin America. However, further studies are needed to test invariance in other countries, with the goal of developing a truly international measure of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines.

What Is the Support for Conspiracy Beliefs About COVID-19 Vaccines in Latin America? A Prospective Exploratory Study in 13 Countries.

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 began to emerge immediately after the first news about the disease and threaten to prolong the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting people's willingness of receiving a life-saving vaccine. In this context, this study aimed to explore the variation of conspiracy beliefs regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine against it in 5779 people living in 13 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) according to sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, educational level and source of information about COVID-19. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic between September 15 and October 25, 2021. The Spanish-language COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (ECCV-COVID) and a sociodemographic survey were used. The results indicate that, in most countries, women, people with a lower educational level and those who receive information about the vaccine and COVID-19 from family/friends are more supportive of conspiracy ideas regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. In the case of age, the results vary by country. The analysis of the responses to each of the questions of the ECCV-COVID reveals that, in general, the countries evaluated are mostly in some degree of disagreement or indecision regarding conspiratorial beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines. The findings could help open further study which could support prevention and treatment efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Depression, COVID-19 Anxiety, Subjective Well-being, and Academic Performance in University Students With COVID-19-Infected Relatives: A Network Analysis.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety, depression, subjective well-being, and academic performance in Peruvian university health science students with COVID-19-infected relatives. Eight hundred two university students aged 17-54 years (Mean 21.83; SD = 5.31); 658 females (82%) and 144 males (18%); who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, Subjective Well-being Scale (SWB), and Self-reporting of Academic Performance participated. A partial unregularized network was estimated using the ggmModSelect function. Expected influence (EI) values were calculated to identify the central nodes and a two-tailed permutation test for the difference between the two groups (COVID-19 infected and uninfected). The results reveal that a depression and well-being node (PHQ1-SWB3) presents the highest relationship. The most central nodes belonged to COVID-19 anxiety, and there are no global differences between the comparison networks; but at the local level, there are connections in the network of COVID-19-infected students that are not in the group that did not present this diagnosis. It is concluded that anxious-depressive symptomatology and its relationship with well-being and evaluation of academic performance should be considered in order to understand the impact that COVID-19 had on health sciences students.

Assessment of Fear of COVID-19 in Older Adults: Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

There is no information in Peru on the prevalence of mental health problems associated with COVID-19 in older adults. In this sense, the aim of the study was to gather evidence on the factor structure, criterion-related validity, and reliability of the Spanish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in this population. The participants were 400 older adults (mean age = 68.04, SD = 6.41), who were administered the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Revised Mental Health Inventory-5, Patient Health Questionnaire-2 items, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 2 items. Structural equation models were estimated, specifically confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), bifactor CFA, and structural models with latent variables (SEM). Internal consistency was estimated with composite reliability indexes (CRI) and omega coefficients. A bifactor model with both a general factor underlying all items plus a specific factor underlying items 1, 2, 4, and 5 representing the emotional response to COVID better represents the factor structure of the scale. This structure had adequate fit and good reliability, and additionally fear of COVID had a large effect on mental health. In general, women had more fear than men, having more information on COVID was associated to more fear, while having family or friends affected by COVID did not related to fear of the virus. The Spanish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale presents evidence of validity and reliability to assess fear of COVID-19 in the Peruvian older adult population.

Design and validation of a scale to measure worry for contagion of the COVID-19 (PRE-COVID-19). / Diseño y validación de una escala para medir la preocupación por el contagio de la COVID-19 (PRE-COVID-19).

OBJECTIVE: The increase in COVID-19 cases is generating fear and concern in society, which generates an emotional response that influences the adoption of health-related behaviors. The objective of the study is to design and validate the Scale of Worry for Contagion of COVID-19 (PRE-COVID-19). METHOD: The study had a descriptive cross-sectional design. The population were young people and adults who resided in the cities of Lima and Callao (Perú) during the declaration of the national health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the period from March 16 to 27, 2020, who were recruited through a non-probability sample. The PRE-COVID-19, the WHO-Five Well-Being Index, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-2 and a single item were applied to measure the general perception of health. The scales were shared using a Google form through social networks. An internal consistency reliability analysis and structural equation models were performed, specifically confirmatory factor analysis. The recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki and the principles that guide the ethical practice of online studies were followed. RESULTS: Eight hundred and sixteen young people and adults from Lima and Callao (200 men and 616 women; mean age 28.40, SD 7.10) participated. The results show a one-dimensional model with satisfactory goodness-of-fit indices: χ2 (9)=52.00; CFI=0.99; RMSEA=0.09 [0.07, 0.12]; WRMR=0.85. The λ of the model were higher than 0.50 and the reliability had an excellent value (ω=0.90). Likewise, the convergent and discriminant validity is evident between PRE-COVID-19 and measures of anxiety, well-being and self-reported health. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the PRE-COVID-19 is a valid and reliable instrument to measure concern about the spread of COVID-19 and the emotional impact on people.

Spanish translation and validation of a brief measure of anxiety by the COVID-19 in students of health sciences

Introduction and Objectives: COVID-19 has generated negative consequences for people's mental health. This is the case of Peru, one of the Latin American countries most affected by the pandemic. In this sense, the objective of the study was to translate and validate the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) into Spanish. Material and Method: The participants were 704 university students of health sciences (Mage = 23.39 years, SD = 3.45) who were administered the CAS in Spanish, the Mental Health Inventory-5 and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 item. The CAS was translated into Spanish using the forward and backward method. Reliability and evidence of validity based on internal structure and relationship with other variables were examined. Results: The factor analysis confirmed the one-dimensional factor structure of the CAS (χ2 = 7.62, df = 5, p = .18, χ² / gl = 1.52, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .03 [90% CI .00, .06 ];SRMR = .02, WRMR = .52);In addition, the factor loadings were large and significant (from .68 to .87). The five CAS items showed acceptable corrected total test item correlations (from .64 to .74). Reliability due to internal consistency was good (ω = 0.89;αordinal = 0.89). The validity evidence based on the relationship with other CAS variables was supported by the positive correlation with depression (r = .52, p .01) and negative with subjective well-being (r = -.50, p . 01). Furthermore, depression mediates the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and subjective well-being (bootstrap value = - .24, 95% CI = - .28, - .20). Conclusion: The Spanish version of the CAS has evidence of validity and reliability to measure anxiety by COVID-19 in a sample of Peruvian university students.