The big five factors as differential predictors of self-regulation, achievement emotions, coping and health behavior in undergraduate students.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this research was to analyze whether the personality factors included in the Big Five model differentially predict the self-regulation and affective states of university students and health. METHODS: A total of 637 students completed validated self-report questionnaires. Using an ex post facto design, we conducted linear regression and structural prediction analyses. RESULTS: The findings showed that model factors were differential predictors of both self-regulation and affective states. Self-regulation and affective states, in turn, jointly predict emotional performance while learning and even student health. These results allow us to understand, through a holistic predictive model, the differential predictive relationships of all the factors: conscientiousness and extraversion were predictors regulating positive emotionality and health; the openness to experience factor was non-regulating; nonregulating; and agreeableness and neuroticism were dysregulating, hence precursors of negative emotionality and poorer student health. CONCLUSIONS: These results are important because they allow us to infer implications for guidance and psychological health at university.

Relationships between test anxiety, self-regulation and strategies for coping with stress, in professional examination candidates / Relaciones entre ansiedad evaluativa, autorregulación y estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés en universitarios opositores

The research objective was to establish relationships of association, interdependence and structural prediction between the variables of test anxiety, self-regulation and stress coping strategies. The theoretical framework of reference was the Competence for Studying, Learning and Performing under Stress (CSLPS) model. Participating were 142 students who were preparing for professional examinations to attain a post as public school teacher (primary education), enrolled at academies in Almería (Spain) for this purpose. Previously validated questionnaires were administered for data collection. The study design was linear ex post-facto, with bivariate, inferential analyses of association (ANOVAs and MANOVAs) and of structural prediction. Results showed a negative relationship between test anxiety self-regulation, especially in students with high emotionality, and a negative impact on decision making. Positive relationships were found between test anxiety and strategies for coping with stress. Finally, a positive predictive relationship was verified between self-regulation and coping strategies, while associative and inferential analyses highlighted the role of goals as determining factors in strategies used for coping with stress, especially strategies that focuson problem solving. Results are discussed and implications for improving these processes in professional examination candidates are established

El objetivo de la investigación fue establecer relaciones de asociación, interdependencia y predicción estructural entre las variables ansiedad evaluativa, authorregulación y estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés. El marco teórico de referencia fue el modelo de la competencia de Studying, Learning, and Performing under Stress (SLPS). Participaron 142 estudiantes, que se estaban preparando en academias de Almería (España) para obtener plaza como maestros en centros públicos. Para la recogida de datos se administraron cuestionarios escritos previamente validados. El diseño fue ex post-facto lineal, con análisis de asociación bivariada, inferenciales (ANOVAs y MANOVAs) y de predicción estructural. Los resultados mostraron una relación negativa entre la ansiedad evaluativa y la autorregulación, especialmente en los estudiantes con alta emocionalidad, con un impacto negativo para la toma de decisiones. También se encontraron relaciones positivas entre la ansiedad evaluativa y las estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés. Por último, se constató la relación de predicción positiva entre la autorregulación y las estrategias de afrontamiento, a la vez que los análisis asociativos e inferenciales destacaron el papel de las metas como determinantes de las estrategias usadas para afrontar el estrés, especialmente, las referidas a la focalización en la resolución de problemas. Se discuten los resultados y se establecen implicaciones para las mejoras de estos procesos en los estudiantes opositores

Maternal and paternal parenting styles as a whole: validation of the simple form of the Parenting Style Evaluation Scale / Estilos parentales materno y paterno en conjunto: validación de la forma simple de la Escala de Evaluación del Estilo Parental

Oliva's Escala para la Evaluación del Estilo Parental (EEEP) [Scale for the evaluation of parenting styles] asks adolescents about their parents' education styles separately ("your father" and "your mother") or in a combined way ("your parents"), but only the separated version has been tested for validity. The objective of this work was to carry out a validation of the combined version. A sample of 1507 adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years, was recruited. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were run in two independent subsamples. Then, structural equation models (SEM) were run in order to test the association between the EEEP's subscales and adolescent outcomes (optimism, pessimism, and academic achievement). Results showed a good fit of the instruments' structure. Furthermore, the subscales showed associations with the outcomes. The EEEP can be reliably used in its combined form, which results in a reduction of items, often beneficial for research

La Escala para la Evaluación del Estilo Parental (EEEP) pregunta a los adolescentes sobre los estilos educativos de sus padres por separado ("tu padre" y "tu madre") o de forma conjunta ("tus padres"), pero solo se ha evaluado la validez en la versión por separado. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la validez de las inferencias de la versión conjunta. Se reclutó una muestra de 1507 adolescentes, de 12 a 18 años. Se realizaron análisis factoriales exploratorios y confirmatorios en dos submuestras independientes. Después se probó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para comprobar la asociación de las subescalas de la EEEP con desenlaces de los adolescentes (optimismo, pesimismo y resultados académicos). Los resultados muestran buenas medidas de ajuste de la estructura del instrumento. Además, las subescalas mostraron asociación con los desenlaces. La EEEP puede ser usada con fiabilidad en su forma conjunta, resultando en una reducción de ítems, los cual es a menudo beneficioso para la investigación

Unpleasant past experience as a determinant of cognitive, behavioral and physiological responses to academic stress in professional examination candidates / La experiencia desagradable como determinante de las respuestas cognitivas, conductuales y fisiológicas de estrés académico en universitarios opositores

This investigation established unpleasant past experience in interdependent and predictive relations with irrational beliefs, test anxiety, self-regulated study and academic stress, variables belonging to the competency for performing in highly demanding contexts. Participants were 221 candidates from preparatory academies who were competing for posts as public elementary school teachers. The variables were measured using validated self-reports. A linear, ex post-facto design was used, with inferential and structural analyses. Unpleasant experience was shown to have significant, positive, interdependent relations with irrational beliefs and physiological stress responses, as well as negative relations with self-regulated study. Significant, predictive, structural relations were found between unpleasant experience and cognitive, behavioral, and physiological stress responses. These results partially validate the relationships of the SLPS Competency model, explaining learning in stressful contexts, and offer evidence of the need to train students in these situations

Esta investigación estableció las relaciones de interdependencia y predicción entre experiencia desagradable previa y creencias irracionales, ansiedad evaluativa, autorregulación en el estudio y estrés académico, variables de la competencia para rendir en contextos de alta exigencia. Participaron 221 aspirantes de academias preparatorias a la función pública del cuerpo de Maestros. Las variables fueron medidas mediante autoinformes validados. El diseño fue ex post-facto lineal, con análisis inferenciales y estructurales. Los resultados mostraron relaciones significativas positivas de interdependencia de la experiencia desagradable con las creencias irracionales y respuestas fisiológicas de estrés, así como negativas con la autorregulación en el estudio. Además, apareció una relación estructural predictiva significativa entre experiencia desagradable y respuestas cognitivas, conductuales y fisiológicas de estrés. Estos resultados validan parcialmente las relaciones del modelo CAERE, explicando el aprendizaje en contextos estresantes, y evidencian la necesidad de entrenar a los estudiantes ante estas situaciones

Use of Red Wine Polyphenols as a Natural Preservative in Health-Promoting Omega-3 Fatty Acids-Enriched Lamb Patties.

Meat consumption has been related to a higher risk of heart disease due to its saturated fat content. As a consequence, there has been a growth in research on how to increase unsaturated fat content in meat. However, a high content of unsaturated fat favours the development of oxidative processes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a red wine extract (RWE) rich in polyphenols (50, 100, and 200 mg gallic acid equivalents/kg meat) as a natural antioxidant in lamb meat patties enriched with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) (100 mg n-3 PUFA/100 g meat), compared to using -tocopherol (TOC) (100 mg/kg meat). Adding RWE delayed metmyoglobin formation, lipid oxidation and loss of n-3 PUFA relative to controls, while TOC had no effect on preventing meat oxidation. Lamb odour was lower (p < 0.01) and odd odour higher (p < 0.001) in patties at the highest dose of RWE, compared to controls, but the overall liking score was not affected. The results suggest that RWE could be used as a natural antioxidant in the meat industry, even when n-3 PUFA content is high.

Differential Effect of Level of Self-Regulation and Mindfulness Training on Coping Strategies Used by University Students.

The purpose of this research was to verify, in a group of psychology students, whether mindfulness training in conjunction with the individual's level of self-regulation behavior would produce a change in the use of coping strategies. A total of 38 students participated in this study, with one experimental group and one control group, in a randomized controlled trial. Observation of the experimental group revealed a significant decrease in specific emotion-focused, negative coping strategies (preparing for the worst, resigned acceptance, emotional venting, and isolation), and a significant increase in specific problem-focused, positive coping (positive reappraisal and firmness, self-talk, help for action), in combination with students' existing low-medium-high level of self-regulation. The importance and usefulness of mindfulness techniques in Higher Education is discussed, in conjunction with differences in university students' level of self-regulation behavior.

Functional screening of selective mitochondrial inhibitors of Plasmodium.

Phenotypic screening has produced most of the new chemical entities currently in clinical development for malaria, plus many lead compounds active against Plasmodium falciparum asexual stages. However, lack of knowledge about the mode of action of these compounds delays and may even hamper their future development. Identifying the mode of action of the inhibitors greatly helps to prioritise compounds for further development as novel antimalarials. Here we describe a whole-cell method to detect inhibitors of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, using oxygen consumption as high throughput readout in 384-well plate format. The usefulness of the method has been confirmed with the Tres Cantos Antimalarial Compound Set (TCAMS). The assay identified 124 respiratory inhibitors in TCAMS, seven of which were novel anti-plasmodial chemical structures never before described as mitochondrial inhibitors.

Action-Emotion Style, Learning Approach and Coping Strategies, in Undergraduate University Students / Estilo de Acción-Emoción, enfoque de aprendizaje y estrategias de afrontamiento en estudiante universitarios no graduados

Action-Emotion Style (AES) is an affective-motivational construct that describes the achievement motivation that is characteristic of students in their interaction with stressful situations. Using elements from the Type-A Behavior Pattern (TABP), characteristics of competitiveness and overwork occur in different combinations with emotions of impatience and hostility, leading to a classification containing five categories of action-emotion style (Type B, Impatient-hostile type, Medium type, Competitive-Overworking type and Type A). The objective of the present research is to establish how characteristics of action-emotion style relate to learning approach (deep and surface approaches) and to coping strategies (emotion-focused and problem-focused). The sample was composed of 225 students from the Psychology degree program. Pearson correlation analyses, ANOVAs and MANOVAs were used. Results showed that competitiveness-overwork characteristics have a significant positive association with the deep approach and with problem-focused strategies, while impatience-hostility is thus related to surface approach and emotion focused strategies. The level of action-emotion style had a significant main effect. The results verified our hypotheses with reference to the relationships between action-emotion style, learning approaches and coping strategies

El Estilo Acción-Emoción (EAE) es un constructo psicológico de tipo motivacional-afectivo referido a la motivación de logro, basado en el Patrón de Conducta tipo A (PCTA), característico de los alumnos, en interacción con situaciones de estrés. La combinación de la competitividad y la sobrecarga laboral, con las emociones de la impaciencia y hostilidad, conduce a una clasificación en cinco categorías de estilo de acción emoción (Tipo B, tipo Impaciente-hostil, Tipo Medio, Tipo Competitivo Sobrecarga Laboral y Tipo A). El objetivo de la presente investigación fue establecer la relación entre las características del EAE con los enfoques de aprendizaje (enfoque profundo y enfoque superficial) y las estrategias de afrontamiento (centradas en la emoción y centradas en el problema). La muestra estuvo compuesta por 225 estudiantes del Programa de Licenciatura en Psicología. Se realizaron análisis de correlaciones bivariados de Pearson y análisis multivariados. Los resultados mostraron una asociación positiva y significativa de las características de la competitividad-sobrecarga con el enfoque profundo y las estrategias centradas en el problema, así como de la impaciencia-hostilidad con el enfoque superficial y las estrategias centradas en la emoción. El nivel de estilo de acción-emoción tuvo un efecto principal significativo. Los resultados obtenidos verifican las hipó- tesis planteadas referidas a la relación entre el estilo de acción-emoción, los enfoques de aprendizaje y las estrategias de afrontamiento

Factor structure of the self-regulation questionnaire (SRQ) at Spanish Universities

The Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ) has been used in psychology research during the last decade. The instrument has been used in a variety of life domains: psychological well-being, dispositional happiness, depressive symptoms and career adaptability. This investigation studies the factor structure and internal consistency of the SRQ, extracting a short version in the Spanish context and examining its relation to academic variables (self-regulated learning and grades). The analysis started from a version with 63 items, representing seven conceptual dimensions. This version was administered to a sample of 834 students from Education and Psychology. The data from the above-mentioned sample were randomly divided into two sets, each containing 50% of the students (n = 417): exploratory and confirmatory. In the exploratory sample, exploratory factor analysis findings suggested a more parsimonious measurement model, with 17 items and 4 first-order factors. The confirmatory sample was used in the confirmatory factor analysis. The results show evidence for the internal consistency of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) in the Spanish context, with indices greater than .90 and errors around .05. Regarding academic variables, both versions are related to self-regulated learning (r = .40, p < .01) and students’ grades (r = .15, p < .01). Differences from other studies done in North America are discussed, as well as similarities to a study from North-West University (in South Africa) (AU)

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Enfoques de aprendizaje, autorregulación y rendimiento en tres universidades europeas / Learning approaches, self-regulation and achievement in three European universities

El trabajo analiza la relación entre enfoques de aprendizaje, autorregulación y rendimiento en estudiantes universitarios de tres universidades públicas europeas: una británica (UWIC, Cardiff, UK) y dos españolas (Almería y Granada). Se utilizan dos medidas de autoinforme para la recogida de información, el cuestionario R-SPQ-2F y las escalas EIPEA. Los resultados indican relaciones de los enfoques con la autorregulación y el rendimiento académico. Según el tipo de rendimiento analizado (conceptual, procedimental, actitudinal) se producen relaciones diferentes con los enfoques, lo que puede dar explicación a las conclusiones dispares encontradas en otras investigaciones. A partir de las conclusiones se proponen nuevas líneas de investigación

The current study seeks to analyze the relationship between learning approaches, self-regulation and performance. Data are gathered from three public European universities, one from the UK (University of Wales Institute, Cardiff) and two from Spain (Universities of Almeria and Granada). Two self-report measurements were used to collect information, the R-SPQ-2F questionnaire and the IATLP Scales. Results indicate that learning approaches are related to self-regulation and to academic performance. Different relationships with learning approaches are obtained depending on the type of performance analyzed (conceptual, procedural, attitudinal), which may account for divergent conclusions in other research studies. New lines of research are proposed based on the conclusions

Angiomixoma agresivo vulvar / Aggressive angiomyxoma of the vulva

El angiomixoma agresivo vulvar es una rara entidad que se caracteriza por su agresividad local y por una alta tasa de recurrencia tras su extirpación quirúrgica. Presentamos un caso de angiomixoma agresivo vulvar en una paciente que fue diagnosticada de quiste de Bartholino (AU)

Aggressive angiomyxoma of the vulva is a rare entity characterized by local aggressivity and a high recurrence rate after surgical treatment. We report a case of aggressive angiomyxoma of the vulva in a patient diagnosed with Bartholino’s cyst (AU)