Relationship between lifestyle and positive psychological functioning in university administrative staff / Relación entre el estilo de vida y el funcionamiento psicológico positivo en personal administrativo universitario

Abstract In Mexico, healthy lifestyle has a low prevalence. The importance of a healthy lifestyle lies in avoiding the emergence of a chronic non-communicable disease. Thus, university administrative personnel are a vulnerable population due to working conditions that prevent them from having a healthy lifestyle, so it is necessary to analyze psychological variables that can explain how to promote and develop a healthy lifestyle. The purposes of this study were to identify relationships among lifestyle (LS) and positive psychological functioning (PPF) and their differences by gender in the administrative staff; a cross-sectional and correlational study was conducted. University administrative staff (n = 102), were recruited using the snowball sampling method, forming a non-probabilistic sample, completed the Fantastic Lifestyle Questionnaire and the Positive Psychological Functioning Scale. LS has a statistically significant correlation with PPF (r = .355, p = .001); in addition, it is worth pointing out that showing a low level of PPF implies a lower probability of having a healthy LS (Ψ = 28.333, 4.965 - 161.675). Results suggest the relevance of interventions to develop psychological resources in people seeking the adoption of a healthy LS.

Resumen En México, el estilo de vida saludable tiene una baja prevalencia. La importancia de un estilo de vida saludable radica en evitar la aparición de una enfermedad crónica no transmisible. Así, el personal administrativo universitario es una población vulnerable debido a las condiciones laborales que les impiden tener un estilo de vida saludable, por lo que es necesario analizar las variables psicológicas que pueden explicar cómo promoverlo y desarrollarlo. Los propósitos de este estudio fueron identificar las relaciones entre el estilo de vida (EV) y el funcionamiento psicológico positivo (FPP) y sus diferencias por sexo en personal administrativo universitario para lo cual se realizó un estudio transversal y correlacional. El personal administrativo universitario (n = 102) reclutado mediante el método de muestreo de bola de nieve, completó el Cuestionario de Estilo de Vida Fantástico y la Escala de Funcionamiento Psicológico Positivo. El EV presentó una correlación estadísticamente significativa con el FPP (r = .355, p = .001); además, vale la pena señalar que tener un bajo nivel de FPP implica una menor probabilidad de tener un EV saludable (Ψ = 28.333, 4.965 - 161.675). Los resultados sugieren la relevancia de las intervenciones para desarrollar recursos psicológicos en personas que buscan la adopción de un EV saludable.

Locus de control de la salud, actitud religiosa y espiritualidad en adultos mayores / Health locus of control, religious attitude and spirituality in older adults

Objetivo: valorar la relación del locus de control de la salud con la actitud religiosa y la espiritualidad en adultos mayores mexicanos. Materiales y métodos: estudio correlacional de corte transversal en una muestra de 101 adultos mayores de centros gubernamentales de asistencia social en México. Para evaluar las variables de estudio se utilizó la Escala de Locus de Control en Salud, el Índice de Espiritualidad y la Escala de Actitud Religiosa, además de un cuestionario para las variables sociodemográficas. La recolección de datos fue realizada por psicólogas previa firma del consentimiento informado. Se realizaron análisis descriptivos para las variables de estudio, y para evaluar la relación entre el locus de control de la salud con la actitud religiosa y la espiritualidad se realizaron dos análisis: una correlación de Pearson y la razón de momios. Resultados: la correlación del locus de control de la salud en su dimensión otros poderosos tiene una correlación baja pero estadísticamente significativa con la actitud religiosa (r = ,278, p < ,01) y no tiene una correlación con la espiritualidad, así, un nivel alto de actitud religiosa hace más probable que los adultos mayores tengan un locus de control de la salud otros poderosos a un nivel alto (Ψ = 2,71, 1,154 - 6,394). Conclusión: a medida que la actitud religiosa tiene un nivel más alto, el empoderamiento de la salud en los adultos mayores mexicanos tiene mayor probabilidad de ser menor.. (au)

Objective: to assess the relationship of health locus of control with religious attitude and spirituality in a group of Mexican elders. Materials and methods: cross-sectional correlational study in a sample of 101 older adults from government social assistance centers in Mexico. To evaluate the study variables, the Locus of Control in Health Scale, the Spirituality Index and the Religious Attitude Scale were used; in addition to a questionnaire for sociodemographic variables. Data collection was carried out by psychologists after signing the informed consent. Descriptive analyzes were carried out for the study variables and to evaluate the relationship between health locus of control with religious attitude and spirituality, two analyzes were carried out: a Pearson correlation and the odds ratio. Results: the correlation of health locus of control in its dimension powerful others has a low but statistically significant correlation with religious attitude (r = ,278, p <,01) and does not have a correlation with spirituality, thus, a high level of religious attitude makes it more likely that older adults have a powerful others health locus of control at a high level (Ψ = 2,71, 1,154 ­ 6,394). Conclusion: as religious attitude has a higher level, health empowerment in Mexican older adults is more likely to be lower..(Au)

Influence of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Style and Behavior Problems on Academic Outcomes in Primary School.

Parents and teachers are concerned about the academic outcomes of children. Among the variables that play an important role in school success, parenting styles and behavior problems are some of the most studied. Literature shows that presence of behavioral problem and parenting styles based on physical punishment, lack of consistency and ineffective limit setting are related to poor academic achievement. The present study examined the influence of maternal and paternal parenting styles and behavior problems on the academic outcomes of primary-school children. Measures used in this study included the Inventory of Parenting Guide, the Child Behavior Checklist and information on academic outcomes (n = 78 families). The range age of the students was 6 to 13 years old (mean = 8.08; SD = 1.6; 38 girls). The participation rate was 90.7%. The results showed that behavior problems and sensitive parenting style were related to academic outcomes. Specifically, attentional problems and maternal sensitive parenting styles appeared to be significant predictors of academic outcomes in this study. These data suggest the relevance of attention and maternal sensitive parenting styles in understanding processes that promote academic outcomes.

Frontal theta activation associated with error detection in toddlers: influence of familial socioeconomic status.

Error detection is one of the functions of the executive attention network, a brain system involved in executive control that includes the anterior cingulate cortex and other prefrontal regions. Despite the key role of this function in a wide range of life outcomes, very limited research has examined the early development of the network and whether its functional efficacy is related to environmental factors. Electrophysiological studies with adults have shown oscillatory activity in theta (4-7 Hz) range arising from medial frontal cortex that follows the detection of self-committed or observed errors. In the current study, we designed a novel experimental procedure that involved a familiarization phase with simple three-pieces puzzles followed by an experimental phase in which toddlers observed the puzzles being formed either correctly or incorrectly. Observation of incorrect configurations produced increased potentials in midline channels and greater power theta activity for both toddlers (n = 56) and adults (n = 14). In addition, socioeconomic status of the family in general, and parental education in particular, contributed to individual differences in the amplitude of the error-related signal and associated theta power in toddlers, indicating that children raised in lower SES families show poorer activation of the executive attention network. These data demonstrate the influence of environmental factors at the earliest stages of development of the executive attention network. Importantly, the results show that error-detection EEG signals can be used as neural markers of the initial development of executive attention, which can be of great help for the early detection of risk for developmental disorders involving deficits in this function.

Parenting and Temperament Influence on School Success in 9-13 Year Olds.

Children spend a lot of time with their parents who are the first agents that educate them. The parenting style implemented in the family influences other contexts outside home such as the school. There is evidence that a positive parenting style has an influence on school success. However, there are other variables related to school success, for example, temperament. The influence of parenting decreases with age as children develop abilities to self-regulate without parents' external control. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of parenting style and temperament in 9-13 years old children on both academic performance and school adjustment skills. Our hypothesis was that not only parenting style is crucial to academic performance and school adjustment, but also temperament plays an important role in them. We used a Parenting Guide line questionnaire to evaluate parenting style, Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire-R to evaluate temperament; Health Resources Inventory to assess children's school adjustment, and academic grades, as indicator of academic performance. We were interested in testing whether or not the effect of parenting style on academic performance and school adjustment was mediated by temperament. We found that emotional and behavioral regulation mediates the relation between parenting and academic performance. These findings inform of the relevance of child's temperament on school success. Implications for education are discussed with emphasis on the importance of understanding students' temperament to promote school adjustment and good academic performance.

Influence of the SLC6A3-DAT1 Gene on Multifaceted Measures of Self-regulation in Preschool Children.

Development of self-regulation, the capacity to voluntarily modulate thoughts, emotions and actions is strongly related to the maturation of the dopamine-mediated executive attention network (EAN). The attention control processes associated with the EAN greatly overlap with efficiency of the executive functions and are correlated with measures of effortful control. Regulation of dopamine levels within the EAN, particularly in the basal ganglia is carried out by the action of dopamine transporters. In humans, the SLC6A3/DAT1 gene carries out the synthesis of the DAT protein. The 10-repeat allele has been associated with an enhanced expression of the gene and has been related to ADHD symptoms. Little is known about the impact of DAT1 variations on children's capacity to self-regulate in contexts that impose particular demands of regulatory control such as the school or home. This study defines a multi-domain phenotype of self-regulation and examines whether variations of the DAT1 gene accounts for individual differences in performance in 4-5 year old children. Results show that presence of the 10r allele is related to a diminished ability to exert voluntary regulation of reactivity. These findings shed light on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in self-regulation during childhood.

Development of neural mechanisms of conflict and error processing during childhood: implications for self-regulation.

Regulation of thoughts and behavior requires attention, particularly when there is conflict between alternative responses or when errors are to be prevented or corrected. Conflict monitoring and error processing are functions of the executive attention network, a neurocognitive system that greatly matures during childhood. In this study, we examined the development of brain mechanisms underlying conflict and error processing with event-related potentials (ERPs), and explored the relationship between brain function and individual differences in the ability to self-regulate behavior. Three groups of children aged 4-6, 7-9, and 10-13 years, and a group of adults performed a child-friendly version of the flanker task while ERPs were registered. Marked developmental changes were observed in both conflict processing and brain reactions to errors. After controlling by age, higher self-regulation skills are associated with smaller amplitude of the conflict effect but greater amplitude of the error-related negativity. Additionally, we found that electrophysiological measures of conflict and error monitoring predict individual differences in impulsivity and the capacity to delay gratification. These findings inform of brain mechanisms underlying the development of cognitive control and self-regulation.

Electrophysiological correlates of attention networks in childhood and early adulthood.

Attention has been related to functions of alerting, orienting, and executive control, which are associated with distinct brain networks. This study aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the development of attention functions during childhood. A total of 46 healthy 4-13-year-old children and 15 adults performed an adapted version of the Attention Network Task (ANT) while brain activation was registered with a high-density EEG system. Performance of the ANT revealed changes in the efficiency of attention networks across ages. While no differences were observed on the alerting score, both orienting and executive attention scores showed a more protracted developmental curve. Further, age-related differences in brain activity were mostly observed in early ERP components. Young children had poorer early processing of warning cues compared to 10-13-year-olds and adults, as shown by an immature auditory-evoked potential complex elicited by warning tones. Also, 4-6-year-olds exhibited a poorer processing of orienting cues as indexed by lack of modulation of the N1. Finally, flanker congruency produced earlier modulation of ERPs amplitude with age. Flanker congruency effects were delayed and more anteriorly distributed for young children, compared to adults who showed a clear modulation of the N2 in fronto-parietal channels. Additionally, interactions among attention networks were examined. Both alerting and orienting conditions modulated the effectiveness of conflict processing by the executive attention network. The Orienting×Executive networks interactions was only observed after about age 7. Results are informative of the neural correlates of the development of attention networks in childhood.