Validation of the Children's Separation Anxiety Scale - Parent Version (CSAS-P).

The main objective of this research was to validate the parents' version of the Children's Separation Anxiety Scale (CSAS-P), which assesses separation anxiety symptoms in pre-adolescence, the stage with the highest incidence of anxiety disorder due to separation. In Study 1, 1,089 parents, those children aged between 8 and 11 (M = 9.59, SD = 1.11), 51.7% girls, were selected by random cluster sampling, who completed the CSAS-P to obtain the factorial structure. Exploratory factor analysis identified four related factors: Worry, Opposition, Calm, and Distress, which explained 42.93% of the variance. In Study 2, 3,801 parents, those children aged between 8 and 11 (M = 9.50, SD = 1.10), 50.2% girls, completed the CSAS-P, and their children completed the Children's Separation Anxiety Scale (CSAS). The four related-factor model from Study 1 was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. The CSAS-P had adequate internal consistency (α = 0.84), temporal stability (r = 0.72), and invariance across children's age and gender and the parent who completed the scale. Age and gender differences were small: older children scored higher on Worry and younger children on Distress; the girls scored higher on all factors. Small differences were also found depending on the parent who completed the scale without finding a clear pattern. Parents scored significantly lower than the child on all four factors of the scale. The results support the reliability and validity of the CSAS-P, an instrument that complements the child's self-report in the framework of the multi-source assessment.

Test Anxiety in Adolescent Students: Different Responses According to the Components of Anxiety as a Function of Sociodemographic and Academic Variables.

OBJECTIVE: Test anxiety (TA) is a construct that has scarcely been studied based on Lang's three-dimensional model of anxiety. The objective of this article is to investigate the repercussion of sociodemographic and academic variables on different responses for each component of anxiety and for the type of test in adolescent students. METHOD: A total of 1181 students from 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.7 and SD = 1.8) participated, of whom 569 were boys (48.2%) and 612 girls (51.8%). A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Cuestionario de Ansiedad ante los examenes-Adaptado (CAEX-A) [Test Anxiety Questionnaire-Adapted] an adaptation for Spanish secondary school levels (ESO) and Bachillerato were administered. RESULTS: Girls scored higher on the cognitive and physiological components of TA than boys, the intensity of the physiological response increasing with age. Bachillerato level students reported more physiological anxiety than those of ESO level. Students with better marks in the previous year presented more anxiety in the cognitive component, while those who obtained the lower mark presented higher anxiety values in the behavioral component. Participants reported that the types of tests that cause them more anxiety were oral tests in front of the class, oral presentation in front of a panel, and mathematics tests. CONCLUSION: Adolescents show a differential response of TA based on the physiological, cognitive and motor components, mediated by the variables of gender, age, grade, academic performance and type of exam. These results serve to design specific intervention programs to manage anxiety in situations of academic assessment.

Depresión y envejecimiento: Algunas cuestiones de interés respecto a la investigación epidemiológica / No disponible

En el presente trabajo se revisan algunos de los aspectos de mayor relevancia respecto a la investigación epidemiológica sobre depresión y envejecimiento. En este sentido se abordan las dificultades para la evaluación de la depresión en ancianos, las características específicas de las alteraciones depresivas en las personas de edad avanzada, la influencia del género y del envejecimiento en la formación de trastornos depresivos y la influencia de factores de tiposociocultural sobre la estructura misma de los síndromes depresivos a lo largo del proceso deenvejecimiento. Se termina concluyendo la importancia de considerar estos aspectos para una mejor comprensión de las depresiones a lo largo del desarrollo adulto, al tiempo que se establece un distanciamiento del estereotipo injustificado de ancianidad unida a depresión (AU)

In the present work some of the more important aspect on epidemiologic research about aging and depression are revised. At hits way, the problems in assessment of depression in old people, the specific characteristics of the depressive disorders, the influence of the gender and aging and the influence of cultural factors are studied. Finally, the importance of these topics for a better understanding of depressions along the aging, at the time that a distancing of the unjustified stereotype of old age and depression is indicated (AU)