Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scales (MBSRQ-AS) in Chilean Youth.

The aim of this study is to analyze the factorial structure of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scales (MBSRQ-AS) to determine the adjustment of the study structure proposed in the Spanish short version in a young, non-clinical Chilean population and to evaluate the possible influence of sex, age, and BMI on body image measurement. The sample consisted of 614 Chilean youth (259 male and 355 female) between 15 and 28 years old (M = 18.81; SE = 2.46), from the Metropolitan Region, and four regions of the coast and south-central zone of the country. The average Body Mass Index (BMI) was 22.5 kg/m2 (SD = 3.16). The model fit was evaluated by confirmatory factor analysis (WLSMV) using the following: a model with a single general factor, a model with the five factors of the original version, a five-factor ESEM model, and a MIMIC model analyzed including sex, age, and BMI. The results show that the MIMIC sex, age, and BMI model presents an acceptable fit, observing that four factors, Appearance Orientation (AO), Body Areas Satisfaction (BAS), Overweight Preoccupation (OP), and Self-Classification Weight (SCW), are affected significantly for the sex variable, one for age, Appearance Evaluation (AE), and four for BMI (AE, BAS, OP, and SCW). In conclusion, MBSRQ-AS replicates the five-dimensional structure in a non-clinical sample of young Chileans; however, their scores are not invariant as they depend on sex, age, and BMI.

Propiedades psicométricas del Inventario de Hábitos de Estudio CASM-85: un estudio multicéntrico con estudiantes de secundaria peruanos / Psychometric properties of the Inventory of Study Habits CASM-85: a multicenter study with Peruvian high school students

Objetivo: evaluar la estructura interna, invarianza de medida, validez de criterio y confiabilidad del CASM-85 en estudiantes de secundaria peruanos. Materiales y Métodos: se evaluaron 2075 estudiantes de ambos sexos, entre 11 y 18 años, provenientes de colegios nacionales y particulares de Arequipa, Chimbote, Lima y Pucallpa. Se realizó un análisis de la correlación ítem-ítem e ítemresto para cada dimensión del CASM-85, un análisis factorial confirmatorio y modelos MIMIC (Multiple Indicator, Multiple Cause) para evaluar la invarianza de medida a través de grupos según sexo, edad, colegio y ciudad. La confiabilidad fue estimada mediante los coeficientes Alpha y Omega. La validez de criterio entre el CASM-85 y el rendimiento académico se revisó a través de la r de Pearson y modelos de regresión. Resultados: se eliminaron ítems heterogéneos y se obtuvo una forma reducida de 45 ítems a compararse con su original de 53 ítems. Para la forma original el CFI y TLI fue < .9 en todas las ciudades, mientras que para la forma reducida fue < . 9 solo en Chimbote. Los SRMR y RMSEA fueron ≤ .10 y ≤ .09 para las formas original y reducida respectivamente. Los modelos MIMIC confirmaron invarianza para todas las variables excepto para la variable ciudad con la forma original (│ΔCFI│ = .09, │ΔTLI│ = .08). La confiabilidad fue moderada tanto para la forma original (Ω ≥ .68; α ≥ .81) como para la reducida (Ω ≥ .77; α ≥ .84). La r de Pearson mostró una relación positiva y de fuerza débil para la forma original (r = .17) y reducida (r = .18). Conclusión: la forma reducida del CASM-85 (45 ítems) ha mostrado mejores propiedades psicométricas que su forma original.

Objective: To assess the internal structure, measurement invariance, criterion validity and reliability of the CASM-85 in Peruvian high school students. Materials and methods: Two thousand seventy-five (2075) students of both sexes, aged 11 to 18 years, from public and private high schools of Arequipa, Chimbote, Lima and Pucallpa were evaluated. An item-item and item-rest correlation analysis for each dimension of the CASM- 85, a confirmatory factorial analysis and MIMIC (Multiple Indicator, Multiple Cause) models were used to evaluate the measurement invariance across the groups according to their sex, age, school and city. Reliability was estimated using alpha and omega coefficients. The criterion validity between the CASM-85 and academic performance was determined using Pearson’s r and regression models. Results: The heterogeneous items were removed, obtaining a 45-item short form compared to the original 53-item form. In the original form, CFI and TLI were < .9 in all the cities, whereas in the short form, CFI and TLI were < .9 only in Chimbote. SRMR and RMSEA were ≤ .10 and ≤ .09 in the original and short forms, respectively. The MIMIC models confirmed the measurement invariance in all variables, with the exception of the original form between cities (│ΔCFI│ = .09, │ΔTLI│= .08). Reliability was moderate for both the original (Ω ≥ .68; α ≥ .81) and short forms (Ω ≥ .77; α ≥ .84). Pearson’s r showed a positive and weak correlation in the original (r = .17, p < .001) and short (r = .18, p < .001) forms. Conclusion: The CASM-85 short form (45 items) has shown better psychometric properties than its original full form.

Identifying the factors impacting on farmers' intention to adopt animal friendly practices.

Brazil, one of the leading countries in livestock production, has not yet developed legislation considering animal welfare issues and most of the actions to improve farm animal welfare (FAW) standards are developed by livestock industries and government focusing in meet the demands of exporting countries. Such actions resulted in FAW protocols and manuals for adoption of best management practices. In this context, farmers' decisions are of particular importance as they may comply with current FAW protocols or even decide to provide better FAW standards than required. A present example of farmers' decisions to provide better FAW standards than required by FAW protocols is in the adoption of environmental enrichment in pig farming. This practice is widely available to pig farmers, however, anecdotal evidence shows that the adoption rate is low. This study uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a framework to identify the socio-psychological factors that influence pig farmers' intention to adopt environmental enrichment on their farms. The TPB hypothesizes that intention is determined by three psychological constructs: attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. These three constructs are derived from behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, respectively. Self-identity was added as an additional construct to explain intention. A survey with 185 farmers was conducted. We used Partial-Least-Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to identify the impact of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and self-identity on farmers' intention to adopt environmental enrichment on their farms. We used MIMIC models to identify the most important beliefs underlying farmers' intention to adopt environmental enrichment in their farms. Results show that the intention of farmers to adopt was mainly determined by their positive perceptions about their own capability to adopt environmental enrichment (perceived behavioral control), followed by their perceptions about the social pressure to adopt it (subjective norms), their positive evaluations of adoption (attitude), and self-identity. The most important behavioral beliefs were 'increase productivity', and 'decrease animals stress'. The most important normative beliefs were 'family', 'neighbor farmers', 'pig buyers', and 'experts'. The most important control belief was 'receive bonus when selling pigs'. These results revealed important implications to design public and private interventions aimed to stimulate the adoption of animal friendly practices.