On the basis of a comparative, descriptive, cross-sectional study, our aim was to determine differential traits of adolescent offenders with respect to personality traits, feelings of guilt, level of anger, and coping strategies. 128 adolescent residents of Barcelona (86 high school students and 42 young inmates aged between 16 and 18 years) replied to a variety of questionnaires (SC-35, EPQ-R, STAXI, ACS). Significant differences between the two groups were found. Young offenders present higher levels of guilt feelings, neuroticism, psychoticism, and trait anger. They also tend to repress their anger or, on the contrary, express it verbally and physically and use passive or avoidance coping strategies. Education and psychological therapy focussed on guilt may contribute to reduce recidivism.

The understanding of a television story can be very different depending on the age of the viewer, their background knowledge, the content of the programme and the way in which they combine the information gathered from linguistic, audio and visual elements. This study explores the different ways of interpreting an audiovisual document considering that, due to a hearing impaired, visual, audio and linguistic information could be perceived very differently to the way it is by hearing people. The study involved the participation of 20 deaf and 20 hearing adolescents, aged 12 to 19 years who, after watching a fragment of a television series, were asked to draw a picture of what had happened in the story. The results show that the graphical representation of the film is similar for both groups in terms of the number of scenes, but there is greater profusion, in the deaf group, of details about the context and characters, and there are differences in their interpretations of some of the sequences in the story.

Power influences the way people set and pursue their goals. Recent Studies have shown that powerful people, when compared with powerless individuals, have greater accessibility of their promotion goals (for instance, their ideals, their aspirations, etc.). In the current research we aim to explore the moderating role of power's legitimacy in such effect. In Study 1, after manipulating power and legitimacy, the accessibility of ideals was measured. Results showed that in the legitimate condition, the powerful, compared to the powerless people, showed greater accessibility of their ideals. However, in the illegitimate condition the opposite was true. In Study 2, the accessibility of a different type of goal: oughts, was explored. Results showed that the illegitimate powerholders, when compared with legitimate ones, had their oughts more accessible. The importance of these results is discussed in line with recent theorizing within social psychology of power.

The term evilness started to become popular in social psychology after the publication in 1999 of the special issue edited by Arthur G. Miller, “Perspectives on evil and violence”. It is usually used to define behaviors that are extremely and strongly harmful. However, the concept is still imprecise and needs to be empirically delineated. This article attempts to answer the following questions. What is evilness? What is the difference between aggression and evilness? We conducted several studies with three goals: to analyze how laypersons and experts define evilness, to verify whether laypeople distinguish between different intensities of evilness, and to determine the dimensions that predict aggression and evilness. The results offer preliminary answers to the three questions.

This study analyzes the relation between national identity and the appreciation of the characters and events of Peruvian history in a sample of public school teachers from the city of Lima (N = 99). Adapted versions of the NATID Scale (Keillor et al., 1996) and the CSES Scale (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) are used as measures of national identity. National pride and interest in knowing about Peruvian history are variables also included in this study. The study shows that appreciation of historical characters is more positive than appreciation of historical events. There is a positive association between national identity and appreciation of Peruvian historical characters. A multiple linear regression model is proposed; this model shows that appreciation of cultural heritage and national pride has a positive impact on the appreciation of characters of Peruvian history.

Over the past few years, one of the most productive directions in the study of the activation and application of stereotypes has been provided by the essentialist concept of categorization. The research presented here studied the impact of two dimensions of essentialist beliefs - naturalism and entitativity-by using data collected from Brazil, Spain and England. The aim was to test whether there was a greater degree of essentialization among the naturalizable categories (sex, age and race) than among the entitative categories (economic condition, religion, political orientation, nationality and social condition). The results not only showed that participants hold more essentialist beliefs with regard to naturalistic categories but also showed the differences in the degree of essentialization across the three cultures. A discussion is conducted on the implications of the present findings, and on the heuristic value of the theoretical model (of the bidimensional nature of essentialism) adopted by this research.

This study aimed to investigate characteristics of Brazilian mothers' beliefs system, in the dimensions of autonomy and interdependence. A group of 600 women, half from state capitals and half from small towns, participated in the study. They were individually interviewed with Scales of Allocentrism, Beliefs about Parental Practices and Socialization Goals. Paired and Independent samples t tests and Multivariate GLM were performed. The results indicate that although mothers from both contexts value autonomy, mothers inhabiting small towns considered the relational dimension as the most important; whereas mothers inhabiting capitals valued equally both dimensions, either in their beliefs about practices or in the socialization goals for their children. Mothers from small towns have a higher mean score for allocentrism than mothers living in capitals. Thus, place of residence proved to be a relevant variable in the modulation of maternal beliefs. Educational level was not a significant factor in the variables considered and with this group of mothers. The study results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the understanding of the complex relationship between dimensions of autonomy and interdependence in mothers' beliefs system.

The major focus of this research is to investigate whether environmental knowledge has any impact on organizational outcomes through an empirical investigation of 127 Spanish hospitality companies, using structural equation models. Our results show that environmental knowledge is an important determiner for developing organizational outcomes. However, this relationship is completed with just two related constructs: Firstly, the company's acquisition process plays a key role in managing the tension between the knowledge necessary to develop the appropriated environmental initiatives and current knowledge. Secondly, the company's distribution process also sheds light on tangible means for managers to enhance their company's outcomes through environmental knowledge.

Two hundred and twenty-six heterosexual participants (115 women and 111 men) were asked to indicate their attitude toward gender-roles, their perceived similarities with gay men, and their attitude toward gay men (i.e., sexual prejudice). As expected, male participants showed more sexual prejudice than female participants, and perceived dissimilarities were related to a greater sexual prejudice. Support for gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants, but not for female participants. More interestingly, the three-way interaction suggested that perceived similarities moderated the link between gender-roles and sexual prejudice among heterosexual men, but not among heterosexual women. Attitude in favor of traditional gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants who perceived gay men as different, but not for those who perceived gay men as similar. These findings are discussed in terms of the defensive function of men's attitude toward homosexuality as a result of threat to masculinity.

This study evaluates the long-term efficacy of a brief psychotherapeutic cognitive-behavioral program in group format for female victims of violence by their intimate partner. 53 battered women were randomized into one of two intervention programs: one including among others exposure technique (n = 28) and another one in which exposure procedures were substituted by communication skills training (n = 25). Additionally, both programs included: psycho-education, breath control, training to improve self-esteem, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, planning pleasant activities, and relapse prevention. The treatment was carried out in 8 weekly sessions. Measures of posttraumatic symptoms, anxiety, depression, self-esteem and anger expression were analyzed at pre- and post-treatment, and at 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-months follow-ups. Results show a pronounced decrease of posttraumatic, depressive and anxiety symptoms, which maintained in the different measure moments, with scarce difference between the two programs. The results and their clinical implications are discussed.

This study analyzed the strategy of college men who give alcohol to girls to facilitate their acceptance when pursuing sexual relationships. It also studied the role of attitudes towards sexual assaults (rape myths) in the social perception of this practice; finally, this research examined how the fact that, in some cases, college women accept taking alcohol in their interactions with college men was perceived. Participants were 349 heterosexual students (154 men and 195 women) from the University of Granada. 28% of males reported having given alcohol to females in order to have sexual contacts with them, while 44% of females acknowledged having suffered this practice. Men, compared to women, were more favourable to this practice; however, this effect was moderated by their rape myths endorsements. It was also found that males and, in general, those participants who endorsed rape myths, tended to consider that girls who accept alcohol in their interactions with boys are promiscuous.

The aim of this study is twofold. First, to assess the level of agreement between radiographic damage and functional disability in older people with osteoarthritis. And second, to assess the role of coping skills and sensory pain parameters as sources of disagreement between these variables. To achieve this objective we assess, in a sample of 104 older people with osteoarthritis, the following variables: functional capacity, radiographic damage, pain coping strategies, pain intensity, pain frequency and pain duration. The results show a non-linear relationship between radiographic damage and functional disability, modified by the levels of the two variables. There was maximum agreement between low levels of radiographic damage and of functional impairment, whilst agreement decreased for moderate and high levels of radiographic damage. Certain coping strategies may help to explain this disparity.

This study examined a gratitude intervention repeating Emmons and McCullough study (2003) in a Spanish sample. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (gratitude, hassles and any event) and kept daily records during 2 weeks of gratitude, affect, quality of relationships, physical and subjective well-being. We added design features to assess the intervention long-term impact (follow-up measures), and to improve the design control (pre-treatment measures). Following the cited authors' analysis, i.e., comparing groups only in the post-test, we replicated their results, finding differences in positive affect and gratitude between the gratitude condition and the hassles condition. However, when including both the pre and the follow-up measures in the analysis, results were replicated only partially, as the difference in gratitude disappeared. Moreover, the difference in positive affect between groups in the post-test seemed to be influenced mainly by a decrease in positive affect in the hassles group. Post-test differences between groups in positive affect disappeared in the follow-up. Gratitude interventions may have an effect on well-being, but we consider other methods to promote gratitude besides gratitude journals should be tested.

This semi-experimental study examines how Mindfulness facilitates a distress reduction in a group of health professionals. The sample comprises 29 professionals seeking stress reduction who undertook an 8 weeks psico-educative intervention, involving 28 hours of class, based on a program called Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction or MBSR. Results show a 35% reduction of distress, from percentile 75 to 45, combined with a 30% reduction in rumination and a 20% decrease in negative affect. These benefits lasted during the 3 months of the follow up period. The correlation analysis indicates that the decrease in distress is significantly related to the other two variables. These results confirm the effectiveness of MBSR to decrease distress and its applicability in training programs for health professionals.

The pre-post treatment change of 112 patients in two therapeutics Spanish communities is described. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) was used at intake and at the end of the treatment program. Results of the treatment program were evaluated by applying composite scores (CS) of the ASI, and the evolution of each patient was evaluated using the Reliable Change Index (RCI). 69.7% of the sample completed treatment, and 30.3% dropped out prematurely. At intake, the percentage of people who could improve in the different areas of the ASI ranged between 35.1% for alcohol consumption and 95.3% for family relationships. At the follow-up, the percentage of subjects who showed significant statistical improvements in the different areas varied between 7.9% in family relations and 66.7% in alcohol consumption. The percentage of patients who deteriorated was less than 10% for all variables. Implications for further research and clinical practice are commented upon.

This paper presents some preliminary results from a different approach to research on psychotherapeutic processes. As activity in psychotherapy is predominantly verbal, we propose a scientific study of therapists' verbal behavior from a behaviorist perspective. Data were obtained through observational analysis of the recordings of 16 clinical sessions involving 4 cases, all of which based on individual cognitive-behavioral therapy with adults, in the framework of private clinical practice in Spain. The analysis used a previously validated system of categories and The Observer XT software to register and code data. A descriptive analysis enabled us to identify several patterns of psychologists' verbal behavior, irrespective of the therapist and/or the case analyzed. Notable differences were also observed in clinicians' performance, which raises important questions about potential variables associated with therapeutic change. Finally, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the present research agenda, the development of which should lead to a fuller understanding of the psychotherapeutic phenomenon.

Literature has shown that, nowadays, a multidimensional approach to decision-making has become prioritized. The Careers Factor Inventory (CFI) is, in fact, a multidimensional measurement instrument for evaluating career indecision, which may be useful in the diagnosis of adaptation behaviors in terms of career decision versus indecision. This study emerges as a follow-up to a previous study which used the CFI on a sample of university students in which this measurement instrument was found to be capable of distinguishing Low decided vs. Highly decided groups and to evaluate the discriminatory capacity of the CFI scales. It is the aim, here, to further analyse the results obtained in such study with a view to grounding the importance of the use of this Inventory as an instrument for distinguishing people who present different decision levels in relation to their careers. In this study, 494 university students from a number of higher education establishments and courses are part of the afore mentioned Low decided and Highly decided groups. The collected data were analysed by means of Discrete Discriminant Analysis models and corroborate the discriminant power of the Inventory and its use as a diagnostic instrument in the psychological intervention of career counseling and development.

The Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales are among the most widely used instruments for the assessment of psychosis proneness. The main goal of the present work was to study the dimensional structure underlying the Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (RPhA), the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS), the Magical Ideation Scale (MIS) and the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS). It was also explored whether the dimensions underlying these scales were invariant across gender and age. The sample was made up of 710 university students with a mean age of 19.8 years (SD = 1.9). The results showed that the dimensional structure of the Wisconsin scales was similar to that found in previous studies, displaying a Positive dimension and a Negative dimension, the Social Anhedonia Scale being related to both dimensions. Moreover, the factor structure of the schizotypy scales was found to be invariant across participants' gender and age.

The availability of adequate instruments for the assessment of nicotine dependence is an important factor that is relevant in the area of tobacco addiction. In this study, we present a Spanish validation of the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS) (Shiffman, Waters, & Hickcox, 2004). The sample was composed of patients, all daily smokers, who visited their General Practitioner (GP) at five Primary Health Care Centers in different cities of Spain (N = 637). The results indicated adequate reliability for the general factor that assesses nicotine dependence (NDSS-Total) (Cronbach's α = .76). Factor analysis confirms the five factors of the original validation: Drive, Continuity, Stereotypy, Priority, and Tolerance. It must be noted that reliability is adequate for the first, and moderate or low for the rest. The NDSS-T and its scales correlate significantly with the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), with the nicotine dependence criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) as assessed through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), with carbon monoxide levels in expired air (CO), and with the number of cigarettes smoked. The ROC curve indicates that the NDSS-T has a score of .79 which is under the curve (.69 for the FTND), thus the prediction of nicotine dependence is adequate. We conclude that this instrument is useful (in terms of its total score NDSS-T) for assessing nicotine dependence for Spanish smokers (in Spain), as has been found in other countries, language groups, and cultures.

The objectives of the present study were to adapt and analyze the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C; Beidel, Turner, & Morris, 1995) in a Spanish population. The SPAI-C was applied to a sample of 1588 children and adolescents with ages ranging from 10 to 17 years. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed a four-factor structure: Public performance, Assertiveness, Fear and avoidance/escape in social encounters, and Cognitive and psychophysiological interferences. Internal consistency was high (.90) and test-retest reliability was moderate (.56). Significant differences were found in the variables sex and age, although the effect size was small in both variables and their interaction. Overall, the increase of the age value was inversely proportional to that of social anxiety measured with the SPAI-C; in participants of the same age, values were higher for girls than for boys. Results suggest that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory For Children is a valid and reliable instrument to assess social anxiety in Spanish children and adolescents.