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- The Social anxiety scale for adolescents: Measurement invariance and psychometric properties among a school sample of portuguese youthsPublication . Pechorro, Pedro; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Nunes, Cristina; Maroco, João; Gonçalves, Rui AbrunhosaOver the last decades there has been an increased interest in assessing social anxiety in adolescents. This study aims to validate the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) to Portuguese youth, and to examine its invariance across gender as well as its psychometric properties. The participants were 782 Portuguese youths (371 males, 411 females), with an average age of 15.87 years (SD = 1.72). The results support the original three-factor structure of the SAS-A, with measurement invariance being found across gender, with females scoring higher than males on two subscales. High levels of internal consistency were found. Positive associations with empathy demonstrated that high socially anxious adolescents have elevated empathy tendencies. Mostly null or low negative associations were found with measures of psychopathic traits, callous-unemotional traits and aggression. Study findings provide evidence that the SAS-A is a psychometrically sound instrument that shows measurement invariance between genders, good reliability and positive correlations with empathy.
- The barratt impulsiveness scale-11 among a school sample of portuguese male and female adolescentsPublication . Pechorro, Pedro; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Ray, James V.; Nunes, Cristina; Gonçalves, Rui AbrunhosaFew personality traits are as socially relevant as impulsivity, but few self-report measures have been specifically developed for adolescents and children. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11) among a mixed-gender sample of 782 Portuguese youth (M = 15.87 years; SD = 1.72), in a school context. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the expected 6-factor first-order structure, but the 3-factor second-order factorial structure did not present a good fit. Cross-gender measurement invariance was demonstrated only in terms of weak invariance. Nonetheless, the Portuguese adaptation of the BIS-11 demonstrated some generally acceptable psychometric properties of internal consistency, mean inter-item correlation, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity of statistically significant associations with conduct disorder symptoms, alcohol abuse, drug use, and unprotected sex. The use of the BIS-11 among the male and female youth population is psychometrically justified, and it can be a useful measure to identify impulsive adolescents who are at considerable risk of personal injury and present a potential source of injury to others.
- Short Form of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents among community and institutionalized Portuguese youthsPublication . Nunes, Cristina; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Pechorro, Pedro; Greca, Annette M. LaBackground/Objective: Social anxiety is a common issue arising in adolescence that can cause significant impairment and have detrimental consequences for development in the absence of treatment. In this study we examined the factor structure and the psychometric properties of a 12-item short form of the Portuguese-Language Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A-SF). Method: A community adolescent sample (N = 835) and a young offender sample (N = 244) completed the SAS-A, the Basic Empathy Scale and the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, cross gender and cross sample invariance, convergent and discriminant validity of the SAS-A-SF were analyzed. Results: The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 3-factor second-order model obtained the best fit. The results provided evidence that the SAS-A-SF is a psychometrically sound instrument that shows measurement invariance across genders and across samples, good reliability and positive correlations with empathy. Conclusions: The Portuguese version of SAS-A-SF is a useful, time-efficient tool for both researchers and practitioners who need to assess social anxiety, a relevant construct in adolescent psychopathology. (C) 2018 Asociacion Espanola de Psicologia Conductual. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.
- Características psicométricas e estrutura fatorial da FACES III numa amostra de famílias em risco psicossocialPublication . Nunes, Cristina; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Ferreira, Laura Inês; Martins, CátiaEste estudo visou a adaptação e exploração das características psicométricas da Escala de Avaliação da Coesão e Adaptabilidade Familiar (FACES III) com uma população de famílias portuguesas em risco psicossocial. Esta medida é a mais utilizada para a avaliação do funcionamento familiar de acordo com as dimensões do Modelo Circumplexo dos Sistemas Familiares. Participaram 388 pais de crianças com medidas de apoio e proteção, residentes no Algarve. A FACES III foi aplicada em conjunto com medidas de stresse parental, aliança parental e sentimento de competência parental para testar a validade de constructo. A análise fatorial exploratória confirmou a solução original de dois fatores. A Coesão demonstrou alta consciência interna e boa validade de constructo, podendo ser considerada uma medida fiável desta dimensão. A Adaptabilidade apresentou resultados insatisfatórios em todos os indicadores psicométricos, pelo que se aconselha a revisão desta subescala. Os resultados são discutidos considerando as diversas versões do instrumento.
- Psychometric properties of an adapted version of the parental sense of competence (PSOC) scale for Portuguese at-risk parentsPublication . Nunes, Cristina; Jimenez, Lucia; Menendez, Susana; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Hidalgo, VictoriaParental sense of competence is one of the central dimensions targeted on psychosocial interventions aimed at supporting at-risk families. Researchers and practitioners need reliable instruments to assess the parental role adapted for these families. Although the parental sense of competence (PSOC) scale has been frequently used to assess this construct, there is still no adapted version for Portuguese parents. In this study, the reliability, validity and factor structure of the PSOC scale is examined with a clinical sample of 146 mothers from at-risk families receiving psychosocial interventions for family preservation from Child Protective Services. Results show that the Portuguese version of the PSOC measures three distinct constructs with acceptable psychometric properties: efficacy, dissatisfaction and controllability. As expected, the obtained factors were significantly and positively related to parenting alliance and family cohesion, and negatively associated with parenting stress. In sum, the proposed Portuguese version shows reliability and validity evidences to measure three relevant dimensions of parental self-evaluation, and it constitutes a cost- and time-effective instrument suited for at-risk mothers.
- Quality of life of portuguese and spanish adolescents. A comparative study between natives and immigrantsPublication . Nunes, Cristina; Hernando Gomez, Angel; Lemos, Ida; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Romero Oliva, Cristina; Montilla Coronado, CeciliaThe aim of this study was to analyse differences in quality of life (QOL) between Spanish and Portuguese immigrant and native adolescents. In total, 475 native and immigrant adolescents (52% boys) from Algarve (Portugal) and Huelva (Spain), aged between 12 and 17 years old, were assessed with the KIDSCREEN-52. QOL dimensions were not related to most academic variables, with the exception of number of school failures, Financial Resources and Social Support from Peers. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine statistical differences in adolescents QOL. Age differences in QOL levels were not found. Girls reported worse QOL levels on Physical Wellbeing than boys (F = 10.32, p = .001, eta(2) = .02). Immigrant Portuguese adolescents scored higher on Mood (F = 17.57, p = .000, eta(2) = .11), and native Portuguese adolescents scored higher on Social Acceptance (F = 4.87, p = .002, eta(2) = .033). Immigrant and native adolescents had similar levels of perceived QOL. Overall, it seems that in both countries, the living contexts for immigrant and native adolescents are fairly homogeneous.
- Psychometric properties of the socially desirable response Set-5 among incarcerated male and female juvenile offendersPublication . Pechorro, Pedro; Ayala-Nunes, Lara; Oliveira, João Pedro; Nunes, Cristina; Gonçalves, Rui AbrunhosaThe main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Socially Desirable Response Set-5 (SDRS-5) among a forensic sample (N = 324) of incarcerated male (n = 221) and female (n = 103) juvenile offenders. The Portuguese validation of the SDRS-5 demonstrated good psychometric properties, namely in terms of its factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity that overall justifies its use among this population. Findings are discussed in terms of the use of the SDRS-5 with male and female juvenile offenders. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.