Young adults and racial/ethnic minorities report the worst mental health outcomes during the COVID19 pandemic, according to the Center for Disease Control (2020). The objectives of this study were (1) to identify common mental health symptoms among Latin American, US Hispanic, and Spanish college students, and (2) to identify clinical features predictive of higher post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among this population. The study sample included 1,113 college students from the USA, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, and Spain who completed an online survey containing demographic questions and mental health screeners. Findings revealed higher scores of depression, suicidality, and PTSS compared to pre-pandemic levels and current scores by non-Spanish speaking college students; however, less than 5% of participants endorsed clinical levels of anxiety. After controlling for demographic profiles and sociocultural values, clinical symptoms of depression, loneliness, perceived stress, anxiety, and coping strategies explained 62% of the PTSS variance. Age, history of mental illness, perceived social support, and familism were not significant predictors. This sample of college students revealed higher mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The high prevalence of PTSS highlights the need to develop pragmatic, cost-effective, and culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies to mitigate these symptoms. Implications for college administrators and clinicians are discussed.

The aim of the study was to determine the existing differences by gender in the indicators of internalizing problems regarding the body image perception of Mexican adolescents. A descriptive and transversal study was developed. The participants were students from four public middle schools in Guadalajara Mexico. The instrument used was an online survey constituted by a sociodemographic section, an internalizing problems indicators scale (α = .85) and a body image perception scale (α = .70). Parental consent was obtained using a waiver of active consent. The survey was applied online, during school hours at the computer labs. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the sociodemographic data and the body perception scale. Zscores were determined for the internalizing problems scale, being categorized into a three level rank. Statistical differences were estimated by gender using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The sample included 2080 adolescents with a mean age of 13.6 years (SD 1), of which 51% (1059) were female and 49% (1021) male. 18.1% of the participants that describe themselves as about the right weight, followed by 13.9% that do it as slightly overweight, indicating that they are trying to lose weight. Regarding the differences by gender, 16% of the males and 17.9% of the females have high indicators of internalizing problems. Taking into consideration the body image, the males that describe themselves as very overweight and the females that do it as very underweight are the groups with higher indicators of internalizing problems. In summary, there are important differences between males and females in the internalizing problems indicators regarding the body image.How to cite this paper: Colunga-Rodríguez, C., Orozco-Solis, M. G., Flores-Villavicencio, M. E., de-la-Roca-Chiapas, J. M., Gómez-Martínez, R., Mercado, A., Vázquez-Colunga,

School climate is a construct that shapes the interactions between school members and influences its development in different aspects. For the students, school climate perceptions have been linked to their academic, psychological, and behavioral development. Despite its relevance, there are only few studies of Mexican students exploring issues related to school climate. A transversal and descriptive study was developed. The 2211 participants were students from four public middle schools. They completed an adapted Spanish version of the MDS3 School Climate Survey, which was composed by 56 items that loaded onto three scales: engagement and school perception (α = .93), rules and equity (α = .90) and risk behavior (α = .92). The parents' consent was obtained through a waiver of active consent process. Frequencies, averages, standard deviation and Z-scores were calculated. Mann-Whitney U test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to explore differences in the school climate perceptions based on select student, familial, and school characteristics. Survey results were categorized into a three-level scale using Z-scores (low, medium, high). More than 10% of the participants scored in the low level, corresponding to a negative perception, while for the high level, the student connectedness subscale obtained one of the highest percentages (21.2%), followed by the Risk behavior scale (20.3%) and the school rules subscale (20.3%). There were statistically significant differences found in the school climate perception for gender, age, mother school level and school shifts (i.e., AM vs. PM) variables. We can conclude that a high percentage of the participants have a negative perception of school climate and 1563consider that there are risk behaviors among the students in their schools. There were several significant differences in the school climate perceptions by sociodemographic, familial and school variables.

Se valida la estructura del cuestionario Rendimiento Académico Universitario bajo el componente teórico de dos dimensiones: elementos objetivos y subjetivos. Participaron 556 estudiantes de psicología de la ciudad de Guadalajara, México. El análisis factorial (exploratorio y confirmatorio) mostró que el componente subjetivo de 20 ítems se constituye por tres dimensiones (aportación en las actividades académicas, dedicación al estudio y falta de organización de los recursos didácticos) y el componente objetivo de seis ítems por dos dimensiones (promedio de calificaciones y actividades de estudio). Los índices de ajuste del análisis factorial confirmatorio estuvieron dentro de los parámetros y la fiabilidad alpha de Cronbach en la escala subjetiva fue aceptable en dos de tres factores (F1 α=.792; F2 α=.774) y moderada en el F3 (α=.542). El posible uso e implicaciones del instrumento en el ámbito educativo se discute a la luz de otras investigaciones.

The aim of this study was to describe the perception that children and their parents have about the family functioning relating to childhood obesity. A qualitative study, based on the family systemic theory, was developed. The participants were four children between 10 and 13 years old, with diagnosed obesity, overweight and normal weight, and five of their parents (four females and one male). The techniques used were semi structure interviews, which were audio-taped and transcribed to an electronic format. A thematic content analysis was applied, obtaining six categories: communication, beliefs about weight and body image, beliefs about food, family patterns, controlling eating and attempted solutions. The findings suggest the existence of paradox communication in the families, with contradictory and ambiguous instructions about the eating behavior of the child; beliefs about an ideal weight and type of body for children and adults; ideas about the nutritional qualities of the food that classify them as healthy or prejudicial; family norms that differ according to the role of who buys, cooks or allows the ingest of specific foods; children referring difficulties to control the food intake, while the parents point out that someone else is responsible for that lack of control; also, some strategies that the family has tried unsuccessfully to control the children weight were mentioned, such as diet or nutritional treatments. In summary, we conclude that the perception of childhood obesity is shared by parents and children, where the family interactions emerge as an element that maintains the children obesity having a lack of understatement about the necessary actions for the children's healthy development.