Background: Self-esteem is positively associated to the well being of people and could be a good mental health indicator. Aim: To determine the realiability and validity of the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale in a Chilean adult sample. Material and methods:The instrument was applied to 473 subjects living in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, evenly distributed according to gender, age, educational level and income. The Neugarten Life Satisfaction Index (LSI-A) was also applied to the sample. Results: Cronbach's alpha for reliability of the scale was 0.754. There was no gender bias and factor analysis grouped items into two factors (5 positive and 5 negative). The instrument had a correlation of 0.455 with the LSI-A. Conclusions: The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale meets the criteria for validity and reliability of a quality instrument to measure self-esteem in Chile (Rev Méd Chile 2009; 137: 791-800).

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a screening tool used to measure psychological functioning among children and adolescents. It has been extensively used worldwide, but its psychometric properties, such as internal structure and reliability, seem to vary across countries. This is the first study exploring the construct validity and reliability of the Spanish version of SDQ among early adolescents (self-reported) and their parents in Latin America. A total of 1,284 early adolescents (9–15 years) and their parents answered the SDQ. We also collected demographic variables. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the latent structure of the SDQ. We also used the multitrait-multimethod analysis to separate the true variance on the constructs from variance resulting from measurement methods (self-report vs. parent report), and evaluated the agreement between adolescents and their parents. We found that the original five-factor model was a good solution and the resulting sub-scales had good internal consistency. We also found that the self-reported and parental versions of SDQ provide different information, which are complementary and provide a better picture of the emotional, social, and conduct problems of adolescents. We have added evidence for the construct validity and reliability of the Spanish self-reported and parental SDQ versions in a Chilean sample.

Being involved in bullying as a victim or perpetrator could have deleterious health consequences. Even though there is some evidence that bullies and victims of bullying have a higher risk for drug use, less is known about bystanders. The aim of this research was to study the association between bullying experience (as victims, bullies, or bystanders) and substance use. We gathered complete information from a nationally representative sample of 36,687 students (51.4% female) attending 756 schools in Chile. We used a self-reported questionnaire which was developed based on similar instruments used elsewhere. This questionnaire was piloted and presented to an expert panel for approval. We used multilevel multivariate logistic regression analyses, controlling for several variables at the individual (e.g., school membership, parental monitoring) and school levels (e.g., school type, school denomination). This study shows that bullies and bully-victims have a high risk for cigarette, alcohol, and cannabis use than bystanders. This is one of the few studies exploring the association between witnessing bullying and substance use. These findings add new insights to the study of the co-occurrence of bullying and substance use. Other factors, such as higher academic performance, stronger school membership, and better parental monitoring reduced the risk of any substance use, while the experience of domestic violence and the perception of social disorganization in the neighborhood, increased the risk. These findings may help the design of preventive interventions.

' smoking, or parental alcohol use. (Rev Med Chile 2016; 144: 465-475; sin embargo, hay autores que la extienden hasta mediados de los veinte años 7,8 . Debido a sus características, es posible dividirla en tres periodos: adolescencia temprana (10 a 13 años), media (14 a 16 años) y tardía (17 a 19 años) 9 . En particular, los adolescentes entre 10 y 13 años experimentan muchos estresores y modificaciones en su vida cotidiana, a nivel personal y de su entorno 10 . Por ejemplo, durante este período se producen cambios rápidos a nivel físico relacionados con el desarrollo sexual 10 y cambios cerebrales en las funciones ejecutivas y cognición social 11,12 . A su vez, los adolescentes se enfrentan a varias demandas psicosociales, como la lucha por reducir su dependencia hacia los padres, una creciente influencia e importancia del apego a sus pares y la búsqueda de la identidad personal 13,14 . También debemos considerar que este período está marcado por el desarrollo de distintas características a nivel cerebral, fundamentales para una mejor adaptación de adultos 7 : búsqueda de novedades, involucramiento social, intensidad emocional y creatividad 15 . Todo lo anterior, si bien es parte del desarrollo normal, y la gran mayoría de los adolescentes transita por este período sin grandes problemas, en algunos casos podemos observar dificultades en el desarrollo 16 . El consumo de sustancias de abuso en Chile parece estar comenzando a edades cada vez más tempranas 3 . Mientras más precoz es el inicio del consumo de una sustancia como el alcohol, mayor es la probabilidad de que este consumo se mantenga en el tiempo, genere trastornos psiquiátricos, y aumente la probabilidad de accidentes en la población adolescente 17,18 . Por otro lado, el uso precoz de tabaco y alcohol parecen aumentar la probabilidad del uso de drogas ilegales 17,19,20 . Los factores de riesgo y protectores asociados al uso de sustancias pueden agruparse, según el dominio de influencia, en: individuales, familiares, escolares, de pares y del entorno social o comunitario 21,22 . Varios factores han sido identificados a nivel internacional 22,23 , pero se hace necesario el estudio de ellos a nivel local para poder elaborar estrategias preventivas específicas, incorporando las necesidades de esa comunidad 22,24 . Pocos estudios en Chile han explorado el consumo de tabaco y alcohol en adolescentes de entre 10 y 14 años [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] , especialmente en el grupo de 10 a 13 años y sus factores asociados 32 . Los objetivos de esta investigación son determinar la prevalencia de vida del consumo de tabaco y alcohol en adolescentes entre 10 y 14 años, y estudiar su asociación con factores personales, familiares y escolares, usando como variables confundentes sexo, edad y nivel socioeconómico. Material y Método ParticipantesSe invitó a participar a 10 colegios urbanos de la comuna de San Felipe, a cursos de 5° a 8° Básico, representativos de cada nivel socioeconó-mico (NSE): alto, medio y bajo. Se utilizó como referencia del NSE la clasificación d...

No abstract

School membership appears to be an important factor in explaining the relationship between students and schools, including school staff. School membership is associated with several school-related outcomes, such as academic performance and expectations. Most studies on school membership have been conducted in developed countries. The Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale (18 items: 13 positively worded items, 5 negatively worded items) has been widely used to measure this construct, but no studies regarding its validity and reliability have been conducted in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. This study investigates the psychometric properties, factor structure and reliability of this scale in a sample of 1250 early adolescents in Chile. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provide evidence of an excellent fit for a one-factor solution after removing the negatively worded items. The internal consistency of this new abbreviated version was 0.92. The association analyses demonstrated that high school membership was associated with better academic performance, stronger school bonding, a reduced likelihood of school misbehavior, and reduced likelihood of substance use. Analyses showed support for the reliability and validity of the PSSM among Chilean adolescents.

Mental health problems among adolescents are prevalent and are associated with important difficulties for a normal development during this period and later in life. Understanding better the risk factors associated with mental health problems may help to design and implement more effective preventive interventions. Several personal and family risk factors have been identified in their relationship to mental health; however, much less is known about the influence of school-related factors. One of these school factors is school belonging or the psychological sense of school membership. This is a well-known protective factor to develop good academic commitment, but it has been scarcely studied in its relationship to mental health. We explored this association in a sample of early adolescents and found that students who reported having a high level of school membership had lower mental health problems, even after controlling for several personal and family factors.

BackgroundBullying is a major problem worldwide and Chile is no exception. Bullying is defined as a systematic aggressive behavior against a victim who cannot defend him or herself. Victims suffer social isolation and psychological maladjustment, while bullies have a higher risk for conduct problems and substance use disorders. These problems appear to last over time. The KiVa antibullying program has been evaluated in Finland and other European countries, showing preventive effects on victimization and self-reported bullying. The aims of this study are (1) to develop a culturally appropriate version of the KiVa material and (2) to test the effectiveness of the KiVa program, with and without the online game, on reducing experiences of victimization and bullying behavior among vulnerable primary schools in Santiago (Chile), using a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with three arms: (1) full KiVa program group, (2) partial KiVa (without online game) program group and (3) control group.Methods and designThis is a three-arm, single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a target enrolment of 1495 4th and 5th graders attending 13 vulnerable schools per arm. Students in the full and partial KiVa groups will receive universal actions: ten 2-h lessons delivered by trained teachers during 1 year; they will be exposed to posters encouraging them to support victims and behave constructively when witnessing bullying; and a person designated by the school authorities will be present in all school breaks and lunchtimes using a visible KiVa vest to remind everybody that they are in a KiVa school. KiVa schools also will have indicated actions, which consist of a set of discussion groups with the victims and with the bullies, with proper follow-up. Only full KiVa schools will also receive an online game which has the aim to raise awareness of the role of the group in bullying, increase empathy and promote strategies to support victimized peers. Self-reported victimization, bullying others and peer-reported bullying actions, psychological and academic functioning, and sense of school membership will be measured at baseline and 12 months after randomization.DiscussionThis is the first cluster RCT of the KiVa antibullying program in Latin America.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT02898324. Registered on 8 September 2016.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-1810-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.