El Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) es un instrumento desarrollado para investigar los procesos cognitivos que las personas utilizan luego de experimentar un evento negativo. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue validar el CERQ en universitarios de la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina. Luego de efectuar una traducción de los ítems, se efectuó una prueba piloto para posteriormente administrar la escala a 359 estudiantes universitarios seleccionados en forma accidental. Mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio se contrastó el modelo original de 9 factores con un modelo alternativo de 2 factores de segundo orden (estrategias adaptativas versus desadaptativas). El modelo de 9 factores presentó un mayor ajuste, el cual mejoró al re-especificar la saturación de dos reactivos. En términos generales, los resultados sugieren que las estrategias cognitivas de regulación emocional se explicarían mejor considerándolas de manera diferenciada más que como un conjunto de estrategias agrupadas a partir de su adaptabilidad. Los índices de consistencia interna obtenidos son aceptables y semejantes a los reportados en estudios antecedentes y las evidencias de validez de criterio, obtenidas al correlacionar los puntajes del CERQ con medidas de Emociones Positivas, Emociones Negativas e Interferencia Emocional, fueron teóricamente coherentes. Palabras clave: regulación emocional, CERQ, análisis factorial, consistencia interna, universitariosThe Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is a scale developed to evaluate the cognitive processes that individuals use after experiencing a negative event. The aim of the present study was to validate the CERQ in university students of the province of Córdoba, Argentina. After translating the items, a pilot test was performed, and subsequently the scale was administrated to 359 students accidentally selected. Through confirmatory factor analysis, the original model of 9 factors was compared with an alternative second-order factor model (adaptive and maladaptive strategies). The 9 dimensions model presented a better fit, which improved when re-specifying 2 items. Results suggest that the cognitive emotion regulation strategies would be better explained when considering them in a differentiated way instead of as a set of strategies grouped based on their adaptability. The indexes of internal consistency obtained are acceptable and similar to those reported in precedent studies and the evidences of test-criteria relationships, obtained by correlating the scores of CERQ with measures of Positive Emotions, Negative Emotions and Emotional Interference, were theoretically coherent.Keywords: emotional regulation, CERQ, factorial analysis, internal consistency, university students Las emociones componen una columna vertebral psicológica que guía al individuo en su vida cotidiana. Constituyen, sin duda, una parte esencial de las formas de relacionarse e interpretar estímulos. Un aspecto fundamental de las emociones que se ha desarrollado y estudiado en la actualidad hace refere...

a b s t r a c tStudies have examined the relationship between positive and negative emotions with self-efficacy, but we consider that some theoretical and methodological aspects are missing. In this study, the difficulties in participants' emotional regulation were included as a co-variable. We analyzed factors undergoing the absence of affective congruity. An experimental design taking the type of induced emotions (positive vs. negative) as independent variable was carried out. The manipulation of this variable was effected with the combined exhibition of movie/music. The results suggest that the induction of positive and negative mood states increases and decreases respectively, the levels of self-efficacy. This was only observed in participants in a condition of intense or raised mood and in atypical or slightly accurate items of character. We concluded that the induction of positive and negative mood states increases and decreases respectively the levels of academic self-efficacy in college students and that the difficulty in the emotional regulation modulates the effect of inductions of mood states. Palabras clave:Emoción Autoeficacia Regulación emocional r e s u m e n Numerosos estudios han examinado la relación entre emociones positivas y negativas y autoeficacia, aunque consideramos que algunos aspectos teóricos y metodológicos no son contemplados. En este estudio se icluyen como covariables las dificultades en la regulación emocional de los participantes. Así, analizamos algunos factores que pueden producir la ausencia de congruencia afectiva. Se llevó a cabo un diseño experimental que considera como una variable independiente el tipo de emoción inducida (positiva vs negativa). La manipulación de esta variable se efectuó a través de la exposición combinada de película/música. Los resultados sugieren que la inducción de estados de ánimo positivos y negativos aumentan y disminuyen, respectivamente, los niveles de autoeficacia. Esto solo fue observado en participantes que demostraron una condición de ánimo intenso o aumentado y en aquellos ítems atípicos o poco seguros. Concluimos que la inducción de estados de ánimo positivos y negativos aumenta y disminuye, respectivamente, los niveles de autoeficacia académica en estudiantes universitarios. La dificultad en la regulación emocional modula el efecto de la inducción del estado de ánimo.There is evidence about the consequences of affects on cognition, and diverse theories, with a degree of complementarity, have developed in order to explain the relation between affects and cognition (Forgas, 2001). One of these pieces of evidence is the Informational Affect Theory (e.g., Affect Infusion Model; http://dx.

Mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy may cause a neurotoxic syndrome defined as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in their offspring. This disorder is characterized by reduction in brain size, cognitive deficits and emotional/social disturbances. These alterations are thought to be caused by an alcohol-induced increase in apoptosis during neurodevelopment. Little is known about neuroapoptosis in the central extended amygdala and the pyriform cortex, which are key structures in emotional/social behaviors. The goal of this study was to determine the vulnerability of neuroapoptotic alcohol effects in those areas. Rats were administered alcohol (2.5g/kg s.c. at 0 and 2h) or saline on postnatal day (PND) 7, 15 and 20. The Amino-cupric-silver technique was used to evaluate neurodegeneration and immunohistochemistry to detect activated caspases 3-8 and 9 at 2h, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24h after drug administration. We measured blood alcohol levels each hour, from 2 to 8h post second administration of alcohol in each of the ages studied. Results showed alcohol induced apoptotic neurodegeneration in the central extended amygdala on PND 7 and 15, and pyriform cortex on PND 7, 15 and 20. These structures showed activation of caspase 3 and 9 but not of caspase 8 suggesting that alcohol-induced apoptosis could occur by the intrinsic pathway. The pharmacokinetic differences between ages did not associate with the neurodegeneration age dependence. In conclusion, these limbic areas are damaged by alcohol, and each one has their own window of vulnerability during the postnatal period. The possible implications in emotional/social features in FASD are discussed.

The olfactory accessory system is specialized in the detection of pheromones, being an afferent to medial extended amygdala. In spite of the fact that numerous phenotypes are found in these structures, in the current literature, there are no detailed descriptions about the phenotype of neurons in the vomeronasal system-medial extended amygdala after their activation by pheromonal stimuli. Using immunohistochemistry for fos and dual immunohistochemistry for fos and phenotypes, here we show that females have a greater number of activated neurons by the pheromonal stimulus. Likewise, a great colocalization of fos with GABA, calretinin, and calbindin was observed in the vomeronasal system-medial extended amygdala. These data suggest that in amygdaloid areas, neuronal excitability is controlled by GABAergic neurons that contain different calcium-binding proteins, indicating the important role of inhibitory control on the incoming sensory pheromonal and olfactory inputs controlled and processed by the vomeronasal system.

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Pictures of facial expressions of emotion are used in a wide range of experiments. The last decade has seen an increase in the number of studies presenting local sets of emotion stimuli. However, only a few existing sets contain pictures of Latin Americans, despite the growing attention emotion research is receiving in this region. Here we present the development and validation of the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Expresiones de Emociones Faciales (UNCEEF), a Facial Action Coding System (FACS)-verified set of pictures of Argentineans expressing the six basic emotions, plus neutral expressions. FACS scores, recognition rates, Hu scores, and discrimination indices are reported. Evidence of convergent validity was obtained using the Pictures of Facial Affect in an Argentine sample. However, recognition accuracy was greater for UNCEEF. The importance of local sets of emotion pictures is discussed.

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