O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as propriedades psicométricas da Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg (EAR) para adolescentes. Participaram 4.757 adolescentes, com idades entre 14 e 18 anos (M=15,77; DP=1,22), de nove cidades brasileiras. Os participantes responderam a uma versão da EAR adaptada para o Brasil. A análise fatorial exploratória apontou uma estrutura bidimensional, com 51.4% da variância explicada, que foi sustentada pela análise fatorial confirmatória. As análises de consistência interna realizadas por meio do coeficiente alfa de Cronbach, confiabilidade composta e variância extraída indicaram bons valores de fidedignidade. Diferenças nos escores de autoestima em função do sexo e da idade não foram encontradas. Conclui-se que a EAR apresenta qualidades psicométricas satisfatórias, mostrando-se um instrumento confiável para medir autoestima em adolescentes brasileiros.

The aim of this research was to know the factors associated with teen dating violence and victimization because violence in teenagers’ relationships is increasing in recent years, constituting a serious social problem. For this purpose, we analyzed teen dating violence and explored the variables (sexist attitudes, personal adjustment, clinical maladjustment, and resilience) related to teen dating violence and victimization using multinomial logistic models. The sample was composed of 268 school teenagers aged 12 to 17 from the Basque Country (Spain). Results showed that sex, age, sexism, and self-esteem predicted teen dating violence and that sex and social problems predicted victimization. Associations between the wide range of variables and types of perpetration and victimization (verbal-emotional, relational, and physical) were also explored. These results could be taken into consideration for future prevention programs.

The association between quality of family relationships and psychological adjustment has been understudied in the literature. This study tested the predictive relationship between family environment (measured by the dimensions of cohesion, hierarchy, support and conflict) and indicators of psychological adjustment (self-esteem, general self-efficacy and low levels of self-depreciation) in adolescents using structural equation modeling. Participants were 656 students aged between 12 and 18 years old from public schools. They answered the Family Climate Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and General Perceived Self-efficacy Scale. The results indicated that the family environment (cohesion, support and low conflict) was a significant predictor of psychological adaptation. This study concluded that functional family relationships are important for the expression of positive psychological characteristics during adolescence. Keywords: Family relations, self-esteem, self-efficacy, adolescent. ResumoA associação entre qualidade das relações familiares e adaptação psicológica tem sido subinvestigada na literatura. Esta pesquisa testou a relação preditiva entre ambiente familiar (através das dimensões coesão, hierarquia, apoio e conflito) e indicadores de adaptação psicológica (autoestima, autoeficácia geral e baixos níveis de autodepreciação) em adolescentes utilizando modelagem de equações estruturais. Participaram 656 estudantes de escolas públicas entre 12 e 18 anos, que responderam ao Inventário do Clima Familiar, à Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg e à Escala de Autoeficácia Geral Percebida. Os resultados indicaram que o ambiente familiar (coesão, apoio e baixos índices de conflito) foi um preditor significativo de adaptação psicológica. Conclui-se que relações familiares funcionais são importantes para a expressão de características psicológicas positivas na adolescência.

The aim of the present study was to review the tasks that have been used to assess the functioning of the episodic buffer in Baddeley's multicomponent model of working memory. A systematic review of studies published from January 2000 to February 2013 was conducted. The search term "episodic buffer" was used in the Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, and BVS-Psi databases. The selected articles consisted of empirical studies that used tasks to assess the episodic buffer. Theoretical and review papers and studies with animals were excluded. The final sample comprised 36 papers. The tasks were categorized as experimental tasks or standardized tests. The experimental tasks were grouped by modality (unimodal or crossmodal) and described according to four criteria: task to be performed, type of stimulus used, secondary task employed, if any, and retention interval. The standardized tests included classical measures of working memory. Some tasks were found not to meet experimental criteria that were needed to evaluate the episodic buffer. Moreover, some of the standardized tests did not provide theoretical arguments or empirical evidence that the episodic buffer is recruited to perform them. The results are discussed in the context of the multicomponent model of working memory.

Various discussions have centered on whether and how socioeconomic status and stress are associated with neurocognitive function in different stages of development. Reviews have been conducted focusing on only part of these relationships (SES and stress or SES and neurocognition). The aim of the present study was to review investigations that examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), stress (assessed by cortisol levels and allostatic load), and neurocognitive performance (executive function, memory, language, and intelligence), including the three variables in the same study. A systematic review was conducted that evaluated articles published between 1990 and 2013 in the Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, and BVS-Psi databases. Nine studies were analyzed based on inclusion criteria. Overall, SES, stress, and neurocognitive performance were independently related in the studies. Furthermore, early evidence suggest that stress is a mechanism that mediates the relationship between SES and neurocognitive performance, specifically in visuospatial working memory and executive function tasks in childhood. This evidence should be confirmed in future studies.