In well-being research the term happiness is often used as synonymous with life satisfaction. However, little is known about lay people's understanding of happiness. Building on the available literature, this study explored lay definitions of happiness across nations and cultural dimensions, analyzing their components and relationship with participants' demographic features. Participants were 2799 adults (age range = 30–60, 50% women) living in urban areas of Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, and United States. They completed the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation (EHHI), reporting, among other information, their own definition of happiness. Answers comprised definitions referring to a broad range of life domains, covering both the contextual-social sphere and the psychological sphere. Across countries and with little variation by age and gender, inner harmony predominated among psychological definitions, and family and social relationships among contextual definitions. Whereas relationships are widely acknowledged as basic happiness components, inner harmony is substantially neglected. Nevertheless, its cross-national primacy, together with relations, is consistent with the view of an ontological interconnectedness characterizing living systems, shared by several conceptual frameworks across disciplines and cultures. At the methodological level, these findings suggest the potential of a bottom-up, mixed method approach to contextualize psychological dimensions within culture and lay understanding.

This study presents a translation of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) into Mexican Spanish, and examines its psychometric properties as well as its relationship with socio-demographic variables. The MAAS measures the frequency with which people experience mindful states. A sample of N = 622 healthy adult Mexicans completed the MAAS. A smaller sub-sample (n=195) completed the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), a well-known mindfulness measure, to obtain concurrent validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed a one-factor solution, and reliability coefficients were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed adequate goodness of fit indexes. Moreover, relationships between Mexican Spanish MAAS scores and socio-demographic variables were also explored, and differences between-groups were found in mean scores both in alcohol consumers and religious practitioners. No other significant differences betweengroups were found. Results suggest that the Mexican version of the MAAS is a reliable and valid instrument to use with a healthy adult Mexican sample.

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Se ha demostrado en la literatura que el estrés y la felicidad se han relacionado de diversas maneras, y estas a su vez, también se relacionan con la práctica de actividad física (AF). El objetivo de este trabajo fue poner a prueba el papel de la AF en la reducción del estrés y el aumento de la felicidad, así como su rol mediador en la relación entre ambas variables. Concretamente, se pusieron a prueba las siguientes hipótesis: 1) la percepción del estrés (con o sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica difieren en función del nivel de AF; 2) a mayor práctica de AF, mayor percepción de control en la situación estresante y menor percepción de sentirse sobrepasado por la situación; 3) a mayor práctica de AF mayor felicidad auténtica; y 4) la relación entre la percepción del estrés (con o sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica está mediada por la AF. Participaron 938 estudiantes de licenciatura, con un rango de edad de 17 a 51 años (M = 20.25, DT = 3.34), 521 mujeres y 417 hombres. Respecto a la actividad física (AF) que realizan: 15.1% no realiza ninguna actividad; 19.7% realiza actividad irregular; 28% actividad física moderada (2hrs/sem); y 37.1% actividad intensa (20min/día, 5 veces/sem). Los participantes contestaron la PSS (Cohen, Kamarck, y Mermelstein, 1983) y el AHI (Shepherd, Oliver, y Schofield, 2015). Mediante análisis descriptivos, ANOVAs y modelos de regresión mediada se dio respuesta a las hipótesis. Los resultados muestran que la percepción del estrés (con o sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica difieren significativamente en función del nivel de AF. Concretamente, a mayor nivel de práctica de AF mayor percepción de control ante una situación estresante y mayor felicidad auténtica; mientras que a menor práctica de AF, mayor percepción de verse sobrepasado ante una situación estresante. Por último, el nivel de actividad física media la relación entre el estrés percibido (con control de la situación estresante y sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica. Con base a los resultados concluimos que la AF ayuda a percibir un menor estrés ante situaciones demandantes, por lo que promueve un bienestar psicológico. Previous literature has shown that stress and happiness are related in various ways, and both variables have been also related to physical activity (PA) practice. The objective of the present study was to test the role of PA in the decrement of stress and increment of happiness, and additionally to test its mediator role in the relationship between the two aforementioned variables. Concretely, the following hypotheses were tested: 1) the perceived stress (with or without control of the stressful situation) and the authentic happiness differ across different levels of PA; 2) subjects with higher practice of PA will show higher perceived control and lower loss of control in stressful situations; 3) subjects with higher practice of PA will show higher authentic happiness; and 4) the relationship between perceived stress (with or without control of the stressful situation) and authentic happiness is mediated by PA. Participants were 938 undergraduate students from different careers, with an age range from 17 to 51 years (M = 20.25, SD = 3.34), 521 women and 417 men. Regarding physical activity (PA) practice: 15.1% does not to do any activity; 19.7% does an irregular PA; 28% does moderate PA (2hrs / week); and 37.1% does intense PA (20min/day, 5 times/week). Participants answered the PSS (Cohen, Kamarck, y Mermelstein, 1983) and the AHI (Shepherd, Oliver, y Schofield, 2015). We used descriptive analysis, ANOVAs and mediated regression models to test the hypotheses. Results showed that perceived stress (with or without control of the stressful situation) and authentic happiness differ significantly across PA levels. Concretely, higher level of PA practices was related to higher perception of control in a stressful situation and to higher authentic happiness; otherwise, the lower the PA practice, the greater the perception of being overwhelmed by a stressful situation. Finally, the level of physical activity mediated the relationship between perceived stress (with and without control of the stressful situation) and authentic happiness. Based on these results, we concluded that PA helps to perceive less stress in demanding situations, thus promoting psychological well-being. Tem sido demonstrado na literatura que o stress e a felicidade têm sido relacionados de várias formas, e estas, por sua vez, também estão relacionadas com a prática da actividade física (AP). O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar o papel da AF na redução do estresse e no aumento da felicidade, bem como o seu papel mediador na relação entre ambas as variáveis. Especificamente, foram testadas as seguintes hipóteses: 1) a percepção do estresse (com ou sem controle da situação estressante) e a autêntica felicidade diferem de acordo com o nível de AF; 2) quanto maior a prática de AF, maior a percepção de controle na situação estressante e menor a percepção de sentir-se sobrecarregado pela situação; 3) quanto maior a prática de AF, maior a autêntica felicidade; e 4) a relação entre a percepção do estresse (com ou sem controle da situação estressante) e a autêntica felicidade é mediada pela AF. Um total de 938 estudantes de graduação, com idades entre 17 e 51 anos (M = 20,25, SD = 3,34), 521 mulheres e 417 homens participaram. Em relação à atividade física (AF) realizam: 15,1% não realizam nenhuma atividade; 19,7% realizam atividade irregular; 28% realizam atividade física moderada (2hrs/semana); e 37,1% realizam atividade intensa (20min/dia, 5 vezes/semana). Os participantes responderam ao SHP (Cohen, Kamarck, e Mermelstein, 1983) e ao AHI (Shepherd, Oliver, e Schofield, 2015). Análises descritivas, ANOVAs, e modelos de regressão mediados foram usados para responder às hipóteses. Os resultados mostram que a percepção do estresse (com ou sem controle da situação estressante) e a autêntica felicidade diferem significativamente dependendo do nível de AF. Especificamente, quanto maior o nível de prática de AF, maior a percepção de controle em uma situação estressante e maior a felicidade autêntica; enquanto que quanto menor o nível de prática de AF, maior a percepção de estar sobrecarregado em uma situação estressante. Finalmente, o nível de atividade física medeia a relação entre o estresse percebido (com controle da situação estressante e sem controle da situação estressante) e a felicidade autêntica. Com base nos resultados concluímos que a PA ajuda a perceber menos stress em situações exigentes, promovendo assim o bem-estar psicológico.

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is an experimental psychological test that induces changes in autonomic, endocrinological and immunological activity. Two measures used to evaluate the inflammatory activity induced by this test are the interleukin 6 (IL-6), a cytokine sensitive to changes in sympathetic nervous activity, and the mean arterial pressure (MAP), a measure sensitive to changes in autonomic activity. This study had two goals: first, the study examined whether TSST increases IL-6 and MAP levels; second, pre- and post-TSST IL-6 levels were compared for participants whose IL-6 levels increased or decreased due to the TSST. Saliva samples of IL-6 and MAP were taken from 42 participants clinically healthy, without psychiatric history, and data were analysed via quantile comparisons. The results showed that TSST did not lead to an increase in sympathetic activity as indexed by IL-6. Instead, TSST led to increases in MAP. Also, there were significant differences between the IL-6 distributions of people whose IL-6 levels changed from low to high (63%) and from high to low (37%) before and after the TSST. These findings suggest that the TSST will not have the same effect on all participants; that is, individual differences can be assessed using a biomarker to identify people with specialized psychological care needs.

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El propósito de la presente investigación fue explorar la relación entre las calificaciones académicas de los estudiantes con su tendencia apresentar conductas emocionales de ansiedad en el ámbito escolar mediante un estudio empírico descriptivo transversal. Adicionalmente seexploró la relación de esas dos variables con la probabilidad de fracaso escolar. Participaron 385 estudiantes de secundaria, que aspirabana ingresar al bachillerato en una escuela pública. El rendimiento académico se evaluó a partir del promedio de secundaria, así como deuna prueba de admisión. La probabilidad de deserción escolar se evaluó mediante una prueba de autorreporte (Hernández-Pozo, 2005).Adicionalmente se empleó una tarea computarizada basada en la versión emocional del paradigma de Stroop para medir la tendencia a laansiedad escolar (Hernández-Pozo, Macías-Martínez, & Torres-Chávez, 2004). Se encontró que los estudiantes con las calificaciones más altasen la prueba de admisión, con mejores promedios en secundaria o con menor riesgo de deserción, difirieron de sus contrapartes en cuantoa los índices de interferencia de la prueba Stroop. Se concluye que la prueba emocional Stroop es un instrumento que refleja de maneraordenada el riesgo a la deserción escolar y el perfil académico de los aspirantes al bachillerato.

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