No abstract

COVID-19 pandemic represents, not only a public physical health emergency, but a mental health serious problem as well. However, little is known about the psychological impact of the quarantine during this pandemic. The aim of this study is to assess the emotional impact of the lockdown measures imposed by the Argentinian government to fight the virus. For this, a survey was distributed on social network. We surveyed the Argentinian general population twice: 2 days after the mandatory quarantine started (time 1), and 2 weeks later (time 2). Anxiety levels were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II; and affect was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale. A total of 6057 people answered both surveys. In addition, different socio-demographic factors were considered, such as risk factors for COVID-19, age, gender, educational level, variation in family income due to quarantine, number of children, whether they have older adults in charge or not and the number of hours viewing information about COVID-19. Statistically significant variations were observed between the two time points. The effect size, however, was very small. Depression tends to increase slightly, while levels of anxiety and affect (positive and negative) tend to decrease. Also, some slight differences related to the socio-demographic factors were found. Findings suggests that sustaining the lockdown measures could have a larger effect on mental health in the long term. It is necessary to continue monitoring emotional distress and other related mental health problems on the general population. It is also necessary to create programs aimed at promoting mental health, and to distribute information about it.

As the COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented uncertain situation, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of intolerance of uncertainty over COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depressive symptoms during the quarantine. The study was conducted with 3805 Argentinean participants, who fulfilled the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and a modified version of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale. Regression analyses indicated a significant effect of intolerance of uncertainty on anxiety and on depressive symptoms. A minor effect of age and gender was also found. Young women with greater intolerance of uncertainty showed the highest levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Even though uncertainty distress is an understandable reaction to the current situation, these psychological effects should be monitored.

Several studies have reported the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic context on mental health. Given that pregnant women constitute a vulnerable group, they may be at greater risk for developing psychopathological symptoms due to the confinement. The current study aimed to longitudinally analyze the presence and evolution of indicators of depression and anxiety in pregnant and non-pregnant women, and to identify the differential effects of social isolation or distancing measures on these groups. Participants were 105 pregnant and 105 non-pregnant Argentine adult women. They completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and closed-ended questions on sociodemographic factors, at four different times. Results showed a progressive increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms in the first 50 days of confinement in both groups, and a slight decrease after approximately 150 days. Pregnant women presented a more pronounced initial increase in symptoms, and a weaker decrease at the last wave, compared to the non-pregnant. Results suggest that the pandemic context produces a moderate negative early response and that the initial flexibilizations of sanitary measures (50 days) did not slow down the progression of symptoms (even less in pregnant women). In conclusion, being pregnant could be an extra risk factor for the development of psychopathological symptoms during this pandemic. The particular vulnerability of pregnant women and the associated potential negative effects both on them and on their offspring underline the importance of perinatal health policies aimed at prevention and treatment of possible future consequences.

Resumen: La mayoría de los niños con dificultades en la comprensión lectora poseen rendimientos inferiores en un conjunto de procesos cognitivos. El objetivo del presente estudio es establecer un perfil cognitivo asociado al bajo rendimiento en comprensión lectora en relación a la habilidad de monitoreo, a la producción de inferencias, al vocabulario, a la amplitud de memoria de trabajo y a la capacidad inhibitoria, en niños hispanoparlantes. Para ello se administraron tareas correspondientes a dichos procesos en niños con altos y bajos rendimientos en comprensión lectora. Los resultados mostraron que si bien los niños con mala comprensión presentan bajos rendimientos en estas habilidades, no puede establecerse un perfil consistente ya que hay niños con problemas en comprensión que presentan normal o superior rendimiento en algunas de estas habilidades cognitivas. Palabras claves: Monitoreo; inferencias; vocabulario; memoria de trabajo; inhibición; comprensión lectora; niños.Title: Cognitive profile of children with low performance in reading comprehension Abstract: Mostly of children with difficulties in reading comprehension possess low performances in a set of cognitive processes. The aim of the present study is to establish a cognitive profile associated with the low performance in reading comprehension in relation to the skill of reading monitoring, production of inferences, vocabulary, working memory and, inhibitory capacity in spanish-speaking children. For it several tasks were applied in children by high and low performances in reading comprehension. The results showed that though the children with bad comprehension present low performances in these skills, a consistent profile cannot be established since there are children with problems in comprehension that they present normal or top performance in some of these cognitive skills.

Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo explorar las relaciones empíricas entre diversas formas de autoconcepto (académico, social, emocional y familiar) y el desempeño académico en lengua y matemáticas de adolescentes que asisten al tercer ciclo de la Educación General Básica, prestando especial atención al sexo, el año y el tipo de institución. Así, se han estudiado 850 alumnos de 7o y 9o años de escuelas públicas y privadas de la ciudad de Mar del Plata, Argentina. Fueron utilizados el Cuestionario de Autoconcepto Forma A (AFA) y pruebas para la Evaluación de la Calidad de la Educación de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Los resultados indicaron correlaciones estadísticamente significativas entre diversas formas de autoconcepto y el desempeño académico, tanto en lengua cuanto en matemáticas. Sin embargo, los análisis de estas relaciones en función del sexo, el año y el tipo de escuela mostraron que el autoconcepto se asoció al desempeño académico solamente entre los alumnos de las escuelas públicas. Además de eso, para los varones el autoconcepto se asoció al rendimiento en lengua y matemáticas en 7o y 9o años, mientras que en las mujeres se encontraron relaciones significativas tan solamente con lengua en 7o año.

Algunas habilidades prelectoras pueden preparar al niño para un desempeño lector exitoso. A su vez, la existencia de un contexto alfabetizador familiar favorece la adquisición de estas habilidades prelectoras. El objetivo de este trabajo fue explorar las relaciones entre contexto alfabetizador familiar y adquisición de habilidades prelectoras, así como el estudio de las relaciones entre estas habilidades y el desempeño posterior de la lectura. Para ello se seleccionó una muestra de 52 participantes de 5 años de edad, de clase social media y a los padres o tutores de los niños y niñas. Se aplicó un cuestionario para explorar el contexto alfabetizador familiar a los padres o tutores, una evaluación de habilidades prelectoras mediante la prueba “Prepárate a leer” y una evaluación de procesos lectores a los mismos niños (PROLEC) en el primer curso de educación primaria. Los resultados muestran asociaciones entre el nivel educativo de los padres y la adquisición de habilidades prelectores, así como entre estas y el desempeño lector. La variable con mayor poder explicativo en el desempeño lector fue la conciencia fonológica.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a novel, unprecedented situation that has created considerable uncertainty due in part to the unpredictability of the future situation. Intolerance of Uncertainty is the inability to withstand negative uncertain situations, and predisposes people to overestimate threats and to develop psychopathological symptoms. The aim of this study was to longitudinally analyze the relationship between intolerance of COVID-19-related uncertainty and anxiety and depression symptoms. A non-probabilistic online snowball sampling method was used. For the study, 1230 Argentine adults (216 men; 1005 women; 9 other genders; mean age = 41.62; SD = 13.81) were recruited to complete three open-access surveys at three different time points: (1) between May 6 and June 1, 2020, (2) between August 8 and 13, 2020, and (3) between April 17 and 23, 2021. The results suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms increase over time, and that intolerance of uncertainty is a predictor of this variability even up to eleven months after the initial assessment. Gender- and age- related effects were also observed (women and young people reported more psychopathological symptoms). The findings suggest the importance of intolerance of uncertainty for mental health and the importance of this type of study for understanding the psychological impact of the pandemic.