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From the perspective of positive psychology, the study and measurement of subjective well-being has popularized a growing interest towards variables such as affective perception. In an attempt to explain and evaluate the affective structure in positive terms (PA) and negative terms (NA), PANASN affect scale (Sandín, 2003) constitutes the version adapted for children and teenagers of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson et al., 1988). Opposite to the confirmatory study made in teenagers by Sandín (2003), this paper proceeds to analyse the internal structure and reliability of the above mentioned questionnaire after being administered to 636 students aged between 6 and 14 years. An instrumental type of research methodology was carried out. The instrument used was the Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children and Adolescents (PANASN). While confirmatory and exploratory analysis show an appropriate adjustment, these properties tend to fade when three or four factors are considered. In response to this, we reflect on the need to consider certain aspects of improvement in content and form, which are essential if we want to use said instrument with primary education students.

The creation and implementation of innovation proposals in education can provide a new key towards sustainable development. We are aware that schools perform very different innovations but often, with very low levels of impact and dissemination in their community. There are not many studies that describe, put a value on, categorize or analyse the innovations. This study sought to gain insight into the ICT innovations produced in Spanish primary and pre-primary schools. A quantitative approach based on a questionnaire was used to collect the data, named MANEDUIN, completed by 86 teachers selected by stratified random sampling (public - private, rural - urban). The reliability and the construct-related validity was evaluated from the questionnaire and the validity of content decided by means of experts' judgment. Our findings point to a good consistency in the questionnaire (Cronbach's Alpha: 0.848). The descriptive statistics and the analysis were made by factorial categories. The results of the factorial analysis confirm the dimensions proposed in the design of the questionnaire in the categories of the factors included in the innovation (social cohesion, interaction with the community, technologies, and success), the innovative schools and their characteristics, the topic and the type of innovation (on resources, direction, materials and time), as well as the obstacles to the innovation. This paper concludes that the questionnaire MANEDUIN is a valid and reliable tool to measure the management of schools' innovations.

Background: Gas‐related symptoms (GRS) are common in the general population (GPop) and among patients with disorders of gut‐brain interactions but there is no patient‐reported outcome evaluating these symptoms and their impact on daily life. We have previously developed a 43‐item intestinal gas questionnaire (IGQ). The aim of the present study is to perform a psychometric validation of this instrument. Methods: Participants (119 from the GPop and 186 irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients) were recruited from 3 countries (UK, Spain, France). IBS patients fulfilled ROME IV criteria with an IBS severity score between 150 and 300. Participants completed the IGQ, the functional Digestive Disorders Quality of Life (FDDQL), and the EQ‐5D. A subgroup (n = 90) repeated the IGQ completion after 7 days on paper or electronically. Results: From the original IGQ questionnaire, 26 items were deleted because of poor performance. Confirmatory factorial analysis on the remaining 17 items (7 symptom and 10 impact items) yielded a 6‐factor structure accounting for 67% of the variance for bloating (6 items), flatulence (3), belching (2), bad breath (2), stomach rumbling (2), and difficult gas evacuation (2). Global score (0‐100) was worse among IBS vs GPop (40 ± 15 vs 33 ± 17; p = 0.0016). At the second visit, the intraclass correlation coefficient of IGQ scores was between 0.71 and 0.86 (n = 67) for test‐retest reliability and 0.61‐0.87 (n = 64) for equivalence between electronic and paper versions of IGQ. Conclusion: The IGQ available in paper and electronic versions in 3 languages is a robust instrument for capturing and measuring GRS and their impact on daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the process of constructing a test for assessing student performance in geometry corresponding to the first year of Secondary Education. The main goal was to detect student errors in the understanding of geometry in order to develop a proposal according to the Van Hiele teaching model, explained in this paper. Our research methodology took into account reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, as well as the construct validity, with the extraction of 13 factors that accounted for a high percentage of variance. This result leads us to conclude that the instrument constructed has the appropriate technical and pedagogical features to be considered an original and significant contribution to the field of geometry teaching. The final version of the test constructed after the extraction of factors is shown in the Appendix.

This paper examines a large dataset of questionnaire responses (n = 5,321) of international students who have studied abroad (mainly via the Erasmus+ programme). Their acculturation experiences with campus discrimination (an acculturative stressor), academic support (a mediator of acculturation) and academic satisfaction (an outcome of acculturation) are analyzed and compared among five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal). The measures of acculturation experiences are verified by principal component analysis, which yields three components: campus discrimination, academic support, and academic satisfaction. The components are used as aggregate indexes for ranking the five major destination countries in Europe based on students' experiences. A country-by-country comparison suggests that experiences from study abroad are most positive in Germany

The professionalism of teachers through collaboration has become increasingly important in the last years. This paper describes the process of designing and validating a questionnaire for the analysis of future Primary and Pre-school teachers' collaboration patterns. The psychometric properties of the scale were obtained from the analysis of the validity of content (expert judgement and pilot test to 293 students of Primary Education and Pre-school Education at a Spanish university and from construct (factor analysis) and reliability (Cronbach Alpha), obtaining appropriate results (KMO = 0.89; CFI = 0.91; GFI = 0.95; AGFI = 0.96; SMSR = 0.05). Four factors were identified in the questionnaire on collaboration and shared professional learning: Assertiveness and personal willingness to work together, Group Cohesion, Leadership Capacity and Group Awareness. The results obtained are consistent with empirical studies carried out on the teachers' willingness towards collaboration, ongoing training and teacher professional development.

Multiple-response questions are a common feature of survey-based research, as its advantages of information collection are well known. Statistical analysis of the responses, however, tends to be either one or two-dimensional, with the restrictions that this entails. This paper presents a multidimensional analysis protocol that provides the researcher with tools to identify more and better profiles about 'who says what'. The strategy begins by coding the response options as a set of metric binary variables. The ideal methodological duo for the exploration of the resulting data is Principal Component Analysis coupled with an Ascending Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, incorporating, in addition, supplementary variables. When applied to the analysis of three different multiple-response questions included in a Spanish National Survey, this proposal provides evidence not only of the interpretation potential of the coding/analysis protocol but also of the limitations of some multiple-response question formats.

This paper determines which instructional roles and outputs are important in the 21st century from the perspective of students in asynchronous learning environments. This research work uses a literature review, in-depth interviews with experts, and a pilot study with students to define the instructors' outputs. Following this, roles are determined by using a quantitative methodology (in a sample of 925 students). To our knowledge, the remaining research works on this topic identify the online instructors' roles by a qualitative analysis. The findings suggest that a new role, the life skill promoter, has emerged. Furthermore, analysis of the remaining roles (pedagogical, designer, social, technical and managerial) showed that: (i) online instructors are, first and foremost, pedagogues; (ii) the design of the particular online program influences the pedagogical and designer roles and; (iii) the managerial role has declined in importance over the years due to the development of more intuitive and transparent online scenarios from the beginning of the course onward.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurial skills (such as creativity, proactivity and risk tolerance) and socio-cultural factors (such as role model and businessman image) affect secondary education students' propensity towards entrepreneurial options in their future careers. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of secondary education students in the Region of Murcia (Spain) has been used. Data were collected through questionnaires and analysed using logit estimation. Confirmatory factorial analysis was used to validate the measures. Findings: The results of this research study show that both the skills and socio-cultural factors positively affect entrepreneurial intention of secondary education students. Creativity, proactivity and risk taking promote entrepreneurial career. In addition, those students whose role model is an entrepreneur and have a better understanding of him or her, show a greater propensity towards entrepreneurial career. Originality/value: The contribution to the literature on entrepreneurship is twofold. First, although there are studies focused on identifying the entrepreneurial profile of university students, there is a paucity of empirical evidence relating to entrepreneurial skills at earlier stages of learning. This paper sets out to bridge this research gap. Second, evidence of the importance of socio-cultural factors, role models and entrepreneurial image upon the career orientation of secondary education students is identified and empirically verified. These findings involve are useful in practice, in aiding the design of better and more relevant education programmes at early learning stages.

Much comparative research into education-related beliefs has exploited questionnaires developed in one culture for use in another. This has been particularly the case in mathematics education, the focus of this paper. In so doing, researchers have tended to assume that translation alone is sufficient to warrant a reliable and valid instrument for cross-cultural research, prompting concerns that a number of necessary equivalences are unlikely to have been addressed. In this paper, we consider the nature of these equivalences before examining the literature of a different field, healthcare research, to synthesise an approach to instrument adaptation that is pragmatic but rigorous. Finally, we demonstrate how this pragmatic approach, incorporating extensive cognitive interviews, enabled us to adapt and refine a mathematics-related beliefs questionnaire, developed in Flanders, for use with students aged 14-15 in England and Spain. Analyses indicate that the instrument so developed is multidimensional, reliable and cross-culturally valid. Some implications are discussed.

In this paper, the results of researcher' ongoing activities regarding the use of smartphones and a specific subject-app used at the Spanish National University of Distance Education (UNED) have been reported. The purpose of this trial is to assess the app's didactic use and potential to enhance student learning in university subjects in ubiquitous environments and developing generic competencies according to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). To this end, a scale has been developed and validated to identify these factors based on the participation of 388 students from the class "Curriculum design and innovation" within the "University Degree in Pedagogy" program. This study has been developed through two perspectives; the first being through a descriptive methodology in which the current researcher has detailed the creation process of an app. The second perspective being through a quantitative methodology in which students' perceptions regarding the capabilities of smartphones and apps for improving learning processes in university subjects were assessed. The conclusions indicate that the use of apps developed specifically for following university subjects is highly valued by students as a new format which both supports and enhances learning practices while also providing not only further opportunities to establish connections and relations with their subjects, but also fostering collaborative work among students and professors. Therefore, it is recommended that universities continue developing new didactic strategies to connect both formal-informal and face-to-face ubiquitous learning settings.

The overarching goal of working through the CMGS Method (Case Method with Guest Speakers) in Sales Management courses is to provide Business and marketing learners with practical knowledge about how a sales manager can deal with a wide variety of possible professional scenarios. Even when the case method itself is an excellent way to equip students for their prospective employment, the potential of this method can be enhanced with innovative pedagogical tools such as information and communication technologies. Firstly, eight sales managers were invited to the Sales Management Course as guest speakers. Students were required to prepare for these sessions using information and communication technologies, gathering information about the speaker's sector and identifying areas of special interest. Each speaker shared their hands-on experience and offered an overview of their field in a workshop, while answering the students' questions. These sessions increased the interaction of students with sales professionals, who presented their insights into a career in sales management. The learning experiences built through these workshops were narrated by the students in the course blog. Secondly, students were asked to present a scientific paper with the aim of bridging the gap between higher education and cutting-edge research. This article portrays the reasoning behind the course as well as the different steps followed during the process. The course finished with encouraging results, suggesting the desirability of incorporating PL (participative learning) experiences into any marketing course.

Microblogging social networks (µBSNs) provide the opportunity to communicate worldwide while using a small number of characters; this is an apparent limitation that forces users to share only essential information when linking to the world with which they interact. These platforms can serve to motivate students by narrowing the physical and psychological distances separating teachers and students, thus increasing their confidence and engagement in the learning process. The main thrust of this paper is the notion that µBSNs open a window to informal knowledge, self-directed learning and the creation of knowledge-based networks for use in a classroom setting. To examine this issue in greater depth, an experiment was carried out using a µBSN before, during and after face-to-face class sessions. In this study we used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), incorporating some of the constructs commonly found in the scientific literature. These constructs refer to the effect of subjective norms and social images on the use of web-based social networks. The analysis gave rise to a robust and parsimonious model of social network usage behavior that confirmed the proposed research hypotheses. The findings demonstrated that the extended TAM model is suitable for explaining the acceptance of web-based teaching tools as well as the validity of microblogging networks in combination with traditional classes.

It is 2010, the established deadline of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The Bologna Process is an unstoppable reality. But we can not admit that this change, simply by being a significant change, must be for good. We can not also disregard the potential positive pedagogical reform the Bologna Process offers to us. Then, what is the reality of the Bologna Process in Spain? What is the perception of students and teachers? Are there differences in their responses regarding the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)? What are the pedagogical implications of these answers? This paper provides empirical evidences to these questions through the use of two questionnaires prepared ad hoc according to the pedagogical principles derived from the so-called Bologna Declaration.

In the field of social sciences, certain tasks, such as the identification of typologies and the characterization of groups of individuals according to a set of questions, tend to pose a challenge for researchers. Further complications arise if the chosen rating scale is from 0 to 10, since the responses can be treated either as metric or categorical variables. This paper shows that neither treatment is able on its own to capture all the inherent properties of this type of data, and goes on to propose a bicriteria clustering approach, which captures both perspectives and enables the simultaneous analysis of mixed data using multiple tables.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to validate the self-perceived employability (SPE) scale (Rothwell et al., 2008) and explore its relationship with sociodemographic variables in Spain. The SPE is an employability scale designed to examine undergraduates' expectations and self-perceptions of employability. The SPE includes internal and external dimensions of employability and has been satisfactorily tested in a variety of contexts. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprised 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students from a broad range of subject areas. Confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. Finally, the Spanish-self-perceived employability (S-SPE) was studied in relation to a set of demographic variables. Findings: The results revealed similar findings to those reported by Rothwell et al. (2008), namely, four factors labeled: the external labor market's demand for people in my subject field, my confidence in my skills and abilities, the status and credibility of my field of study and my engagement with my studies and academic performance. The external and internal employability dimensions were obtained by forcing a two-factor solution. Men scored higher than women in the S-SPE; science students scored higher than arts and humanities undergraduates and students with higher perceived income levels scored higher than those with lower perceived income levels. Originality/value: The S-SPE can be used with Spanish speaking university students (Spanish being the second most widely spoken language in the world) and allows cross-cultural comparisons of undergraduates' SPE. The S-SPE may help guide the development of social policies and programs designed to enhance employability. It can be used with undergraduates as a diagnostic instrument in career counseling, and as a self-assessment instrument which will enable undergraduates to acquire a greater degree of self-knowledge in relation to their employability.

This paper describes an audit workplace simulation and investigates its effects on students' perceptions of competences, required as important in the auditing industry. Within the competence-based teaching framework, this training activity involves cooperative learning as it combines first-undergraduate and senior students within one team. First, we explore how some key competences are initially appreciated by first-year students. Second, our research empirically assesses how the simulation modifies students' awareness of those competences. Results of the pretest reveal that senior students' awareness on key competences is higher than of first-undergraduate students. In particular, communication skills are initially not considered as relevant by the first-year students. Results of the posttest reveal that our intervention significantly improves first-undergraduates' awareness of technical accounting knowledge and communication skills.

Introduction: Studies stress the importance of emotions in conflict, describing how they influence any mediation process. Resolving conflicts requires emotional abilities and it usually implies emotional learning. One of the main objectives of this paper is to better understand the role of emotions in mediation processes: how they impact this process and what emotional aspects are developed through them. A review of the theoretical framework of mediation related to this specific issue and the results of an empirical study based on the emotional experience of mediation processes are presented. Method: An ad hoc questionnaire was created in order to assess perceived emotional learning gains after a mediation process. For this purpose, a total of 46 teachers mediators, 33 peer mediators and 23 mediated students participated in the study (n = 102). Results: The questionnaire allowed to study the level of perceived learning gain in two differentiated dimensions: emotional awareness and emotional regulation. All groups (teacher mediators, peer mediators and mediated students) perceived a high level of emotional learning, indicating the effectiveness of the mediation process. No differences in perceived emotional learning gains were found among groups (p = 0.56). However, although learning improvements were perceived in both dimensions, the level of perceived learning gain in emotional regulation was significantly higher than that perceived in of emotional awareness (p = 0.002). On the other hand, a shift from negative to positive emotions during the process of mediation was found in pupils mediated. Discussion and Conclusion: Mediation is a strategy that promotes emotional learning to all of those who take part in it. This study highlights the importance of mediation processes in developing emotional learning. Two main aspects of emotional learning, which were promoted by mediation, were identified in this study: emotional awareness and emotional regulation. It is considered that learning how to manage emotions should be present in any mediator's training course, since a stable resolution of conflicts depends on an adequate management of emotions.

The aim of this research was to develop a new questionnaire for exploring the reading beliefs of undergraduate students, because the only currently available instrument has conceptual and methodological limitations. The paper describes the process of developing the instrument and presents a range of psychometric data obtained from a sample of 558 Spanish undergraduates who were in the first or final year of a degree programme in psychology, language and literature or engineering. The results provide evidence of the psychometric quality of items and reveal a dual structure of two and six factors, both obtained through exploratory and/or confirmatory factor analyses. Adequate reliability based on internal consistency of the factors was also demonstrated. As a measure of criterion validity, differences in reading beliefs by gender, academic year and knowledge area were also explored. The findings support the psychometric adequacy of this new instrument developed through an exploratory piece of research. Overall, the process of constructing the instrument and the results from this study provide a framework for research and intervention, in addition to presenting a tool that both researchers and teaching staff could use in the context of reading and reading comprehension.

This study explores the effectiveness of the sequential use of lectures and video podcasting in higher education. Drawing together several theories, this paper examines the influence of student's perceived prior knowledge gained from lectures and technology acceptance model-related variables on student's self-reported assimilation of new material presented through podcasting. Data were obtained from 179 undergraduates and were analyzed using a structural equation modelling approach. The results showed the influence of prior knowledge gained from lectures and effective use of video podcasts on perceived assimilation of additional knowledge. It was also found that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness determine the attitude towards using video podcasts, which in turn positively affects the effective use of this tool. The findings suggest that lectures are very valuable to develop learning processes based on the podcasting technology and also that encouraging the acceptance and effective use of video podcasting is important in the learning experience.

Purpose: In what may be the first study of its kind in business and entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to compare faculty and student perceptions and beliefs about entrepreneurship motives and barriers and student aspirations in order to explore implications for entrepreneurship education (EE). Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors survey 3,037 students and faculty in the USA, China, India, Turkey, Belgium, and Spain, focusing on perceptions of entrepreneurship motives and barriers. Factor analysis organizes data for comparisons and regressions. Findings: The authors find significant faculty-student differences in views of entrepreneurship motives and barriers, university environments, and student aspirations. An especially important finding is that, across six countries with widely varying cultures, economies, and entrepreneurial environments, students consistently see themselves as more entrepreneurial than the faculty perceive. Research Limitations/Implications: Limitations include sample size and self-reporting. The authors also have focused on the significance of differences in perceptions, not on whether faculty or student perceptions are correct. A major implication of the study is that EE curricula need to be assessed in terms of their impact on the self-confidence, risk aversion, and entrepreneurial disposition of students. Originality/Value: The authors shine light on an overlooked topic--faculty-student perceptual alignment--to stimulate research and strengthen EE, especially regarding students' self-confidence and views of failure and risk.

Post-PhD researchers working at universities are contributors to a country's productivity and competitiveness mostly through writing, which becomes a means to establish their scholarly identity as they contribute to knowledge. However, little is known about researchers' writing perceptions, and their interrelations with engagement in research, productivity and the influence of workplace climate, which, if negative, can result in burnout and abandonment intentions. In this paper, we explore these issues for the first time. Using a cross-sectional design, 282 postdoctoral researchers answered a cross-cultural questionnaire focusing on "engagement," scientific "writing," researcher "community" and "burnout," and socio-demographic variables. Data analysis included "exploratory factor analysis," "T-test," "ANOVA" or "Mann-Whitney U" (SPSS, v.22). Results showed that "adaptive perceptions of writing" were related to higher levels of "engagement," lower levels of burnout and productivity; "maladaptive perceptions of writing" were related to "burnout" experiences. The consideration of research writing as a developmental process that can take many years beyond the PhD is discussed. Critical to understanding such development is the extent to which a shift in perception of writing to knowledge creation may be a precursor to more adaptive functional behaviours. Educational insights related to constraints in writing, publication processes and related research conditions are also considered.

Introduction: In secondary education, students' low achievement and engagement in mathematics are closely related to their attitudes towards the subject. Despite the international body of research, an exhaustive literature review of the existing instruments for measuring it draws attention to the inconsistency in the definition and corresponding factor structure for the construct attitudes towards mathematics. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop and validate an instrument for measuring secondary students' attitudes towards mathematics based on a preliminary detailed theoretical framework. Method: The sample comprised 792 students, with an average age of 13.96 (SD = 1.09) years, from Biscay (Basque Country Autonomous Region, Spain). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the theoretical proposed non-hierarchical structure, consisting of three first-order factors (student's math self-concept, perceived usefulness of mathematics and interest for mathematics). Results: The results largely confirmed that this model showed a good fit to the data. Internal consistency, discriminant validity and criterion-related validity tests yielded good Cronbach's alpha coefficients, strong correlations between the proposed dimensions and moderately positive correlation scores between attitudes towards mathematics and students' mathematical performance measured with a math achievement test developed "ad-hoc." Discussion: The resulting 19-item scale may represent a psychometrically sound instrument both for research purposes and for educational interventions. To conclude, the contribution of the present study to the research on attitudes towards mathematics is discussed, and some issues are suggested for future research to address.

This paper examines students' self-assessment of their information literacy, presenting a study involving 1,575 social science students at five Spanish universities. Data were collected and analyzed through a validated instrument that measures the variables of (1) the students' belief in the importance of information literacy skills; (2) self-efficacy, the students' faith in their ability to master those skills; and (3) the students' main source of learning information competencies. The groups of competencies studied were information search, information evaluation, information processing, and information communication. The results reveal an overall low perceived self-efficacy and provide a clear overview of the current state of information literacy among social science students in Spain.

The phenomenon of women engaging in entrepreneurship is expanding and becoming acknowledged as a valuable resource that must be institutionally and socially supported. Through entrepreneurship education, female students, as potential entrepreneurs, can develop and strengthen those skills and behaviours identified as characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. This paper explores four attributes associated with entrepreneurship (creativity, problem management, risk management, and self-confidence) of 1838 undergraduate students from 11 universities in Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Uruguay) and one in Spain, used as a control group. By comparing the results for the male and female student population, self-confidence appears as an attribute that is present at the same level in both groups; statistically significant differences were reported for the other three attributes (creativity, problem management, and risk management). Entrepreneurship programmes can utilise such information to strengthen in female students those attributes for successful engagement in entrepreneurial activity.

Background: The aim of the research was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Caring Behaviors Assessment (CBA) tool in Spain, ensuring its appropriateness in the Spanish cultural context. Methods: Three-phase cross-cultural adaptation and validation study. Phase 1 involved the transculturation process, which included translation of the CBA tool from English to Spanish, back-translation, and refinement of the translated tool based on pilot testing and linguistic and cultural adjustments. Phase 2 involved training research assistants to ensure standardized administration of the instrument. Phase 3 involved administering the transculturally-adapted tool to a non-probabilistic sample of 402 adults who had been hospitalized within the previous 6 months. Statistical analyses were conducted to assess the consistency of the item-scale, demographic differences, validity of the tool, and the importance of various caring behaviors within the Spanish cultural context. R statistical software version 4.3.3 and psych package version 2.4.1 were used for statistical analyses. Results: The overall internal consistency of the CBA tool was high, indicating its reliability for assessing caring behaviors. The subscales within the instrument also demonstrated high internal consistency. Descriptive analysis revealed that Spanish participants prioritized technical and cognitive aspects of care over emotional and existential dimensions. Conclusions: The new version of the tool proved to be valid, reliable and culturally situated, which will facilitate the provision of objective and reliable data on patients beliefs about what is essential in terms of care behaviors in Spain. Key points: • This paper provides a culturally translated, adapted, and validated version of the Caring Behaviors Assessment tool in the Spanish context, which can be used to obtain reliable and culturally adapted data on essential aspects of patient care. • The findings of this study contribute to the wider global clinical community by demonstrating the importance of considering cultural factors when assessing and evaluating patient care from patients' own perspective, and also emphasizes the need for culturally sensitive approaches in healthcare settings. • This validated instrument facilitates the measurement of caring behaviors in the Spanish context, allowing for objective evaluation and improvement. Use of the Caring Behaviors Assessment tool could thus serve as a valuable resource for both future research and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first results of a large-scale research project on the child protection services in Tenerife, Spain. In Study 1, the professional beliefs and practices of 152 child protection workers, as measured by a Professional Beliefs and Practices Questionnaire, were correlated with their scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Higher scores on a variety of deficit-based beliefs and practices were associated with higher burnout scores, while strengths-based beliefs and practices correlated negatively with burnout. In Study 2, the workers were assigned either to a control group or to an experimental group that received 30 hours of training in solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) plus 30 hours of supervision. Workers in the experimental group changed their professional practices and beliefs in a more strengths-based direction from pre-test to six-month follow-up, with large effect sizes for the SFBT training (from d = 1.42 to d = 2.07). The SFBT training also had a small but significant effect on burnout at follow-up (d = 0.48). A regression model was able to account for 83.8% of the variance in burnout scores at six-month follow-up. Neither time working in child protection nor severity of cases predicted burnout at follow-up. Burnout at follow-up was predicted by burnout at pre-test and by changes in the professional beliefs and practices of workers. Workers who changed in the direction of more strengths-based beliefs showed lower burnout scores at follow-up, whereas those who changed to more deficit-based beliefs increased their burnout. Workers who changed their professional practices in the direction of focusing more on the difficulties of service users showed increased burnout. Changing practice in the direction of becoming more collaborative, "leading families from one step behind", and of working in a more trans-disciplinary way with team members and other colleagues predicted lower burnout.

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This paper presents results from two samples of adolescents aged 13-16 from Romania and Spain (N = 930 + 1,945 = 2,875). The original 7-item version of the Personal Well-Being Index (PWI) was used, together with an item on overall life satisfaction (OLS) and a set of six items related to satisfaction with school. A confirmatory factor analysis of the six school satisfaction items shows good fit statistics when relating them to a latent variable. However, said latent variable does not show a good fit when related to the OLS or the PWI. Tests have led to the conclusion that the item that best summarises satisfaction with school is "satisfaction with my life as a student". Adding this item to the PWI-7 has shown a good fit with Structural Equation Modeling and higher standardised loading on the OLS. The analysis developed here, while confirming that the inclusion of a domain on satisfaction with school life contributes to the PWI with unique variance (2.5 % in this research), also offers an explanation for the surprising results obtained for adolescents in other countries (e.g. in Australia, Tomyn and Cummins in "Soc Indicat Res" 101(3):405-418 2010) by showing that satisfaction with friends at school and satisfaction with classmates did not significantly contribute to satisfaction with school. Our results suggest that school satisfaction is highly related to satisfaction with teachers, but weakly related to overall life satisfaction, while satisfaction with school friends and satisfaction with classmates are highly related to overall life satisfaction, but weakly related to satisfaction with school. Satisfaction with life as a student seems to be the item that best reconciles this "paradox" (in adults' eyes), at least with our samples of Romanian and Spanish adolescents.

As the power of the virtual world continues to manifest itself in people's quality of life and capabilities (including learning), this paper aims to assess accounting students' perceptions of the usefulness of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) to their learning experiences. It also considers the factors that may influence students' preferences for the VLE compared to face-to-face learning. The study administered a structured questionnaire to final-year undergraduate accounting students in two universities, one in Spain and the other in England, and applied t-test, correlation and factor analyses. Although the results show that students from both countries find VLE tools and techniques useful for their learning, within the frame of the contingency theory of education, the study found that students' perceptions of the usefulness of VLEs are strongly dependent upon their country of study, due to the significant differences between Spanish and English students in five of the seven VLE contextual factors.

A crucial issue in the European Union (EU) is which policies should be regulated by EU and which ones by national governments. Given this situation it is interesting to study the citizens' preference for the level of political decision making. The interest of the paper is mainly empirical, which consists in the creation of a measure for supranationalism decision making from different measured policies and to study how personal variables affect the level of political decision. A combination of Item response theory (IRT) and structural equation modeling (SEM) will be used. IRT is useful to discover whether a cumulative scale for different policies exists, and SEM will be used as validity of the supranationalism scale. Multiple group Confirmatory Factor analysis taking into account invariance tests will be used to compare the differences within gender, age, education and political trust with supranationalism scale. A whole model combining all these predictors and the supranationalism scale can be done using multiple input multiple cause-MIMIC models. The application is based on Spanish data from the European Social Survey. Differences in education and age on the level of political decision making are found. The combination of IRT and SEM methods it of great interest in the case is the researcher wants to fulfill both goals, creating the construct for supranationalism and validation of the model.

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the effect of participation in business and economics education programs on the student's entrepreneurial intention in terms of perceptions of the desirability and personal feasibility of starting a business. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used to measure the student's entrepreneurial intention is the data envelopment analysis (DEA). This approach involves mathematical programming and as a new tool in this field has permitted enrichment of the results achieved. Findings: Results reveal that the explanatory factors for both types of students are different. This could be explained because the students choose one career or another according to their expectations of employment. In this sense, the student's entrepreneurial intention decreases in the business students when they progress in their studies and they are closer in contact with the business reality. However, the student's entrepreneurial intention increases in the case of business students when they choose a future work option different to work in public administration. Research limitations/implications: Although the work reaches conclusive findings, further research is required in a longitudinal way. Practical implications: The article provides new methodology and results in the field of entrepreneurship and employability in higher education in Spain. Originality/value: In the context of the theory of planned behavior, the article is innovative on a methodological level in arguing for "connected" perceptions of the desirability and personal feasibility of starting a business with an approach toward employability and enterprise development for students. The authors think that the understanding of the sources of "entrepreneurial intention" at the students' level is crucial for policymakers to develop appropriate educational polices to improve entrepreneurship performances. (Contains 7 tables and 1 note.)

This paper describes a research project into heritage education. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective from within the field of Experimental and Social Science Education, it presents an analysis of teachers' and administrators' conceptions of heritage, its teaching and its dissemination in Spain. A statistical description is provided of the results of a questionnaire. A factor analysis (FA) was applied to explore possible conjectures accounting for the correlations between the variables with respect to both the conceptualisation of heritage and its teaching and dissemination. The results emphasise the relevance of academic background, initial training and professional context with regard to the conceptualisations of heritage held by the different groups. (Contains 14 tables and 3 figures.)

Studies of innovation are giving increasing attention to the relationships that businesses maintain with different participants in the innovation process. It is generally assumed that interaction with other businesses, universities and government organizations can generate knowledge that will improve the ability to innovate. However, there is little evidence of the specific roles that businesses assign to partners with regard to the provision of knowledge for innovation activities. This paper presents results from research on the dynamics of Triple Helix networks, where such networks provide the basis for building innovation capacity for businesses in catch-up geographical regions. The principal assumption is that businesses adopting an open collaboration strategy have a greater capacity to combine knowledge from different sources and adapt the knowledge to suit their innovation processes. A large set of key indicators is used to identify which regional sources are considered by businesses to be important for acquiring knowledge. The study is based on a survey of 737 businesses in the Andalusia region of Southern Spain and analysis of the results provides a typology of businesses characterized by the extent to which they focus their interest on specific groups of participants in the innovation process. The conclusions highlight and compare the role of universities with that of business networks, service providers, government and other sources. (Contains 6 notes and 5 tables.)

Nowadays, there is a wide debate about what rural means. An operational definition of rural concept is essential in order to measure health problems, optimize resource allocation and facilitate decision making aimed at closing the gap on inequity between areas. In 2005, the rurality index for Small Areas in Spain (IRAP) was developed using the 1991 Census of Population data. Nevertheless, the concept and definition of rurality may evolve through time. In order to capture these changes, the variables used to make up the rurality index should be reviewed and updated periodically. Along these lines, and within the context of the rural-urban continuum, the aim of this paper is to replicate and update the IRAP using the data provided by the 2001 Census of Population, as well as to describe the changes in rurality observed in each municipality between 1991 and 2001. The index was updated on a Principal Components Factor Analysis, giving rise to a single factor that is correlated to the aging of the population, economic dependency, farming, livestock or fishing-related employment, self-employment, second dwelling ratio, population density, immigration and perception of noises and atmospheric pollution in the surroundings of the residential area. Most variables that made up the 1991 IRAP remain as important components of the 2001 index, indicating the robust nature of the measure. Only 10% of the Spanish municipalities have changed their rurality status between the two Censuses. The 2001 rurality index can be considered a good updated approach to the concept of rurality in Spain as well as an important criterion to social policies.

Research in environmental attitudes' assessment has significantly increased in recent years. The development of specific attitude scales for specific environmental problems has often been proposed. This paper describes the Groundwater Pollution Test (GPT), a 19-item survey instrument using a Likert-type scale. The survey has been used with 14-16-year-old Spanish chemistry students to evaluate their attitudes toward groundwater pollution. Reliability is established by estimation of the internal consistency of the scale and by means of test-retest replication. Detailed information on validity is provided by means of exploratory factor analysis. A total of 323 students were involved in the research. The factor analysis revealed three specific factors that comprise environmental attitudes to groundwater pollution: sources and effects of pollution; personal actions and pollution; and awareness of pollution. The GPT is useful for assessing the attitudes of a group of students toward groundwater pollution, comparing the attitudes of different groups, and evaluating changes in attitudes over time or after specific teaching activities. In addition, the GPT can be used to identify differences in water use among students from different cultural backgrounds. Teachers concerned about environmental degradation can design specific tasks to improve students' understanding of the hazards of groundwater pollution. (Contains 1 table.)

Copyright of Anuario de Psicología Jurídica is the property of Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: During the past academic year in Spain, more than 500,000 immigrant students were enrolled in primary and secondary schools. School is one of those places available to society for creating spaces for coexistence and for changing attitudes. The teacher plays a very important role in this task. In this paper we will observe opinions and attitudes of future teachers regarding immigration, and particularly immigration at school. Method: In order to analyze these attitudes, we have developed two instruments: the scale of attitudes towards immigration and the scale of attitudes towards multiculturality at school. In order to analyze the psychometric characteristics of these scales we worked with 300 students in Teacher Training at the Universities of Extremadura (Spain) and of Evora (Portugal). For data analysis related to this work we selected 200 students at the University of Extremadura. Results: Both attitude scales have very acceptable psychometric characteristics. There were significant differences in the factor "Negative Social Distance" associated with the variables for type of degree program and for knowledge of, or lack of knowledge of, an immigrant group. There are significant correlations between the total scores and scale factors. Discussion: For an explanation of differences associated with type of degree program, one must look into academic and preparatory criteria, and even consider the entrance profile which differentiates students in one degree program from another. Students unfamiliar with an immigrant group maintain more negative attitudes. This fact agrees with research which considers positive contact with immigrants and having immigrant friends as factors that reduce perceived threat and reduce prejudice and discrimination. The most negative perception towards immigrants is found toward North Africans, as opposed to Latin Americans, thus confirming prior research. Finally, significant correlations between the two scales and their factors confirm the need for future teachers, during their time at university, to be made aware of the importance of their beliefs towards immigration and how these will influence a multi-cultural classroom. (Contains 8 tables.)

Purpose: This paper aims to demonstrate that students' self-evaluations contribute to improving academic results and life skills. Design/methodology/approach: Taking as reference a group of previously validated scales (part 1: measurement), a causal model is developed. Hypotheses are tested through the structural equations methodology by using the EQS software. Findings: Advice, students' motivation, responsibility and self-concept are elements that influence the self-evaluation process. A direct and positive relation between self-evaluation and good academic results is also demonstrated. Research limitations/implications: This research has been carried out in the Spanish pre-university context. Possible generalisations to different contexts need to consider their specific characteristics. Practical implications: Because self-evaluation processes contribute to improving academic results and developing students' autonomy, teachers and tutors must develop them, perhaps through the elements which have been shown to be antecedents of such processes. Originality/value: No previous research has either developed or tested these hypotheses. The findings reinforce other studies, but now considering the pre-university educational context, when students can critically develop this skill. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) [For Part 1, see EJ756461.]

Learner-centred approaches follow the prevailing tendency in modern University reforms which are primarily concerned about "how people learn". The methodologies can be learner-centred in the sense of placing the student as the main actor of the teaching-learning process by increasing his interactivity and participation, but also considering what is relevant for the student by measuring the learner satisfaction. In order to promote both aspects, this paper proposes a synchronous software-based active methodology that makes use of the simulations to show a virtual scenario to the students and challenge them to predict and discuss the evolution of the scenario. The proposed methodology improves the visual interface, promotes discussion both among students and with the teacher in a brainstorming stage and shows real-world examples. This software-based methodology has been implemented into an Electric Machinery course at the University of Seville (Spain), and the evaluation has been carried out considering both the affective and cognitive domains. Principal components analysis proves to be useful to highlight the dimensions with a higher influence on learner satisfaction and the affective and cognitive results confirm the successful implementation of the proposal.

Introduction: This paper seeks to establish basic dimensions on which to construct a system of indicators for evaluating university quality, from the perspective of pupils, and within the framework offered by the European Space for Higher Education. Method: The population for this study was defined as the set of students enrolled at the Universities of Salamanca (USAL) and Cordova (UCO) in the academic year 2004/2005, a total of 45,751 students. The two institutions are located in diverse geographies within the territory of Spain, and each has a distinct identity. The sample obtained comprised a total of 1167 subjects, stratified as a function of branch of specialization: health sciences, humanities, legal-social studies, and technical programs. A questionnaire was designed to collect information using a protocol of scale-based evaluation items. Application of factorial analysis allowed us to establish basic dimensions from which to determine different evaluation indicators. Results: Results yielded a total of 14 factors. Those which stand out as most powerful and useful are student satisfaction, academic and professional competencies, evaluation of academic performance, virtual teaching and the advising process. Discussion: The various tests demonstrate that quality is defined first and foremost by student satisfaction, a result which ratifies the logic behind models of institutional evaluation being implemented in Spain. (Contains 18 tables.)

An operational definition for "rural area" is pivotal if proposals, policies and decisions aimed at optimising the distribution of resources, closing the gap on inequity between areas and raising standards of living for the least advantaged populations are to be put in place. The concept of rurality, however, is often based on alternative and conflicting definitions, requiring clarification of the underlying theoretical model. Traditionally a geographical area has been classified as rural by taking into account either the number of inhabitants or population density. Two kinds of problem are raised with this approach, however, namely: it is inherently difficult to describe such a complex concept as rurality with a single variable: and reducing the concept down to a rural/urban dichotomy by setting a non-universal cut-off point does not usually provide an accurate account of reality. Within the context of the rural urban continuum, this paper has devised a rurality index for Spanish municipalities based on the 1991 Population, Housing and Household Survey. The index was built on a principal components factor analysis, giving rise to a single factor that is correlated to the aging of the population, economic dependency, farming, livestock or fishing-related employment, habitability of housing and population density. A score to each municipality was allocated. This index can be regularly updated thus enabling the progress of the concept of rurality to be monitored in our setting over time and then compared with other countries using the same methods.

This paper provides an in-depth study of the relationship between the company's training strategy and its learning capability. On a sample of 111 Spanish companies from the chemical industry, tests a set of hypotheses which link four different training strategies with the learning capability dimensions. The results obtained from the regression analyses clearly show that ongoing training, team-based training and job rotation programmes have a positive influence on company learning capability. The present study presents evidence of how a specific human resources strategy (training strategy) influences the development of a strategic capability (organisational learning). Future studies should analyse the influence of training on performance, using organisational learning capability as a moderating variable. Additionally, the relationship between human resource management and learning should also be studied using a configurational approach. This would enable to take into account the synergic effect deriving from the joint use of complementary human resources strategies. (Contains 5 tables.)

External communities of practice are groups formed by company clients and employees based on common interests, commitment, mutual trust and collaboration whose members regularly share knowledge and learning. This paper examines how external communities of practice contribute to the creation of relational capital through an empirical investigation of 139 small to medium-sized enterprises in the Spanish optometry sector using structural equation modelling validated by factor analysis.

We aim to study the the reliability and factorial structure of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ)administered through two different formats, offline (paper-and-pencil) and online. We also compared clinical, obstetrical, reproductive, and psychopathological variables related to poor mother infant bonding (MIB). A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,269 mothers. The offline group included 812 women who attended a 40-day postpartum clinical appointment. The online group consisted of 457 women recruited during admission for delivery who volunteered to carry out the online protocol 40 days postpartum. All the participants individually completed the PBQ, the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and other clinical and sociodemographic variables. The 4-factor solution proposed in the PBQ and its Spanish validation showed good model fit for both samples. Online participants reported higher levels of stress, depressive symptoms, and poor bonding, specifically on PBQ scores and the Rejection and Anger subscales. No differences were found in both samples regarding the type of statistical associations between PBQ and sociodemographic, reproductive, obstetric and psychological outcomes. Online assessment may be an appropriate option for detecting possible alterations in MIB due to the reduction of desirability bias, the increased perception of anonymity, and being a more cost-effective method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The questionnaire is a widely used instrument in social research for collecting information. One of the most important design decisions is the choice of one (or more) measurement scale(s). A common scale for rating/opinion questions is the Likert-type scale ranging from 0 or 1 (lowest rating/strongest disagreement) to 10 (highest rating/strongest agreement). Its success is based, among other things, on the advantage of being able to treat the scale from different perspectives (nominal, ordinal, or interval). Making the right choice is not an easy task for the researcher, as the perspective selected determines the methodology to be used for analysis and the potential results. This paper proposes a methodological strategy that facilitates this phase by presenting a protocol that allows the simultaneous analysis of two versions of the scale, nominal and interval. The proposed idea is based on the tabulation of the two scales in a mixed data matrix and it is advised to conduct an exploratory analysis through Multiple Factor Analysis. This technique maintains and compares the idiosyncrasies of each scale. The versatility and suitability of the proposal is illustrated by real research on social and affective relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many caregivers are insufficiently prepared, and little is known about measures that can be employed to enhance their preparedness. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with caregiver preparedness and establish a predictive model including the relationship between preparedness, burden, resilience and anxiety. Design: A cross‐sectional design was used. Methods: The sample included 172 family caregivers who were selected from one private hospital and daytime nursing centres. Caregivers were recruited from 2018 to 2019; they completed assessments for caregiver preparedness, anxiety, resilience and burden. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with preparedness. Results: Preparedness was significantly associated with high levels of resilience and a low level of burden, while it was not associated with anxiety. Caregivers' gender, experience and cohabitation status were the main predictors. Resilience is an explanatory factor for caregiver preparedness in the predictive model. Conclusion: The demographic variables related to preparedness can be used to guide efforts to meet the needs of vulnerable caregivers. A caregiver's preparedness depends on their level of burden and resilience. Nursing interventions focused on these aspects could make the caregiver's role easier and improve the quality of care provided. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Many caregivers are inadequately prepared for this role, and ensuring adequate preparedness is important for family caregivers.Preparedness and factors predictive of this in Spanish family caregivers have not been well‐documented.Resilience, burden and anxiety affect caregivers, but the degree to which they influence caregivers' preparation levels is unknown. What is the contribution of this paper? Specific factors influence the preparedness of family caregivers. Men and caregivers who do not cohabit in the same household with the care‐dependent person may present greater deficits in preparedness. Moreover, poor health and lack of experience in caring can result in inadequate caregiving performance.Readiness, resilience and burden are significantly related, and the best predictor of family caregivers' preparedness is resilience.Resilience leads to greater preparedness in caregivers, and better‐prepared caregivers experience a lighter burden. What are the implications of this paper? Knowing the factors associated with preparedness in advance will allow health‐care professionals to prevent deficits in vulnerable family caregivers.Resilience is a decisive factor which prevents negative consequences such as low preparedness. A resilient coping style can diminish the burden and promote successful adaptation in caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of AIDS & Behavior is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)