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Previous literature showed a complex interpretation of recall tasks due to the complex relationship between Executive Functions (EF) and Long Term Memory (M). The Test of Memory Strategies (TMS) could be useful for assessing this issue, because it evaluates EF and M simultaneously. This study aims to explore the validity of the TMS structure, comparing the models proposed by Vaccaro et al. (2022) and evaluating the measurement invariance according to three countries (Italy, Spain, and Portugal) through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Four hundred thirty-one healthy subjects (Age mean = 54.84, sd = 20.43; Education mean = 8.85, sd =4.05; M = 177, F = 259) were recruited in three countries (Italy, Spain, and Portugal). Measurement invariance across three country groups was evaluated through Structural Equation modeling. Also, convergent and divergent validity were examined through the correlation between TMS and classical neuropsychological tests. CFA outcomes suggested that the best model was the three-dimensional model, in which list 1 and list2 reflect EF, list 3 reflects a mixed factor of EF and M (EFM) and list4 and list5 reflect M. This result is in line with the theory that TMS decreases EF components progressively. TMS was metric invariant to the country, but scalar invariance was not tenable. Finally, the factor scores of TMS showed convergent validity with the classical neuropsychological tests. The overall results support cross-validation of TMS in the three countries considered., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the co-authors have financial or other conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous literature has shown that executive functions (EF) are related to performance in memory (M) tasks. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of psychometric tests that examine these two constructs simultaneously. The Test of Memory Strategies (TMS; previously validated in Spain and Portugal) could be a useful verbal learning task that evaluates these two constructs at once. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TMS in an Italian adult sample., Method: One hundred twenty-one healthy volunteers (74 F, Mean age = 45.9 years old, SD = 20.4) who underwent a neuropsychological examination participated in this study. We conducted a Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate the structural validity of the TMS. We conducted a latent variable analysis to examine convergent and discriminant validity of the TMS sub-scale scores reflecting executive functions and memory. We also examined the TMS reliability in terms of internal consistency through the McDonald's omega., Results: The CFA confirmed the expectation that the TMS-1 and TMS-2 subtests reflect a factor and that the TMS-3, TMS-4, and TMS-5 subtests reflect a different factor. This result is in line with the prediction that TMS-1 and TMS-2 require the use of executive functions and memory simultaneously, and therefore we called this factor executive functions (EF); whereas the TMS-3, TMS-4, and TMS-5 subtests require less involvement of executive functions, thus reflecting a construct that we named memory (M). The TMS subtests for EF and M showed convergent validity with the test scores using a traditional neuropsychological battery, assessing memory and executive functions separately. Finally, the reliability of the subtests was good., Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that TMS is a valid and reliable scale to simultaneously assess M and EF while among Italian healthy adults., Competing Interests: The authors declare that Prof. Marco Tullio Liuzza is an Academic Editor for PeerJ., (© 2022 Vaccaro et al.)

The COVID-19 outbreak has dramatically impacted on socioeconomic structure, individual freedom, general wellbeing, psychological health and sexuality. Indeed, social distancing, home confinement and the fear of contagion have reduced the possibility of romantic encounters thus influencing sexual activity, desire and behavior and, consequently, modifying socio-sexual experiences. The aim of this study is to examine sociosexuality and sociosexual experiences in southern Italians during the COVID-19 pandemic.