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The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and psychometric properties in a Mexican sample of a Spanish-language online version of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Data were collected between May and October 2021 from 3,645 participants aged 18 years and over, who agreed to complete the questionnaire. Reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and psychometric properties were calculated using a two-parameter model. The results showed a reasonable level of reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.814, and evidence of unidimensionality, and construct validity for suicide risk at three risk levels: low, medium, and high. Analysis of the items suggests that they are consistent with the proposed theoretical model. Our results also demonstrate that the parameters are stable and able to efficiently discriminate individuals at high risk of suicide. We propose the use of this version of the C-SSRS in the Spanish-speaking population, since it is a multifactorial assessment of suicide risk and the inclusion of other clinical and risk factor assessments for a more comprehensive evaluation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Austria-Corrales, Jiménez-Tapia, Astudillo-García, Arenas-Landgrave, Xochihua-Tlecuitl, Cruz-Cruz, Rivera-Rivera, Gómez-García, Palacios-Hernández, Pérez-Amezcua, Toledano-Toledano, Richards and Galynker.)

Objetivo: Analizar la estructura factorial, la validez convergente y divergente de la Escala Columbia de Severidad Suicida (CSSRS) y el Cuestionario de Eventos de Vida Estresantes (EVE) y medir la asociación entre EVE y conducta suicida (CS) en mujeres mexicanas durante la pandemia por Covid-19. Material y métodos. Se usaron datos de 2 398 mujeres que participaron en un estudio multicéntrico, realizado en México entre mayo y octubre de 2021. La información se recolectó mediante un cuestionario en línea que incluyó la CSSRS y el EVE. Se hizo un análisis factorial confirmatorio para valorar el ajuste de los modelos., Resultados: El modelo final mostró asociación entre los EVE y la CS, y tuvo a la violencia como variable central. Dicho modelo presentó un ajuste adecuado (CFI = 0.950, IFI = 0.950, MFI = 0.975, RMSEA = 0.031, CI RMSEA = 0.026-0.036)., Conclusiones: La pandemia por Covid-19 evidenció la necesidad de crear e implementar estrategias que promuevan el cuidado de la salud mental, reduzcan la exposición a la violencia y faciliten los procesos de duelo para prevenir la CS en mujeres mexicanas.

Introduction: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a public health concern associated with multiple adverse health outcomes, including psychological distress (PD)., Objective: To assess the association of IPV and psychological distress, and the mediation of tobacco and alcohol consumption in a national representative sample from Mexico., Material and Methods: Data from the Encuesta Nacional de Consumo de Drogas, Tabaco y Alcohol (ENCODAT) were analyzed. The sample included 34,864 people between the ages of 12 and 65 with a partner. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the association between IPV, use alcohol, tobacco and psychological distress was measured., Results: The population was composed of women (51.9%) and men (48.1%); 15.1% (women = 18.2% and men = 11.9%) reported IPV in the last year. The prevalence of psychological distress in the last year was 3.3%, being 3.8% in women, and 2.7% in men. Results from the SEM in women indicated a direct positive effect of the IPV construct on psychological distress (β = 0.298, p < 0.01); these findings confirmed that IPV tended to systematically increase psychological distress. Likewise, the presence of IPV increased the consumption of tobacco (β = 0.077, p < 0.01) and alcohol (β = 0.072, p < 0.01). The SEM results in men showed that alcohol and tobacco consumption tended to increase in the presence of IPV (β = 0.121, p < 0.01, and β = 0.086, p < 0.01, respectively), and in turn, alcohol consumption and tobacco tended to increase psychological distress (β = 0.024, p < 0.01, and β = 0.025, p < 0.01, respectively)., Conclusion: This study indicated that in women, IPV had a direct effect on psychological distress and on alcohol and tobacco consumption. Meanwhile in men, alcohol and tobacco consumption had a mediating effect between IPV and psychological distress. The empirical findings of this study will contribute toward the design of public health policies for the prevention and attention of IPV, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and consequently address the mental health consequences derived from these problems., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Ortega Ceballos, Rivera Rivera, Reynales Shigematsu, Austria Corrales, Toledano-Toledano and Pérez Amezcua.)

Sensation seeking is a construct associated with risky behaviors over a wide age range, but validation studies in Mexico are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of two versions of the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (the BSSS-8 and BSSS-4) in young Mexican individuals. The sample consisted of 2884 students (age: M = 16.6, SD = 1.5) from five preparatory schools in Morelos, Mexico. The internal structure of the BSSS was evaluated according to the structural equation modeling (SEM) parameterization, including measurement invariance (compared to the factor loadings obtained in the meta-analysis); conditional reliability; and equivalence between versions. The unidimensionality and measurement invariance (configurational, factor loadings, thresholds, intercepts, and residuals) across sex and age groups were satisfactory, and the factor loadings were highly congruent with those obtained in the meta-analysis. Reliability was suitably high (greater than 0.80), especially near the mean scores, but was lower for extreme scores. Thus, the instrument was concluded to be optimal for defining the construct of sensation seeking, consistent with the findings of previous studies.

The excessive use of social networks needs to be addressed, and this phenomenon needs to be measured for the purpose of evaluation, prevention, and intervention among adolescents and young people. The objective of the study was to adapt and psychometrically validate the Brief Scale of Addiction to Social Networks (SNA-6) among Mexican adolescents and young adults. The participating sample consisted of 2,789 students from 6 public educational campuses in Cuernavaca (Morelos, Mexico). Data collection was carried out through a web platform to strictly maintain anonymity, voluntary participation, and confidentiality. Data analysis first focused on the detection of possible response biases (random intercept model and careless/insufficient effort), the quality of the response structure partial credit model (PCM), dimensionality (CFA and invariance), and the relationship with external variables. It was found that when the range of efficient response options was limited to less than five, reliability was high (0.91), and unidimensionality was maintained. Response biases slightly affected the dimensional structure of the instrument. Measurement invariance reached scalar invariance in the sex, age, and campus groups. The association with sensation seeking and depression, controlling for sex and age covariates, was statistically significant, small, and theoretically consistent. Implications of the results are discussed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Salas-Blas, Merino-Soto, Pérez-Amezcua and Toledano-Toledano.)

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms (DS) and to explore associated individual and family factors in high-school students from public schools of Mexico., Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study of a representative sample of 9 982 students aged between 14 and 19 years. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI95%)., Results: 27% of students presented DS, with higher proportion among women (34%) than among men (18%). Factors associated with DS were being female (OR=2.25 CI95% 1.86-2.71); low self-esteem (OR=2.77 CI95% 2.41 -3.19); consuming alcohol (OR= 1.72 CI95% 1.46-2.02), consuming tobacco (OR= 1.57 CI95% 1.31-1.88), consuming illegal drugs (OR=1.63 CI95% 1.29-2.05), domestic violence (OR=2.05 CI95% 1.77-2.39), and low communication between parents and their children (OR=1.78 CI95% 1.59-2.00)., Conclusions: Depressive symptomatology among high-school students in Mexico is a public health issue.There is a need for intervention programs aimed at tackling the associated risk factors.

Objective: To identify the prevalence of and factors associated with suicidal ideation and intent in adolescent students in Mexico., Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 12,424 students from public schools in 2007. We used logistic regression to obtain odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals., Results: A total of 47% of the students reported at least one suicidal ideation symptom and 9% reported an antecedent of suicidal intent. Factors associated with suicide ideation and intent include low confidence in communication with parents (OR=1.30; OR=1.54), sexual abuse (OR=1.92; OR=1.57), depressive symptoms (OR=5.36; OR=1.51), tobacco use (OR=1.30; OR=2.57), alcohol use (OR=1.60; OR=1.31) and, for women, having had sexual relations (OR=1.28; OR=1.65)., Conclusions: Roughly 50% of high school students had at least one symptom of suicidal ideation. To lessen this problem, associated factors should be considered, including consumption of addictive substances, gender, history of sexual abuse and depression.