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Abstract Objectives The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of a general measure of the perception of governmental responses to COVID-|19 (COVID-SCORE-10) in the general population of 13 Latin American countries. Methods A total of 5780 individuals from 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries selected by non-probabilistic snowball sampling participated. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed and the alignment method was used to evaluate invariance. Additionally, a graded response model was used for the assessment of item characteristics. Results The results indicate that there is approximate measurement invariance of the COVID-SCORE-10 among the participating countries. Furthermore, IRT results suggest that the COVID-SCORE-10 measures with good psychometric ability a broad spectrum of the construct assessed, especially around average levels. Comparison of COVID-SCORE-10 scores indicated that participants from Cuba, Uruguay and El Salvador had the most positive perceptions of government actions to address the pandemic. Thus, the underlying construct of perception of government actions was equivalent in all countries. Conclusion The results show the importance of initially establishing the fundamental measurement properties and MI before inferring the cross-cultural universality of the construct to be measured.

IntroductionThe present quantitative study of predictive design aims to determine the influence of basic psychological needs and some socio-demographic variables on GRIT, in a sample constituted by scholarship students financed by PRONABEC from a private university in Lima.MethodsThe GRIT Scale and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale were applied to 865 students, 54.7% were female, the ages fluctuated between 16 and 47 years of age, 74.5% were residents in Lima.ResultsThe results demonstrated that Basic Psychological Need’s satisfaction has a positive influence on GRIT. On the other hand, there is a negative relationship between the GRIT dimensions (consistency and perseverance) and BPN frustration. In addition, women and first generation students showed higher GRIT levels.DiscussionThis research confirms a high degree of influence of the competence needs satisfaction dimension on the GRIT and the influence of sociodemographic variables in achieving objectives.

Abstract Background There is an urgent need to assess changes in well-being on a multinational scale during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus culturally valid scales must be available. Methods With this in mind, this study examined the invariance of the WHO well-being index (WHO-5) among a sample of 5183 people from 12 Latin Americans countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). Results The results of the present study indicate that the WHO-5 is strictly invariant across samples from different Latin American countries. Furthermore, the results of the IRT analysis indicate that all items of the WHO-5 were highly discriminative and that the difficulty required to respond to each of the five items is ascending. Additionally, the results indicated the presence of moderate and small size differences in subjective well-being among most countries. Conclusion The WHO-5 is useful for assessing subjective well-being in 12 Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, since the differences between scores can be attributed to differences in well-being and not in other characteristics of the scale.

AimsOver the past 2 years, the vaccine conspiracy beliefs construct has been used in a number of different studies. These publications have assessed the determinants and outcomes of vaccine conspiracy beliefs using, in some cases, pooled data from different countries, and compared the results across these contexts. However, studies often do not consider measurement invariance as a necessary requirement for comparative analyses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the cross-cultural MI of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 12 Latin American countries.MethodsConfirmatory factor analysis, item response theory analysis and alignment method were applied to test measurement invariance in a large number of groups.ResultsThe COVID-VCBS showed robust psychometric properties and measurement invariance for both factor loadings and crosstabs. Also, a higher level of acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about vaccines is necessary to respond to higher response categories. Similarly, greater acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines was related to a lower intention to be vaccinated.ConclusionThe results allow for improved understanding of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines in the countries assessed; furthermore, they provide researchers and practitioners with an invariant measure that they can use in cross-cultural studies in Latin America. However, further studies are needed to test invariance in other countries, with the goal of developing a truly international measure of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines.

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 began to emerge immediately after the first news about the disease and threaten to prolong the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting people’s willingness of receiving a life-saving vaccine. In this context, this study aimed to explore the variation of conspiracy beliefs regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine against it in 5779 people living in 13 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) according to sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, educational level and source of information about COVID-19. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic between September 15 and October 25, 2021. The Spanish-language COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (ECCV-COVID) and a sociodemographic survey were used. The results indicate that, in most countries, women, people with a lower educational level and those who receive information about the vaccine and COVID-19 from family/friends are more supportive of conspiracy ideas regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. In the case of age, the results vary by country. The analysis of the responses to each of the questions of the ECCV-COVID reveals that, in general, the countries evaluated are mostly in some degree of disagreement or indecision regarding conspiratorial beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines. The findings could help open further study which could support prevention and treatment efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The invariance of the Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale (PCIBS) was evaluated in 12 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). A total of 5183 people from the aforementioned countries participated, selected using the snowball sampling method. Measurement invariance was assessed by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) and Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment (CFA-MIAL). In addition, item characteristics were assessed based on Item Response Theory. The results indicate that the original five-item version of the PCIBS is not adequate; whereas a four-item version of the PCIBS (PCIBS-4) showed a good fit in all countries. Thus, using the MG-CFA method, the PCIBS-4 achieved metric invariance, while the CFA-MIAL method indicated that the PCIBS-4 shows metric and scalar invariance. Likewise, the four items present increasing difficulties and high values in the discrimination parameters. The comparison of means of the PCIBS-4 reported irrelevant differences between countries; however, Mexico and Peru presented the highest frequency of preventive behaviors related to COVID-19. It is concluded that the PCIBS-4 is a unidimensional self-report measure which is reliable and invariant across the twelve participating Latin American countries. It is expected that the findings will be of interest to social and health scientists, as well as those professionals directly involved in public health decision making.

El presente trabajo constituye una reflexión acerca del papel de Karol Wojtyla en su calidad de Sumo Pontífe de la iglesia católica. Se analiza el pasado en Polonia, su tierra natal, pero solo clarificar su aversión hacia los regímenes totalitarios (nazismo y comunismo stalinista). Asimismo se pasa revista al conflicto que sostuvo con los teólogos de la liberación, con especial énfasis en América Latina, y la desconfianza que demostró por la forma en que Monseñor Romero condujo a la Iglesia salvadoreña. Pero, por otra, parte, también se señala su posición frente al capitalismo global, el cual tildó de "salvaje" y materialista, así como su postura frente al conflicto de Irak, el cual desaprobó.

Millions of children across the world are exposed to multiple sources of indoor and outdoor air pollutants, including high concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3). The established link between exposure to PM2.5, brain structural, volumetric and metabolic changes, severe cognitive deficits (1.5-2SD from average IQ) in APOE 4 heterozygous females with >75% to

Abstract The Spanish version of the 5-item Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS-5) is a brief measure of the general tendency to be attentive and aware of experiences in the present moment during daily life. The MAAS-5 has been used in different countries; however, an assessment of its cross-cultural measurement invariance (MI) has not been conducted. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the MAAS-5 in university students from two countries: Peru and Mexico. A total of 1144 university students from Peru (N = 822) and Mexico (N = 322) responded online to the Spanish version of the 5-item Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS-5). A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Measurement invariance tests the hypothesis that the model behind a set of scores is comparable between groups. The results showed that the unidimensional structure of the MAAS-5 is the same between Peruvian and Mexican university students. Therefore, it is suggested that university students from both countries conceptualize the mindfulness in a similar way. As a result, the MAAS-5 can be used to compare differences between countries. No significant differences were observed in the MAAS-5 score between Peruvian and Mexican university students. The present study contributes to a better understanding of the psychometric properties of the MAAS-5 by presenting MI results in two Latin American countries. Implications of the findings are discussed, which will facilitate a more solid and reliable use of the MAAS-5 in future cross-cultural studies.

San Vicente, primero de Lorenzana y después de Austria, fue fundada por cincuenta familias españolas. La razón de la fundación tuvo que ver con las decisiones que tomo el presidente de la Real Audiencia don Álvaro de Quiñonez. Quiñónez Osorio giró órdenes al alcalde mayor de San Salvador, don Juan Sarmiento de Valderrama, para que los españoles, negros y mestizos avecindados en los pueblos de indios de Apastepeque, Ixtepeque y Tepetitán salieran de ellos de inmediato y fundaran sus propios asentamientos. Estas cincuenta y tantas familias fundaron a la Sombra de un frondoso árbol de Tempisque (el cual todavía existe) el pueblo de San Vicente, cuya nominación fue en homenaje a San Vicente Abad o San Vicente de León, superior del monasterio de San Claudio en León (España) En 1786 se creó, por disposición de la Corona, la intendencia de San Salvador, la cual se dividió administrativamente en quince partidos, y uno de ellos fue el de San Vicente, con jurisdicción en la misma villa de San Vicente. El 12 de junio de 1824 se creó el departamento de San Vicente, con cabecera en la ciudad de San Vicente de Austria. A finales de 1832 y principios de 1833 hubo un levantamiento indígena liderado por Anastasio Aquino, que fue producto de la inconformidad de los indígenas y en los maltratos recibidos desde tiempos de la colonia.