Psychology

Animal-assisted therapy is increasingly present in several educational and health areas. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of such interventions in the elderly population living in residential settings. A 12-week dog-assisted intervention program was designed, with 16 participants from a nursing home divided into an experimental group and a control group. Several physical and psychological variables were assessed before and after the intervention. While there were no significant differences in the control group, the experimental group improved significantly after participating in the program. The results support the hypothesis that animal-assisted interventions may be beneficial for residents in elderly care homes.

Based on data from a three-year longitudinal study, we assess the effect, according to gender, of emotional psychopathology in preadolescence on anthropometric and body composition parameters in adolescence (N ¼ 229). Psychopathology was assessed using the Screen for Childhood Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders, the Children's Depression Inventory and the MINI-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Kids. Body fat percentage (%BF), waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) were also determined. Following analysis with adjusted multiple regression models, the results indicated that symptoms of depression and separation anxiety were significantly associated with increased WC and BMI in boys, and that somatic symptoms were associated with increased WC and %BF in girls. Diagnosis of social phobia, panic disorder or dysthymia led to significantly increased WC and/or BMI in boys and dysthymia increased WC in girls. These findings suggest that emotional psychopathology in preadolescence is associated with increased weight gain and abdominal fat in adolescence.

La evaluación objetiva de los factores psicosociales en el trabajo FPS permite planificar y establecer estrategias para el manejo del estrés en el trabajo y de las patologías derivadas de él; tales como, la falta de motivación laboral y la insatisfacción por el trabajo.
Para la evaluación de los FPS se emplean encuestas que suelen ser administrados colectivamente en las organizaciones para obtener información sobre indicadores  de mala calidad de vida laboral, que son siempre los que solicita la legislación estatal.
En el presente estudio se desarrolla un nuevo cuestionario que denominamos Escala de Clima Psicosocial en el Trabajo (ECPT). Para desarrollar el instrumento se empleó una muestra de 615 trabajadores de cuatro empresas de los sectores industriales y de servicios.
Los resultados del análisis factorial determinan una estructura de tres factores que hemos etiquetado como; contenido del trabajo (CT), relaciones personales (RP) y la definición de rol (DR).
La  Escala de Clima Psicosocial en el Trabajo (ECPT) es una test de 16 ítems que con sus tres subescalas proporciona un diagnóstico rápido y efectivo de la percepción que tienen los trabajadores del  impacto de factores psicosociales positivos y negativos en sus empleos y en sus organizaciones.


****
Since the promulgation in Spain of the Law 31/95 for Prevention of Risk in the Workplace (LPR) various surveys have been carried out to evaluate psychosocial factors at work.
The evaluation of these factors makes possible to plan how to manage work stress-derived pathologies, lack of work motivation and lack of work satisfaction. The surveys are usually administrated collectively in organizations to obtain information but often it is not possible to carry out effective psychosocial intervention in the ambits requested by legislation.
The present study develops a new questionnaire called Work Psychosocial Scale (ECPT-16). It was applied by professional psychologists in a sample of 615 workers from four companies in the industrial and service sectors. The results of the factorial analysis of the test determine three factors that we labeled as Work Content (WC), Personal Relations (PR) and Role Definition (RD).
The ECPT-16 is a 16-item test consisting of three subscales that provides a quick and efficient diagnosis of the perception of workers about positive and negative psychosocial factors in their organizations.