The elaborated intrusion theory of desire proposes that craving is a cognitive motivational process involving intrusive thoughts. Changing the way we react to them, cognitive defusion (CD), should limit thought elaboration and craving. We induced chocolate craving in female chocolate cravers before CD (Study 1). A decrease in craving measured by a single-item scale, Visual Analogical Scale (VAS; p < .001, ηp2 = .449) and as a state, State Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-S; p = .029, ηp2 = .106) were found in the experimental group, while similar results were also found in group control. The reduction in craving (VAS) in group CD correlated negatively with chocolate consumption on a bogus taste test (r = –.439, p = .036), while the correlation was positive in the case of group control (r = .429, p = .047). Food craving as a trait, measured by the Trait Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-T), showed negative correlations with measures of CD and mindfulness skills (lowest r = –.313, p = .018). In Study 2 participants made use of a smartphone application implementing the CD procedure in real contexts whenever they experienced food craving. A corresponding decline in self-reported craving was found, as well as in consumption of the craved food (indulgence) compared with the control condition. Our findings indicate that CD may be a promising intervention for tackling the elaboration of intrusive thoughts and eating behavior in young female food cravers, both in a controlled laboratory environment after a cue-food exposure craving induction procedure, as well as responding to naturally occurring food cravings in real-life settings.

No previous research explored the genetic and environmental structure of Big Five dimensions of personality and higher-order factors in a single twin study, except, in part, for just one study. We used the twin design to estimate the effects of genes and environment on both Five Factor model and related second- and third-order factors (i.e., Alpha [stability], Beta [plasticity], and GFP [general factor of personality]). We analyzed data from 314 adult twins (157 pairs: 83 monozygotic, 74 dizygotic; mean age: 52 years) enrolled in the Italian Twin Register. Participants underwent clinical and instrumental evaluations, and completed a 25-adjective list drawn from the Short Adjectives Checklist to Measure Big Five (SACBIF). We applied quantitative genetic models to unravel the sources of variation and covariation for the Big Five and higher-order factors. We found a similar etiological architecture across the different levels of analysis, with moderate to substantial non-additive genetic and unique environmental influences on all the personality traits, and no shared environmental contribution for any of them. We also detected significant genetic correlations for the Big Five dimensions and the Alpha and Beta super-factors. With some limitations, our results suggest that the etiological architecture of personality may be invariant to the factor level of analysis.

Abusive supervision impacts employees’ emotions negatively and creates feelings of shame and fear. But it remains unclear how daily employees’ positive and negative emotions are affected and if they can recover. Applying the affective event theory and job demands-resources model we hypothesized that daily abusive supervision influences employees’ positive and negative emotions fluctuation over the day, recovery after work, and employee emotions the next morning. Two daily surveys were answered by 52 Mexican employees for ten days providing 347 registers in the morning and 255 in the afternoon. Hierarchical linear modeling shows alteration of positive and negative emotions in the afternoon and next day, and a positive effect over recovery in relaxation, mastery and control restoring positive emotions. However, negative emotions cannot be recovered for the following day. Additionally, we found effects of predictive variables, as the days of the week go by, positive emotions in the afternoon and negative emotions in the morning decrease. Gender shows for men a more negative effect on positive emotions in the afternoon, next morning and on mastery-recovery. Marital status revealed effect over married individuals incrementing the four recovery dimensions, increasing positive emotions, and reducing negative emotions in the afternoon and next morning. Tenure has an effect over abusive supervision, the longer employees in the company, more likely they suffer abusive supervision. We show how employees restore positive emotions after daily recovery and that negative emotions cannot be recovered for the following day; revealing how abusive managers cause emotional damage to employees every day.

Cyber dating violence is an emerging form of dating violence that may have serious health effects on adolescents and young people, and in recent years interest in its study has increased. In order to understand completely the nature and magnitude of the problem, a clear understanding of the concept, constructs and well-established measurement tools are needed. The goal of this study was to analyze the measurement instruments of cyber dating violence in adolescents and young adults, and to determine which are the best suitable to use. To accomplish these objectives a systematic review was carried out. After reviewing the literature, twenty-four measurement instruments were analyzed, with important differences found between them in terms, constructs, dimensions and measurement attributes, as well as differences in their assessed psychometric properties. Once the methodological quality evaluation of the instruments was carried out following COSMIN (COnsensus based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments) guidelines, three scales were found to be recommendable depending on the age and cultural context of participants: Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire (Borrajo, Gámez-Guadix, Pereda, et al., 2015), Technology-facilitated Abuse in Relationships Scale (Brown & Hegarty, 2021), and Abuse in Teen Relationships (CARPA; Calvete et al., 2021).

The prevalence of mental disorders continues to increase, especially with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we have evidence-based psychological treatments to address these conditions, most people encounter some barriers to receiving this help (e.g., stigma, geographical or time limitations). Digital mental health interventions (e.g., Internet-based interventions, smartphone apps, mixed realities -virtual and augmented reality) provide an opportunity to improve accessibility to these treatments. This article summarizes the main contributions of the different types of digital mental health solutions. It analyzes their limitations (e.g., drop-out rates, lack of engagement, lack of personalization, lack of cultural adaptations) and showcases the latest sophisticated and innovative technological advances under the umbrella of precision medicine (e.g., digital phenotyping, chatbots, or conversational agents). Finally, future challenges related to the need for real world implementation of these interventions, the use of predictive methodology, and hybrid models of care in clinical practice, among others, are discussed.

Gossip is a type of social behavior present in all types of social networks, and cybergossip is an emerging kind of online social behavior which can both promote and hinder relationships between peers. The aim of this study was to explore the relation between involvement in cybergossip and the development of behavior of social adjustment, bullying and cyberbullying (aggression and victimization), based on gender and age. A total of 510 secondary school students (49.4% girls) aged 12 to 17 years old (M = 14.01; SD = 1.38) were surveyed by self-report. Questionnaires validated with adolescents were used to measure bullying, social adjustment and cyberbullying. The results showed that a high prevalence of involvement in cybergossip was associated with bullying and cyberbullying behavior (aggression and victimization), with girls showing the greatest involvement in cybergossip. The discussion of the results focuses on the gender difference, as well as the importance of the need for training in the proper use of digital devices for social education and socialization.

Emotion recognition has been traditionally measured trough the recognition of emotional expressions of static faces. Studies suggest that emotion recognition is progressively acquired from early stages in our infancy. However, the literature regarding other emotional domains such as voice or body movements is scarce. Additionally, the number of tools that integrate several domains is limited, especially in children and adolescents, and none of them tested in Spanish samples. Therefore, this study aimed to define the psychometric properties of the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task (BLERT) and a new-designed alternate version providing normative data in Spanish children and adolescents (from 8 to 15 years old corresponding to 3th). Moreover, we aim to describe the emotional acquisition trajectory of children and adolescents with a tool that integrates voice, face expressions and body movements. For that purpose, BLERT was translated into Spanish (BLERT–SI) and an alternate version was created (BLERT–SII). A total of 545 children and adolescents from 8 to 15 year-old participated in the study (250 male/295 female). All participants fulfilled BLERT–SI and BLERT–SII within two weeks of difference. Order of presentation was counterbalanced. Results showed that BLERT–SI and SII have good internal consistency (α = .70 and 71 respectively). Test-retest reliability showed a moderate correlation (r = .45; p < .001). Percentages equivalences per age are provided. Age correlated with BLERT–SI (r = .31; p < .001) and BLERT–SII (r = .21; p < .001), showing a progressive acquisition and development of emotion recognition during this period. BLERT–SI and SII are useful tools when studying the follow-up of children and adolescents.

This study aimed to adapt and validate the Spanish version of the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory–Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ; Corr & Cooper, 2016) and to demonstrate how RST constructs are associated with a variety of everyday behaviors. To achieve this goal, three studies have been conducted. In Study 1, a direct translation of the items from English to Spanish was pilot-tested in a sample of 139 students and a descriptive analysis of items was conducted. Moreover, a reverse translation and comparison between the two English versions were carried out by the lead author of the original questionnaire and the items were refined accordingly. In Study 2, the questionnaire’s internal structure was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and the predictive validity was assessed using the Criterion Set of Act Clusters in a sample of 1,281 participants. Finally, a study of convergent validity with other measures of personality was performed in Study 3 with 190 participants. The obtained results suggested that the RST-PQ has adequate psychometric properties and the convergent validity results with other personality measures replicate findings from previous research. Having a Spanish language version of the RST-PQ is important, not only to advance RST research but also to demonstrate that this theoretical approach contributes to the prediction and explanation of different behaviors whether they are healthy or pathological ones.

CEO social capital has shown a positive association with dynamic capabilities, although correlations have considerable heterogeneity among them. This meta-analysis estimates the correlation between CEO social capital and dynamic capabilities, and analyses moderator variables in explaining the heterogeneity in the results. Moderators are classified across four levels from macro to micro variables: country variables, firm environment, firm characteristics, and CEO variables. We apply a systematic search for studies in the Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases. Additionally, we used a three-level random-effect meta-analysis on 89 correlations published between 2008 and 2021 from 9,272 CEOs. Findings indicate a positive correlation between CEO social capital and dynamic capabilities. Furthermore, we identified a moderator effect in the country and firm environment level. We found that the country of the study, the perception of transparency and legality in the country, and the environmental dynamism in the market moderate the size of the correlations. We also reject other moderators, including the individualism-collectivism national culture, firm size, the sources of social capital (business or political ties), and the dimension of the social capital (structural, relational or cognitive). This study contributes to the exploration of the sources of dynamic capabilities from the micro-foundation, identifies moderator variables that explain the heterogeneity in the results, and highlights the social nature of management activities which always evolve in a social context.

In this paper, we evaluate the factorial validity of the Spanish short version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES–9) and assess its predictive validity with respect to self-assessed work performance. A total of 229 employees from educational institutions in Ecuador participated. Using a model comparison analysis, the unidimensional model exhibited an excellent goodness of fit, χ2 = 26.176 (24), p = .344; CFI =1.000; TLI = 1.000; RMSEA = .020; SRMR = .034; it was not improved by more complex models, Three-factor model: χ2 = 22.148 (21), p = .391; CFI =1.000; TLI = 1.000; RMSEA = .016; SRMR = .033. Two-factor model: χ2 = 26.080 (23), p = .297; CFI = 1.000; TLI = 1.000; RMSEA = .025; SRMR = .034). Therefore, it is justified as a unidimensional instrument of work engagement. However, upon analyzing the correlation patterns of the overall score and the work engagement dimensions in relation to the task performance, contextual performance, and counterproductive behaviors, we conclude that, while the unidimensional model exhibits a good fit, the three-factor theoretical approach is substantively superior in that it maintains differential predictive validity for each theoretical dimension.

We examine the relationship between transformational leadership and job improvement behaviors by considering the moderating effect of leader extraversion and the mediating role of employee vitality. Multi-level path analysis on data from 101 leaders and 619 subordinates provided support to the moderating effect of leader extraversion, such that the relationship between transformational leadership and employee vitality is stronger when the level of leader extraversion is high. Moreover, a moderated mediation procedure showed that the indirect effect of transformational leadership on job improvement via employee vitality was conditional to the level of leader extraversion. We highlight the original contributions of these findings by discussing the moderating role of leader extraversion as an understudied theoretical alternative to its already well-explored role as an antecedent to leadership behaviors. On a practical level, our results indicate that organizations should consider not only what leaders do (transformational leadership behaviors) but also how these behaviors are contextualized by leaders’ typical approach (extraversion) to instill a maximum of positive emotion such as vitality in employees.

For constructionism, language is the link among different levels of analysis of emotional events, from individual to interpersonal and macrosocial. The interaction among these emotional levels allows us to construe an emotional episode and label it with an emotion word, coordinate with the emotions perceived in others, and represent events as a society. Across two studies, we found similarities and differences among inner emotions experienced (individual level), emotions perceived in others (descriptive feeling rules, interpersonal level) and emotions shared on the internet (socioemotional conventions, macrosocial level), with all these emotional targets focused on the COVID–19 outbreak. The results indicate a similarity between the emotional meaning of COVID–19 in society and the descriptive feeling rules, whereas the reported inner emotions were clearly distinct: Joy was irrelevant at the interpersonal and macrosocial levels but clearly important at the individual level. A mismatch also appeared for fear and hope. While fear was the most predominant emotion at the interpersonal and macrosocial levels during most of the phases, it was moderately predominant at the individual level. Hope followed the opposite pattern, being the most relevant emotion at the individual level but less relevant at the interpersonal and macrosocial levels. Each level might have different consequences: Mixed emotions at the individual level might promote resilience; fear perceived in other people might motivate protective behaviors; and sadness socially shared during Christmas might generate greater empathy. These results support the complexity of emotional concepts and the suitability of exploring them at different levels of analysis.

The main purpose of the present work was to study neurocognitive performance of adolescents at risk for emotional difficulties. The sample included a total of 1,509 adolescents from stratified random cluster sampling. Derived from this sample, a group of high-risk (n = 92) and a comparison group (n = 92) were selected based on the short version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) for comparison on the University of Pennsylvania computerized neuropsychological test battery for children (PENN). A Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was performed taking the scores on the PENN as dependent variables and the two groups derived from the scores of the PANAS (at risk vs. comparison) as a fixed factor. Adolescents at high risk of presenting affectivity problems showed statistically significant differences in several different neurocognitive domains, in accuracy, λ = .820, F (9, 160,000) = 3.913, p < .01, partial η² = .180; speed, λ = .502, F (5, 88,000) = 17.493, p < .01, partial η² = .498; and efficiency, λ = .485, F (4, 89,000) = 23.599, p <.01, partial η² = .515. The high risk group showed lower neurocognitive performance than the comparison group. In addition, a positive statistically significant correlation was found between all the neurocognitive competences (p < .05). Results found in this study reveal that neurocognitive impairments can be shown in adolescents at psychometric high risk for emotional problems before transition to more severe psychological problems.

The Dark Triad traits of Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism should be clearly recognizable within a multidimensional personality space. Two such personality spaces were investigated in this study: HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience); and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ) space (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Activity, Sensation Seeking, and Aggressiveness). Our sample comprised 289 participants (137 males, 145 females, 7 unspecified) who completed these three questionnaires: HEXACO–60, ZKA-PQ/SF, and the SD3, assessing the Dark Triad. We reduced the dimensionality of each space to that of a 2D representation using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Three research questions guided the data analysis: (a) Do the HEXACO and ZKA-PQ SSA spaces conform to the structure of a radex? (b) Will these spaces remain invariant following the entry of the Dark Triad traits into the analyses? (c) Where will the Dark Triad traits be located in each SSA space? For ZKA-PQ space, the structure was clearly indicative of a radex, both prior to entering the Dark Triad traits into the analysis, and subsequent to this. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism were in close proximity in the Aggressiveness region; Narcissism was positioned at the common origin. In contrast, HEXACO space did not conform to a radex; furthermore, the presence of the Dark Triad traits distorts this 2D SSA space.

Negative stereotypes about older workers can result in different types of age discrimination. The aim of this study was to run a transcultural adaptation and validation of the Nordic Age Discrimination Scale (NADS) into Spanish. Three independent samples of Chilean (N = 301), Colombian (N = 150), and Spanish (N = 209) workers over the age of 45, from different sectors and professional categories, answered a questionnaire including the NADS scale, measures of perceptions of inequality, workplace harassment and several scales related to outcome variables to test criterion and construct validity. The reliability index for the NADS was .85, a similar value for both Cronbach’s alpha (α) and McDonald’s omega (ω). CFA by country suggest good fit of this single-dimension structure in a final version of 5 items, and it presents scalar invariance; using the modification indices, partial invariance is achieved at the level of the variance of the errors. Both criterion and construct validity were verified, with strong evidence for criterion validity, and moderate results for construct validity. Therefore, the Spanish version of NADS had a single-dimension structure and adequate psychometric properties being a useful tool in measuring perceptions of age discrimination in different countries.

Recovery from alcohol use disorder involves achieving certain resources for positive lifestyle changes, well-being, and long-term abstinence. The present study aims to translate and validate the Assessment Capital Recovery (ARC) in a Spanish clinical sample of individuals with alcohol use disorder, in abstinence. The participants were 184 patients who attended outpatient treatments. They were evaluated with the adapted version of the ARC (Spanish abbreviation: “Valoración del Capital de Recuperación, VCR”) and by WHOQOL-BREF (quality of life scale), in one session. Statistical analysis included the calculation of reliability, convergent validity (relationship with WHOQOL-BREF), specificity and sensitivity, as well as validity based on internal structure (confirmatory factor analysis). VCR scores show appropriate values for reliability (α = .90), and a low convergent validity with WHOQOL-BREF (Rho = .33–.53). The VCR appears to distinguish between patients with early and stable sobriety (χ2 = 20.55, p < .01). The ROC curve indicates significant discrimination values (p < .05) for stable recovery (5 years of abstinence) and sensitivity of 85.2% and specificity of 71.2%. Further, confirmatory factor analysis suggests the presence of a single factor, with relatively acceptable values of goodness of fit and factor loadings. We used ULS parameter estimation to study VCR properties, an appropriate tool for assessing recovery in clinical populations of individuals with alcohol use disorder in abstinence.

Callous Unemotional (CU) traits are associated with different environmental risk factors, such as negative stressful life events (SLE). The most common studied SLE associated with CU trait has been childhood maltreatment, but less is known about how other SLE impact the development of CU traits. Therefore, this work examines risk factors, personal factors (executive functioning), and mental health outcomes associated with the trajectories of Callous Unemotional (CU) traits and Stressful Life Events (SLE) in a community sample of children. A cohort of 377 preschoolers were followed up between ages 3 and 10. Several risk factors and outcomes for three trajectory groups (high CU/SLE; high CU/low SLE; and the reference group with low CU/SLE) were analyzed by using multiple post-hoc comparisons. We hypothesized that children with high CU/SLE would face more contextual risk factors, more executive functioning difficulties and more mental health problems than children with high CU/low SLE or the reference group. At the age of 3, children who showed high CU/SLE faced more early contextual adversity, including socioeconomic difficulties and maternal antisocial behavior than the other groups of children. At the age of 10, children with high CU/SLE presented more peer problems and higher psychopathology symptoms than the reference group, but no differences on mental health outcomes in comparison to the high CU/low SLE group. These results have potential implications for clinical practice and studies attempting to identify different CU subtypes in children.

Sexual coercion is among the subtlest forms of sexual violence in an intimate relationship and sometimes goes unnoticed by victims. The present study analyzed factors that potentially mitigate women’s negative perceptions of intimate partner sexual coercion (IPSC). A total of 427 women completed an online survey, in which they were shown vignettes illustrating a growing risk of sexual coercion according to the perpetrators’ use of different coercive tactics. Participants replied to questions that reflected their risk perception, their perceptions of perpetrator behavior, and the probability of their leaving the relationship. The survey also queried their previous IPSC experience, and their degree of acceptance of sexual aggression myths. According to the results, women exposed to positive (vs. negative) verbal sexual coercion (VSC) condition decided to leave the abusive situation later (risk response), presented a longer time lag between the moment they recognized the risk and the moment they responded to it, perceived the perpetrator’s behavior as more acceptable and excusable, and were less likely to leave the relationship. Finally, greater myth acceptance and previous IPSC experience predicted a lower probability of leaving the relationship, due to delayed risk responses and to perceiving the perpetrator’s behavior as more acceptable and excusable. This was true regardless of the type of coercive tactic used by the perpetrator. The results highlight the need to consider the type of coercive tactic, previous experience, and myths acceptance as risk factors that may impede a woman to adequately perceive and respond to an intimate partner’s sexual violence.

The Socratic method, as an eminently verbal procedure, will be analyzed from a behavioral perspective in order to clarify how verbal conditioning works within. This work compares the verbalizations that expert and inexperienced therapists emit during Socratic method to find out which and why certain therapist verbalizations are most successful in changing client responses. The sample consisted of 113 Socratic method fragments from 18 cases, analyzed by observational methodology. The expert therapists had more than 6 years of experience, the inexperienced less than 2. Experts had fewer failure Socratic method fragments, but there were no differences in successful ones. The way of questioning had a different pattern: Inexperienced therapists suggested more the response, experts used more didactic verbalizations; also, experts used the aversive component more and contingently. The creation of guidelines based on functional description of verbal interaction and the need for novice psychologists training are some implications of these results.

The focal article by Griep and colleagues raises some highly important issues and it is timely to further advance organizational behavior (OB) and work and organizational psychology (WOP). It comes at the right time because the last two decades can be characterized by two opposing trends. On the one hand, there have been exciting developments in statistical methods to appropriately model time in statistical analyses, while on the other hand, the vast majority of studies have not considered time in analyses, or have not done so appropriately. For the sake of brevity, I use ‘temporal design’ and ‘temporal analysis’ as umbrella terms. As Griep et al. succinctly claim, many opportunities for better temporal designs and temporal analyses have been missed and there is a strong need to do better in the future. In this commentary, I add to some of the important issues raised and call for changes in future research.