Fostering Successful Communities of Collaboration Through Educational Partnerships

There is an undisputable need to form collaborative partnerships between schools, families, homes, and communities across the nation. Collaborative educational partnerships are the cornerstone for student success. With increasingly diverse student populations, schools must communicate and collaborate with families and communities to bridge the wide gap that exists between home and school. With a dominant Spanish-speaking population of Mexican descent, as that of children living in the Southern tip of the Texas-Mexican border, known as The Rio Grande Valley, barriers such as low social economic status and limited English proficiency may impede much-needed communication between schools, homes, and communities. These barriers that negatively impede student success must be replaced with strong bridges that support student achievement. Recommendations are anchored in opportunities to increase academic and social partnerships among schools, families, homes, and communities. The premise for establishing educational partnerships is ultimately student achievement and success.

Bulimia nervosa: Assessment instruments for Spanish-speaking population / Bulimia nerviosa: Instrumentos de evaluación para población de habla hispana

De la población mundial 7.8% es hispanohablante, esto representa 567 millones de personas y se calcula que para 2050 esta cifra se elevará, además, el español es el segundo idioma de comunicación a nivel internacional; con este contexto y a casi cuatro décadas de la aparición formal de la Bulimia Nerviosa (BN), es necesario conocer cuáles y cómo son los instrumentos para evaluar los síntomas de la BN en este tipo de población. Por tanto, el objetivo de la presente investigación fue describir los cuestionarios para evaluar en población de habla hispana los síntomas de BN. Se encontró que México, cuenta con seis instrumentos; España con cinco; Colombia tiene tres instrumentos; Puerto Rico y Cuba cuentan con dos; Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, El Salvador, Venezuela y República Dominicana, cuentan con uno. Estos pueden ser para el tamizaje de síntomas de la BN; o para evaluar los síntomas de la BN como parte de la evaluación de diversas dimensiones; o para evaluar a los familiares/cuidadores en el proceso de tratamiento de la BN. Se concluye que, es alentador que la población de habla hispana cuente con diversos cuestionarios adaptados y validados en su lengua para evaluar los síntomas de la BN.

Spanish adaptation of the Ambivalent Classism Inventory (ACI)

Introduction: Hostile and benevolent classism influence the derogation of poor people and groups, with negative consequences. The present study aims to adapt and validate the Ambivalent Classism Inventory (ACI) to obtain an adequate tool for expanding research on this topic among the Spanish-speaking population. Method: Toward this end, the researchers back-translated the ACI version originally developed for English speakers. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses verify the ACI’s reliability and factor structure with a sample of Mexican participants. Results: The results demonstrated that the adapted scale’s psychometric properties are acceptable. Its original and factor structure are similar to those of the original scale:hostile classism (12 items), protective paternalism (4 items), and complementary class differentiation (4 items). Furthermore, the study tests the convergent and divergent validity of the scale´s sub-dimensions concerning other ideological and socioeconomic variables. Conclusion:The proposed ACI adaptation should contribute to understanding attitudes toward the poor as well as their consequences among Spanish speakers.

Examining the validity and consistency of the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire-Español (AEBQ-Esp) and its relationship to BMI in a Mexican population

Purpose Appetitive traits in adults and their associations with weight can be measured using the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ). The aim of this study was to confirm the factor structure of the Spanish AEBQ (AEBQ-Esp) in a Mexican sample and explore associations between the eight traits with body mass index (BMI). Method A sample of 1023 adults, mean age of 36.8 ± 12.8 years, was recruited from Guadalajara, Mexico. Researchers weighed and measured participants, and they completed the AEBQ-Esp either online or in paper format and reported sociodemographic data. To test two alternative factor structures (eight factors including Hunger; seven factors excluding Hunger), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used. Internal reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha; test–retest reliability was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients. Multivariate linear regressions were used to test for associations between the AEBQ subscales and BMI, adjusted for age, sex, format of AEBQ responses, education, marital and employment status. Results A seven-factor structure was the best model fit using CFA, excluding the Hunger subscale but similar to the original AEBQ. Internal reliability was good for all subscales (Cronbach’s α = 0.70–0.86), and the intra-class correlation coefficient (0.70–0.91) reflected good test–retest reliability. In the fully adjusted models, Satiety Responsiveness [β = − 0.61; (− 1.01, − 0.21)] and Slowness in Eating [β = − 0.70; (− 1.01, − 0.39)] were negatively associated with BMI, and Emotional Over-Eating [β = 0.94; (0.62, 1.27)] was positively associated with BMI. Conclusions The AEBQ-Esp (excluding Hunger) appears to be a valid and reliable psychometric questionnaire for measuring appetitive traits in a Mexican Spanish-speaking population. Some traits appear to be associated with BMI in adulthood and warrant further exploration. Level of evidence Level III evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies. Although this was just an observational study, it was well designed and provided new evidence.

Human Capital Constraints, Spatial Dependence, and Regionalization in Bolivia: A Spatial Clustering Approach

Using a novel dataset, this article studies the spatial distribution of human capital constraints across 339 municipalities in Bolivia. In particular, five human capital constraints are evaluated: chronic malnutrition in children, non-Spanish speaking population, secondary dropout rate of males, secondary dropout rates of females, and inequality in years of education. Through the lens of principal components, spatial dependence, and regionalization methods, the municipalities are endogenously classified according to their similarity in human capital constraints and geographical location. Results from the spatial dependence analysis indicate the specific location of significant hot spots (high-value clusters) and cold spots (low-value clusters). A regionalization analysis of the constraints indicates that Bolivia can be regionalized into seven or eight geographical regions. The article concludes discussing the potential complementary of these two analyses and their usefulness in identifying the location of policy priorities.

Validación de una versión breve de la Escala de Dificultades en la Regulación Emocional con población hispanohablante (DERS-S SF)

Emotion regulation refers to all the processes involved in adapting to relatively strong emotional episodes, and specifically to identifying, differentiating and monitoring intense emotional states in order to cope with stressful situations. Difficulties in regulating emotions are associated with problems such as depression, anxiety and maladaptive behaviors. The DERS (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) is the most complete tool for measuring difficulties with emotion regulation. Several brief versions of this scale in English are described in the literature, but no a brief Spanish version has been found. The purpose of this study is to validate a brief version of the DERS in Spanish. The DERS tool was used with a Spanish speaking population (n=351, inhabitants of Cartagena, Colombia, 56% were woman, Mage 39 years, SD = 14.98) who responded the 5-point Likert scale. The brief version (18 items) was validated using confirmatory factor analysis (X2 / df = 1.19, CFI= .99, TLI = .99, RMSEA=.02). However, neither the reliability nor the stability of the awareness dimension was confirmed. This point and other results are examined on the light of extant literature.