Violence in schools is a global issue. Approximately 32% of Mexican students have experienced some form of violence in the school setting in their lives. Previous research has tended to focus on the ...causes of violence and antisocial behaviors in offenders or adolescent samples and has found evidence to suggest the underlying role of environmental and personal factors. The present study investigates the effect of positive school environment and agreeableness as protective factors against antisocial behaviors in a sample of undergraduate and graduate students (
= 304) from northwestern Mexico. Our results demonstrate that a positive school environment has a negative effect on antisocial behaviors via mood and anxiety disorders as well as in interaction with agreeableness, suggesting an interplay between personality and environment. These findings can provide some basis for the development of university programs aimed at fostering positive environments that promote student mental health and protect against antisocial behaviors.
The first lines of defense during an epidemic are behavioral interventions, including stay-at-home measures or precautionary health training, aimed at reducing contact and disease transmission. ...Examining the psychosocial variables that may lead to greater adoption of such precautionary behaviors is critical. The present study examines predictors of precautionary practices against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 709 Mexican participants from 24 states. The study was conducted via online questionnaire between the end of March and the beginning of April 2020, when the pandemic response was in its initial stages in Mexico. The instrument included demographic items, as well as scales assessing COVID-19-resembling symptoms, empathy, impulsivity, anhedonic depression, general health practices, alcohol consumption, and COVID-19-associated precautionary behaviors. Most participants reported adopting limited social distancing or other precautionary behaviors against COVID-19. The results of a structural equation model demonstrated that the presence of COVID-19 symptoms was related to impulsivity and general health behaviors. However, no direct association between precautionary behaviors and the presence of COVID-19 symptoms was found. In turn, precautionary behaviors were more prevalent among participants who reported higher empathy and general health behaviors and were inhibited indirectly by impulsivity via alcohol consumption. Furthermore, the model suggests that anhedonic depression symptoms have a negative indirect effect on precautionary behaviors via general health behaviors. Finally, impulsivity showed a negative direct effect on general health behavior. These results highlight the role that general physical health and mental health play on precautionary behavior and the critical importance of addressing issues such as depression, general health behaviors, and impulsivity in promoting safe actions and the protection of self and others.
Theoretically, a positive environment (PE) includes (a) tangible and intangible resources that satisfy human needs, (b) enablers of healthy, pro-social, and pro-environmental behaviors that guarantee ...socio-environmental quality and wellbeing, and (c) environmental challenges that must be faced and solved. One of the most salient challenges is the global COVID-19 pandemic. This study sought to investigate whether PEs can stimulate responsible actions (i.e., self-care and precautionary behaviors against COVID-19), while maintaining personal wellbeing. Nine hundred and forty-nine Mexicans participated in an online survey encompassing five primary factors: resources, enablers, challenges, responsible health behaviors, and wellbeing. The first three factors examine "resources" such as physical infrastructure as well as family and social support, "enablers" which include information about protective health practices and perceived legitimacy of authorities in handling the pandemic, and "challenges" encompassing threat perception and social pressure to not engage in precautionary measures. Participants also self-reported hedonic wellbeing as well as self-care and precautionary behaviors, which formed the "responsible (health) behavior" factor. Structural equations model (
= 714 after list-wise deletion) showed that "resources," "challenges," and "enablers" form a second-order factor, "positive environments," and this factor strongly covaries with "responsible behavior" and "wellbeing." These results suggest that PEs are not only buffers against the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but can also stimulate effective responses against a threat while maintaining individual wellbeing. These results can be used to inform the development and maintenance of PE frameworks aimed at minimizing the spread of COVID-19 and encouraging mental and physical health.
•Mexico is working to comply with the observations made by the Committee.•Mexico still does not have the institutional resources to comply with its legislation.•Mexico is on the way to shift its ...child protection system to a child-centered orientation.•The main protection measure remains residential care.•The implementation of family foster care programs has been recently initiated in Mexico.
In 2014 Mexico created the General Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, which establishes a new organization of the child protection system that legally complies with the requirements of international treaties. Since this change, the focus of attention of policy makers, civil society organizations and society in general has been on child protection. However, not many studies have addressed the Mexican child protection system. This research aims to present the evolution of the system, its structure, remaining gaps and provide suggestions for policy, research, and practice. We conclude that the system is legally well embedded, however, it is necessary to strengthen the institutions with economic resources and trained personnel to carry out adequate practices to implement the system that is legally portrayed. There is a need to update the available information on the situation of children in order to evaluate the system and carry out appropriate research that will serve as a basis for new practices.
Investigaciones previas sugieren que las conductas antisociales y delictivas son más prevalentes en individuos que presentan una baja inteligencia emocional, así como en aquellos que perciben una ...baja probabilidad de sanción y una nula legitimidad de las autoridades. El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar los efectos de la inteligencia emocional, la disuasión (específicamente la percepción de probabilidad de recibir sanción) y la legitimidad de las autoridades en la conducta antisocial en reclusos en comparación con un grupo control. El grupo de reclusos estuvo compuesto por 105 sujetos provenientes de un Centro de Reinserción Social de una ciudad del noroeste de México, con una media de edad de 32.03 años (DE = 8.986); y el grupo control, por 105 adultos sin antecedentes penales, con una media de edad de 32.08 años (DE = 10.094). Ambas muestras seleccionadas por conveniencia. Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas en las escalas de inteligencia emocional (t = –4.14, p < .001), legitimidad (t = –3.09, p < .01) y probabilidad de castigo (t = –4.66, p < .001); específicamente, la d de Cohen indicó que la muestra control presentó mayor inteligencia emocional (d = –0.81), mayor percepción de legitimidad (d = –0.60) y mayor percepción de probabilidad de sanción (d = –0.90) en contraste con la muestra de reclusos. Dentro del modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, las variables de inteligencia emocional y percepción de probabilidad de castigo influyeron en el comportamiento antisocial, lo cual indica que posiblemente las competencias emocionales podrían repercutir sobre el temor de recibir alguna sanción ante la comisión de determinadas conductas antisociales.
Antisocial behavior (AB) is a complex phenomenon, predicted by a wide range of biological, environmental, and personality factors. These have high human and economic costs especially in adolescents, ...highlighting the importance of investigating factors that may be associated with these behaviors. Among the most potent predictors of AB are early life experiences and personality. To this end, the present study sought to investigate the association between early life parental abuse and behavioral activation system (BAS) personality traits assessed within the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) framework and antisocial behaviors in Mexican adolescents. Our sample consisted of 342 adolescents (Mage = 17, SD = 2.47) from northwestern Mexico. Participants, after parental consent and participant consent/assent (if minors), self-reported early life parental abuse, current BAS personality traits, and antisocial behaviors. Through structural equation models, our results suggest there is a positive association between early life parental abuse and antisocial behaviors, as well as a negative association with BAS personality traits (R2 = 37%). These results contribute to the current literature by suggesting that personality and environmental variables can predict adolescent antisocial behaviors. Future studies should explore the interplay between these variables longitudinally and investigate both risk and protective factors, as well as negative and positive outcomes.
Residential care continues to be the primary child protection measure for children in Mexico given the limited access to family placements and family support programmes. Legislation regulating ...residential care homes was not enacted until 2014. The first census of children in care was conducted in 2015. Prior to that year, key information such as how many children were placed in residential care, who was caring after them, what kinds of living conditions they faced, and their families histories was not well documented. To date, there remains a lack of reliable information on the number of children in residential care but it is estimated to be approximately 26,000. The lack of oversight has contributed to serious violations of children's rights. This article presents an overview of residential care in Mexico, including profiles of the children, families, and professionals involved. It also outlines the residential care process and various factors involved in decision‐making, with special attention to children from minoritized groups. We conclude that residential care in Mexico still presents a myriad of challenges and obstacles to providing comprehensive care for children.
Law can shape individual and social behavior in different ways including through perceived control and legitimacy of authorities. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether legitimacy ...of authorities, social and personal control, and social cohesion influence antisocial behaviors in juvenile offenders. The study, included a sample of two hundred juvenile offenders in Mexico, used structural equation modeling to test the relationship between the perception of just treatment by police and judges (i.e., legitimacy) and social and personal control and outcomes of antisocial behaviors and tendencies (self-report and probability of antisocial behavior as well as reports of peer antisocial behavior). Results indicate legitimacy of authorities and personal control had a negative effect while social control showed a positive effect on these behaviors. Social cohesion had a positive effect on social control. Our results suggest that legitimacy of authorities and personal control act as protective factors against antisocial behaviors whereas, contrary to the expected results, social control may be a risk factor. This research highlights the importance of preventative protective efforts in juvenile offenders such as just treatment and development of personal control rather than the use of punitive processes. In this sense, it is important to consider alternatives for judicial involvement and punishment such as community programs as well as cognitive and emotional prevention and intervention efforts to reduce antisocial behaviors. Programs such as the Reasoning and Rehabilitation Program, other cognitive skill interventions as well as developmental prevention programs have shown efficacy.
The sustainability of positive environments Corral-Verdugo, Victor; Frías-Armenta, Martha
Environment, Development and Sustainability,
08/2016, Volume:
18, Issue:
4
Journal Article, Book Review
Peer reviewed
Inspired by the emergence of the positive psychology (PP) movement, recent environmental psychology studies have identified a need for further inquiry into “positive environments” (PEs). Recognizing ...that PP has largely neglected the role of environmental factors in the appearance of positivity, this paper proposes the study of person–environment relations in order to explain human well-being, psychological growth, sustainable behaviors, and other psychological positive factors, in addition to studying the material and social well-being that a positive environment provides. The traditional view of environmental positivity (i.e., the environment as an inexhaustible and infinite source of resources that satisfy human needs) is contrasted against an ecological vision of PE in which the conservation of the quality of the environment is as important as the satisfaction of human needs. A definition of positive environment is presented and discussed, which conceives PE as a context that promotes individual and collective benefits and that also influences human predispositions to conserve—in the long run—the sociophysical structures on which life depends.
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