The Meaning in Life Questionnaire assesses presence of and search for meaning in life. Although the questionnaire has shown promising psychometric properties in samples from different countries, the scale’s measurement invariance across a large number of nations has yet to be assessed. This study is aimed at addressing this gap, providing insight into how meaning in life is constructed and experienced across countries and into the extent to which cross-country comparisons can be made. A total of 3867 adult participants from 17 countries, aged 30–60, balanced by gender, and with at least secondary education, completed the questionnaire as part of the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation. Single sample confirmatory factor analysis, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, and alignment optimization were applied to investigate the scale’s performance across the samples. Good psychometric properties and high levels of approximate measurement invariance emerged for the Presence subscale after removal of item 9, the only reverse-phrased item. Performance of the Search subscale varied more across samples, suggesting caution in interpreting related results supporting approximate measurement invariance. The conceptualization of presence of meaning operationalized in the corresponding subscale (without item 9) appears consistent across countries, whereas search for meaning seems to be less universally homogenous and requires further exploration. Moreover, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire does not reflect the conceptual distinction between “purpose” and “meaning” currently acknowledged by researchers. This issue should be further explored in studies addressing the scale’s performance across cultures.

Se ha demostrado en la literatura que el estrés y la felicidad se han relacionado de diversas maneras, y estas a su vez, también se relacionan con la práctica de actividad física (AF). El objetivo de este trabajo fue poner a prueba el papel de la AF en la reducción del estrés y el aumento de la felicidad, así como su rol mediador en la relación entre ambas variables. Concretamente, se pusieron a prueba las siguientes hipótesis: 1) la percepción del estrés (con o sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica difieren en función del nivel de AF; 2) a mayor práctica de AF, mayor percepción de control en la situación estresante y menor percepción de sentirse sobrepasado por la situación; 3) a mayor práctica de AF mayor felicidad auténtica; y 4) la relación entre la percepción del estrés (con o sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica está mediada por la AF. Participaron 938 estudiantes de licenciatura, con un rango de edad de 17 a 51 años (M = 20.25, DT = 3.34), 521 mujeres y 417 hombres. Respecto a la actividad física (AF) que realizan: 15.1% no realiza ninguna actividad; 19.7% realiza actividad irregular; 28% actividad física moderada (2hrs/sem); y 37.1% actividad intensa (20min/día, 5 veces/sem). Los participantes contestaron la PSS (Cohen, Kamarck, y Mermelstein, 1983) y el AHI (Shepherd, Oliver, y Schofield, 2015). Mediante análisis descriptivos, ANOVAs y modelos de regresión mediada se dio respuesta a las hipótesis. Los resultados muestran que la percepción del estrés (con o sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica difieren significativamente en función del nivel de AF. Concretamente, a mayor nivel de práctica de AF mayor percepción de control ante una situación estresante y mayor felicidad auténtica; mientras que a menor práctica de AF, mayor percepción de verse sobrepasado ante una situación estresante. Por último, el nivel de actividad física media la relación entre el estrés percibido (con control de la situación estresante y sin control de la situación estresante) y la felicidad auténtica. Con base a los resultados concluimos que la AF ayuda a percibir un menor estrés ante situaciones demandantes, por lo que promueve un bienestar psicológico. Previous literature has shown that stress and happiness are related in various ways, and both variables have been also related to physical activity (PA) practice. The objective of the present study was to test the role of PA in the decrement of stress and increment of happiness, and additionally to test its mediator role in the relationship between the two aforementioned variables. Concretely, the following hypotheses were tested: 1) the perceived stress (with or without control of the stressful situation) and the authentic happiness differ across different levels of PA; 2) subjects with higher practice of PA will show higher perceived control and lower loss of control in stressful situations; 3) subjects with higher practice of PA will show higher authentic happiness; and 4) the relationship between perceived stress (with or without control of the stressful situation) and authentic happiness is mediated by PA. Participants were 938 undergraduate students from different careers, with an age range from 17 to 51 years (M = 20.25, SD = 3.34), 521 women and 417 men. Regarding physical activity (PA) practice: 15.1% does not to do any activity; 19.7% does an irregular PA; 28% does moderate PA (2hrs / week); and 37.1% does intense PA (20min/day, 5 times/week). Participants answered the PSS (Cohen, Kamarck, y Mermelstein, 1983) and the AHI (Shepherd, Oliver, y Schofield, 2015). We used descriptive analysis, ANOVAs and mediated regression models to test the hypotheses. Results showed that perceived stress (with or without control of the stressful situation) and authentic happiness differ significantly across PA levels. Concretely, higher level of PA practices was related to higher perception of control in a stressful situation and to higher authentic happiness; otherwise, the lower the PA practice, the greater the perception of being overwhelmed by a stressful situation. Finally, the level of physical activity mediated the relationship between perceived stress (with and without control of the stressful situation) and authentic happiness. Based on these results, we concluded that PA helps to perceive less stress in demanding situations, thus promoting psychological well-being. Tem sido demonstrado na literatura que o stress e a felicidade têm sido relacionados de várias formas, e estas, por sua vez, também estão relacionadas com a prática da actividade física (AP). O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar o papel da AF na redução do estresse e no aumento da felicidade, bem como o seu papel mediador na relação entre ambas as variáveis. Especificamente, foram testadas as seguintes hipóteses: 1) a percepção do estresse (com ou sem controle da situação estressante) e a autêntica felicidade diferem de acordo com o nível de AF; 2) quanto maior a prática de AF, maior a percepção de controle na situação estressante e menor a percepção de sentir-se sobrecarregado pela situação; 3) quanto maior a prática de AF, maior a autêntica felicidade; e 4) a relação entre a percepção do estresse (com ou sem controle da situação estressante) e a autêntica felicidade é mediada pela AF. Um total de 938 estudantes de graduação, com idades entre 17 e 51 anos (M = 20,25, SD = 3,34), 521 mulheres e 417 homens participaram. Em relação à...

El propósito de la presente investigación fue explorar la relación entre las calificaciones académicas de los estudiantes con su tendencia apresentar conductas emocionales de ansiedad en el ámbito escolar mediante un estudio empírico descriptivo transversal. Adicionalmente seexploró la relación de esas dos variables con la probabilidad de fracaso escolar. Participaron 385 estudiantes de secundaria, que aspirabana ingresar al bachillerato en una escuela pública. El rendimiento académico se evaluó a partir del promedio de secundaria, así como deuna prueba de admisión. La probabilidad de deserción escolar se evaluó mediante una prueba de autorreporte (Hernández-Pozo, 2005).Adicionalmente se empleó una tarea computarizada basada en la versión emocional del paradigma de Stroop para medir la tendencia a laansiedad escolar (Hernández-Pozo, Macías-Martínez, & Torres-Chávez, 2004). Se encontró que los estudiantes con las calificaciones más altasen la prueba de admisión, con mejores promedios en secundaria o con menor riesgo de deserción, difirieron de sus contrapartes en cuantoa los índices de interferencia de la prueba Stroop. Se concluye que la prueba emocional Stroop es un instrumento que refleja de maneraordenada el riesgo a la deserción escolar y el perfil académico de los aspirantes al bachillerato.

This study presents a translation of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) into Mexican Spanish, and examines its psychometric properties as well as its relationship with socio-demographic variables. The MAAS measures the frequency with which people experience mindful states. A sample of N = 622 healthy adult Mexicans completed the MAAS. A smaller sub-sample (n=195) completed the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), a well-known mindfulness measure, to obtain concurrent validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed a one-factor solution, and reliability coefficients were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed adequate goodness of fit indexes. Moreover, relationships between Mexican Spanish MAAS scores and socio-demographic variables were also explored, and differences between-groups were found in mean scores both in alcohol consumers and religious practitioners. No other significant differences betweengroups were found. Results suggest that the Mexican version of the MAAS is a reliable and valid instrument to use with a healthy adult Mexican sample.

The present study aimed to analyze the relationship between perceived stress and happiness in Mexican adults, and test for differences in both variables according to the health disease condition. The sample consisted of 762 Mexican adults with an average age of 44.96 years, of which 70.3% reported not suffering from any disease. The Perceived Stress Scale and the Authentic Happiness Inventory were used. In addition, participants reported if they suffer from any disease, later selecting from a list of options. Using the SPSS v.24, frequency, descriptive, correlation and analysis of variance of one factor were performed. Negative and statistically significant correlation between perceived stress and happiness was found. On the other hand, only significant differences were observed in the subscale of perceived stress “overwhelmed by the situation” being greater in the group of people with an acute illness, compared to the group of healthy people. The main findings as well as implications for psychological practice are discussed.

Objective: most healthy and unhealthy behaviors are acquired or consolidated during youth, thus a good investment in the future of any nation, should be to promote the development of young people, incorporating them into projects and programs that aspire to increase their subjective wellbeing and personal health. The Psycho-Educational Intervention (PEI) presented here has been shown to have effects on the health andwellbeing of students as well as on their academic performance. However, its effectson strength of character, emotional balance and emotional intelligence are unknown.Materials and methods: in this paper it was shows the effects of this PEI on positiveeducation in a group of 18 students through three questionnaires: VIA-240, PANAS-20and PIEMO. To estimate the effects of the PEI, a comparison was made betweenthe scores obtained on the three questionnaires before and after the PEI sessions.Results: the results show that not only did character strengths, positive affect and emotional intelligence improve with PEI, but that also the character strengths and theemotional bearings arranged in a network topography changed with intervention. Also, there were some changes in the most connected nodes of the network. Conclusions:these results show that PEI improved the previous reported variables, they also show the way in which the balance of the positive and negative affects, the development of emotional intelligence and the enhancement of character strengths give access to the three pillars of positive psychology.