The COVID-19 pandemic has led teachers to an unpredictable scenario where the lockdown situation has accelerated the shift from traditional to online educational methods, and relationships have been altered by the avoidance of direct contact with the others, with implications for their mental health. Physical activity seemed to be a factor that could prevent mental disorders such as anxiety or depression in this peculiar situation. Therefore, the aims of this study were to explore how teachers have been affected by the lockdown with respect to their mental health and their relationships in three main fields: work, family, and social relationships, and to know which is the role of physical activity in the mentioned variables. For that purpose, an online survey was designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Results showed that indoor physical activity acts as preventive in lockdown situations, whereas the level of activity does not affect mental health. Also, teachers have experienced higher levels of distress due to the workload generated during the lockdown. In conclusion, to prevent health problems among teachers in future similar situations, it would be important to facilitate the practice of physical activity at home. Furthermore, teacher training in blended or online educational methods would be crucial for their favorable work development.

Giftedness and high abilities have been broadly defined and this fact has led to many problems related to the detection and educational response given to gifted or highly able pupils due to the stereotyped social representations of the concepts. However, the main misconceptions might be changed with the aim of solving the mentioned problems. For this purpose, the aims of this study are to explore the main misconceptions of giftedness and to identify which among them seem to be most and least changeable. A questionnaire with the most extended myths and stereotypes about giftedness was applied in a sample of 824 participants. The items’ analyses were carried out by first studying item-test discrimination indices (test classical theory), and secondly, the a and b parameters of items (item response theory). The results show that there are items that would be easily changeable (9 items) and others less malleable (4 items). Therefore, it might be concluded that the social representation of giftedness would have peripheral elements that could be changed, while there would be less malleable central elements. Thus, different strategies to foster the change of the social representation of giftedness should be considered, which will have social and educational implications.

In this study we aimed to examine the relationship between PMS and some mental health variables (anxiety, depression, neuroticism) and coping strategies. We analyzed their predictive value by assessing 55 women’s symptoms. We found that all the studied health variables and coping strategies were significantly correlated with reported PMS’s Negative Symptomatology scores in the premenstrual phase. Interdisciplinary training programs on instrumental coping strategies might be carried out. In future studies researchers might examine how severe Depression would impact on PMS, and which specific intervention strategies would diminish PMS’s distressing effects on women’s quality of life worldwide.

Digital education is a recently highlighted challenge for educational innovation. This study aimed to discover the educational conditions in which teachers and students may be involved during the pandemic, and how these may affect teachers’ workload and educational quality. A Mixed Methods Design was used, where quantitative and qualitative data were obtained and analyzed. An ad hoc questionnaire was created and sent to teachers of different levels of education (pre-university) and types of school (public and private). Predictive variables of working hours were analyzed by carrying out a multiple regression. Moreover, changes experienced by teachers were studied by analyzing qualitative data. The variables type of teaching, students’ access to electronic resources, and instant training in online teaching predicted teachers’ working hours. Furthermore, participants cited having changes in workload and being overwhelmed during this period, having less contact with students, and experiencing changes in working environment as the most important variables affecting the new working conditions. In conclusion, teachers’ training in online education and the provision of electronic resources for students should be a priority to make online learning possible, to avoid the problem of teachers needing to perform extra work in similar future conditions, and to foster educational innovation.

This study aimed at developing and validating a screening instrument to assess premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) based on DSM-5 criteria, which is not yet available. The Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Questionnaire for DSM-5 (Cuestionario del Trastorno Disfórico Premenstrual - DSM-5), a 25-item questionnaire to assess PMDD was developed and completed in Spanish by 2820 women (Age M=23.43; SD=7.87). Exploratory factor analysis (N=1410) and confirmatory factor analysis (N=1410) were performed in randomly selected subsamples. Empirical evidence of construct validity was obtained via a multitrait-multimethod approach (N=118). Additional validity evidence was provided by associating PMDD with Neuroticism. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were checked. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a bi-dimensional structure. The first dimension, called Dysphoria, included dysphoric symptoms and weight gain; the second dimension, Apathy, referred to apathetic and physical symptoms. Both dimensions displayed good internal consistency coefficients (Dysphoria's ordinal alpha=0.88; Apathy's ordinal alpha=0.84), and moderate temporal stability. The multitrait-multimethod analysis showed that convergent coefficients were higher than discriminant coefficients. Furthermore, a positive relationship between Neuroticism and PMDD was observed. These findings suggest that the instrument is valid and reliable to assess PMDD.

In the 21st century, the university should be an explicit space for developing students’ creative skills. The literature on creativity in Higher Education is scarce, particularly on the students’ perceptions. Thus, this study aims to analyze barriers perceived by Spanish university students compared to Portuguese students to better understand the obstacles found at this educational level. For this purpose, the Inventory of Barriers to Personal Creativity was adapted to Spanish university students. The adaptation process from the Portuguese to the Spanish version followed a forward-backward procedure, and cross-validation analysis was used to study the factor structure. The four-factor structure was maintained, but only 36 of the 44 items were retained in the Spanish version. All factors showed good or very good reliability and explained an important amount of the variance. Some cultural differences between the Portuguese and Spanish versions appeared because Spanish university students perceived fewer barriers to develop creativity. In both cultures, gender and curricular areas’ differences were found, but with some specificities. The study concluded that the instrument has an adequate structure and refers to a specific construct maintained in different cultures. Also, both versions could be applied for further broader and more representative cross-cultural studies, contributing to developing new studies on creativity in Higher Education.