This study investigated lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) transfer in three dairy farming areas in the Mantaro river headwaters in the central Peruvian Andes and at varying distances from the mining complex at La Oroya. At each of these sites, the transfer of trace metals from the soil to raw milk was estimated, and a hazard assessment for lead and cadmium was carried out in scenarios of minimum, average, and maximum milk consumption in a Peruvian population aged 2–85. Pb and Cd were quantified by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Significantly, the concentrations of lead and cadmium were found to exceed the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization, with a positive geospatial trend correlated with the distance from mining activity. Both Pb and Cd were found to be transferred through the soil–pasture–milk pathway, with the primary source of Cd being phosphate-based fertilizers used in pasture improvement. Pb was found to be the most significant contributor to the Hazard Index (HI) with those under 19 years of age and over 60 recording an HI of >1, with infants being the most vulnerable group due to their greater milk consumption in relation to their body weight. A marginal increase in contamination was observed in the dry season, indicating the need for studies to be expanded over several annual cycles.

This study focused on analyzing the relationship between the psychological characteristics of sports and dimensions of resilience in a group of 200 surfers from Lima and Callao through a cross-sectional investigation with a quantitative approach and correlational design. The Psychological Inventory of Sport Performance (IPED) and the Scale of Resilience in the Sport Context (ERCD) were used to collect data. The results revealed significant and positive correlations between the dimensions of self-confidence, visuo-imaginative control, moti-vational level, positive coping control, and attitudinal control with a high effect of .32, .35, and .39, respectively. In addition, for the visuo-imaginative control and motivational level, their magnitude criteria were low with .28 and .27 respectively, which supports the hypotheses proposed. Likewise, in the analysis of the personal competence dimension of resilience, they show a high effect with a .89. Finally, an inverse correlation (-.22) was found between the negative coping dimension of the IPED and resilience, indicating that greater negative coping is related to less resilience in surfers. This study provides valuable information for understanding the psychological factors that can influence the performance and emotional well-being of surfers.

The Grief Impairment Scale (GIS) is used to measure functional impairment due to grief following the death of a loved one. However, there is no information on its cross-cultural utility. Thus, this study assessed the measurement invariance of the GIS using a large sample of bereaved adults (N = 2060) from Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Colombia. Specifically, we employed two measurement invariance techniques: multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) and the alignment optimization method. The results indicated that the GIS demonstrated configural and metric invariance, but not scalar invariance through MG-CFA. The alignment optimization method indicated the presence of an approximate invariance. Therefore, the results suggest that the GIS measures grief-related impairment similarly across the four Latin American countries. Among the countries examined, Peru reported the highest average score on the GIS and had the highest percentage of cases at risk for clinically relevant functional impairment due to grief (6.2%). These findings support the cross-cultural validity of the GIS and lay the foundation for future comparisons.

Introduction: The present quantitative study of predictive design aims to determine the influence of basic psychological needs and some socio-demographic variables on GRIT, in a sample constituted by scholarship students financed by PRONABEC from a private university in Lima. Methods: The GRIT Scale and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale were applied to 865 students, 54.7% were female, the ages fluctuated between 16 and 47 years of age, 74.5% were residents in Lima. Results: The results demonstrated that Basic Psychological Need’s satisfaction has a positive influence on GRIT. On the other hand, there is a negative relationship between the GRIT dimensions (consistency and perseverance) and BPN frustration. In addition, women and first generation students showed higher GRIT levels. Discussion: This research confirms a high degree of influence of the competence needs satisfaction dimension on the GRIT and the influence of sociodemographic variables in achieving objectives.

The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifically relate to symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identified the most important symptoms of fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible differences in the structure and connectivity of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19. The findings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than differences. Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the differences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic.

The present study aimed to apply a network analysis model to provide an exploratory empirical conceptualization of dynamic networks of posttraumatic growth (PTG) symptoms in 7,434 people who experienced the death of a loved one from COVID-19 in 16 Latin American countries. The Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory: Short Form of Eight Items was used. A non-regularized network with partial correlation coefficients was estimated through the ggmModSelect algorithm. The network architecture was analyzed for each country through its local properties and global properties. The results indicated that the networks differed significantly between countries. The core dimensions in the networks were relating to others, personal strength, and life value and opportunities, which were more related dimensions that reinforce the emergence of PTG in all countries. The findings may be useful to motivate researchers and mental health professionals to consider the importance of the individual dimensions of PTG in groups of people who experienced the death of a loved one from COVID-19 in 16 Latin American countries, as well as their interrelationships.

The objectives of this study were to assess the psychometric properties of the Coach-created Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire (EDMCQ-C) by testing four different hypotheses. A procedure of translation and adaptation of the instrument between different languages and cultures was carried out. A total of 350 national level Brazilian athletes (aged between 15 and 17 years; mean = 17.0, SD = 1.7) completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) were performed. Consistent with previous work on the EDMCQ-C, all solutions failed to achieve suitable levels of fit for a hierarchical model represented by five climate dimensions (autonomy-supportive, controlling, task-involving, ego-involving, and socially-supportive) and two global dimensions (empowering and disempowering). The 2-ESEM solution provided a satisfactory fit for the first-order model with two global factors supported. The 2-ESEM version of the questionnaire showed adequate predictive and discriminant validity, good internal consistency, and invariance across gender. Such results suggest that the EDMCQ-C is a promising scale to assess Brazilian athletes’ perception of the over-arching empowering and disempowering features of the coach-created motivational climate.

The Social Anomie Brief Scale (SAS10) is a self-report measure of social anomie against new social standards implemented during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the invariance of the cross-cultural measurement of the SAS10 in a sample of 12 Latin American countries. Additionally, the difficulty and discrimination characteristics of the items were evaluated using the IRT and social anomie was compared between the participating countries. A total of 4,911 people from 12 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) selected by non-probabilistic snowball sampling participated. The results indicated that the original two-factor model of the SAS10 shows estimation problems and low fit indices in several countries. However, a model of two related dimensions (behavioral and affective) of nine items (SAS-9) presented adequate fit indices in all countries. This model presents adequate estimation of reliability and approximate cross-cultural measurement invariance. Peru was the country with the highest score in the behavioral dimension of social anomie; while Venezuela and Bolivia presented the highest scores in the affective dimension. Mexico was one of the countries with the lowest anomie scores. The results of the IRT would indicate that the characteristics of the SAS-9 items were appropriate. It is concluded that the SAS-9 has shown good psychometric properties when evaluated in 12 Latin American countries and can be used in future studies that compare social anomie cross-culturally.

Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the measurement invariance of a general measure of the perception of governmental responses to COVID-|19 (COVID-SCORE-10) in the general population of 13 Latin American countries. Methods: A total of 5780 individuals from 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries selected by non-probabilistic snowball sampling participated. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed and the alignment method was used to evaluate invariance. Additionally, a graded response model was used for the assessment of item characteristics. Results: The results indicate that there is approximate measurement invariance of the COVID-SCORE-10 among the participating countries. Furthermore, IRT results suggest that the COVID-SCORE-10 measures with good psychometric ability a broad spectrum of the construct assessed, especially around average levels. Comparison of COVID-SCORE-10 scores indicated that participants from Cuba, Uruguay and El Salvador had the most positive perceptions of government actions to address the pandemic. Thus, the underlying construct of perception of government actions was equivalent in all countries. Conclusion: The results show the importance of initially establishing the fundamental measurement properties and MI before inferring the cross-cultural universality of the construct to be measured.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify predictors of intention to be vaccinated against Monkeypox (Mpox) in a sample of Peruvian citizens. Methods: A set of sociodemographic and psychological predictors were used, such as sex, sexual orientation, educational level, previous diagnosis of COVID-19, marital status, complete vaccination against COVID-19, employment status, living with vulnerable people, presence of chronic disease, area of residence, perceived usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, fear of Mpox, conspiracy beliefs about Mpox, among others. A total of 472 Peruvian adults participated, selected by non-probabilistic snowball convenience sampling. A sociodemographic survey, the Mpox Fear Scale, was used. Conspiracy Beliefs about Mpox was assessed using three questions created specifically for this study. For inferential purposes, simple ordinal regressions ("crude models") were performed between each factor and the outcome. Results: Regarding their intention to be vaccinated against Mpox, more than 60% expressed clear approval. Being non-heterosexual, having greater emotional fear of Mpox, and perceiving some potential for this disease to become the next pandemic were related to greater intention to vaccinate. On the other hand, being older, having low perceived usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, and having higher conspiracy beliefs about Mpox were associated with lower intention to vaccinate. Conclusion: The study provides initial information for future research seeking to better analyze Mpox vaccination intention. In addition, cross-sectional data are provided that can be used to develop public health policies that target subgroups with low prevalence of intention to vaccinate against Mpox.