Perspectives from 22 countries on aspects of the legal environment for selection are presented in this article. Issues addressed include (a) whether there are racial/ethnic/religious subgroups viewed as “disadvantaged,” (b) whether research documents mean differences between groups on individual difference measures relevant to job performance, (c) whether there are laws prohibiting discrimination against specific groups, (d) the evidence required to make and refute a claim of discrimination, (e) the consequences of violation of the laws, (f) whether particular selection methods are limited or banned, (g) whether preferential treatment of members of disadvantaged groups is permitted, and (h) whether the practice of industrial and organizational psychology has been affected by the legal environment.

Nancy Darling Oberlin CollegeSe reporta el análisis psicométrico de la Escala Parental Breve (EPB), desarrollada a partir del PSI II (Darling & Toyokawa, 1997). La EPB se compone de 3 subescalas: 2 que evalúan dimensiones del estilo parental (responsividad/ calidez y demanda parental) y una que evalúa la práctica parental de monitoreo. Se utilizó una muestra intencionada de adolescentes chilenos (segunda medición N = 1426, 53% mujeres; tercera medición N = 1342, 51% mujeres; cuarta medición N = 879, 51% mujeres) de 6 colegios particulares, subvencionados y municipales de la Región Metropolitana, reclutados para un estudio longitudinal sobre desarrollo de autonomía en adolescentes y relaciones entre padres y adolescentes. Mediante análisis factorial exploratorio se evaluó la dimensionalidad de la EPB en la segunda medición. Los análisis factoriales confirmatorios apoyaron la invarianza métrica de la EPB por género, nivel socioeconómico y edad, en la tercera medición, y la estabilidad temporal de la escala, comparando las mediciones 3 y 4. Las correlaciones de las escalas del instrumento con otros indicadores de comportamiento parental y de bienestar en los adolescentes apoyaron la validez concurrente de la EPB. Palabras clave: estilo parental, adolescencia, análisis psicométrico, invarianza métricaThe article reports the psychometric analysis of the Escala Parental Breve (EPB), a scale developed from the PSI II (Darling & Toyokawa, 1997). The EPB includes 3 subscales: 2 dimensions of parenting style (parental warmth and demand) and parental monitoring, a parenting practice. A purposive sample of Chilean adolescents was used (second wave N = 1426, 53% female; third wave N = 1342, 51% female; fourth wave N = 879, 51% female), recruited from 6 private, subsidized private, and public schools in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago for a longitudinal study of the development of autonomy in adolescence and the relationships between parents and adolescents. Exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate the dimensionality of the EPB in the second wave. The results of confirmatory factor analysis of the third wave of data supported the metric invariance of the scale by gender, socioeconomic status, and age. Comparisons between the third and fourth wave provided evidence for the temporal stability of the instrument. The correlations of the instrument's scales with other indicators of parental behavior and adolescent well-being supported the concurrent validity of the EPB.

Depressive symptoms are prevalent in adolescence, but not all adolescents experience the same level or evolution of symptoms, suggesting the need to identify differences in trajectories of symptoms. We used Growth Mixture Modeling to analyze different trajectories of depressive symptoms in a sample of 1,072 Chilean adolescents (12-15 years old, 54% female). First, a baseline model was selected and then adolescent irritability, maternal warmth, demandingness and disrespect were introduced to the model as predictors of class membership. Four latent class trajectories of depressive symptoms were identified: high persistent (12%), low stable (56%), high decreasing (15%) and low increasing (17%). Low stable was the most prevalent class, and was characterized by higher maternal warmth and lower maternal disrespect and adolescent irritability while high persistent was characterized by the opposite maternal characteristics. Significant gender differences in class membership were observed. The results highlight the importance of identifying different trajectories of depressive symptoms and specific predictors of each trajectory. The association of parenting dimensions with trajectories of persistent depressive symptoms provides evidence that parenting can serve as both a protective and risk factor for adolescent adjustment.

Dysferlinopathy is an autosomal recessive muscular dystrophy resulting from mutations in the dysferlin gene. Absence of dysferlin in the sarcolemma and progressive muscle wasting are hallmarks of this disease. Signs of oxidative stress have been observed in skeletal muscles of dysferlinopathy patients, as well as in dysferlin-deficient mice. However, the contribution of the redox imbalance to this pathology and the efficacy of antioxidant therapy remain unclear. Here, we evaluated the effect of 10 weeks diet supplementation with the antioxidant agent N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 1%) on measurements of oxidative damage, antioxidant enzymes, grip strength and body mass in 6 months-old dysferlin-deficient Bla/J mice and wild-type (WT) C57 BL/6 mice. We found that quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles of Bla/J mice exhibit high levels of lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyls and superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, which were significantly reduced by NAC supplementation. By using the Kondziela’s inverted screen test, we further demonstrated that NAC improved grip strength in dysferlin deficient animals, as compared with non-treated Bla/J mice, without affecting body mass. Together, these results indicate that this antioxidant agent improves skeletal muscle oxidative balance, as well as muscle strength and/or resistance to fatigue in dysferlin-deficient animals.

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