Search

The national psychological profile of a country/culture has important practical implication in today's globalized world and psychological characteristics of a country/culture might be used as a basis for effective public policy designed o reduce social inequalities/inequities. Recent developments in the field (e.g., Rentfrow et al., 2013; Rentfrow, Jokela, & Lamb, 2015) have extended this approach from national level analysis to regional analysis, in order to understand the psychological profile of different geographical regions within a country. For Romania, a national psychological profile (David, 2015a) and a regional one (David, Iliescu, Matu, & Balazsi R., 2015) for personality have been recently elaborated. However, the relationship between geographic areas in Romania and cognitive abilities, such as intelligence, has not been investigated. The present article examined the differences in intelligence levels across eight broad geographical regions of Romania. The total sample (N = 2755) was a national representative one, with ages between 5 and 89 years. We compared intelligence scores across the eight regions in a multifactorial analysis of variance while controlling for the effects of demographic variables. Results show that there are no major differences in intelligence between the eight geographical areas. Thus, intelligence has a quite homogenous distribution across Romania. Education and age had the highest impact on intelligence scores. Implications for educational policies are discussed to counter social inequalities/inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a high aggregation of anxiety in families. The aim of the current study was to investigate the role of negative automatic thoughts in the transmission of anxiety from mothers to their offspring. Participants were one-hundred-twenty-eight children and adolescents recruited from several Romanian schools and their mothers. We tested a mediation model, in which negative automatic thoughts significantly mediated the relationship between mother's and child's social anxiety symptoms. Our findings show that negative automatic thoughts can be an important mechanism that could explain the tendency of anxiety disorders to run in families. Finally, the clinical implications of such findings in the current treatments of children' and adolescents' anxiety disorders are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present article, we report a preliminary study on psychometric properties of Utrecht Early Numeracy Test (ENT), Romanian version, form B. This is a test developed to measure the unitary construct of early numeracy, in pre-schoolers, kindergartners and first graders. Currently, in Romania there is a lack of standardized instruments to assess mathematical competence, moreover in preschool and kindergarten children. A valid and reliable instrument that assesses early numeracy in development would be useful in the identification of children with risk to develop mathematical difficulties, as well as in informing the process of school guidance/ school preparedness evaluation. Preliminary psychometric data indicate it to be an adequate instrument for measuring early numerical competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorders are highly disabling conditions having early onset and poor prognosis the later the intervention is initiated. Although dedicated screening tools for autism spectrum disorders have already been reported in the literature, no one has been adapted for use with Romanian population. Therefore, the goal of this study was to preliminary validate a screening questionnaire for autism spectrum disorders. This instrument (i.e., Chestionarul de Screening pentru Tulburari de Spectru Autist, CS-TSA) has been developed specifically to fit the particularities of the Romanian society. More specifically, the CS-TSA was developed by specialists within the Romanian Health Ministry to be use in a context that would maximize its usefulness, i.e., in the offices of the Romanian general practitioners. Our preliminary results indicated that CS-TSA has adequate psychometric properties and can be use successfully for early screening of autism spectrum disorders in general Romanian population. With this study, we hope to provide an initial step towards establishing large scale, affordable, feasible, and efficient screening procedures, in an effort to identify early cases requiring further assessment and specialized assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]