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This study investigated the psychological impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among youth by analyzing their emotional/behavioral problems before and during the long-lasting lockdown in Spain. For that purpose, 699 parents with children aged 6-17 and 552 adolescents aged 12-17, who completed the parent and adolescent version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at the beginning of 2019, responded to a survey from 26 May to 15 June 2020 that assessed psychological well-being and life conditions during quarantine (i.e., sociodemographic characteristics, situation before the lockdown, physical environment and accompaniment during the lockdown, COVID-related variables). According to both parent- and self-reports, children and youth experienced a significant worsening in emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems, and total difficulties subscales. Findings also suggested that impairment was mainly associated with variables related to the child's situation prior to home quarantine, the quality and quantity of the child's social networks during the lockdown, the daily routines the child followed, the concerns the child had about health, and the presence of economic and learning problems caused by the COVID-19. Thus, the present investigation emphasizes the need for carefully monitoring the mental health of younger people, provides guidance for the development of interventions that mitigate some of the psychological difficulties faced in a situation of confinement, and highlights the importance of paying special attention to high-risk groups.

This introductory chapter presents the Parliamentary Elites of Latin America (PELA-USAL) project, which has conducted interviews with Latin American legislators in the lower chambers of political representation for more than 20 years. The following emphasizes the PELA-USAL project’s methodology, as well as its most important inputs and future challenges. Based on the experience of researchers from the project, our aim here is to re-think several issues (such as data mining) that arise during the research process, taking into account the wealth of available information (after two decades of development) and the particularities that parliamentary elites present as an object of study. First we consider the main issues inherent in the study of elites from a theoretical-methodological perspective. Second, the principles treated in the first section are related directly to the PELA-USAL project. Finally, discussion of the main challenges and future agenda for the project is provided. All of this is supported by the specialized bibliography, as well as by data from the project itself.

This chapter discusses the confidence that parliamentarians have in certain political institutions. In this sense, the research follows previous works based on data relating to the opinions of citizens. Here, we propose an index that allows comparison between countries and see the weight of their different components. The variation in political confidence in recent years is also discussed to know the relationship between the aggregate levels of political trust of parliamentary elites in institutions with the explanatory factors frequently used by the literature on this topic for the analysis of political confidence in public opinion.

Many studies suggest that mixed-member electoral systems produce different attitudes and behaviors among representatives. This article assesses how this type of electoral system shapes Bolivian legislators' perceptions of their roles as representatives, their district activities, and their relationships with their political parties. It examines these dimensions using elite survey data and interviews with legislators and their personal assistants. The results show that the electoral system does not produce a uniform impact. It shapes how legislators perceive their role as representatives and the nature of the relationship they build with their political parties, but it does not produce differences in the kinds of activities that both types of legislators carry out in their districts.

Biodiversity is currently declining in the Mediterranean, particularly in freshwater ecosystems. The Iberian Peninsula is not an exception with many fish species threatened or endangered. This is the case of Parachondrostoma arrigonis, which has experienced a marked reduction of more than 80 % in both number and area of occupancy in the last 20 years. Species historical records showed a widespread distribution in the Jucar Basin, but according to recent records, P. arrigonis was completely absent in the main river course, being restricted to only some tributaries. Current fish distribution was grouped into only seven fish population nuclei geographically isolated among them. Only two population nuclei showed with well-developed fish populations. Factors affecting P. arrigonis distribution are associated to human activities, such as river channelization, flow regulation, pollution and habitat degradation, being concentrated in the middle and lower river reaches where the Jucar nase is in marked regression. Another key factor was the presence of introduced species, reporting a strong spatial segregation with the translocated Pseudochondrostoma polylepis, an ecologically similar species, and with the exotic piscivorous Micropterus salmoides and Esox lucius, which are currently occupying most of the P. arrigonis historical range. Because its dramatic situation, conservation measures must be urgently taken, for instance, by establishing conservation areas, an exotic fish removal programme, and by developing a flow regulation program to minimize dam effects. However it is necessary to increase our knowledge regarding the habitat requirements of the Jucar nase and its interactions with invasive species. If measures are not implemented its extinction seems inevitable.

Individuals with substance dependence (ISD) frequently show signs of impaired emotion processing, self-regulation and decision-making, even after prolonged abstinence from drug use and partial recovery of other neuropsychological functions. These impairments have been associated with alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in lesion and imaging studies. The aim of this study was to examine the performance of a group of ISD, who had been abstinent for at least 4 months, on a series of emotional perception, self-regulation and decision-making tests sensitive to OFC dysfunction. Thirty ISD (poly-substance abusers in their first year of abstinence) and 35 healthy comparison (HC) participants were in the study. We administered the Ekman Faces Test (EFT), the Revised Strategy Application Test (R-SAT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to both ISD and HC. Results showed that the ISD presented significant deficits in the recognition of facial emotional expressions and decision-making as measured by the EFT and the IGT. The ISD also showed poorer strategy awareness, impaired self-regulation and higher impulsivity on the R-SAT. We found significant correlations between the different measures linked to OFC functioning. We did not find significant correlations between length of abstinence and performance on these tests. These results suggest that the evaluation of emotion, self-regulation and decision-making contributes greatly to the characterization of the persistent deficits exhibited by ISD during prolonged abstinence.

Increasing evidence indicates that substance abusers are impaired in cognitive-executive control tasks relying on different functional systems converging in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Different PFC functional systems relevant to addiction have been described: the dorsolateral (DLC), orbitofrontal (OFC), and anterior cingulate (ACC) circuits. Each system is associated with different behavioral, cognitive, and emotional deficits, including apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction. In this study, we examined the effects of severity of use of different drugs on apathy, disinhibition and executive dysfunction behavioral deficits as measured by the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe). The FrSBe, and a severity of substance use interview were administered to 32 poly-substance abusers. Multiple regression analyses showed that severity of cannabis use significantly predicted greater apathy and executive dysfunction behavior; and that severity of cocaine use significantly predicted greater disinhibition behavior. These results are consistent with previous studies using cognitive measures and support the notion that severity of substance use significantly affects behavioral symptoms associated with PFC systems functioning. These clinical symptoms should be specifically addressed during rehabilitation.

This study aims to provide information on parliament from a different point of view: that of its members. It explores the characteristics that define them, and the aspects that motivate and preoccupy them, and bring them satisfaction through the performance of their activity in the chambers of deputies throughout Latin America. This study also seeks to establish similarities between the different countries as regards the behavior, perceptions and sensations of their parliamentary class.