Mauricio Cervigni

Digit span WAIS III is a test frequently used in neuropsychological assessment to explore attentional span and working memory. Although the scientific literature assigns it good to excellent test-retest reliability, these studies have focused on the r coefficient, and not on the intraclass correlation coefficient or ICC. In fact, the objective was to analyze the test-retest reliability for Digit span WAIS III using the ICC. Digit span WAIS III was administered to 85 argentines (average=64.1 years) at two different times with an average test-retest interval of 75.5 days. Digits back and Digits total obtained good reliability with ICC .61. Digits forward presented fair reliability with ICC .57. These results suggest that the temporal stability of the test is acceptable, but with values at the limit. Further reliability studies with ICC and shorter test-retest intervals would be desirable to ratify or rectify these new findings.

BACKGROUND The conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic not only had an impact on the mental health of the population worldwide, but it was also the context in which new instruments were developed to assess said impact. OBJECTIVE This Research Brief reviews the creation and impact of new mental health tools developed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform the mental health scientific community. METHODS It does so through the identification of citations recorded in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search for information took place between May 4 and 5, 2025, and the data retrieved was organized in a table constructed for the purpose of this article. RESULTS The results indicate that two questionnaires developed and administered in China were the most cited ones, and that the scale of fear of COVID-19, originally used in Iran, was the most cited psychometric instrument. CONCLUSIONS During the COVID-19 pandemic, an important development of mental health assessment tools took place, which fostered the availability of more precise scientific information.

Introducción: Se ha abierto un debate mundial orientado a elaborar un nuevo instrumento de política internacional que permita la prevención, preparación y respuesta más adecuadas ante una futura pandemia. Este debate se realiza tras el análisis de las dificultades enfrentadas durante la pandemia de COVID-19 y de la insuficiencia de los instrumentos existentes para dar una respuesta eficaz a ellas. Objetivo: Analizar las diferentes perspectivas planteadas hasta el momento sobre la elaboración de un nuevo tratado sobre pandemias. Método: Se realizó mediante la recuperación y revisión de la literatura científica reciente disponible sobre este debate, utilizando el método PRISMA. Resultados: Se seleccionaron y discutieron 8 documentos completos referidos al debate sobre el tratado de pandemia.

The Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) measures resilience. According to our records, there are no data available regarding its reliability and validity in Argentina. This study investigates its psychometric properties in Argentine adults. We administered the BRCS to 161 Argentines between 50 and 89 years and analyzed its structural validity, internal consistency, and item response. The unidimensional structure yielded a good fit index. Internal consistency was acceptable (ω = .73), including in the analysis of the IRT ( r_xx = .69). The total score was more precise at low levels, so that the BRCS would be useful in adults with low resilience. The BRCS is a valid and reliable measure of resilience in middle-aged and older adults of Argentina.

Introduction: This study examined whether social support (measured with the MOS) and perceived meaning of life (PIL Test) could be related to a lower frequency of symptoms of depression (PHQ-9), generalized anxiety (GAD-7) and fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S), among Colombian adults in quarantine. Methodology: This study was conducted using a quantitative approach, implementing a descriptive, cross-sectional and comparative design. Participated 305 persons from 19 to 71 years old (74.4% women). Linear regressions by steps were implemented, examining the effect of age and sex. Results: The total scores or some subscale of the MOS and the PIL Test explained 54% of the variance of the PHQ-9, 38.3% of the variance of the GAD-7 and 14.4 % of the variance of FCV-19S, presenting the sex and the age significant coefficients in almost all the resulting models. Women obtained significantly higher scores (p≤.05) in fear of COVID-19. Conclusions: These results indicate that an improvement in social support and the sense of life could constitute protective factors of these symptoms in quarantine.

Introduction: This study analyzed the effect of travel restrictions, including closure of borders and the cancellation of international flights in Latin America and the Caribbean, as one of the early measures implemented to control the spread of COVID-19 virus. Methodology: Literature review examining governmental and scientific databases as well as news-press publications. The material obtained was organized according to the dates of the first cases of COVID-19, notifications informing closure of borders, flights suspension, and travel rebound. The data was crosschecked with the reports of the passengers stranded in Latin American countries highlighting governments' roles in response to the pandemic. Results: Travel restrictions and border control measures affected several passengers returning to their country of origin and/or legal residence. Passengers experienced overwhelming challenges impacting their socioeconomic status, families, health, and employment. Discrimination was also a topic addressed. Many citizens of Latin American countries stranded in various Latin American regions were forced to restructure their travel plans and spend several months in places other than their homes. Conclusions: The early measures had several unintended consequences in the lives of countless individuals, despite their effectiveness in decreasing the transmission of the virus

Introducción: las actividades de la vida diaria avanzadas (AVD-A) son un importante indicador del estado funcional adulto y del envejecimiento activo. Sin embargo, pocos estudios investigaron la influencia de dos atributos de personalidad (apertura a nuevas experiencias y resiliencia) sobre las AVD-A y hasta donde se tiene conocimiento no hay datos en contexto argentino. Se analizó la relación de AVD-A con apertura y resiliencia, y secundariamente se examinó la relación entre apertura y resiliencia. Materiales y métodos: fueron evaluados 151 argentinos (Medad = 66) con la Escala de Actividades Expansivas de la Vida Diaria, el Inventario de Personalidad IPIP-NEO y la Escala Breve de Afrontamiento Resiliente. Se efectuaron correlaciones parciales y regresión, controlando por edad y educación. Resultados: se hallaron correlaciones significativas (moderadas) entre todas las variables de interés: apertura, resiliencia y AVD-A. Las medidas de resiliencia, apertura y educación explicaron el 21 % de la varianza del score de AVD-A. La resiliencia fue la variable que más influyó sobre las AVD-A. Conclusión: una personalidad con más resiliencia y apertura está asociada a mayor realización de AVD‑A en argentinos ≥ 50 años. Se sugiere al Estado argentino implementar políticas públicas que promuevan la actividad recreativa e integración social en mediana y tercera edad.

La presencia de instrumentos invariantes es útil para la evaluación de las emociones en diferentes culturas. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo desarrollar y evaluar la invariancia de medición de la escala de miedo a la vacunación contra la COVID-19 (EMV-COVID) en 13 países latinoamericanos. La muestra estuvo conformada por 5775 participantes seleccionados por un muestreo no probabilístico intencional, residentes de 13 países de Latinoamérica. Se realizaron análisis factorial confirmatorio, multi-group factor analysis alignment para evaluar la invarianza y modelo de respuesta graduada basado en la teoría de respuesta al ítem. El EMVCOVID demostró ser una medida breve y unidimensional conformada por 4 ítems, con adecuadas evidencias de fiabilidad, e invariante en la población general de 13 países latinoamericanos. Adicionalmente, los ítems pueden diferenciar entre las respuestas de una persona con mayor miedo a la vacunación y otra con niveles moderados o bajos de miedo a la vacunación. Los resultados sugieren que la EMV-COVID es una escala breve válida que mide el miedo a la vacunación contra la COVID-19 en estudios transculturales realizados en Latinoamérica.

The Digit Span is frequently used in the field of neuropsychological evaluation in Argentina. However, updated normative data and evidence of convergent validity in the Argentine context are lacking. The objective was to elaborate normative data for the Test of digits-WAIS III and to analyze its convergent validity in Argentina. A total of 306 Argentines participated (mean age=66.5 years, 40-91 years). Subjects with pathologies that compromised neuropsychological performance were excluded. The Digit Test-WAIS III, the MoCA and fluency tasks were administered, performing correlations and regression. Education improves performance on Digit Span, although the effect size is small. Age does not influence significantly. Norms with cut scores are provided by educational level. There were positive correlations between Digits Span, MoCA and fluency. In conclusion, this research supports the use of the Digits Span in the Argentine context by offering up-to-date normative and acceptable evidence of validity.

Introduction. The global burden of dementia will continue to increase and Latin America will be one of the most affected regions. It is urgent to have new and better cognitive screening tools. There are few screenings composed entirely of auditory-verbal items and even more so for Argentine culture. The objective was to build and validate a test for verbal auditory screening of cognitive alterations (CAVAC) in Argentina. Subjects and methods. Evidence based in test content was analyzed through 16 experts collaborated. In addition, evidence based on relationships to other variables, internal consistency and the ability to discriminate between cognitively healthy subjects, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia were investigated. The CAVAC was applied to 316 Argentines (M age = 68,5). Volunteers from the general population and patients from neurology services from two Argentine hospitals participated. Results. The CAVAC test explores orientation/attention, memory/learning, language and executive functions, and is administered in 10 minutes with a score of 0 to 30. Aiken's V coefficient was satisfactory for all items. The CAVAC achieved a high correlation with the Mini Mental (0.762) and an acceptable Cronbach's alpha (0.746). The CAVAC score differs between controls, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, and the ROC curves reveal adequate area values to discriminate MCI and dementia (>0.7), and cut-off points with good sensitivity-specificity. Conclusions. A new auditory-verbal test is made available for the screening of cognitive alterations with acceptable evidence of validity, good reliability, with the capacity to identify MCI and dementia, and free of charge for use.