University Students In Mexico Research Articles

EComplexity: validation of a complex thinking instrument from a structural equation model

The eComplexity instrument aims to measure the perception of achievement in the complex thinking competency and its sub-competencies. To ensure the reliability of this instrument, validation processes like the one presented in this article are necessary. Methodologically, this study evaluates data from 1,037 university students in Mexico, confirming the statistical validity and reliability of the instrument. As a result, the demonstrated reliability of the eComplexity instrument as a tool for measuring perceived achievements in complex thinking provides a valuable resource for assessing the effectiveness of educational interventions. Consequently, this research contributes to a more informed approach to fostering critical thinking skills, benefiting both theoretical exploration and practical application in educational settings. The study employs the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate students’ self-perceptions of their performance in complex thinking and its sub-competencies, thus advancing the field of educational measurement. Academically, it enriches the discourse on the design and validation of instruments, offering a rigorous model for future efforts in measuring cognitive competencies. Practically, the study’s results inform educational practice by identifying systemic and scientific thinking as key to developing complex thinking skills. This knowledge enables educators to more effectively adapt teaching strategies and curricular designs, aiming to enhance students’ ability to navigate the complexities of the modern world.

Using machine learning to analyze mental health in distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic: an opinion study from university students in Mexico.

In times of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been detected that some students are unable to dedicate enough time to their education. They present signs of frustration and even apathy towards dropping out of school. In addition, feelings of fear, anxiety, desperation, and depression are now present because society has not yet been able to adapt to the new way of living. Therefore, this article analyzes the feelings that university students of the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Misantla present when using long distance education tools during COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. The results suggest that isolation, because of the pandemic situation, generated high levels of anxiety and depression. Moreover, there are connections between feelings generated by lockdown and school performance while using e-learning platforms. The findings of this research reflect the students' feelings, useful information that could lead to the development and implementation of pedagogical strategies that allow improving the students' academic performance results.

Validation of an Instrument to Measure Attributes of Education and Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Intentions of University Students in Mexico

Validation of an Instrument to Measure Attributes of Education and Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Intentions of University Students in Mexico

Dietary patterns associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior in university students in Mexico

Dietary patterns associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior in university students in Mexico

Attitude, behavior and financial knowledge of young university students in Mexico

Financial literacy, which includes the dimensions of attitude, behavior and knowledge, is a condition for individuals to achieve financial well-being. In the population of young university students, it is a relevant aspect since they begin the financial life cycle, with a forecast of medium and high income, but whose generation of wealth will depend on decision making. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to measure the level of financial literacy of students at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, in order to identify areas of opportunity and gaps to address. For which an instrument designed in Ecuador was applied, for the Latin American context, which meets the necessary psychometric levels. The sample consisted of 521 participants from various programs and educational spaces that were close to graduation. Analysis was subject to central and dispersion measures as well as non-parametric group comparison tests. Among the results, it was identified that most students are at a high level of financial literacy, although the lowest score was obtained in the knowledge dimension. Significant differences were found in gender, by educational program, academic space and employment status.

COVID-19 related psychosocial problems among university students in Mexico - a longitudinal qualitative examination.

Research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among college students around the world has primarily focused on their mental health symptoms and COVID-specific worry. However, contextually specific understanding of outbreak impacts is key to inform directed public health messaging and programming to improve wellbeing and coping. The current study aimed to identify the main psychosocial problems college students experienced during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Monterrey, Mexico. Participants were 606 college students (71% female) enrolled in a private university. Participants described COVID-related problems in an open-ended prompt as part of a longitudinal online survey: initially in May 2020, and then every 2 weeks for 3 months. Thematic analyses were conducted within a longitudinal inductive qualitative approach to rank responses by frequency across themes. Five major categories emerged. At baseline, over 75% of participants noted the outbreak negatively impacted their daily activities and responsibilities, 73% their mental health, 50% their physical health, 35% their interpersonal relationships, and 22% their economic situation. Concerns remained relatively stable throughout the follow-up period, with interpersonal and economic concerns becoming more prevalent as the pandemic progressed. Problems identified in this study can inform preventative measures for future health crises, including tailoring public health messaging and expanding access to contextually sensitive mental and behavioral health programming.

Internet Gaming Disorder Does Not Predict Mood, Anxiety or Substance Use Disorders in University Students: A One-Year Follow-Up Study.

We seek to evaluate whether Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) among university students in Mexico during their first year at university predicts a long list of mental disorders a year later, controlling for baseline mental health disorders as well as demographics. This is a prospective cohort study with a one-year follow-up period conducted during the 2018-2019 academic year and followed up during the 2019-2020 academic year at six Mexican universities. Participants were first-year university students (n = 1741) who reported symptoms compatible with an IGD diagnosis at entry (baseline). Outcomes are seven mental disorders (mania, hypomania, and major depressive episodes; generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder; alcohol use disorder and drug use disorder), and three groups of mental disorders (mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders) at the end of the one-year follow-up. Fully adjusted models, that included baseline controls for groups of mental disorders, rendered all associations null. The association between baseline IGD and all disorders and groups of disorders at follow-up was close to one, suggesting a lack of longitudinal impact of IGD on mental disorders. Conflicting results from available longitudinal studies on the role of IGD in the development of mental disorders warrant further research.

Academic literacy among the university students in Mexico and Spain: A holistic perspective.

Currently, young people have access to a large amount of information, so they must have the ability to critically analyze the texts they are exposed to in order to choose those that are useful for their training or research process, as well as to have the necessary skills to interact efficiently with the texts, especially with those specialized documents corresponding to their area of study. In this regard, this article aims to identify how cognitive, emotional, attitudinal, digital and personality aspects influence the development of academic literacy skills in university students. Research was conducted with the mixed method, in which quantitative instruments were applied and analyzed: a Likert scale questionnaire to measure the perceived level of mastery of academic literacy skills, which was applied to a sample of 595 students from higher education institutions in Mexico and Spain. In addition, a test was applied to identify personality type. For the qualitative part, the case study was chosen and the qualitative instruments applied were interviews with a teacher and a student and a focus group with five students. The findings identified were as follows: (a) the cognitive aspect of academic literacy is the one with the lowest perceived mastery by students, (b) having a positive attitude favors the development of academic literacy, (c) by knowing the aspects of their personality that can favor the development of academic literacy, students can seek strategies to improve that competency, (d) the emotional part has repercussions in the process of developing the competence of academic literacy, (e) students prefer to interact with texts in digital spaces and therefore must learn to interact critically in virtual environments, (f) Mexican students perceive themselves to have a higher level of mastery of the academic literacy competency than Spanish students. The literature review and the mixed methods study allowed identifying the relevance of approaching academic literacy in university environments in a holistic manner through the analysis of the influence of cognitive, attitudinal, emotional, digital and personality aspects.

Prevalence of gender-based violence in university nursing students: Multi-centric Mexican study

Introduction. This study provides crucial information from seven Mexican educational institutions about the experience of gender violence experienced by nursing students during their university education that has not been emphasized in the Mexican scientific literature. Its purpose is to develop an educational strategy to prevent violence in nursing. Objective: To compare the prevalence of gender violence and its characteristics, experienced in the university environment by nursing students from seven Mexican educational entities. Method: Cross-sectional quantitative design, based on the construction and validation of a multidimensional content instrument to measure perception, attitudes, knowledge, and gender-based violence in nursing university students in Mexico that was self-administered online. The 1345 sample was calculated with a confidence level of 0.95% and a probability of 0.5%. The selection was by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The data were processed in SPSS-21 statistical software and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Informed consent was requested for risks, benefits, and data protection. Approved by the research and ethics committees of the various universities. Results: The prevalence of gender violence in university nursing students is moderately high (49.3%) with high typologies. Physical (76.7%) and sexual violence (64.61%) predominated. Violence is experienced both in the classroom and in clinical practices, with college colleagues being the main perpetrators, especially affecting the emotional health of the victims: stress, depression, anguish, and low self-esteem. By educational institution, the highest prevalence level was obtained by the UADY, 61.05%, followed by the FESZ, 53.13%, and the UV, 51.22%. There is a lack of knowledge among the students of the presence of a department that provides services, 73.5%, and of the protocol for the care of gender violence, 64%. Discussion. Consistency was found in the results of this study regarding the high prevalence of gender violence in the international context. As is the high persistence of sexual violence, as is the case of nursing students in Taiwan, Nigeria, Brazil, and Ecuador, perhaps due to the common denominator of the highest percentage of female students, which shows that a good percentage of Nursing student women in different spaces and moments have gone through an act of sexual assault or harassment. Conclusion. In general, the prevalence of gender-based violence in Mexican nursing schools is moderately high with high typologies. Future research should provide strategies to counteract this problem. The universities must propose policies and legislation also in the clinical environments of the students.

Prevalence of gender-based violence in university nursing students: Multi-centric Mexican study

Introduction. This study provides crucial information from seven Mexican educational institutions about the experience of gender violence experienced by nursing students during their university education that has not been emphasized in the Mexican scientific literature. Its purpose is to develop an educational strategy to prevent violence in nursing. Objective: To compare the prevalence of gender violence and its characteristics, experienced in the university environment by nursing students from seven Mexican educational entities. Method: Cross-sectional quantitative design, based on the construction and validation of a multidimensional content instrument to measure perception, attitudes, knowledge, and gender-based violence in nursing university students in Mexico that was self-administered online. The 1345 sample was calculated with a confidence level of 0.95% and a probability of 0.5%. The selection was by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The data were processed in SPSS-21 statistical software and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Informed consent was requested for risks, benefits, and data protection. Approved by the research and ethics committees of the various universities. Results: The prevalence of gender violence in university nursing students is moderately high (49.3%) with high typologies. Physical (76.7%) and sexual violence (64.61%) predominated. Violence is experienced both in the classroom and in clinical practices, with college colleagues being the main perpetrators, especially affecting the emotional health of the victims: stress, depression, anguish, and low self-esteem. By educational institution, the highest prevalence level was obtained by the UADY, 61.05%, followed by the FESZ, 53.13%, and the UV, 51.22%. There is a lack of knowledge among the students of the presence of a department that provides services, 73.5%, and of the protocol for the care of gender violence, 64%. Discussion. Consistency was found in the results of this study regarding the high prevalence of gender violence in the international context. As is the high persistence of sexual violence, as is the case of nursing students in Taiwan, Nigeria, Brazil, and Ecuador, perhaps due to the common denominator of the highest percentage of female students, which shows that a good percentage of Nursing student women in different spaces and moments have gone through an act of sexual assault or harassment. Conclusion. In general, the prevalence of gender-based violence in Mexican nursing schools is moderately high with high typologies. Future research should provide strategies to counteract this problem. The universities must propose policies and legislation also in the clinical environments of the students.

Perceptions of Environmental Protection of University Students: A Look through Digital Competences in Mexico

This research reflects on the environmental problems that we are currently experiencing as a society and discusses education as an opportunity to solve them. Several frameworks of university digital competencies are identified and environmental care is highlighted as an important part of them, so the objective is to know the perceptions of university students in Mexico on digital competency and environmental protection and verify the following hypothesis: “currently there a is little development of environmental awareness and the relationship between the use of Information Technology (IT) as well as its environmental impact among university students”. For this purpose, a quantitative, non-experimental approach was used, specifically, a descriptive cross-sectional design using a Likert-type questionnaire was applied on 22 and 23 November 2021 to 135 students from two public universities belonging to four undergraduate programs in Mexico. The results indicate that most students are aware that the use of electronic devices for educational purposes has an impact on the environment and that, therefore, it is necessary to adopt effective measures and habits for an adequate and optimal use of digital environments.

LP-44 Potential toxicant exposure from food consumption in university students in Mexico

LP-44 Potential toxicant exposure from food consumption in university students in Mexico

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Technological and Polytechnic University Students in Mexico

The contingency measures put in place by the government during COVID-19 exposed the students to a new condition to which they must adapt. To understand how the students perceive and cope during the unplanned, changed learning mode, we conducted a study using an evaluation tool which seeks to understand the effect of the contingency measures associated with the emergence of the COVID-19 virus on the students. By assigning a data collection instrument to students who are part of 15 technological universities (TUs) and 7 polytechnic universities (PUs), we determined how they were affected by COVID-19. The questions intended to evaluate the social, economic, academic, emotional, and health effects experienced. A total of 6596 students were assessed in the study representing an appropriate percentage of the Mexican students. The outcome of the study showed that 12% of the students agreed with the online approach to learn adopted because of the contingency. A total of 39% reported that they have a good environmental space for online learning, 32% reported that they mostly take their classes via their mobile phones, and 3% said they lacked access to an internet facility and as such could not take their classes. A total of 14% reported that they have little access to the internet, while 42% reported that they regularly have internet, and both complained that internet fluctuation significantly affects their academic performance. Comparing the different modes of teaching, 52% believe an in-person class is the best approach to learning, but 22% agreed that a hybrid system will be effective. Through a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) it was determined that, in the effects, there was no significant difference in relation to gender. The effects that most impacted the students were economic, connectivity, and a lack of physical activity.

Spanish-language version of the health belief model scale for testicular cancer and testicular self-examinationEscala em espanhol do modelo de crenças em saúde para câncer e autoexame testicular

RESUMENEl objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y validar la escala del modelo de creencias de salud para el cáncer y autoexploración testicular (AT) en estudiantes universitarios en México y determinar las variables sociodemográficas, clínicas y del modelo de creencias que influyen en efectuar la AT. Se realizó el proceso de traducción y retraducción de la cual se obtuvieron 72 ítems, que fueron revisados por expertos y se eligieron 39 ítems, los cuales fueron aplicados en un grupo de 30 estudiantes para revisar la comprensión y el tiempo de aplicación; por último, esta versión se aplicó en 803 estudiantes de una universidad pública. Se obtuvo una escala de 38 ítems divididos en 6 factores congruentes con el modelo de creencias de salud: susceptibilidad (α = 0,77), seriedad (α = 0,82), beneficios (α = 0,80), barreras (α = 0,83), autoeficacia (α = 0,88) y motivación para la salud (α = 0,71) que explican el 44% de la varianza y presentan una consistencia interna de adecuada a buena. La variable que más influye en la realización de la autoexploración testicular fue la autoeficacia. La versión en español de la escala del modelo de creencias de salud para el cáncer y la autoexploración testicular obtuvo evidencias de validez y confiabilidad en esta muestra de estudiantes universitarios.

Life-Purpose Orientations and Academic Misconduct Among University Students in Mexico

Life-Purpose Orientations and Academic Misconduct Among University Students in Mexico Mariya Yukhymenko-Lescroart (bio), Gitima Sharma (bio), and Jason M. Stephens (bio) Academic misconduct has been conceptualized as students' engagement in various types of proscribed behaviors, such as plagiarism and cheating on assignments and tests or exams (e.g., Stephens et al., 2021). While most of the current literature on academic misconduct has focused on developed countries, the problem is rampant across the world (Krou et al., 2021), especially in developing countries (e.g., Gaytán & Quintanilla-Dominguez, 2014; Stephens et al., 2010). Gaytán and Quintanilla-Domínguez (2014), for example, found that the rate of academic misconduct in Mexican universities was significantly higher than the estimated rate in the United States. More recently, Guerrero-Dib et al. (2020) found that students who reported engaging in academic misconduct were more likely to be dishonest in non-academic contexts. Surprisingly, despite the extent of academic misconduct and its association with other forms of dishonesty, little else is known about the problem in Mexico. In order to help fill this void, the present study examined the relationship between life-purpose orientations and academic misconduct among university students in Mexico. Based on a meta-analytic investigation, Krou et al. (2021) concluded that academic misconduct is a motivated behavior with sense of purpose as a key variable that influences students' goals, drives, and values. Research on purpose has shown that university students' academic motivations are often informed by their life's purpose (e.g., Sharma et al., 2021; Yukhymenko-Lescroart & Sharma, 2020). While conceptualizing the motivational mechanisms that might influence academic misconduct, Murdock and Anderman (2006) emphasized the importance of helping students reflect on their lives' underlying goals and the overarching question of "What is my purpose?" (p. 130). We posit that students' purpose might shape their motivations for pursuing higher education, and, hence, students' behaviors related to academic misconduct might vary depending on their life purpose orientations. However, more studies are needed to tease out the role of students' purpose orientations in determining their decision to engage in academic misconduct. Hill et al. (2010) conceptualized purpose orientations as the constellations of multiple but related life goals. Empirical studies on purpose [End Page 333] orientations have revealed that college students with a high level of life purpose focused on goals such as achieving career success, making money, and being happy reported more frequent academic misconduct (Yu et al., 2017). Recently, Yukhymenko-Lescroart and Sharma (2021) conceptualized purpose orientation as the underlying intention behind people's longterm aspirations and as having three specific dimensions: (a) self-growth, defined as actualizing one's purpose in life through engaging in activities that make one a better person (p. 15); (b) career-focused, defined as people's resolve to excel in their chosen profession and actualize their work-related potential (p. 15); and (c) others-growth, defined as actualizing one's purpose in life through engagement in activities that would enrich the lives of other people (p. 14). The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which these three life-purpose orientations predicted self-reported academic misconduct. METHOD Participants were 8,240 students from six universities in Mexico: 3,161 (38.4%) identified as male; 4,970 (60.3%) identified as female, and 109 (1.3%) identified as "other" or declined to declare their gender. Students represented all class years, with 2,131 (25.9%) first-year students; 2,336 (28.4%) second-year students; 2,470 (30.0%) third-year students; and 1,292 (15.7%) fourth-year students and above. A small number of students (n = 11, 0.1%) declined to declare their year in school. Students were asked to self-report the frequency of engaging in various types of conventional and digital academic misconduct over the last year. Examples of misconduct included cheating on assignments (e.g., copying all or part of another student's homework and turning it in as their own), plagiarism (e.g., buying a full paper and presenting it as your own), and cheating on a test or exam (e.g., using notes or books that are not allowed during an exam), The nine-item scale...

Gender-Based Analysis of the Association Between Mental Health, Sleep Quality, Aggression, and Physical Activity Among University Students During the COVID-19 Outbreak.

COVID-19 has spread throughout the world, resulting in significant morbidity, mortality, and negative psychological effects among general population. However, university students are particularly vulnerable in terms of mental health. The present study evaluated the association between mental health, quality of sleep, aggression, and physical activity in university students in Mexico after 1 year of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, including a gender-sensitive analysis. Participants (935 university students) completed an online questionnaire which collected information regarding demographic data, psychological distress (IES-R scale), depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), aggressiveness Buss-Perry Aggressive Questionnaire, sleep quality (PSQI) and physical activity (IPAQ-S). Findings showed that female students showed significantly higher scores in psychological distress, anxiety, stress scores and sleep quality, as compared to male students. By contrast, male students showed significantly higher scores on aggressiveness than female students. In addition, on physical activity, females performed significantly higher MET-min/week on moderate and high levels. Finally, liner regression model accounted for approximately 73.5% of the variance in DASS-21 scores, with the body mass index, IES-R, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and IPAQ subscales, emerging as significant individual (positive) predictors. Therefore, the pandemic affected female and male students differently. Female students reported more psychological distress, anxiety, and stress while male students reported higher aggressiveness. The differences observed may be due to physiological differences, the response to stress, and differences in sensitivity to life events.

User perceptions and use of authentication methods: insights from youth in Mexico and Bosnia and Herzegovina

PurposeThis paper aims to address the user perspective about usability, security and use of five authentication schemes (text and graphical passwords, biometrics and hardware tokens) from a population not covered previously in the literature. Additionally, this paper explores the criteria users apply in creating their text passwords.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey study was performed in spring 2019 with university students in Mexico and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 197 responses were collected.FindingsFingerprint-based authentication was most frequently perceived as usable and secure. However, text passwords were the predominantly used method for unlocking computer devices. The participants preferred to apply personal criteria for creating text passwords, which, interestingly, coincided with the general password guidelines, e.g. length, combining letters and special characters.Originality/valueResearch on young adults’ perceptions of different authentication methods is driven by the increasing frequency and sophistication of security breaches, as well as their significant consequences. This study provided insight into the commonly used authentication methods among youth from two geographic locations, which have not been accounted for previously.

Human papillomavirus infection and seroprevalence among female university students in Mexico

ABSTRACT Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common causes of sexually transmitted diseases, and the main etiology of cervical cancer. This study was aimed to assess type-specific cervical HPV prevalence and their association with HPV-specific antibodies in a cohort of female university students. HPV genotyping was performed by amplifying and sequencing a fragment of the L1 protein. A BLAST search was performed to identify HPV types. HPV-specific IgG antibodies were measured by ELISA in serum samples. A total of 129 women participated, with an average age of 21.75 years. The prevalence of vaginal HPV infection was 74.42%. The most predominant high-risk HPV types were 18 (13.95%), 31 (10.85%), and 16 (9.3%). We found that early age at coitarche and a higher number of sexual partners were significantly associated with a high prevalence of HPV infection. In addition to sexual behavior, we observed that the presence of serum-specific IgG antibodies against HPV can impact the prevalence of the virus. Seropositivity to HPV-16 and HPV-18 was associated with a lower prevalence of HPV-16, but not for other HPV types. Of note, there was a lower proportion of HPV-specific seropositivity in women who had the presence of the same HPV type in a cervical specimen, suggesting an immunoregulatory mechanism associated with the viral infection. In conclusion, the prevalence of HPV in university women was higher than expected and it was associated with early age of sexual debut, an increasing number of sexual partners, and a low proportion of HPV seropositivity.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Internal Consistency, Gender Differential Item Functioning and Discriminant Validity of the Fear of COVID-5 Scale Amidst Emerging Adult University Students in Mexico.

The study aimed to perform confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, gender differential item functioning, and discriminant validity of the Fear of COVID-5 Scale in emerging adult students of a university in Mexico. Confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega), and gender differential item functioning were estimated (Kendall tau b correlation). The Fear of COVID-5 Scale showed a one-dimension structure (RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.96, and SRMR = 0.02), with high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.78 and McDonald's omega of 0.81), non-gender differential item functioning (Kendall tau b between 0.07 and 0.10), and significant discriminant validity (Higher scores for fear of COVID-19 were observed in high clinical anxiety levels). In conclusion, the Fear of COVID-5 Scale presents a clear one-dimension structure similar to a previous study.

Association and impact between moral development by depression and anxiety in university students in Mexico

University students develop academic, emotional, and social skills, which allow them to moral development, however, they also present risk factors in mental health, which can be derived from educational, family, and compliance with social demands. Los universitarios desarrollan habilidad académicas, afectivas y sociales, que permiten el desarrollo moral, sin embargo, también presentan factores de riesgo en la salud mental, que pueden derivarse por cuestiones educativas, familiares y el cumplimiento de exigencias sociales.