El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Carta al editor. / Revisión por pares

The presence of a significant number of people who do not intend to be vaccinated could negatively impact efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study sought to determine the prevalence of intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and associated sociodemographic and psychosocial factors in thirteen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). A total of 5510 people from 13 LAC countries participated. Frequencies, percentages, bivariate analyses using chi-square tests, and Poisson regression analysis with robust variance were used. The countries with the highest prevalence of intention to be vaccinated were Brazil (96.94%), Cuba (89.59%), Chile (84.59%), and Mexico (78.33%). On the other hand, the countries with the lowest prevalence were El Salvador (54.01%), Paraguay (55.87%), and Uruguay (56.40%). Prevalence is also reported according to some sociodemographic and health variables. It was found that country, male sex, hours exposed to information about COVID-19, university education, living in an urban area, belief in the animal origin of the virus, perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19, perceived severity of COVID-19, and concern about infecting others significantly predicted intention to be vaccinated in the 13 LAC countries. While most countries had a high prevalence of intention to be vaccinated, there are still subgroups that have levels of intention that may be insufficient to predict the presence of community immunity. In this sense, knowing the estimates of vaccination intention rates, as well as the associated sociodemographic and psychological factors, can be used to plan actions and interventions that will inform about the safety and benefits of vaccines, as well as strengthen trust in health authorities.

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) was recently developed to assess dysfunctional anxiety related to COVID-19. Although different studies reported that the CAS is psychometrically sound, it is unclear whether it is invariant across countries. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the CAS in twelve Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). A total of 5196 people participated, with a mean age of 34.06 (SD = 26.54). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the measurement invariance of the CAS across countries and gender. Additionally, the graded response model (GRM) was used to provide a global representation of the representativeness of the scale with respect to the COVID-19 dysfunctional anxiety construct. The unidimensional structure of the five-item CAS was not confirmed in all countries. Therefore, it was suggested that a four-item model of the CAS (CAS-4) provides a better fit across the twelve countries and reliable scores. Multigroup CFA showed that the CAS-4 exhibits scalar invariance across all twelve countries and all genders. In addition, the CAS-4 items are more informative at average and high levels of COVID-19 dysfunctional anxiety than at lower levels. According to the results, the CAS-4 is an instrument with strong cross-cultural validity and is suitable for cross-cultural comparisons of COVID-19 dysfunctional anxiety symptoms in the general population of the twelve Latin American countries evaluated.

As an Italian, with less than a year in the Western Hemisphere, I now find myself with a “mixed” personality. As someone else expressed it, " I am physically Italian, Latin American by adoption, and gaily American. This may well be a good combination for writing a thesis on Latin America. My "Latin blood" may help me in understanding the mentality of the people of Latin America, while my studies in Italy--a country with a long experience as an underdeveloped country- -may contribute toward a personal understanding of the problems of poverty, social injustice, and political instability. Three months of experience in Mexico, at the Utah State University "branch;' in Mexico City, permitted first-hand observation of the problems, and direct contact with some of the people who are trying to resolve them. Finally, having been a student at Utah State University has improved my understanding of the great tradition of freedom in the United States. It also stimulated personal reflections on democracy that add much to my philosophy of life. This opportunity, added to a very pleasant and serene life in a delightful region in the West, make me sincerely and profoundly grateful to the people of Utah.

Alcohol consumption is a modifiable risk factor for non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to characterize alcohol consumers at the nutritional, anthropometric, and sociodemographic levels. Data from 9218 participants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela participating in “Latin American Health and Nutrition Study (ELANS)”, a multi-country, population-based study, were used. Dietary intake was collected through two, 24 h recalls. Participants were classified into consumers (n = 1073) and non-alcohol consumers (n = 8145) using a cut-off criterium of ≥15 g/day of alcohol consumption calculated from the estimation of their usual daily intake. Among alcohol consumers, the mean alcohol consumption was 69.22 ± 2.18 grams (4.6. beverages/day), contributing to 484.62 kcal, which corresponded to 16.86% of the total energy intake. We found that the risk of alcohol consumption was higher in young and middle-aged men from low and middle socioeconomic status. Argentine, Brazil, and Chile had the highest percentage of consumers, while Ecuador showed the highest alcohol consumption. Alcohol drinkers were characterized by having higher body weight and wider neck, waist, hips circumferences. Alcohol drinkers had a higher energy intake, with macronutrients providing relatively less energy at the expense of the energy derived from alcohol. Alcohol drinkers showed lower and higher consumptions of healthy and unhealthy food groups, respectively. In addition, adequacy ratios for all micronutrients assessed were lower in alcohol consumers. All these deleterious effects of alcohol on nutritional and anthropometric parameters increased with the number of alcoholic beverages consumed daily. Altogether, these findings suggest that limiting alcohol consumption can contribute to reducing the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diet-related diseases. / Universidad de Costa Rica / Revisión por pares

In 1965, the United States invaded the Dominican Republic to prevent the creation of a “second Cuba.” The invasion and subsequent occupation of the Caribbean nation maintained peace in Santo Domingo beneath the banner of a multi-national peacekeeping force representing the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) as a provisional Dominican government prepared for a democratic presidential election. Although operation Power Pack, the U.S. military name for the intervention, is one of the largest uses of armed force in U.S. – Latin American history and both military and foreign policy leaders deemed the operation a success, few members of the U.S. military seem to remember Power Pack today.The one exception to this is the U.S. Army’s 82d Airborne Division. Unlike other U.S. military branches, or other parts of the U.S. Army, which fail to remember the intervention, the 82d Airborne remembers the intervention and has gone to great lengths to celebrate and memorialize its role in Power Pack. The division’s production of a commemorative book, the construction of political and intellectual discourse buoyed by the operation’s success, and the construction and maintenance of memorials and monuments to Power Pack make it clear that the organization has made a deliberate effort to maintain a collective memory of the conflict. A fuller understanding of why the 82d has maintained these memories is key to understanding why other U.S. military organizations chose to disregard their memory of Power Pack and allows scholars to begin to assess the cost of the military’s forgetfulness. / History

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Research in Latin America regarding interpersonal violence and adolescents is rare if not nonexistent. In a collaborative effort with the Costa Rican Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Women (INAMU), qualitative data were collected from three high schools and one after-school program from rural and urban locations of the Central Valley. The discussion groups/open-ended questionnaires were done with a total of 154 students ranging from ages 14 to 17 and grade levels 8th to 12th. Information was obtained concerning students' perceptions, definitions and opinions on issues relating to interpersonal violence and gender roles and rules. The results show that the students made distinctions between acceptable and unacceptable uses of violence, supporting the idea behind a dichotomy of deviant and non-deviant interpersonal violence behaviors. In addition, students also recognized the overarching and detrimental existence of the machismo culture in society, which, in their eyes, perpetuates interpersonal violence. They were also generally unaware of any help that existed for abused adults, adolescents or children. Results show that the machismo culture that affects the socialization of adolescents is well recognized among adolescents and perceived as a detriment to people through gender role expectations and the use and perpetuation of interpersonal violence.