[A Brief Homophobia Scale in Medical Students From Two Universities: Results of A Refinement Process].

Background: The process of evaluating measurement scales is an ongoing procedure that requires revisions and adaptations according to the characteristics of the participants. The Homophobia Scale of seven items (EHF-7) has showed acceptable performance in medical students attending to two universities in Colombia. However, performance of some items was poor and could be removed, with an improvement in the psychometric findings of items retained.

[Prevalence of Mental Symptoms, Possible Cases and Disorders in Victims Displaced by the Internal Armed Conflict in Colombia: A Systematic Review].

Background: In Colombia, the internal armed conflict is a public health problem that generates various forms of violence (forced disappearances, forced displacement, massacres, torture and sexual violence). Violence is a major psychosocial stressor that impairs the mental health of the Colombian population. However, there are no real estimates on the prevalence of mental symptoms, possible cases and disorders in victims of violence in displacement situations.

[Stigma: Barrier to Access to Mental Health Services].

Background: The perceived stigma represents a sociocultural barrier to access mental health services and prevents individuals who meet criteria for a mental disorder the possibility of receiving comprehensive and integred care.

Objective: To update institutional mechanisms by which stigma related to mental disorders, perceived and perpetrated, acts as a barrier to mental health access.

Results: Stigma as a barrier to access to mental health services is due to a reduction in service requests, the allocation of limited resources to mental health, the systematic process of impoverishment of the people who suffer a mental disorder, increased risk of crime, and implications in contact with the legal system, and the invisibility of the vulnerability of these people.

[Factor Analysis: Principles to Evaluate Measurement Tools for Mental Health].

The validation of a measurement tool in mental health is a complex process that usually starts by estimating reliability, to later approach its validity. Factor analysis is a way to know the number of dimensions, domains or factors of a measuring tool, generally related to the construct validity of the scale. The analysis could be exploratory or confirmatory, and helps in the selection of the items with better performance.

Internal consistency of a five-item form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity among adolescent students.

The short form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity (L. J. Francis, 1992) is a 7-item Likert-type scale that shows high homogeneity among adolescents.

Internal consistency of a Spanish translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity Short Form.

This study evaluated the internal consistency of a Spanish version of the short form of the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity based on responses of 405 Colombian adolescent students ages 13 to 17 years. This translated short-form version of the scale had an internal consistency of .80.