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BEHAVIOURAL AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A VALIDATION OF THE CROATIAN VERSION OF BERS-2 QUESTIONNAIRE The aim of the paper was to examine the Croatian translation of the BERS-2 questionnaire on the sample of mid-adolescents, examine its convergent validity and analyse gender differences in behavioural and socio-emotional competencies of adolescents. 849 respondents participated in the research (56% female adolescents). General data questionnaire, Croatian version of the BERS-2 questionnaire, emotional competence questionnaire and family satisfaction scale were used. The conducted factor analyses have shown that the original five-factor BERS-2 structure does not correspond to the data, so a four-factor structure with a reduced number of items in comparison with the original was proposed as an optimum solution. Thus formed results have shown satisfactory psychometric characteristics for four groups of competencies. A significant correlation between the results shown on the BERS-2 questionnaire and school achievement, family satisfaction and emotional competencies indicates the convergent validity of the Croatian translation of the BERS-2. In comparison with boys, girls have achieved significantly higher results on the measures of school functioning and interpersonal strengths, while the measures of interpersonal strengths and involvement with family were assessed similarly by boys and girls. The results were analysed in the context of the data on the original BERS-2 questionnaire, the data on the verification of its features in other research and with regard to the existing knowledge about behavioural and socio-emotional competencies of adolescents. The limitations of the conducted research, as well as the need for further validation of the BERS-2 questionnaire are presented in the final part of the paper. Key words: adolescents; BERS-2 questionnaire; socio-emotional competencies

The aim of this research was to find out if mindful parenting contributes to internalised and externalised problems in preschool children. A total of 168 mothers, fathers and preschool teachers took part in the research, which assesses the extent of internalised and externalised problems in 76 preschool children. Additionally, both parents completed the Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire. Results showed that internalised and externalised problems were significantly correlated, with externalised problems being more prominent in boys. Mothers and fathers differed only in one aspect of mindful parenting, empathic understanding for the child, which was higher in mothers. When analysing differences in mindful parenting of boys/girls, the results showed that fathers of boys have higher parental awareness than fathers of girls, while there were no other significant differences. Mindful parenting did not prove significant in predicting internalised problems of preschool children. In contrast, the results showed that 30% of externalised problems in children can be explained by the child's gender and by mindful parenting from both parents. These findings point to some differences between mothers and fathers contributing to externalised problems. Specifically, the father's focusing attention on the child with acceptance and the mother's self-efficacy were related to lower externalising problems, while the father's empathic understanding of the child and mother's non-reactivity were related to more externalising problems in children. The results are discussed in the context of existing knowledge about implicit parenting and child development outcomes.

The aim of this research was to explore gender differences in musical taste and the mediating role of functions of music between gender and musical taste. The research included 740 Croatian and Slovenian students. The results confirmed the existence of gender differences in both musical taste and functions of music. Females preferred the Reflective-Complex musical style, while males showed greater preferences towards Intense-Rebellious style of music. There was no significant gender difference in preferring Traditional and Contemporary Ethno or Energetic and Rhythmic musical style. With regard to the functions of music, there were no significant differences between males and females in identity/culture and background and focus/concentration functions of music. Males assessed political attitudes as a more important function of music than females, while females assessed all other functions of music higher than males did. A complete mediation effect of functions of music was established for gender and Reflective-Complex and Slo-Yugo Pop musical style. ; Cilj istraživanja bio je istražiti spolne razlike u glazbenom ukusu i posredujuću ulogu funkcija glazbe između spola i glazbenoga ukusa. Istraživanje je provedeno na 740 studenata iz Hrvatske i Slovenije. Rezultati potvrđuju postojanje razlika između muškaraca i žena i u glazbenom ukusu i u funkcijama glazbe. Žene više preferiraju refleksivno-kompleksni glazbeni stil, a muškarci intenzivno- -buntovni stil. Nije uočena značajna razlika u preferencijama tradicionalno-suvremenog etnostila ni energično-ritmičnoga glazbenog stila. Što se tiče funkcija glazbe, nema značajne razlike između muškaraca i žena u funkcijama koje se odnose na identitet / kulturu, pozadinsku funkciju glazbe i funkciju glazbe u svrhu usmjeravanja fokusa / koncentracije. Muškarci, za razliku od žena, značajnijom procjenjuju funkciju glazbe za izražavanje političkih stavova, dok žene procjenjuju sve ostale funkcije glazbe značajnijima nego muškarci. Potpuni posredujući efekt funkcija glazbe ustanovljen je za spol i refleksivno-kompleksni te slo-jugo pop glazbeni stil.