Implementation of a Positive Technology Application in Patients With Eating Disorders: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial

Background: Positive psychological interventions (PPIs) have been suggested to produce benefits in patients with eating disorders (ED) by improving well-being, which might act as a buffer of the harmful effects caused by the disorder. Best Possible Self (BPS) is a PPI which consists of writing and envisioning a future where everything has turned out in the best possible way. In this regard, positive technology (PT) can be of considerable benefit as it allows to implement specific PPIs that have already shown efficacy. Objective: This study tested the preliminary efficacy of the BPS exercise implemented through a PT application and carried out for 1 month, in improving positive functioning measures, compared to a control condition, in patients with ED. Follow-up effects were also explored at 1 and 3 months later. Methods: This is a pilot randomized controlled trial, with two experimental conditions. Participants were 54 outpatients, who were receiving ongoing specialized treatment in ED services. 29 participants were randomly allocated to the BPS intervention and 25 to the control exercise. The sample was composed mostly by females and the mean age was 27 years. In the intervention group, participants had to write about their BPS. In the control group participants had to write about their daily activities. The exercise was conducted through the Book of Life, which is a PT application that allows users to add multimedia materials to the written content. Measures of future expectations, affect, dispositional optimism, hope and self-efficacy were assessed at different time frames. Results: Findings showed that all participants improved over time and there were no statistically significant differences between conditions on the specific measures. These effects were not influenced by prior levels of ED severity. Within-group effect sizes indicate a greater benefit for the participants in the BPS condition, compared to the control condition, on nearly all the measures. Conclusion: Results indicated that PT produced modest improvements in patients with EDs that are receiving current treatment for ED. More empirical attention is needed to explore the potential benefits of PPIs as supporting tools in the prevention and treatment of EDs

First report of cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus infecting watermelon and zucchini in the Canary Islands, Spain

This work was funded by grants from Spanish Ministerio de Econolnia, industria y competitividad (RTA2017-00061-C03-02) and from Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVlA) (51912), both co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).Alfaro Fernández, AO.; Espino De Paz, AI.; Botella-Guillen, M.; Font San Ambrosio, MI.; Sanauja, E.; Galipienso, L.; Rubio, L. (2022). First report of cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus infecting watermelon and zucchini in the Canary Islands, Spain. Plant Disease. 106(7):1-1. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-21-2296-PDN11106

Telepsychology: public speaking fear treatment on the internet

El objetivo es presentar un sistema de telepsicología para el tratamiento del miedo a hablar en público. El sistema utiliza procedimientos de auto-ayuda y está compuesto por: a) Un protocolo de evaluación que rastrea información clínicamente relevante; b) Un protocolo de tratamiento basado en procedimientos cognitivo-comportamentales que cuenta con una serie de vídeos de audiencias reales que permiten a la persona afrontar las situaciones temidas. Está organizado en bloques separados a los que se accede a medida que se supera cada fase previa. c) Un protocolo de control que rastrea el progreso durante todo el proceso y controla que la persona no se salta partes del tratamiento (algo común en procedimientos de autoayuda). Este sistema es el primero en todo el mundo totalmente autoaplicado que utiliza internet como soporte. Este estudio constituye la tesis de licenciatura de la solicitante (obteniendo la máxima calificación, sobresaliente por unanimidad), siendo la directora la Dra. Baños de la Universidad de Valencia. La solicitante diseñó el sistema, escribió la mayor parte de los protocolos, controló cada fase del proceso y redactó el manuscrito final