The importance of ternary awareness for overcoming the inadequacies of contemporary psychiatry

Os seres humanos evoluíram em etapas, de modo que nossa consciência desenvolveu três componentes centrais - aprendizagem processual de hábitos e habilidades, aprendizagem semântica de fatos e proposições e autoconsciência de uma identidade que se desenvolve ao longo do tempo e do espaço. Consequentemente, a consciência humana implica o crescimento de nossa subjetividade, integrando esses três aspectos da aprendizagem e da memória. A psiquiatria contemporânea é substancialmente comprometida por um viés antiespiritual que está implícito nas abordagens operacionais de diagnóstico, pesquisa e tratamento. A subjetividade humana não pode ser devidamente desconstruída em uma coleção de objetos independentes entre si, livres de qualquer contexto psicossocial, tal como a que é habitualmente assumida em uma abordagem do tipo "menu chinês" utilizada para o diagnóstico e entrevistas estruturadas. Perspectivas materialistas predispõem os indivíduos a assumirem uma visão de separação que compromete o bem-estar tanto dos profissionais de saúde mental quanto de seus pacientes. O progresso no diagnóstico psiquiátrico, bem como nas formas de tratamento, requer abordagem centrada na pessoa, capaz de respeitar e valorizar a subjetividade humana e promover o cultivo de virtudes tais como esperança, amor e coragem, bem como o uso criterioso de outros métodos psicobiológicos de tratamento. O funcionamento saudável requer o desenvolvimento da autotranscendência, além do autodirecionamento e da cooperatividade. Sem a autotranscendência as pessoas estão consumindo mais recursos do que a terra pode repor. A busca do bem-estar individual, na ausência do bem-estar coletivo, é uma ilusão autodestrutiva. Consequentemente, a psiquiatria contemporânea precisa centrar sua atenção na compreensão da consciência humana por meio de uma via ternária equilibrada, em vez de tentar reduzir as pessoas a objetos materiais separados.Human beings have evolved in steps so that our consciousness has three major components - procedural learning of habits and skills, semantic learning of facts and propositions, and self-awareness of an identity that develops over time and place. Consequently, human consciousness involves growth in our subjective awareness integrating these three aspects of learning and memory. Contemporary psychiatry is substantially impaired by an anti-spiritual bias that is implicit in operational approaches to diagnosis, research, and treatment. Human subjectivity cannot be adequately deconstructed into a collection of mutually independent objects that are free of any psychosocial context, as is usually assumed in a "Chinese-menu" approach to diagnosis and structured interviewing. Materialistic perspectives predispose people to have an outlook of separateness that impairs the well-being of both mental health professionals and their patients. Progress in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment requires a person-centered approach that respects and appreciates human subjectivity and promotes the cultivation of human virtues like hope, love, and courage, along with judicious use of other psychobiological methods of treatment. Healthy functioning requires the development of self-transcendence in addition to self-directedness and cooperativeness. Without self-transcendence, people are consuming more resources than the earth can replenish. The pursuit of individual well-being in the absence of collective well-being is a self-destructive illusion. Consequently contemporary psychiatry needs to focus its attention on understanding human consciousness in a balanced ternary way rather than trying to reduce people to separate material objects

Standardization and normative data of the Greek version of the temperament and character inventory (TCI)

BACKGROUND: Robert Cloninger’s psychobiological model of temperament and character is a dimensional approach to personality assessment and gave birth to the temperament and character inventory (TCI). The aim of the present report is to examine the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the TCI, and to replicate its postulated structure and provide preliminary normative data for the Greek population. METHODS: The study sample included 734 subjects from the general Greek population (436 females; 59.4 % and 298 males; 40.6 %). Their mean age was 40.80 ± 11.48 years (range 25–67 years). The mean age for females was 39.43 ± 10.87 years (range 25–65 years), while the mean age for males was 42.82 ± 12.06 years (range 25–67 years). Descriptive statistics tables concerning age, gender and occupational status distribution in the sample were created. The analysis included the calculation of Cronbach’s alpha, factor analysis with promax rotation and the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients between the subscales scores. Analysis of Covariance with age as covariate and t test and Cohen’s d as post hoc tests was used to search for differences in subscales scores between males and females. RESULTS: The overall psychometric properties of the Greek version of the TCI proved to be satisfactory, with acceptable consistencies of the subscales. The factor analysis of temperament identified four factors which together explained 58.56 % of total variance, while the factor analysis of the three-factor solution of the character explained 52.24 % of total variance. The TCI scales correlate significantly but weakly between each other and with age. DISCUSSION: The Greek version of the TCI exhibits psychometric properties similar to its original English counterpart and to other national translations and it is suitable for use in research and clinical practice

The relationship of dispositional compassion with well-being : a study with a 15-year prospective follow-up

We investigated the associations of individual's compassion for others with his/her affective and cognitive well-being over a long-term follow-up. We used data from the prospective Young Finns Study (N = 1312-1699) between 1997-2012. High compassion was related to higher indicators of affective well-being: higher positive affect (B = 0.221, p <.001), lower negative affect (B = -0.358, p <.001), and total score of affective well-being (the relationship of positive versus negative affect) (B = 0.345, p <.001). Moreover, high compassion was associated with higher indicators of cognitive well-being: higher social support (B = 0.194, p <.001), life satisfaction (B = 0.149, p <.001), subjective health (B = 0.094, p <.001), optimism (B = 0.307, p <.001), and total score of cognitive well-being (B = 0.265, p <.001). Longitudinal analyses showed that high compassion predicted higher affective well-being over a 15-year follow-up (B = 0.361, p <.001) and higher social support over a 10-year follow-up (B = 0.230, p <.001). Finally, compassion was more likely to predict well-being (B = [-0.076; 0.090]) than vice versa, even though the predictive relationships were rather modest by magnitude.Peer reviewe

Parental care-giving and home environment predicting offspring's temperament and character traits after 18 years

Peer reviewe

Terapêutica Centrada na Pessoa (tradução)

(Tradução do artigo "Person-centered Therapeutics", por Jovana Giacobo Serra, Aline Ponzoni e Letícia Alminhana)A eficácia de um clínico no tratamento depende substancialmente de sua atitude em relação ao – e compreensão do – paciente como uma pessoa dotada de autoconsciência e determinação para direcionar seu próprio futuro. A avaliação da personalidade na sessão terapêutica é uma base fundamental para formar uma aliança de trabalho eficaz, compartilhando os mesmos objetivos. Ajudar uma pessoa a refletir sobre sua personalidade fornece um reflexo de suas fortalezas e vulnerabilidades na adaptação aos muitos desafios da vida. O Inventário de Temperamento e Caráter (ITC) fornece uma maneira eficiente de descrever a personalidade minuciosamente e de prever os aspectos positivos e negativos da saúde. Forças e fraquezas nos traços de personalidade do ITC permitem sólidas previsões das diferenças individuais de todos os aspectos do bem-estar. Diversas técnicas terapêuticas, como dieta, exercícios, autorregulação do humor, meditação ou atos de gentiliza influenciam a saúde e o desenvolvimento da personalidade de maneiras que são indistinguíveis umas das outras ou de tratamentos alopáticos eficazes. Assim, o desenvolvimento do bem-estar parece ser o resultado da ativação de um conjunto sinérgico de mecanismos de bem-estar, que são expressos por meio de funcionamento, plasticidade e virtude mais completos na adaptação aos desafios da vida.(Referência Original: Cliniger, C. R.; Cloninger, K. M. Person-centered Therapeutics. The International Journal of Person Centered Medicine, 1(1), pp. 43-52, 2011

Resilience personality profiles among Swedish long-term unemployed

Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of resilience personality profiles in a sample of Swedish long-term unemployed in relation to the general Swedish population. We found that only 1.50% (vs. 26% in the general population) in the long-term unemployed sample had a resilient personality profile, that is, low in harm avoidance (e.g., relaxed and optimistic), high in persistence (e.g., hard-working), and high in self-directedness (i.e., goal-oriented and resourceful).Funding Agencies|European Social FundEuropean Social Fund (ESF) [2017/00558]; Finsam Blekinge; Anthropedia Foundation; Swedish Employment Service; Swedish Social Insurance Agency; Region Blekinge</p

Active Reward Processing during Human Sleep: Insights from Sleep-Related Eating Disorder

In this paper, we present two carefully documented cases of patients with sleep-related eating disorder (SRED), a parasomnia which is characterized by involuntary compulsive eating during the night and whose pathophysiology is not known. Using video-polysomnography, a dream diary and psychometric examination, we found that both patients present elevated novelty seeking and increased reward sensitivity. In light of new evidence on the mesolimbic dopaminergic implication in compulsive eating disorders, our findings suggest a role of an active reward system during sleep in the manifestation of SRED

Personality characteristics and attributes of International Medical Graduates in general practice training: Implications for supporting this valued Australian workforce

Objectives: To describe the personality profiles of International Medical Graduates (IMGs) undertaking General Practice (GP) training in Australia. A better understanding of the personal characteristics of IMGs may inform their training and enhance support for their vital contribution to the Australian rural workforce

A Psicometria da versão em português europeu do Temperamento e Inventário de Personagem - Corrigido

Corresponding Author: Paulo A.S.Moreira, Ph.D., Centro de Investigação em Psicologia para o Desenvolvimento (CIPD); Centro Lusíada de Investigação em Serviço Social e Intervenção Social (CLISSIS);Universidade Lusíada Norte(Porto), Rua Dr. Lopo de Carvalho, 4369-006, Porto, Portugal. E-mail: [email protected]: O modelo psicobiológico de personalidade de Cloninger integra contribuições da genética comportamental, neurobiologia e psicologia na descrição da personalidade humana. O inventário de temperamento e caracteres (TCI) é seu instrumento de avaliação. A versão em português do Brasil do TCI mostrou boas propriedades psicométricas. No entanto, o português falado no Brasil apresenta diferenças marcantes e substanciais em relação ao falado em Portugal, e nenhum estudo ainda descreveu a psicometria da versão em português europeu. O objetivo deste estudo foi, portanto, descrever as propriedades psicométricas da versão adulta portuguesa europeia do TCI (o inventário de temperamento e caráter revisado (TCI-R)). Este estudo envolveu 1400 participantes adultos portugueses. A estrutura fatorial da versão em português europeu foi testada por meio de quatro métodos: análise fatorial exploratória, análise ortogonal de rotação de pró-fusão, análise fatorial confirmatória e modelagem de equações estruturais exploratórias. A integração dos dados advindos desses métodos sugeriu que a versão em português do TCI-R apresentava boa validade estrutural (revelada pelo surgimento das estruturas de temperamento e caracteres previstas pela teoria) e altos níveis de congruência entre as versões americana e portuguesa. . Uma melhoria na adequação dos modelos para a população portuguesa foi alcançada através da utilização de modelagem de equações estruturais exploratórias sobre a análise fatorial confirmatória. Embora algumas facetas tenham registrado consistência questionável, todas as dimensões foram aceitáveis ​​para uma boa consistência (todas ≥ 0,79).Abstract: Cloninger’s psychobiological model of personality integrates contributions from behavioral genetics, neurobiology and psychology in the description of the human personality. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is its assessment instrument. The Brazilian Portuguese version of the TCI has shown good psychometric properties. However, Portuguese spoken in Brazil presents marked and substantial differences to that spoken in Portugal, and no study has yet described the psychometrics of the European Portuguese version. The objective of this study was thus to describe the psychometric properties of the European Portuguese adult version of the TCI (the TCI-R). This study involved 1,400 Portuguese adult participants. The factorial structure of the European Portuguese version was tested using four methods: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Orthogonal Procrustes Rotation analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM). The integration of data coming from these methods suggested that the Portuguese version of the TCI-R presented good structural validity (as revealed by the emergence of the temperament and character structures predicted by theory) and high levels of congruence between the American and the Portuguese versions. An improvement in the goodness of fit of the models for the Portuguese population was achieved by using ESEM over CFA. Although some facets registered questionable consistency, all dimensions had acceptable to good consistency (all ≥ .79). These results confirm the validity of the Portuguese TCI-R and its adequacy for use in European Portuguese samples