Implementação de uma jornada online de autoconhecimento e promoção de saúde mental para população brasileira: oportunidades e desafios

The study aimed to investigate opportunities and challenges in implementing an online self-knowledge journey for the Brazilian population. The journey offers free psychological self-assessments and psychoeducational materials to participants. Personalized feedbacks are also provided by filling in standardized scales from international literature (on personality, emotions, values, beliefs, spirituality and mental health). In order to assess the challenges of using the online self-knowledge journey interviews were conducted with a think-aloud protocol (N=16). The findings of the interviews fed into the process of developing a new version. This new version was evaluated through focus groups (N=9) and qualitative interviews (N=6) which helped to validate the adjustments implemented. The strengths found in using the journey were high conceptual acceptance, good therapeutic opportunities, clear language, reliability and personal identification with the personalized feedbacks. To improve the journey we identified the need for usability adjustments, shorter texts and simpler graphics. The adjustments were incorporated and validated in the new release version, which was well accepted and has promising prospects to be used in the Brazilian Unified Health System. Based on the evaluations carried out, good results are expected in the clinical area with the use of the journey, which can be a useful technological device to complement health promotion actions linked to mental health and to personal development services.O estudo visou investigar oportunidades e desafios na implementação de uma jornada online de autoconhecimento voltada para a população brasileira. A jornada desenvolvida oferece autoavaliações psicológicas gratuitas e materiais psicoeducativos aos participantes. Foram produzidos também feedbacks personalizados que são gerados com o preenchimento de escalas padronizadas da literatura internacional (sobre personalidade, emoções, valores, crenças, espiritualidade e saúde mental). Para avaliar os desafios de implementação foram conduzidas entrevistas com protocolo think-aloud (N=16), cujos achados nutriram processos de desenvolvimento de uma nova versão. Essa nova versão foi avaliada por meio de grupos focais (N=9) e entrevistas qualitativas (N=6) que contribuíram para validar os ajustes implementados. Os pontos fortes encontrados com a jornada desenvolvida foram: alta aceitação conceitual, boas oportunidades terapêuticas, linguagem clara, confiabilidade e identificação pessoal com os feedbacks personalizados. Entre os desafios de implementação evidenciaram-se os ajustes de usabilidade e a necessidade de escalas menores, textos curtos e gráficos simples. Os ajustes foram incorporados e validados na nova versão de divulgação, a qual apresentou boa aceitação e perspectivas promissoras de uso junto a serviços do SUS. A ciência da implementação apresentou-se como recurso essencial para a obtenção de melhores encaixes digitais com a intervenção proposta. A solução apresenta boas oportunidades na área clínica, podendo ser um aparato tecnológico útil para complementar ações de promoção de saúde vinculadas aos serviços de saúde mental e de desenvolvimento pessoal

Predictors of functional impairment and awareness in people with dementia, mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults from a middle-income country

ObjectiveTo investigate the demographic, clinical and cognitive correlates of functional capacity and its awareness in people with dementia (PwD; n = 104), mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI; n = 45) and controls (healthy older adults; n = 94) in a sample from a middle-income country.MethodsDementia and MCI were diagnosed, respectively, with DSM-IV and Petersen criteria. Performance in activities of daily living (ADL) at three different levels [basic (The Katz Index of Independence), instrumental (Lawton instrumental ADL scale) and advanced (Reuben’s advanced ADL scale)], measured through self- and informant-report, as well as awareness (discrepancy between self- and informant-report), were compared between groups. Stepwise regression models explored predictors of ADL and their awareness.ResultsPwD showed impairment in all ADL levels, particularly when measured through informant-report. No differences were seen between controls and PwMCI regardless of measurement type. PwD differed in awareness of instrumental and basic, but not of advanced ADL, compared to controls. Age, gender, education and fluency were the most consistent predictors for ADL. Diagnosis was a significant predictor only for instrumental ADL. Awareness of basic ADL was predicted by memory, and awareness of instrumental ADL was predicted by general cognitive status, educational level, and diagnosis.ConclusionResults reinforce the presence of lack of awareness of ADL in PwD. Use of informant-reports and cognitive testing for fluency are suggested for the clinical assessment of ADL performance. Finally, assessment of instrumental ADL may be crucial for diagnostic purposes

Plataforma online de autoavaliações psicológicas: implementação, oportunidades e desafios

O projeto de pesquisa descreve a construção de uma plataforma digital autoguiada de autoconhecimento e promoção de saúde mental, a qual teve que passar por diversos processos de validação de usabilidade de forma a atingir maior aceitação pelo público

Why we need to rethink measurement invariance: The role of measurement invariance for psychological science

Claims about human behavior have been hampered by limited availability of comparable data across cultures. Invariance testing has been proposed to address questions about the comparability of data, yet statistical methods have been challenged on various grounds across psychology and related fields. We highlight how current debates confuse distinct issues and fail to consider the role of data within science. We aim to overcome the impasse by a) summarizing various criticisms, b) distinguishing five mapping processes that occur during a typical research project and c) exploring how thinking about invariance as mapping can move current discussions forward. Specifically, we differentiate 1) mapping ideas to theoretical constructs and concepts, 2) mapping constructs to stimuli, 3) mapping participants` responses to stimuli onto numerical representations, 4) testing internal relations of stimuli responses (the typical focus of statistical invariance testing) and 5) mapping empirical observations back to theoretical statements. We treat invariance testing as a theory-guided process that offers important insights about instruments, construct validity and psychological theories throughout the research process that are currently missed by focusing on only the statistical details. Psychological claims that are valid for all humans depend on questions of invariance in the broad sense that we outline here

Wellbeing dynamics across cultures during the pandemic: A five country exploration

Wellbeing levels have been a global concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is a lack of attention to invariance questions that allow a robust examination of wellbeing dynamics across cultures. Questions of temporal stability that are crucial for examining the impact of the pandemic on wellbeing have received even less attention. Some studies suggested that measures may not be stable after the onset of the pandemic. We examine invariance parameters, the factorial structure and variability of wellbeing variables (life satisfaction, pandemic worries, anxiety and depression screenings) across five different cultural contexts from 2020 to 2022 (N = 4387, total observations = 13,161). A three-factor model separating life satisfaction, worry, and distress performed best in terms of model fit and parsimony. We observed scalar invariance across times and identified little variability of wellbeing measures during the pandemic, suggesting that wellbeing levels remained stable during the pandemic in each of the countries sampled. In contrast, we only identified metric invariance across countries at each time point, and found a weakening of correlations between life satisfaction and a depressive/anxious symptoms scale in lower income countries. We discuss implications of our findings for discussions of wellbeing dynamics

What Influenced People's Cultural and Social Capitals During COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy?

Cultural Capital can be defined as the knowledge and use of cultural codes considered relevant to the community where people live (Lamont & Lareau, 1988). Cultural Capital has three dimensions concerning different cultural activities types: (1) consuming – i.e., visiting exhibitions, museums, or galleries, attending theatre performances or musical events, reading books -; (2) expert using - i.e., using foreign languages, using the Internet to stay informed, creating art, performing in concerts, plays or dance productions, writing-; and (3) participating, i.e., participation in the activities of cultural, religious and political, or community service groups/associations. Social Capital can be defined as the resources associated with durable and trustworthy social connections with individuals or groups (Bourdieu, 1980; Coleman, 1988). Social Capital is composed of Bonding and Bridging Social Capital, concerning resources associated with connections “within groups” e “across groups”, respectively. Cultural Capital and Social Capital, together with Socio-Economic Status, form a person’s Social Cultural Level (SCL), i.e., preferences, knowledge, and behaviors characterizing the way of life of an individual that depends on their own cultural, social and economic resources. One 's SCL is known to have relations with individuals’ personality and adaptive behavior, health risk behaviors, perceived poor health, and mental health. Given that COVID-19 and the measures governments used to contain its spread had so much influence in the environment people interacted with, it is sensible to expect that the recent period had some influence on individuals’ Cultural Capital and Social Capital. The present study aimed to investigate (1) the Cultural Capital and Social Capital of 1464 residents in Italy during its first lockdown (March-May 2020), (2) the changes in both constructs and its dimensions in comparison to the period before lockdown regarding evaluations made by the individuals themselves, and (3) the socio-demographic factors that acted as predictors of behavior and its changes. We found no differences between the changes in Social Capital total and Cultural Capital total (Wilcoxon test: z = -.344, p = .731), but there were differences in changes within the dimensions of both constructs. During the lockdown, Bridging usually increased more than Bonding Social Capital (Wilcoxon test: z = -10.690, p < .001). Expert using increased more than Consuming (Wilcoxon test: z = -11.814, p < .001), and then, again, the latter more than Participating (Wilcoxon test: z = -16.200, p < .001). Regression analyses will allow us to identify if and how socio-demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, educational level, Italy region) affected Cultural Capital, Social Capital and its changes during the lockdown. In this way, we will have a more extensive analysis of how COVID-19 lockdown influenced individuals’ behaviors and, consequently, investigate how this particular period characteristics can be used to understand Social Cultural Level and all of its influences on human life

Nonordinary Experiences, Well-being and Mental Health: A Systematic Review of the Evidence and Recommendations for Future Research

Throughout history, people have reported nonordinary experiences (NOEs) such as feelings of oneness with the universe and hearing voices. Although these experiences form the basis of several spiritual and religious traditions, experiencing NOEs may create stress and uncertainty among those who experience such events. To provide a more systematic overview of the research linking NOEs with mental health, we present a systematic review of studies focusing on NOEs, well-being and mental health indicators. In a search of ProQuest and PsycInfo, we identified 725 references, of which 157 reported empirical data and were included in our review. Overall, the studies reviewed suggest that the relationship between NOEs and mental health is complex, varying according to a series of psychological and social factors. In particular, they suggest that appraisal processes play a fundamental role in the mental health outcomes of these experiences. However, we also highlight important methodological challenges such as the conceptual overlap between NOEs and well-being or psychopathological constructs, the conflation between experiences and appraisal processes in the assessment procedure, and the need for clearer assessment of the duration, controllability, impact on daily functioning and general context of the experiences. We provide a qualitative summary of empirical evidence and main themes of research and make recommendations for future investigation