Two levels of meaning elaboration in psychological research

Arocha (2021) discusses the “replication crisis,” arguing for models that allow a greater complexity in the relationship between variables and processes. In this comment, we identify a more fundamental issue: the impossibility of eliminating interpretation issues with operational definitions and increased rigor in the measurements of variables and processes. Interpretation is at the core of (a) human action and (b) scientific endeavor. First, considering Vygotsky, we argue that all higher mental processes are sign mediated, influencing psychological research with humans. Second, that the understanding of research results also involves sign mediation and, therefore, it is nonneutral. We suggest two alternative approaches. There needs to be an increase in research that delivers a detailed description of psychological phenomena. Additionally, it is necessary to increase the elucidation of contextual-embeddedness research. Taking into account the two levels of meaning will underline psychology as a scientific discipline of complex phenomena.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mental health literacy regarding depression and suicide.

Introduction: Mental health literacy enables individuals to recognize the symptoms associated with mental illness, and thus adjust their behavior to manage and seek help and treatment for mental illness. Aims: The present research aims to study determinants of mental health literacy and whether an association exists between mental health literacy and the understanding of content related to depression and suicide. Methods: In each group, the participants read one leaflet about depression or suicide and answered a questionnaire to assess their understanding. All the participants also filled out a mental health literacy self-report. Results: The results showed higher mental health literacy for women and individuals with a higher education. Mental health literacy predicted the understanding of suicide content, but the same did not apply for depression. Conclusions: Mental health literacy stands as an important factor to be considered in developing campaigns and promotional actions. However, its effect remains contingent on the contents and context. It is crucial to consider this interaction in maximizing the campaigns’ impact on the population.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding differential stress and mental health reactions to COVID-19 related events

The effects of the pandemic on mental health can be studied through different variables, such as the number of COVID-19 stressors, the stressor types, and the stress responses. Understanding the sources of mental strain is crucial for developing effective interventions. The present study analyzed the relationship between these COVID-19-related variables and positive and negative mental health. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 666 individuals from the Portuguese general population, mostly females (65.5%) between 16–93 years old. They completed self-report measures regarding the number of COVID-19 stressors, the stressor types, the stress responses (IES-R), and positive (MHC-SF) and negative mental health (BSI-18). The results demonstrated that a higher number of COVID-19-experienced stressors and more stress responses were related to worse mental health. Regarding stressor types, experiences not related to the COVID-19 infection (e.g., tension at home) presented the largest effects on mental health. The strongest predictor was the stress responses for negative (β = 0.50) and positive mental health (β = −0.17). The predictors explained more about negative mental health than positive. These findings support the idea that individual appraisals play a crucial role in mental health.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The psychological impact of COVID-19 in the general population: A review and reflection in Portuguese Speaking Countries

Despite being a global condition, the COVID-19 pandemic, has differential impacts, expressed in different number of cases, deaths, information, political and cultural issues. We review and summarized the literature related to the pandemic of COVID-19 in Portuguese speaking countries. The goal of our review was: 1) summarize the research that reported the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic disorder, and other indicators of psychological impact in the general population from Portuguese speaking countries, in specific Portugal and Brazil; 2) focus on the COVID-19 related experiences that can be associated with psychological issues; 3) reflect on risk and protective factors that may be associated with psychological distress; and 4) present some reflections about psychological processes that can explain the association between the pandemic and mental health.Resumen A pesar de ser una condición global, la pandemia del COVID-19, tiene impactos diferenciales, manifestados en diferente número de casos, muertes, información, cuestiones políticas y culturales. Resumimos la literatura relacionada con la pandemia de COVID-19 en los países de habla portuguesa. El objetivo de nuestra revisión fue: 1) resumir la investigación que informó la prevalencia de síntomas de ansiedad, depresión, trastorno postraumático y otros indicadores de impacto psicológico en la población general de países de habla portuguesa, en particular Portugal y Brasil; 2) centrarse en las experiencias relacionadas con COVID-19 que pueden asociarse con problemas psicológicos; 3) reflexionar sobre los factores de riesgo y protección que pueden estar asociados con la angustia psicológica; y 4) presentar algunas reflexiones sobre procesos psicológicos que pueden explicar la asociación entre pandemia y salud mental.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A memória e a vontade : enviesamento atencional e assimilação em ex-combatentes com perturbação pós stress traumático

Tese de mestrado em Psicologia (Área de especialização em Stress e Bem-Estar), apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, 2006A Perturbação Pós Stress Traumático (PPST) pode ser vista como a interrupção do processo de assimilação do acontecimento traumático. Para essa interrupção contribuem factores de manutenção, dos quais se salienta a presença de esquemas ansiogénicos. Este estudo, tem como objectivo observar a associação entre a influência de esquemas ansiogénicos relevantes para a manutenção da PPST (relativos a trauma, sequelas e auto-conceito negativo) e o processo de assimilação do acontecimento traumático. Optou-se por estudar a influência dos esquemas por uma propriedade dos mesmos, o enviesamento atencional, e o processo de assimilação, pela análise de índices da narrativa que se admite corresponderem aos processos de assimilação ou de evitamento. Participaram neste estudo 34 ex-combatentes da guerra colonial portuguesa com PPST. O enviesamento atencional foi medido pelo paradigma experimental da Tarefa de Stroop-Emocional e a assimilação pela análise da narrativa do trauma (tendo como controlo uma narrativa emocionalmente negativa). Verificou-se a presença enviesamento atencional para trauma e sequelas e observou-se uma associação entre o enviesamento atencional, para trauma e auto-conceito negativo, e a severidade da PPST. No que concerne à análise da narrativa, parte dos índices considerados diferiam em termos de presença média na narrativa do trauma (relativamente à narrativa controlo) e o seu uso estava associado à PPST. Finalmente, alguns índices de assimilação/evitamento estavam associados ao enviesamento atencional. Discutem-se os resultados em função do enquadramento dos conceitos de assimilação e de enviesamento atencional em níveis diferentes do sistema cognitivo; da concepção da assimilação como processo narrativo e procurando extrair implicações para a intervenção psicoterapêutica em pessoas que viveram acontecimentos, traumáticos.Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be conceptualised as an interruption of the traumatic event assimilation process. Maintenance factors such as anxiety related schemas play an important role in that interruption. The goal of this study is to examine the association between the effect of PTSD-relevant schemas (related to trauma, sequelae, or negative self-concept) and the process of assimilation of the traumatic event. It was chosen to analyse the effect of schemas by observing the attentional bias, which is considered to be a schema property and to study the assimilation process by the analysis of narrative markers, which are believed to represent the processes of assimilation or avoidance. 34 war veterans of the Portuguese colonial war with PTSD participated in this study. The attentional bias was measured by the Emotional Stroop Task and the assimilation through narrative analysis of the traumatic event (using as a control an emotionally negative narrative). It was found attentional bias towards trauma and sequelae and that the attentional bias towards trauma and negative self-concept were associated with the severity of PTSD. It was observed a number of significant differences, in terms of marker-use between both narratives, and those differences of usage correlated with the severity of PTSD, in some instances. Finally it was found an association between some of the markers of assimilation/avoidance and the attentional bias. These results are discussed in terms of the status of assimilation and attentional bias in a multi-level cognitive system; in terms of the notion of assimilation as a narrative process and in terms of possible implications to the psychotherapeutic intervention in PTSD

Representations of depression and schizophrenia in the community: The role of illness and risk perceptions on help-seeking intentions

Objective: Illness perceptions (IPs) are important in understanding human reactions to illnesses, including mental health disorders. They influence risk perceptions and several variables relevant to the adjustment to a disorder, treatment seeking, and health outcomes. This study sought to compare IP, risk perception, and help-seeking intention for depression and schizophrenia in a community sample and to assess the mediating role of risk perception in the relationship between IP and help-seeking intention. Materials and methods: A total of 380 adults participated in this study and filled out self-report measures of IPs, risk perceptions, and help-seeking intention. The previous diagnosis of depression was used to control the comparisons between the two disorders. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the mediation relationship. Results: Perceived consequences, expected timeline, lack of personal control, and symptom identity were higher for schizophrenia, while lack of treatment control and concern were higher for depression. An interaction occurred with a previous diagnosis of depression for several dimensions of IP. Concerning the SEM, a valid model was obtained for depression, explaining 15.5% of helpseeking intentions, but not for schizophrenia. Conclusion: The results show that the general population represents depression and schizophrenia differently. These representations are influenced by having experienced depression, and that illness and risk perceptions contribute to explaining the intention to seek help. Considering these illness representations makes it possible to understand the general population’s emotional and cognitive reactions to mental health disorders.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding the relationship between illness perceptions of breast cancer and perceived risk in a sample of U.A.E. female university students: the role of comparative risk

BackgroundIn the Middle East region, the incidence of breast cancer (BC) has substantially increased in the last years. Despite a considerable body of research about BC in Arab countries, how illness perceptions of healthy women about BC may influence risk perception is unknown.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 298 young Emirati women. The measures included demographic information, illness perceptions, and risk perception. Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed to assess illness perceptions about BC, perceived individual risk and comparative risk. A structural equation modelling (S.E.M.) was built to investigate the relationship between illness perceptions and perceived individual risk.ResultsParticipants reported negative illness perceptions about BC The individual risk perception and the compared risk perception for BC were low. Participants with a family history of BC reported more negative illness and higher risk perceptions. The relationship between illness perceptions and perceived individual risk was significant and mediated by compared risk. The S.E.M. explained 55.9% of the variance in predicting perceived individual risk for BC.ConclusionWomen\u27s views of BC are important factors in risk perception and may provide culturally sensitive clues to promote early screening for BC in Arab countries. This may be important for policymakers to design intervention strategies to lower health risks, considering the different ways in which women perceive their risks for BC

Representations of depression and schizophrenia in the community: The role of illness and risk perceptions on help-seeking intentions

Illness perceptions (IPs) are important in understanding human reactions to illnesses, including mental health disorders. They influence risk perceptions and several variables relevant to the adjustment to a disorder, treatment seeking, and health outcomes. This study sought to compare IP, risk perception, and help-seeking intention for depression and schizophrenia in a community sample and to assess the mediating role of risk perception in the relationship between IP and help-seeking intention. A total of 380 adults participated in this study and filled out self-report measures of IPs, risk perceptions, and help-seeking intention. The previous diagnosis of depression was used to control the comparisons between the two disorders. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the mediation relationship. Perceived consequences, expected timeline, lack of personal control, and symptom identity were higher for schizophrenia, while lack of treatment control and concern were higher for depression. An interaction occurred with a previous diagnosis of depression for several dimensions of IP. Concerning the SEM, a valid model was obtained for depression, explaining 15.5% of help-seeking intentions, but not for schizophrenia. The results show that the general population represents depression and schizophrenia differently. These representations are influenced by having experienced depression, and that illness and risk perceptions contribute to explaining the intention to seek help. Considering these illness representations makes it possible to understand the general population’s emotional and cognitive reactions to mental health disorders

Patterns of psychotherapy development: A mixed-method analysis using assimilation indices

Understanding how assimilation develops is essential in promoting personal change. By attending to signs or indices of assimilation in the speech of clients, therapists can use this process to assess how the therapy is developing and to tailor intervention. The system of assimilation indices was developed to use assimilation to understand the process of change. This system signals five sub-processes of assimilation: external distress, pain, noticing, decentring, and action. This study consisted of a longitudinal mixed-method analysis, following a multiple cases embedded design. The system of assimilation indices was applied to the recordings of nine psychotherapies and contrasted with both the outcome of the therapy and the perspectives of the therapists and clients about their therapy process. The results show that the system of indices is useful in understanding multiple pathways for assimilation. The system of indices is seen as a useful tool for understanding assimilation and as having clinical value in anticipating challenges to the success of the therapy. This study also shows how the indices are sensitive to the nuances in the change process observed in clinical settings.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio