Gender norms in Portuguese college sudents' judgments in familial homicides: bad men and mad women

The gender of the offender has been proved to be an important factor in judicial sentencing. In this study, we analyze the judgments of College students regarding perpetrators of familial homicides to evaluate the presence of these gender norms and biases in the larger society. The sample included 303 college students (54.8% female) enrolled in several social sciences and engineering courses. Participants were asked to read 12 vignettes based on real crimes taken from Portuguese newspapers. Half were related to infanticide, and half were related to intimate partner homicide. The sex of the offender was orthogonally manipulated to the type of crime. The results show that gender had an important impact on sentences, with males being more harshly penalized by reasons of perversity and women less penalized by reason of mental disorders. In addition, filicide was more heavily penalized than was intimate partner homicide. The results also revealed a tendency toward a retributive conception of punishment. We discuss how gender norms in justice seem to be embedded in society as well as the need for intervention against the punitive tendency of this population.

Inferior frontal gyrus white matter abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder

The aim of the present study is to explore obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related abnormalities in white matter connectivity in OCD for a core region associated with inhibitory control [i.e. inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)]. Fifteen patients with OCD (11 men) and 15 healthy controls (nine men) underwent diffusion tensor imaging scanning to study four diffusivity indexes of white matter integrity [fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity (RD)]. The results showed that persons with OCD manifested significantly lower fractional anisotropy levels in the bilateral IFG as well as its parcellations in the pars opercularis, pars triangularis, and pars orbitalis. Significantly higher levels of MD, RD were evident for the OCD group in the IFG as a whole as well as in the bilateral subregions of the pars triangularis and pars opercularis (for MD and RD), the right side of the pars orbitalis (for RD), and the left side of the pars triangularis and right side pars opercularis (for axial diffusivity). Overall, the results suggest significant alterations in structural connectivity, probably associated with myelination and axonal abnormalities in the IFG of OCD patients.

Study to determine the cardiovascular risk ofthe population of Guimarães/Vizela, includingthe prevalence of arterial stiffness and early vascular aging syndrome

Tese de Doutoramento em Medicina.

Anxiety and depression symptoms in women and men from early pregnancy to 3-months postpartum: parity differences and effects

This study aimed to investigate both anxiety and depression symptoms from early pregnancy to 3-months postpartum, comparing women and men and first and second-time parents. Methods: A sample of 260 Portuguese couples (N=520), first or second-time parents, recruited in an Obstetrics Out-patients Unit, filled in the State-Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and the Edinburgh Post-Natal Depression Scale (EPDS) at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd pregnancy trimesters, childbirth, and 3-months postpartum. Results: A decrease in anxiety and depression symptoms from early pregnancy to 3-months postpartum was found in both women and men, as well as in first and second-time parents. Men presented less anxiety and depression symptoms than women, but the same pattern of symptoms over time. Second-time parents showed more anxiety and depression symptoms than first-time parents and a different pattern of symptoms over time: an increase in anxiety and depression symptoms from the 3rd trimester to childbirth was observed in first-time parents versus a decrease in second-time parents. Limitations: The voluntary nature of the participation may have lead to a selection bias; women and men who agreed to participate could be those who presented fewer anxiety and depression symptoms. Moreover, the use of self-report symptom measures does not give us the level of possible disorder in participants. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression symptoms diminish from pregnancy to the postpartum period in all parents. Patterns of anxiety and depression symptoms from early pregnancy to 3-months postpartum are similar in women and men, but somewhat different in first and second time parents. Second-time parents should also be considered while studying and intervening during pregnancy and the postpartum.

Partner relationships during pregnancy in anxious and depressed women and men

To assess anxiety, depression and relationship satisfaction in both women and men during pregnancy, the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) were administered during the second trimester to a sample of 59 pregnant women and their partners. Anxious pregnant women rated their relationships as less positive. Depressed pregnant women also rated their relationships as less positive. The women’s anxiety scores were predictive of their positive and negative relationship scores. The women and their partners’ negative relationship scores were also predictive of each others’ negative relationship scores. These results highlight the importance of targeting anxiety as well as depression, and pregnant women as well as their partners in prenatal intervention programs.