Impacto da cárie precoce severa na infância na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal de pré-escolares sob privação social

Early childhood caries, especially in its severe form, which is characterized by an acute and aggressive nature, can have negative impacts on thequality of life of a child, due to effects such as difficulty in chewing, decreased appetite, weight loss, insomnia, changes in behavior and a decreased performance in school, among others. Moreover, the quality of life of the child`s family can also be affected, as the pain and discomfort caused by this type of caries result in loss of working days of parents, spending on dental treatments, changes in sleep patterns and stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of severe early childhood caries in the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of public daycares`s preschool children through the Escala de Impacto da Saúde Bucal na Primeira Infância, a Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS). A single calibrated examiner (kappa=1.0) evaluated, through the dmfs index, the oral health of 116 children aged between 3 and 5, which were included in one of three study groups: "caries-free", "not-severe early childhood caries" and "severe early childhood caries". The parents responded to ECOHIS, to assess their perception regarding the OHRQoL of their children, and a questionnaire on socioeconomic conditions. The OHRQoL was measured through the total scores and domains of ECOHIS. Descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test and Poisson multiple regression with robust variance were used. Among the children observed, 38.8% were caries-free, 27.6% showed not-severe early childhood caries and 33.6% showed severe early childhood caries. Regarding the total score of ECOHIS, severe early childhood caries had a greater negative impact on OHRQoL, compared to caries-free and not-severe early childhood caries groups (p <0.001). Regarding the child subscale, there was significant difference between the "severe early childhood caries" group and the other groups in all domains, except for theone of self-image / social interaction. In the family subscale domains, there was statistical significance between the severe early childhood caries and the caries-free groups in all domains (p <0.001), whereas between the "severe early childhood caries and not-severe early childhood caries groups there was a statistically significant difference only in the domain of parental anguish (p <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that early childhood caries and the parent`s age were significantly associated to OHRQoL (p <0.05), independently of the other variables in the model. The presence of severe early childhood caries resulted in greater negative impact on OHRQoL (AdjPR= 6.016; 95%CI = 3.12 11.56; p<0.001), while older parents reported better OHRQoL (AdjPR = 0.603; 95%CI = 0.428 - 0.850; p = 0.004). The presence of severe early childhood caries had a negative impact on OHRQoL of preschool children and their families.

Serviço Social e terceiro setor: considerações sobre as atuais relações e condições de trabalho para o Assistente Social em Natal

The present study analyses the actual relations and work conditions found in the third sector in Natal city, in the context of productive restoration and increasingly retraction from the State in providing Social Service before the new approach that has been destined to the social issue. The study talks about the work of the social worker when fighting the different expressions the social issue has, such as social service provision as a way of teamwork associated to work relations and conditions, to accessible resources and quality control management. These are elements that affect and interfere in the accomplishment and in the work of the social worker itself. The State s improvement, according to neoliberal-political precepts and increasingly retraction from the public investment in the areas of social concern (health, social welfare, assistance) and in the wage and employment policy, besides expanding the partnership with the public and private areas, in search for social services with quality, it has diversified the structures of the professional work with the growth of the so called third sector institutions. However, the absorption of the social workers by the third sector groups in general, has as major features the impoverishment of work relations, the maintenance of an unequal salary model, pointing out the deadline contracts and/or single tasks that generate work instability. The research debates, with a critical view and full perspective, over the conception of the third sector, interpreted as an action that expresses functions and values, treated as a real phenomenon generated from the restoration of the capital based on neoliberal principles. This study aims for responding what the established work relations are and under what work conditions the social worker has been fitting in the third sector and how such a reality echoes in the current work conditions for a social work in the city of Natal, before this new model of state intervention that transfers part of the social service provision to distinctive divisions of society, among them the so called third sector. The research results have shown that like the other workers the social worker passes through the same crises, dilemmas, advances and challenges that occur in the world of employment and which are expressed in the drop of salary average in the growth of contemporary contracts, unemployment, and in the ever more selective requirements to one be included in the social spaces, where the professional work is done, having as a result a greater impoverishment of work relations and conditions as well as more vulnerability as a salaried occupation

As relações de gênero no trabalho: uma análise da inserção das mulheres e homens na rede de fast food

The purpose of this study was investigate the sexual division of the work in a chain of fast food, in Natal, RN. These aspects were analyzed with the ways of organization of the work, being made a case study. The main objective of this survey was to analyze the influence of gender relations in the insertion of men and women in the job market and to analyze the question of feminine submission in the professional world. These questions were analyzed considering the current period of the worldwide capitalism, from the characteristics of productive process and the growth of the service sectors. The research was made with a group of workers on the production sectors; attendance, management and human resources at restfood store, where six clerks were interviewed. Through our research, it is possible to perceive the permanence of the sexual division at the job in the interior of the productive processes at Restfood, that puts the woman in a subordinate position in relation to the man. This result can be confirmed if we considerate that the women, on this chain of food, occupy in first place the function of waitress and on this, trere s no functional progression, while her workmates (the men) for occupying other functions can progress inside the company. It was also evidenced that in a context of globalization of the capital, deregulation and disrespect of labor laws, the capital acts without any respect to workers. That was what we observed at the interviewer speech; the scarcity of the conditions of work and the constant disrespect of the labor laws. This way, we could evidence that the scarcity of work conditions hit men and women, but it has a crueler face with the women, and this one reproduces itself, day by day in the process of social reproduction, through family life, insertion in the world of the work, information and received social education. So, the capital explores all of them, but the gender relations create to the capital, the possibility of a different degree of exploration, becoming this way, the women main victims herself

A inserção das mulheres na Câmara Municipal de Natal (1988 - 2004)

This work has as objective to reflect about the insertion of the women in the City Council of Natal in the period from 1988 to 2004. We focused our discussion in the context of the politics of quota that has with objective to decrease the frame of inequalities existent between women and men in the politics, besides of to analyze which the determinants responsible for the women's sub-representation. The research still consists of an analysis of the councilor s women profile and how they were seen in that space of power. We analyzed our study object in a gender vision, since this is related intrinsically the social relationships and the relationships of power. The women, for a long time, they were excluded of the participation in the public life, being just seen as mere expectants. This research is informed mainly by studies which discuss the Gender (Scott, 1990), (Perrot, 1988), (Badinter, 1995), (Bruschini, 2002). We also analyzed the power, politics in the vision of Marx (1996), Foucault (1982) and (Arendt, 2001). We tried to analyze the women's presence in the spaces public and private, showing your conflicts and contradictions faced in the society, focalizing the political character of the women's inclusion in the spaces in that are inserted. The instrument of collection of data was the semi-structured questionnaire, descriptive and analytical - critical. The analyses of the interviews show to the sub-representation of women over the years as a determining factor for these women continue in the invisibility. The women were interviewed councillora ex- bounded from 1988 to 2004. The conclusion the one that we arrived is that this sub-representation has as decisive the patriarchal system that prevailed for a long time in our society and still dominates and affects women in all areas of your life. This becomes more serious in the capitalist society in which prevail the interests of those that it stops the produced wealth

A inserção das mulheres na luta pela terra: movimento de participação e/ou submissão

The following dissertation studies the insertion of peasant women in the conflict for land since the occupation process, dispossession and construction of the settlement New Horizon II, in the municipal district of Maxaranguape. It analyses their participation in the conflict Valley of the Hope", that resulted in the settlements New Life II and New Horizon II in the municipal district of Maxaranguape. The analysis exposes the reasons which took the peasant women, after the land conquest, to go back into domestic space and/or to assume positions of lesser relevance in the political organizations of the settlement. In the conflict Valley of the Hope, the women had a fundamental role, facing the police violence, being front line of the conflicts against the repression forces, risking their lives and the life of their families. After the conquest of the land, transformed into the New Horizon II Settlement, there are a lot of changes in the participation of the women. We can observe that, despite the protagonism of the families, in special of the women in the Valley of the Hope conflict, these female workers still experiment unequal social, economic, political and cultural conditions in relation to the men, expressing the gender inequalities which are found in the daily life of the settlement: in the community, in the domestic and agricultural task. The conflict for the land in the Valley of the Hope and the conquest of the settlement did not necessarily mean the incorporation of the emancipation of the peasant women. However, the political participation in the development of the conflicts allowed to the women the self discovering and the beginning of an emancipation process as gender. There are signals of continuities and ruptures of the present culture, almost always stimulated by the organization of the agricultural female workers

O Processo de revisão do benefício de prestação continuada-BPC: uma lógica de exclusão ou inclusão social

This research comprises a study about the social assessment performed by the Social Worker in the review process of the Benefit of Continued Installment. The Benefit of Continued Installment was implemented in 1996 and guarantees a minimum salary to the deficiency person and to an elder with sixty five years or more and that proves not to have ways to support neither himself/herself nor his/her own family. It is a demand to include in the BPC that the maximum income of a family does not exceed ¼ of minimum salary and that every two years this benefit to be revised to evaluate its continuity based in its original conditions. This study was carried out in the municipality of Natal/RN, with thirteen social workers, being the collection of data performed through interviews and social assessments of the users that count with the benefit. The results show that the users selected by the criterion of the income, present a profile of poverty and deprivations demonstrated through several situations survived in its daily life, indicative of vulnerability. It was demonstrated that the Social workers has relative autonomy in the evaluations along with the users and that it denotes the necessity of inclusion. However, by following the imposed criteria, it corroborates with the logic of exclusion. So, it is identified in the Municipality of Natal/RN, following the orientation given the politics of social work at national level, the implementation of revision of the BPC, for the social workers, from rigorous processes of selection and exclusions

O Entrelaçamento entre assistência social e trabalho informal: verdades e equívocos em tempos de crise do capital

The thesis presented here is of interest management to analyze the performance of the State, through the materialization of the professional courses, the process of integration of users CRAS-Pajuçara informal. Therefore, we assume that poverty and inequality reach a significant portion of the world population, in a context where the working class family is seen as an alternative to face the multiple expressions of social issues. Thus, before the changes of Productive Restructuring, marked by flexibility, outsourcing and casualization of labor relations in the world, the working class family must find ways to ensure their survival. In this direction, we discuss the advances, limitations and challenges posed to the Social Assistance Policy in contemporary, situating this context, the role of the state. Furthermore, we discussed the functionality of informality to the capitalist system, showing how capital appropriates of informal work, placing it in its logic, and thus makes the capital-labor ratio increasingly predatory, inhuman and unequal. The methodological procedures for the preparation of this study constitute a literature and documentary, beyond 10 semi-structured interviews directed to users of CRAS-Pajuçara, participants of training courses for the period 2010-2011. In light of the critical-dialectical rationality, and in a context where informal work has increasingly been co-opted as an alternative to huge unemployment in the same direction in which the welfare rises in tackling social inequality, the scope of this study, discusses and reveals the truths and misconceptions that surround this bourgeois discourse, in times of crisis of capital, the city of Natal, Brazil

O Centro de Referência da Assistência Social e a Psicanálise: efeitos de uma escuta singularizada

This paper emerged from an experience of 18 months in the CRAS – Reference Center for Social Assistance – which aroused a question about the listening of the singularity in the professional practice of Psi in the context of social assistance. The literature review revealed, on the one hand, a series of studies that aim to a discussion about of the process of professional integration of psychologists in the field of social welfare, proposing and / or analyzing practices directed towards the psychosocial assistance directed to the group and for the assurance of rights, forming citizen subjects. On the other hand, supported by a psychoanalytic perspective, we found studies that point to the importance of the singularity listening considering the subjectivity and symbolic resources of those who seek help in Basic Assistance Service. In this perspective, we aim to analyze, in a posteriori, the effects of offering a singularized listening in the context of CRAS and discuss its implications for the Psi professional practice in social institution. This is a theoretical and clinical research, based on Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, in which two cases, placed as investigation boosters, are analyzed in the light of the concept of the subject. We conclude that a singularized listening allowed a significant sliding and the consequent repositioning of the subject, in each case, front to their suffering. The effects collected allowed us to affirm the importance of a singular listening in the treatment of the demands that appear within the institutional framework

A produção científica de psicologia e o debate sobre política social

Postgraduate studies in Psychology have passed through intense process of growth and consolidation, attested by current high levels of scientific production. It is questionable, however, the return that psychological science has given to a society that has made large investments. Considering the increasing integration of Psychology in the social welfare area, a form of possible and necessary contribution is by the expansion of social policy debate. This work aimed to discuss how Psychology postgraduate studies can contribute to understand the issue of social policy. The object were academic theses defended in the 2007/2009 triennium related to one of the five thematic criteria, which resulted in 105 theses of 824 defended in the period. The main results point to the existence of the issue in Psychology programs in a sprayed way, predominantly, albeit for a limited set of researchers and programs, "social policy" appears as a priority object of research, indicating incipient systematization of these studies. Moreover, it was found that while the majority of theses can be characterized by fragility of the theoretical frameworks in relation to the subject, with most research in a strictly technical perspective, some proportion of the studies reveals concern about putting the social policy debate into a broader social context, which represents the essential condition to construct a reasoned and robust theoretical critic. In conclusion, this thesis defends that psychological science can only contribute effectively to the society development if academic community promotes a structured articulation around the theme, deepens the theoretical debate and transforms the knowledge built into organized political practice

Resiliência e apoio social em gestantes tardias

The gestation process, in general, is a very important event on a woman’s life and it brings phisical, phisiological and emotional changes, which by itself is an experience full of intense feelings. By late-aged pregnancy we mean those which occurs at the age of 35 or further. The occurance of this type of pregnancy is rising in Brasil and throughout the world, factors such as, better access to birth control resources and the search for financial stability explains the pregnancy delay. Important processes like resilience and social support can help late-aged pregnant women, in a benefical way, to adapt to the gestation process. Resilience is the capacity that a certain individual or group of individuals have to go through an adverse situation, be able to overcome it and become streghtened, transforming it in motivation for its biopsichosocial development. Social support is a complex and dinamic process that involves transactions between individuals and their social networks, meeting the social needs, promoting and complementing the personal resources that they have to face new demands. This research has the intention of raising information about the issues of late-aged pregnant women in the County of Natal- RN, the main objective was to evaluate the resilience indicators and the social support on late-aged pregnant women in the Natal-RN County. A transversal cut, correlational and descriptive research that was done with 150 lateaged pregnant women. The tools that were used were: A form with sociodemographic and gestation info, the scale of resilience and social support. An eletronic spreadsheet sofware (Excel e SPSS 21.0) was used to analize data which helped on the statistics according to its variables and the objective of this work. For the nominal variables, relative frequencies were used and for continuous the Pearson correlation and determination coefficient were used, regarding that; the sample had a normal distribution. The project fulfilled the ethnic aspects prescribed by Resolution 466/12 of the National Health Council, with a favorable decision (356.436/ 2013) of the UFRN Ethics on Research Committee. Most of the pregnant women had a low money income and education level, born in the state of Rio Grande do Norte they had an average age of 37,49 (±2,577), catholic, married, house wives, they had more than one child and were on their third trimester of pregnancy; they also had a low past abortion rate, not having planned their pregnancy, with an average of 4,22 (±2,506) pre-natal appointments, residing with an average of 3,673 (±1,397) people, having used any sort of birth control device and having high indicators of resilience and social support. The correlations kept between resilience, social support and some of the social demographics and gestation variables were considered low. Such data points out the fact that most of these women were in a stable relationship; they hadn’t had a past of abortion, they were involved with some kind of religion, they were not first pregnancy mothers, had an age on which they are not considered inexperienced mothers and even had scored high on the social support scale, these may all possibly be the most contributing factors on development and resilience building on these 35 years or more mothers. We expect that the data and information from this research may add up knowledge, actions and improvements regarding late-aged pregnant women and the pregnancy phenomena in general.

A inserção da família no processo socioeducativo de adolescentes em privação de liberdade

This master thesis has the main goal investigate how families are inserted in the socioeducational process of teenagers who are undergoing social measures of liberty deprivation. The specific objectives are: to characterize the family´s living together of adolescents deprived of their freedom and their families, from the actions and routines of the socio-educational system; to assess the professional working links in the context of socio-education, in order to care and strengthening families of the adolescents; to investigate how families evaluate the operation of socio-educational process in which adolescents are met. Method: to achieve the proposed objectives, data collection occurred in complementary steps: the first phase took place from visits to socioeducational units of liberty deprivation of RN, and dialogues with professionals working in socio-education. Subsequently, action research stage was carried out, from the insertion of the researcher in the extension project Family and the struggle for the effectiveness of the National Socio Service System, that aimed to strengthen monitoring the adolescents socio-education by their families, and had as methodology the conversation circles and thematic workshops. Lastly, were performed reading and analysis of the references to the family in the Individual Care Plans (PIAs) for adolescents. The information gathered was recorded in field diaries and subjected to thematic content analysis. This research was guided by the Marxist theoretical framework, structured on the understanding of the involvement of adolescents with illegal acts as a development and expression of the social question. From this theoretical framework, the prevailing view in the capitalist society of adolescents in conflict with the law as individuals who are treated by means of repression and segregation and the weakness of social policies is questioned, both in the execution of their own socioeducational measures as the articulation of network services for adolescent protection and strengthening your family. Results: in relation to the operation of the socioeducational system in RN in general, it was observed a state of unhealthy physical spaces and institutional practices that violate human rights, idleness and lack of access to social rights, and criminalization and institutionalization of poor young people and their families. With regard to family´s living together, it was noticed great distance between principles and guidelines recommended by the SINASE, about acquaintanceship and family strengthening, and every day practices of socio-education in RN: serious violations were observed that undermine the family´s living together, as the distance between the socio-educational units of deprivation of liberty and the cities where families live; absence, irregularity and poor conditions in carrying out the family visits; lack of conjugal visits; restricted and unarticulated actions for the care and strengthening of the families of adolescents, most of whom live in poverty or extreme poverty. Finally, it was found a number of blamefully and punishments to the family, including practices such as inward inspection (visual inspection while naked and squant), plus a series of violence and omissions care that sick family members and weaken the links between adolescents and their families.

Trajetória de pessoas com AIDS em situação de vulnerabilidade social: à luz da história oral de vida

The epidemic caused by HIV presents a global, dynamic and unstable phenomenon, which depends on the individual and collective human behavior. Efforts to deconstruct the stigmatized image caused by infection of AIDS are still often associated with adoption of socially unacceptable behavior to be a circumscribed the susceptibilities of vulnerable individuals and communities to infection, illness and death by HIV. This study aimed to: narrate the trajectory of life of people with AIDS more vulnerable enrolled in the Municipal Social Assistance Parnamirim / RN. It is a study of qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, taking oral history of life as technical and methodological framework. The colony consisted of 186 people with AIDS. The network was comprised of 13 employees of both sexes, aged between 19 and 62 years old with positive diagnosis and agreed to voluntarily participate. After approval by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (CEP / UFRN), in the opinion No. 719,926 CAAE: 30408114.5.0000.5537 on 6 June 2014 data were collected from August to September 2014. The employees signed the Informed Consent and Informed and letter of assignment. Held transcribing the interviews and later returned to respondents to retest, ie so that they confer what allowed us to carry out transcreation after consecutive readings. The reports were analyzed through Bardin content analysis. Guiding the analysis of the accounts of employees, we find three themes: Prejudice and discrimination in living with AIDS; Reacting to the diagnosis and the accession process to antiretroviral treatment; and religious coping in people with AIDS. It can be concluded in this study, that employees have shown great emotional impact after positive diagnosis for HIV / AIDS, especially with regard to social life, the family ties, work and above all to the prejudice of society. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs was seen as a motivation to regain dreams and plans for a future once uncertain, and even if it is not a cure therapy, provided the employees improved quality of life.

Trajetória de pessoas com AIDS em situação de vulnerabilidade social: à luz da história oral de vida

The epidemic caused by HIV presents a global, dynamic and unstable phenomenon, which depends on the individual and collective human behavior. Efforts to deconstruct the stigmatized image caused by infection of AIDS are still often associated with adoption of socially unacceptable behavior to be a circumscribed the susceptibilities of vulnerable individuals and communities to infection, illness and death by HIV. This study aimed to: narrate the trajectory of life of people with AIDS more vulnerable enrolled in the Municipal Social Assistance Parnamirim / RN. It is a study of qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, taking oral history of life as technical and methodological framework. The colony consisted of 186 people with AIDS. The network was comprised of 13 employees of both sexes, aged between 19 and 62 years old with positive diagnosis and agreed to voluntarily participate. After approval by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (CEP / UFRN), in the opinion No. 719,926 CAAE: 30408114.5.0000.5537 on 6 June 2014 data were collected from August to September 2014. The employees signed the Informed Consent and Informed and letter of assignment. Held transcribing the interviews and later returned to respondents to retest, ie so that they confer what allowed us to carry out transcreation after consecutive readings. The reports were analyzed through Bardin content analysis. Guiding the analysis of the accounts of employees, we find three themes: Prejudice and discrimination in living with AIDS; Reacting to the diagnosis and the accession process to antiretroviral treatment; and religious coping in people with AIDS. It can be concluded in this study, that employees have shown great emotional impact after positive diagnosis for HIV / AIDS, especially with regard to social life, the family ties, work and above all to the prejudice of society. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs was seen as a motivation to regain dreams and plans for a future once uncertain, and even if it is not a cure therapy, provided the employees improved quality of life.

Social determinants of dental treatment needs in Brazilian adults

Background The chronic cumulative nature of caries makes treatment needs a severe problem in adults. Despite the fact that oral diseases occur in social contexts, there are few studies using multilevel analyses focusing on treatment needs. Thus, considering the importance of context in explaining oral health related inequalities, this study aims to evaluate the social determinants of dental treatment needs in 35–44 year old Brazilian adults, assessing whether inequalities in needs are expressed at individual and contextual levels. Methods The dependent variables were based on the prevalence of normative dental treatment needs in adults: (a) restorative treatment; (b) tooth extraction and (c) prosthetic treatment. The independent variables at first level were household income, formal education level, sex and race. At second level, income, sanitation, infrastructure and house conditions. The city-level variables were the Human Development Index (HDI) and indicators related to health services. Exploratory analysis was performed evaluating the effect of each level through calculating Prevalence Ratios (PR). In addition, a three-level multilevel modelling was constructed for all outcomes to verify the effect of individual characteristics and also the influence of context. Results In relation to the need for restorative treatment, the main factors implicated were related to individual socioeconomic position, however the city-level contextual effect should also be considered. Regarding need for tooth extraction, the contextual effect does not seem to be important and, in relation to the needs for prosthetic treatment, the final model showed effect of individual-level and city-level. Variables related to health services did not show significant effects. Conclusions Dental treatment needs related to primary care (restoration and tooth extraction) and secondary care (prosthesis) were strongly associated with individual socioeconomic position, mainly income and education, in Brazilian adults. In addition to this individual effect, a city-level contextual effect, represented by HDI, was also observed for need for restorations and prosthesis, but not for tooth extractions. These findings have important implications for the health policy especially for financing and planning, since the distribution of oral health resources must consider the inequalities in availability and affordability of dental care for all.

Mulheres com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico: sintomas depressivos e apoio social percebido

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease, rare, multisystem, with a very heterogeneous clinical and serological manifestations standard. The patient, in addition to suffering injuries on his physical and physiological functioning, may also face a number of psychosocial problems. Research indicates that SLE can cause significant damage to the psychological realm, especially with the presence of anxiety and depression. In 1999, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), proposed the establishment of 19 neuropsychiatric clinical syndromes attributed to SLE. Depression lies between mood disorders and is one of the most common psychiatric manifestations in this group, being found more frequently in these patients than in the general population. Studies also suggest that social support plays an important role in the development of coping strategies, in SLE management and depression. This study has as main objective verify the association between depressive symptoms and perceived social support in patients with SLE. The specific objectives turned to: investigte the prevalence of depressive symptoms; investigate the perceived social support and verify if there is an association between depression, social support and sociodemographic variables. We used a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Beck Depression Scale, and the Perceived Social Support Scale. The analysis was performed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The final sample could count with 79 SLE women, with an average age of 35.7 years. 44 (55.7%) of the participants were married. Only 6 (7.59%) had completed higher education and 32 (40.51%) have not finished high school. Seventy-one (89.87%) had an income below three minimum salaries and 71 (89.87) practiced a religion, and the Catholic (67.71%) was the most mentioned by them. Of the total sample, 37 (46.74%) had been diagnosed SLE more than 7 years before, and 25 (31.65%) had the disease for more than 10 years. Only 19 (24.05%) had some work activity. Forty-two of them (53.17%) had depressive symptoms levels from mild to severe, and 51 (64.46%) reported pain levels of 5, or above. The study found a significant association between depressive symptoms and pain (p = 0.013) and depressive symptoms and work activity (p = 0.02). When we examined the perception of social support, the results showed high levels among participants. Using the Spearman correlation test we found a strong correlation between depressive symptoms and social support (p= 0,000037). It means that the higher the frequency of support, the lower the score of depression. These findings are relevant because depressive symptoms in patients with SLE have a multicausal and multifactorial character and may remain unnoticed, since many of them are confused with the manifestations of the disease. This fact requires a careful assessment from professionals, not only in the clinical setting, but also considering other psychosocial reasons, that may be influencing the emergence or worsening of symptoms. These results also corroborate other studies, which not only confirm the predictive role of social support in the physical wellbeing, but also in the psychological.