A Personalidade e os Sintomas Psicopatológicos numa Amostra de Estudantes de Psicologia

Atualmente, as investigações acerca da personalidade e dos sintomas psicopatológicos, nos estudantes de Psicologia, parecem ser escassas. De modo a que nos pareceu interessante perceber um pouco mais sobre estas personalidades e sobre os sintomas psicopatológicos adjacentes aos mesmos. Assim sendo, o presente estudo teve como objetivo definir o perfil dos estudantes de Psicologia, explorando as variáveis: personalidade, sintomas psicopatológicos e a relação destas com as variáveis sociodemográficas sexo e anos de curso. Para que este estudo se pudesse realizar, foram inquiridos 240 estudantes, do primeiro e segundo ciclo de Psicologia, pertencentes a Instituições de Ensino Públicas e Privadas do Centro e Norte do País. O questionário foi enviado pelas escolas, sob a forma de hiperligação e foi composto pelo Inventário dos Cinco Fatores de Personalidade (NEO-FFI), pelo Inventário dos Sintomas Psicopatológicos (BSI) e pelo Questionário Sociodemográfico, formulado pelo investigador. No NEO-FFI, verificámos que a Conscienciosidade é a dimensão da personalidade mais predominante. E no BSI, averiguámos que a Depressão e o Psicoticismo foram os sintomas psicopatológicos que apresentaram valores médios mais elevados. Na comparação entre sexos pudemos observar que existem diferenças significativas na dimensão da personalidade Abertura à Experiência (NEO-FFI) e na Sensibilidade Interpessoal e Ideação Paranóide (BSI). Em ambos os instrumentos, pudemos observar, também, que o sexo masculino tende a apresentar valores mais elevados em comparação ao sexo feminino. Em suma, neste projeto de investigação encontrámos alguns resultados similares a estudos anteriores e, também, alguns dados que nos despertam a curiosidade e suscitam interesse para futuras investigações. / Nowadays, investigations about personality and psychopathological symptoms on Psychology students seem to be scarce. Because of that it seemed interesting to us to learn more about these personalities and about the psychopathological symptoms behind them. For that reason, the main purpose of the present study was to explore the profile of psychology students in what concerns personality, psychopathological symptoms and their relation with gender and years of graduation. We inquired 240 students, studying in public and private institutions from the centre and north of Portugal, and used three instruments: the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), The Brief Symptoms Inventory (BSI) and a Social-Demographic Questionnaire created by the investigator. The results showed that in the NEO-FFI, Conscientiousness was the most predominant dimension. Regarding the BSI, we found that Depression and Psychoticism were the symptoms that presented higher values. In what concerns gender, there was significant differences in the dimension Openness to Experience (NEO-FFI) and in Interpersonal Sensitivity and Paranoid Ideation (BSI). In both instruments there was a tendency to male students score higher than female students. In conclusion, we found some results that are similar to previous studies and also found some indicators that raise curiosity for further investigation on the profile of psychology students.

Estudo Comparado entre Alcoólicos e Não Alcoólicos: sintomas psicopatológicos: amostra brasileira

Os sintomas psicológicos nos indivíduos consumidores de álcool é o tema investigado neste trabalho, que se dedicou a analisar as diferenças entre grupos de indivíduos alcoólicos e não alcoólicos homens e mulheres. A oportunidade desta investigação se originou no trabalho de psicologia clínica com pacientes alcoólicos e, principalmente, frente às carências bibliográficas no mercado sobre o assunto. O presente trabalho, buscou, portanto, investigar-se, a partir das hipóteses, a intensidade de problemas psicológicos e sintomas psicopatológicos em sujeitos alcoólicos de ambos os sexos. Para tal, foram realizadas entrevistas orientadas para a aplicação do instrumento. O instrumento utilizado na pesquisa foi o SCL 90-R (Symptom Check List 90 - Revised) (DEROGATIS, 1983) que se propõe a medir a intensidade dos sintomas, especificamente em casos de alcoolismo, sendo este instrumento validado no Brasil (LALONI, 2001). Os sintomas psicológicos avaliados foram: Psicose, Relações Interpessoais, Ansiedade, Ideação Paranóide, Hostilidade, Depressão, Fobia e Obsessivo Compulsivo. A população investigada abrangeu pessoas não consumidoras de álcool da comunidade e pessoas alcoólicas pertencentes aos AA (Alcoólicos Anônimos). Os dois grupos pertencem à Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. A comparação foi abrangente em relação aos aspectos de gênero, pois além de comparar o grupo de alcoólicos e não alcoólicos verificou as relações de gênero, analisando as diferenças entre o grupo de homens e mulheres alcoólicos e não alcoólicos. Os resultados encontrados demonstram que os alcoólicos são mais sintomáticos que os não alcoólicos e as mulheres apresentam-se em relação aos sintomas avaliados com médias mais altas que os homens. Os alcoólicos homens e mulheres não diferem de forma estatisticamente significativa em seus sintomas psicológicos. Da mesma forma homens e mulheres não alcoólicos não diferem em seus sintomas psicológicos. / The subject of this research concerns about psychological symptoms on alcohol consuming individuals, analyzing the differences between groups of alcoholic and non alcoholic individuals, men and women. This investigation arose from the psychological clinic work with alcoholic patients in face of the lack of literature about this subject. Based on the hypothesis we investigated the intensity of psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms in alcoholic individuals of both sexes. We also evaluated the presence and intensity of psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms in non alcoholic individuals of both sexes. For this research we performed interviews oriented to the application of the instrument. The instrument employed in the research was SCL 90-R (Symptom Check List 90 - Revised) (DEROGATIS, 1983) which measures the intensity of the symptoms. The instrument was validated in Brazil (LALONI, 2001) and is specific to evaluate symptoms in case of alcoholism. The psychological symptoms we evaluated were: Psychosis, Interpersonal Relations, Anxiety, Paranoid Ideation, Hostility, Depression, Phobia, and Obsessive Compulsive. The population investigated is formed by non alcohol consuming people and alcoholics belonging to the Anonymous Alcoholics (AA). Both groups are from the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre in the southern sate of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The comparison was comprehensive regarding the aspects of gender, since besides comparing the group of alcoholics and non alcoholics, it compared alcoholic men and women among themselves, and non alcoholic men and women as well. The results that were found demonstrate that alcoholics are more symptomatic than non alcoholics and women, regarding the evaluated symptoms, present themselves with higher averages than men. Alcoholic men and women do not expressively differ in their psychological symptoms, as non alcoholic men and women do not expressively differ in their psychological symptoms as well.

Mental health and suicidal behaviors in adolescents from a Portuguese island

Background: Adolescent suicidal behaviors are a public health priority. Objectives: Suicidal behavior is an understudied field in the Azores, and the few existing research studies with Portuguese adolescents only include young people from Mainland Portugal. This study aims at analyzing the adolescent student population from this island region so as to describe the current situation and plan community intervention projects in this area to meet the identified needs. Methodology: This is a non-experimental, quantitative and descriptive-correlational study with the purpose of describing phenomena and finding associations between variables. Results: The results showed that 17.9% of the 484 sampled adolescents reported self-harm behaviors, with 12.7% reporting self-cutting and 5.2% medication overdose or ingestion of toxic substances. Around 15.5% of the adolescents reported suicidal ideation. Additionally, they showed high levels of depressive symptoms (19.9%), ranging from moderate (12%) to severe (7.9%). Conclusion: Adolescents had more self-harm behaviors, more severe depressive symptoms, a lower self-concept and fewer coping strategies than similar populations in mainland Portugal.

A review of the dissociative disorders: from multiple personality disorder to the posttraumatic stress

In this paper we review the idea of dissociation, dissociative disorders and their relationship with the processes of consciousness. We will deal specifically with multiple personality disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Both polarize the discussion of diagnostic categories with dissociative symptoms. This review compares the initial ideas (one century old) with the current scenario and emerging trends in research, which are relating cognitive processes and dissociative phenomena and disorders from a neuroscientific approach. We discuss the ideas on dissociation, hypnosis and suicide associated with these disorders. There seems to be a lack of consensus as to the nature of dissociation with theoretical, empirical and clinical implications.

Attachment patterns and suicidal behaviours on higher education students

Introduction: Every individual has a necessity to establish affective relationships throughout life in order to feel comfort and support. This need is called attachment and allows the human being to explore the world, acquiring knowledge about himself and everyone else(1) There are several changes that occur on students’ lives when enrolling and attending university, a period that is known to include a set of situational and academic transitions which might lead to mental health problems, and thus making students more vulnerable and more prone to develop suicidal behaviours. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation on higher education students and to assess its relationship with attachment patterns. Methods: Quantitative, descriptive and correlational study, applied on a sample of 1074 students from a Portuguese higher education institution. Data collection was possible through an online platform that included a survey with questions regarding sociodemographical and academic profiling, the Portuguese version of the Adult Attachment Scale (EVA)(2) and the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire(3) Results: Students’ age varies between the 17 and 49 ( = 23,9 years old ± 6,107 Sd), the vast majority (64.7%) are females. Results show that the presence/severity of suicidal thoughts is low ( = 13.84; ± 20.29 Sd) on a scale from 0 to 180 and cut-off point > 41 for values that suggest potential suicidal risk, and based on that, 84 students were identified (7,8%). We verified significant relationships between suicidal ideation and anxiety and attachment (r=0.314 p=0.000). Conclusions: Although there is not a high prevalence of suicidal ideation on students, we found 84 students in our sample (7,8%) that reveal a potential risk for suicide. The results also show that young students with safe attachment patterns display less suicidal ideation. Safe attachment patterns are essential on interpersonal and social relationships and play an important role during the academic period. We cannot be indifferent towards this issue due to its individual, familiar and social repercussions. Every higher education institution should then establish student support offices and develop mental health promotion programs as well as suicide prevention campaigns.

Exploring the future of immersive education

Trabalho apresentado em iLRN 2016 - Workshop, Short Paper and Poster Proceedings from the Second Immersive Learning Research Network Conference, Santa Barbara, California, USA, 2016.

Intento de suicidio por intoxicación con organosfosforado bajo administración parenteral (síndrome compartimental): reporte de un caso

INTRODUCCIÓN: La ideación e intento de suicidio constituyen entidades emergentes para el profesional de la salud mental; la ingesta de organofosforados (OF) es una de las maneras más frecuentes de intoxicación debido a su disponibilidad y fácil accesibilidad en nuestro medio (Ecuador); es común que quienes recurren a estas sustancias con fines auto líticos lo hacen por vía oral. Encontrar que alguien utilice la vía parenteral con esta finalidad es poco frecuente y es escasa la literatura al respecto, motivo por el cual se considera de importancia la publicación del siguiente caso. OBJETIVO: Describir los aspectos psicopatológicos del paciente que presentó un intento de suicidio con uso de organofosforados administrados por vía parenteral. MÉTODO: revisión, presentación y análisis de caso clínico. RESULTADOS: El paciente de 32 años fue internado en el Hospital Homero Castanier Crespo de la ciudad de Azogues (Ecuador) tras la severidad de sus lesiones causadas por la administración parenteral de OF; la valoración del estado mental del paciente llevó al diagnóstico de intento de suicidio psicodisplásico con trastorno del estado de ánimo y trastorno límite de la personalidad; fue diagnosticado además de absceso en miembro superior derecho y síndrome compartimental en miembro superior izquierdo, por lo que fue necesaria la realización del drenaje y fasciotomía respectivamente. CONCLUSIÓN: Los envenenamientos por plaguicidas como OF son los métodos más utilizados, se conoce que la ingesta de los OF es común, más no la administración parenteral como en el presente caso, que implicó un tratamiento tanto del área física y de la esfera mental

Estudo dos traços de personalidade e da ideação suicida numa amostra de jovens-adultos

Dissertação de Mestrado, Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2016

A relação entre comportamentos auto lesivos e os comportamentos suicidários e o impacto do funcionamento familiar

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA- Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Clínica

Motivating the use of public transit through a mobile glanceable display

With increasing concerns about the impact of global warming on human life, policy makers around the world and researchers have sought for technological solutions that have the potential to attenuate this process. This thesis describes the design and evaluation of an information appliance that aims to increase the use of public transportation. We developed a mobile glanceable display that, being aware of the user’s transportation routines, provides awareness cues about bus arrival time, grounded upon the vision of Ambient Intelligence. We present the design process we followed, from ideation to building a prototype and conducting a field study, and conclude with a set of guidelines for the design of relevant personal information systems. More specifically we seek to test the following hypotheses: 1) That the tangible prototype that provides ambient cues will be used more frequently than a similar purpose mobile app, 2) That the tangible prototype will reduce the waiting time at the bus stop, 3) That the tangible prototype will result to reduced anxiety on passengers, 4) That the tangible prototype will result to an increase in the perceived reliability of the transit service, 5) That the tangible prototype will enhance users’ efficiency in reading the bus schedules and 6) That the tangible prototype will make individuals more likely to use public transit. In a field study, we compare the tangible prototype against the mobile app and a control condition where participants were given no external support in obtaining bus arrival information, other than their existing routines. Using qualitative and quantitative data, we test the aforementioned hypotheses and explore users’ reactions to the prototype we developed.

Motivating the use of public transit through a mobile glanceable display

With increasing concerns about the impact of global warming on human life, policy makers around the world and researchers have sought for technological solutions that have the potential to attenuate this process. This thesis describes the design and evaluation of an information appliance that aims to increase the use of public transportation. We developed a mobile glanceable display that, being aware of the user’s transportation routines, provides awareness cues about bus arrival time, grounded upon the vision of Ambient Intelligence. We present the design process we followed, from ideation to building a prototype and conducting a field study, and conclude with a set of guidelines for the design of relevant personal information systems. More specifically we seek to test the following hypotheses: 1) That the tangible prototype that provides ambient cues will be used more frequently than a similar purpose mobile app, 2) That the tangible prototype will reduce the waiting time at the bus stop, 3) That the tangible prototype will result to reduced anxiety on passengers, 4) That the tangible prototype will result to an increase in the perceived reliability of the transit service, 5) That the tangible prototype will enhance users’ efficiency in reading the bus schedules and 6) That the tangible prototype will make individuals more likely to use public transit. In a field study, we compare the tangible prototype against the mobile app and a control condition where participants were given no external support in obtaining bus arrival information, other than their existing routines. Using qualitative and quantitative data, we test the aforementioned hypotheses and explore users’ reactions to the prototype we developed.

Depresión en pacientes con epilepsia: Revisión sistemática de la literatura

Esta revisión sistemática de la literatura tuvo como objetivo investigar sobre la depresión en personas con epilepsia en la última década (2005-2015), enfocándose en identificar en el paciente con epilepsia: características sociodemográficas, prevalencia de la depresión, tipos de intervención para el manejo de la depresión, factores asociados con la aparición y el mantenimiento de la depresión y por último, identificar las tendencias en investigación en el estudio de la depresión en pacientes con epilepsia. Se revisaron 103 artículos publicados entre 2005 y 2015 en bases de datos especializadas. Los resultados revelaron que la prevalencia de depresión en pacientes con epilepsia es diversa y oscila en un rango amplio entre 3 y 70 %, por otro lado, que las principales características sociodemográficas asociadas a la depresión está el ser mujer, tener un estado civil soltero y tener una edad comprendida entre los 25 y los 45 años. A esto se añade, que los tratamientos conformados por terapia psicológica y fármacos, son la mejor opción para garantizar la eficacia en los resultados del manejo de la depresión en los pacientes con epilepsia. Con respecto a los factores asociados a la aparición de la depresión en pacientes con epilepsia, se identificaron causas tanto neurobiológicas como psicosociales, asimismo los factores principales asociados al mantenimiento fueron una percepción de baja calidad de vida y una baja auto-eficacia. Y finalmente los tipos de investigación más comunes son de tipo aplicado, de carácter descriptivo, transversales y de medición cuantitativa.

Ideación suicida y desesperanza en pacientes con cáncer

El objetivo de la presente investigación fue identificar la relación entre ideación suicida y desesperanza en 160 pacientes con cáncer. La ideación suicida se midió a través de dos ítems de una entrevista semiestructurada, la escala de ideación suicida (ISS), el ítem 9 del inventario de depresión de Beck (BDI-IA). La desesperanza se midió con la escala de desesperanza de Beck (BHS). Los resultados obtenidos indicaron una relación significativa (p=.000) entre ideación suicida y desesperanza; una prevalencia de ideación suicida en los pacientes con cáncer entre 4.4% y 13.8% y de riesgo de suicidio entre 5.6% y 30.6%; y algún grado de desesperanza en 31.9 % de los participantes. De acuerdo con lo anterior, se confirma que existe relación entre la desesperanza y la ideación suicida en pacientes oncológicos adultos. Adicionalmente, que estas variables están presentes en los pacientes y que ameritan atención en la intervención interdisciplinaria.

Acoso laboral y sus efectos en la salud del trabajador : revisión de la literatura

Introducción: Desde los años 80 se viene haciendo énfasis en el acoso laboral, conocido en otros países como Mobbing, describiéndose como una forma de abuso y violencia psicológica en el lugar de trabajo, realizado ya sea por una sola persona o por un grupo de personas y que por sus implicaciones se estima de alto impacto para los trabajadores, y las organizaciones. Considerando la importancia y prevalencia del mobbing en la sociedad actual, se convierte en un tema relevante para el área de salud ocupacional. Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar los efectos del acoso laboral generados en la salud del trabajador. Metodología: Se realizó una revisión sistemática utilizando el método PRISMA, de las publicaciones vigentes entre los años 2006 a 2016 sobre los efectos del acoso laboral en la salud del trabajador. En la búsqueda se obtuvieron 778 artículos de los cuales 27 cumplían con los criterios de inclusión. Resultados: se encontró que la prevalencia del acoso laboral puede ser diferente de acuerdo a la definición utilizada, instrumento de medida y población estudiada, la cual fluctúa entre el 7% al 88% según el estudio analizado. Además se evidenció que la prevalencia también difiere dependiendo de quién sea el perpetrador del acoso, si el líder o jefe es el acosador es mayor (60,3%) que cuando es causado por colegas o por clientes (41,5%). El impacto del acoso laboral, según la mayoría de los estudios, es que provoca efectos negativos en la salud emocional del trabajador siendo la depresión una de las principales consecuencias con una relación estadísticamente significativa (p<0,001). Las enfermedades del aparato respiratorio y del sistema musculo esquelético y del tejido conectivo fueron las que se presentaron con mayor frecuencia en los trabajadores que sufren de acoso con un 43,5% y un 37.8% respectivamente. Conclusiones: éstos resultados demuestran que el acoso laboral no solamente es un problema desde el punto de vista organizacional, sino que conlleva consecuencias en la salud mental y física de los trabajadores que lo sufren. Palabras clave: Mobbing, workplace, acoso laboral, acoso psicológico, bullying, harassment, salud ocupacional, occupational health.

Necessidades interpessoais e risco de suicídio numa amostra clínica de idosos

O objetivo desta investigação é testar o contributo das necessidades interpessoais - os sentimentos de não pertença e a perceção de ser um fardo – para o risco de suicídio, avaliado através da ideação suicida. Também se pretende investigar a possível interação entre as necessidades interpessoais e respetivos efeitos quadráticos, controlando o impacto de um conjunto de variáveis que apresentam, muitas vezes, uma correlação significativa com a ideação suicida. Neste estudo participaram 80 utentes idosos em recuperação de uma doença aguda. De acordo com os resultados, os sentimentos de não pertença e a perceção de ser um fardo correlacionam-se com a ideação suicida. No entanto, quando numa análise da regressão múltipla se considera simultaneamente o efeito de ambas as variáveis, apenas os sentimentos de não pertença contribuem significativamente na previsão da ideação suicida. Não se verificaram efeitos de interação nem efeitos quadráticos entre as variáveis necessidades interpessoais; Abstract: “Interpersonal needs and suicide risk in a sample of elderly patients” The aim of this study is to test the contribution of interpersonal needs - thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness - to the risk of suicide, assessed by the presence of suicidal ideation. It also intends to investigate the possible interaction between interpersonal needs and the respective quadratic effects, by controlling the impact of a set of variables which have, many times, a significant correlation with suicidal ideation. In this study participated 80 elderly patients recovering from an acute medical condition. According to the results, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness are correlated with suicidal ideation. However, when in a multiple regression analysis we considerate simultaneously the effect of both variables, only thwarted belongingness contributes significatively to suicide ideation prediction. No interactions effects or quadratic effects were observed between interpersonal needs variables.