Sofrimento psíquico dos trabalhadores de uma equipe do Programa Saúde da Família na organização do trabalho

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Use of sample size calculation in scientific research in Brazilian Physical Education journals

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Editando vidas: focos do DSM na medicalização social

Pós-graduação em Educação - IBRC

Validity of recall absent schoolchildren to free eye health projects

Purpose: To analyze the results of recall absent schoolchildren to eye health projects. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Visual screening was performed in schoolchildren attending 1st to 4th grades at public schools, from 7 to 10 years-old, to select and forward to complete ophthalmic evaluation. The projects were performed during weekends, at a public school, in the same municipality. Free transportation, food and eyeglasses were offered. A second opportunity of examination was offered to the students who were absent from the first call, with the same facilities. Results: 51,509 schoolchildren had their vision tested, 14,651 (28.4%) were referred for ophthalmic examination. Of these, 8,683 (59.3%) attended the first call, 2,228 (37.3%) attended the recall and 25.5% of parents did not take their children to ophthalmic examination. The need for eyeglasses for children who attended the examination was 23.8% and 32.0% in the first opportunity and recall, respectively. The recall increased the coverage in 15.2% (59.3% to 74.5%). Conclusion: An expressive number of parents (25.5%) did not bring their children to be examined, even at a second opportunity of exam. The facilities offered: access, free examination, transportation and glasses. Children who were absent in the first opportunity and appeared at recall had a greater need for eyeglasses. Recall increased the coverage in 15.2% (59.3% to 74.5%) and it is not recommended when financial resources are limited.

Examining the Role of Vocational Rehabilitation on Access to Care and Public Health Outcomes for People Living with HIV/AIDS

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of vocational rehabilitation services in contributing to the goals of the National HIV/AIDS strategy. Three key research questions are addressed: (a) What is the relationship among factors associated with the use of vocational rehabilitation services for people living with HIV/AIDS? (b) Are the factors associated with use of vocational rehabilitation also associated with access to health care, supplemental employment services and reduced risk of HIV transmission? And (c) What unique role does use of vocational rehabilitation services play in access to health care and HIV prevention? Survey research methods were used to collect data from a broad sample of volunteer respondents who represented diverse racial (37% Black, 37% White, 18% Latino, 7% other), gender (65% male, 34% female, 1% transgender) and sexual orientation (48% heterosexual, 44% gay, 8% bisexual) backgrounds. The fit of the final structural equation model was good (root mean square error of approximation = .055, Comparative Fit Index=.953, Tucker Lewis Index=.945). Standardized effects with bootstrap confidence intervals are reported. Overall, the findings support the hypothesis that vocational rehabilitation services can play an important role in health and prevention strategies outlined in the National HIV/AIDS strategy.

The Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument, Child and Youth version (SPI-CY): Practicability and discriminative validity

Background Basic symptom (BS) criteria have been suggested to complement ultra-high risk (UHR) criteria in the early detection of psychosis in adults and in children and adolescents. To account for potential developmental particularities and a different clustering of BS in children and adolescents, the Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument, Child and Youth version (SPI-CY) was developed. Aims The SPI-CY was evaluated for its practicability and discriminative validity. Method The SPI-CY was administered to 3 groups of children and adolescents (mean age 16; range=8–18; 61% male): 23 at-risk patients meeting UHR and/or BS criteria (AtRisk), 22 clinical controls (CC), and 19 children and adolescents from the general population (GPS) matched to AtRisk in age, gender, and education. We expected AtRisk to score highest on the SPI-CY, and GPS lowest. Results The groups differed significantly on all 4 SPI-CY subscales. Pairwise post-hoc comparisons confirmed our expectations for all subscales and, at least on a descriptive level, most items. Pairwise subscale differences indicated at least moderate group effects (r≥0.37) which were largest for Adynamia (0.52≤r≥0.70). Adynamia also performed excellent to outstanding in ROC analyses (0.813≤AUC≥0.981). Conclusion The SPI-CY could be a helpful tool for detecting and assessing BS in the psychosis spectrum in children and adolescents, by whom it was well received. Furthermore, its subscales possess good discriminative validity. However, these results require validation in a larger sample, and the psychosis-predictive ability of the subscales in different age groups, especially the role of Adynamia, will have to be explored in longitudinal studies.

Psychosocial outcome in patients at clinical high risk of psychosis: a prospective follow-up

Purpose In patients at clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis, transition to psychosis has been the focus of recent studies. Their broader outcome has received less attention. We studied psychosocial state and outcome in CHR patients. Methods In the European Prediction of Psychosis Study, 244 young help-seeking CHR patients were assessed with the Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale (SCPS) at baseline, and 149 (61.1 %) of them were assessed for the second time at the 18-month follow-up. The followed patients were classified into poor and good outcome groups. Results Female gender, ever-married/cohabitating relationship, and good working/studying situation were associated with good baseline SCPS scores. During follow-up, patients’ SCPS scores improved significantly. Good follow-up SCPS scores were predicted by higher level of education, good working/studying status at baseline, and white ethnicity. One-third of the followed CHR patients had poor global outcome. Poor working/studying situation and lower level of education were associated with poor global outcome. Transition to psychosis was associated with baseline, but not with follow-up SCPS scores or with global outcome. Conclusion The majority of CHR patients experience good short-term recovery, but one-third have poor psychosocial outcome. Good working situation is the major indicator of good outcome, while low level of education and non-white ethnicity seem to be associated with poor outcome. Transition to psychosis has little effect on psychosocial outcome in CHR patients. In treating CHR patients, clinicians should focus their attention on a broader outcome, and not only on preventing transition to psychosis.

Tracking the implicit self using event-related potentials

Negative biases in implicit self-evaluation are thought to be detrimental to subjective well-being and have been linked to various psychological disorders, including depression. An understanding of the neural processes underlying implicit self-evaluation in healthy subjects could provide a basis for the investigation of negative biases in depressed patients, the development of differential psychotherapeutic interventions, and the estimation of relapse risk in remitted patients. We thus studied the brain processes linked to implicit self-evaluation in 25 healthy subjects using event-related potential (ERP) recording during a self-relevant Implicit Association Test (sIAT). Consistent with a positive implicit self-evaluation in healthy subjects, they responded significantly faster to the congruent (self-positive mapping) than to the incongruent sIAT condition (self-negative mapping). Our main finding was a topographical ERP difference in a time window between 600 and 700 ms, whereas no significant differences between congruent and incongruent conditions were observed in earlier time windows. This suggests that biases in implicit self-evaluation are reflected only indirectly, in the additional recruitment of control processes needed to override the positive implicit self-evaluation of healthy subjects in the incongruent sIAT condition. Brain activations linked to these control processes can thus serve as an indirect measure for estimating biases in implicit self-evaluation. The sIAT paradigm, combined with ERP, could therefore permit the tracking of the neural processes underlying implicit self-evaluation in depressed patients during psychotherapy.

The bivalency effect represents an interference-triggered adjustment of cognitive control: an ERP study

When bivalent stimuli (i.e., stimuli with relevant features for two different tasks) occur occasionally among univalent stimuli, performance is slowed on subsequent univalent stimuli even if they have no overlapping stimulus features. This finding has been labeled the bivalency effect. It indexes an adjustment of cognitive control, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood yet. The purpose of the present study was to shed light on this question, using event-related potentials. We used a paradigm requiring predictable alternations between three tasks, with bivalent stimuli occasionally occurring on one task. The results revealed that the bivalency effect elicited a sustained parietal positivity and a frontal negativity, a neural signature that is typical for control processes implemented to resolve interference. We suggest that the bivalency effect reflects interference, which may be caused by episodic context binding.

Promoting a functional physical self-concept in physical education: Evaluation of a 10-week intervention

Most physical education intervention studies on the positive effect of sports on self-concept development have attempted to increase schoolchildren’s self-concept without taking the veridicality of the self-concept into account. The present study investigated whether a 10-week intervention in physical education would lead to an increase not only in the general level of self-concept of endurance and self-concept of strength but also in its veridicality in those who had previously under- or overestimated their abilities. A total of 464 primary schoolchildren (246 boys, 218 girls, Mage = 11.9) either participated in the intervention or served as controls. The intervention group received endurance and strength training during physical education lessons carried out with a consistent individualized teacher frame of reference (iTFR). Results showed that this specific intervention was associated with increases not only in the general level of self-concept but also in its veridicality in under- and overestimators. Results are discussed in terms of didactic methods to promote functional self-concepts in physical education.

Inter- and intraindividual associations between volitional processes and daily smoking during a quit attempt

Background: The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) assumes that volitional processes are important for effective behavioral change. This study examined the associations of volitional predictors and daily smoking in quitters at the inter- and intraindividual level. Method: Overall, 105 smokers completed daily electronic questionnaires 10 days before and 21 days after a self-set quit date, assessing intentions, self-efficacy, planning, action control and numbers of cigarettes smoked. Findings: Multilevel analyses showed that mean levels of volitional predictors across the 32 days were negatively associated with numbers of cigarettes smoked. Moreover, on days with higher intentions, self-efficacy, planning and action control than usual, less cigarettes were smoked. These effects were stronger after the quit date than before the quit date. Intentions and action control emerged as most powerful predictors at the intraindividual level. Discussion: Findings emphasize the importance of volitional processes at the intraindividual level in the context of quitting smoking.