Plasma membrane abundance of human aquaporin 5 is dynamically regulated by multiple pathways

Aquaporin membrane protein channels mediate cellular water flow. Human aquaporin 5 (AQP5) is highly expressed in the respiratory system and secretory glands where it facilitates the osmotically-driven generation of pulmonary secretions, saliva, sweat and tears. Dysfunctional trafficking of AQP5 has been implicated in several human disease states, including Sjögren’s syndrome, bronchitis and cystic fibrosis. In order to investigate how the plasma membrane expression levels of AQP5 are regulated, we studied real-time translocation of GFP-tagged AQP5 in HEK293 cells. We show that AQP5 plasma membrane abundance in transfected HEK293 cells is rapidly and reversibly regulated by at least three independent mechanisms involving phosphorylation at Ser156, protein kinase A activity and extracellular tonicity. The crystal structure of a Ser156 phosphomimetic mutant indicates that its involvement in regulating AQP5 membrane abundance is not mediated by a conformational change of the carboxy-terminus. We suggest that together these pathways regulate cellular water flow.

Social capital, HIV risk behavior and substance use among recent Latino immigrants in South Florida

Social capital, or social cohesion or group connectedness, can influence both HIV risk behavior and substance use. Because recent immigrants undergo a change in environment, one of the consequences can be a change in social capital. There may be an association among changes in social capital, and HIV risk behavior and substance use post immigration. The dissertation focused on the interface of these three variables among recent Latino immigrants (RLIs) in South Florida. The first manuscript is a systematic review of social capital and HIV risk behavior, and served as a partial background for the second and third manuscripts. Twelve papers with a measure of social capital as an independent variable and HIV risk as the dependent variable were included in the analysis. Eleven studies measured social capital at the individual level, and one study measured social capital at the group level. HIV risk was influenced by social capital, but the type of influence was dependent on the type of social capital and on the study population. Cognitive social capital, or levels of collective action, was protective against HIV in both men and women. The role of structural social capital, or levels of civic engagement/group participation, on HIV risk was dependent on the type of structural social capital and varied by gender. Microfinance programs and functional group participation were protective for women, while dysfunctional group participation and peer-level support may have increased HIV risk among men. The second manuscript was an original study assessing changes in social capital and HIV risk behavior pre to post immigration among RLIs in South Florida (n=527). HIV risk behavior was assessed through the frequency of vaginal-penile condom use, and the number of sexual partners. It was a longitudinal study using secondary data analysis to assess changes in social capital and HIV risk behavior pre immigration to two years post immigration, and to determine if there was a relationship between the two variables. There was an 8% decrease in total social capital (p < .05). Reporting of 'Never use' of condoms in the past 90 days increased in all subcategories (p < .05). Single men had a decrease in number of sexual partners (p < .05). Lower social capital measured on the dimension of 'friend and other' was marginally associated with fewer sexual partners. The third manuscript was another original study looking at the association between social capital and substance use among RLIs in South Florida (n=527). Substance use with measured by frequency of hazardous alcoholic drinking, and illicit drug use. It was a longitudinal study of social capital and substance-use from pre to two years post immigration. Post-immigration, social capital, hazardous drinking and illicit drug use decreased (p<.001). After adjusting for time, compared to males, females were less likely to engage in hazardous drinking (OR=.31, p<.001), and less likely to engage in illicit drug use (OR=.67, p=.01). Documentation status was a moderator between social capital and illicit drug use. 'Business' and 'Agency' social capital were associated with changes in illicit drug use for documented immigrants. After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, documented immigrants with a one-unit increase in 'business' social capital were 1.2 times more likely to engage in illicit drug use (p<.01), and documented immigrants with one-unit increase in 'agency' social capital were 38% less likely to engage in illicit drug use (p<.01). 'Friend and other' social capital was associated with a decrease in illicit drug use among undocumented immigrants. After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, undocumented immigrants with a one-unit increase in 'friend and other' social capital were 45% less likely to engage in hazardous drinking and 44% less likely to use illicit drugs (p<.01, p<.05). Studying these three domains is relevant because HIV continues to be a public health issue, particularly in Miami-Dade County, which is ranked among other U.S. regions with high rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Substance use is associated with HIV risk behavior; in most studies, increased substance use is associated with increased chances of HIV risk behavior. Immigration, which is the hypothesized catalyst for the change in social capital, has an impact on the dynamic of a society. Greater immigration can be burdensome on the host country's societal resources; however immigrants are also potentially a source of additional skilled labor for the workforce. Therefore, successful adaption of immigrants can have a positive influence on receiving communities. With Florida being a major receiver of immigrants to the U.S, this dissertation attempts to address an important public health issue for South Florida and the U.S. at large.

Estudo das condutas antissociais e delitivas e esquemas de personalidade numa amostra de presidiários

The increase of crime in Brazilian society has attracted the interest of a growing number of scholars. In psychology, among the aspects studied for the understanding of antisocial and criminal behaviors, there is the personality, object of study of the different fields of this discipline, such as Cognitive Psychology. Thus, in this study, it was used the Young‟s Personality‟s Schemas theory, which considers that schemas are dysfunctional cognitive or emotional patterns that are constituted in the personality (Young et al., 2008). Moreover, for antisocial and criminal conducts, it was considered the Seisdedos‟ design, which says that the first one represents a violation of social rules, that doesn‟t cause serious harm to others, while the second one causes serious injury (Formiga & Gouveia, 2003). The research aimed mainly, to verify the existence of differences in means of responses to the Scale of Antisocial and Criminal Conducts and Young Schema Questionnaire for different crimes (theft, robbery, murder, rape and drug trafficking). For this purpose, the research was applied on a sample of 355 inmates. First, it was analyzed the reliability of the questionnaires, resulting in excellents reliabilities for this sample. There were significant differences between mean responses only for criminal conducts. The schemas that presented significant differences were: Emotional Deprivation, Social Isolation, Entitlement/Grandiosity and Dependence / Incompetence. The type of conduct and schema prevalent for each offense and total sample were also verified. Antisocial conduct prevailed for total sample and all the offences, except for robbery. Moreover, Self-sacrifice was prevalent for total sample and all the offenses.

The Policy Dystopia Model:an interpretive analysis of tobacco industry political activity

BACKGROUND: Tobacco industry interference has been identified as the greatest obstacle to the implementation of evidence-based measures to reduce tobacco use. Understanding and addressing industry interference in public health policy-making is therefore crucial. Existing conceptualisations of corporate political activity (CPA) are embedded in a business perspective and do not attend to CPA's social and public health costs; most have not drawn on the unique resource represented by internal tobacco industry documents. Building on this literature, including systematic reviews, we develop a critically informed conceptual model of tobacco industry political activity. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We thematically analysed published papers included in two systematic reviews examining tobacco industry influence on taxation and marketing of tobacco; we included 45 of 46 papers in the former category and 20 of 48 papers in the latter (n = 65). We used a grounded theory approach to build taxonomies of "discursive" (argument-based) and "instrumental" (action-based) industry strategies and from these devised the Policy Dystopia Model, which shows that the industry, working through different constituencies, constructs a metanarrative to argue that proposed policies will lead to a dysfunctional future of policy failure and widely dispersed adverse social and economic consequences. Simultaneously, it uses diverse, interlocking insider and outsider instrumental strategies to disseminate this narrative and enhance its persuasiveness in order to secure its preferred policy outcomes. Limitations are that many papers were historical (some dating back to the 1970s) and focused on high-income regions. CONCLUSIONS: The model provides an evidence-based, accessible way of understanding diverse corporate political strategies. It should enable public health actors and officials to preempt these strategies and develop realistic assessments of the industry's claims.

In Whose Image: The Emergence, Development, and Challenge of African-American Evangelicalism

The current era of American Christianity marks the transition from a Western, white-dominated U.S. Evangelicalism to an ethnically diverse demographic for evangelicalism. Despite this increasing diversity, U.S. Evangelicalism has demonstrated a stubborn inability to address the entrenched assumption of white supremacy. The 1970s witnessed the rise in prominence of Evangelicalism in the United States. At the same time, the era witnessed a burgeoning movement of African-American evangelicals, who often experienced marginalization from the larger movement. What factors prevented the integration between two seemingly theologically compatible movements? How do these factors impact the challenge of integration and reconciliation in the changing demographic reality of early twenty-first Evangelicalism?

The question is examined through the unpacking of the diseased theological imagination rooted in U.S. Evangelicalism. The theological categories of Creation, Anthropology, Christology, Soteriology, and Ecclesiology are discussed to determine specific deficiencies that lead to assumptions of white supremacy. The larger history of U.S. Evangelicalism and the larger story of the African-American church are explored to provide a context for the unique expression of African-American evangelicalism in the last third of the twentieth century. Through the use of primary sources — personal interviews, archival documents, writings by principals, and private collection documents — the specific history of African-American evangelicals in the 1960s and 1970s is described. The stories of the National Black Evangelical Association, Tom Skinner, John Perkins, and Circle Church provide historical snapshots that illuminate the relationship between the larger U.S. Evangelical movement and African-American evangelicals.

Various attempts at integration and shared leadership were made in the 1970s as African-American evangelicals engaged with white Evangelical institutions. However, the failure of these attempts point to the challenges to diversity for U.S. Evangelicalism and the failure of the Evangelical theological imagination. The diseased theological imagination of U.S. Evangelical Christianity prevented engagement with the needed challenge of African American evangelicalism, resulting in dysfunctional racial dynamics evident in twenty-first century Evangelical Christianity. The historical problem of situating African American evangelicals reveals the theological problem of white supremacy in U.S. Evangelicalism.

Study of insulin-like growth factor signaling in mitochondrial function

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) signalling promotes cell growth and is associated with cancer progression, including metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and resistance to therapy. Mitochondria play an essential role in cancer cell metabolism and accumulating evidence demonstrates that dysfunctional mitochondria associated with release of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) can influence cancer cell phenotype and invasive potential. We previously isolated a mitochondrial UTP carrier (PNC1/SLC25A33) whose expression is regulated by IGF-1, and which is essential for mitochondrial maintenance. PNC1 suppression in cancer cells results in mitochondrial dysfunction and acquisition of a profound ROS-dependent invasive (EMT) phenotype. Moreover, over-expression of PNC1 in cancer cells that exhibit an EMT phenotype is sufficient to suppress mitochondrial ROS production and reverse the invasive phenotype. This led us to investigate the IGF-1-mitochondrial signalling axis in cancer cells. We found that IGF-1 signalling supports increased mitochondrial mass and Oxphos potential through a PI3K dependant pathway. Acute inhibition of IGF-1R activity with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor results in dysfunctional mitochondria and cell death. We also observed an adaptive response to IGF-1R inhibition upon prolonged exposure to the kinase inhibitor, where increased expression of the EGF receptor can compensate for loss of mitochondrial mass through activation of PI3K/mTOR signalling. However, these cells exhibit impaired mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy. We conclude that the IGF-1 is required for mitochondrial maintenance and biogenesis in cancer cells, and that pharmacological inhibition of this pathway may induce mitochondrial dysfunction and may render the cells more sensitive to glycolysis-targeted drugs.

Design as Symbolic Violence. Design for Social Justice.

Design embeds ideas in communication and artefacts in subtle and psychologically powerful ways. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu coined the term ‘symbolic violence’ to describe how powerful ideologies, priorities, values and even sensibilities are constructed and reproduced through cultural institutions, processes and practices. Through symbolic violence, individuals learn to consider unjust conditions as natural and even come to value customs and ideas that are oppressive. Symbolic violence normalises structural violence and enables real violence to take place, often preceding it and later justifying it. Feminist, class, race and indigenous scholars and activists describe how oppressions (how patriarchy, racism, colonialism, etc.) exist within institutions and structures, and also within cultural practices that embed ideologies into everyday life. The theory of symbolic violence sheds light on how design can function to naturalise oppressions and then obfuscate power relations around this process. Through symbolic violence, design can function as an enabler for the exploitation of certain groups of people and the environment they (and ultimately ‘we’) depend on to live. Design functions as symbolic violence when it is involved with the creation and reproduction of ideas, practices, tools and processes that result in structural and other types of violence (including ecocide). Breaking symbolic violence involves discovering how it works and building capacities to challenge and transform dysfunctional ideologies, structures and institutions. This conversation will give participants an opportunity to discuss, critique and/or develop the theory of design as symbolic violence as a basis for the development of design strategies for social justice.

Fucking Failures: The Future of Fat Sex

In the context of the obesity ‘epidemic’ fat people’s sex lives are cast as sterile, sexually dysfunctional or just plain non-existent. This article analyzes medical discourses of obesity and sex in order to argue that fat sex is constructed as a type of failure. Using insights from antisocial queer theory, fat sex is further shown to be queer in its failure to adhere to the specifically heteronormative dictates of what Edelman (2004) calls ‘reproductive futurism’. The analysis finally engages with Halberstam’s (2011) notion of queer failure to demonstrate how deconstructing notions of success and failure might offer fat political projects new ways to imagine the future of fat sex.

Household "ethnoscapes" and rite of passage: meaning and chronicity of the diagnosis in schizophrenia

Based on the results of an ethnographic study with people diagnosed with schizophrenia and their relatives in Barcelona and Tarragona along one year, I problematize the transformation of roles and relationships inside the household from the first burst and the assignation of a diagnosis as rite of passage. I appeal to a cultural interpretation of family, understanding the family group as a specific ethnoscape. I analyze the chronicity meaning, and its consequences in the conformation of the “role of sick person” in the context of parental relationships. I also discuss the paradoxes in terms of autonomy for the affected persons because of the projection of cultural connotation of chronicity.

Point-and-shoot: rapid quantitative detection methods for on-site food fraud analysis – moving out of the laboratory and into the food supply chain

Major food adulteration and contamination events occur with alarming regularity and are known to be episodic, with the question being not if but when another large-scale food safety/integrity incident will occur. Indeed, the challenges of maintaining food security are now internationally recognised. The ever increasing scale and complexity of food supply networks can lead to them becoming significantly more vulnerable to fraud and contamination, and potentially dysfunctional. This can make the task of deciding which analytical methods are more suitable to collect and analyse (bio)chemical data within complex food supply chains, at targeted points of vulnerability, that much more challenging. It is evident that those working within and associated with the food industry are seeking rapid, user-friendly methods to detect food fraud and contamination, and rapid/high-throughput screening methods for the analysis of food in general. In addition to being robust and reproducible, these methods should be portable and ideally handheld and/or remote sensor devices, that can be taken to or be positioned on/at-line at points of vulnerability along complex food supply networks and require a minimum amount of background training to acquire information rich data rapidly (ergo point-and-shoot). Here we briefly discuss a range of spectrometry and spectroscopy based approaches, many of which are commercially available, as well as other methods currently under development. We discuss a future perspective of how this range of detection methods in the growing sensor portfolio, along with developments in computational and information sciences such as predictive computing and the Internet of Things, will together form systems- and technology-based approaches that significantly reduce the areas of vulnerability to food crime within food supply chains. As food fraud is a problem of systems and therefore requires systems level solutions and thinking.

Aged embankment imaging and assessment using surface waves

Rapid, non-intrusive surface wave surveys provide depth profiles from which ground models can be generated for use in earthwork condition assessment. Stiffness throughout earthworks controls the behaviour under static and dynamic loads, and characterising heterogeneity is of interest in relation to the stability of engineered backfill and life-cycle deterioration in aged utility and transportation infrastructure. Continuous surface wave methods were used to identify interfaces between fine- and coarse-grained fill in an end-tipped embankment along the Great Central Railway in Nottinghamshire, UK. Multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) methods were used to characterise subsurface voiding in a canal embankment along the Knottingley and Goole canal near Eggborough, Yorkshire. MASW methods are currently being used to study extreme weather impacts on the stability of a highplasticity clay embankment along the Gloucestershire–Warwickshire railway near Laverton. Optimal results were obtained using equipment capable of generating and detecting over wide frequency ranges.

Konflikter, ogräs eller frön? : Arbetsplatskonflikter utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv

Det gemensamma intresset för konflikter grundade idén att studera väl ansedda ledares perspektiv på arbetsplatskonflikter och hur dessa ledare löser konflikter konstruktivt. I grunden finns en undran om väl ansedda ledare har förmågor som gör att de löser konflikter mer konstruktivt. Konflikter utgör en stor del av en ledares arbetstid. Konflikter kan förmodligen inte undvikas men hur konflikter hanteras är avgörande för att en organisation och dess anställda skall mogna och utvecklas. Det har utövats forskning inom konflikthantering utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv men de studierna har haft en kvantitativ ansats. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur väl ansedda chefer ser på arbetsplatskonflikter och hur dessa chefer hanterar konflikter. Ett delsyfte är att erhålla kunskap om vilka metoder ansedda ledare använder i konflikthantering. För att besvara syftet har följande frågeställningar använts: Vilka typer av arbetsplatskonflikter uppstår i en organisation? Vad är avgörande om konflikter blir konstruktiva eller destruktiva? Vad har ledarskapet för inverkan på konflikthantering och hur ska ledaren ta sig an konflikter? Vilka förmågor och egenskaper har ledare som hanterar konflikter effektivt? Studien grundar sig på en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som insamlingsmetod. Det införskaffade materialet kodades och tematiserades. Resultaten analyserades med hjälp av teoriramen. Slutligen användes Rahims (2002) teori om conflict management i diskussion då det i resultatet framkom stöd för modellen, dock med en utveckling vilket presenteras i slutsatsen. I studiens analys framkom att ledare som hanterar konflikter konstruktivt behärskar tre huvudområden. Dessa förmågor är människoorienterad, uppgiftsorienterad och lärande- och kulturorienterad. Väl ansedda ledare manövrerar emellan dessa förmågor beroende på situation. I studiens resultat framkom också att undvikande och dominant ledarskapsbeteende skapar barriärer i konflikthantering.

Influence of frequent nightmares on REM sleep-dependent emotional memory processing

La littérature suggère que le sommeil paradoxal joue un rôle dans l'intégration associative de la mémoire émotionnelle. De plus, les rêves en sommeil paradoxal, en particulier leur nature bizarre et émotionnelle, semblent refléter cette fonction associative et émotionnelle du sommeil paradoxal. La conséquence des cauchemars fréquents sur ce processus est inconnue, bien que le réveil provoqué par un cauchemar semble interférer avec les fonctions du sommeil paradoxal. Le premier objectif de cette thèse était de reproduire conceptuellement des recherches antérieures démontrant que le sommeil paradoxal permet un accès hyper-associatif à la mémoire. L'utilisation d'une sieste diurne nous a permis d'évaluer les effets du sommeil paradoxal, comparativement au sommeil lent et à l’éveil, sur la performance des participants à une tâche sémantique mesurant « associational breadth » (AB). Les résultats ont montré que seuls les sujets réveillés en sommeil paradoxal ont répondu avec des associations atypiques, ce qui suggère que le sommeil paradoxal est spécifique dans sa capacité à intégrer les traces de la mémoire émotionnelle (article 1). En outre, les rapports de rêve en sommeil paradoxal étaient plus bizarres que ceux en sommeil lent, et plus intenses émotionnellement ; ces attributs semblent refléter la nature associative et émotionnelle du sommeil paradoxal (article 2). Le deuxième objectif de la thèse était de préciser si et comment le traitement de la mémoire émotionnelle en sommeil paradoxal est altéré dans le Trouble de cauchemars fréquents (NM). En utilisant le même protocole, nos résultats ont montré que les participants NM avaient des résultats plus élevés avant une sieste, ce qui correspond aux observations antérieures voulant que les personnes souffrant de cauchemars soient plus créatives. Après le sommeil paradoxal, les deux groupes, NM et CTL, ont montré des changements similaires dans leur accès associatif, avec des résultats AB-négatif plus bas et AB-positif plus grands. Une semaine plus tard, seul les participants NM a maintenu ce changement dans leur réseau sémantique (article 3). Ces résultats suggèrent qu’au fil du temps, les cauchemars peuvent interférer avec l'intégration de la mémoire émotionnelle pendant le sommeil paradoxal. En ce qui concerne l'imagerie, les participants NM avaient plus de bizarrerie et plus d’émotion positive, mais pas négative, dans leurs rêveries (article 4). Ces attributs intensifiés suggèrent à nouveau que les participants NM sont plus imaginatifs et créatifs à l’éveil. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats confirment le rôle du sommeil paradoxal dans l'intégration associative de la mémoire émotionnelle. Cependant, nos résultats concernant le Trouble de cauchemars ne sont pas entièrement en accord avec les théories suggérant que les cauchemars sont dysfonctionnels. Le groupe NM a montré plus d’associativité émotionnelle, de même que plus d'imagerie positive et bizarre à l’éveil. Nous proposons donc une nouvelle théorie de sensibilité environnementale associée au Trouble de cauchemar, suggérant qu'une sensibilité accrue à une gamme de contextes environnementaux sous-tendrait les symptômes uniques et la richesse imaginative observés chez les personnes souffrant de cauchemars fréquents. Bien que davantage de recherches doivent être faites, il est possible que ces personnes puissent bénéficier e milieux favorables, et qu’elles puissent avoir un avantage adaptatif à l'égard de l'expression créative, ce qui est particulièrement pertinent lorsque l'on considère leur pronostic et les différents types de traitements.

Estilos Educativos Parentais, Hábitos/Comportamentos Alimentares e Sintomas de Perturbação do Comportamento Alimentar, numa Amostra de Adolescentes

Introdução: Quer na literatura internacional, quer nacional são poucos os estudos que exploram a associação entre os estilos educativos parentais, os hábitos/comportamentos alimentares e a sintomatologia de perturbação do comportamento alimentar (PCA). Pretende-se, então, com este estudo, fundamentalmente, explorar associações entre as dimensões de um instrumento que avalia estilos educativos parentais (o Parental Rearing Style Questionnaire for use With Adolescents/EMBU-A), dimensões de um teste que avalia sintomatologia de PCA (Teste de Atitudes Alimentares/TAA-25), índice de massa corporal (IMC), itens que avaliam hábitos/comportamentos alimentares e diferentes variáveis sociodemográficas, familiares e de saúde. Em função das associações encontradas pretendemos, igualmente, explorar quais as variáveis preditivas da sintomatologia de PCA e dos hábitos/comportamentos alimentares. Metodologia: 402 adolescentes (raparigas: n = 241, 60%) entre os 12 e 18 anos (M = 14,2; DP = 1,62) das cidades de Coimbra, Cantanhede e Matosinhos preencheram um protocolo composto por um questionário sobre variáveis sociodemográficas, familiares e de saúde, o EMBU-A e o TAA-25. Resultados: Verificou-se, de uma forma geral, uma associação negativa entre a dimensão Suporte Emocional do EMBU-A, as dimensões do TAA-25 e a pontuação total deste instrumento. No sentido oposto, verificou-se, genericamente, uma associação positiva geral entre as dimensões Sobreproteção e Rejeição e os mesmos resultados relativos ao TAA-25. A prática de desporto mostrou-se associada a uma pontuação média superior de Motivação para a Magreza e da pontuação total do TAA-25. Nas análises preditivas foi possível constatar que o Suporte Emocional tende a diminuir a probabilidade dos jovens manifestarem sintomatologia de PCA. Por oposição, a Rejeição tende a aumentar a probabilidade dos jovens apresentarem esta sintomatologia. Conclusão/Discussão: A dimensão Suporte Emocional do EMBU-A parece ser protetora do surgimento de sintomatologia de PCA e de hábitos/comportamentos disfuncionais nos adolescentes, enquanto a dimensão Rejeição parece aumentar o risco do desenvolvimento dessa sintomatologia e desses hábitos/comportamentos alimentares. Neste sentido, devem ser trabalhadas estas dimensões junto dos pais, eventualmente através de programas psicoeducativos. Também nas escolas e centros de saúde podem ser implementados programas com vista a melhorar os hábitos/comportamentos alimentares e ajudar a prevenir o surgimento de PCA. / Introduction: There are few studies both in the international and national literature exploring the association between parental educational styles, eating habits/behaviours and symptoms of Eating Disorders (ED). With this study we intend to examine the associations between the dimensions of an instrument assessing parenting styles (Parental Rearing Style Questionnaire for Adolescents/ EMBU-A), dimensions of a test assessing symptoms of eating disorders(Eating Attitudes Test-25/EAT-25), Body Mass Index (BMI), items assessing eating habits/behaviors and different sociodemographic family and health variables. Based on the associations found, we also intend to explore which are the variables that show to be predictors of symptoms of eating disorders and eating habits/behaviours. Methodology: 402 adolescents (girls: n = 241, 60%) between 12 and 18 years old (M = 14,2, SD = 1,62) from Coimbra, Cantanhede and Matosinhos completed a protocol consisting of a sociodemographic questionnaire, the EMBU-A and the EAT-25. Results: In general, we found a negative association between the Emotional Support dimension of EMBU-A, the EAT-25 dimensions and the total score of this instrument. In opposition, there was, generally, a positive association between the Overprotection and Rejection dimensions (EMBU-A) and the same results of the EAT-25. Sports’ practice was associated with a higher mean score of Motivation for Thinness and the total score of the EAT-25. In the predictive analyses, we verified that Emotional Support tends to decrease the likelihood of adolescents manifesting symptoms of ED. In contrast, Rejection tends to increase the likelihood of young people presenting these symptoms. Conclusion/Discussion: The dimension of seems to be protective of the appearance of symptoms of ED and of dysfunctional eating habits/behaviors in adolescents, while Rejection appears to increase the risk of developing such symptoms and these eating habits/behaviors. For these reasons, these dimensions should be worked together with parents, eventually by means of psicoeducational programs. Also, in schools and health centers programs can be implemented in order to improve eating habits/behaviors and to help prevent the development of ED.

Auto-compaixão: a sua relação com os estados emocionais negativos

O principal objectivo do presente estudo é perceber de que forma a auto – compaixão se relaciona com o auto – criticismo e sintomas psicopatológicos, mais concretamente, a ansiedade, a depressão e o stress na adolescência. Paralelamente pretendeu-se testar a aplicação da escala de auto – compaixão a uma amostra de adolescentes pelo que se procedeu à sua adaptação e estudo das qualidades psicométricas a este período desenvolvimental específico. Fizeram parte da amostra 130 rapazes e 48 raparigas, com uma média de idades de 16.92 anos (DP=1.40) e uma média de anos de escolaridade de 9.99 (DP=1.67). No estudo apresentado foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: a Escala de Auto – Compaixão (SCS), a Escala de Ansiedade Depressão e Stress (EADS-21), e a Escala das Formas de Auto – Criticismo e de Auto – Tranquilização (FSCRS). A escala de auto – compaixão mostrou uma boa consistência interna e uma boa estabilidade temporal. Os resultados indicaram que os rapazes apresentam níveis de auto – compaixão significativamente mais elevados que as raparigas. Em ambos os sexos foram observadas correlações no sentido esperado entre a auto – compaixão e os estados emocionais negativos, o auto – criticismo e a auto – tranquilização. Por outras palavras, quanto maior o nível de auto – compaixão do adolescente, menor sintomatologia depressiva, ansiosa e associada ao stress apresenta, bem como menor é o seu auto – criticismo. Em contraste, quanto maior a auto – compaixão, maior a capacidade de se auto – tranquilizar. Conclusão: Partindo da investigação disponível em adultos, o contribuo do presente estudo consistiu em alargar para adolescentes não só a avaliação da auto-compaixão, como também a sua associação às variáveis em estudo. Assim, os resultados sugerem que nos adolescentes, a auto-compaixão pode diminuir a sua vulnerabilidade aos estados emocionais negativos traduzidos, quer por sintomas de ansiedade, depressão e de stress, quer pela adopção de um estilo auto-crítico exacerbado e disfuncional. / The main objective of this study is to understand how self - compassion is related to the self - criticism and psychopathological symptoms, specifically, anxiety, depression and stress in adolescence. At the same time we sought to test the application of the scale of self-pity to a sample of adolescents and it is carried to its adaptation and psychometric study of this specific developmental period. The sample included 130 boys and 48 girls with a mean age of 16.92 years (SD = 1.40) and average years of schooling was 9.99 (SD = 1.67). In the present study we used the following instruments: the Self - Compassion (SCS), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), and the Forms of Self – Criticizing/Attacking and Self – Reassuring Scale (FSCRS). The scale of self- compassion showed good internal consistency and good temporal stability. The results indicated that the boys present levels of self - compassion significantly higher than girls. In both sexes were observed in the expected correlations between self-pity and negative emotional states, self-criticism and self-reassurance. In other words, the higher the level of adolescent self-pity, less depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress associated with the present as well as lower your self-criticism. In contrast, the larger the self-compassion, the greater the ability to self-reassuring. Conclusion: Based on the available research in adults, I contribute to this study was to extend to adolescents not only the assessment of self- compassion, as well as their association with variables. Thus, the results suggest that in adolescents, self- compassion can reduce their vulnerability to negative emotional states translated, either by symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, either by adopting a self-critical style exaggerated and dysfunctional.