Intervenção em habilidades sociais com uma criança com síndrome de Down

Studies show that children with Down’s syndrome have deficits in social skills, which can interfere in their social interactions and also in their academic performance. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical significance and reliable change in repertory of social skills of a child with Down’s syndrome, from interventions in the clinic, at home and at school. A seven year old girl with Down’s Syndrome who had frequented the first year of regular school, her parents and her teacher participated in this study. They were attending in a Center of Applied Psychology, of a public university in São Paulo State. Before and after the intervention parents and teacher answered the Rating System Social Skills (SSRS). The intervention with the child had been conducted for six months, through playful activities in weekly meetings. It was discussed various topics related to social skills with parents and teacher in biweekly and monthly meetings. The results were analyzed using JT method. With parents, comparing the two assessments conducted, the data pointed to positive change reliable for four of the six skills assessed. Of the five skills assessed by the teacher, one of them was not in the clinical level since the first application. The other two went from clinical to non-clinical level, featuring reliable positive change. The study showed the importance of pre and post measures in case study, enabling the assessment of the effects of the intervention performed on the various factors of social skills. Further studies with larger populations may ratify the data obtained.

Habilidades sociais e problemas de comportamento: um estudo exploratório baseado no modelo construcional

The research aimed to assess, according to the constructional approach by Goldiamond, the reports of 20 mothers of children with behavior problems, (clinical group) and 20 mothers of children without these problems (non-clinical group), social skills and behavior problems of pre-school, investigate the situations and behaviors of mothers before the behavior of children and suggest hypotheses for functionally equivalent behaviors that were investigated. The instruments used were two scales, a questionnaire and a structured interview. The results indicated that children of non-clinical group presented with more frequency and diversity, social skills and with less frequency, of behavior problems compared to children of the clinical group.

The role of social skills in social anxiety of university students

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

O impacto da depressão para as interações sociais de universitários

Studies have shown that aversive conditions at the university may have great influence on academic achievement and the development of psychiatric disorders such as depression. In university context, social relations have been investigated over the years, but are scarce publications relating mental health and social skills. Thus, this paper compared a group of college students with a clinical depression with a group without clinical depression for the consequences and feelings that differents responses of social skills may have in social interactions with various interlocutors. A total of 128 students participated, 64 for clinical depression and 64 non-clinical. Questionário de Avaliação de Comportamentos e Contextos para Universitários – QHC – Universitários, Inventário de Fobia Social (Mini-Spin), Inventário de Depressão de Beck (BDI) and Entrevista clínica estruturada para o DSM-IV (SCID-I) were applied. The data were analyzed by test t of Student. The results show that students with depression have a great difficulty about the social skills regardless of which require more or less assertion and general way for all social interactions, either family, friends, roommate and partner.

Práticas educativas de professores e comportamentos infantis, na transição ao primeiro ano do Ensino Fundamental

The objectives this research are: (a) describing positive interactions established between teacher and student, considering clinical group to behavior problems and non-clinical one; (b) describing behavior repertoire (social skills and behavior problems) of children with and without clinical classification to behavior problems, according to TRF, teacher version. The participants this study were 16 female teachers who indicated and evaluated 32 students - 16 of them presented behavior problems (with BP – clinical group), whereas the other 16 did not (without BP – non clinical group). Students aged 6 years were enrolled in the first year of elementary school. Data collection was conducted through the application of three instruments: TRF, RE-HSE-Pr and QRSH-Pr, as an interview with teachers. Data were categorized and analyzed to compare the clinical and nonclinical groups (Mann-Whitney Test). Overall, this research found that female teachers exert different practices among students who have behavior problems that do not show, being more skilled in the interactions with children without behavior problems and more agressive to those with behavioral problems. Implications for interventions and public policies are discussed.

Variáveis sociodemográficas, depressão pós-parto e a interação entre mães e bebês de quatro a seis meses de idade

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

Relações entre experiências anômalas tipicamente contemporâneas, transtornos mentais e experiências espirituais

Background: The anomalous experiences are often an explanatory challenge for psychiatry and psychology about how and why they occur, in addition to signaling gaps in knowledge about human psychological functioning, as hallucinations in non-clinical populations. Objective: It aims to investigate possible psychopathological dimensions of Brazilian samples of persons who claim distinctively contemporary anomalous experiences. Methods: It was used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, detailed version (MINI PLUS) and the nine diagnostic criteria for the distinction between spiritual experiences and mental disorders with religious content developed by Menezes Junior and Moreira-Almeida. Results: There was evidence that the experiences are typically healthy, although there are indicators of pre-morbid characteristics in the childhood and adolescence of the protagonists of the more complex experiments. There is profitable intersections with healthy squizotype profile, which is still poorly understood. Discussion: The absence of formal mental disorders does not exhaust the possible relations between contemporary anomalous experiences and the mental health field, but reveals complexities that characterize the everyday culture. Martins LB, Zangari W / Rev Psiq Clin. 2012; 39(6): 198-202

Validation of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II in a community sample

Background: The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is used worldwide for detecting depressive symptoms. This questionnaire has been revised (1996) to match the DSM-IV criteria for a major depressive episode. We assessed the reliability and the validity of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the BDI-II for non-clinical adults. Methods: The questionnaire was applied to 60 college students on two occasions. Afterwards, 182 community-dwelling adults completed the BDI-II, the Self-Report Questionnaire, and the K10 Scale. Trained psychiatrists performed face-to-face interviews with the respondents using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-I), the Montgomery-angstrom sberg Depression Scale, and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. Descriptive analysis, signal detection analysis (Receiver Operating Characteristics), correlation analysis, and discriminant function analysis were performed to investigate the psychometric properties of the BDI-II. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient of the BDI-II was 0.89, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of internal consistency was 0.93. Taking the SCID as the gold standard, the cut-off point of 10/11 was the best threshold for detecting depression, yielding a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 87%. The concurrent validity (a correlation of 0.63-0.93 with scales applied simultaneously) and the predictive ability of the severity level (over 65% correct classification) were acceptable. Conclusion: The BDI-II is reliable and valid for measuring depressive symptomatology among Portuguese-speaking Brazilian non-clinical populations.

Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II: a comprehensive review

OBJECTIVE: To review the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) as a self-report measure of depression in a variety of settings and populations. METHODS: Relevant studies of the BDI-II were retrieved through a search of electronic databases, a hand search, and contact with authors. Retained studies (k = 118) were allocated into three groups: non-clinical, psychiatric/institutionalized, and medical samples. RESULTS: The internal consistency was described as around 0.9 and the retest reliability ranged from 0.73 to 0.96. The correlation between BDI-II and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I) was high and substantial overlap with measures of depression and anxiety was reported. The criterion-based validity showed good sensitivity and specificity for detecting depression in comparison to the adopted gold standard. However, the cutoff score to screen for depression varied according to the type of sample. Factor analysis showed a robust dimension of general depression composed by two constructs: cognitive-affective and somatic-vegetative. CONCLUSIONS: The BDI-II is a relevant psychometric instrument, showing high reliability, capacity to discriminate between depressed and non-depressed subjects, and improved concurrent, content, and structural validity. Based on available psychometric evidence, the BDI-II can be viewed as a cost-effective questionnaire for measuring the severity of depression, with broad applicability for research and clinical practice worldwide.

Entwicklung und Überprüfung objektiver Testverfahren zur Messung von Angstbewältigungsdispositionen

Für die Entwicklung objektiver Testverfahren zur Messung von Angstbewältigungsdispositionen, d.h. von Tests, deren Meßprinzip für die Probanden nicht durchschaubar ist, wurde das Dot-Probe-Paradigma verwendet. Mit diesem Paradigma läßt sich das Aufmerksamkeitsverhalten gegenüber bedrohlichem Material messen. Es wurde angenommen, daß dieses Paradigma besonders gut für eine objektive Messung der Angstbewältigungsdispositionen Vigilanz und kognitive Vermeidung geeignet ist, da Vigilanz durch verstärkte Aufnahme und Verarbeitung bedrohungsbezogener Information gekennzeichnet ist, während sich kognitive Vermeidung in der Abwendung der Aufmerksamkeit von diesen Reizen zeigt. In drei Studien wurde für verschiedene Versionen des Dot-Probe-Paradigmas überprüft, ob die für den Einsatz als Testinstrument in der Persönlichkeitsdiagnostik notwendigen Gütekriterien erfüllt sind. Dabei wurde festgestellt, daß das Dot-Probe-Paradigma sowohl bei Verwendung von Wörtern als auch von Bildern als Stimuli für klinisch unauffällige Testpersonen keine reliable Messung ermöglicht. Die erhobenen Werte waren weder über eine Woche hinweg stabil, noch waren sie intern konsistent. Infolge der ungenügenden Reliabilität fanden sich in den Studien nur unsystematische Befunde zum Zusammenhang zwischen dem Aufmerksamkeitsverhalten im Dot-Probe-Paradigma und verschiedenen Fragebogenmaßen. Darüber hinaus vermag die mangelnde Reliabilität auch die in der Literatur berichteten inkonsistenten Befunde bei der Untersuchung nicht-klinischer Stichproben mit diesem Paradigma zu erklären. Mögliche Gründe für die mangelnde Reliabilität der Messung werden diskutiert.

Experimentelle Diagnostik angstbezogener Informationsverarbeitung bei Kindern im Grundschulalter

Ziel war die Entwicklung und Erprobung von Varianten des emotionalen Strooptests zur Analyse angstbezogener Aufmerksamkeitsprozesse bei Grundschulkindern. Dabei wurde überprüft, ob dieses kognitiv-experimentelle Verfahren zukünftig als objektives Testverfahren zur Diagnostik von Ängstlichkeit im Kindesalter geeignet ist. Ausgangspunkt waren zahlreiche Befunde für die Gruppe Erwachsener, wonach die Zuwendung auf bedrohliche Situationsmerkmalen für Ängstliche charakteristisch ist. Für das Kindesalter liegen hierzu nur wenige Studien mit zudem inkonsistenten Befundmuster vor. In insgesamt drei Studien wurde der emotionale Strooptest für das Grundschulalter adaptiert, indem Bilder bzw. altersentsprechendes Wortmaterial als Stimuli eingesetzt wurden. An den Studien nahmen nicht-klinische, nicht-ausgelesene Stichproben mit Kindern der zweiten bis vierten Grundschulklassen teil. Sowohl Ängstlichkeit als auch Zustandsangst der Kinder wurden jeweils über Selbst- und Fremdeinschätzungen (Eltern, Klassenlehrer, Versuchsleiter) erhoben. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für eine nur unzureichende Reliabilität emotionaler Interferenzeffekte. Auch ergaben sich (möglichenfalls infolge) keine substantiellen Hinweise auf differentielle angstbezogene Interferenzeffekte. Die Befunde sprechen vielmehr dafür, dass alle Kinder unabhängig von der Ängstlichkeit höhere Benennungszeiten für bedrohliche Stimuli im Vergleich zur Kontrollbedingung mit neutralen oder freundlichen Stimuli zeigten, wobei zugleich methodische Einflussfaktoren des Strooptests von Relevanz waren. Die Diskussion konzentriert sich auf entwicklungspsychologische Überlegungen sowie mögliche Bedingungen emotionaler Interferenzeffekte unter kritischer Berücksichtigung der Reliabilität emotionaler Stroopinterferenz.

Simulatore d’alba come possibile contromisura al social jetlag in adolescenza

L’obiettivo del presente progetto di ricerca era determinare se l’utilizzo non clinico del simulatore d’alba (un dispositivo che emette luce in graduale aumento prima del risveglio), basato su specifiche conoscenze cronobiologiche, potesse ridurre alcune delle conseguenze del social jetlag, in studenti di scuola secondaria di secondo grado. A tal fine, sono stati valutati gli effetti del simulatore d’alba su tono dell’umore (valutato soggettivamente tramite la Global and Vigor Affect Scale-GVA), livelli di attivazione (valutati soggettivamente tramite la GVA), qualità/quantità di sonno (valutate oggettivamente e soggettivamente tramite attigrafia e Mini Sleep Questionnaire-MSQ), architettura del sonno (valutata oggettivamente tramite Zeo®) ed efficienza dei tre network attentivi (alerting, orienting ed executive), valutata oggettivamente tramite l’Attention Network Test (ANT). In totale, hanno preso parte alla ricerca 56 adolescenti (24 femmine e 32 maschi), frequentanti due istituti di scuola secondaria di secondo grado nella città di Cesena, la cui età media era di 17.68 anni (range d’età 15-20 anni). Ad ogni studente è stata richiesta una partecipazione di 5 settimane consecutive ed il disegno di ricerca prevedeva 3 condizioni sperimentali: baseline, simulatore d’alba e controllo. All’MSQ, in seguito all’utilizzo del simulatore d’alba, sono state osservate una minore percezione di sonnolenza diurna, una frequenza inferiore di risvegli notturni ed una riduzione del numero di partecipanti che presentavano una cattiva qualità della veglia. All’ANT, è stato documentato un significativo miglioramento dell’efficienza del network attentivo dell’alerting, successivo all’impiego del simulatore d’alba, dovuto ad una maggiore reattività dei partecipanti in seguito alla comparsa del double cue, che anticipava la presentazione del target (freccia centrale di cui i partecipanti dovevano giudicare la direzione). Tali risultati convergono nell’evidenziare la capacità del simulatore d’alba di esercitare un effetto attivante/stimolante, mostrando dunque come esso possa essere considerato uno strumento potenzialmente utilizzabile quale contromisura al social jetlag in adolescenza.

Human Preferences for Symmetry: Subjective Experience, Cognitive Conflict and Cortical Brain Activity

This study examines the links between human perceptions, cognitive biases and neural processing of symmetrical stimuli. While preferences for symmetry have largely been examined in the context of disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism spectrum disorders, we examine various these phenomena in non-clinical subjects and suggest that such preferences are distributed throughout the typical population as part of our cognitive and neural architecture. In Experiment 1, 82 young adults reported on the frequency of their obsessive-compulsive spectrum behaviors. Subjects also performed an emotional Stroop or variant of an Implicit Association Task (the OC-CIT) developed to assess cognitive biases for symmetry. Data not only reveal that subjects evidence a cognitive conflict when asked to match images of positive affect with asymmetrical stimuli, and disgust with symmetry, but also that their slowed reaction times when asked to do so were predicted by reports of OC behavior, particularly checking behavior. In Experiment 2, 26 participants were administered an oddball Event-Related Potential task specifically designed to assess sensitivity to symmetry as well as the OC-CIT. These data revealed that reaction times on the OC-CIT were strongly predicted by frontal electrode sites indicating faster processing of an asymmetrical stimulus (unparallel lines) relative to a symmetrical stimulus (parallel lines). The results point to an overall cognitive bias linking disgust with asymmetry and suggest that such cognitive biases are reflected in neural responses to symmetrical/asymmetrical stimuli.

Thought-Action Fusion and Neutralization Behavior

This study presents a new inventory to assess thought-action fusion (TAF). 160 college students ages 18 to 22 (M = 19.17, SD = 1.11) completed the new Modified Thought Action Scale (MTAFS). Results indicated high internal consistency in the MTAFS (Cronbach’s α = .95). A principal component analysis suggested a three factor solution of TAF-Moral (TAFM), TAFLikelihood (TAFL), and TAF-Harm avoidance-Positive (TAFHP) all with eigenvalues above 1, and factor loadings above .4. A second study examined the association between TAF, obsessivecompulsive and anxiety tendencies after the activation of TAF-like thought processes in a nonclinical sample (n=76). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups intended to provoke TAFL-self, TAFL-other, and TAF moral thought processes. Stepwise regression analyses revealed: 1) the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory subscales Neutralizing and Ordering significantly predicted instructed neutralization behavior (INB) in non-clinical participants; 2) TAF-Likelihood contributed significant unique variance in INB. These findings suggest that the provocation of neutralization behavior may be mediated by specific subsets of TAF and obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

Social Cognition And Functional Brain Imaging: Extending The Broader Autism Phenotype

Evidence suggests that the social cognition deficits prevalent in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are widely distributed in first degree and extended relatives. This ¿broader autism phenotype¿ (BAP) can be extended into non-clinical populations and show wide distributions of social behaviors such as empathy and social responsiveness ¿ with ASDs exhibiting these behaviors on the lower ends of the distributions. Little evidence has previously shown relationships between self-report measures of social cognition and more objective tasks such as face perception in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERPs). In this study, three specific hypotheses were addressed: a) increased social ability, as measured by an increased Empathy Quotient, decreased Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-A) score, and increased Social Attribution Task score, will predict increased activation of the fusiform gyrus in response to faces as compared to houses; b) these same measures will predict N170 amplitude and latency showing decreased latency and increased amplitude for faces as compared to houses with increased social ability; c) increased amygdala volume will predict increased fusiform gyrus activation when viewing faces as compared to houses. Findings supported all of the hypotheses. Empathy scores significantly predicted both right FFG activation [F(1,20) = 4.811, p = .041, ß = .450, R2 = 0.20] and left FFG activation [F(1,20) = 7.70, p = .012, ß = .537, R2 = 0.29]. Based on ERP results increased right lateralization face-related N170 was significantly predicted by the EQ [F(1,54) = 6.94, p = .011, ß = .338, R2 = 0.11]. Finally, total amygdala volume significantly predicted right [F(1,20) = 7.217, p = .014, ß = .515, R2 = 0.27] and left [F(1,20) = 36.77, p < .001, ß = .805, R2 = 0.65] FFG activation. Consistent with the a priori hypotheses, traits attributed to the BAP can significantly predict neural responses to faces in a non-clinical population. This is consistent with the face processing deficits seen in ASDs. The findings presented here contribute to the extension of the BAP from unaffected relatives of individuals with ASDs to the general population. These findings also give continued evidence in support of a continuous distribution of traits found in psychiatric illnesses in place of a traditional, dichotomous ¿all-or-nothing¿ diagnostic framework of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.