Suicide study : a psychological autopsy

RESUMO: O'suicídio'é'atualmente'um'problema'de'saúde'pública.'Estimarse'que'um'milhão'de'pessoas' morra'anualmente'devido'ao'suicídio.'De'acordo'com'diversas'agências'e'organizações'estimar 'que'ocorram'entre'20'a'40'tentativas'de'suicídio'por'cada'suicídio'consumado.'Os'custos'associados'ao'suicídio,'quer'humanos'quer'económicos'são'enormes'e'estendemrse'à'família,'emprego,'economia'e'finanças.'Os'números'oficiais'do'suicídio'em'Portugal'indicam'uma'taxa ligeiramente'acima'dos'10'por' cada'100'000'habitantes'mas' comportando' regiões'onde' são'observadas' taxas' muito' elevadas,' como' no' Sudoeste' de' Portugal' onde' se' observam particularmente taxas 3'vezes'acima'da'média'nacional.' Investigámos' o' fenómeno' com' os' objetivos' de' validar' a' técnica' de' autópsia' psicológica' em' contexto' comunitário' nunca' realizado' em' Portugal,' e' dar' um' contributo' para' uma' compreensão'mais'alargada'deste'problema'de'saúde'pública,'especialmente'nesta'região'de' Odemira.' A' autópsia' psicológica' consiste' em' reunir' detalhadamente' informação' sobre' a'personalidade' e' vida' de' alguém' que' morreu' em' circunstâncias' equívocas' (por' suicídio,' homicídio' ou' acidente)'recorrendo'ainda'a'registos'e'documentação,'bem'como'procedendo'a entrevistas' com' familiares,' colegas' ou' amigos.' Foi' feita' uma' adaptação' de' uma' entrevista' semirestruturada' para' o' efeito.' Foram' recrutados' 2' grupos' de' participantes:' um' grupo' de familiares de pessoas que cometeram'suicídio'(n=30)'e'um'grupo'de'familiares'de'pessoas'que morreram de causas' naturais' (n=24).' O' estudo' decorreu' em' 3' momentos' com' sessões' de' apresentação' (i),' sessões' de' preparação' (ii)' e' entrevistas' para' recolha' de' informação' e'monitorização.'' Os' principais' resultados'mostram' que' existiram' dificuldades' na' obtenção' da' informação' a'partir' dos' entrevistados,' a'maioria' dos' suicidas' eram'homens' acima' dos' 40' anos' de' idade,' afetados' por' lesões' graves' ou' doenças' graves' ' no' período' adulto' embora' apresentassem'condições' válidas' para' trabalhar,' reformados,' vivendo' em' família,' com' traços' de'personalidade' amargurados,' tristes' ou' pessimistas,' com' escassas' atividades' nos' tempos' de' lazer,' sem' problemas' somáticos' significativos' ou' perturbações'mentais' que' comunicaram' a intenção de morrer previamente'e'provenientes'de'famílias'sem'dificuldades'económicas'ou'relações'familiares'desadequadas.' Tendo'em'conta'a'literatura,'algumas'das'características'parecem'ser'muito'particulares'desta'população.'Aparentemente'o'suicídio'poderá'ter'implicações'genéticas'que'deveriam'ser'tidas'em'conta'em'futuras'investigações.' A'integração'da'saúde'mental'nos'cuidados'de'saúde'primários'afigurarse'urgente'tendo'em' conta' que' a' escassez' de' profissionais' de' saúde'mental' é' enorme' numa' parte' do' país' onde'ocorre' o'maior'número'de' suicídios.'Mudar'de'modelo'e'reorganizar'os' serviços'de' forma'a' poder' dar' uma' resposta' ao' défice' de' tratamento' de' saúde' mental' e' ter' em' conta' os' determinantes'sociais'da'saúde'para'fazer'face'ao'isolamento'é'fundamental.' ---------------ABSTRACT: Suicide' is,'nowadays,' a'public'health'problem.'A'million'dies' annually'by' suicide'worldwide.' According'to'several'agencies'and'organizations'an'estimation'of'20'to'40'suicide'attempts'is advanced for each complete' suicide. Associated'costs'to'suicide,'both'human'and'economic,'are' huge' and' spread' on' family,' jobs,' economy,' and' finances.' Official' available' figures' for' suicide' in' Portugal' indicate' a' rate' slightly' over' 10' for' each' 100' 000' inhabitants,' but' with'regions'where'one' can' actually' find'extremely'high' rates,' like' for' instance' in' the'Southwest' part' of' the' country,' where' are' regularly' found' rates' 3' times' higher,' when' compared' to'national'average.'' We' have' investigated' the' phenomenon' aiming' to' validate' the' technique' of' psychological'autopsy' in' a' community' context' never' explored' before' in' Portugal' and' to' contribute' for' a' wider' understanding' of' this' public' health' problem,' especially' in' this' region' of' Odemira.' Psychological'autopsy'consists'into'a'detailed'gathering'of'information'about'the'personality'and' life' of' someone' died' in' equivocal' circumstances' (suicide,' homicide,' accident),' registries and other'documentation'as'well'as'interviews'with'family'members,'corworkers'and'friends.' An' adaptation' of' a' semirstructured' interview' was' made.' Two' groups' of' participants' were'recruited: a'group of'relatives'of'people'committing'suicide'(n=30),'and'a'group'of'relatives'of'people' whose' death' was' after' natural' causes' (n=24).' Study' was'made' in' 3'moments' with'presentation'sessions;'(i)'preparation'sessions;'(ii)'interviewing'data'collection'and'monitoring' iii).'' Main'results'showed'difficulties'to'obtain'information'from'interviewees,'most'suicides'were' from males over 40 years old, affected'by'serious'illness'or'severe'injury'in'adulthood'but'valid'to'work,'retired,'living'in'family,'with'bitterness,'sad'or'pessimistic'as'personality'traits,'with'few' leisure' activities,' without' significant' health' somatic' problems' or' mental' disorders,'communicating'intention'to'die'previously,'coming'from'families'with'no'indication'of'financial'distress'or'inadequate'family'relationship.' Taking'into'account'the'literature'it'looks'like'some'features'seem'to'be'quiet'particular'from'this'population.'Apparently'one'might'say'that'suicide'could'have'genetic'implications'which'further'research'should'account'in'the'future.' Integration' of'mental' health' into' primary' care' is' urgent' once' the' scarcity' of'mental' health' professionals' is' enormous' in' a' part' of' the' country' where' most' suicides' occur.' Scaling' up services must go in order'to'address'to'treatment'gap'and'social'determinants'of'health'should'be'taken'into'account'to'face'isolation.' Results' show' that' the' profile' of' the' suicidal' in' the' region' of' Odemira' is' particular' and'implications' of' genetics' should' be' taken' into' account.' Moreover' much' can' be' done' in'organization' of' services' in' the' region' where' we' performed' the' present' study' in' order' to'address'to'treatment'gap'for'mental'disorders'and'to'the'social'determinants'of'health.

Do the psychological impacts of war cause poverty?: Evidence from Mozambique

This paper evaluates the extent to which war-related psychological distress causes poverty. The endogeneous nature of mental distress is addressed by using exposure to the civil war in Mozambique as an instrument. It is found that exposure to war has a significant and positive long-lasting impact on mental distress. Furthermore, the causal impact of war-related psychological distress on income and wealth is shown to be significant, negative, and nonnegligible. One standard deviation increase in mental distress decreases income by half a standard deviation. These findings are robust to alternative specifications, including the use of an alternative database on the incidence of PTSD in Mozambique.

Social capital : Social capital and psychological sense of community in the neighborhood - Predicting and preventing

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário

The efficacy of the old way/new way methodology on the correction of an automated technical error and its impact on the athlete’s psychological skills : Case study in tennis

The aim of this study was to evaluated the efficacy of the Old Way/New Way methodology (Lyndon, 1989/2000) with regard to the permanent correction of a consolidated and automated technical error experienced by a tennis athlete (who is 18 years old and has been engaged in practice mode for about 6 years) in the execution of serves. Additionally, the study assessed the impact of intervention on the athlete’s psychological skills. An individualized intervention was designed using strategies that aimed to produce a) a detailed analysis of the error using video images; b) an increased kinaesthetic awareness; c) a reactivation of memory error; d) the discrimination and generalization of the correct motor action. The athlete’s psychological skills were measured with a Portuguese version of the Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (Cruz & Viana, 1993). After the intervention, the technical error was corrected with great efficacy and an increase in the athlete’s psychological skills was verified. This study demonstrates the methodology’s efficacy, which is consistent with the effects of this type of intervention in different contexts.

Psychological safety, authentic leadership and social networks : A psycho-structural approach to the study of groups

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia na área de especialização de Psicologia das Organizações apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário

Mitigating the impact of occupational noise exposure for elderly workers: Setting the functional requirements for an ANC system

Noise affects people in very different aspects and in almost every aspect of our daily life. The most prominent impact of noise exposure is hearing loss. However, it can also impair people at their work settings due to other effects rather than hearing loss. Older works tend to be more susceptible to noise exposure effects at work, firstly because most of them already have some ‘natural’ hearing loss, as a results of the ageing process, and secondly because they also tend to be more susceptible at an psychological level. The current study is an attempt to describe the potential problem and to make a survey to identify the available active noise cancelation systems, as well as to specific the main requirements of this type of systems to be applied in such contexts. Several aspects of characteristics of the ANC systems were identified and are presented in this study. From the obtained results it was possible to have a clearer idea about the potential of this technology, and to confirm that this type of solution can be extremely important as a component of an active ageing program, as the preservation of hearing will also impact on the social life of the exposed workers.

Psychological intervention in Portuguese college students: effects of two career self-management seminars

This article describes the evaluation of a psychological intervention—the Career Self-Management Seminar, Version A, for undergraduate students, and Version B for postgraduate students—developed to support Portuguese college students in career exploration, goal setting, design and implementation of action plans, and decision-making. A total of 120 participants from CSMS-A (experimental group, n = 58; control group, n = 62) and 98 from CSMS-B (experimental group, n = 62; control group, n = 36) were assessed by the Career Exploration Survey according to a pretest and posttest plan. Results demonstrate a significant increase in most of the cognitive, behavioral, and affective career exploration dimensions among the CSMS-A and CSMS-B experimental groups.

Postoperative self-efficacy and psychological morbidity in radical prostatectomy

Objective: evaluate the general and perceived self-efficacy, psychological morbidity, and knowledge about postoperative care of patients submitted to radical prostatectomy. Identify the relationships between the variables and know the predictors of self-efficacy. Method: descriptive, cross-sectional study, conducted with 76 hospitalized men. The scales used were the General and Perceived Self-efficacy Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, in addition to sociodemographic, clinical and knowledge questionnaires. Results: a negative relationship was found for self-efficacy in relation to anxiety and depression. Psychological morbidity was a significant predictor variable for self-efficacy. An active professional situation and the waiting time for surgery also proved to be relevant variables for anxiety and knowledge, respectively. Conclusion: participants had a good level of general and perceived self-efficacy and small percentage of depression. With these findings, it is possible to produce the profile of patients about their psychological needs after radical prostatectomy and, thus, allow the nursing professionals to act holistically, considering not only the need for care of physical nature, but also of psychosocial nature.

Spousal support and satisfaction with healthcare services as moderators between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet in Type 2 Diabetes patients

Objectives: This study analyzed the moderating role of partners’ support and satisfaction with healthcare services in the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: Participants were 387 recently diagnosed T2DM patients that answered the following instruments: Revised Summary of Diabetes Self- Care Activities Measure, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales, Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire and Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results: Partners’ positive and negative support moderated the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet. Satisfaction with healthcare services also moderated the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet. Conclusions: Intervention programs to promote adherence to diet in patients with type 2 diabetes should focus on partners’ support and patient satisfaction with healthcare services.

The mediator role of psychological morbidity in patients with chronic low back pain in differentiated treatments

This study analyzed the mediating role of psychological morbidity and the variables that discriminated low versus high disability, in patients receiving physiotherapy and acupuncture. A total of 203 patients answered measures of illness and medication representations, coping, depression, anxiety, quality of life, and functional disability. Morbidity was a mediator between functional disability and quality of life. Treatment consequences and quality of life, in the acupuncture group, and emotional representations, quality of life, depression, anxiety, and active strategies for pain relief, in the physiotherapy group, discriminated patients with low versus high disability. These results have important implications for identifying high-risk patients.

High-aspect-ratio tridimensional electrode arrays for neural applications

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Biomédica.

Towards the design and implementation of aspect-oriented programming for spreadsheets

A spreadsheet usually starts as a simple and singleuser software artifact, but, as frequent as in other software systems, quickly evolves into a complex system developed by many actors. Often, different users work on different aspects of the same spreadsheet: while a secretary may be only involved in adding plain data to the spreadsheet, an accountant may define new business rules, while an engineer may need to adapt the spreadsheet content so it can be used by other software systems.Unfortunately,spreadsheetsystemsdonotoffermodular mechanisms, and as a consequence, some of the previous tasks may be defined by adding intrusive “code” to the spreadsheet. In this paper we go through the design and implementation of an aspect-oriented language for spreadsheets so that users can work on different aspects of a spreadsheet in a modular way. For example, aspects can be defined in order to introduce new business rules to an existing spreadsheet, or to manipulate the spreadsheet data to be ported to another system. Aspects are defined as aspect-oriented program specifications that are dynamically woven into the underlying spreadsheet by an aspect weaver. In this aspect-oriented style of spreadsheet development, differentusers develop,orreuse,aspects withoutaddingintrusive code to the original spreadsheet. Such code is added/executed by the spreadsheet weaving mechanism proposed in this paper.

Typologies of post-divorce coparenting and parental well-being, parenting quality and children’s psychological adjustment

First published online: 30 October 2015

The Portuguese version of the Psychological Adjustment to Separation Test-Part A (PAST-A): a study with recently and non-recently divorced adults

Past research has demonstrated that divorced adults show more health problems and psychological distress than married adults. Considering the high prevalence rates of divorce among Western countries, new and robust measures should be developed to measure psychological distress after this specific transition in adulthood. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate a Portuguese version of the Psychological Adjustment to Separation Test-Part A (PAST-A; Sweeper and Halford in J Family Psychol 20(4):632–640, 2006). PAST-A is a self-report measure that assesses two key dimensions of separation adjustment problems: lonely-negativity and former partner attachment. Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of PAST-A were assessed in terms of factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent and divergent validity, in an online convenience sample with divorced adults (N = 460). The PAST-A two-factor structure was confirmed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, with each factor demonstrating very satisfactory internal consistency and good convergence. In terms of discriminant validity, the Portuguese PAST-A reveals a distinct factor from psychological growth after divorce. The results provided support for the use of the Portuguese PAST-A with divorced adults and also suggested that the explicative factors of the psychological adjustment to divorce may be cross-cultural stable. The non-existence of validated divorce-related well-being measures and its implications for divorce research are also discussed.