RCAAP Repository

Abstract The present study investigated incarceration as a possible triggering factor of self-concept transformations. Self-concept consists of a set of multiple dimensions organized hierarchically functioning as cognitive schemas. It is a structural complex product of reflective activity, and it is susceptible to changes as the individual encounters new situations, life transitions, and social roles. To investigate the transformations in the self-concept structure, 150 incarcerated women responded to the Feminine Inventory of the Self-Concept's Gender Schemas, Self-Concept Clarity Scale and Situational Self-Awareness Scale. The results showed dynamic and multidimensional organization of self-concept in the women investigated, including various categories of the self. The elements analyzed indicate that prison, an undesirable life event in adulthood, is a driver of transformations in the dynamics of self-concept.

Abstract There are several variables that are associated with and that can influence school performance. The present study investigated the following: 1) the relationship between school performance and intelligence, language, and executive functions; 2) explanatory models for school performance. A total of 87 students in 5th grade of elementary school, attending a public school in São Paulo State, Brazil (mean age = 9.72, standard deviation = 0.58), participated in this study. The participants were evaluated in terms of intelligence, language (phonological awareness and vocabulary), and executive functions (attention, cognitive flexibility, and working memory). Bimonthly grades were collected at the end of the school year. Results revealed significant correlations between school performance and all measures, except for attention. Students’ performance on the cognitive tests explained up to 66% of their grades. Intelligence, language, and executive functions are associated with school performance, but language and executive functions, especially cognitive flexibility, can be considered as stronger predictors of performance in 5th grade. These findings can assist in the design and implementation of intervention programs to promote these skills.

Abstract eHealth interventions have been proposed as a possible solution to overcome major obstacles associated with low adherence rates, low accessibility, and high costs of parenting programs. Due to the number and variety of interventions found in the literature, this study aimed to conduct a scoping review of parenting interventions directed at supporting parents in promoting their child’s health and carrying out disease-related tasks. The scoping review identified 119 technology-based programs directed both at universal, preventive objectives and at the management and adaptation to chronic or severe acute health conditions. Several different web-based applications have been creatively used in healthrelated parenting interventions. Most programs use evidence-based psychological methodologies to promote parental self-management, build specific parenting skills, and provide customized feedback and social support. Further studies are needed to assess the contribution of the Internet and mobile applications to enhance the effectiveness of health-related parenting interventions and the dissemination of empirically validated programs.

Abstract According to the World Health Organization and the International Association for the Study of Pain, pain is a relevant worldwide problem in the healthcare field. The present study aimed to describe the definition of pediatric pain and the main characteristics, and to examine the findings regarding the impact of pain on the development of the child. The best clinical practices in Neonatal Intensive Care Units should include developmental care and specifically implement pain management, aiming to protect the health and development of the infants. The efficacious non-pharmacological management of neonatal pain includes breastfeeding, skin-to-skin, non-nutritive sucking, facilitated-tucking and swaddling. Sweet solutions also have pain relief effects. Psychologists could actively participate in the implementation of non-pharmacological interventions and in the whole process to sensitize and train the professional teams, to alert parents to protection against pain and to support policymakers in the implementation of pain guidelines in the hospital.

Abstract Pain is common in Sickle Cell Disease. This study proposes a Psychological Intervention Program for Children with Sickle Cell Disease (Intervenção Psicológica para Crianças com Anemia Falciforme). It was applied to seven children in a hospital. The intervention was based in the Motivational Theory of Coping and includes the Coping with Pain Game (Jogo “Enfrentando a Dor”). The Computerized Assessment Instrument of Coping with Hospitalization-Pain (Instrumento Computadorizado para Avaliação do Enfrentamento da Hospitalização-Dor) was applied before and after seven weekly sessions. The results showed significant increase in the facilitating behaviors to cope with pain, and in problem-solving, an adaptive coping; and a reduction in the non-facilitating behaviors and in rumination, a maladaptive coping. The stressor perception as a challenge to the need of competence increased, whereas the stressor perception as a threat to the need of competence and autonomy decreased. This intervention may have contributed to promote adaptive coping with pain.

Resumo Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo elaborar o Inventário de Práticas Maternas Alienantes e reunir evidências de sua validade pela estrutura interna. Para isso, foram realizados dois estudos. O estudo 1 contou com a participação de duzentas mães divorciadas de cidades do estado da Paraíba, com idade média de 35 anos (DP = 9,06). Por meio de uma Análise Fatorial Exploratória, visualizou-se uma estrutura unifatorial do inventário, com um índice de consistência interna de 0,83. O estudo 2 contou com 189 mães divorciadas, residentes em municípios paraibanos, com idade média de 37 anos (DP = 10,69). Nesse estudo, uma Análise Fatorial Confirmatória sugeriu uma estrutura unifatorial da medida [χ² = 141,05, χ²/ gL = 4,03, GFI = 0,87, CFI = 0,88, TLI = 0,85, RMSEA (IC90% = 0,10 - 0,14) = 0,12, CAIC = 265,89 e ECVI = 0,96]. Conclui-se que o Inventário em questão é uma medida que apresenta características psicométricas que permitem seu uso com cautela em estudos futuros.

Resumo No presente estudo, analisou-se a relação entre a qualidade das relações de amizade e as autoperceções dos adolescentes, expressas no seu autoconceito. A amostra foi constituída por 65 estudantes portugueses, com idades compreendidas entre os 12 e os 16 anos (M = 14). Os instrumentos foram o Questionário de Qualidade da Amizade e a versão portuguesa do Perfil de Autoperceção da Escala de Autoconceito para Adolescentes. Através de análises correlacionais, verificou-se uma relação entre a qualidade das relações de amizade e o autoconceito, sendo a dimensão companheirismo e recreação preditora do autoconceito global. Verificou-se, ainda, a ausência de um efeito de gênero na qualidade reportada das relações de amizade. Pelo contrário, ocorreu um efeito moderado do gênero no autoconceito, nomeadamente nas dimensões competência escolar, competência atlética, aparência física e autoestima, com o gênero masculino apresentando resultados médios superiores. Os resultados foram discutidos tendo em conta a importância das relações sociais para o desenvolvimento na adolescência.

Abstract In order to verify the relationship between autonomy in face of authority, bullying and academic performance, we developed three scales that were applied to 274 ninth-graders from public schools in São Paulo, of which 122 were girls with a mean age of 14.1 years (SD = 0.8). It was found that the more students defended punishment for disobedience and respect for authority, the more frequently they were appointed as the best in class and vice versa; these students also considered being victims of violence, which indicates that even students with good performance do not necessarily develop autonomy in face of authority, as they may be following rules without thinking about them. Students who suffer violence tend not to be independent from authority. Further research including students from private schools could corroborate the results of this study.

Abstract To characterize and compare the spelling performance of private and public students. Three hundred 1st-5th graders from public and private schools in the city of Marília, São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated, totalizing 30 students from each grade, respectively. Collective and individual versions of the Pró-Ortografia test (a renowned Brazilian spelling test) were administered. There were significant inter-group differences indicating that private school students achieved higher performance. The mean values of correct answers of higher grade level students were statistically greater than those of the lower grade level students. The results indicated that the mean values of correct answers of all versions of the spelling test administered increased across grades for both private and public school students. However, the data evaluated showed that private school students attained higher spelling performance than public school students from the 2nd grade onwards.

Abstract The objective of this study was to develop two intervention programs to promote reading comprehension, one for narrative texts and one for expository texts, to be used by 3rd-5th grade elementary school teachers in the classroom. The applicability of the programs was verified. A total of 143 elementary school students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades participated in this study. The students were evaluated before and after the administration of the intervention programs. There were significant differences in the answers of inferential questions about the macrostructure of the narrative texts in the three groups of students evaluated. A significant difference was also observed in the expository texts for the group of 5th graders, indicating superior performance of the students submitted to the programs. The strategies of the informative programs were more effective in improving students’ reading performance on the narrative texts than on the expository texts. Therefore, the strategies used should be reviewed in future studies.

Resumen Las desigualdades entre mujeres y hombres se siguen manteniendo en las organizaciones a pesar de los esfuerzos políticos y sociales realizados para afrontar este fenómeno. Las certificaciones de igualdad son reconocidas en España como uno de los instrumentos políticos diseñados para combatir estos desequilibrios de género a partir de la promulgación de la Ley Orgánica nº 3/2007 para la igualdad efectiva de mujeres y hombres. Este artículo tiene como objetivo identificar el enfoque desde el que las organizaciones, públicas y privadas, responsables de la promoción de certificaciones de igualdad de género, están respondiendo a la aplicación del mainstreaming de género. Aplicamos un análisis de contenido a partir del estudio de publicaciones relativas a las certificaciones. Los resultados muestran que estas certificaciones se conceden, en muchos casos, ignorando indicadores esenciales para implementar el enfoque de género. Igualmente, se impulsa su uso lucrativo como marca de calidad organizativa.

Resumen Las políticas de Educación Superior en Chile les demandan a las Universidades la instalación de dispositivos de gestión orientados a organizar, cuantificar y monitorear el trabajo académico. Pensando en las implicaciones del uso de estos dispositivos de gestión, este trabajo presenta los resultados de un análisis discursivo de 95 documentos de trabajo (Reglamentos, Bases de concurso, Formularios de acreditación) para conocer las interpelaciones que realiza a la labor universitaria. Mediante el método de análisis de discurso, se caracteriza la actuación de los documentos oficiales que regulan y transforman el trabajo académico. El estudio realizado evidencia que los dispositivos de gestión del Trabajo académico performan el trabajo mediante acciones tales como: establecer jerarquías entre las múltiples tareas de un académico y entre académicos, mediante criterios que no han sido discutidos por la comunidad profesional; objetivar procesos laborales y asumir consensos en torno a ello, desconociendo disputas y desacuerdos actuales; omitir el contexto de producción académica, construyendo una imagen del trabajo como proceso individual; y finalmente instando relaciones laborales individualizadas y competitivas.

Abstract Global problems are accelerating to the point where they are challenging civilization. The author reflects on how early mentors in Biological and Psychological science modeled a new paradigm for their inquiry that included subject-subject participation, qualitative methods, a wider range of accepted evidence and the ability to indwell in a state of “not knowing” and letting coherence emerge. Such an approach not only leads to new knowledge but also develops capacities and competencies in the researcher that are more adequate for understanding complex and seemingly intractable crises of global the 21st century. The author identifies three levels of crisis occurring simultaneously: conceptual, cultural and existential which undermine coherence at personal and societal levels. When societies destabilize doubt and uncertainty rise producing the possible responses of defensiveness, anarchy and transformation. To optimize the possibility of transformation a new kind of psychology is needed that is better adapted to current conditions. Persons of Tomorrow, a term coined by humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers during the upheavals of the 1960s, have the consciousness and capacities to address these crises in creative and transformative ways. The non-profit International Futures Forum has developed theory, pedagogy and social practices to facilitate transformative innovation. Case examples of its and others’ transformative projects are described and linked to the urgent need to develop and to practice as Persons of Tomorrow.

Abstract Phenomenological investigations are concerned with unfolding the nature of a phenomenon through the process of describing and understanding subjective lived experiences. The process through which this is accomplished varies according to the underlying philosophical concepts and specific methodological strategies adopted. A common means of achieving this objective is through hours-long interviews that are recorded and later transcribed and analyzed. The present article describes an alternative method that accesses the participants’ experiences of a phenomenon through encounters with a researcher, who then uses dialogical data to develop comprehensive narratives. These are written in first person in order to grasp the participant’s significant meanings based on what emerged during their encounter and its impact on the researcher. A narrative synthesis is then constructed in order to enable the phenomenological process of analysis to reach the structural elements based on all participants’ experiences. Exemplary excerpts are presented in order to illustrate the process.

Abstract The literature on the influence of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy is controversial because its founders did not clarify its philosophical and epistemological foundations. However, we understand that various influences exerted on Perls and his collaborators during the development of the Gestalt therapy led to a phenomenological-existential approach. The possible influences of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy are discussed based on literature review focusing on the influence of Gestalt psychology, through Goldstein, Laura Perls, and Goodman, and the approaches to the phenomenological ideas of Brentano, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. Similarly, with regard to existentialism, we address the combination of Gestalt concepts with the philosophies of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Buber, and Sartre. It was concluded that the influence of phenomenology and existentialism on Gestalt therapy resulted in the conception of man as a being-in-the-world and an emphasis on past experiences.

Resumo A literatura sustenta que os subsistemas conjugal, parental e coparental impactam no desenvolvimento dos filhos. Entretanto, investigações acerca da articulação entre esses subsistemas são escassas no contexto nacional. Objetivou-se avaliar as associações da conjugalidade, parentalidade e coparentalidade com sintomas internalizantes e externalizantes dos filhos. Foi realizado um estudo explicativo, quantitativo e transversal com 200 indivíduos (100 homens e 100 mulheres), que coabitassem com seus filhos de quatro a 18 anos. Foi utilizado questionário composto por seis escalas. Os resultados evidenciam congruência na percepção de pais e mães acerca da presença de sintomas nos filhos. Adaptabilidade conjugal e aprovação coparental foram preditoras dos sintomas internalizantes e competição coparental, exposição do filho ao conflito coparental prática parental de intrusividade, aprovação coparental e prática parental de supervisão do comportamento foram preditoras dos sintomas externalizantes. Esses resultados sustentam a interdependência dessas variáveis e reforçam a premissa de que intervenções familiares devem atentar para todo o sistema familiar.

Abstract O artigo discute as barreiras e os fatores facilitadores à descentralização em saúde mental por meio do apoio matricial. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, realizada com apoiadores matriciais ‒ psicólogos e psiquiatras da região metropolitana de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Os resultados evidenciam como obstáculos ao apoio matricial a não validação plena da gestão; a sobreposição das questões políticas em detrimento das técnicas; a incongruência entre os valores institucionais e os profissionais; as diferentes configurações da rede em Unidades de Saúde tradicionais e Unidades de Saúde da Família, que demandam arranjos organizacionais diferentes. Dentre os fatores facilitadores, evidenciam-se as relações personalizadas entre os apoiadores e os profissionais de referência, a disponibilidade, o comprometimento, a comunicação fluida, a corresponsabilização e a sistematicidade dos encontros. Conclui-se que, apesar dos diferentes obstáculos, a manutenção do apoio matricial decorre essencialmente da motivação dos apoiadores à descentralização em saúde mental.

Resumo Esta pesquisa exploratória objetivou avaliar a relação entre evolução dos indicadores genéricos de mudança e qualidade da eficácia adaptativa de uma paciente adulta atendida em psicoterapia breve psicodinâmica. Os vídeos e transcrições das 11 sessões deste processo foram analisados com os Indicadores Genéricos de Mudança e com a Escala Diagnóstica Adaptativa Operacionalizada Redefinida. Os resultados demonstraram evolução dos indicadores de mudança e progresso nas respostas adaptativas. Se por um lado respostas mais adequadas sugeriram mudanças na vida da paciente, por outro, essas melhoras puderam ser captadas pelos Indicadores Genéricos de Mudança. As duas medidas usadas em conjunto podem auxiliar o terapeuta na avaliação de progresso do paciente e na compreensão dos fatores que ocasionam ou que limitam a mudança. Sugere-se a realização de pesquisas que compreendam maior número de casos, contem com processos considerados mal sucedidos e envolvam abandono por parte do paciente.

Resumo A doença de Moyamoya é uma grave enfermidade crônica, caracterizada por oclusão das grandes artérias na base do cérebro e é considerada importante causa de acidente vascular cerebral. O objetivo deste estudo consistiu em investigar a experiência e os sentimentos de mães diante do diagnóstico e da evolução da doença de Moyamoya e de seu tratamento em seus filhos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, com análises quantitativa e qualitativa. Participaram do estudo oito mães de filhos com diagnósticos da doença de Moyamoya provenientes de três estados da região Sudeste do Brasil. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionários via página da Internet. Os resultados mostram que o processo de diagnóstico da doença foi vivido com temores e tristeza, agravados pelas dificuldades diagnósticas e escassez de informações. As mães relataram desespero, medo, dificuldade de aceitação, culpa e temor na realização de angiografia cerebral e cirurgia. A fé e a espiritualidade foram referidas como fontes de apoio e de manutenção da esperança. Assinala-se a necessidade de estudos que colaborem para maior esclarecimento sobre a doença e a vivência de doentes e familiares.

Abstract This article refers to the development of a Brief Psychotherapy modality in a hospital setting through the use of alchemical images. This Intervention, entitled RIME (Relaxamento, Imagens Mentais, Espiritualidade) (RIME Intervention ‒ Relaxation, Mental Images, Spirituality), has been developed for 17 years. This article presents the fourth and last stage of this process, which refers to the application of RIME in women undergoing treatment for breast cancer with the possibility of a cure. The main theoretical frameworks used were Analytical Psychology and Near Death Experiences. This is a comparative exploratory and descriptive research that uses the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The main focus of this article is to present the qualitative results. Qualitative data were collected using recorded semi-structured interviews and graphical representations, prior to the 1st and after the 3rd RIME sessions. In summary, the results obtained showed that the RIME Intervention promoted empowerment for libido strengthening, as a constructive force, in women with breast cancer with the possibility of a cure.