Adolfo Jarne

Protective factors promoting resilience in the relation between child sexual victimization and internalizing and externalizing symptoms

Sexual victimization has been one of the most frequently studied forms of child victimization. Its effects are common and diverse; however, not all children and youth exposed to sexual victimization eventually develop adjustment problems. A total of 1105 children and youth (590 male and 515 female) aged between 12 and 17 from northeastern Spain were assessed regarding their experiences of sexual victimization, symptoms of psychopathology, and protective factors. The results showed that all forms of sexual victimization were associated with higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems. However, the presence of a low Negative Cognition, high Social Skills and high Confidence seem to act buffering internalizing problems. Additionally, a significant interaction between Sexual Victimization and low Negative Cognition was observed (p<0.5), so that, low Negative Cognition was related to a lower risk of being in the clinical range for internalizing problems. Likewise, high scores on Empathy/Tolerance, Connectedness to School, Connectedness to Family and low Negative Cognition acted as promotive factors in relation to externalizing symptoms, in this case without any interaction effect. The strong relationship found with emotional and behavioral problems highlights the importance of continuing the research on the protective factors underlying resilience in the relationship between sexual victimization and psychopathological symptoms. The findings also support the multi-dimensional and specific nature of resilience and identify some of the protective factors that should be regarded as key intervention targets in adolescents with a history of sexual victimization.

Virtual Reality for Training Diagnostic Skills in Anorexia Nervosa: A Usability Assessment

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is used in clinical psychology to integrate and enhance traditional assessment and therapeutic approaches for a variety of conditions. It is also increasingly used in the training of health professionals, as it provides authentic recreations of real-life settings, without exposing students to situations for which they are not yet prepared. VR systems involve different graphical user interfaces for human–computer interaction that vary according to the level of immersion required. In this study, we explore the interaction between level of immersion and gender, in order to establish whether the differences in usability between men and women found in previous studies are modulated by the level of immersion of the VR devices used to perform the simulations. Seventy undergraduate students (44 women, 26 men) participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to one of the two following conditions: differential diagnosis skills training using simulated interviews with an immersive system, or training using the simulated interviews with a non-immersive system. The results showed that men rated the usability of immersive and non-immersive systems to be almost the same, while women assessed the usability of the non-immersive system to be higher. A greater proneness to motion sickness in women is proposed as a hypothesis to explain these differences; this hypothesis should now be tested in further studies.

A Training Program of Differential Diagnosis Skills Based on Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence

A training program of differential diagnosis skills, based on Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, was developed to enhance the learning of psychopathological exploration. The sample of the study consisted of 39 psychology students. Comparisons between the experimental and the control group showed that students trained with the simulated interviews program obtained better scores than students trained with a traditional method. These findings suggest that the acquisition of skills can be improved by utilizing alternative learning methods that consider interactive and meaningful experiences that allow for recreation of real situations.

Percepción parental temprana y experiencias del desarrollo en violadores

Explore the perception of earlier parental relationship and early adaptability in convicted rapist and his relationship with sexual and physical abuse or dysfunctional family environments. The study was carry out in a Sample of 42 confi ned rapists in the Module B of the Preventive Detention Center of Southern Santiago, Chile. A semi-structured interview was created for this study, allowing us to compile socio-demographic, biographic, and early interpersonal relationship backgrounds. Data shows a family history of alcoholism, domestic violence and criminal behavior. Sexually abused is slightly superior to the general population but the physical and psychological mistreatment is generalized in this sample. Both experiences were signifi cantly related with abusive early parental perception. These results are consistent with several investigations on parental dysfunctions, among sex-offenders families. The early experience of the future aggressor is not showed by the specifi c presence of sexual abuse but a generalized context of abuse.