Alexandra Dinis

Validation study of the Portuguese version of the Ruminative Responses Scale: short form

Rumination has been widely studied in the field of cognitive vulnerabilities to depression. According to the Response Styles Theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987) rumination plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of depressive mood. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Ruminative Responses Scale (short form) (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991), which recently underwent changes - items that had a confounding content with measures of depressive symptoms were eliminated (Treynor, Gonzalez, & Nolen- Hoeksema, 2003). Analyses conducted on a sample of the general population, reveal that the Portuguese version of the instrument has good psychometric properties. The results of factor analysis confirm the existence of a two-dimensional structure, consisting of the brooding and reflective pondering, which have differential relations with measures of psychopathology. The results provide further empirical support for the need to differentiate between these two components in future research on rumination.

Memories of Shame Experiences with Others and Depression Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Experiential Avoidance

BACKGROUND Shame experiences have been suggested to be related with psychopathological symptoms and with self-relevant beliefs. Recent studies also suggest that avoidant-focused strategies (e.g., rumination, thought suppression and dissociation) mediate the impact of shame memories and depression symptoms. However, experiential avoidance has been found to mediate the relation between early experience of abuse and psychopathological symptoms. Our goal was to test the mediating effect of experiential avoidance in the relation between both the nature of shame experiences at the hands of caregivers and the centrality of shame memories with others, and depression symptoms. METHOD Using structural equation modelling, we assessed the frequency and nature of recalled shame experiences at the hands of caregivers, the centrality of shame experiences with others throughout childhood and adolescence, experiential avoidance and depression symptomatology in 161 participants from general population. RESULTS Experiential avoidance mediates the impact of shame experiences with caregivers and depression symptoms. Experiential avoidance also mediated the association between the centrality of shame experiences with others and depression symptoms. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that shame memories with others do not per se impact on depression symptoms, but rather the unwillingness to experience them and the attempts to control them. Hence, our results emphasize the importance of addressing affect regulation processes such as avoidance when dealing with shame memories, particularly with patients who experience depression symptoms. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE The recall of shame experiences with caregivers is associated with the experience of depression symptoms, even when these experiences are not perceived as central points to ones life identity and story. This seems to suggest a necessity to explore these experiences in a therapeutic setting. Our findings suggest that experiential avoidance is a key process through which these memories of shame experiences impact on depression symptomatology. Hence, it seems to be of great importance to reduce experiential avoidance and help people change the way they relate with these memories.

Estudos de validação com a versão portuguesa da Escala de Dificuldades na Regulação Emocional (EDRE)

The domain of Emotion Regulation is in expansion and its relevance in different therapeutics settings led to the development of several measures to assess this dimension. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale pretends to assess the difficulties that adult people have when they try to regulate their emotions. The study presented here permitted to adapt one scale for the Portuguese population – Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004) – which measures individual differences related to difficulties in emotion regulation in a sample of 431 college students. The results show that EDRE has an high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = ,93), good testretest stability (r=.841) and good external validity with other measures. This scale also can discriminate between clinical and non-clinical samples. The principal components analysis didn’t replicate the original solution and this version has seven components. Despite the existence of some limitations, this scale provides an useful contribution to clinical domain.

Contributos para a Validação da Versão Portuguesa do Questionário de Estilos de Coping

The Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ; Roger, Jarvis, & Najarian, 1993) assesses the coping strategies usually used by individuals when facing a situation perceived as exceeding their resources to deal with it. In a sample of 444 subjects from general population, it was performed a Factorial Analysis of the Principal Components. It was verified in the Portuguese version a 4 factor structure – rational, emotional, avoidant and detached – similar to the one in the original version. Internal consistency values equal or superior to .70 and moderated item-total correlations were found. The construct validity was verified through the correlation analysis with rumination, anxiety, depression and stress symptomatology, positive and negative affect, emotional expressivity, and acceptance. The scale presents good temporal stability. It was concluded that, except for the detached factor that did not present robust psychometric qualities, the rational, emotional and avoidant subscales are valid and useful measures for the coping strategies assessment.

The study of the psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese version of the Metacognition Questionnaire: short version and of Meta-Worry Questionnaire

A central premise of the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF: Wells, 2000; Wells & Matthews, 1994; 1996) model is that metacognitive processes (that controls, corrects, appraises and regulates thoughts) are important factors in the development and persistence of psychological disturbance. In this context, some self-report instruments were developed in an effort to analyze a broad range of metacognitions relevant to psychological dysfunction, like the Metacognition Questionnaire - short version (Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004) and the Meta-Worry Questionnaire (Wells, 2005). In the present study, the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of these two measures were investigated on a sample of 420 undergraduate students. The results shows that the Portuguese versions of both measures have good psychometric properties and both are valuable tools for the assessment of metacognitions and can be used both by researchers and clinicians in the Portuguese population.

O efeito mediador da regulação emocional na relação entre a expressividade emocional da família de origem e as reacções maternas à expressão de emoções positivas das crianças

The fundamental role of the family, especially that of the parents, as the main agents of the socialization of emotions, has been highlighted throughout research. From an early onset, parental practices are a model for the identification and understanding of emotions, for learning the emotional expression and regulation strategies. This study examines the mediaton effect of the strategies for emotion regulation used by mothers of 169 children from 8 to 12 years, in the relation between their recollections of their family-of-origin expressiveness and the way they react to the positive emotional expressiveness of their children. We found evidence for the existence of a transgenerational effect on the process of socialization of emotions, in that the mother’s strategies for emotional regulation work as a mediation effect of the relation between the emotional expressiveness of the mother’s family-of-origin and the maternal reactions to the positive emotional expression of their children.

Validação das emoções na infância: vergonha, ansiedade e sintomatologia depressiva

Res_por:As emocoes sao cruciais na compreensao do funcionamento psicologico. Os estudos realizados acerca da forma como as emocoes assumem um papel preponderante na vida dos individuos, tendo por base as vivencias relacionais com as figuras parentais na infância, dizem respeito maioritariamente as memorias daquele periodo, recordadas e evocadas por individuos na vida adulta. Com o objectivo de estudar in loco a forma como as emocoes influenciam a vida dos individuos desde muito cedo (ainda durante a infância), realizou-se um conjunto de estudos numa amostra constituida por 188 criancas entre os 8 e os 12 anos de idade. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que maes percepcionadas como desaprovadoras das emocoes dos filhos desencadeiam nas suas criancas sentimentos de vergonha, sendo que o desenvolvimento desta emocao parece contribuir significativamente para a presenca de indices psicopatologicos, mais concretamente para a presenca de sintomas depressivos e ansiosos.

Study of psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese version of the Emotional Expressivity Scale

The Emotional Expressivity Scale (EES; Kring, Smith, & Neale, 1994) intended to assess the degree to which people outwardly display their emotions, regardless of emotional valence or channel of expression. This study presents the psychometric characteristics and the factorial structure of the Portuguese version. In a sample of 1008 subjects, students and general population, the results show that the scale as an accurate internal consistency and temporal stability. The factorial composition proved to be similar to the one found by original authors, showing clearly the existence of one-factor model. The convergent and discriminant validities as been studied through the analysis of the co-relationship with the anxiety, depression, and stress, emotional regulation, emotional intelligence, rumination, as well as the positive and negative affect. The results suggest that the Emotional Expressivity Scale is a useful and valid scale to assess emotional expressivity in the Portuguese population.

Development of a new questionnaire for assessing Emotional (In) Validation Experiences in Family

Several studies have confirmed the existence of a relationship between adverse early experiences, parenting styles and attachment in infancy with the development of psychopathology in adulthood. This study explores the psychometric properties of the Emotional (In) Validation Experiences Questionnaire, which was developed by us, in order to assess retrospectively, the emotional validation (and invalidation) environment in family. The Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a structure of two factors, which was later confirmed by a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The two factors were designated by emotional invalidating experiences and emotional validating experiences. All sub-scales have an accurate internal consistency. The convergent and divergent validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by correlations with other retrospective measures (that assessing parenting styles, parental emotional expressiveness and early adverse experiences), and with a measure that assesses psychopathology in adulthood.

The role of emotional schemas on the transgerationality of the negative emotions socialization process

Recentemente, com o reacender do interesse na tematica das emocoes nas diversas areas da psicologia, tem-se verificado uma crescente preocupacao com o estudo da socializacao das emocoes. Esta investigacao foca-se primordialmente neste processo, procurando verificar a existencia de um efeito transgeracional, numa amostra de 172 maes de criancas dos 8 aos 12 anos. Dos resultados obtidos sobressaem evidencias que comprovam o efeito transgeracional, com os esquemas emocionais das maes a mediarem a relacao entre a expressividade emocional da sua familia de origem e as reaccoes maternas a expressao de emocoes negativas da crianca.