Antonio Crego

The transition process to post‐working life and its psychosocial outcomes

Purpose – This paper aims to carry out an in‐depth exploration of early retirement processes from a psychosocial perspective, identifying factors that play a relevant role in decisions for leaving work as well as variables involved in retirement adjustment and possible outcomes for retirees.Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data from nine focus groups – made up of a total of 78 Spanish early retirees from different sectors of activity (industry, bank/financial services and telecommunications) – were codified and analyzed using the ATLAS.ti 5 program.Findings – The study highlights the relevance of how organizational exit is carried out (voluntariness, perception of justice, etc.) in relation to the adjustment to retirement. The degree to which the labor market exit implies different types of rupture (psychological contract, identity, professional and personal objectives, way of life, etc.) conditions the adaptation to post‐working life. The importance of social support during the transition proces...

Treatment experience, frequency of dental visits, and children’s dental fear: a cognitive approach

Cognitive elements play a key role in dental anxiety. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about how dental treatments and frequency of visits to the dentist are related to dental fear and its cognitive antecedents. This study aimed to explore the relationships between dental visits, past treatment experiences, expectations on the aversiveness/probability of negative dental events, and dental fear in children. The participants were 147 children (60% female; mean age = 12.0 yr) who completed a questionnaire comprising measures of dental treatment-related experience (attendance, fillings, and extractions), perceived aversiveness and probability of dental events, and dental anxiety. Bivariate correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data. A higher frequency of dental visits was associated with less dental fear and a decreased belief in the probability of negative events occurring during treatment. The type of treatments received was not directly linked to dental fear. However, having received fillings was significantly associated with the perceived probability of negative dental events, whereas extractions were positively associated with these expectations but negatively associated with the perceived aversiveness of possible dental events. Regular dental visits, as well as dental treatments, can influence, in different ways, cognitive elements associated with dental anxiety in children.

The perception of facial aesthetics in a young Spanish population

Improved facial aesthetics is one aim of orthodontic treatment. This study was designed to determine if the faces considered more beautiful in a young population exhibit the same parameters used by orthodontists to assess successful results. A panel of 34 laypeople (30 females and 4 males) evaluated a set containing one frontal, one frontal during smiling, and one profile photograph of 89 students (77 females and 12 males) on a 5-point attractiveness scale, in relation to a set of reference photographs. For each photographic set, the mean and final scores were calculated. Once the sample was established, 11 subjects (9 females and 2 males) with the highest final facial aesthetic score were selected and cephalometric analysis was performed. All cephalometric measurements were within the norm for the total sample. When the sample was divided by gender, Wilcoxons W non-parametric test showed significant differences between the male and female photographs; while females tended to a Class II malocclusion, with the mandible slightly retrusive to the maxilla, males tended to a Class III and showed a straighter profile with a prominent chin; the face height ratio was higher in males. There were no significant differences between genders for lower lip to E plane. The findings show that the faces considered more attractive fulfilled the cephalometric and facial norms.

Comparison between the Spanish and Italian early work retirement models: A cluster analysis approach

Purpose – The aim of this study is to compare the Spanish and Italian early work retirement (EWR) models in a sample comprising individuals from both countries based on the level of voluntariness involved in labour market exit, psychosocial outcomes, perceived consequences, socio‐demographic variables and motivation.Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a cluster analysis approach to carry out a cross‐sectional study based on a total sample of 1,131 early retirees (605 Spaniards and 526 Italians) drawn from different industries.Findings – In the Spanish but not in the Italian case, EWR was predominantly perceived as forced. K‐means cluster analysis identified four groups of early retirees in both countries based on perceived outcomes of EWR. Two of these clusters represent extreme positive and negative assessments of early retirement consequences, while the remaining two reflect intermediate positions.Research limitations/implications – These results show that the involuntary Spanish EWR model is...

From public mental health to community oral health: the impact of dental anxiety and fear on dental status.

Dental fear is a widely experienced problem. Through a “vicious cycle dynamic,” fear of dental treatment, lower use of dental services, and oral health diseases reinforce each other. Research on the antecedents of dental anxiety could help to break this cycle, providing useful knowledge to design effective community programs aimed at preventing dental fear and its oral health-related consequences. In this regard, frameworks that analyze the interplay between cognitive and psychosocial determinants of fear, such as the Cognitive Vulnerability Model, are promising. The onset of dental fear often occurs in childhood, so focusing on the child population could greatly contribute to understanding dental fear mechanisms and prevent this problem extending into adulthood. Not only can public mental health contribute to population health, but also community dentistry programs can help to prevent dental fear. Regular dental visits seem to act in a prophylactic way, with dental professionals playing an important role in the regulation of the patients’ anxiety-related responses. Both public mental health and community dentistry could therefore benefit from a multidisciplinary approach to dental fear and oral health.

The moderating role of dental expectancies on the relationship between cognitive vulnerability and dental fear in children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE Recently, cognitive approaches have been successfully applied to the understanding of child dental anxiety. Our study aimed to analyze the interplay between cognitive variables and their associations with dental fear. In particular, we proposed that the observed relationship between dental treatment-related cognitive vulnerability (i.e., uncontrollability, unpredictability, dangerousness, and disgustingness appraisals) and dental fear is moderated by the expectancies of the probability and aversiveness of negative events during dental treatments. METHODS A questionnaire survey was conducted with data obtained from 179 participants (8-18 years, 55.9% female) who attended 12 randomly selected educational establishments in Madrid (Spain). RESULTS Dental fear was associated with an irregular pattern of dental visits. As expected, cognitive vulnerability was strongly linked to dental anxiety. For those children who expected a lower likelihood of negative dental events or appraised them in a less aversive way, the relationship between cognitive vulnerability and fear was attenuated. CONCLUSIONS As dental fear and oral health are connected, the prevention and reduction of dental fear among children and adolescents might be a worthwhile target for public health interventions. Our study sheds some light on how this could be achieved, that is, by modifying the childrens vulnerability appraisals as well as their fearful dental expectancies.

Assessing the relative efficacy of cognitive and non-cognitive factors as predictors of dental anxiety

Although previous research has successfully tested the usefulness of cognitive and non-cognitive factors to predict dental anxiety, they have rarely been jointly analysed. This study therefore aimed to compare the relative predictive power of a set of cognitive and non-cognitive factors in accounting for dental anxiety scores. A sample of 167 Spanish undergraduate students (81.4% women; mean age 21.2 yr) completed a questionnaire comprising measures of dental anxiety, non-cognitive antecedents of dental anxiety (i.e. past aversive dental experiences, exposure to dentally fearful relatives, and trait-based negative mood), and cognitive variables (i.e. dental-related cognitive vulnerability, probability/aversiveness expectancies, and dental cognitions and beliefs). In multiple linear regression analyses, cognitions were found to significantly increase the proportion of variance accounted for in dental fear scores (ΔR(2) = 0.15, maximum ΔR(2) = 0.35). Cognitive factors were found to be the best individual predictors of dental fear (β-values ranging from 0.23-0.66). Furthermore, scores for past aversive treatment experiences and negative mood were not significant predictors of scores for dental anxiety when cognitive variables were included in the models. The analysis of cognitive mechanisms involved in dental anxiety is revealed as a potentially important point in better understanding this problem.

Self-assessed oral health, cognitive vulnerability and dental anxiety in children: testing a mediational model.

OBJECTIVE To explain the association between childrens self-perceived oral health status and dental anxiety, by considering their levels of cognitive vulnerability. METHODS Participants were 161 children (47.8% female; mean age = 11.93 years) who filled in a questionnaire comprising self-assessed oral health-related status, dental treatment-related cognitive vulnerability and dental anxiety measures. Gender, age and number of decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth were controlled for. Bivariate correlations, hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modelling were conducted to test the hypotheses. RESULTS Subjective oral health status, cognitive vulnerability variables and dental anxiety were strongly correlated. Regression and structural models testing the mediating effects of cognitive vulnerability variables on the relationship between perceived oral health and dental anxiety were supported. CONCLUSIONS The activation of the cognitive vulnerability schema, as a mediating variable, is a mechanism by means of which childrens self-perceptions of a poor oral health might lead to dental anxiety. Both components of vulnerability analysed (threat and disgust) contribute decisively to this potential process.

Psychosocial profiles of early retirees based on experiences during post-working life transition and adjustment to retirement

Abstract Early retirement is a kind of occupational withdrawal that affects a heterogeneous group of workers. In order to identify types of retirees with similarities in their way of exiting from working life, satisfaction with post-working life and socio-demographic characteristics, we administered an adaption of the Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (Floyd et al., 1992) to a sample of 638 Spanish early retirees. Data using cluster analysis showed two major groups of retirees: workers who desired to accept the offer of early retirement and non-volunteers. Regarding the first group, the results show that pursuing personal interests during post-working life motivates their organizational exit. They reported less pressure from their employers during the exit process, and experienced high levels of freedom and control of their lives after leaving work. However, non-volunteer retirees stated that pressure from their employers was the reason for their early retirement. Within this group, two subgroups can be identified as a function of their educational level and professional status. The description of the experience of transition to retirement and satisfaction with post-working life is an approach aimed to understand a complex and heterogeneous experience.

The influence of gender on the relationship between dental anxiety and oral health-related emotional well-being

BACKGROUND AND AIM.  Childrens dental fear and/or anxiety (DFA) has been associated with declines in oral health and quality of life. The influence of gender on the relationship between DFA and oral health-related well-being in children is analysed. DESIGN.  The decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) index was obtained from 161 school-aged children (7-14 years old). Data from childrens self-assessed oral health, oral health-related emotional well-being and dental anxiety were collected using questionnaires. RESULTS.  Low scores of emotional well-being were associated with negative self-assessment of oral health and high levels of dental anxiety. Females reported decreased oral health-related emotional well-being compared with males. The analysis of possible moderating effects confirmed that gender influenced the relationship between oral health and DFA. The DMFT index was not associated with self-assessed oral health status, emotional well-being or DFA. CONCLUSION.  For girls, high levels of DFA were associated with low levels of oral health-related emotional well-being. In contrast, dental fear and/or anxiety did not influence oral health-related emotional well-being in boys.