Cristina Queirós

Metacognitive and social cognition training (MSCT) in schizophrenia: A preliminary efficacy study

Psychosocial interventions have proven to be effective in treating social cognition in people with psychotic disorders. The current study aimed to determine the effects of a metacognitive and social cognition training (MSCT) program, designed to both remediate deficits and correct biases in social cognition. Thirty-five clinically stable outpatients were recruited and assigned to the MSCT program (n=19) for 10 weeks (18 sessions) or to the TAU group (n=16), and they all completed pre- and post-treatment assessments of social cognition, cognitive biases, functioning and symptoms. The MSCT group demonstrated a significant improvement in theory of mind, social perception, emotion recognition and social functioning. Additionally, the tendency to jump to conclusions was significantly reduced among the MSCT group after training. There were no differential benefits regarding clinical symptoms except for one trend group effect for general psychopathology. The results support the efficacy of the MSCT format, but further development of the training program is required to increase the benefits related to attributional style.

Predictors of Burnout among nurses: an interactionist approach

BACKGROUNDnNurses practice involves working in complex organizational settings and facing multiple stressors over time that can lead to burnout. This study aimed to identify predictors of burnout among nurses working in hospitals.nnnMETHODnA sample of 1,157 participants from four hospitals in the city of Porto (Portugal) was investigated (78% women, mean age = 34.7 years) using socio-demographic and work variable questionnaires, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-HSS), Personal Views Survey (PVS), Job Satisfaction Scale (S20/23), and Survey Work-Home Interaction - NijmeGen (SWING).nnnRESULTSnMultiple linear hierarchical regression analyses (stepwise method) showed that gender, age, years of experience at work, working in more than one institution, being involved in management positions, job satisfaction, hardiness, and experience of work-home and home-work interaction, seem to be predictors of burnout among nurses.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThis study adds support to the interactionist approach to burnout. In other words, it is crucial to investigate the relationship between several factors such as socio-demographic, work, and personality factors to understand burnout. Additionally, these findings should be taken into account when designing burnout prevention programs for nurses working in hospitals.

Cognitive processing of emotions in anorexia nervosa

OBJECTIVEnThis study attempts to explore the cognitive processing of emotions in anorexia nervosa (AN), based on the study of emotions felt and the assessment of meta-emotional abilities.nnnMETHODnEighty patients with AN and a control group of 80 healthy female participants were screened for anxiety, depression and alexithymia and completed an experimental task designed to analyse the emotional experience and meta-emotional abilities.nnnRESULTSnDespite presenting higher levels of alexithymia, participants with AN demonstrated they were able to imagine emotions in hypothetical situations and to identify and label them. The group of patients with AN revealed feeling more intense and internally based negative emotions in comparison with the control group, but this emotional pattern tends to occur in situations associated with food and weight.nnnCONCLUSIONSnFindings on meta-emotional abilities suggested no global deficit in emotional processing, but rather, specific sensitivities pertaining to situations relevant to AN.

Development and validation of a theoretically based, multidimensional questionnaire of student evaluation of university teaching

The authors describe the development and validation of a multidimensional instrument of students’ evaluation of university teaching (the Pedagogical Questionnaire of the University of Porto). The goal was to develop an instrument based on a sound psychometric analysis and simultaneously supported by the learning theory. Based on the data from 4875 questionnaires, the present study examined the fit of the proposed multidimensional model of university teaching to the whole sample and to various specific university programmes of study using confirmatory factor analysis (AMOS 5.0). Results clearly supported the applicability of the proposed model for the whole university and across programmes of study, demonstrating the validity and reliability of the instrument in evaluating several distinct dimensions of the quality of university teaching.

Stress appraisal, coping, and work engagement among police recruits: an exploratory study.

This study investigated the influence of stress appraisal and coping on work engagement levels (Absorption, Vigour, and Dedication) of police recruits. Participants were 387 men, ages 20 to 33 yr. (M = 24.1, SD = 2.4), in their last month of academy training before becoming police officers. Partially in support of predictions, work engagement was associated with Stressor control perceived, but not Stress intensity experienced over a self-selected stressor. Although the three dimensions of work engagement were explained by Stressor control and coping, Absorption was the dimension better explained by these variables. Police recruits reporting higher Absorption, Vigour, and Dedication reported using more Active coping and less Behavioural disengagement. Results showed that stress appraisal and coping are important variables influencing work engagement among police recruits. Findings suggested that future applied interventions fostering work engagement among police recruits should reinforce perceptions of control over a stressor as well as Active coping strategies.

LIFEisGAME: A Facial Character Animation System to Help Recognize Facial Expressions

This article presents the LIFEisGAME project, a serious game that will help children with ASDs to recognize and express emotions through facial expressions. The game design tackles one of the main experiential learning cycle of emotion recognition: recognize and mimic (game mode: build a face). We describe the technology behind the game, which focus on a character animation pipeline and a sketching algorithm. We detailed the facial expression analyzer that is used to calculate the score in the game. We also present a study that analyzes what type of characters children prefer when playing a game. Last, we present a pilot study we have performed with kids with ASD.

Stigmatizing attitudes in relatives of people with schizophrenia: a study using the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27

BACKGROUNDnFamily members of people with mental disorders can contribute to stigmatization. Because of the lack of adequate information and resources, and the fatigue resulting from daily care, the family can reinforce social exclusion of the mentally ill and disbelieve recovery. Furthermore, family members may also suffer from self-stigma, experiencing a decrease in their own self-esteem and self-worth.nnnOBJECTIVEnTo evaluate the presence of stigmatizing attitudes towards patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in a group of relatives of patients with this disorder.nnnMETHODSnIn this exploratory study, we surveyed 40 family members of patients with schizophrenia seen at the Community Psychiatry Unit of the Psychiatry Department at Centro Hospitalar de São João (CHSJ), in Porto, Portugal, using a preliminary version of the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 in Portuguese.nnnRESULTSnThe questionnaire dimensions with the highest mean scores were help, pity, and coercion, followed by segregation, anger, avoidance, dangerousness, responsibility, and fear. These results suggest that relatives do not see people with schizophrenia as responsible for their illness and that they show concern and willingness to help. They avoid but do not fear people with schizophrenia and neither consider them dangerous.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe participants expressed positive, little stigmatizing attitudes towards people with schizophrenia, probably as a result of their familiarity with severe mental disorder, an adequate attribution process, and low levels of perceived dangerousness. However, the high scores of coercion, pity, and segregation may reflect concealed stigmas that may influence the self-determination of the mentally ill, suggesting the need for psychoeducational interventions aimed at family members.

Vital Analysis: Annotating sensed physiological signals with the stress levels of first responders in action

First responders such as firefighters are exposed to extreme stress and fatigue situations during their work routines. It is thus desirable to monitor their health using wearable sensing but this is a complex and still unsolved research challenge that requires large amounts of properly annotated physiological signals data. In this paper we show that the information gathered by our Vital Analysis Framework can support the annotation of these vital signals with the stress levels perceived by the target user, confirmed by the analysis of more than 4600 hours of data collected from real firefighters in action, including 717 answers to event questionnaires from a total of 454 different events.

Stigmatizing attitudes in relatives of people with schizophrenia: a study using the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 = Atitudes estigmatizantes em familiares de pessoas com esquizofrenia: um estudo utilizando o Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27

BACKGROUNDnFamily members of people with mental disorders can contribute to stigmatization. Because of the lack of adequate information and resources, and the fatigue resulting from daily care, the family can reinforce social exclusion of the mentally ill and disbelieve recovery. Furthermore, family members may also suffer from self-stigma, experiencing a decrease in their own self-esteem and self-worth.nnnOBJECTIVEnTo evaluate the presence of stigmatizing attitudes towards patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in a group of relatives of patients with this disorder.nnnMETHODSnIn this exploratory study, we surveyed 40 family members of patients with schizophrenia seen at the Community Psychiatry Unit of the Psychiatry Department at Centro Hospitalar de São João (CHSJ), in Porto, Portugal, using a preliminary version of the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 in Portuguese.nnnRESULTSnThe questionnaire dimensions with the highest mean scores were help, pity, and coercion, followed by segregation, anger, avoidance, dangerousness, responsibility, and fear. These results suggest that relatives do not see people with schizophrenia as responsible for their illness and that they show concern and willingness to help. They avoid but do not fear people with schizophrenia and neither consider them dangerous.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe participants expressed positive, little stigmatizing attitudes towards people with schizophrenia, probably as a result of their familiarity with severe mental disorder, an adequate attribution process, and low levels of perceived dangerousness. However, the high scores of coercion, pity, and segregation may reflect concealed stigmas that may influence the self-determination of the mentally ill, suggesting the need for psychoeducational interventions aimed at family members.

Facial emotional recognition in schizophrenia: preliminary results of the virtual reality program for facial emotional recognition

BACKGROUND: Significant deficits in emotional recognition and social perception characterize patients with schizophrenia and have direct negative impact both in inter-personal relationships and in social functioning. Virtual reality, as a methodological resource, might have a high potential for assessment and training skills in people suffering from mental illness. OBJECTIVES: To present preliminary results of a facial emotional recognition assessment designed for patients with schizophrenia, using 3D avatars and virtual reality. METHODS: Presentation of 3D avatars which reproduce images developed with the FaceGen® software and integrated in a three-dimensional virtual environment. Each avatar was presented to a group of 12 patients with schizophrenia and a reference group of 12 subjects without psychiatric pathology. RESULTS: The results show that the facial emotions of happiness and anger are better recognized by both groups and that the major difficulties arise in fear and disgust recognition. Frontal alpha electroencephalography variations were found during the presentation of anger and disgust stimuli among patients with schizophrenia. DISCUSSION: The developed program evaluation module can be of surplus value both for patient and therapist, providing the task execution in a non anxiogenic environment, however similar to the actual experience.