Francisco José García Fernández

Posttraumatic growth in pediatric intensive care personnel: Dependence on resilience and coping strategies.

Objective: Staff in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) are inherently exposed to potentially traumatic events. Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is the occurrence of positive changes after experiencing a traumatic event. This study aims (a) to evaluate the prevalence of PTG in PICU staff, and whether their scores are different from those reported by professionals working in other pediatric units, (b) to explore the role of resilience and coping strategies in predicting PTG, and (c) to explore the relation of demographic and work-related variables with PTG. Method: Participants of this multicentric, cross sectional study were 298 PICU workers and 189 professionals working in noncritical pediatric units. They completed the Brief Resilience Scale, a Coping Strategies Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and provided demographic and work-related information. Results: Of PICU staff, 68.8% experienced growth to a “great” or “very great” degree in at least one of the PTGI’s dimensions. Higher PTG was reported following the death of a child or after a recent conflict with a work colleague. PICU workers and noncritical pediatric staff showed equivalent PTG levels. Multigroup path analysis with latent variables showed that emotion-focused coping was related to PTG only in PICU staff, whereas problem-focused coping was related to PTG in both groups. The relation between resilience and PTG was not significant. Conclusions: Work-related trauma can act as a catalyst for positive posttrauma changes. Modifying coping strategies may be a way to foster PTG in health care providers.

Burnout and posttraumatic stress in paediatric critical care personnel: Prediction from resilience and coping styles

INTRODUCTION Our aims were (1) to explore the prevalence of burnout syndrome (BOS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of Spanish staff working in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and compare these rates with a sample of general paediatric staff and (2) to explore how resilience, coping strategies, and professional and demographic variables influence BOS and PTSD. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a multicentre, cross-sectional study. Data were collected in the PICU and in other paediatric wards of nine hospitals. Participants consisted of 298 PICU staff members (57 physicians, 177 nurses, and 64 nursing assistants) and 189 professionals working in non-critical paediatric units (53 physicians, 104 nurses, and 32 nursing assistants). They completed the Brief Resilience Scale, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire for healthcare providers, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Trauma Screening Questionnaire. RESULTS Fifty-six percent of PICU working staff reported burnout in at least one dimension (36.20% scored over the cut-off for emotional exhaustion, 27.20% for depersonalisation, and 20.10% for low personal accomplishment), and 20.1% reported PTSD. There were no differences in burnout and PTSD scores between PICU and non-PICU staff members, either among physicians, nurses, or nursing assistants. Higher burnout and PTSD rates emerged after the death of a child and/or conflicts with patients/families or colleagues. Around 30% of the variance in BOS and PTSD is predicted by a frequent usage of the emotion-focused coping style and an infrequent usage of the problem-focused coping style. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Interventions to prevent and treat distress among paediatric staff members are needed and should be focused on: (i) promoting active emotional processing of traumatic events and encouraging positive thinking; (ii) developing a sense of detached concern; (iii) improving the ability to solve interpersonal conflicts, and (iv) providing adequate training in end-of-life care.

Esencialismo, normativismo, posmodernismo: las interpretaciones sobre la etnicidad en la Arqueología española

En el marco del presente articulo se ofrece una perspectiva diacronica de las formas en las que la Arqueologia espanola ha abordado el estudio de la etnicidad preterita y por ende de la imagen generada sobre los “pueblos” peninsulares. Para ello se comienza con un repaso de los antecedentes presentes en la historiografia de la Edad Moderna, para pasar posteriormente a las etapas iniciales de la disciplina, a la introduccion del metodo de la escuela alemana y a la influencia del franquismo. Por ultimo, en la parte final del trabajo se abordan las aproximaciones llevadas a cabo desde inicios de los anos 1980, asi como el notable interes y debate que viene generando la tematica en el ambito popular de la mano del desarrollo del Estado de las Autonomias.

Análisis de residuos orgánicos y posibles contenidos en ánforas púnicas y turdetanas procedentes del valle del Guadalquivir

This work presents the results of a study of amphorae contents in the Lower Guadalquivir Valley during the Second Iron Age. The questions addressed include which were the most common contents and, therefore, which were, plausibly, the most commonly commercialised products in Turdetanian markets. Both local (Pellicer B-C and Pellicer D) and Punic containers, especially from the Bay of Cadiz and its hinterland (T-8.2.1.1 and T-8.1.1.2), have been taken into consideration. The analysis of the fats in the samples recovered during the excavation of Calle Cilla (Alcala de Rio, Seville) and Vico (Marchena, Seville) reveal that amphorae T-8.1.1.2 manufactured in the rural areas of Cadiz, with the exception those used for the storage and transport of salted products, were used to contain olive oils, as previously claimed, while ‘Turdetanian’ amphorae were multifunctional containers which could be used to store a wide variety of products (olive oil, meat preserves, milk by-products) and/or be reused.