Previous studies about romantic relationships have shown that the reciprocal influence between partners occurs not only at the behavioral and socio-emotional levels, but also at the psychophysiological level. This reciprocal influence is expressed in a pattern of physiological synchrony between partners (i.e., coordinated dynamics of the physiological time series). The main aim of the present study was to explore the presence of a pattern of physiological synchrony in electrodermal activity (EDA) during a couple interaction task. A second objective was to compare the synchrony levels during a negative interaction condition versus a positive interaction condition. Finally, we analyzed the association between synchrony and self-perception of empathy, dyadic empathy, and relationship satisfaction. Thirty-two couples (64 individuals) participated in this study. Each couple performed a structured interaction task while the EDA of both partners was being registered. The quantification of synchrony was based on the cross-correlation of both members' EDA time-series. In order to control for coincidental synchrony, surrogate datasets were created by repeatedly shuffling the original data of spouses X and Y of a dyad and computing synchronies on the basis of the shuffled data (pseudosynchrony values). Our results confirmed the presence of significant EDA synchrony during the interaction. We also found that synchrony was higher during the negative interactions relative to the positive interactions. Additionally, physiological synchrony during positive interaction was higher for those couples in which males scored higher in dyadic empathy. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Empathy is an important concept in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Despite the controversy around its definition, most researchers would agree that empathy is a multidimensional phenomenon which involves a vicarious experience of another person’s affective state and an understanding of another person’s affective experience. Self-report measures of empathy constitute an important tool for both research and clinical practice. The main goal of this study was to adapt and study the psychometric properties of the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE), a worldwide used measure of empathy, in a Portuguese community sample (N = 562). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the factor structure of the original QCAE. Results show that the Portuguese version of the QCAE has sound psychometric properties, with good structural validity and internal consistency for both scales (i.e., affective and cognitive) and respective subscales of the instrument (i.e., Emotion Contagion, Proximal Responsivity, Peripheral Responsivity, Perspective Taking and Online Simulation). We tested both a five correlated factor structure (Model 1) and a second-order model that postulates the affective and cognitive dimensions (Model 2). Our results show that while both models present acceptable goodness of fit indices, Model 1 performs slightly better. In conclusion, the Portuguese version of the QCAE may prove a useful tool for future cross-cultural assessments of empathy in both research and clinical practice.
This is the first retrospective, self-report study of childhood abuse in a large sample of Portuguese parents and, even with a participation rate of 69%, shows lower rates than in US and Spanish samples.
ResumoContexto: A dissociação peritraumática é uma resposta no momento da exposição a uma situação ameaçadora que tem se mostrado um preditor significativo de perturbação psicológica a longo prazo, nomeadamente perturbação pós-estresse traumático. Objetivos: Fazer a adaptação para português do Peritraumatic Dissociation Experiences Questionnaire numa população altamente exposta a situações traumáticas, como é o caso dos bombeiros. Método: Após a tradução e o estudo dos itens, fizeram-se a aplicação e a análise psicométrica com uma amostra de 170 bombeiros, que relataram exposição traumática e que também preencheram uma escala de Perturbação de Pós-Estresse Traumático. Resultados: Os dados indicam que se trata de um instrumento com uma boa consistência interna (alfa de Cronbach = 0,87) e cuja validade de construto o torna adequado para a avaliação das respostas dessa população no exercício da sua profissão. Para além disso, a correlação elevada com os sintomas de perturbação pós-estresse traumático sugere ainda uma boa validade convergente. Discussão: Atendendo ao fato de que a dissociação peritraumática prevê PPST, o recurso a um instrumento que revela boas capacidades psicométricas pode ajudar a identificar as pessoas que desenvolverão perturbação após exposição a trauma.Maia AC, et al. / Rev Psiq Clín. 2009;36(1):1-9 Palavras-chave: Estudo instrumental, dissociação peritraumática, bombeiros, PPST. AbstractBackground: Peritraumatic dissociation is a reaction that occurs in the moment someone is exposed to a threatening situation and has shown to be an important predictor of long term psychological disorder, including post traumatic stress disorder. Objectives: To make the psychometric adaptation of Peritraumatic Dissociation Experiences Questionnaire in Portuguese ambulance personnel that report high exposure to trauma. The instrument has been widely used in research, and was initially designed to analyse peritraumatic dissociation in emergency personnel. Methods: After items translation and study, 170 ambulance personnel filled it, and a PTSD scale. Results: Data show that the instrument has good internal consistency (Cronbach alfa = 0.87) and construct validity, suggesting that it is appropriate to evaluate the reaction of emergency workers during the duties of their professions. It also has a high correlation with post traumatic stress disorder symptoms, suggesting a good convergent validity. Discussion: Peritraumatic dissociation is a good predictor of PTSD. Taking this into account, the availability of this instrument in Portuguese, with good psychometric characteristics, can help in the identification of the persons who will develop symptoms after a traumatic experience.
Muitas das pessoas que procuram psicoterapia indicam a possibilidade de falar como uma das dimensões mais valorizadas. Não para falar das coisas boas que a vida lhes ofereceu -embora também o façam -mas especialmente para falar dos seus episódios mais difíceis, das emoções mais negativas. Os clientes trazem as suas histórias, que podem ser de dor, de negligência, de crítica, de rejeição, de abuso, de trauma..., contam-nos e faz-lhes bem.Nas últimas duas décadas tem sido estudado o efeito que tem para o sujeito o acto de falar sobre os acontecimentos negativos e sobre as emoções a eles associados e os mecanismos que podem explicar esse efeito. Salienta-se a necessidade de o ser humano elaborar as suas experiências em forma de discurso, de modo a construir significado, dando--lhes continuidade narrativa (Sarbin, 1986), o que contribui quer para a sua organização cognitiva, quer fisiológica (cf. van der Kolk, 2003). Numa perspectiva narrativa esta é a forma de organizar o fluxo das experiências de vida, uma vez que através da construção narrativa é possível integrar a multiplicidade das ocorrências numa dimensão temporal, não só estruturando-as de forma a dar continuidade ao vivido, mas igualmente permitindo construir princípios e fins, impondo ordem e significado à diversidade (Sarbin, 1986;Polkinghorne, 1988).Russel e van den Broek (1992) afirmavam que as pessoas organizam, compreendem, armazenam e relacionam experiências importantes das suas vidas através de representações com a forma narrativa. Na nossa perspectiva esta necessidade pode estar particularmente presente quando as experiências são inesperadas, imprevisíveis ou profundamente adversas, como ocorre nas situações de trauma. Estas experiências põem em causa as crenças básicas sobre um mundo previsível, organizado e justo, e a participação de si próprio nessa ordem (Horowitz, 1986), e exigem um esforço de construção de significado que possa ajudar a vítima a reorganizar a si e ao seu mundo, integrando emoções intensas e desorganizadas em elaborações narrativas com que possa construir novos significados. Frequentemente o que a pessoa mais deseja é esquecer (e "esquece-o" de facto em situações de amnésia dissociativa), mas frequentemente as imagens ou memórias do acontecimento transformam-se numa presença permanente com que a pessoa tem de lidar.A este respeito os trabalhos de Pennebaker podem constituir um bom quadro de referência. Este autor começou em meados dos anos oitenta a realizar 47
This paper describes a psychotherapeutic constructivist intervention oriented to the resolution of implicative dilemmas, in order to promote personal change. It presents a clinical case study of a client with depression and with some dependent and obsessive functioning. The Repertory Grid Technique was administered along with symptom assessment (SCL-90-R) both at beginning and end of the psychotherapeutic process. Exploring themes emerged from Repgrid, several narratives, experiential and metaphoric strategies were used in order to explore and reconstruct meanings associated with the five implicative dilemmas found. The therapeutic process succeeds at solving dilemmas as found in the post-therapy assessment. This resolution was accompanied by symptom reduction. In conclusion, the utility of implicative dilemmas as a marker to understand the therapeutic impasse and dysfunctional system coherence is discussed, as well as the efficacy of the strategies used in this clinical case concerning its adaptation to working with implicative dilemmas that prevent therapeutic process.
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