Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida
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Family Sense of Coherence Scale: A Confirmatory factor Analysis in a Portuguese Sample
Get PDFBackground: Family sense of coherence (FSOC) can be defined as the cognitive map
of a family that enables the family to deal with stress during their lifetime. FSOC is
the degree to which a family perceives family life as comprehensible, manageable, and
meaningful. To the best of our knowledge, few studies have used this scale, and very
few have evaluated FSOC Scale psychometric properties.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the original
FSOC Scale in a sample of Portuguese caregivers of children aged between
10 and 15 years.
Methods: A total of 329 caregivers completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and
the FSOC Scale. Analyses were performed to evaluate the factor structure of the FSOC
Scale with 26 items as well as composite reliability, internal consistency, convergentrelated validity, and discriminant-related validity of the scale scores.
Results: The findings supported a three-factor solution for a 13-item version that
maintains the original FSOC Scale structure. The three FSOC dimensions presented
a good fit to the data. Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and convergent-related
validity were considered very good for the FSOC Scale (α = 0.956; CR = 0.974;
AVE = 0.689). No evidence of discriminant-related validity was found for the
dimensions of FSOC.
Conclusion: The findings support the use of the Portuguese FSOC Scale for research
and clinical purposes with Portuguese caregivers. Future research is necessary to further
develop a European Portuguese version of the FSOC Scale.
Implications: This study provides a psychometric evaluation of FSOC Scale
characteristics in a Portuguese sample. The results are helpful for clinicians and family
therapists who work with families since it could help them to assess the resources of
families and their ability to cope with adversity and enhance their strengths.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Coming out experiences and disclosure gap in three age cohorts of portuguese cisgender sexual minority men
Get PDFIntroduction Studies emphasize that the time elapsed between self-awareness of one’s sexual orientation and its disclosure
to others (disclosure gap) can be an indicator of psychosocial adjustment of sexual minorities.
Methods This study examined the coming out experiences and disclosure gap of three generations of sexual minority men:
adults, 25–39 years; middle-aged, 40–59 years; and seniors, 60 or more years. A sample of 274 cisgender men was recruited,
with ages ranging from 25 to 79 years. Data was collected between 2018 and 2019.
Results Although most men had disclosed their sexual orientation to signifcant others, there was a wide variation on the
coming out timing and experiences across the three age cohorts. Senior sexual minority men realized and disclosed their
sexual orientation later than middle-aged men, while the latter realized and disclosed later than their younger counterparts.
The disclosure gap followed a similar trend increasing with age. Regression analyses revealed that high levels of self-stigma
explained a larger disclosure gap among the middle-aged, whereas low community connectedness explained a larger disclosure gap among seniors. No signifcant predictors emerged among adults.
Conclusions Overall coming out experiences worsened with age, with the older cohort reporting realizing and disclosing
their sexual orientation later in life, taking longer to come out after identifying as sexual minorities, and feeling less accepted
by others after coming out.
Policy Implications This study highlighted some of the social factors that may improve sexual minority’s psychosocial wellbeing and possibly counterbalance the negative efects of stigma, namely, connection to the LGBT community.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Revealing the foraging movements and diet of the White-faced Storm Petrel Pelagodroma marina in the NE Atlantic
Get PDFThe White-faced Storm Petrel (WFSP) Pelagodroma marina has a widespread distribution, although virtually nothing is
known about their feeding ecology and distributions at-sea. To describe their foraging areas, a total of 77 birds were equipped
with 1 g-GPS loggers on Selvagem Grande, Madeira, Portugal (30° 09′ N, 15° 52′ W), during the 2018 and 2019 breeding
seasons. We also assessed the diet of WFSP by analysing 17 faecal samples from chicks and 1 regurgitation from an adult
using DNA metabarcoding techniques. Additionally, we collected body feathers from ten WFSP chicks to determine mercury
concentration. WFSP fed mainly in deep oceanic waters, travelling up to 400 km from the colony, and did not concentrate in
any well-defned, population-level foraging hotspots. Some individuals foraged along the edge of the shelf, near the African
coast and the Canary Islands, especially during chick rearing. The duration of foraging trips and the total distance travelled,
were, on average, 5.1 days and 723 km during the incubation period and 3.0 days and 578 km during chick rearing. The
diet of WFSP was dominated by fsh and cephalopods (crustacean prey were not detected), with Myctophidae (FO=71%)
representing the main fsh family. WFSP often consume mesopelagic fsh, in line with their preference for deep oceanic
waters and with a small diference in at sea behavior (i.e., travel speed) between the diurnal and nocturnal period. The relatively high concentrations of mercury accumulated in body feathers of WFSP chicks (3.45±1.44 mg kg−1 dry weight; range
1.68–6.01 mg kg−1) support the idea that WFSP raise their chicks mostly on mesopelagic prey from deep pelagic areas.CESAM; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Coping strategies and their relationship with subjective distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
Get PDFObjectives: To identify the strategies used by Brazilian adults for coping with the
COVID-19 pandemic and to verify the effect of these strategies on subjective distress.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study with online data collection in
May/June 2020, November/December 2020, and May/June 2021. The BriefCOPE
Inventory and the Impact of Event Scale (IES-R) were used. The prevalence of strategies
used at different time points was estimated with a 95% confidence interval and
compared with a z-test. A multiple logistic regression model was constructed and the odds ratio (OR, 95%CI) was calculated to verify the probability of subjective distress
according to the coping strategy used.
Results: Younger individuals had a lower prevalence of adaptive strategies, which
increased significantly with age. Participants with higher income levels had a higher
prevalence of adaptive strategies, as did those who were never diagnosed with a mental
health disorder. The prevalence of using only maladaptive strategies ranged from 6.1%
to 5.4% (p > 0.05). The use of problem-centered strategies (Active Coping and
Planning), venting of emotions, and substance use increased with time, while acceptance and behavioral disengagement decreased. In general, the population used
problem-centered strategies, but the high prevalence of problem avoidance was
striking. Positive reinterpretation and acceptance were protective factors for subjective distress, whereas maladaptive strategies increased the chance of distress. The
presence of a negative valence component (problem- or emotion-centered) increased
the chance of subjective distress, whereas strategies based on Problem Solving acted as
a protective factor.
Conclusion: Coping strategies were significantly associated to subjective distress and
have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. Strategies focused on emotion
regulation may be relevant to minimize distress.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Male acoustic display in the sand goby – Essential cue in female choice, but unaffected by supplemental feeding
Get PDFMany teleost fishes use acoustic and visual signalling during courtship. Such displays may convey information
about body condition. Here we experimentally altered body condition of sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus)
males to examine effects on acoustic and visual courtship and subsequent spawning decisions. Over two weeks,
males fed in excess were fed daily, whereas food-deprived males were fed once a week. Females only spawned
with males that produced courtship sound. However, there were no treatment effects on the occurrence of
spawning and males fed in excess did not invest more in visual or acoustic courtship than food-deprived males.
That said, males fed in excess built more well-covered nests, with more sand piled on top, compared to fooddeprived males. Male condition measured as lipid content differed significantly between treatments. However,
only males fed in excess differed in lipid content from wild caught males, indicating that in nature, males are of
similar condition to males in the low condition treatment group. Apart from the importance of courtship sound,
the only male or female behaviour predicting reproductive success was if male displayed in the nest opening.
Males often produce courtship sounds together with a visual display in this position. A female dark-eye display
did not associate with reproductive success which, together with previous results, suggest a non-ornamental
function of this trait. We conclude that male courtship sounds appear to be crucial in female mate choice, but
the information content of the courtship sounds and how it relates to male condition remains elusive.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Hear what you feel, feel what you hear: The effect of musical sequences on emotional processing
Get PDFMusic has a unique ability to access affective and motivational systems of the brain. However, there is a gap in
research on the association between musical stimuli and their impact on emotional processing, a crucial
component for the success of the therapeutic process. The present study thus sought to explore both the capacity
of music to access the affective system, to induce emotions, and to change emotional states, as well as to facilitate
emotional processing leading to the resolution of emotional distress. Pascual-Leone and Greenberg’s validated
sequential model of emotional processing in psychotherapy, was used to test this dual capacity. Three musical
sequences with distinct components were developed and presented in an online platform. One musical sequence
followed the order of the sequential model (first experimental sequence), another musical sequence inverted that
same order (second experimental sequence), and the last musical sequence was intended to serve as a baseline
(control sequence). All musical sequences, not only led to alterations in participant’s emotional states, but also
led to an increase of participant’s emotional resolution. Some of the results were surprising, since the control
sequence also led to an increase of emotional resolution and the first experimental sequence didn’t present itself
as the winning candidate by leading to a higher emotional resolution. Nevertheless, these surprising results
demonstrated that emotional processing could occur under different experiences of music and allow future
studies to keep exploring this relationship.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Year-round variation in the isotopic niche of Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) breeding in contrasting sea regions of the Mediterranean Sea
Get PDFTop marine predators are key components of marine food webs. Among them, long-distance migratory seabirds,
which travel across different marine ecosystems over the year, may experience important year-round changes in
terms of oceanographic conditions and availability of trophic resources. We tested whether this was the case in
the Scopoli’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), a trans-equatorial migrant and top predator, by sampling birds
breeding in three environmentally different regions of the Mediterranean Sea. The analysis of positional data and
stable isotopes (δ13
C and δ15N) of target feathers revealed that birds from the three regions were spatially
segregated during the breeding period while they shared non-breeding areas in the Atlantic Ocean. Isotopic
baseline levels of N and C (meso-zooplankton) were significantly different among marine regions during
breeding. Such variation was reflected at the higher trophic levels of pelagic and demersal fish muscles as well as
in shearwater feathers grown in the Mediterranean. δ15N- and δ13C-adjusted values of shearwaters were significantly different among populations suggesting that birds from different breeding areas relied on prey species
from different trophic levels. Conversely, the non-breeding spatial and isotopic niches overlapped greatly among
the three populations. Shearwater trophic niches during breeding were narrower and segregated compared to the
non-breeding period, revealing a high plasticity in trophic resource use. Overall, this study highlights seasonal
and region-specific use of trophic resources by Scopoli’s shearwater, suggesting a broad trophic plasticity and
possibly a high adaptability to environmental changes.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Three mitochondrial lineages and no Atlantic-Mediterranean barrier for the bogue Boops boops across its widespread distribution
Get PDFMarine species exhibiting wide distributional ranges are frequently subdivided into discrete genetic
units over limited spatial scales. This is often due to specifc life-history traits or oceanographic barriers
that prevent gene fow. Fine-scale sampling studies revealed distinct phylogeographic patterns in
the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, ranging from panmixia to noticeable population
genetic structure. Here, we used mitochondrial sequence data to analyse connectivity in the bogue
Boops boops throughout most of its widespread distribution. Our results identifed the existence of
three clades, one comprising specimens from the Azores and eastern Atlantic/Mediterranean, another
with individuals from the Canary Islands, Madeira and Cape Verde archipelagos, and the third with
samples from Mauritania only. One of the branches of the northern subtropical gyre (Azores Current)
that drifts towards the Gulf of Cádiz promotes a closer connection between the Azores, southern
Portugal and the Mediterranean B. boops populations. The Almería-Oran Front, widely recognised as
an oceanographic barrier for many organisms to cross the Atlantic-Mediterranean divide, does not
seem to afect the dispersal of this benthopelagic species. The southward movement of the Cape Verde
Frontal Zone during the winter, combined with the relatively short duration of the pelagic larval stage
of B. boops, may be potential factors for preventing the connectivity between the Atlantic oceanic
archipelagos and Mauritania shaping the genetic signature of this species.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
One step back or one step forward? Effects of grade retention and school retention composition on portuguese students’ psychosocial outcomes using PISA 2018 Data
Get PDFGrade retention is a common practice applied to academically struggling students within
the Portuguese context. Studies investigating the psychological experiences of grade-retained students are still scarce. In addition, most studies tend to neglect the multilevel nature of the school
context. This study examines the effects of grade retention in grades 1–9 on Portuguese students’
psychosocial outcomes by the age of 15, using PISA 2018 data. Using a quasi-experimental design
through full matching, we reduced the bias between 1362 retained and 4189 promoted students in
relevant background variables. Results from the multilevel models showed that retained students, by
the age of 15, present lower task orientation and school belonging. In addition, we found that the
high retention rates negatively relate to students’ reading self-concept, task orientation, and school
valuing and that school retention rates moderate the relationship between students’ retention and
the psychosocial variables considered. Overall, these findings suggest detrimental effects of grade
retention and that grade retention also affects the promoted peers of retained students.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Can Humans Discriminate Horse ‘Fear’ Chemosignals from Control Chemosignals? Comment on Sabiniewicz et al. A Preliminary Investigation of Interspecific Chemosensory Communication of Emotions: Can Humans (Homo sapiens) Recognise Fear- and Non-Fear Body Odour from Horses (Equus ferus caballus). Animals 2021, 11, 3499
Get PDFWe illustrate the problematic nature of different assumptions guiding the examination of
whether humans can detect the source of fear chemosignals (i.e., body odors) emitted by horses—a
research question examined in an article recently published in Animals. A central issue is that the
formulation of the question itself contains the answer to it. In this paper, we parse the problematic
assumptions on which the analysis and methodology rely, leading to conclusions that are difficult to
support. These assumptions constitute examples of methodological problems that should be avoided
in research with animals and odors. The unique aspect of this paper is that it is a collaborative
product, including the original contributor, in the pursuit of transparency in science.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio