Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida
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Minority stress and mental health in gay and lesbian youth: A comparative study of Italy and Spain
No full textThe present study was carried out based on the minority stress model. The purpose was to
compare Italian and Spanish gay and lesbian youth on minority stressors and mental health
outcomes and test the minority stress model in Italy and Spain. The sample consisted of 490
participants (307 Italians, Mage = 25.30 and 183 Spanish, Mage = 27.57). They completed an
online questionnaire measuring everyday discrimination, coming out to family members, coming
out to friends/one’s social network, internalized sexual stigma, depression, and anxiety.
A multivariate analysis of covariance was performed to explore the effect of nationality on all
measures. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the direct and indirect (through
internalized sexual stigma) effects of stressors on mental health outcomes. The results
demonstrate an impact of nationality on three dimensions: Spanish youth presented higher levels
of everyday discrimination, while Italian youth had lower levels of both coming out to family
members and coming out to friends/one’s social network. Further, in both countries, all stressors
had both direct and indirect (through internalized sexual stigma) associations with depression and
anxiety. These findings have some social implications: studying the effect of nationality can be
useful in suggesting changes in political and social macrosystems. Additionally, studying
the associations among these variables is helpful for intervening more efficiently, for example,
clinically, on the impact of minority stress.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The role of oxytocin in reproductive success and mating behavior in Zebrafish
No full textDissertação de Mestrado apresentada no
ISPA- Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de
Mestre em Neurociências Cognitivas e ComportamentaisA oxitocina é um neuropeptídeo que desempenha um papel em uma variedade de
comportamentos sociais, incluindo ligação de pares e cuidado parental. No entanto, seu papel
no comportamento reprodutivo e de acasalamento é menos compreendido. Esta tese investigou
o papel da oxitocina no comportamento reprodutivo e de acasalamento em peixes-zebra.
Peixes-zebra com uma mutação knockout que elimina a produção do ligante da
oxitocina, apresentaram fertilidade reduzida (ovos fertilizados) e fecundidade (ovos postos).
Isso foi verdade para cruzamentos entre knockouts e cruzamentos entre knockouts (machos ou
fêmeas) com wild-types (machos ou fêmeas), enquanto os cruzamentos entre wild-types
tiveram o maior número de ovos postos e fertilizados. Quanto ao comportamento de
acasalamento como a duração de circulação, alinhamento lateral e liderança/seguimento, que
são comportamentos iniciados pelo macho, estes também foram significativamente reduzidos
em peixes-zebra machos knockouts. Além disso, a duração da liderança/seguimento foi
considerada um preditor significativo da taxa de fertilidade, enquanto todos os quatro preditores
(circulação, liderança, alinhamento lateral, genótipo) foram considerados preditores
significativos de ovos postos e todos, exceto circulação, para ovos fertilizados.
Estes achados sugerem que a oxitocina desempenha um papel significativo no
comportamento de acasalamento e no sucesso reprodutivo em peixes-zebra. Contudo, mais
investigações são necessárias para entender os mecanismos específicos pelos quais a oxitocina
influencia esses comportamentos. No entanto, os achados desta tese fornecem um ponto de
partida valioso para pesquisas futuras.ABSTRACT: Teachers are exposed to various occupational stressors which, if persistent, can lead to
Burnout Syndrome and to recurrent thoughts of leaving the profession and culminate in total
withdrawal. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the mediating role of Burnout
Syndrome between the two dimensions motivational system that is constituted by the regulatory system
with a focus on prevention and promotion and the Intention to Leave the profession among teachers
in Southern Brazil. A total of 781 elementary school teachers from public and private schools
participated in the research. The research instruments used included the Burnout Syndrome
Questionnaire, the Regulatory Focus Scale, and a single item to evaluate the Intention to Leave the
profession. The results obtained by Structural Equation Modeling confirmed the hypothesis that
Burnout Syndrome plays a mediating role between promotion regulatory focus and the Intention to
Leave the profession. The results reveal the importance of interventions that contemplate the reduction
of occupational stressors for the prevention or rehabilitation of Burnout Syndrome in teachers
Am I a math person? Linking math identity with students’ motivation for mathematics and achievement
No full textBased on the expectancy-value perspective on identity and identity formation, this paper
explores the relationship between math identity (MI) and the dimensions of motivation
(i.e. intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value and perceived competence) and math
achievement in primary school. An additional aim of our research was to explore these
relationships in diferent cultural contexts and investigate potential gender and grade diferences concerning MI. The participants were 11,782 primary school students from Norway,
Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Portugal and Serbia. All predictors from the motivation spectrum were signifcant for students’ MI across the examined countries and had a stronger
association with MI than math achievement. Among the motivational dimensions, intrinsic
value had the strongest association with students’ MI. Boys had signifcantly more positive
math identities than girls in Estonia, Finland, Norway and Portugal. The results showed
that the grade 4 students perceived themselves less as “math persons” than their grade 3
peers in all countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Male perpetrators of child sexual abuse: A comparison between individuals serving custodial and non-custodial sentences
Get PDFThe literature considers individuals who sexually offended children (ISOCs)
as a heterogeneous group. In Portugal, ISOCs may be subject to two types
of sentences: custodial and non-custodial measures. In the present study, we
performed a comparative analysis between 66 male individuals sentenced
to prison and 47 male individuals sentenced to community measures for
sexual crimes against children, using a set of sociodemographic, penal, and
psychological measures. The results showed that the incarcerated ISOCs’
had more static risk factors for sexual and nonsexual recidivism. Only two
variables increased the probability of belonging to the incarceration group:
having other convictions beyond child sexual abuse and having committed
serious sexual offenses. Based on these results, implications for ISOCs’
treatment and sentencing are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
School and family ecosystem: Incentives and barriers to school–family communication
Get PDFThe aim of the study was to explore the factors and barriers related to the incentive and opportunity of school–family communication. This work is part of the HOUSE-Colégio F3 Project, ULisbon, which included 1,143 first-year university students from the University of Lisbon, with average age of 19.61 ± 3.96 years. The young people who had better communication with their parents, greater family
support and better family relationship were the ones who
reported greater incentives for school–family communication. School–family communication and relationship were associated with the incentives for school–family communication and greater parental monitoring. These results align with the literature stating that parents' communication and presence in all areas of young people's lives, including the school context, foster better social and family relationships and academic results. This result should not be read as a call for non-autonomy. Instead, it highlights that monitoring and supporting family presence promotes that autonomyFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Secure base script knowledge and video-feedback intervention to promote positive parenting-sensitive discipline
Get PDFThis preregistered randomized controlled study investigated the effects of Video-Feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) on parents’ secure base script knowledge (SBSK).
Furthermore, we examined whether effects of VIPP-SD on sensitive caregiving and sensitive discipline behavior
and parents’ attitudes toward these behaviors were moderated by SBSK at baseline. Families (n = 445) with preand school-aged children (n = 890) were randomized to receive VIPP-SD or telephone calls. Results showed no
effects of VIPP-SD on SBSK. Furthermore, there was no moderation of effects on sensitive caregiving or sensitive
discipline behavior by SBSK. VIPP-SD promoted positive attitudes toward sensitive caregiving and sensitive
discipline behavior. The latter effect was moderated by SBSK: parents with lower SBSK showed the strongest
improvements in positive attitudes toward sensitive discipline behavior. This effect was driven by a subgroup of
younger children. These findings highlight the potential importance of tailoring interventions to meet the specific
needs of parents with varying levels of SBSKinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Erratum to “Oxytocin modulates neural activity during early perceptual salience attribution”[ Psychoneuroendocrinology 161C (2024) 106950]
Get PDFinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Integrated behavioural and physiological responses of sand smelt larvae to the effects of warming and hypoxia as combined stressors
Get PDFForecasts indicate that rising temperatures towards the future and the expansion of dead zones will change
environmental suitability for fish early stages. Therefore, we assessed the chronic effects of warming (26 ◦C),
hypoxia (<2–2.5 mg L− 1
) or their combination on mortality rate, growth, behaviour, energy metabolism and
oxidative stress using Atherina presbyter larvae as a model species. There were no differences between the
treatments in terms of mortality rate. The combination of warming and hypoxia induced faster loss of body mass
(+22.7%). Warming, hypoxia or their combination enhanced boldness (+14.7–25.4%), but decreased exploration (− 95%–121%), increased the time in frozen state (+60.6–80.5%) and depleted swimming speed
(− 45.6–50.5%). Moreover, routine metabolic rate was depleted under hypoxia or under the combination of
warming and hypoxia (− 56.6 and 57.2%, respectively). Under hypoxia, increased catalase activity (+56.3%)
indicates some level of antioxidant defence capacity, although increased DNA damage (+25.2%) has also been
observed. Larvae also exhibited a great capacity to maintain the anaerobic metabolism stable in all situations, but
the aerobic metabolism is enhanced (+19.3%) when exposed to the combination of both stressors. The integrative approach showed that changes in most target responses can be explained physiologically by oxidative
stress responses. Increased oxidative damages (lipid peroxidation and DNA damage) and increased interaction
between antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) are associated to increased time in frozen
state and decreased swimming activity, growth rates and boldness. Under all stressful situations, larvae reduced
energy-consuming behaviours (e.g. depleted exploration and swimming activity) likely to stabilize or compensate for the aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms. Despite being an active small pelagic fish, we concluded that the
sensitive larval phase exhibited complex coping strategies to physiologically acclimate under thermal and
hypoxic stress via behavioural responses.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The effect of psychological flexibility on well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: The multiple mediation role of mindfulness and coping
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic involved a complex set of stressors affecting the health and wellbeing of the population. The understanding of the psychological processes that influence well-being in response to the pandemic and their interrelation is vital. A promising process in understanding the emotional impacts of these stressors is psychological flexibility. This study investigated the effect of psychological flexibility on well-being, both directly and indirectly, via mindfulness and coping strategies. A total of 334 Portuguese adults participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire, including measures of psychological flexibility, wellbeing, mindfulness, and coping strategies. A multiple mediation model studied whether there are
conditional indirect effects of mindfulness and coping strategies on well-being. The results showed statistically significant correlations between psychological flexibility, well-being, mindfulness, and
coping strategies. Furthermore, we found that mindfulness and coping strategies partly mediate the relationship between psychological flexibility and well-being. Understanding the processes
through which psychological flexibility influences well-being in a stressful context is important in comprehending the processes involved in an emotional reaction to a pandemic-like societal event.
Mindfulness and coping are shown to be important processes to consider in understanding this phenomenon and designing future responses.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Validation of the centrality of religiosity scale for the portuguese population
Get PDFThe main aim of this study was to validate and adapt the Centrality of Religios‑
ity Scale to the Portuguese population. A total of 1018 subjects participated in this
study. The metric qualities demonstrated in the analyses suggested that the factor
structure was based on fve dimensions identical to those proposed by its authors.
After analysing its psychometric qualities, we concluded that this instrument can be
applied to the Portuguese population and is a valuable tool in studies related to the
psychology of religion and spiritualityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio