1,721,015 research outputs found
PRELIMINARY STUDY ON FATIGUE IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS
No full textIntroduction. Fatigue is the most common and stressful side effect of cancer and its treatments and it occurs not only during these but it is a condition that can persist even many years after the end anti-cancer treatment (Bower E. et al., 2006) interfering substantially with the activities of daily life of the subject (Lavoy E. et al., 2016; (Fatigoni S. et al.,2015). It has been estimated that between 19% and 38% of cancer survivors experience significant levels of fatigue after treatment (ibidem, 2016). It has been shown that the onset and severity of this syndrome is not related to the type of cancer or treatment variables, making it difficult to identify populations with the greatest risk of fatigue (ibidem, 2016; Bower E. et al., 2006; Jones J.M. et al.,2016). Cancer and its treatments could explain the experience of fatigue during the course of the disease while its presence after the end anti-cancer treatment could be caused not only by the side effects of the treatment but also by the representation of the patient’s illness, a concept linked to the coping strategies used (Corbett T. et al., 2016). Knowledge about the presence of fatigue in breast cancer survivors is very limited. This syndrome has been shown to have a 30% prevalence in breast cancer survivors (Alexander S. et al 2009, Andrykosky M. et al., 2005; Reinertsen K.V. et al., 2010). The aim of the study is to assess the impact of fatigue on breast cancer survivors’ quality of life and to assess the relationship between fatigue and patients’ strategies to cope illness. Method. 30 women breast cancer survivors (in follow-up from 1 to 10 years) were tested with the following instruments: Distress Thermometer, EORTC-C30, MINI MAC and Fatigue Severity Scale. Results. The major results show that there is a negative correlation between the fatigue and quality of life (r = -, 618; p = 0.01) and there is a positive correlation between the fatigue and the “anxious preoccupation” coping style( r =, 462; p = 0.05) and “helplessness-hopelessness” (r =, 478; p = 0.01) but there is a negative correlation between the fatigue and fighting spirit (r = -, 427; p = 0.05). Conclusions. The negative association between fatigue and overall quality of life observed in this and other studies highlights the importance of identifying and treating this group of fatigued women. Results from this study also may be useful in improving specific psychological intervention after the end of anticancer treatment
MENTAL FUNCTIONING IN A GROUP OF OBESE PATIENTS CANDIDATES FOR BARIATRIC TREATMENT: DEFENCE MECHANISMS AND ALEXITHYMIA
No full textSeveral studies confirm that obesity with comorbidity psychiatric disorders decreases the long-term success of surgical treatment. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders varies from 30% to 76% between the obese patients candidate for bariatric treatment (Hudson et al., 2007; Striegel-Moore et al., 2009). It goes without saying that it is essential to prearrange a correct assessment in patient with a severe obesity who are candidate for surgical treatment in order to ensure a long term successful treatment. The aim of the study is to outline some psychological factors that could promote and maintain conditions of severe obesity and to identify weak points in widely applied care pathway. This is a cross-sectional analysis of 39 consecutive treatment-seeking obese (body mass index > 35 kg/m2) patients (14 men, 25women) age 20-59 (age M= 39.3). All the study participants who filled in the DMI (Gleser & Ihilevic, 1969, 1986), a semi-projective test which aims to measure the relative intensity of usage of five major groups (TAO, PRO, PRN, TAS, REV) and in the TAS-20 (Bagby, Taylor, Parker, 1994) and in the TSIA (Taylor, Bagby, Caretti, & Schimmenti, 2014) to assess the alexithymia. 74% of the group (29 patients) got a symptomatic profile types. 79.3% of this is made up of REV and PRN/REV profiles. This defensive profile is related to a higher BMI, to an earlier onset obesity, to a poor effectiveness of medical treatments, to a high risk of post-surgical recurrence. At TAS-20, 36% of patients have a score > 51 (bordeline) and 19% a score >61 (alexithymic). At TSIA, 69.4% of patients are alexithymic. The results showed that mental functioning is mainly characterized by a tendency to deny the reality and overturn the representation of this and by alexithymic traits. This is a potential serious risk of bariatric treatment failure in these patients. Psychological treatment is necessary to reduce a higher risk of low adherence and drop out to treatment at the follow up
The role of emotional awareness in primary school : examining the impact of group intervention in scholastic context
No full textEmotional awareness is a key component of children’s psychological, cognitive and social development in primary school, and it is a central element of learning. The emotional development aimed to achieve an emotional maturity can help children to manage the needs of their social and educational environments, to keep good relationships with peers, and express emotions in adaptive manners having a positive effect on scholastic integration and academic performance. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a psychoeducational group intervention aimed to improve emotional health, quality of integration and children’s scholastic skills. This study is designed as a 4-year longitudinal study. A total of 200 children (94 Males; M Age = 7.22 years; SD = 0.97 years) from 8 different classes, completed the Pictures of Facial Affect (Ekman, 1972), the Drawn Stories Technique (Trombini, 1994), the Classroom Drawing (Quaglia, Saglione,1990), Colored Progressive Matrices (Raven, J. C. 1983). Group intervention based on different psychoeducational activities per year was provided to 4 classes and tests were administered at baseline and at retest both to the experimental groups and to the control groups every year. The mixed-model ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for POFA score over time (F = 6.24, p =.01) and between POFA and group (F = 4.82, p= .03) but no significant main effect has been found for classroom drawing over time (F= .81, p > .05) and between quality of integration and group intervention. These results suggest that intervention was successful to improve children emotional recognition but it has no a significant effect on scholastic integration probably for the complexity of scholastic environment. These findings support the importance of a psychoeducational program in school in promoting of emotional health but the relation of cognitive skills, emotional awareness and quality of integration require more observations
Developing an Evaluation Grid for the “Drawn Stories Technique”: Exploring the Indicators of Children’s Socio-Emotional Development, Anxiety, and Depression Levels
No full textSince the first development of psychology, drawing has been considered a useful tool to understand an individual’s development and personality. The graphic method has been regarded as a valuable means of expressing not only personality traits but also a child’s emotions and the emotional tone they “invest” in the surrounding environment. However, empirical evaluations have raised substantial doubts about the reliability and validity of this kind of technique, and the lack of studies that provide empirical scoring methods represents a significant limitation in the field. This study aims to develop a tailored evaluation grid for the Drawn Stories Technique to explore which drawing indicators-story outcomes, themes, content, and formal aspects might reflect children’s socio-emotional functioning in terms of emotional and social intelligence, as well as clinical levels of anxiety and depression. The Drawn Stories Technique along with four self-report questionnaires assessing trait Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence, Anxiety, and Depression, were administered to 228 primary school children in groups during class time. Negative outcomes were positively related to depression scores but not to anxiety scores, while social skills were associated with fewer death-related themes. Children that exhibited clinical levels of depression tended to draw significantly fewer themes related to fables and animals, and more everyday life events. Conversely, children with clinical levels of anxiety showed differences in some formal aspects in their drawings, including fewer empty spaces and more heavy line traits. This study has shown the potential use of graphic techniques with primary school children to obtain potential indicators of maladjustment through an evaluation grid to collect informatio
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
ALEXITHYMIA, BURDEN AND RESILIENCE IN ALS’ CAREGIVERS
No full textLiving with a progressively disease such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has a strong impact on the people affected and on their relatives, who have to tackle the demanding duties of caring for and assisting them (Tramonti et al., 2014). Many factors modulate the levels of burden in ALS’ caregivers: disease related factors, personality related factors, enviromental factors. Dennison et al (2001) showed that alexithymia could to contribute to increasing distress in ALS’ caregivers, but there are very few studies on this. Other studies supporting the role of resilience such as protective factor (Ripamonti, 2015). The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between alexithymia, resilience and burden in ALS’ caregivers. Methods: 30 ALS’caregivers were tested with the following instruments: TAS-20 (Bagby, Taylor, Parker, 1994), RS-15 (Wagnild e Young, 1993), CBI (Novak e Guest, 1989). Results: we showed a positive correlation between total alexithymia score (TAS20-Tot) and emotional burden (CBI-E; ρ=0.357, p<0.05), particularly between TAS-20 DIF and Emot-B (ρ=0.412, p<0.05) and between TAS-20-DDF and Emot-B (ρ=0.33, p<0.05). We showed negative correlation between RS-15 tot and Dev-B (ρ=0.375, p<0.05), Phys-B (ρ=0.362, p<0.05), Soc-B (ρ=0.442, p<0.05) and Emot-B (ρ=0.392 p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results in ALS’ caregivers confirm our ipothesis of a relationship between alexithymia and burden. Difficulty in identifying and describing own and others feelings could increase caregivers’emotional negative state and burden. It could lead to ineffective emotional responding and it could be a risk factor for care-related stress. On the contrary, however, the resilience, such as personality factor can to modulate the negative effects of distress and it is a protective factor safeguarding low-burdened caregivers. These results show that it is very important to identify the presence of alexithymix traits in order to improve quality of life in caregivers
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
