1,721,068 research outputs found
Mindfulness for Autism
No full textObjectives: An important complement to molecular treatments, psychological interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are efficient and sustainable. The Western-influenced mindfulness concept is one such particularly powerful psychological construct with widespread benefits spanning health, education, and business spheres. By alleviating the difficulties inherent to certain rigid patterns of cognition and behavior, cognitively fluidifying mindfulness-based interventions anchored in training one’s attention to variability have emerged as promising for improving the well-being of individuals with ASD. The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence supporting these benefits and point to their potential underlying mechanisms. Methods: In this conceptual paper, we first review the broad evidence of the benefits of a range of Western-influenced mindfulness interventions for individuals with ASD, after which we deconstruct their underlying intra-individual processes and effects, and, finally, frame these psychological mechanisms in light of current core cognitive theories of ASD. Results: This paper highlights the established importance and continued promise of Western-influenced mindfulness training in understanding and improving the psychological health and overall well-being of individuals with ASD. As such, we hope to lay the foundation for avenues of future research on mindfulness-inspired interventions aimed at non-invasively improving the lives of individuals and families affected by ASD. Conclusions: This work provides a brief overview bridging Western-influenced mindfulness and cognitive theories of ASD. In so doing, it sheds light on this ripe intersection highly amenable to therapeutic intervention
The illness perceptions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a qualitative study.
No full textIntroduction: A few studies have explored the illness perceptions as well as the mutual connection between respiratory and physical status and emotional experiences in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Aims and objectives: The main aim was to investigate the illness perceptions of people affected by COPD. Secondarily, beliefs about the connection between mind and respiratory symptoms were explored. Methods: A qualitative study using ad hoc semi-structured interviews, based on the framework approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, was carried out at the Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit of Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan (Italy) between February and June 2018. Results: Twenty-seven participants with mild to severe COPD (15 males and 12 females; Mean Age= 72.37, SD= 9.44) were involved. The thematic analysis resulted in four master themes: “illness experience”, “mind-body relationship”, “expertise”, and “future”. The major concern reported by participants was that of limitation, which contributed to their housebound and fears. These issues, together with feelings of anxiety, sadness, annoyance and nervousness, inspire to existential themes and the possible future implications. Conclusions: COPD participants believe in a strong and negative link between mind and body, whose impact on rehabilitation process, respiratory outcomes and health-related behaviours should be study further
An online non-meditative mindfulness intervention for people with ALS and their caregivers: a randomized controlled trial
No full textObjectives: Mindfulness-based interventions seem to be effective in promoting QOL of ALS patients and caregivers, but most require substantial time. In the Langerian approach, mindfulness can be easily promoted with mental tasks and short lectures. This study aims to explore the impact of an ALS-specific online Langerian mindfulness training program on QOL of ALS patients. Methods: We developed and tested with an Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) a 5-week active learning mindfulness program. Participants were recruited from the ALS clinic at Penn State Health and online and were randomly assigned to either the mindfulness group or a wait-list control group. The primary outcome was the patient’s QOL after the treatment. 3 and 6-month follow-ups, together with anxiety, depression, care burden, and physical function, assessed at all times for both patients and caregivers, were explored as secondary outcomes. Results: 47 ALS patients and 27 caregivers were recruited. Among the ALS patients, the experimental group reported higher levels of QOL at the end of the treatment (d = 0.54). Moreover, they showed lower values of depression, anxiety, and negative emotions, compared to the controls, over time. The caregivers from the mindfulness group reported lower scores of care burden, depression, and anxiety, with higher values of energy and emotional well-being over time. Conclusions: This small RCT provides preliminary evidence that this intervention leads to an increase of QOL and a reduction in psychological comorbidities in ALS patients and caregivers. Given the relatively short time commitment, it may be easily implemented by the ALS community
Lo studio Written-Heart (Guarire il cuore con la scrittura)
No full textLo studio Written-Heart (Guarire il cuore con la scrittura
INTERAZIONE CINEMATICA PALO-TERRENO IN PRESENZA DI STRATI LIQUEFACIBILI: ANALISI FEM VS. METODI SEMPLIFICATI
No full textLo scopo di questo contributo è quello di mostrare l’influenza di alcuni parametri caratteristici del moto sismico sulle sollecitazioni indotte in un palo lungo, impedito di ruotare in testa ed immerso in un deposito caratterizzato dalla presenza di uno strato di terreno liquefacibile. A tal fine è stato impiegato il codice di calcolo agli elementi finiti Plaxis2D, in cui lo strato liquefacibile è stato modellato mediante il modello costitutivo PM4Sand. Di questo, non è ancora disponibile una formulazione 3D. Nello studio sono stati considerati cinque accelerogrammi naturali scalati a 0.1g e 0.25g e due valori per lo spessore dello strato liquefacibile (6 m, 10 m). I risultati delle analisi dinamiche non lineari con Plaxis2D sono stati confrontati con quelli di un codice basato sul metodo delle curve p-y (RSPile) e con quelli ottenuti impiegando delle formule semplificate esistenti
In the Eye of the Covid-19 Storm: A Web-Based Survey of Psychological Distress Among People Living in Lombardy
Full text linkIn March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic and restrictive measures were enacted by the Governments to fight the spread of the virus. In Italy, these measures included a nationwide lockdown, with limited exceptions including grocery shopping, certain work activities, and healthcare. Consistently with findings from previous studies investigating the psychological impact of similar pandemics [e.g., Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)], there is evidence that Covid-19 is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Given this background, we conducted a cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictive measures imposed by the Government on the psychological health of Italian men and women aged = 18 years and living in Lombardy, one of the worst-hit regions. The study also aimed at identifying what factors are associated with specific psychological outcomes. Thus, we developed an online survey that included a researcher-made questionnaire to collect sociodemographic, household, general health, and pandemic-related information. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Perceived Stress Scale were used to assess anxiety, depression, and perceived stress, respectively. We found that younger age, greater concerns about the pandemic, female gender, being unmarried, not having children, and being a student were associated with worse psychological health. These findings may provide further insight into the risk factors associated with negative psychological outcomes during the current pandemic, with identification of vulnerable groups. This body of evidence may help professionals implement targeted psychosocial treatment and prevention programs
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
- …
