The Spanish journal of psychology
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Self-care is a cornerstone issue for those who deal with stressful events, as it is the case of palliative care professionals. It has been related to awareness, coping with death and quality of life, among others, but no measurement instruments have been used in palliative care professionals. This research presents and validates a brief new measure with clinical and psychometric good properties, called Professional Self-Care Scale (PSCS). ⋯ Evidence regarding validity was consistent with previous literature. When levels of self-care were examined, women showed higher levels of inner and social self-care (F(3, 371) = 3.19, p = .02, η2 = .03, as also did psychologists when compared to doctors and nurses (F(9, 1074) = 2.00, p = .04, η2 = .02. The PSCS has shown adequate psychometric properties, and thus it could be used as diagnostic instrument when studying professionals' health.
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Original survey data from a Chilean sample (N = 1267) are used to study the socio-demographic and psychosocial determinants of belief in forgiveness attitudes in the context of measuring the impact of truth and reconciliation reports (NTRC, 1991) and Political Imprisonment and Torture (NPIC, 2004) commissions. A linear multiple regression analysis (R 2 = .15; F(8, 1269) = 14.65; p < .001; effect size f 2 = .18) revealed the positive effect of perceived apology sincerity (β = 0.22; p < .001), emotions of anger (β = -0.08; p < .05), and positive social climate (β = 0.08; p < .05). People who believe in the victims' forgiveness feel less anger, have more positive perceptions of the sincerity and efficacy of the apologies, agree to a greater extent that the commission helped to find out the truth about what happened to the victims, and have a greater perception of the social climate as positive. The results show the importance of psychosocial and institutional variables in beliefs about forgiveness, and they suggest differences between interpersonal and intergroup forgiveness processes.
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Workers' perception that their job experience enriches their family life has been considered a mechanism that explains their positive attitudes toward the organization where they work. However, because women and men live their work and family differently, gender may condition this relationship between the work-family enrichment and workers' attitudes. With a sample of 1885 workers from one Portuguese bank, with 802 women, the current study investigated the relationship between work-family enrichment and organizational affective commitment as well as the role of sex as a moderator of this relationship. ⋯ The results indicated that the perception held by workers that their work enriches their family is positively correlated with their affective commitment toward the organization. Furthermore, the data revealed that this relationship is stronger for women than for men. Study results have implications for management, particularly for human resource management, enhancing their knowledge about the relationship of work-family enrichment and workers' affective commitment toward organization.
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For long decentering has been regarded as a crucial process for well-being and health. Thus, reliable measures are needed to assess decentering. This study aimed at examining the psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese version of the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), and to contribute to gather new evidence on the role of this particular measure of decentering on the well-known relationship between rumination and depressive symptoms. ⋯ Two path analyses were further conducted in a subsample exploring the indirect effect of rumination on depression through the mechanism of decentering as assessed by the specific measure of EQ, and by the non-specific measure of decentering TMS. Decentering, only when measured by EQ, significantly emerged as a mechanism through which the relationship between rumination and depressive symptoms also operates (R 2 = .22). Findings highlight the importance of using EQ as a specific measure of this transdiagnostic process in research and clinical settings.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of a mindfulness program on stress, anxiety and depression in university students.
Two of the problems that currently affect a large proportion of university students are high levels of anxiety and stress experienced in different situations, which are particularly high during the first years of their degree and during exam periods. The present study aims to investigate whether mindfulness training can bring about significant changes in the manifestations of depression, anxiety, and stress of students when compared to another group undergoing a physical activity program and a control group. The sample consisted of 125 students from the Bachelor of Education Program. ⋯ The results indicate that the effects of reducing the identified variables were higher for the mindfulness group than for the physical education group and for the control group F(2) = 5.91, p = .004, η2 = .106. The total scores for all variables related to the mindfulness group decreased significantly, including an important stress reduction t(29) = 2.95, p = .006, d = .667. Mindfulness exercises and some individual relaxing exercises involving Physical Education could help to reduce manifestations of stress and anxiety caused by exams in students.