The Individualised Patient‐Progress System: A decade of international collaborative networking

Background: The backstage of research projects is seldom presented to the general audience, in particular, how the research questions emerged, how the team interacted and how the methods and design were decided upon. Aim: In this paper we will recount the story behind an international practice‐based research network for personalising health assessment, the joint journey of researchers and therapists from three different countries in creating the Individualised Patient‐Progress System (IPPS). Results: We first describe how the idea of the IPPS emerged; then we show how IPPS is being piloted and integrated into clinical practice. Next, we present the views of therapists and researchers who have been part of this project. Conclusions: We discuss some lessons learned from this 14‐year collaborative research programme.     

Does the Quality of Academic Life Matter for Students’ Performance,Loyalty and University Recommendation?

The quality of academic life (QAL) is concerned with all the general feelings of satisfaction of a student who experiences university. For universities, academic staff, public managers and policy makers, the fundamental question is how the measures and management of this construct can be improved in order to render a better service to students. Based on a sample of 726 students from all Portuguese State universities, we test a structural model that allows us to evaluate the impact of QAL on students’ academic performance (SAP) along with loyalty and willingness to recommend the university. In the analysis of all groups, the results reveal that QAL has a positive and significant, although not robust, influence on SAP. That positive influence is ratified, however, in the multi-group analysis for the 2nd and 3rd Study Cycles, through obtaining significant and robust empirical evidence. The results also show that QAL is a good predictor of loyalty and university recommendation.     

Trial-based psychotherapy and the efficacy of trial-based thought record in changing unhelpful core beliefs and reducing self-criticism

IntroductionThe best prevention against relapse results when patients are taught to restructure negative core beliefs (CBs). Efficacy of the trial-based thought record (TBTR) in decreasing the credit given by patients to negative CBs and corresponding emotions was evaluated.MethodPatients (n = 166) were submitted to a simulation of a legal trial to assess their adherence to negative CBs and corresponding emotions after each cognitive therapy technique incorporated by TBTR. RESULTS: Significant reductions existed in percent values after the first and second defense attorney pleas, as well as after jury's verdict and initial preparation for the appeal (p < 0.001), relative to the investigation phase. Significant differences also emerged between the defense attorney's first and second pleas and between the defense attorney's second plea and jury's verdict, as well as preparation for the appeal (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between percentages presented by patients submitted to TBTR used in the empty chair format relative to the conventional format. Similarly, there was no difference between outcomes, regardless of therapists' level of exposure to TBTR.ConclusionTBTR may help patients reduce attachment to negative CBs and corresponding emotions. Outcomes were significantly favorable regardless of the format use and therapists' level of exposure to TBTR.     

Nationwide survey of contraceptive and sexually transmitted infection knowledge,attitudes and skills of university students in Portugal

Sexually transmitted infections and (STIs) unintended pregnancies are contemporary public health concerns. Understanding factors (e.g. knowledge, attitudes and skills) influencing sexual behaviours of university students are critical to develop targeted and tailored risk-reduction interventions for this vulnerable population. Thus, the goals of this study were to describe sexual behaviours and analyze differences between genders for sexual behaviours; to identify whether differences exist between genders and age groups regarding knowledge, attitudes and skills concerning contraceptive methods and STIs, and to evaluate the association of knowledge with attitudes and skills with sexual behaviour among university students in Portugal. The sample included 3278 students. Results show that the majority were sexually active and use condoms and oral contraceptives. In general, university students have high knowledge, positive attitudes and skills about contraception and STIs. Gender analyses indicated that women had greater knowledge, and more favourable attitudes, and higher skills toward contraceptive and STI preventive behaviour College students, in particular, face new challenges in sexual health and would benefit from more comprehensive education aimed at promoting healthy decision-making about family planning and STI prevention.     

Meaning Coconstruction in Group Counseling: The Development of Innovative Moments

This study discusses a model of group counseling, the narrative mediation path (NMP), which is a unique narrative, multimodal approach that combines four narrative modes (metaphoric, iconographic, writing, and bodily) and the narrative group. The purpose of the NMP is to foster reflexive processes with underachieving university students and to improve their academic performance. The study analyzes a single case of group counseling for seven underachieving economics students at an Italian university and the process of meaning construction among NMP narrative modes and the follow-up session. It applies the innovative moments coding system, a reliable method for studying change by tracking narrative innovations in sessions. More specifically, we focus on how innovative moments (IMs: action, reflection, protest, and reconceptualization) evolve during the four different narrative modes and the follow-up session. The findings suggest that the NMP fosters narrative innovations, mainly of a reflexive nature (reflection and reconceptualization). Moreover, during counseling and the follow-up session, the pattern of change is primarily characterized by reconceptualization IMs, the most complex form of narrative innovation.     

Comparison of pausing behavior in children who stutter and children who have Asperger syndrome

Purpose

The objective of this research was to compare the number and types of grammatical and non-grammatical silent pauses presented by stutterers and subjects with Asperger syndrome in their narratives.

Method

Ten children who stutter and four participants with Asperger syndrome (mean ages of both groups 10 years) were assessed at the Speech and Language Disorders Department of the Universidade Federal de São Paulo/Brasil. They narrated a story based on a pre-selected sequence of pictures. They were filmed and their productions were analyzed using version 5.0.47 of Praat (http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/download_win.html). Silent intervals in the speech that ranged from 0.25 to 4 s were considered pauses. The pauses were classified as grammatical and non-grammatical, depending on the words that preceded and followed them.

Results

Both groups presented grammatical and non-grammatical pauses and the former predominated. The children with Asperger syndrome produced a greater number of pauses than the stutterers.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) characterize the use of pauses in the oral narrative; (2) distinguish a grammatical pause from a non-grammatical pause regarding the use and function; (3) recognize the pattern of pause found in the two populations.     

Information and attitudes about HIV/AIDS in Portuguese adolescents: state of art and changes in a four year period

The incidence of infection with HIV/AIDS among the heterosexual population has been increasing in young adults. The goal of this research was to deepen knowledge of preventive sexual behavior in Portuguese adolescents, including knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS, and assessing whether they changed from 2002 to 2006. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from the Portuguese sample of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC), a collaborative WHO study. The study provides national representative data of 7093 Portuguese adolescents, randomly chosen from those attending 8th and 10th grade of high school. Results showed there was an increase in the age of first sexual intercourse and a decrease in the number of teenagers who reported having had sexual intercourse, also in the level of information regarding HIV/AIDS transmission/prevention and in positive attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS. In general, adolescents have good knowledge about how to protect themselves from becoming infected. However, comparing to 2002, there was a reduction of knowledge and consequent increase in the doubts regarding HIV/AIDS. Given the incipient state of sex education in 2006, the results cannot be attributed to sex education, but they will be relevant for comparison with the 2010 HBSC results.     

The differential similarity of positive and negative information – an affect-induced processing outcome?

People judge positive information to be more alike than negative information. This good-bad asymmetry in similarity was argued to constitute a true property of the information ecology (Alves, H., Koch, A., & Unkelbach, C. (2017). Why good is more alike than bad: Processing implications. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21, 69–79). Alternatively, the asymmetry may constitute a processing outcome itself, namely an influence of phasic affect on information processing. Because no research has yet tested whether phasic affect influences perceived similarity among stimuli, we conducted 5 Experiments that also tested whether phasic affect can account for the higher judged similarity among positive compared to negative stimuli. In three experiments, we affectively charged pictures of different Pokemon by pairing them with monetary gains and losses (Exp. 1a, 1b) as well as positive and negative trait words (Exp. 2); yet, the evaluative charge did not differentially influence perceived similarity among the Pokemon. Experiment 3 replicated the basic similarity asymmetry among positive and negative words, and found that it was unaffected by externally induced phasic affect. Experiment 4 showed that phasic affect had no influence on perceived similarity of non-evaluative words either. We conclude that albeit a weak influence of phasic affect on perceived similarity of stimuli cannot be ruled out entirely, it can most likely not account for the typically medium to large sized asymmetry in similarity among positive and negative stimuli.