Percorrer por autor "Dias, Ana Rita Conde"

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    Alexithymia among long-term drug users : a pilot study in Oporto
    (2019-09-18) Souto, Maria Teresa Soares; Alves, Hélder; Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Pinto, Luísa; Ribeiro, Óscar; FPE - Faculty of Psychology and Education; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    Increasing scientific evidence supports an association between alexithymia and psychoactive substance use. This study explores alexithymia ́s expression in sample of long-term drug users, undergoing outpatient treatment in public health units in Oporto, Portugal, as well as its ́ association with social demographic risk factors. Data was collected from a sample of 90 adults, participants, mainly men (n=90; 87%), considered to be old consumers (81% with a age>40 years), with a mean age of 46.1 years (SD=8.3; range=21–64).Two instruments were used: a sociodemographic questionnaire and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). More than 51.1% of the individuals were alexithymic, indicating a high prevalence of deficits in emotional awareness. The treatment period varied from 0 to 15 years, included a medication in 55% of cases, mostly methadone (83%). This profile illustrates the gradual aging of the long-term users of illicit drugs and alcohol with a clear diagnosis of an emotional disorder. Therefore, clinicians who develop treatment strategies may want to take into account the likelihood that many of their patients may be alexithymic; in being so, they should integrate specific psychotherapeutic techniques that promote both the identification and the differentiation in emotionally dysfunctional patients.
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    Delinquência juvenil em Portugal: estudo qualitativo das histórias de vida de jovens reclusos : Delinquência juvenil em Portugal
    (Journals Bahia Scholl of medicine and public Health, 2018-03) Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Teixeira, Silvana Daniela Ventura; HEI-LAB (FCT) - Digital Laboratories for Environments and Human Interactions
    Research on juvenile delinquency at the international level is mainly characterized by quantitative studies, trying to measure the phenomenon in terms of prevalence, to identify predictors and risk factors. Qualitative studies that attempt to understand the life experiences of young offenders are fewer and, specifically in Portugal, are even more scarce. The present study tries to fill this gap, trying to understand the life trajectories and the meaning of the experiences of the young delinquents. Thus, the life histories of nine young offenders who have committed crimes and are being detained in an educational center are analyzed. The study aims to identify the most relevant areas and life experiences of young offenders and how they are meant and experienced. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The analysis resulted in the identification of five central themes: family, peer group, delinquent behaviors, school path and institutionalization/prison. The results indicate that antisocial/delinquent behavior is, in fact, one of the predominant themes in discourse, which is revealed in most cases in experiences shared with peers, such as substance use, property crimes and offenses to physical integrity. Regrets and feelings of guilt arise associated with the description of criminal behavior. It is concluded that, at the level of prevention, the relational component should be the object of attention, namely the family relations and the relationship with the peers. The school component is also important, because there is a lack of positive experiences and success in school.
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    Ethical decision-making training goes virtual
    (American Psychological Association, 2021) Oliveira, Miguel; Gamito, Pedro; Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Souto, Maria Teresa Soares; Dias, Fábio André Sousa; Alves de Sousa, João; Ricou, Miguel; Marina, Silvia; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    We present the VREthics application that enables immersive training in ethical decision making of internship psychologist. The development of this app is supported on theoretical information regarding best practices for ethics decisions in Psychology and technological issues concerning the system design. Eleven internship psychologists tested the VREthics and were questioned about their subjective assessment of the app, the VR training experience and its impact on the learning process. They reported a positive appreciation of both the VR training experience (43.52%) and of the impact on their training (31.98%). The most referenced characteristic is related to the realism and interactivity of the case, allowing them a sense of presence. Results are accordingly to the scarce literature and suggest that the VR training can be an important resource for practical learning, providing an educational context close to the real, interactive and engaging context. Therefore, the use of technological tools, more specifically VR, should be integrated in the psychologists skills´ training of the utmost relevance to practice, namely in ethical decision-making. The next steps will be to implement VREthics in the initial training plan for internship psychologists at the Portuguese Psychologists Association, being a differentiating tool in their training that allows a more practical and interactive level of access to fundamental theoretical concepts.
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    Mental health and victimization : an exploratory study in prisons of Cape Verde
    (2019-10-09) Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Dias, Jorge; Souto, Maria Teresa Soares; Gamito, Pedro; FPE - Faculty of Psychology and Education; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    Background: There is insufficient information available regarding the psychopathological characteristics of the inmate population in low-middle-income countries as Cape Verde. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of mental disorders in a sample of Cape Verdean inmates and explore its’ relation with victimization in the prison context Participants and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 5 prisons of Cape Verde. 402 subjects were included in stratified convenience sample and assessed with Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS 25 software applying descriptive and inferential statistical measures. Results: Inmate ́s mean age was 31, 16 years, mainly men (96%), single (87,6%) from Cape Verde (90,8%) with a basic level of education. 62.9% reported substance use problems. According to the psychopathological dimensions included in BSI, paranoid ideation, obsessive-compulsive and depressive symptoms stand out either in the sample or in the 2 sub-samples. Symptomatology was significantly higher among victims namely in interpersonal sensitivity), anxiety and hostility. The increasing reoccurrence of victimization in the past 12 months is associated with an increase in the severity of symptoms. Conclusion: Victimization and mental health problems should be identified as early as possible to enable joint and combined intervention, given the negative impact of psychopathological manifestations on the reintegration of prisoners in society affecting the reintegration of prisoners into society.
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    Narratives of those who “love” violently : identity issues and construction of meaning of the batterers
    (SAGE Publications Inc., 2022-09) Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Gonçalves, Rui Abrunhosa; Manita, Celina; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    The present study aims to identify and analyze the interpretative repertoires on love and intimate relationships used by wife batterers, exploring how the repertoires may influence the development and experience of violent intimate relationships, and how this is linked to the identity issues. Twelve wife batterers participated in the study, answering to an individual interview on their lives’ love story. Through a discourse analysis of the data, five distinct interpretative repertoires were identified—romantic, companion, passionate, pragmatic and game-playing love—and their meaning construction was analyzed. It is discussed what repertoires reveal about gender roles prescribed by the model of masculinity, and how these gender roles constrain the construction of the identity, the personal growth and the self-actualization of the batterers.
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    Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in children in the Azores Islands (Portugal) : sociodemographic and clinical profile
    (Springer, 2025-06-17) Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Mota, Pilar; Botelho , Tânia; Caldeira, Suzana Nunes; Rego, Isabel Estrela; Silva, Osvaldo; Toledo de Sousa , Áurea; Freitas , Carina; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    Prevalence studies are essential to provide objective indicators about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and are a source of information for public policies. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of ASD among children in the Azores Islands (Portugal). Administrative data on the number of children with a proven diagnosis of ASD were collected from all schools. Parents completed a questionnaire about the child’s sociodemographic characteristics, the diagnostic process, and clinical history. The overall prevalence of ASD in the Azores region was 9.92 per 1000 children, approximately equivalent to 1% (0.99). The prevalence of ASD in the Azores seems to be higher when compared with the global rate in Portugal, as well as with other regions of Europe. There appears to be a concentration of children with ASD in the region, and the results appear to support the hypothesis of a heritable predisposition to ASD.
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    Victimization and psychopathology prevalence’s in a sample of inmates in Cape Verde
    (ECronicon, 2019-07) Dias, Jorge; Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Souto, Maria Teresa Soares; FPE - Faculty of Psychology and Education
    The literature and research suggested that both victimization and psychopathology are in themselves two risk factors associated with criminal recidivism. If on an international level, studies regarding the prevalence of prison victimization and on the prevalence of mental disorders have proliferated in the last decades, in Cape Verde they are nonexistent. So, the present research resorts to an inmate sample and aims to: characterize it regarding socio-demographic and criminal indicators and estimate either the prevalence of victimization and of psychopathological indicators. The sample includes 402 inmates, approximately 25% of the inmate popula- tion of Cape Verde. Two self-report instruments were used: a questionnaire on socio-demographic, criminal and prison characteriza- tion and the Brief Symptom Inventory. The results indicated that a significant number of prisoners reported having suffered some kind of violence in the prison context (37.1% reported having suffered some type of violence during their imprisonment and 21.4% reported having suffered violence in the last 12 months) and revealed indicators of psychopathology (namely psychotic problems and paranoid ideation). This study concludes that both victimization and mental health problems are present in inmates of Cape Verde and stresses the need to implement a system to identify, evaluate and intervene in these phenomena in the prison context. The eradication of victimization and the existence of mental health services and care, through the development and implementation of procedures for the evaluation, intervention and monitoring of prisoners for their rehabilitation and social integration, should be considered as guidelines to ensure safeguarded in the prison context and to promote high standard quality services.
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    Virtual reality-based cognitive stimulation on people with mild to moderate dementia due to alzheimer’s disease : a pilot randomized controlled trial
    (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2021-05-02) Oliveira, Jorge; Gamito, Pedro; Souto, Maria Teresa Soares; Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Ferreira, Maria; Corotnean, Tatiana; Fernandes, Adriano; Silva, Henrique; Neto, Teresa; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    The use of ecologically oriented approaches with virtual reality (VR) depicting instrumen-tal activities of daily living (IADL) is a promising approach for intervention on acquired brain inju-ries. However, results of such an approach on dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are still lacking. This research reports on a pilot randomized controlled trial that aims to explore the effect of cognitive stimulation reproducing several IADL in VR on people with mild to moderate dementia caused by AD. Patients are being recruited from residential care homes of Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Amadora (SCMA) which is a relevant non-profit social and healthcare provider in Portugal. This intervention lasts 2 months with a total of 10 sessions (2 sessions/week). Neuropsy-chological assessment is carried out at baseline and follow-up using established neuropsychological instruments for assessing memory, attention and executive functions. The sample consisted of 17 patients of both genders randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The prelimi-nary results show an improvement in the overall cognitive function in the experimental group, which suggest this approach to be effective for neurocognitive stimulation for older adults with dementia, contributing to maintain cognitive function in AD.
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    VR-based assessment and intervention of cognitive functioning after stroke
    (2020) Gamito, Pedro; Souto, Maria Teresa Soares; Dias, Ana Rita Conde; Salvador, Ágata; Galhordas, João; Oliveira, Jorge; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    Worldwide, stroke affects one out of every six individuals, being associated with physical and cognitive impairments, and leaving a striking footprint on individuals, their families and society. Assessment of acquired deficits and rehabilitation of lost and compromised functions is based typically on exercises that may not replicate the demands of everyday life activities lacking ecological validity. These tests fail at predicting daily functioning and their similarity with daily life activities is far from being sound. Assessing and training cognitive functions under an ecologically oriented approach, i.e. using exercises that replicate instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) seems to be the suitable strategy to follow. Virtual Reality (VR) worlds have been used to simulate IADL for assessment and rehabilitation of acquired cognitive deficits since the late 1990’s. This chapter reports and debates existing studies that support the use of VR in this context. When it comes down to veridicality and verisimilitude, evidences illustrate the opportunity of adopting this strategy that outperforms traditional paper and pencil exercises. A glance through the perspective of a therapist, that has adopted VR for cognitive rehabilitation in patients with stroke is also debated.