Browsing by Author "Ramos, Maria Meireles"
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- Assessing personality disorders in adolescence : a validation study of the IPOP-APublication . Leal, I.; Silva, Sara Bailote; Ramos, Maria Meireles; Pedreira, Marta; Ramos, Vera Santos; Pires, PedroBackground: The need to develop clinical and empirically-based tools for assessing personality development in adolescence led to the proposal of the IPOP-A (Ammaniti, Fontana, Kernberg, Clarkin, & Clarkin, 2011), a semi-structured interview for adolescents that aims to differentiate personality organization processes from characteristics that may reflect a personality disorder. Objective and Method: This research aimed to evaluate the adaptation of the IPOP-A to the Portuguese population, attending to its diagnostic properties and its discriminant validity by comparing a clinical group with a nonclinical one. A total sample of 44 adolescents from 13 to 18 years old has taken part in this study, 22 of whom had a previous personality disorder diagnosis. The content of the interviews was transcribed and codified according to the coding manual. Results: Acceptable internal consistency values across the dimensions of the IPOP-A are found and statistically significant differences are revealed between the clinical group and nonclinical group, with the clinical group revealing values that suggest higher impairment in the dimensions of the personality functioning in comparison with the nonclinical one. Conclusion: Our study supports that the Portuguese version of the IPOP-A can be considered a valid instrument to identify adolescents with a personality disorder
- How couple’s relationship lasts over time? A model for marital satisfactionPublication . Abreu-Afonso, José; Ramos, Maria Meireles; Garcia, Inês; Leal, Isabel Maria PereiraHigh rates of divorce seem related to low marital satisfaction levels; however, there is still a lack of a model that can help understand the couple's resilience and fragility throughout the life cycle. This research explores the role of communication patterns, their own and partner's motivation for conjugality, cohesion and flexibility within a couple, and several sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., stage of the family life cycle) that can explain marital satisfaction. A sample of 331 Portuguese in a marital relationship completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and marital satisfaction measures, communication and conflict management competencies, cohesion and flexibility, and motivation. Adequate statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. Both measurement and structural model performed in the study presented a good fit, with five significant predictors of marital satisfaction (that accounted for 85% of the variability): intrinsic motivation (β = .64), communication (β = .31), families with young children (β = -.08), families with teenagers (β = -.07) and professional/academic status (β = .06). By identifying a model for marital satisfaction, this research provides clues regarding which aspects might need to be considered in couples' clinical work to promote healthier relationships.