Browsing by Author "Silva, Ana Nunes da"
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- Effectiveness of empower-grief for relatives of palliative care patients: Protocol for an exploratory randomized controlled trial.Publication . Neto, David Dias; Coelho, Alexandra; Albuquerque, Sara; Silva, Ana Nunes da; PsychOpenBackground: Grief reactions of relatives of palliative care patients are seldom addressed. Most interventions focus on Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) and not on its prevention. This is particularly relevant in palliative care, in which death is the result of a difficult period of a terminal illness, making caregivers particularly vulnerable to psychological distress. The purpose of the present exploratory trial is to test the efficacy of a selective intervention (Empower-Grief) for the initial problematic grief reactions and to study potential predictors of adherence and efficacy. Method: This is an exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) studying Empower-Grief compared with Treatment as Usual (TAU). Participants will be relatives or caregivers of palliative and oncological patients with initial indicators of risk of developing PGD and will be randomly allocated to Empower-Grief and TAU. Participants will be assessed prior, at the end and six months after the intervention. The primary outcome considered will be symptoms of PGD. The assessment includes measures of anxiety and depression, coping, attachment, psychological flexibility, posttraumatic growth, social support and therapeutic alliance. Results: The trial is ongoing. Forty-four participants will be invited to participate. Conclusion: This study addresses the need for the development of empirically grounded and feasible interventions aimed at dealing with initial problematic reactions in grief, exploring potential predictors and possible venues for personalizing intervention and understanding the mechanism through which these interventions operate.
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international studyPublication . Gloster, Andrew T.; Lamnisos, Demetris; Lubenko, Jelena; Presti, Giovambattista; Squatrito, Valeria; Constantinou, Marios; Nicolaou, Christiana; Papacostas, Savvas; Aydın, Gökçen; Chong, Yuen Yu; Chien, Wai Tong; Cheng, Ho Yu; Ruiz, Francisco J.; Garcia-Martin, Maria B.; Obando-Posada, Diana P.; Segura-Vargas, Miguel A.; Vasiliou, Vasilis S.; McHugh, Louise Anita; Höfer, Stefan; Baban, Adriana; Dias Neto, David; Silva, Ana Nunes da; Monestes, Jean-Louis; Alvarez-Galvez, Javier; Paez Blarrina, Mariza; Montesinos, Francisco; Valdivia-Salas, Sonsoles; Ori, Dorottya; Kleszcz, Bartosz; Lappalainen, Raimo; Ivanović, Iva; Gosar, David; Dionne, Frederick; Merwin, Rhonda M.; Kassianos, Angelos P.; Karekla, MariaThe COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected.
- Patterns of psychological responses among the public during the early phase of COVID-19: A cross-regional analysisPublication . Chong, Yuen Yu; Chien, Wai Tong; Cheng, Ho Yu; Lamnisos, Demetris; Ļubenko, Jeļena; Presti, Giovambattista; Squatrito, Valeria; Constantinou, Marios; Nicolaou, Christiana; Papacostas, Savvas; Aydın, Gökçen; Ruiz, Francisco J.; Garcia Lopez, Maria; Obando-Posada, Diana P.; Segura-Vargas, Miguel A.; Vasiliou, Vasilis S.; McHugh, Louise Anita; Höfer, Stefan; Baban, Adriana; Neto, David Dias; Silva, Ana Nunes da; Monestes, Jean-Louis; Alvarez-Galvez, Javier; Paez Blarrina, Marisa; Montesinos, Francisco; Salas, Sonsoles Valdivia; Őri, Dorottya; Kleszcz, Bartosz; Lappalainen, Raimo; Ivanović, Iva; Gosar, David; Dionne, Frederick; Merwin, Rhonda M.; Gloster, Andrew T.; Karekla, Maria; Kassianos, Angelos P.This study aimed to compare the mediation of psychological flexibility, prosociality and coping in the impacts of illness perceptions toward COVID-19 on mental health among seven regions. Convenience sampled online survey was conducted between April and June 2020 from 9130 citizens in 21 countries. Illness perceptions toward COVID-19, psychological flexibility, prosociality, coping and mental health, socio-demographics, lockdown-related variables and COVID-19 status were assessed. Results showed that psychological flexibility was the only significant mediator in the relationship between illness perceptions toward COVID-19 and mental health across all regions (all ps = 0.001–0.021). Seeking social support was the significant mediator across subgroups (all ps range = <0.001–0.005) except from the Hong Kong sample (p = 0.06) and the North and South American sample (p = 0.53). No mediation was found for problem-solving (except from the Northern European sample, p = 0.009). Prosociality was the significant mediator in the Hong Kong sample (p =0.016) and the Eastern European sample (p = 0.008). These findings indicate that fostering psychological flexibility may help to mitigate the adverse mental impacts of COVID-19 across regions. Roles of seeking social support, problem-solving and prosociality vary across regions.