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Self-transcendence is related to higher female sexual desire
Publication . Costa, Rui Miguel; Oliveira, Tânia Sofia Ferreira de; Pestana, José Antonio Melo; Costa, David
One facet of self-transcendence is creative self-forgetfulness (CSF; tendency to be attentionally absorbed in mindaltering
experiences). Proneness to mind-altering attentional absorption and other aspects of self-transcendence
were previously related to vaginal intercourse frequency, sexual arousability, and female coital orgasm. Given
that sexual responsiveness is enhanced by focused attention, itwas testedwhether CSF correlates with sexual responsiveness,
and if maladaptive defenses, openness to experience, and testosterone explain the hypothesized
relationships. One hundred thirty-nine Portuguese (98 women) provided saliva samples for testosterone determination
by luminescence immunoassays before and after a romantic movie scene and reported how intensely
they felt sexual desire and arousal during the movie. CSF was measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory–
Revised, maladaptive defenses by the immature defenses subscale of the Defense Style Questionnaire
(DSQ-40), male and female past month desire by the desire dimensions of the International Index of Erectile
Function (IIEF), and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Female desire and arousal during themoviewere independently
predicted by CSF, openness to experience and testosterone, but not by immature defenses. Female past
month desire was independently predicted by CSF, testosterone, and less immature defenses. Possible psychobiological
processes linking self-transcendence and sexual responsiveness are discussed.
Perception accuracy of affiliative relationships in elementary school children and young adolescents
Publication . Daniel, João Rodrigo; Silva, Rita Rocha da; Santos, António José; Cardoso, Jordana Pinto; Coelho, Leandra Marques; Freitas, Miguel da Costa Nunes de; Ribeiro, Olívia
There has been a rapid growth of studies focused on selection and socialization processes of peer groups, mostly due to the development of stochastic actor-based models to analyze longitudinal social network data. One of the core assumptions of these models is that individuals have an accurate knowledge of the dyadic relationships within their network (i.e., who is and is not connected to whom). Recent cross-sectional findings suggest that elementary school children are very inaccurate in perceiving their classmates' dyadic relationships. These findings question the validity of stochastic actor-based models to study the developmental dynamics of children and carry implications for future research as well as for the interpretation of past findings. The goal of the present study was thus to further explore the adequacy of the accuracy assumption, analysing data from three longitudinal samples of different age groups (elementary school children and adolescents). Our results support the validity of stochastic actor-based models to study the network of adolescents and suggest that the violation of the accuracy assumption for elementary school children is not as severe as previously thought.
Predictors of stress and depressive mood in portuguese middle-aged women
Publication . Pimenta, Filipa; Marôco, J. P.; Leitão, Mafalda; Leal, I.
This cross-sectional study investigates the predictors of psychological symptoms-stress and depressive mood-in a sample of middle-aged women. A community sample of 1,003 women filled in the questionnaires and instruments, which included the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales and the Life Events Survey; sociodemographic, health, and menopause-related and lifestyle information was also collected. Structural equation modeling was used to build the model that had stress and depressive mood as dependent variables. Health status (both physical and psychological), recent life events, income and menopausal phase were significantly associated with the frequency of stress and depressive symptoms. Additionally, educational level and parity were also significant predictors of depressive mood. This study emphasizes that psychological symptoms occurrence in midlife depends not only on personal variables (such as health and menopausal status) but also on contextual ones (including recent stressful events) that can be a strong influence on how middle-aged women feel.
Contextual factors related to chronic condition in portuguese adolescents: Highlights from the HBSC/WHO study
Publication . Santos, Teresa Cristina; Matos, Margarida Gaspar de; Simões, Celeste; Machado, Maria do Céu
Adolescence’s changes may become more pronounced when living with a chronic condition (CC). This study aims
to examined the differences in satisfaction with family life, perception of school competence and “pressure with
homework” of Portuguese adolescents’ 1) living with CC; 2) how living with CC affects school participation; taking
into account age, gender and family socioeconomic status (SES).
Five thousand fifty Portuguese adolescents (mean age 14 ± 1.85) of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children
(HBSC/WHO) were included. Results showed increased vulnerability in adolescents living with CC, presenting a lower
satisfaction with family life and poor school outcomes. Younger boys, having a higher SES and not having CC are
significantly associated with satisfaction with family life. Older girls, having a lower SES and living with CC were
associated with more stress related to school work.
Future interventions should include these features combined with ‘listening’ to adolescents and their needs, allowing
their participation in the promotion of personal health.
Co-evolution of friendships and antipathies: A longitudinal study of preschool peer groups
Publication . Daniel, João Rodrigo; Santos, António José; Antunes, Marta Justino Ferrúcio; Fernandes, Marília; Vaughn, Brian E.
We used stochastic actor-based models to test whether the developmental dynamics of friendships and antipathies in preschool peer groups (followed throughout three school years) were co-dependent. We combined choices from three sociometric tasks of 142 children to identify friendship and antipathy ties and used SIENA to model network dynamics. Our results show that different social processes drive the development of friendship and antipathy ties, and that they do not develop in association (i.e., friendship ties are not dependent on existing antipathies, and vice-versa). These results differ from those of older children (age range = 10-14) suggesting that the interplay of friendship and antipathy only plays a significant role in the peer group context in older children. We propose these differences to be likely related with preschool age children's inaccurate perceptions of their classmates' relationships, particularly of their antipathies, and/or with the absence of shared norms to deal with antipathetic relationships.
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Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
5876
Funding Award Number
UID/PSI/04810/2013