The circumstances of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related deaths embed multiple traumatic characteristics, alongside several external factors that can disenfranchise individual grief. In this ...context, severe forms of traumatic distress, guilt, somatization, regret, anger, and unspecific symptoms not yet included in prolonged grief disorder (PGD) criteria could emerge. This article (a) analyzes factors related to bereavement in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) proposes avenues for meaning-making practices to facilitate individual and collective mourning process; and (c) invites clinicians to pay attention to the traumatic characteristics of COVID-19-related deaths adopting a holistic approach of PGD clinical manifestations, as well as in evaluation and treatment of cases.
The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) involves a simple structure first-order three-factor oblique model, with factors for depression, anxiety, and stress. Recently, concerns have ...been raised over the value of using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for studying the factor structure of scales in general. However, such concerns can be circumvented using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Consequently, the present study used CFA and ESEM with target rotation to examine the factor structure of the DASS-21 among an adult community. It compared first-order CFA, ESEM with target rotation, bi-factor CFA (BCFA), and bi-factor BESEM with target rotation models with group/specific factors for depression, anxiety, and stress. A total of 738 adults (males = 374, and females = 364; M = 25.29 years; SD = 7.61 years) completed the DASS-21. While all models examined showed good global fit values, one or more of the group/specific factors in the BCFA, ESEM with target rotation and BESEM with target rotation models were poorly defined. As the first-order CFA model was most parsimonious, with well-defined factors that were also supported in terms of their reliabilities and validities, this model was selected as the preferred DASS-21 model. The implications of the findings for use and revision of the DASS-21 are discussed.
The ability of a wide range of psychological and actuarial measures to characterize crimes in the prison population has not yet been compared in a single study. Our main objective was to determine if ...the discriminant capacity of psychological measures (PM) and actuarial data (AD) varies according to the crime. An Ecuadorian sample of 576 men convicted of Robbery, Murder, Rape and Drug Possession crimes was evaluated through an ad hoc questionnaire, prison files and the Spanish adaptation of the Personality Assessment Inventory. Discriminant analysis was used to establish, for each crime, the discriminant capacity and the classification accuracy of a model composed of AD (socio-demographic and judicial measures) and a second model incorporating PM. The AD showed a superior discriminant capacity, whilst the contribution of both types of measures varied according to the crime. The PM generated some increase in the correct classification percentages for Murder, Rape and Drug Possession, but their contribution was zero for the crime of Robbery. Specific profiles of each crime were obtained from the strongest significant correlations between the value of each explanatory variable and the probability of belonging to the crime. The AD model is more robust when these four crimes are characterized. The contribution of AD and PM depends on the crime, and the inclusion of PM in actuarial models moderately optimizes the classification accuracy of Murder, Rape, and Drug Possession crimes.
Previous research has paid little attention to the role of kinship in understanding the specific profiles of complicated grief (CG) reactions. To address this underinvestigated topic, the Inventory ...of Complicated Grief was used in five groups of bereaved participants (N = 1,105) that differed in their family relationship with the deceased (child, spouse/romantic partner, sibling, parent, and grandparent). Results identified kinship relationship as the variable that predicted the highest amount of variance in the intensity of CG (standardized β = –.55), above other predictors such as gender, time since loss, or circumstances of death. More important, distinct profiles of CG reactions were found depending on kinship. These results highlight kinship as a major predictor of CG and open a new line of research that serves to clarify the role of kinship along with other risk factors.
Congruence, understood as the agreement between the patient's preferred place of death and their actual place of death, is emerging as one of the main variables indicating the quality of end-of-life ...care. The aim of this research was to conduct a systematic literature review on levels and determinants of congruence in palliative patients over the period 2010-2021.
A systematic review of the literature in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cuiden, the Cochrane Library, CSIC Indexes, and IBECS. Information was extracted on research characteristics, congruence, and associated factors.
A total of 30 studies were identified, mainly of retrospective observational design. The congruence values varied substantially between the various studies, ranging from 21 to 100%. The main predictors of congruence include illness-related factors (functional status, treatments and diagnosis), individual factors (age, gender, marital status, and end of life preferences), and environmental factors (place of residence, availability of health, and palliative care services).
This review, in comparison with previous studies, shows that treatment-related factors such as physical pain control, marital status, having a non-working relative, age, discussing preferred place of death with a healthcare professional, and caregiver's preference have been associated with higher levels of congruence. Depending on the study, other factors have been associated with either higher or lower congruence, such as the patient's diagnosis, gender, or place of residence. This information is useful for designing interventions aimed towards greater congruence at the end of life.
The objectives of the present study were to adapt a grief intervention program to family caregivers of patients with dementia, and assess its effectiveness in improving the symptoms of grief and ...other health-related variables. The intervention was based on Shear and Bloom's grief intervention program, with the necessary adaptations for use in the grieving process for a family member's illness. A total of 52 family caregivers of individuals with dementia participated. They were evaluated using a battery of self-report measures assessing grief, overload, resilience, post-traumatic growth, experiential avoidance, health-related quality of life, and benefits of care. The results suggest that the program is effective in improving grief symptoms, caregiver burden, resilience, post-traumatic growth, and quality of life of family caregivers. It is necessary to create and implement interventions targeting caregivers' feelings and manifestations of ambiguous grief, because there is a lack of programs providing an efficient solution for the mental and physical health of caregivers, and because of the human and socioeconomic cost involved in neglecting this group.
The socioeconomic status (SES) of parents has a crucial influence on the cognitive development of children, but it is not clear whether this effect varies as a function of the children's age. The ...objective of this study was to investigate the development of children aged 7, 9, and 11 years of parents with extremely low SES in a developing country (Ecuador). Participating children were divided between a medium-SES group and a low-SES group. Statistically significant differences were observed as a function of SES group and age in verbal memory, language, and executive function, observing wider between-group differences among the 11-year-olds.
Background: Motivation is a central concept in self-determination theory (SDT). The Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ), which assesses motivation (autonomous, controlled, etc.), has been ...widely used. However, less is known about its applicability to samples such as college students, who may be at risk of having unhealthy behavior in many areas (including smoking, poor dietary habits, alcohol, or tobacco consumption). As this population is transitioning to adulthood, research is needed to understand motivation and changing health patterns. In addition, the lack of instruments for this population in Spain has made the measurement validation process a priority. The purpose of this psychometric study was to adapt the TSRQ to Spanish college students and to examine its structural and validity across four health domains. Methods: Two samples of Spanish college students (n = 347 and n = 244) agreed to participate in the study. Participants completed a booklet containing measures of motivation, well-being, general health, anxiety, depression, and lifestyle. Results: CFA supported a five-dimensional structure in each domain. Reliability values were also adequate for each questionnaire. Regarding other sources of validity, statistically significant relationships between self-determination, health, and well-being were clearly confirmed, and autonomy was a significant predictor of lifestyle. Conclusions: The Spanish version of the TSRQ showed adequate psychometric properties (dimensionality and internal structure, reliability, and validity evidence regarding its relationships with other constructs) in college students. The Spanish TSRQ will provide future research aimed to understand the motivational role in college students’ health behavior and well-being.
There is a need to improve psychological interventions in women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and reduce its long-term sequelae. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore ...the needs of female IPV survivors, the support they receive, and their strategies for coping with this experience over the long term. During 2017, 53 female IPV survivors participated in the study, of whom 38 (71.7%) were recruited from women’s associations against gender violence from three Andalusia provinces (Southern Spain). In a semi-structured interview, the women responded to four open-ended questions about the effects of IPV on their life and how they coped with this situation. Four main themes were identified: (1) changes after the experience, (2) support during recovery, (3) perceived needs and obstacles, and (4) current situation. The survivors considered formal and informal social support to be critical to their recovery and emotional well-being. They also highlighted the need for continuity in support programs and for specialist interventions to address long-term psychological sequelae. These findings reinforce the need for psychological programs more tailored to the needs of these women.
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