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Antonio Chacón, 1 Manuela Pérez-Chacón, 1 Mercedes Borda-Mas, 2 María Luisa Avargues-Navarro, 2 Ana María López-Jiménez 3 1International School of Doctoral Studies, University of Seville, Seville, 41013, Spain; 2Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, University of Seville, Seville, 41018, Spain; 3Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Seville, Seville, SpainCorrespondence: María Luisa Avargues-NavarroDepartment of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Seville, C/Camilo José Cela s/n, Seville, 41018, SpainTel +34 954 557 806Email avargues@us.esManuela Pérez-ChacónInternational School of Doctoral Studies, University of Seville, México Pavillion, Paseo de las Delicias s/n, Seville, 41013, SpainTel +34 672 239 205Email manpercha@alum.us.esPurpose: This article describes a cross-cultural adaptation of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) to the adult Spanish population, and psychometric analysis of its validation and reliability.Methods: Convenience sampling by participant accessibility was used. The original version was adapted culturally and linguistically using the back-translation method, and a pilot study was done with 88 participants. Data processing and analysis was performed with the SPSS v.25 and LISREL v.9.2 statistical packages. The psychometric properties were studied in a sample of 8358 participants using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, and examining factorial invariance and internal consistency.Results: The results confirmed a Spanish version with 27 items in five-dimensions: sensitivity to overstimulation (SOS), aesthetic sensitivity (AES), low sensory threshold (LST), fine psychophysiological discrimination (FPD) and harm avoidance (HA). Invariance across gender of this factor structure was demonstrated and reliability indices were good.Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the HSPS is an appropriate tool for evaluating high sensitivity in the adult Spanish population.Keywords: sensory processing sensitivity, sensitivity to overstimulation, aesthetic sensitivity, low sensory threshold, fine psychophysiological discrimination, harm avoidance

Problematic online behaviours are a concern among university students. Although previous research has identified that psychological distress, cognitive distortions, conscientiousness and neuroticism traits, motor impulsivity, and emotion regulation strategies have a significant direct effect on generalised problematic Internet use (GPIU), problematic social media use (PSMU), and problematic online gaming (POG), it is still necessary to determine the extent to which these psychological factors, taken together, are associated with each of the problematic online behaviours. In a sample of 690 Spanish university students, the present study examined the relationship of these psychological factors with GPIU, PSMU, and POG. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. Results reported that (1) high psychological distress, low conscientiousness trait and high motor impulsivity were common associated factors of GPIU and PSMU, but not of POG; (2) high levels of cognitive distortions and cognitive reappraisal were common associated factors of GPIU, PSMU and POG; and (3) expressive suppression and neuroticism trait had no effect on any of the three problematic online behaviours. The findings will help to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies for each problematic online behaviour in the university context., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The University of Gibraltar received funding from the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit charity, and donations from gambling operators through the LCCP RET process supervised by the UK Gambling Commission. None of these funding sources are related to this study, and the funding institutions/organisations had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing, or decision to submit the paper for publication., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: We plan a scoping review aimed to synthesize what is known about the use of sensory-driven body illusion (BI) interventions for understanding and treating body image disturbance (BID) in people diagnosed with clinical eating disorders (EDs) and people with subclinical ED symptomatology. Our study will provide an outline of the current literature, identify gaps within the literature, and suggest novel directions for future research., Methods/design: The scoping review process will be guided by the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley, subsequent recommendations by Levac et al., and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. The following electronic databases will be systematically searched: MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Furthermore, to identify additional studies, we will use a search engine such as Google Scholar, and for grey literature, we will include Proquest for Dissertations and Theses. A search strategy has been identified and agreed upon by the research team in conjunction with a research librarian. Two researchers will screen the titles and abstracts independently and then assess the full text of the selected citations for the inclusion criteria. A third reviewer will be involved in cases of disagreement. Data will be extracted, collated, and charted to summarize all the relevant methods, outcomes, and key findings in the articles., Discussion: A better understanding of this topic will aid in the development and refinement of current treatments aimed at treating BID in people with EDs. Implications and recommendations for research, policy, and practice in the context of the ED community will be discussed., Systematic Review Registration: https://osf.io/3bcm6/?view_only=83b2e8a2445d4266909992e3dfb51929., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Aesthetic sensitivity in people with high sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) reflects the positive perception of life, especially aspects related to the arts and nature. This study is focused on the analysis of the effect of aesthetic sensitivity in relation to indicators of health-related quality of life (general health, mental health and emotional role), the personality traits openness to experience and agreeableness, and coping strategies in people with SPS. The adult participants ( N  = 10,520, mean age = 33.61) completed the Spanish versions of the High Sensitivity Person Scale (HSPS-S), Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI). It was observed that people with high aesthetic sensitivity presented greater openness and agreeableness, tended to use adaptive coping strategies and showed a slightly poorer functioning in different areas of daily living. Moreover, health-related quality of life, mental health and adaptive coping strategies occupied central positions in the correlations between variables, with a positive impact between mental health and adaptive coping strategies with openness and agreeableness. Lastly, the level of aesthetic sensitivity did not play a moderator role, and it exerted no differential influence on its relationship with the analysed variables. Now, it has been found that people with high levels of aesthetic sensitivity cope more adequately, which would cushion the effect that high SPS can have on mental health, specifically on anxious and depressive symptoms. It is concluded that these findings are relevant and useful for future propositions of prevention and clinical intervention, as well as for counselling in the psychoeducational, labour and family scopes, amongst others., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Chacón, Borda-Mas, Rivera, Pérez-Chacón and Avargues-Navarro.)

The aim of this study was to analyze the role of sensory processing sensitivity in the perception of stress under certain working conditions and its relationship with indicators of quality of professional life, in service sector workers. The participants ( n = 3180) completed the Spanish versions of HSPS-S, CoPSoQ and ProQoL. The results show that exposure to certain working conditions represents a risk to the quality of professional life in workers of different fields, such as education, healthcare, hospitality and administration/management. The presence of high sensitivity is associated with poorer quality of professional life, specifically burnout and compassion fatigue. This study demonstrates the need to develop prevention programs aimed at managing stress by improving the working conditions, in order to adequately address sensory processing sensitivity and, consequently, promote the quality of professional life of service sector workers who present high sensitivity.

Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is the reactivity to different stimuli that occurs in some people with sufficient intensity to cause interference in daily life. There are not many previous studies that determine the influence of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies on health-related quality of life through indicators of mental (anxiety and depression) and physical (vitality) health and functioning in their lives in different contexts (emotional role functioning). In this sense, contexts that promote the use of successful stress-coping strategies are related to the presence of positive mental health outcomes. This study focuses on the analysis of indicators of health-related quality of life in people with SPS in relation to certain personality traits and coping strategies. Participants (N = 10,525) completed HSPS-S, NEO-FFI, CSI, and SF-36. Differences were observed between men and women. Differences indicated that women had higher SPS scores compared to men and poorer health-related quality of life. The results showed significant relationships with the three indicators of health-related quality of life. Finally, it is confirmed that neuroticism and the use of maladaptive coping strategies act as risk factors, whereas extraversion, conscientiousness, and adaptive coping strategies act as protective factors. These findings highlight the need to develop prevention programs for highly sensitive persons.

Background: Bodily illusions can be used to investigate the experience of being in a body by manipulating the underlying processes of multisensory integration. Research suggests that people with eating disorders (EDs) may have impairments in visual, interoceptive, proprioceptive, and tactile bodily perception. Furthermore, people with EDs also show abnormalities in integrating multisensory visuo-tactile and visual-auditory signals related to the body, which may contribute to the development of body image disturbances. Visuo-auditory integration abnormalities have been observed also in people with subthreshold ED symptomatology. However, it remains unclear whether these impairments are specific to bodily signals or if they extend to any auditory signals., Methods: We will recruit 50 participants (aged 18-24; females assigned at birth) with ED symptomatology (subthreshold group) and 50 control participants. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire will be administered to screen for ED symptomatology and divide the sample into two groups accordingly (control and subthreshold group using a clinical cut-off score of 2.8). The strength of both illusions will be measured implicitly with estimations of body part position and size, and explicitly with self-report questionnaires. As a secondary aim, regression analysis will be run to test the predictive role of susceptibility for both illusions on interoceptive body awareness (measured by the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Scale) and sensory-processing sensitivity (measured by the Highly Sensitive Person Scale)., Discussion: Our study may contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying body image disturbances. The results may pave the way for novel clinical interventions targeting early symptoms prior to the development of the disorder in young females., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

University students are a high-risk population with problematic online behaviours that include generalized problematic Internet/smartphone use and specific problematic Internet uses (for example, social media or gaming). The study of their predictive factors is needed in order to develop preventative strategies. This systematic review aims to understand the current state of play by examining the terminology, assessment instruments, prevalence, and predictive factors associated with problematic smartphone use and specific problematic Internet uses in university students. A literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines using four major databases. A total of 117 studies were included, divided into four groups according to the domain of problem behaviour: problematic smartphone use ( n  = 67), problematic social media use ( n  = 39), Internet gaming disorder ( n  = 9), and problematic online pornography use ( n  = 2). Variability was found in terminology, assessment tools, and prevalence rates in the four groups. Ten predictors of problematic smartphone use, five predictors of problematic social media use, and one predictor of problematic online gaming were identified. Negative affectivity is found to be a common predictor for all three groups, while social media use, psychological well-being, and Fear of Missing Out are common to problematic smartphone and social media use. Our findings reaffirm the need to reach consistent diagnostic criteria in cyber addictions and allow us to make progress in the investigation of their predictive factors, thus allowing formulation of preventive strategies., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors have no conflict to declare., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Background: Many technological interventions designed to promote physical activity (PA) have limited efficacy and appear to lack important factors that could increase engagement. This may be due to a discrepancy between research conducted in this space, and software designers' and developers' use of this research to inform new digital applications., Objectives: This study aimed to identify (1) what are the variables that act as barriers and facilitators to PA and (2) which PA variables are currently considered in the design of technologies promoting PA including psychological, physical, and personal/contextual ones which are critical in promoting PA. We emphasize psychological variables in this work because of their sparse and often simplistic integration in digital applications for PA., Methods: We conducted two systematized reviews on PA variables, using PsycInfo and Association for Computing Machinery Digital Libraries for objectives 1 and 2., Results: We identified 38 PA variables (mostly psychological ones) including barriers/facilitators in the literature. 17 of those variables were considered when developing digital applications for PA. Only few studies evaluate PA levels in relation to these variables. The same barriers are reported for all weight groups, though some barriers are stronger in people with obesity., Conclusions: We identify PA variables and illustrate the lack of consideration of these in the design of PA technologies. Digital applications to promote PA may have limited efficacy if they do not address variables acting as facilitators or barriers to participation in PA, and that are important to people representing a range of body weight characteristics., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

The study analyzes sensory processing sensitivity and the compassion satisfaction as risk/protective factors against burnout and compassion fatigue, during the first period of the COVID-19 health emergency. A sample of 1566 Spanish adult healthcare (n = 694) and education (n = 872) professionals was evaluated. An ad hoc questionnaire for sociodemographic data, and the highly sensitive person scale (HSPS), Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) and professional quality of life scale (ProQOL-vIV) were administered. Burnout and compassion fatigue were observed in the healthcare and education professionals, where personal realization and depersonalization were higher in healthcare and compassion fatigue in education. The protective role of compassion satisfaction was confirmed, as was sensory processing sensitivity as a risk factor, except for its low sensory threshold dimension, which positively influenced personal realization. The findings of this study demonstrate the presence of burnout and compassion fatigue in healthcare and education professionals, displaying compassion fatigue as an emerging psychosocial risk in education, which was made more severe under the conditions of study, which is at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The importance of incorporating adequate management strategies for high sensitivity, empathy and compassion satisfaction in prevention programs is emphasized.

Being a housewife may already be a psychosocial risk factor leading to chronic stress and burnout, and this may be aggravated when the housewife must also become the caregiver of a family member with Alzheimer's. The burnout syndrome and how it can affect general health and the presence of emotional disorders were studied in housewives who were family caregivers of an Alzheimer's patient. The sample selected was made up of 193 housewives, 96 of whom were also caregivers for a family member with Alzheimer's. Sociodemographic measures used were the Maslach Burnout Inventory and The General Health Questionnaire. Burnout was found in a significant percentage of participants. Emotional exhaustion, effect on general health, and presence of emotional disorders were higher in caregivers. Emotional exhaustion, general health, and anxiety were more influential, while depersonalization affected the appearance of depressive symptoms more. Being a caregiver and emotional exhaustion appeared to be the best predictors of emotional disorders. It was confirmed that emotional exhaustion influenced appearance of anxiety and depression equally in both groups. In the case of caregivers, an exhaustion-illness spiral was produced. In this group, emotional exhaustion seemed to become more severe as a consequence of the presence of chronic illnesses, and possibly influence the number of hours spent on care and having children living at home. Future research should analyze in greater depth and in a larger sample, the role of these variables and widen the focus of attention to personal variables that could be acting as protective factors and could be subject to intervention. The discussion concludes with some actions that should be included in prevention programs for the groups studied., (Copyright © 2020 Avargues-Navarro, Borda-Mas, Campos-Puente, Pérez-San-Gregorio, Martín-Rodríguez and Sánchez-Martín.)

Background: Emotional exhaustion causes adverse effects in those who suffer from it. Housewives are not excluded. Domestic and care chores, which are considered to be sources of stress, increase when taking on the role of caregiver for a family member with Alzheimer's disease., Objective: To analyse the influence of emotional exhaustion, somatic symptoms and social dysfunction, based on the activity they carry out., Methodology: Cross-sectional survey. 193 women participated, of which: housewives (HWs) (n = 97), and Alzheimer's patient caregiver-housewives (CHWs) (n = 96). The evaluation tools were: sociodemographic/working data questionnaire (ad hoc), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28)., Results: High rates of emotional exhaustion are observed, as well as an existing positive link between chronic diseases, somatic symptoms and social dysfunction. The structural model indicates that emotional exhaustion predicts the amount and extent of diseases, somatic symptoms and social dysfunction. The influence is higher in CHWs., Limitations: Sample procedure implemented at convenience; the variable of the grade of dependence of the Alzheimer's patient caregiver was not included in the study., Conclusions: The domestic and care chores that HWs and CHWs carry out affect their health. Hence the need to develop psychoeducative programmes that are adapted to the particular needs of these women and focused on the different areas of their everyday lives., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Our objective was to analyze the differences in posttraumatic growth in 240 liver transplant recipients based on two factors. First, self-perceived health: better (Group 1 = G 1 ) and worse (Group 2 = G 2 ). Second, vitality: more (Group 3 = G 3 ) and less (Group 4 = G 4 ). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, SF-36 Health Survey (Item 2) and SF-12 Health Survey (vitality dimension) were used. Firstly, analyzing main effects recipients with better (G 1 ) compared to worse (G 2 ) self-perceived health, showed greater posttraumatic growth. Interaction effects were found on essential posttraumatic growth domains such as new possibilities ( p = 0.040), personal strength ( p = 0.027), and appreciation of life ( p = 0.014). Statistically significant differences showed that among transplant recipients with worse self-perceived health (G 2 ), those with more vitality had higher levels on abovementioned posttraumatic growth dimensions. However, in transplant recipients with better self-perceived health (G 1 ) respective dimensions were not significantly influenced by the level of vitality. Among the recipients with less vitality (G 4 ), those with better self-perceived health showed higher scores on abovementioned posttraumatic growth dimensions. We conclude that positive self-perceived health might compensate for a lack of vitality as well as a high level of vitality may compensate for negative self-perceived health regarding the development of crucial aspects of posttraumatic growth after liver transplantation.

The valid assessment of the impact of transplantation on psychological well-being is highly relevant to optimize treatment. However, to date there is no standardized instrument available in Spain. The Transplant Effects Questionnaire (TxEQ) evaluates the specific problems associated with organ transplantation, such as worry about transplant, guilt regarding the donor, disclosure of having undergone transplantation, adherence to medical treatment and responsibility toward the donor, family, friends, or medical staff. Against this backdrop the English original version of the TxEQ was translated into Spanish and validated in a sample of 240 liver transplant recipients. Participants also filled in the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12v.2). Confirmatory factor analysis of the TxEQ-Spanish revealed a five-factor structure equivalent to the English original version, and satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: worry α = 0.82, guilt α = 0.77, disclosure α = 0.91, adherence α = 0.82, responsibility α = 0.83). Results showed that better mental quality of life was associated with higher adherence and disclosure, as well as less worry and guilt. Higher posttraumatic growth was significantly associated with worry, guilt, and responsibility. Interestingly, the most powerful predictor of posttraumatic growth was worry. Analysis of variance showed an interaction effect of PTG and mental quality of life on adherence, with medium PTG being associated with significantly stronger adherence in participants with better mental quality of life. In conclusion our study could successfully adapt and validate the Spanish version of the TxEQ in a large sample of liver transplant recipients. Our findings show a complex relationship between emotional reactions to transplantation, mental quality of life, and posttraumatic growth, which give further insight into inner processes supporting psychological well-being and adherence after liver transplantation.

Objective: Little is known concerning post-traumatic growth (PTG) after liver transplantation. Against this backdrop the current study analysed the relationship between PTG and time since transplantation on quality of life. Furthermore, it compared PTG between liver transplant recipients and their caregivers., Design: Cross-sectional case-control study., Setting: University Hospital in Spain., Participants: 240 adult liver transplant recipients who had undergone only one transplantation, with no severe mental disease, were the participants of the study. Specific additional analyses were conducted on the subset of 216 participants for whom caregiver data were available. Moreover, results were compared with a previously recruited general population sample., Outcome Measures: All participants completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and recipients also filled in the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Relevant sociodemographic and clinical parameters were also assessed., Results: In the sample of 240 recipients, longer time since transplantation (>9 years) was associated with more pain symptoms (p=0.026). Regardless of duration, recipients showed lower scores on most quality of life dimensions than the general population. However, high PTG was associated with a significantly higher score on the vitality quality of life dimension (p=0.021). In recipients with high PTG, specific quality of life dimensions, such as bodily pain (p=0.307), vitality (p=0.890) and mental health (p=0.353), even equalled scores in the general population, whereas scores on general health surpassed them (p=0.006). Furthermore, liver transplant recipients (n=216) compared with their caregivers showed higher total PTG (p<0.001) and higher scores on the subscales relating to others (p<0.001), new possibilities (p<0.001) and appreciation of life (p<0.001)., Conclusions: Our findings highlight the protective role of PTG in the long-term outcome of liver transplant recipients. Future studies should analyse and develop psychosocial interventions to strengthen PTG in transplant recipients and their caregivers., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Background/Objective : The evidence on efficacy of cognitive-behavioral interventions in Eating Disorders (ED) still shows inconclusive results with respect to the role of purging behaviors, more so in uncontrolled situations. Evolution of ED patients with and without purging behavior was studied 30 months after start of a multicomponent treatment. Method : 162 women (87 purging, 75 non-purging) treated in outpatient or hospitals + outpatient care units in Spain participated. The evaluation instruments were: BSQ, EAT-40, EDI, STAI, BDI and BITE. Results : At the beginning of the treatment, participants with purging behavior showed higher bulimic symptomatology, more body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, perfectionism and ineffectiveness, anxiety and depressive symptomatology. After thirty months, intervention produced improvement in ED characteristics, emotional alterations and personal development variables, in both groups, but less in patients with no purging behavior. The effect of intervention was stronger in purging patients and variables with larger effect size: body dissatisfaction, bulimic symptomatology and anxiety. Conclusions : Purging behaviors must be considered in the design of these treatments with a view to prognosis.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in coping strategies employed by liver transplant recipients and their family members according to patient posttraumatic growth. Two matched groups of 214 liver transplant recipients and 214 family members were selected. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory and Brief COPE were used. The most relevant results were: (1) Interactive effects in active coping, support (instrumental and emotional) and acceptance strategies, which were all used more by patients with higher growth levels, while their family members showed no differences in use of these strategies by patient growth level. Furthermore, while a low level of patient growth did not mark differences between them and their caregivers, a high level did, patients employing more active coping and support (instrumental and emotional), (2) In both groups a high level of patient growth was associated with more use of positive reframing and denial than a low one, and (3) Self-blame was employed by patients more than by their caregivers. It was concluded that a high level of posttraumatic growth in liver transplant recipients is associated with more use of healthy coping strategies, basically active coping, instrumental support, and emotional support.

The purpose of this study has been to test, with a sample of 193 Professors of the University of Seville, a structural model on the mediating role of personal perceived competence in the appearance of burnout syndrome and stress symptoms under potentially stressful work conditions. The instruments used to evaluate were a socio-demographic and work-related data questionnaire, The Maslach Burnout Inventory (M.B.I.), The Labour Scale of Stress and the Magallanes Stress Scale. The model of strategy implementation and LISREL 8.71 were used. The estimated model was adjusted satisfactorily, ascertaining the mediating effect of perceived competence in the effect exerted by the work conditions studied on the depersonalization and personal fulfillment, as well as in the appearance of stress symptoms. The effect on the emotional exhaustion dimension was not confirmed. The latter also acted on the estimated model as a mediating variable, facilitating the negative impact of stressors on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment.

The aim of the present study is to explore the MCMI-II personality style and MCMI-II possible disorder of borderline personality (BPD) in various groups of women. 93 patients-31 anorexia nervosa restricting subtype (ANr), 31 anorexia nervosa binge-eating/purging subtype (ANp), and 31 bulimia nervosa purging subtype (BNp); 31 women at high risk for eating disorder or symptomatic control group (S-CG) and 31 without known pathology or not symptomatic control group (NS-CG)-completed the Spanish version of the MCMI-II. The results revealed: (1) clinically significant borderline personality traits [74>Base Rate (BR) <85]: 16.1% ANr, 12.9% ANp, and 45.2% BNp versus 3.2% of the S-CG and none of the NS-CG; (2) possible disorder (BR>84): 29% ANr, 41.9% ANp and 29% BNp. According to the MCM-II, women with BNp displayed more BPD traits than possible disorder (though these were more severe). However, the probability of a possible disorder was higher in ANp (more disorders than traits).