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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed people's lives. Social distancing means avoiding close contact with others during a contagious disease outbreak to minimize exposure. Such constraints may also contribute to the worsening of certain mental health disorders. The present study aimed to evaluate the extent to which personality features and social anxiety may contribute to greater difficulties in coping with social distancing practices. A total of 1120 individuals were assessed using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and personality mini-markers to assess personality traits. Logistic regression analysis revealed that neuroticism, social anxiety, and the number of additional hours one spends at home represent significant predictors of greater difficulty. Thus, results showed that social anxiety disorder had specific presentations during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonrepresentational art is another way to refer to abstract art elating to a style in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature. In the last hundred years some experimental investigations of aesthetics and personality have been conducted to reveal fundamental factors which contribute to differences in artistic preference. This study explored associations among openness to experience and preference for visual art. Participants completed an Openess Fatorial Scale and provided preference ratings for different paintings corresponding to representational and nonrepresentational art. The statistical analysis of the data showed a positive correlation between the fantasy factor and appreciation for abstract paintings (r = .20). Here was no statistically significant correlation between this same dimension and the appreciation for figurative paintings. Although these findings are somewhat exploratory and more comprehensive measures of individual differences and art preferences could be employed in new studies in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rev Rene is the property of Rev Rene and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Brasileira em Promoção da Saúde is the property of Revista Brasileira em Promocao da Saude and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Aletheia is the property of Aletheia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite many decades of discussion about the impact of skewed responses on self-report personality trait evaluations, a consensus has not yet emerged. These controversies appear greater when evaluating antisocial tendencies. Social desirability may partly explain distortion in self-report instruments. The objective of this research was to cross-reference information resulting from two evaluation situations with self-report measures. From a sample of 156 participants, authors investigated possible changes in test scores in the case that participants needed to deliver response protocols to the researchers. The results revealed partial score changes in approximately one-third of the sample, indicating the need for further research using the same methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Nursing UFPE / Revista de Enfermagem UFPE is the property of Revista de Enfermagem UFPE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Lying is an everyday act of social interaction. People lie for all sorts of reasons, and different emotions are experimented in these situations. As an integral part of the culture, lying has received a great deal of attention by researchers in the last decades. In Brazil, this new field of research has attracted interest in recent years. This study was set up to construct and validate a measure of the anxiety related to the act of lying. The 44 items elaborated to represent the construct were applied to a sample of 452 individuals. Data were submitted to exploratory factorial analysis and two factors were taken with eigenvalues over 1,0. Factor 1 covered appointments and business (10 items,α=0.81); factor 2 covered relationships (10 items, α=0.82) The method for measuring this kind of anxiety resulting from this study opens possibilities for future national research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have investigated the ability of adult psychopaths and children with psychopathy traits to identify specific facial expressions of emotion. Conclusive results have not yet been found regarding whether psychopathic traits are associated with a specific deficit in the ability of identifying negative emotions such as fear and sadness. This study compared 20 adolescents with psychopathic traits and 21 adolescents without these traits in terms of their ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion using facial stimuli presented during 200 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds, and 1 second expositions. Analyses indicated significant differences between the two groups' performances only for fear and when displayed for 200 ms. This finding is consistent with findings from other studies in the field and suggests that controlling the duration of exposure to affective stimuli in future studies may help to clarify the mechanisms underlying the facial affect recognition deficits of individuals with psychopathic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by anti-social behavior, compromised judgment and deficits of emotional processing. Researchers have been investigating the ability of psychopaths and individuals with psychopathic traits to recognize emotions expressed through the face. The present study performed a systematic review using the main international databases of articles about this theme, published between 1975 and 2013. Seventeen articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this review. The results evidenced the use of non-converging methods and suggest that psychopathy is related to deficits in recognition of negative feelings. Confirmatory data can only be achieved through a methodological standardization. In future studies the use of distinct stimuli exposure time is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intolerance of uncertainty factor is a construct that implies difficulty for the individual in dealing with unforeseen contexts. The literature indicates that intolerance of uncertainty can have a negative impact on well-being, especially when experiencing an unexpected context, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. From this perspective, this study aimed to perform a synopsis of what has been studied about the intolerance of uncertainty in higher education students during the Covid-19 pandemic through a scoping review. Data was collected in the EMBASE, MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases using descriptors in English. From the application of eligibility criteria performed by two judges, nine studies were selected. The three main research topics of the studies analyzed were the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and 1. characteristics involving mental health, 2. fear, and 3. academic activities and career aspects. Most studies showed a lack of tolerance for uncertainty as a predictor of negative factors. In addition, it was found that no interventions directed toward the construct were carried out in the studies. The present review highlights the ability to tolerate uncertainty as a relevant component to be evaluated in students and the importance of carrying out psychological interventions aimed at the intolerance of uncertainty in precarious contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychopathy and the manifestation of interpersonal behaviors in 23 detainees, in a metropolitan area prison. The Hare PCL-R, which is used for the diagnosis of psychopathy, and the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy (IM-P), which is used for the measurement of interpersonal behavior expressed by participants in the interaction with the interviewer, were applied simultaneously by independent evaluators. The results showed statistically significant correlations between the total scores of the PCL-R and the IM-P, between the total scores of the IM-P and the factor 1 of the PCL-R, and a non-significant correlation with factor 2, indicating that the IM-P may be considered an auxiliary instrument for psychopathy assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: to identify the intensity of depressive symptoms and their associated factors in healthcare undergraduate students. Method: cross-sectional study developed with undergraduate health students from a public higher education institution using the Beck Depression Inventory-version II and a student characterization questionnaire. The study involved 792 participants. For data analysis, we used descriptive statistics, chi-squared test and Poisson regression. Results: the intensity of depressive symptoms was moderate to severe in 23.6% of the students, associated with the nonperformance of physical and leisure activities and with speech therapy and nursing courses. Conclusion: several factors may be associated with depression, thus, further investigation into the related factors that cause its emergence in this period of life is necessary, as well as raising institutional awareness and developing strategies at the personal and group level to promote well-being, improve time management and interpersonal relationships, in order to achieve better academic results and personal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies focus predominantly on male psychopathy. This study investigated the female population by examining correlations between two instruments: the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R), used exclusively in the justice system for psychiatric diagnosis of psychopathy, and the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy (IM-P), an auxiliary tool used to detect interpersonal behaviors associated with psychopathy. The sample counted 30 women who were serving sentences in a closed regime in three prisons in the South of Brazil. The interviews were carried out in the premises of the three prisons, and the instruments were simultaneously and independently applied by two evaluators. The results indicated a statistically significant and positive correlation between PCL-R and IM-P, highlighting the correlation between IM-P with Factor 1 of the PCL-R. These results corroborate with previous studies on the subject, showing that the IM-P acts as an auxiliary tool to diagnose psychopathy, especially regarding the assessment of interpersonal behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experience report describes an intervention based on the Social Skills Training (THS) performed with children of the 3rd year of elementary school in a public school in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The aim of THS was to develop a repertoire of healthier behaviors among students, as the main complaints of the school referred to problems of behavior, communication and interaction between the peers, which affected the learning process. Participants included 10 children (ages 7-9 years). The activities were previously planned and lasted for three months, distributed in eight meetings, with weekly frequency of one and a half hours each. The topics covered psychoeducation, muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing techniques, constructive feedback, role-play, and problem solving. The results show that the activities provided the participants with some positive behavioral changes, such as the establishment of rules organized by the students themselves for a good relationship, the learning of relaxation techniques and the improvement of social skills developed throughout the activities. The intervention provided an approximation of Psychology to the school field, in order to invest in interventions in this context, since social skills are recognized as a protection factor in child development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]