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- Burnout, resilience, and subjective well-being among Portuguese lecturers’ during the COVID-19 pandemicPublication . Castro, Luísa; Serrão, Carla; Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Marina, Sílvia; dos Santos, José Paulo Marques; Amorim-Lopes, Teresa Sofia; Miguel, Carla; Teixeira, Andreia; Duarte, IvoneBackground: Lecturers face a large wide of occupational stressors. If the prolonged stress and the symptomatology associated with the working conditions to which lecturers were exposed were already a concern before the pandemic, the pandemic may have exacerbated this psychosocial vulnerability. Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work stress. This study aims to describe burnout amongst lecturers working in Portugal and to analyse potential determinants of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using an online questionnaire distributed via social networks. The survey collected sociodemographic and sleep patterns data in addition to applying the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (personal, work- and student-related burnout), the Resilience Scale, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: The sample included 331 lecturers from 35 different colleges and faculties. Three significant models explained personal (R2 = 54%), work- (R2 = 47%) and student- (R2 = 19%) related burnout. Lower levels of resilience and higher levels of depression and stress were significantly associated with personal and work-related burnout. Changes in sleep patterns were additionally associated with both personal and work-related burnout. Conclusion: Higher education institutions must recognize the impact of the work environment and organizational culture on faculty mental health and take proactive measures to improve this environment. These institutions can implement support strategies such as educational technology training, professional development programmes, emotional support resources, and workload flexibility. Implementing measures to enhance lecturers’ resilience and overall life satisfaction could potentially help mitigate burnout and improve the well-being of educators, ultimately contributing to the overall quality of education.
- The impact of teleworking in psychologists during COVID-19: Burnout, depression, anxiety, and stressPublication . Serrão, Carla; Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Teixeira, Andreia; Castro, Luísa; Duarte, IvoneBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced mental health professionals to adapt quickly. The pandemic has created multiple new tasks for the psychologist. In addition to the various stressors closely linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologists were forced to make their services more flexible. Teleworking was a way of continuing to work. Objective: This study aimed to identify the impact of working pattern on the levels of burnout, depression, anxiety, and stress. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on an online questionnaire applied to eighty-three Portuguese psychologists. Data were collected from May 9 to June 8, 2020, a period comprising the declaration of a national calamity and then state of emergency, and the subsequent ease of lockdown measures. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory Scale and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale were used. Univariate multiple linear regression models were estimated for each mental health outcome. Results: Significant differences were found between psychologists working in the workplace and in teleworking at the personal burnout, work-related burnout, client-related burnout, depression, and stress. In multiple linear regression, teleworking, not working, and being unmarried was significantly associated with higher levels of depression. Teleworking was significantly associated with higher stress scores and client-related and work burnout. Conclusions: This exceptional time of sudden, mandatory, and high-intensity teleworking, required rapid adaptation, giving rise to new stressors that might have been responsible for burnout levels in psychologists.
- Advantages and Disadvantages, Concerns, and Solutions for Emergency Remote Teaching During COVID-19: Portuguese Lecturers’ PerspectivesPublication . Marques dos Santos, José Paulo; Serrão, Carla; Amorim-Lopes, Teresa Sofia; Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Marina, Silvia; Teixeira, Andreia; Castro, Luísa; Duarte, IvoneCOVID-19 pandemic impacted the world dramatically and how communities and societies behaved. The purpose of this study was to explore lecturers’ perspectives on emergency remote teaching, not only from technology-prone lecturers but encompassing contributions from disparate academic fields, which brought assorted experiences into the data. The qualitative study analyses the perspectives of 344 lecturers from 35 higher education institutions in Portugal instigated by the COVID-19 outbreak. The thematic analysis revealed three themes related to the advantages and disadvantages: the lecturing process, learning process, and life and society. Regarding the concerns, four themes emerged: learning process, self-regulation and compromising the future, resources, the assessment process, and well-being. Finally, solutions encompass three themes: pedagogy and innovation, normative framework, and digital literacy. With a special focus on the solutions, all these themes contribute to designing the structure of a training program for the 21st-century higher education lecturer, emphasizing the digital domain. The themes cluster in digital-based innovative pedagogies (mastering digital education software, active pedagogies for digital environments, lecturer posture in digital environments, ‘‘for-digital’’ studying material production, e-proctoring, and transferable competences besides the digital), and digital competences (transgenerational digital-base communication, webcam behavior, well-being in digital settings, and general digital competences).
- Mediation of Self-Compassion on Pathways from Stress and Anxiety to Depression among Portuguese Higher Education StudentsPublication . Serrão, Carla; Valquaresma, A.; Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Duarte, IvoneHigher education is a context that requires students to develop academic, social and institutional tasks. As a result of this complex and multidimensional process, students tend to experience greater stress, anxiety and depression, making it crucial for students to mobilize a set of essential personal, social and instrumental resources, for a more positive adaptation to the academic context. Self-compassion is an adaptative emotion-regulation strategy and may help students to better adjust to academic issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of self-compassion as a mediator in the relationship between anxiety and depression, as well as stress and depression. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed through social media. Stress and anxiety were found to be positively related to depression scores and negatively related to self-compassion. A bootstrapped mediation model confirmed the existence of a significant positive partial mediation effect exerted by self-compassion on the relationship between stress and depression (b = 0.12, 95% CI [0.05, 0.18]). The analysis also showed a significant positive partial mediation effect exerted by self-compassion in the relationship between anxiety and depression (b = 0.13, 95% CI [0.08, 0.18]). Conclusions: Self-compassion might partially mediate the relationship between stress and depression and between anxiety and depression. Findings underscore self-compassion as a potentially protective factor against negative psychological symptoms.
- Especificidade da interação entre os diferentes mecanismos de mindfulness e sintomas específicos da depressão ao longo do processo psicoterapêuticoPublication . Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Serrão, Carla; Bento Ferreira, TiagoAs Intervenções Baseadas em Mindfulness (IBMs) têm sido largamente associadas ao tratamento de perturbações mentais e físicas e à promoção do bem-estar geral em populações não-clínicas. Todavia, a ação dos mecanismos subjacentes a estas intervenções permanece pouco clara. Recentemente, a análise de redes psicopatológicas complexas tem vindo a explorar as interações entre os sintomas das perturbações mentais e entre os sintomas e diversos processos cognitivos associados ao desenvolvimento dessas perturbações. Este estudo procurou clarificar as interações entre os diferentes mecanismos de mindfulness e sintomas depressivos. Foi reanalisada uma amostra (N= 151) de um estudo realizado na Holanda relativo à eficácia da Terapia Cognitiva Baseada emMindfulness (MBCT) para adultos com sintomatologia depressiva. Os resultados sugerem que as competências atuar com consciência, não julgar e não reagir parecem ter maior relevância no tratamento da sintomatologia depressiva, dado que contribuem para a diminuição sintomática e para a relação dinâmica que explica a eficácia demonstrada das IBMs. Este estudo permitiu ainda identificar a especificidade da ação dos diferentes mecanismos sobre os sintomas e sublinhou que, em algumas circunstâncias, alguns mecanismos (e.g., observar, descrever) poderão estar associados a um aumento sintomático. Em geral, estes resultados sugerem que a eficácia das IBMs é melhor explicada pela relação dinâmica entre os mecanismos.
- A network approach to emotion regulation and symptom activation in depression and anxietyPublication . Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Castro, Daniel; Cardoso, Joana; Ferreira, Filipa; Serrão, Carla; Coelho, Carlos M.; Meira, Liliana; Ferreira, Tiago B.Background: Emotions can be regulated through several regulatory strategies that are involved in the development of psychopathological symptoms. Despite the well-established association between psychopathology and emotion dysregulation, little is known about the relationship between individual symptoms of depression and anxiety and emotion regulation strategies (ERS), as well as between ERS themselves. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study and examined the interactions between six ERS (reappraisal, engagement, rumination, suppression, arousal control, and distraction) and assessed their distinctive association with the activation of specific symptoms of depression and anxiety in a community sample of 376 adults (80.4% female; Mage = 32.70; SDage = 11.80). The Regulation Emotion Systems Survey (RESS) was used to measure ERS. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) were used to assess psychological symptoms. An exploratory graph analysis was performed to examine the structural properties of the network of interactions between these behaviors. Additionally, to test the association of ERS with the activation of the depression symptoms network, an expected symptoms activity (ESA) was conducted. Results: Six communities were found that correspond to the six ERS. Rumination and suppression have a significant association with symptom activation (particularly low self-esteem), whereas reappraisal reduces symptomatic activation. The effect of arousal control, engagement, and distraction appears to depend on the remaining ERS rather than having much influence on their own. Conclusion: This study provides insight into how ERS interact with each other and with individual symptoms of depression and anxiety. Understanding the effects of these interactions on symptom activation and comorbidity can improve our understanding of psychopathology.
- The effects of a mindfulness-based program on higher education studentsPublication . Serrão, Carla; Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Ferreira, TiagoBackground: Entering higher education is a process with multiple challenges that requires the mobilization of personal, social and instrumental resources. As a result, students tend to experience grater stress, anxiety, and depression. In this regard, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can serve as a useful tool to help students deal with these demands. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a Mindfulness in Education program in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms among students. Methods: Forty-four students of higher education from four degrees in the fields of Social and Cultural Sciences participated and finished surveys before and after the 12-weeks intervention, measuring stress, depression, anxiety, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Twenty-three students (82.61% female; Mage = 20.35 DPage = 3.24) participated in Mindfulness in Education. These participants were paired with 21 students (90.48% female; Mage = 18.67, DPage = 0.73), which constituted the control condition. Results: The results showed a session × condition interaction that was statistically significant for depression (p < 0.012) and stress (p < 0.026). In the follow-up exploration, the experimental condition revealed a statistically significant and moderate change in the severity of the symptoms of depression [t(14) = –2.315, p = 0.036, ξ = 0.304, 95% CI (–0.023, –0.499)] but not at the stress level [t(14) = –1.443, p = 0.171, ξ = 0.223, 95% CI (–0.006, –0.364)]. Conclusion: Outcomes were promising, adding to evidence that MBIs can play an important role in helping students manage stress and depression. However, it is still necessary to investigate the mechanisms underlying this type of interventions.
- Mediation of Self-Compassion on Pathways from Stress and Anxiety to Depression among Portuguese Higher Education StudentsPublication . Serrão, Carla; Valquaresma, Andreia; Rodrigues, Ana Rita; Duarte, IvoneHigher education is a context that requires students to develop academic, social and institutional tasks. As a result of this complex and multidimensional process, students tend to experience greater stress, anxiety and depression, making it crucial for students to mobilize a set of essential personal, social and instrumental resources, for a more positive adaptation to the academic context. Self-compassion is an adaptative emotion-regulation strategy and may help students to better adjust to academic issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of self-compassion as a mediator in the relationship between anxiety and depression, as well as stress and depression. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed through social media. Stress and anxiety were found to be positively related to depression scores and negatively related to self-compassion. A bootstrapped mediation model confirmed the existence of a significant positive partial mediation effect exerted by self-compassion on the relationship between stress and depression (b = 0.12, 95% CI [0.05, 0.18]). The analysis also showed a significant positive partial mediation effect exerted by self-compassion in the relationship between anxiety and depression (b = 0.13, 95% CI [0.08, 0.18]). Conclusions: Self-compassion might partially mediate the relationship between stress and depression and between anxiety and depression. Findings underscore self-compassion as a potentially protective factor against negative psychological symptoms.