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Aim Life satisfaction has been a central research topic in the field of Health Psychology, as an essential construct to individual adaptive psychological functioning. This paper aims to study the predictors of life satisfaction in a mixed sample, verifying the continuity of satisfaction with life in populations of patients with psychiatric disorders and healthy controls. Method It was used a mixed sample of non-clinical participants (n = 228) and clinical participants with psychiatric illness (n = 183) from Azores (Portugal). Correlation analyses and, subsequently, multiple linear regression analyses were carried out to study the predictors of satisfaction with life. Results Depression and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs were the best predictors of life satisfaction. Conclusion Psychological disorders constitute a vulnerability factor for dissatisfaction with life. Therefore, prevention or education and the promotion of adaptive coping strategies for adverse life situations is imperative for improving satisfaction with life, particularly in individuals affected with psychiatric illness.

O autocriticismo pode ser entendido como uma autoavaliação prejudicial que implica sentimentos de inutilidade e culpa quando o sujeito se depara com situações de fracasso. Objetivos: explorar a estrutura latente e qualidades psicométricas da Escala das Formas do Autocriticismo e Autotranquilização (FSCRS-C) da população infantil portuguesa. Método: o FSCRS-C foi administrado a 249 crianças açorianas. Resultados: verifica-se uma estrutura bidimensional que incluiu o autocriticismo e autotranquilização. As subescalas apresentaram uma boa consistência interna. O FSCRS-C apresentou uma boa validade divergente e convergente. Conclusão: a versão adaptada para crianças fornece uma medida robusta a ser utilizada em estudos visando o estudo do desenvolvimento deste construto.

Background: Paranoia is a disruptive belief that can vary across a continuum, ranging from persecutory delusions presented in clinical settings to paranoid cognitions that are highly prevalent in the general population. The literature suggests that paranoid thoughts derive from the activation of a paranoid schema or information processing biases that can be sensitive to socially ambiguous stimuli and influence the processing of threatening situations. Method: Four groups (Schizophrenic participants in active psychotic phases, n=6; stable participants in remission, n=30; participants' relatives, n=32; and healthy controls, n=64) were assessed with self-report questionnaires to determine how the reactions to paranoia of clinical patients differ from healthy individuals. Cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions of their reactions to these paranoid thoughts were examined. Results: Paranoid individuals were present in all groups. Most participants referred the rejection by others as an important trigger of paranoid ideations, while active psychotic were unable to identify triggering situations to their thoughts and reactions. This may be determinant to the different reactions and the different degree of invalidation caused by paranoid thoughts observed across groups. Conclusion: Clinical and non-clinical expressions of paranoid ideations differ in terms of their cognitive, emotional and behavioral components. It is suggested that, in socially ambiguous situations, paranoid participants (presenting lower thresholds of paranoid schema activation) lose the opportunity to disconfirm their paranoid beliefs by resourcing to more maladaptive coping strategies. Consequently, by dwelling on these thoughts, the amount of time spent thinking about their condition and the disability related to the disease increases.

Background Paranoid ideation has been regarded as a cognitive and a social process used as a defence against perceived threats. According to this perspective, paranoid ideation can be understood as a process extending across the normal–pathological continuum. Methods In order to refine the construct of paranoid ideation and to validate a measure of paranoia, 906 Portuguese participants from the general population and 91 patients were administered the General Paranoia Scale (GPS), and two conceptual models (one- and tridimensional) were compared through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results Results from the CFA of the GPS confirmed a different model than the one-dimensional model proposed by Fenigstein and Vanable, which comprised three dimensions (mistrust thoughts, persecutory ideas, and self-deprecation). This alternative model presented a better fit and increased sensitivity when compared with the one-dimensional model. Further data analysis of the scale revealed that the GPS is an adequate assessment tool for adults, with good psychometric characteristics and high internal consistency. Conclusion The model proposed in the current work leads to further refinements and enrichment of the construct of paranoia in different populations, allowing the assessment of three dimensions of paranoia and the risk of clinical paranoia in a single measure for the general population.