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Family functioning, understood as cohesion and adaptability, is critical in families with adolescent children, given the changes that this stage implies at the family level. Time perspective is one variable that can facilitate better family functioning through the way people give meaning to the process they live. In this study, we examined the relationship between family functioning and the time perspective of adolescent children's parents. The FACES IV and ZTPI were administered to 276 parents of adolescents. Regression analyses indicated that the past positive, past negative, and future scores predicted family cohesion and adaptability, explaining at least 20% of the variance. Balanced families, with greater cohesion and adaptability, presented a higher level of past positive and future-oriented temporal perspectives, compared to unbalanced families, which presented a greater orientation to the past negative and deviated from the balanced temporal profile. The importance of considering the inter-relationship between family functioning and time perspective was discussed, considering its impact on the health and well-being of families with adolescents.

The objective of this study was to analyze the neurostructural abnormalities of brain areas responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of fear in small animal phobia by comparing gray matter volume (GMV) in individuals with phobia and non-fearful controls. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was obtained from 62 adults (79% female) assigned to one of two groups: 31 were diagnosed with small animal phobia and 31 were non-fearful controls. To investigate structural alterations, a whole-brain voxel-based morphometry analysis was conducted to compare the GMV of the brain areas involved in fear between both groups. The results indicated that individuals with a small animal specific phobia showed smaller GMV in cortical regions, such as the orbitofrontal (OFC) and medial frontal cortex, and greater GMV in the putamen than non-fearful controls. These brain areas are responsible for avoidant behavior (putamen) and emotional regulation processes or inhibitory control (prefrontal cortex (PFC)), which might suggest a greater vulnerability of phobic individuals to acquiring non-adaptive conditioned responses and emotional dysregulation. The findings provide preliminary support for the involvement of structural deficits in OFC and medial frontal cortex in phobia, contributing to clarify the neurobiological substrates for phobias.

This study relates emotional regulation strategies with dispositional mindfulness and the mediating role of time perspective. It is based on the fact that one of the mechanisms of mindfulness consists in providing protective emotional regulation strategies. At the same time, a direct relationship between dispositional mindfulness and time perspective has been observed. To do this, a representative sample of 320 Chilean adolescents from the city of Talcahuano, whose age ranged between 14 and 17 years old, and who were attending high school, was evaluated. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire were applied. Regression analysis results verified the close relationship between emotional regulation and dispositional mindfulness (R 2 = 0.54), as well as with the factors of time perspective (R 2 = 0.41), explaining, between both of them, 60% of the variance of difficulties in emotional regulation. The possible mediational role of time perspective between dispositional mindfulness and emotional regulation is established.

Human development implies deep changes in cognitive, attentional, emotional, and behavioral skills. Therefore, Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) should be adapted in terms of dose, frequency, kind of exercises, assessment methods, and expected effects regarding the abilities and limitations of each developmental period. The present review seeks to describe and compare MBIs characteristics, assessment methods, and effects in youth between 3 and 18 years old considering four developmental periods. A systematic review was carried out including experimental primary studies published during the last five years. Results show that the frequency of the sessions and program duration varies widely. Differences were observed in instructors' training and in assessment strategies. Discrepancies were observed regarding the effects of MBIs both within and between periods in cognitive, socio-emotional, symptoms, and mindfulness variables. Consistency was observed in prosocial behaviors for preschoolers, and in emotional and behavioral problems and hyperactivity in ages between preschool and early adolescence. Nevertheless, it was impossible to compare most results and determine consistency or discrepancy due to the lack of studies. Regarding mindfulness, it is defined and assessed in different ways in each period. Orientations are suggested to move from a compartmentalized view of isolated MBIs, towards an integrative perspective that allows tracing developmental trajectories for mindfulness and other key cognitive and socioemotional skills for children and adolescents.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) packages for anxiety disorders, such as phobias, usually include gradual exposure to anxious contexts, positive self-verbalizations, and relaxation breathing. The objective of this research was to analyze the specific neural activation produced by the self-verbalizations (S) and breathing (B) included in CBT. Thirty participants with clinical levels of a specific phobia to small animals were randomly assigned to three fMRI conditions in which individuals were exposed to phobic stimuli in real images: a group underwent S as a technique to reduce anxiety; a second group underwent B; and a control group underwent exposure only (E). Simple effects showed higher brain activation comparing E > S, E > B, and S > B. In particular, in the E group, compared to the experimental conditions, an activation was observed in sensory-perceptive and prefrontal and in other regions involved in the triggering of emotion (i.e., amygdala, supplementary motor area, and cingulate gyrus) as well as an activation associated with interoceptive sensitivity (i.e., insula and cingulate cortex). According to the specific tool used, discrepancies in the neural changes of CBT efficacy were observed. We discuss the theoretical implications according to the dual model of CBT as a set of therapeutic tools that activate different processes.

Background: The aims of the study were to establish an adjustment model to analyze the relationship among mindfulness, balanced time perspective (BTP) and psychological well-being (PWB) in college students and to explore gender differences among the variables., Method: The sample consisted of 380 college students, 220 women and 160 men, uniformly distributed according to the university's faculties., Results: The results indicate that the synergy between mindfulness and BTP predicts the variance of PWB by 55%. Regarding gender differences, it was found that women have a greater tendency towards Past Positive than men and men a higher tendency towards Present Hedonistic than women. In addition, in the group of women, a stronger relationship was found among the variables and, consequently, a greater predictive value for PWB (58%), displaying an enhanced disposition to high PWB compared to men., Conclusions: Together, mindfulness and BTP promote optimal psychological functioning and alleviate or reduce discomfort. Thus, their promotion and training in universities is especially important given the high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in college students.

Background: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure is the treatment of choice for specific phobia. Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) has shown benefits for the treatment and prevention of the return of fear in specific phobias by addressing the therapeutic limitations of exposure to real images., Method: Thirty-one participants with specific phobias to small animals were included: 14 were treated with CBT + VRET (intervention group), and 17 were treated with CBT + exposure to real images (active control group). Participants' scores in anxiety and phobia levels were measured at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up, and brain activation was measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) baseline and post-treatment., Results: Both groups showed a significant decrease in anxiety and phobia scores after the therapy and were maintained until follow-up. There were no significant differences between both groups. Overall, fMRI tests showed a significant decrease in brain activity after treatment in some structures (e.g., prefrontal and frontal cortex) and other structures (e.g., precuneus) showed an increasing activity after therapy. However, structures such as the amygdala remained active in both groups., Conclusions: The efficacy of CBT + VRET was observed in the significant decrease in anxiety responses. However, the results of brain activity observed suggest that there was still a fear response in the brain, despite the significant decrease in subjective anxiety levels.

Brain regions involved in small-animal phobia include subcortical and cortical areas. The present study explored the neuronal correlates of small-animal phobia through fMRI data to determine whether a manipulation of number and proximity parameters affects the neurobiology of the processing of feared stimuli. The participants were 40 individuals with phobia and 40 individuals without phobia (28.7% male and 71.3% female). They watched videos of real and virtual images of spiders, cockroaches and lizards in motion presented more or less nearby with one or three stimuli in the different conditions. The results suggested a differential brain activity between participants with and without phobia depending on the proximity and number of phobic stimuli. Proximity activated the motor response marked by the precentral gyrus and the cingulate gyrus. By contrast, the number of stimuli was associated with significant sensory activity in the postcentral gyrus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. We also observed a greater activity in the occipital cortex when exploring the number compared to the proximity factor. Threatening stimuli presented nearby and those presented in greater numbers generated an intense phobic response, suggesting a different emotion regulation strategy. Based on these findings, exposure therapies might consider including proximity to the threat and number of stimuli as key factors in treatment.

Objective: There has been a growing interest in the study of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Many clinical trials and experimental designs have been implemented, with different samples and diverse MBI procedures. Reviews have shown unclear results, apart from a tendency to identify low-to-moderate effectiveness. The purpose of this review is to examine the effectiveness of MBIs on anxiety complaints, analyzing available systematic reviews and meta-analyses., Method: The literature search was done in MEDLINE (PubMed) and PsycINFO, from the first available review in 2003 until March 2020. From 82 initial references, 12 reviews were selected., Results: Reviews confirmed a moderate effect size of MBIs in improving anxiety symptoms. This efficacy was similar to that of well-established therapies for reducing anxiety symptoms, such as cognitive behavioral therapies. A large effect size was found when well-developed MBI protocols were applied., Discussion: More refined clinical trials are needed to establish clear conditions of MBI effectiveness (protocols, samples, psychological mechanisms, etc.). In addition, considering mindfulness processes, new outcome measures are needed (such as acceptance, self-awareness, or well-being) to test the incremental value of MBIs.

The clinical use of virtual reality (VR) has proven its efficacy, especially when used as an exposure technique. A prominent property of VR's utility is its equivalence with the reality it represents. In this study, we explored this equivalence in a clinical context using neuroimaging. A sample of 32 adults with specific phobias (i.e., to cockroaches, spiders, or lizards) was divided into two groups: One was exposed to phobic stimuli using VR and the other was exposed to real phobic images (RI). We used brain activations as a dependent measure, focusing specifically on brain areas usually associated with fear processing. Whole-brain analysis detected higher activations for RI in the hippocampus, occipital, and calcarine areas. A specific analysis of the amygdala and insula also detected higher activations and extensions in response to RI, but VR stimuli also activated those areas in a significant manner. These results suggest that even in those cases where RI stimuli activate all of the brain's fear-processing circuits, VR stimuli do so as well. This implies that VR can be useful as an exposure technique similar to RI and applied as more than a mere training mechanism.