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Guided by attachment theory, we explored in the present study the links between parental emotion-coaching, attachment to parents, and adolescent's sense of agency. Further, we examined a possible mediating role of adolescent's attachment to parents in the association between parental emotion-coaching and sense of agency. All models control for cumulative psychosocial risk, and adolescents' sex and age, and take into account the reports of both mothers and fathers. The sample included 501 Portuguese families comprising adolescents, their mothers, and their fathers. Adolescents (ages ranged from 15 to 18) reported on their attachment to parents, personal agency, and cumulative psychosocial risk, whereas mothers and fathers independently completed a questionnaire assessing their meta-emotion skills. The results indicate that both mothers' and fathers' emotional-coaching are positively associated with the quality of adolescent's attachment to parents. Nonetheless, parental emotion-coaching are not directly associate with sense of agency. The quality of emotional bond with father is linked to a more positive sense of agency, while relationships characterized by mother's inhibition of adolescent's exploration are associated with less positive perceptions of agency. Parental emotion-coaching seems to be associated with the sense of personal agency through the quality of attachment to parents. These results are discussed according to attachment theory taking into account the parents' importance to adolescents' development. Our findings provide a first attempt to unravel the possible links between parental emotion-coaching, attachment to parents, and sense of agency; nevertheless, they need to expand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Healthy individuals from hereditary cancer families undergoing genetic testing for cancer susceptibility (GTC) report more distress when they perceive their social support as low and suppress their emotions. This study aimed to explore how suppressing emotions and perceiving others as unsupportive are related with cancer-risk distress.We performed a regression-based mediation analysis to assess if expressive suppression mediates or is mediated by perceived social support in the relation with cancer-risk distress. Participants were 125 healthy adults aged over 18 (M = 36.07, SD = 12.86), mostly female (72,4%), who undergone GTC to assess the presence of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer or Lynch syndromes.Controlling for age and gender, we found a moderate size indirect effect of social support on cancer-risk distress through expressive suppression (β = -0.095) and a direct effect of expressive suppression on cancer-risk distress.When healthy individuals from hereditary cancer families perceive their social network as less responsive, they tend to not express their emotions, which relates to increased distress facing GTC.Practitioners may assess cancer-risk related distress before the GTC and offer distressed individuals interventions focused on changing emotion regulation strategies in a safe group context.

This study focuses on emerging adults’ personal agency, an individual feature associated with enhanced adaptive and resilient developmental trajectories. The two objectives were to explore the role of demographic, psychosocial risk, and relational factors in predicting personal agency and analyze whether romantic attachment mediates the connection between parental attachment and personal agency. The sample consisted of 607 Portuguese emerging adults aged between 18 and 30 years. Structural equation modeling results suggest that men are more likely to exhibit higher levels of personal agency than women. Trustful romantic relations and good paternal emotional bonds are associated with greater personal agency, while dependent romantic relations and maternal relations, characterized by inhibition of exploration, are associated with lower personal agency. Moreover, in romantic relations, trust, unlike dependence, partially mediates the association between parental attachment and personal agency. These findings are discussed based on attachment and self-determination theories, considering the importance of secure relationships for agency and autonomy in personal actions. This study provides important evidence for the influencers and mediators of personal agency, contributing to a better understanding of this individual capacity.

This longitudinal study follows children from dual-earner families in 4 time-points, covering the early childhood period. We examined the influence of work–family conflict (WFC) on maternal relational frustration (RF) towards the child, and investigated the reciprocal relations among maternal RF, children's self-control (SC), and teacher–child (TC) conflict over time. Participants were 214 children (97 girls; M age = 4.00 years), their mothers, and teachers. Mothers reported their own WFC and RF, whereas teachers reported child SC and T-C conflict. Results from a cross-lagged panel model indicated the experience of WFC positively predicted maternal RF. Maternal RF and T-C conflict were negatively related to the child later SC abilities. Conversely, children who displayed SC difficulties were more likely to experience later maternal RF and T-C conflict. There was evidence supporting the bidirectional effects of child SC and T-C conflict across time. Moreover, maternal RF and T-C conflict were indirectly linked, via child SC. The findings are consistent with a transactional view of development, stressing the importance of contextual factors to the quality of caregiving relationships and highlighting the complex and reciprocal relations between child regulatory competence and the quality of relationships with distinct caregivers.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS). The TMMS is a self-report measure that assesses stable individual differences in the way people attend, discriminate, and repair their mood and emotions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted in a sample of 1070 Portuguese university students, aged 17–30 years. Attachment, coping and rumination measures were used to establish construct validity, and internal consistency was also tested. The CFA failed to gather support for the original three-factor structure. Results suggested that a four-factor structure, including 26 items tapping suppression, clarity, repair, and difficulties in defensive repression provided the best fit to the data. The four subscales evidenced good internal consistency. In addition, concurrent validity with attachment, coping, and rumination variables was determined. This four-factor structure provided a valid and reliable measure to assess emotion regulation and is proposed to add some comprehensive value to the assessment of emotion regulation under an information-processing and attachment framework.

Poster apresentado no3º ENCONTRO NACIONAL DE JOVENS INVESTIGADORES EM ONCOLOGIA (ENJIO), no dia 24 de Setembro de 2021, no Porto

Resumo O acolhimento residencial (AR) em Portugal tem sido objeto de um importante escrutínio. Considerando a relevância que a comunicação social assume na opinião pública, este estudo incidirá sobre os principais temas abordados no âmbito do AR em diários e semanários nos últimos 5 anos. A análise documental incidiu num primeiro momento sobre conteúdos noticiosos do AR e num segundo momento nos cuidadores. Os resultados serão discutidos tendo em conta a cobertura noticiosa comparativa e a produção científica neste domínio.

This study aimed to present the development of the Communication Concerns in Parents with Cancer Scale (CCPCS) and to evaluate its psychometric properties in mothers with cancer.Two hundred and twenty-nine mothers with cancer participated in this study. Participants reported on parenting concerns, depressive and anxiety symptoms and quality of life. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to explore the factor structure of the new scale. Concurrent and convergent validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated/obtained. To measure invariance according to type of cancer and time passed since diagnosis, a multi-group analysis was used.EFA suggested that the scale comprised one factor that explained 75.63% of the total variance. The developed CCPCS had high internal consistency. Communication concerns were positively associated with other parenting concerns, as well as anxiety and depression symptoms. Test of measurement invariance showed scalar invariance for type of cancer, and residual invariance for time passed since diagnosis.The CCPCS seems to be a promising scale to measure communication concerns in mothers with cancer for clinical and research purposes. Knowing the impact of communication concerns in the mother's process of adaptation to cancer can provide clues for the psycho-oncological care offered.

Parental worries and parenting stress can increase when a mother receives a breast cancer diagnosis. This study presents the findings of needs and preferences of mothers with breast cancer to inform the development of a group intervention program for mothers with breast cancer and other alternatives of support.Using qualitative data from eighteen Portuguese women with at least one minor child when they received a breast cancer diagnosis, and content analysis on three focus groups transcripts, we uncover the participants' parenting needs and their perceptions of the potential benefits and the formal aspects of a group intervention.Mothers revealed that they need support on several parenting-related issues (e.g., communicating with the children about the mother's diagnosis, dealing with children's responses and difficult questions). They provided information about the potential benefits of group intervention and preferences regarding intervention content, sessions' structure, frequency, location, and timing. Some participants also suggested other types of support, such as online information and individual psychological support.The development of an intervention informed by the patients' needs and preferences can contribute to increasing its feasibility and efficacy. The findings indicated the specific parenting needs of Portuguese mothers with breast cancer, and it offered health professionals some important clues on how to support other family members.

The social media have a high impact on society, due to their role in providing relevant information and raising citizens' awareness of social concerns. In Portugal, the representation of residential care in the media seems to reflect and project relevant social images, susceptible to different levels of analysis. In the Portuguese context, residential care for children and young people takes a special relevance as a measure of protection and promotion, encompassing a significant number of children and young people, compared to other European countries (Browne, Hamilton-Giachritsis, Johnson, & Ostergren, 2006). According to the latest data provided by CASA 2019 report (ISSIP, 2020), there were 6855 children and young people living in residential care in Portugal in 2019. The recently revised laws for the protection of children and young people at risk in the Portuguese system have defined the legal regime for social intervention by the State and the community in order to avoid dangerous situations and to create promotion and protection measures, in an integrated approach to the rights of children and young people, in order to guarantee their well-being and integral development. Additionally, the most recent legal framework on residential care highlights the role of caregivers in providing the development of afective secure and stable bounds (DL 164/2019, article 3). The literature has been highlighting the importance of caregivers for the biopsychosocial development of children and young people integrated in residential care (Fernandes & Oliveira-Monteiro, 2016; Mota & Matos, 2010). The quality of relationship with caregivers, as well as, assertiveness, empathy and availability, can be considered a protective factor, which may allow greater emotional and affective organization (Davis, 2003; Mota & Matos, 2008). This study aims to identify the main themes addressed by the media about residential care in Portugal and, specifically, to analyze the perceptions served by the media about caregivers, in the last 5 years. The analyses intend to discuss media treatment about the role of caregivers who work in residential care context - a relevant issue in the Portuguese context ��� and its possible impact. In this sense, a content analysis of a wide field of news underlying the most referenced newspapers in the Portuguese context was carried out. In order to guarantee the scientific rigor of the investigation, the phases of the technique proposed by Bardin (2011) were used, specifically, pre-analysis, exploration of the material and treatment of results, inferences and interpretations. Four general categories were highlighted that reflect the main themes addressed by the media about residential care in Portugal, specifically, residential care versus family care, characteristics of residential care, legislation and caregivers in residential care. Through the analysis of the general categories, 4 specific categories related to caregivers were also found, namely, the need for training, mistreatment, challenges of being a caregiver and characteristics of care. The news categories stress the importance of family care becoming a primary measure for children and young people at risk, since, currently, there is a primacy of residential care over family care. It is also emphasized the importance of implementing personal development training, capable of training caregivers and offering more appropriate responses to the biopsychosocial needs of children and young people. There is a contradictory view inherent to the role of care in residential homes, where, on the one hand, the media highlights the importance of the existence of affection between caregivers and child, and, on the other, it warns of the fact that these professionals do not replace families, which seems to be a paradox between what is needed and what is allowed for caregivers., Poster presented at XVI European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents Conference (EUSARF). This work was funded by Portuguese National funds FCT - Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e a Tecnologia, I.P (PTDC/PSI-ESP/28653/2017).

Attachment theory origins can be traced back to the work that Bowlby has conducted in his early career as a volunteer in residential institutions for disturbed children (Eagle, 2013). Since then, attachment theory has made distinctive contributions for child and youth protection policies by addressing the ���ill-effects of deprivation��� of parental care (e.g., Bowlby & WHO, 1952, contributions for UN programme for the welfare of homeless children). In this report, Bowlby already advocated for the professionalization of careers as a key strategy for understanding and dealing with mental health symptoms such as depression, aggression and regression (Bowlby & WHO, 1952). Nowadays, although it is consensual the need to provide professional care to children and youth under legal protection and promotion measures, namely in out-of-home care, training care practitioners in mental health and human relations is still very residual. In fact, the absence of training and supervision, in line with poor conditions of employment, is an important predictor of high staff turnover in this domain (Colton & Roberts 2004; 2007). Portugal has one of the highest rates of children and young people living in residential care settings in Europe (Delgado & Gers��o, 2018), contrasting with the lower rates of foster care placements. Although important changes in legal frameworks concerning both residential and foster care systems have been conducted recently, the vast majority of out of home care is conducted in residential care settings, with institutionalizations that range from less than 1 year and 6 or more years (M = 3.4 years) (ISS, 2020). The main aim of this paper is to present an attachment-based intervention programme developed for caregivers working in residential care settings. This intervention is part of a major action research project, CareME, that includes a multi-informant (directors, caregivers and adolescents) 4 wave longitudinal study. The project also aims to evaluate the effects of the intervention with the caregivers on the psychosocial development of adolescents that live in residential care. This project results from the collaboration of two universities from the North of Portugal, the National Public Social Security Sector - Porto district and includes the participation of caregivers and adolescents living in 21 from a total of 24 residential care facilities operating in the Porto district. We will identify and discuss the major contributions of the intervention programme for improving caregivers��� sensitivity and emotion regulation when working with youth in residential care. We will focus on the caregivers��� attachment representations and the use of reflective functioning to improve mentalization processes in the relationship with youth. The presentation will also discuss the participants��� feedback of the intervention (preferred themes, approaches and practices), and representations of the intervention's applicability/usefulness., Communication presented at XVI European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents Conference (EUSARF). This work was funded by Portuguese National funds FCT - Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e a Tecnologia, I.P (PTDC/PSI-ESP/28653/2017).

Adolescents in residential care have an increased risk of developing psychosocial problems, however, not all adolescents are equally vulnerable. This study aims to provide a review and methodologic...

O presente capítulo procura abordar a dinâmica inerente à transição para o acolhimento residencial sob o ponto de vista da vivência emocional e trazer ao leitor a ideia de que a resiliência é um processo em construção permanente, que permite a reorganização interna do património afetivo das C/J face aos desafios que vão surgindo no seu percurso. Por conseguinte, o acolhimento pautado por um ambiente de estabilidade e consistência, com figuras significativas disponíveis e contentoras permite que as C/J tenham a oportunidade de voltar a acreditar em si e nos demais, apaziguando o medo e a insegurança que, em regra, os caraterizam e conduzem ao turbilhão de emoções e comportamentos desajustados. Importa perceber neste contexto que os percursos são distintos em cada uma das C/J, pelas caraterísticas pessoais, pelo envolvimento na instituição de acolhimento e também pelas caraterísticas de cada casa de acolhimento, mais do físicas, emocionais., This work was funded by Portuguese National funds FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P (PTDC/PSI-ESP/28653/2017).

Introduction: Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare disorder characterized by the triad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury, which primarily affects preschool-aged children. This study’s aim was to describe the clinical profile, management, and long-term outcome of the genetic aHUS patients admitted to a tertiary care pediatric nephrology center during 20 years. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the clinical records of all aHUS patients younger than 18 years with identified genetic mutations. Data on clinical features, genetic study, therapeutic interventions, and long-term outcomes were reviewed. Results: Five cases of aHUS with an identified genetic mutation were included; all were inaugural cases with the youngest being 4 months old. Complement factor H gene mutation was identified in four patients. Therapeutic plasma exchange was performed for acute management in 4 patients, one of whom also needed acute renal replacement therapy (peritoneal dialysis). All patients went on complete remission, 2 had more than one relapse but only 1 of these progressed to chronic kidney disease during the follow-up period (median (25th-75th percentile), 136 (43.5-200.5) months). Conclusion: In children, the prognosis of renal function seems to be strongly dependent on the genetic background, thus being crucial to perform genetic study in all aHUS cases. In our cohort, 2 patients presented genetic mutations not previously described. Recent innovations on the genetic field leading to the identification of new mutations has lead to a better understanding of aHUS pathogenesis, but further studies, focusing on the genotype-phenotype correlation, with longer follow-up periods, are needed. Resumo Introdução: A síndrome hemolítica urêmica atípica (SHUa) é um distúrbio raro caracterizado pela tríade de anemia hemolítica microangiopática, trombocitopenia e lesão renal aguda, afetando principalmente crianças em idade pré-escolar. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever perfil clínico, manejo e desfecho em longo prazo dos pacientes com SHUa genética admitidos em um centro terciário de nefrologia pediátrica durante 20 anos. Métodos: Realizamos análise retrospectiva dos registros clínicos de todos os pacientes com SHUa menores de 18 anos com mutações genéticas identificadas. Revisaram-se dados sobre características clínicas, estudo genético, intervenções terapêuticas e desfechos em longo prazo. Resultados: Incluíram-se cinco casos de SHUa com uma mutação genética identificada; sendo todos casos inaugurais, o mais jovem tendo 4 meses de idade. A mutação no gene do fator H do complemento foi identificada em quatro pacientes. Plasmaférese terapêutica foi realizada para tratamento agudo em 4 pacientes, um dos quais também necessitou terapia renal substitutiva aguda (diálise peritoneal). Todos os pacientes tiveram remissão completa, 2 mais de uma recidiva, mas apenas 1 evoluiu para doença renal crônica durante acompanhamento (mediana (percentil 25°-75°), 136 (43,5-200,5) meses). Conclusão: Em crianças, o prognóstico da função renal parece ser fortemente dependente do histórico genético, sendo crucial realizar estudo genético em todos os casos de SHUa. Em nossa coorte, 2 pacientes apresentaram mutações genéticas não descritas anteriormente. Inovações recentes no campo genético que levaram à identificação de novas mutações conduziram a um melhor entendimento da patogênese SHUa, mas são necessários mais estudos, focando na correlação genótipo-fenótipo, com períodos de acompanhamento mais longos.

Background and Aims Management of children with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) requiring dialysis is always challenging and particular concerns exists regarding vascular access. International reports through the years are not satisfactory, with a high rate of central venous catheter (CVC), when “Fistula First” is the goal in Hemodialysis (HD). Suggested reasons for this phenomenon include, for example, age-related anatomical limitations, shorter awaiting times for or “scheduled” transplantation, pain and anxiety related to punctures or lack of pediatric/surgical expertise. Here we present the results of the last 13 years of experience in pediatric HD vascular access from a reference center in northern Portugal. Method A retrospective descriptive study of patients admitted to our pediatric HD Unit between January 2007 and December 2020. Clinical data was collected from medical records. Results 40 patients were enrolled, mainly boys (n=22, 55%), mean age at admission 10.9±5.3 years (1-17 years), 63% weighing more than 30 kg (n =25) and 15% less than 15kg (n=6). More than half were incident patients starting on HD (n=22, 55%), 42.5% were transferred from peritoneal dialysis (PD) and one patient had a previous kidney transplant (KT). Regarding CKD etiology, 52.5% (n=21) were mainly due to congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract; chronic glomerulonephritis was responsible for 20% of cases (n=8). Most patients initiated HD with a CVC (n=35, 87.5%), including two patients with an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) who required a temporary CVC until fistula maturation. At the end of follow-up, about 45% of the patients ended up with an AVF (comparing to 17.5% at the beginning) and, not unexpectedly, 88.9% (n=16) of them weighed more than 30kg and only one child less than 15 kg. The mean duration of dialysis was 1.2±1.8 years (1 month-8 years); 24 patients were submitted to KT (60%), 6 transferred to PD (15%) and only 4 remain on HD. Average waiting times for KT are quite longer in patients with AFV (1.7±2 years), in comparison to CVC (0.4±0.3 years). Conclusion CVC is by far the most used access in incident patients starting on HD. In our center it seems justified by the anatomical limitations of younger and smaller patients, as wells as expected shorter awaiting time for KT. Infectious and mechanical complications must be weighed when using CVC, mainly considering the probable need for different renal replacing techniques over the years. Although our data is quite similar to several international reports and other center experiences, we still aim for the best, with an expected improvement of these results within the coming years. For now, a notable increase in AVF placement at the end of the follow-up is already an encouraging fact.

This study examined the factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity of scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a tool for screening children's psychological adjustment. Data were collected from a community sample of 346 children (46% girls, M age = 54.07 months), using teacher, mother, and father reports. Results from confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the SDQ's hypothesized 5-factor structure fit the data well and partial strict measurement invariance was established across raters. Using teachers' reports as reference method, a correlated trait-correlated method minus 1 model (Eid et al., 2008) was fitted to investigate convergent and discriminant validity. The convergent validity of parents' ratings relative to teachers' ratings was modest. Mothers and fathers had a unique perspective on children's behavior above and beyond their partial overlap with teacher reports. Results indicated good discriminant validity between most of the traits measured by the SDQ. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Attachment theory claims that the establishment of affective bonds with significant figures is a fundamental process in human development across all the life cycle (Bowlby, 1979). The quality of the relationship established between adolescents and their caregivers in residential care may work as a protective factor for internal reorganization and the development of more positive representations about themselves and others a (Costa, Mota & Matos, 2019). However, little is known about how these relationships are linked to how these adolescents perceive the future and their sense of efficacy over the world. The present study aims to analyze the effect of the quality of relationships with caregivers, on self-efficacy and future expectations of young people in residential care, in a sample of 250 adolescents (aged 12 to 18) living in residential care settings in Portugal (Porto district). Data was collected through self-report measures and additional data was collected with the directors of the institutions. Sociodemographic data such as, sex, age, time living in residential care and satisfaction with the institution, will be entered as control variables. The statistical analysis will be performed with structural equation modeling. The results will be discussed considering the attachment theory framework and their contribution on relational mechanisms to enhance self-efficacy and expectations of the future of young people living in residential care. The contributions of this studyto residential care policies in Portugal will be discussed., Poster presented at 17th EARA conference - Adolescence in a rapidly changing world. This work was funded by Portuguese National funds FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P (PTDC/PSI-ESP/28653/2017).

Dependency is a scarcely investigated dimension of teacher-child (T-C) relationships that can reflect a lack of security and obstruct children's autonomous exploration in the school context. We examined the within- and cross-time associations between T-C dependency, closeness, and conflict, and children's effortful control, an ability related to children's self-regulation. Data were collected during the preschool period at two time-points (T1 and T2) 1-year apart. Participants were 199 children (44% girls

Research on the simultaneous and interactive effects of both conflictual and enriching dimensions on work-family balance is scarce, and still scarcer are studies using a typological (person-oriented) approach to establish links between couple-level profiles of work-family balance experiences and individual's work- and family-related satisfaction. To address these gaps, the present study explored whether groups of dual-earner couples could be distinguished with respect to their specific combinations of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and enrichment dynamics. Using cluster analysis procedures within a sample of 525 dual-earner couples, we identified four couple-level profiles in the work-to-family balance direction (WFB) and four in the family-to-work balance direction (FWB): Harmful WFB and FWB groups (i.e., high conflict, low enrichment), Beneficial WFB and FWB groups (i.e., low conflict, high enrichment), Active WFB group (i.e., high conflict, high enrichment), Passive FWB group (i.e., low conflict, low enrichment) and two other groups, one with men reporting a Harmful WFB and women a Beneficial WFB, and another with men reporting a Beneficial FWB and women a Harmful FWB. A subsequent mixed model ANOVA also found Harmful types were associated with lower individual satisfactions with work, family, and partner participation. Moreover, belonging to profiles where husband and wife have dissimilar WFB experiences seems to imply detrimental effects to both partners.

Hereditary cancer syndromes are inherited genetic pathogenic variants that significantly increase the risk of developing cancer. When an individual becomes aware of their increased probability of having cancer, the whole family is affected by this new reality and needs to adjust. However, adjustment to hereditary cancer syndromes has been mainly studied at an individual level and research about familial adjustment remains dispersed and disorganized. To overcome this gap, this review aims to understand how families adjust to genetic testing and risk management, and to what extent the adjustment of the family influences the psychological response and risk management behaviors of mutation carriers. We conducted searches on the PubMed/Med Line, PsycInfo, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar databases and used the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT-v2018) to assess the methodological quality of each selected study. Thirty studies met the inclusion criteria. Most Results highlighted the interdependent nature of adjustment of pathogenic variant carriers and their families. The way carriers adjust to the syndrome is highly related with how family members react to it, particularly partners and siblings. Couples who share their worries and communicate openly about cancer risk present a better long-term adjustment then couples who use protective buffering (not talking about it to avoid disturbing the partner) or emotional distancing. Parents need help dealing with disclosing genetic information to their children. These findings reinforce the importance of adopting a family-centered approach in the context of genetic counseling and the necessity of involving family members in research. Keywords: hereditary cancer syndromes, genetic testing, family adjustment, cancer risk management, decision-making, genetic counseling, This work was supported by the European COMPETE2020 under grant POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030980, Portuguese National funds FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P, under grant PTDC/PSI-ESP/30980/2017 and the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), under grant COST Action CA16102.

As a construct, the elaboration of countertransference experience (ECE) is intended to depict the implicit and explicit psychological work to which therapists submit their experiences with clients. Through ECE, defined as a mentalizing process of a particular kind, therapists' experiences are presumed to acquire and increase in mental quality and become available for meaning-making and judicious clinical use. In this paper, we claim that such an ongoing process facilitates engagement with common therapeutic factors, such as the therapeutic alliance and countertransference management, enhancing therapist responsiveness in psychotherapy. We synthesize relevant literature on countertransference, mentalization, and, in particular, therapists' mentalization, informed by a systematic literature review. As a result, we propose a model for assessing ECE in psychotherapy, comprising 6 diversely mentalized countertransference positions (factual-concrete, abstract-rational, projective-impulsive, argumentative, contemplative-mindful, and mentalizing), 2 underlying primary dimensions (experiencing, reflective elaboration), and 5 complementary dimensions of elaboration. Strengths and limitations of the model are discussed.

Facebook plays an important role in the lives of adolescents, but little is known about how they use this tool and how inter-individual variation may be related to psychological variables. Our goal is to search for different profiles of Facebook use and analyze how these profiles are differentially associated with developmental variables. Participants were 761 adolescents (54% girls) between 14 and 18 years old (M = 15.98, SD = 1.08). To create the profiles we used combinatory cluster analysis. Multivariate analyses of variance as a function of the clusters were performed with: personality, parental attachment, peer alienation and interpersonal competence. We found four different clusters of Facebook use that presented differences across the psychological and developmental variables as well as in the time spent on Facebook. Results evidenced an association between a more problematic Facebook use and a lack of interpersonal competence offline, in terms of the ability to provide emotional support and to manage conflicts. Adolescents with a more problematic Facebook use reported higher alienation to peers, lower levels of emotional stability and lower levels of openness to experience. Discussion will highlight the developmental context of more and less adaptive ways of using Facebook.

Scholars have widely agreed that the transition to adulthood has become destandardized and more extended in time. Although this prolonged transition to adulthood is common in late-modern societies, it is not universal, and the pathways towards adulthood may vary according to contextual factors and personal resources. This study examined the association between perceived economic insecurity and the process of separation–individuation regarding the romantic partner, and explored the mediating role of personal resources (self-esteem, depression). Participants were 387 Portuguese emerging adults (mean age = 22.32 years; SD = 3.47) involved in a romantic relationship, from different economic and cultural backgrounds. Findings revealed that self-esteem and depressive symptoms totally mediated the relationship between economic insecurity and separation–individuation, with higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of depression being associated with a more successful process of separation–individuation. This study contributes to shed some light on the interaction between developmental processes and social context variables in the transition to adulthood.

Introduction The Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO) is a self-report measure intended to assess the severity of personality disturbance according to Otto F. Kernberg's model. Objective To study factor structure and psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of IPO (IPO-Pt). Method Two independent samples of 586 individuals each were used for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Different models were compared in terms of reliability and validity. Results A three-factor solution resulted, comprising dimensions labeled as Instability of Self, Instability of Others, and Psychosis. Internal consistency and temporal stability yielded acceptable to excellent results. Correlations with measures of self-concept coherence, emotion dysregulation, psychoticism, symptom severity, and personality disturbance were as expected, and sensitivity to clinical status was confirmed. Conclusion IPO-Pt shows encouraging psychometric qualities and its latent structure resonates with important aspects of Kernberg's model, previous findings, and the DSM-5 level of personality functioning scale.

Work–family balance and child rearing are major social concerns. Few studies, however, have addressed how parents' work–family conflict (WFC) associates with children's emotion regulation. This study proposes the link to occur through parents' psychological availability (PA). In our model we tested both intraindividual and interindividual effects on a sample of 138 dual-earner couples with preschool-aged children. Our results showed that WFC related negatively to PA (actor and partner effects); fathers' and mothers' PA associated negatively with child lability and positively with child emotion regulation. Indirect effects were found for fathers' and mothers' WFC and children's emotion regulation and lability through partners' PA, controlling for child gender and temperament. These findings showed a dyadic pattern among couples' work–family balance, parenting, and children's emotion regulation.

Workplace family support has been regarded as a factor that helps reduce individuals' work to family conflict (WFC). How this support translates into families' functioning is still to be determined. In this study, we used a systems perspective to examine (a) how perceptions of workplace family support affect parental satisfaction and consequently reduce WFC and (b) how the perception of support affects partners' parental satisfaction and WFC in dual-earner couples. A two-wave dyadic data set of dual-earner couples with preschool-aged children (N = 90) was used, and the actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) was applied. Results showed that controlling for WFC, working hours, number and age of children, mothers' perceptions of workplace family support (time 1) had indirect effects, through mothers' parental satisfaction (time 1), on their own levels of WFC (time 2) as well as on their partners' levels of WFC (time 2). Fathers' perceptions of workplace family support (time 1) had a direct effect on fathers' parental satisfaction (time 1) and on fathers' WFC (time 2). These results suggest that in addition to boosting parental well-being, perceptions of a supportive workplace may help reduce the level of WFC for both direct recipients of support and their partners, in particular when support is experienced by mothers, and when these mothers experience heightened parental satisfaction.

Objective Cancer poses unique challenges for the couple relationship. From a relational perspective, successful adaptation may be less dependent on the circumstances of being the "patient" or the "caregiver" than on how couples successfully integrate cancer into their relationship. In this article, we study posttraumatic growth through attachment theory, which provides a useful framework to explore the role of intimate processes dyadically. Method The sample comprised 84 heterosexual married and cohabitating couples. Women were in adjuvant treatment for breast cancer or in the posttreatment phase. Both members of the couple completed measures of attachment and posttraumatic growth. Path models were used to examine associations between the constructs through the application of the actor-partner interdependent model. Moreover, time since diagnosis was examined within the actor-partner interdependent model as a possible moderator affecting the attachment-posttraumatic growth associations. Results Partners' attachment security was an important predictor of individual posttraumatic growth for both members of the couple, while individuals' own attachment security was not associated with their posttraumatic growth for either member of the couple. The partner's effects were equal across gender. Additionally, time since breast cancer diagnosis did not affect the pattern of results. Conclusion Findings support the assessment of the couple dyadically and corroborate an attachment approach of the couple as an interdependent unit. Implications of the study for interventions assisting couples in oncological setting are discussed.

Adolescents‘ well-being is an important marker of psychosocial adjustment and quality of life. However, few studies have been conducted about adolescents‘ well-being in residential care and its stability during time. Moreover, according to attachment theory, the quality of the relationship between adolescents and caregivers constitutes a relevant factor for well-being, but few studies investigated its effect longitudinally. The present study examined the development of adolescents’ well-being across three assessment waves, during one year. It aimed to test the moderating effect of adolescents’ perception of their relationship with caregivers (characterized by emotional closeness and relational tension) on well-being. Participants were 306 adolescents, 12–18 years old, living in residential care in Portugal. The results showed that emotional closeness as perceived by the adolescents moderated the development of their well-being in the first six months, but no significant effects were found 1 year later. The results pointed out the role of the relationship with caregivers on positive psychological functioning of adolescents living in residential care.

Alliance may impact psychotherapy outcomes both as a precondition that enables therapeutic work and an evolving process that is therapeutic in itself. This study examined the participation of the elaboration of countertransference experience (ECE) in alliance variation between therapist-client dyads early in therapy and within dyads over time. A total of 44 session assessments nested within 12 dyads were modeled through longitudinal multilevel analyses and utilized to examine the associations between the ECE dimensions of Immersion and Reflection and alliance components across 4 time points within the first 10 sessions of psychotherapy. Results supported the importance of initial ECE to explain differences in alliance between dyads, the particular relevance of ECE with clients presenting lower levels of personality organization, and the effect of personality difficulties on alliance change. Unexpected results were found concerning the correlations between ECE and alliance and their covariation over time. In conclusion, ECE dimensions appear to be involved in alliance formation, both in initial differences between dyads and in changes over time within the same case. ECE seems particularly important with more personality-disturbed clients. Future research should disentangle therapist and client contributions and examine the participation of ECE in the resolution of alliance ruptures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation have been widely studied, and their importance on both developmental and educational practices has led to the development of assessment tools. The Aspiration Index scale (AI; Grouzet et al., 2005), which was developed to measure people`s life aspirations, was translated and validated into Portuguese. A sample of 1,359 adolescents, age ranged from 12 to 18 years-old, participated in the present study. Results showed that a factor structure with the eleven subscales of the AI does not fit the data. However we gathered support for a three-factor structure that organized the items in terms of whether aspirations are intrinsically, extrinsically or self-transcendent oriented. Internal consistency and temporal stability yielded good results. The predictive and criterion validities were demonstrated by significant associations with theoretically supported measures of satisfaction with life and father and mother attachment. The multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed that this structure was invariant across gender. These results suggest that the AI is a reliable measure to assess different types of life aspirations and can be used in future research with adolescents in Portugal.

The quality of the relationship between adolescents and significant figures constitutes a relevant factor to emotional and adaptive functioning. Caregivers at the institution have a significant responsibility in caring for adolescents and represent a key determinant in adolescents’ adaptation. However, less attention has been devoted to how adolescents perceive these relationships and to predictors of their quality. This study aims to analyze different level predictors (sociodemographic and institutional hystory-related, emotional/relational and contextual level) of the quality of the relationship between adolescents and their caregivers, in a sample of 326 adolescent participants (228 female and 98 male) from 20 residential care institutions. Participants responded to self-report questionnaires concerning the quality of relationship with caregivers, attachment, emotion regulation and institutional climate. Data regarding structural and functional information about the residential care context were collected with the directors. The results suggested that the adolescents’ perception of quality of relationship was associated with individual (gender) and emotional/relational factors (emotion regulation and attachment), but not with contextual factors (cohesion, ratio and number total children/youth) and other individual variables (time living in institution, age at entering the institution, live another institution and age at entering in the first institution). The results are discussed in light of attachment theory, pointing out the role of the relevance of quality of relationship with caregivers.