BACKGROUND This study explored the contribution of Psychological Flexibility (PF) to predict adju... more BACKGROUND This study explored the contribution of Psychological Flexibility (PF) to predict adjustment to breast cancer. METHOD Sixty-four females with breast cancer completed self-report measures of PF and adjustment (anxiety, depression, negative and positive affect) at baseline, and forty-two patients returned for assessment six months later. RESULTS Higher flexibility at baseline significantly contributed to predict lower anxiety, depression and negative affect at follow-up. The effect sizes ranged from moderate to large. CONCLUSIONS Results provide evidence for targeting PF to prevent enhanced psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, and add to a growing body of research supporting PF as a common protective factor across different contexts and populations.
Multitasking has become surprisingly present in our life. This is mostly due to the fact that now... more Multitasking has become surprisingly present in our life. This is mostly due to the fact that nowadays most of our activities involve the interaction with one or more devices. In such a context the brain mechanism of selective attention plays a key role in determining the success of a human’s interaction with a device. Indeed, it is a resource to be shared among the concurrent tasks to be performed, and the sharing of attention turns out to be a process similar to process scheduling in operating systems. In order to study human multitasking situations in which a user interacts with more than one device at the same time, we proposed in a previous work an algorithm for simulating human selective attention. Our algorithm focuses, in particular, on safety-critical human multitasking, namely situations in which some of the tasks the user is involved in may lead to dangerous consequences if not executed properly. In this paper, we present the validation of such an algorithm against data g...
El presente trabajo se ubica en el ambito del tratamiento conductual de la obesidad y se estructu... more El presente trabajo se ubica en el ambito del tratamiento conductual de la obesidad y se estructura, basicamente, en dos estudios empiticos. Los objetivos principales del primero de ellos son: comparar la utilidad clinica de la Evaluacion Conductual y la Evaluacion Sindromica en el tratamiento de la obesidad; analizar la aportacion del grupo a la eficacia terapeutica; y explorar la contribucion de los cambios comportamentales(habitos alimentarios y de actividad) en las perdidas de tejido adiposo. Para ello se han comparado tres modalidades de tratamiento para la obesidad: tratamiento estandarizado y aplicado en sesiones de grupo, tratamiento estandarizado y aplicado en sesiones individuales y tratamientos adaptados a cada individuo. Los resultados indican que la Evaluacion Conductual y la adaptacion consiguiente de los tratamientos es de mayor utilidad clinica(produce mayores perdidas de grasa y un mayor incremento de la actividad fisica) que los programas estandar. Asimismo, de los...
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are self-rated scales and indices developed to improve ... more Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are self-rated scales and indices developed to improve the detection of the patients’ subjective experience. Given that a considerable number of PROMs are available, it is important to evaluate their validity and usefulness in a specific research or clinical setting. Published guidelines, based on psychometric criteria, do not fit in with the complexity of clinical challenges, because of their quest for homogeneity of components and inadequate attention to sensitivity. Psychometric theory has stifled the field and led to the routine use of scales widely accepted yet with a history of poor performance. Clinimetrics, the science of clinical measurements, may provide a more suitable conceptual and methodological framework. The aims of this paper are to outline the major limitations of the psychometric model and to provide criteria for clinimetric patient-reported outcome measures (CLIPROMs). The characteristics related to reliability, sensitivi...
This paper provides an updated review of the main contributions of Psychosomatic Medicine to clin... more This paper provides an updated review of the main contributions of Psychosomatic Medicine to clinical and preventive medicine. Meta-analyses, comprehensive reviews and controlled studies were selected. Current advances in the field indicate that health care can be improved by using a psychosomatic approach that takes into account psychosocial factors affecting individual vulnerability, the holistic consideration of patient care, and the integration of psychological interventions in medicine. Consolidated evidence in Psychosomatic Medicine provides the ideal background for dealing with new needs emerging in medical practice, including chronic illness management, somatic unexplained symptoms, the shift in the role of patients from health consumers to actively health producers, primary early-life prevention, and the appraisal of health outcomes beyond the biomedical reductionism.
BACKGROUND This study explored the contribution of Psychological Flexibility (PF) to predict adju... more BACKGROUND This study explored the contribution of Psychological Flexibility (PF) to predict adjustment to breast cancer. METHOD Sixty-four females with breast cancer completed self-report measures of PF and adjustment (anxiety, depression, negative and positive affect) at baseline, and forty-two patients returned for assessment six months later. RESULTS Higher flexibility at baseline significantly contributed to predict lower anxiety, depression and negative affect at follow-up. The effect sizes ranged from moderate to large. CONCLUSIONS Results provide evidence for targeting PF to prevent enhanced psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, and add to a growing body of research supporting PF as a common protective factor across different contexts and populations.
Multitasking has become surprisingly present in our life. This is mostly due to the fact that now... more Multitasking has become surprisingly present in our life. This is mostly due to the fact that nowadays most of our activities involve the interaction with one or more devices. In such a context the brain mechanism of selective attention plays a key role in determining the success of a human’s interaction with a device. Indeed, it is a resource to be shared among the concurrent tasks to be performed, and the sharing of attention turns out to be a process similar to process scheduling in operating systems. In order to study human multitasking situations in which a user interacts with more than one device at the same time, we proposed in a previous work an algorithm for simulating human selective attention. Our algorithm focuses, in particular, on safety-critical human multitasking, namely situations in which some of the tasks the user is involved in may lead to dangerous consequences if not executed properly. In this paper, we present the validation of such an algorithm against data g...
El presente trabajo se ubica en el ambito del tratamiento conductual de la obesidad y se estructu... more El presente trabajo se ubica en el ambito del tratamiento conductual de la obesidad y se estructura, basicamente, en dos estudios empiticos. Los objetivos principales del primero de ellos son: comparar la utilidad clinica de la Evaluacion Conductual y la Evaluacion Sindromica en el tratamiento de la obesidad; analizar la aportacion del grupo a la eficacia terapeutica; y explorar la contribucion de los cambios comportamentales(habitos alimentarios y de actividad) en las perdidas de tejido adiposo. Para ello se han comparado tres modalidades de tratamiento para la obesidad: tratamiento estandarizado y aplicado en sesiones de grupo, tratamiento estandarizado y aplicado en sesiones individuales y tratamientos adaptados a cada individuo. Los resultados indican que la Evaluacion Conductual y la adaptacion consiguiente de los tratamientos es de mayor utilidad clinica(produce mayores perdidas de grasa y un mayor incremento de la actividad fisica) que los programas estandar. Asimismo, de los...
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are self-rated scales and indices developed to improve ... more Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are self-rated scales and indices developed to improve the detection of the patients’ subjective experience. Given that a considerable number of PROMs are available, it is important to evaluate their validity and usefulness in a specific research or clinical setting. Published guidelines, based on psychometric criteria, do not fit in with the complexity of clinical challenges, because of their quest for homogeneity of components and inadequate attention to sensitivity. Psychometric theory has stifled the field and led to the routine use of scales widely accepted yet with a history of poor performance. Clinimetrics, the science of clinical measurements, may provide a more suitable conceptual and methodological framework. The aims of this paper are to outline the major limitations of the psychometric model and to provide criteria for clinimetric patient-reported outcome measures (CLIPROMs). The characteristics related to reliability, sensitivi...
This paper provides an updated review of the main contributions of Psychosomatic Medicine to clin... more This paper provides an updated review of the main contributions of Psychosomatic Medicine to clinical and preventive medicine. Meta-analyses, comprehensive reviews and controlled studies were selected. Current advances in the field indicate that health care can be improved by using a psychosomatic approach that takes into account psychosocial factors affecting individual vulnerability, the holistic consideration of patient care, and the integration of psychological interventions in medicine. Consolidated evidence in Psychosomatic Medicine provides the ideal background for dealing with new needs emerging in medical practice, including chronic illness management, somatic unexplained symptoms, the shift in the role of patients from health consumers to actively health producers, primary early-life prevention, and the appraisal of health outcomes beyond the biomedical reductionism.
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Papers by CARMEN BERROCAL MONTIEL