Anca Dobrean
Babes-Bolyai University, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty Member
The REC (2) the SAD diagnosis is secondary to another axis III diagnosis; (3) personality disorders predisposing patients to confusions between the real and virtual realities (paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, borderline, antisocial... more
The REC (2) the SAD diagnosis is secondary to another axis III diagnosis; (3) personality disorders predisposing patients to confusions between the real and virtual realities (paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, borderline, antisocial personality disorders); or (4) suffered anytime during the past 6 months of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Participants included in some concurrent form of psychotherapy or receiving medication are also excluded.
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This study aims to identify possible primary targets for the parenting programs designed to reduce (or prevent) the mental health problems of adolescents. We used network analysis to estimate networks for parenting practices and for the... more
This study aims to identify possible primary targets for the parenting programs designed to reduce (or prevent) the mental health problems of adolescents. We used network analysis to estimate networks for parenting practices and for the interplay between parenting practices and adolescents' mental health problems. A community sample of early adolescents (10-13 years old, N = 1,125) reported both parenting (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Child Global Report) and mental health outcomes (Youth Self-Report). The behavior "You stay out later than you are supposed to and your parents don't know it" was the most central in the parenting practices network. Poor monitoring and conduct problems were the main paths through which parenting practices and youths' mental health influenced each other. Regarding the interplay between parenting practices and adolescent mental health, the network for males had a significantly higher connectivity (p = .035) than that for females. Although in the early stages, the network approach promises to provide a better understanding of parenting practices and their interaction with the mental health problems of adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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Background It is unknown how much variation in adult mental health problems is associated with differences between societal/cultural groups, over and above differences between individuals. Methods To test these relative contributions, a... more
Background It is unknown how much variation in adult mental health problems is associated with differences between societal/cultural groups, over and above differences between individuals. Methods To test these relative contributions, a consortium of indigenous researchers collected Adult Self-Report (ASR) ratings from 16 906 18- to 59-year-olds in 28 societies that represented seven culture clusters identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study (e.g. Confucian, Anglo). The ASR is scored on 17 problem scales, plus a personal strengths scale. Hierarchical linear modeling estimated variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. Multi-level analyses of covariance tested age and gender effects. Results Across the 17 problem scales, the variance accounted for by individual differences ranged from 80.3% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems to 95.2% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality (mea...
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Background: Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent mental health problems in children. Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the first-line treatment recommended by clinical guidelines; however,... more
Background: Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent mental health problems in children. Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the first-line treatment recommended by clinical guidelines; however, parental dropout is high. Mobile apps could be used as an adjunct to BPT in order to increase treatment adherence, homework compliance, and parental engagement. In this paper, we describe the development process of a mobile app for parents of children with ADHD. Methods: We conducted a study to investigate parents’ perceived usability of the ADHD Coping Card. Results: The mobile app developed has a high usability. Future improvements in the app were suggested by parents. Conclusions: Given the increasing importance of digital mental health interventions in psychotherapy, it is important that future research is conducted with a higher number of participants to investigate the key factors implicated in choosing such an intervention in the future, both by pa...
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BackgroundClinicians increasingly serve youths from societal/cultural backgrounds different from their own. This raises questions about how to interpret what such youths report. Rescorla et al. (2019, European Child & Adolescent... more
BackgroundClinicians increasingly serve youths from societal/cultural backgrounds different from their own. This raises questions about how to interpret what such youths report. Rescorla et al. (2019, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 1107) found that much more variance in 72,493 parents’ ratings of their offspring’s mental health problems was accounted for by individual differences than by societal or cultural differences. Although parents’ reports are essential for clinical assessment of their offspring, they reflect parents’ perceptions of the offspring. Consequently, clinical assessment also requires self‐reports from the offspring themselves. To test effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youths’ self‐ratings of their problems and strengths, we analyzed Youth Self‐Report (YSR) scores for 39,849 11–17 year olds in 38 societies.MethodsIndigenous researchers obtained YSR self‐ratings from population samples of youths in 38 societies representing 10 cu...
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This study aims to identify possible primary targets for the parenting programs designed to reduce (or prevent) the mental health problems of adolescents. We used network analysis to estimate networks for parenting practices and for the... more
This study aims to identify possible primary targets for the parenting programs designed to reduce (or prevent) the mental health problems of adolescents. We used network analysis to estimate networks for parenting practices and for the interplay between parenting practices and adolescents' mental health problems. A community sample of early adolescents (10-13 years old, N = 1,125) reported both parenting (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Child Global Report) and mental health outcomes (Youth Self-Report). The behavior "You stay out later than you are supposed to and your parents don't know it" was the most central in the parenting practices network. Poor monitoring and conduct problems were the main paths through which parenting practices and youths' mental health influenced each other. Regarding the interplay between parenting practices and adolescent mental health, the network for males had a significantly higher connectivity (p = .035) than that for females. Although in the early stages, the network approach promises to provide a better understanding of parenting practices and their interaction with the mental health problems of adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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ABSTRACTObjectives:To conduct international comparisons of self-reports, collateral reports, and cross-informant agreement regarding older adult psychopathology.Participants:We compared self-ratings of problems (e.g. I cry a lot) and... more
ABSTRACTObjectives:To conduct international comparisons of self-reports, collateral reports, and cross-informant agreement regarding older adult psychopathology.Participants:We compared self-ratings of problems (e.g. I cry a lot) and personal strengths (e.g. I like to help others) for 10,686 adults aged 60–102 years from 19 societies and collateral ratings for 7,065 of these adults from 12 societies.Measurements:Data were obtained via the Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) and the Older Adult Behavior Checklist (OABCL; Achenbach et al., 2004).Results:Cronbach’s alphas were .76 (OASR) and .80 (OABCL) averaged across societies. Across societies, 27 of the 30 problem items with the highest mean ratings and 28 of the 30 items with the lowest mean ratings were the same on the OASR and the OABCL. Q correlations between the means of the 0–1–2 ratings for the 113 problem items averaged across all pairs of societies yielded means of .77 (OASR) and .78 (OABCL). For the OASR and OABCL, respectivel...
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ObjectivesAs the world population ages, psychiatrists will increasingly need instruments for measuring constructs of psychopathology that are generalizable to diverse elders. The study tested whether syndromes of co‐occurring problems... more
ObjectivesAs the world population ages, psychiatrists will increasingly need instruments for measuring constructs of psychopathology that are generalizable to diverse elders. The study tested whether syndromes of co‐occurring problems derived from self‐ratings of psychopathology by US elders would fit self‐ratings by elders in 19 other societies.Methods/designThe Older Adult Self‐Report (OASR) was completed by 12 826 adults who were 60 to 102 years old in 19 societies from North and South America, Asia, and Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, plus the United States. Individual and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) tested the fit of the seven‐syndrome OASR model, consisting of the Anxious/Depressed, Worries, Somatic Complaints, Functional Impairment, Memory/Cognition Problems, Thought Problems, and Irritable/Disinhibited syndromes.ResultsIn individual CFAs, the primary model fit index showed good fit for all societies, while the secondary model fit indices s...
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BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) may enhance the effectiveness of psychological interventions for acute pain. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of VR-based interventions for pain associated with medical... more
BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) may enhance the effectiveness of psychological interventions for acute pain. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of VR-based interventions for pain associated with medical procedures.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO until June 17th 2018. We identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comparing VR-based psychological interventions to usual care, for pain intensity (primary outcome) or affective and cognitive components of pain (secondary outcomes), assessed real-time or retrospectively. Two independent reviewers performed study selection and data extraction. Risk of bias was independently evaluated by three raters using the revised Cochrane Collaboration tool. A random-effects model using the Paule and Mandel estimator was used for pooling effect sizes.Results27 RCTs (1452 patients) provided enough data for meta-analysis. Compared to usual care, VR-based interventions reduced pain inten...
Research Interests: Psychology, Applied Psychology, Medicine, Physical Therapy, Psychological Medicine, and 12 moreVirtual Reality, Psychological Intervention, Distraction, Medline, Meta Analysis, Acute Pain, Public health systems and services research, Randomized Controlled Trial, Mental Health and Psychiatry Nursing, Neurosciences, medical procedure, and Cochrane Library
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Cognitive–Behavioral Therapies (CBT) are currently considered (Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer, & Fang, 2012) effective treatments for child and adolescent psychopathology. The very first form of CBT is Rational–Emotive and... more
Cognitive–Behavioral Therapies (CBT) are currently considered (Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer, & Fang, 2012) effective treatments for child and adolescent psychopathology. The very first form of CBT is Rational–Emotive and Cognitive–Behavior Therapy (RE Ellis, 1962).
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Aggression (e.g., assaulting others, bullying, oppositionality; AGG) and non-aggressive rule-breaking (e.g., lying, stealing, vandalism; RB) appear to constitute meaningfully distinct dimensions of antisocial behavior. Despite these... more
Aggression (e.g., assaulting others, bullying, oppositionality; AGG) and non-aggressive rule-breaking (e.g., lying, stealing, vandalism; RB) appear to constitute meaningfully distinct dimensions of antisocial behavior. Despite these differences, it is equally clear that AGG and RB are moderately-to-strongly intercorrelated with one another. To date, however, we have little insight into the sampling and methodologic characteristics that might moderate the association between AGG and RB. The current study sought to evaluate several such moderators (i.e., age, sex, informant, and society) in a sample of 27,861 parent-adolescent dyads from 25 societies. AGG and RB were assessed with the well-known Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). Results revealed small effects of informant and adolescent sex, such that the association between AGG and RB was stronger for parents' reports than for adolescents' self-reports, and for boys than for girls. The association also varied by society. Unexpectedly, the specific operationalization of 'aggression' emerged as a particularly strong moderator, such that the association was stronger for a general measure of AGG than for a more focused measure of physical aggression per se. Such findings inform our understanding of similarities and differences between aggressive and non-aggressive antisocial problems. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Behavior, Psychopathology, and 14 moreInternational, Adolescent, Child, Aggression, Personality and Individual Differences, Adolescents, Conduct Disorder, Agression, Antisocial Behavior Adolescents, Moderation, Social Behavior Disorders, Covariation, Child Behavior Checklist, and Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity
To evaluate the perinatal results for fetuses and neonates with left-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and the role of the prenatal diagnosis in the pregnancy outcome. We reviewed data from fetuses and neonates with left-sided... more
To evaluate the perinatal results for fetuses and neonates with left-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and the role of the prenatal diagnosis in the pregnancy outcome. We reviewed data from fetuses and neonates with left-sided CDH, managed from January 2009 and December 2013 in the University Clinic Hospital, Craiova, Romania. The following data were analyzed: the gestational age at the time of diagnosis, fetal karyotyping, presence of associated structural malformations, ultrasound (US) data (circumference and area of right lung, lung-to-head ratio - LHR, observed/expected LHR, hepatic herniation), the type of antenatal care, the pregnancy outcome, the place of birth and the conventional autopsy data, if performed. Perinatal outcomes were obtained by reviewing hospital documents. Twenty-one cases were identified. No fetal surgery was performed in our series. Mean gestational age at time of diagnosis was 29 weeks of amenorrhea (WA) (range, 16-37 WA). Associated structural ...
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OBJECTIVE: To test the fit of a seven-syndrome model to ratings of preschoolers' problems by parents in very diverse societies. METHOD: Parents of 19,106 children 18 to 71 months of age... more
OBJECTIVE: To test the fit of a seven-syndrome model to ratings of preschoolers' problems by parents in very diverse societies. METHOD: Parents of 19,106 children 18 to 71 months of age from 23 societies in Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America ...
Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Assessment, Medicine, Humans, Female, and 15 moreConfirmatory factor analysis, Male, Checklist, Infant, Mental Disorders, Incidence, Multicultural, CBCL, Cross Sectional Studies, Child Behavior Checklist, Child preschool, Child behavior disorders, Affective symptoms, mass Screening, and Medical and Health Sciences
This is commentary on a Cochrane review, published in the issue of EBCH, first published as: Gillie D, Taylor F, Gray C, O'Brien L, D'Abrew N. Psychological therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children... more
This is commentary on a Cochrane review, published in the issue of EBCH, first published as: Gillie D, Taylor F, Gray C, O'Brien L, D'Abrew N. Psychological therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD006726. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006726.pub2.
Research Interests: Anxiety Disorders, Psychotherapy, Traumatic Stress, Narrative Therapy, Evidence Based Medicine, and 13 moreEye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Treatment Outcome, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Adolescent, Medicine, Counseling, Humans, Child, Cognitive Therapy, Depressive Disorder, Review Literature As Topic, Child preschool, and Paediatrics and reproductive medicine
Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-asm-10.1177_10731911211068178 for Measurement Invariance of Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Across Age, Gender, Clinical Status, and Informant by Ionut Stelian Florean, Anca Dobrean, Robert Balazsi, Adrian... more
Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-asm-10.1177_10731911211068178 for Measurement Invariance of Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Across Age, Gender, Clinical Status, and Informant by Ionut Stelian Florean, Anca Dobrean, Robert Balazsi, Adrian Roșan, Costina Ruxandra Păsărelu, Elena Predescu and Florina Rad in Assessment
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Psychometrics, Personality Assessment, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Humans, Child, Female, Clinical, Male, Mental health services, Ethnic Groups, North America, Reproducibility of Results, Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology, Child Behavior Checklist, Statistics as Topic, Child behavior disorders, and Confirmatory factor analyses
This study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (for both long [APQ-lg] and short [APQ-9] forms) across age, gender, clinical status, and informant (i.e., parent vs. child reports). The... more
This study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (for both long [APQ-lg] and short [APQ-9] forms) across age, gender, clinical status, and informant (i.e., parent vs. child reports). The sample was composed of adolescents (community sample: N = 1,746; clinical sample: N = 166) and parents ( N = 149). The analyses were conducted in R. Measurement invariance was assessed via multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, equivalence test, and subsampling approach. The original model of APQ-lg (five factors) showed a significantly better fit than other concurrent models (five concurrent models were specified, based on prior literature). For APQ-lg, we found measurement invariance across gender and partial measurement invariance across age, clinical status, and informant. For APQ-9, we confirmed the measurement invariance across gender and clinical status, while across age and informant partial measurement invariance was attested. Overall, our...
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Previous studies show that empathy deficits are considered an important barrier for the social development of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study compares the empathic responses between a group of children... more
Previous studies show that empathy deficits are considered an important barrier for the social development of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study compares the empathic responses between a group of children with ASD and a group of typically developing (TD) children. We included 63 children, out of which 26 had a diagnosis of ASD. We used an empathy task which simulated leg pain and an observational grid to assess four dimensions of empathy: affective responding, behavior activation, verbal empathic initiations and prosocial behaviors. The results showed that children with ASD had a lower performance at the affective responding and behavior activation dimensions, as compared with TD children, but there were no differences between the two groups in verbal empathic initiations and prosocial behaviors.
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IntroductionLearning Disorders (LD) are a group of disabilities which are usually diagnosed in childhood or in the first years of school. The definition of Learning Disorders currently in use is that stated in DSM IV (APA, 2000) which... more
IntroductionLearning Disorders (LD) are a group of disabilities which are usually diagnosed in childhood or in the first years of school. The definition of Learning Disorders currently in use is that stated in DSM IV (APA, 2000) which describes LD as "... characterized by academic functioning that is substantially below that expected given the person's chronological age, measured intelligence, and age-appropriate education"(DSM IV, 2000, p.49). There are five important characteristics of LD that must be taken into account when working with children affected by these disabilities. First, LD are heterogeneous both within and across individuals; second, LD result in significant difficulties in acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning and/or mathematical skills; third, LD are intrinsic to the individual; fourth, LD may occur concomitantly with other disabilities; and fifth, LD are not caused by extrinsic influences (NJCLD, 1998).The etiology ...
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Mothers’ emotional distress,when having a child with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), isdifferent depending on depending on the thinking pattern (rational orirrational) and cognitive coping strategies used. The aim of this... more
Mothers’ emotional distress,when having a child with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), isdifferent depending on depending on the thinking pattern (rational orirrational) and cognitive coping strategies used. The aim of this study was to assess irrational beliefs, negativeautomatic thoughts, emotional distress, cognitive coping strategies and therelation between them, in mothers of children with ASD. Datawere collected from 65 mothers having a child with diagnosis of ASD. Several psychologicalinstruments were used to assess the irrational beliefs (ABSs), automatic negativethoughts (ATQ), emotional distress (PAD) and cognitive coping strategies(CERQ). Mothers reported high levels of emotional distress, automatic negative thoughtsand irrational beliefs. The cognitive coping strategies that correlated positivelyand statistically significant with emotional distress were self-blame,catastrophizing and rumination. Self-blame and catastrophizing strategies correlatedpositively an...
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IntroductionPsychology (i.e., academic departments and/or institutes/laboratories) was founded in Romania at the beginning of the XX century, by students of Wilhelm Wundt who graduated at Leipzig University (i.e., in the first psychology... more
IntroductionPsychology (i.e., academic departments and/or institutes/laboratories) was founded in Romania at the beginning of the XX century, by students of Wilhelm Wundt who graduated at Leipzig University (i.e., in the first psychology laboratory in the world). Eduard Gruber introduced psychology in Iasi, Constantin Radulescu-Motru in Bucharest, and Florian Stefanescu-Goanga in Cluj-Napoca (for more details see Bejat, 1972; David, 2001; 2001a; David & Miclea, 2002).From the beginning, Romanian psychology was an active national and international player, completely integrated in the international movement in psychology. However, starting with the rise of the communist regime (1945), Romanian psychology was less and less supported and eventually forbidden both in universities (from 1977 to 1991 - psychology specialization/departments) and research institutes (from 1982 to 1991 - the institute of Romanian Academy). The view of the communist party was that communist activists rather th...
The national psychological profile of a country/culture have important practical implication in today’s globalized world and the psychological characteristics of a country/culture might be used as a basis for effective public policy... more
The national psychological profile of a country/culture have important practical implication in today’s globalized world and the psychological characteristics of a country/culture might be used as a basis for effective public policy designed to reduce social inequalities/inequities. Recent developments in the field (e.g., Rentfrow et al., 2013; Rentfrow, Jokela, & Lamb, 2015) have extended this approach from national level analysis to regional analysis, in order to understand the psychological profile of different geographical regions within a country. For Romania, a national psychological profile (David, 2015a) and a regional one (David, Iliescu, Matu, & Balaszi, 2015) for personality have been recently elaborated. However, the relationship between geographic areas in Romania and cognitive abilities, such as intelligence, has not been investigated. The present article examined the differences in intelligence levels across eight broad geographical regions of Romania. The total sampl...
Oral language represents the most important instrument of communication of thoughts thus language is vital for the adaptation to the norms of any society. The main objective of this research is to determine the importance of different... more
Oral language represents the most important instrument of communication of thoughts thus language is vital for the adaptation to the norms of any society. The main objective of this research is to determine the importance of different factors, environmental and individual in the determination of age differences (4 to 6 years) in the expressive language ability. The instruments used in this study are: Preschool Language Assessment Instrument, PLAI, 2 edition, a test for determining work memory (adapted after Hughes, 1998), a vocabulary scale (Raven, 1988) and a demographic questionnaire that contains references to the educational level of the parents, number of siblings and the birth order of the evaluated child and respectively the whole income of the family. Results obtained on 80 participants show that individual variables (vocabulary and work memory) explain 53% of oral language variance and from the socio-demographic variables only the educational level of the mother is signific...
Child externalizing disorders refer to conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or conduct disorder (CD; DSM-5, APA, 2013), which are all characterized by non- compliant,... more
Child externalizing disorders refer to conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or conduct disorder (CD; DSM-5, APA, 2013), which are all characterized by non- compliant, impulsive or aggressive behaviors. These disorders are considered (Raine et al., 2005) highly prevalent and chronic conditions across lifespan development. Parenting (e.g., coercive practices, over reactivity; see Gershoff, 2002) has been identified (Lipscomb et al., 2012), together with other risk factors (e.g., genetic make-up, low SES), as an important etiopathogenetic factor for externalizing disorders in childhood. Cognitive-behavioral parent programs have been developed to address parent patterns associated with childhood externalizing behavior problems (Sanders, Markie-Dadds, Tully, & Bor, 2000). Nowadays, cognitive-behavioral parenting interventions are the treatment of choice for addressing externalizing disorders in childhood (see NICE, 2008;...
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HighlightsHeart rate variability (HRV) reflects variability in time between successive heartbeats.This is the first systematic review and meta‐analysis on the impact of ADHD on CVC, after a task demand.Task related‐HRV is reduced in ADHD... more
HighlightsHeart rate variability (HRV) reflects variability in time between successive heartbeats.This is the first systematic review and meta‐analysis on the impact of ADHD on CVC, after a task demand.Task related‐HRV is reduced in ADHD children and adolescents compared with healthy controls.The confounding role of medication could not be fully rulled out. Background: Research suggests that Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with autonomic nervous system dysregulation, but the findings were mixed. Method: We conducted a literature review and meta‐analysis to quantify the effect of ADHD on vagally‐mediated heart rate variability (HRV). PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, were searched for case‐control or cohort studies reporting measures of vagally‐mediated HRV, after a task demand, among individuals with ADHD relative to healthy subjects. Results: Thirteen articles comprising a total of 869 patients with ADHD and 909 healthy participants were inc...
BackgroundMolecular tests are being used increasingly as an auxiliary diagnostic tool so as to avoid a diagnostic surgery approach for cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules (ITNs). Previous test versions, Thyroseq v2 and Afirma Gene... more
BackgroundMolecular tests are being used increasingly as an auxiliary diagnostic tool so as to avoid a diagnostic surgery approach for cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules (ITNs). Previous test versions, Thyroseq v2 and Afirma Gene Expression Classifier (GEC), have proven shortcomings in malignancy detection performance.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the established Thyroseq v3, Afirma Gene Sequencing Classifier (GSC), and microRNA-based assays versus prior iterations in ITNs, in light of “rule-in” and “rule-out” concepts. It further analyzed the impact of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP) reclassification and Bethesda cytological subtypes on the performance of molecular tests.MethodsPubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science were the databases used for the present research, a process that lasted until September 2020. A random-effects bivariate model was used to estimate the summary sensitivity, s...
Thyroid cancer (TC) includes various phenotypes, from indolent to highly aggressive cancer. The limitations of the current prognostication systems to predict the recurrence risk and the variability in expression of the genes involved in... more
Thyroid cancer (TC) includes various phenotypes, from indolent to highly aggressive cancer. The limitations of the current prognostication systems to predict the recurrence risk and the variability in expression of the genes involved in the thyroid carcinogenesis uncover the need for new prognostic biomarkers by taking into account potential epigenetic differences. We aimed to summarize the current knowledge regarding the prognostic impact of microRNAs (miRNAs) in TC. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Both upregulated and downregulated miRNAs are significantly correlated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 5.94, 95% CI: 2.73–12.90, p < 0.001; HR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.26–0.96, p = 0.048) disease/recurrence-free survival (HR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.08–2.32, p = 0.003; HR = 0.37, 95%, CI: 0.24–0.60, p < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis revealed a significant association between the higher expression of miR-146b, miR-221, and...
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Online parenting programs can increase the accessibility of mental health services. This meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of online parenting interventions in reducing children and adolescents behavior problems (primary... more
Online parenting programs can increase the accessibility of mental health services. This meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of online parenting interventions in reducing children and adolescents behavior problems (primary outcome) and improving parenting behavior, parent distress, and parenting efficacy (secondary outcomes). A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and ProQuest on June 28th, 2019. The meta-analysis was prior registered in PROSPERO. In total, 2160 records were identified and 15 Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) were included (N = 1668) in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The quality of each study was assessed by two independent evaluators. When compared to waitlist, online parenting interventions are effective in reducing behavior problems with a small effect size (Hedges's g = 0.40). No significant differences were found between online and classical delivered parenting interventions in reducing behavior problems (g = - 0.07). Compared to waitlist, the interventions are effective in improving parenting behavior (g = 0.34), parent distress (g = 0.30), and parenting efficacy (g = 0.41). The results appear to be stable at follow-up measures. The factors responsible for the effectiveness of the interventions were explored through moderation analyses. Online parenting interventions are promising for improving both behavior problems and parent outcomes. Future studies should focus on methods to increase their effectiveness and measure the outcomes more objectively.
Research Interests: Psychology and Medicine
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Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument–Bully/Target (APRI-BT) is a multidimensional scale designed to assess bullying involvement both as target and perpetrator. Although existing research has shown that the APRI-BT satisfies the assumption... more
Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument–Bully/Target (APRI-BT) is a multidimensional scale designed to assess bullying involvement both as target and perpetrator. Although existing research has shown that the APRI-BT satisfies the assumption of measurement invariance across age and gender, these findings come from western individualistic countries (e.g., Australia). This study aimed to investigate the factorial structure and measurement invariance across age, gender, and clinical status in a sample of Romanian youths. Participants were 1,024 adolescents, 10 to 18 years, recruited from both community and clinical setting. Our results confirmed a six first-order factor structure and two second-order factors (Bully including Bullying Physical, Bullying Verbal, Bullying Social and Victimization including Physical Victimization, Verbal Victimization, Social Victimization). In addition, measurement invariance across age, gender, and clinical status was demonstrated. This study identifies APR...
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Abstract Individuals are challenged by increasingly more career transitions in the 21st century. Each of these transitions entails making a career decision, typically by locating promising alternatives, collecting information about them,... more
Abstract Individuals are challenged by increasingly more career transitions in the 21st century. Each of these transitions entails making a career decision, typically by locating promising alternatives, collecting information about them, comparing the alternatives on the short list and choosing one. Finding the areas where individuals are experiencing difficulties in this process is important for helping them and facilitating their career decision making. The goal of the present review is to propose a taxonomy for analyzing, comparing, and classifying assessments of the career decision-making process in terms of three facets: (i) Antecedents – assessments of the challenges that may emerge prior to or during this process and cause difficulties, (ii) Effects of the challenges and difficulties on the process, namely, the individual's behavioral responses, and (iii) Effects on the decision, as reflected in individuals' career decision status and their feelings about the process and the outcome. Based on theoretical considerations and the constructs underlying the assessments, there are three categories of assessments in Antecedents: (1) Readiness includes assessments of dysfunctional beliefs about career decision making, career decision-making self-efficacy, willingness to engage in the process, and career indecisiveness; (2) Orientation includes assessments of career decision-making styles and profiles, ways of coping with career decision-making, and adaptability; and (3) Information includes assessments of difficulties that stem from feelings of Lack of information – about the self, the world of work, and how to make career decisions – or the Use of Information – unreliable information, internal conflicts, and external conflicts. The associations between Antecedents and their Effects on the Process and on the Decision are discussed. The psychometric properties of each assessment were evaluated, using the evidence-based assessment approach of Hunsley and Mash (2008). Inspecting and evaluating of the assessments show that most of them have a well-defined focus and evidence for acceptable reliability, but more evidence is needed for validity. The advantages of unidimensional/multidimensional and homogeneous/heterogeneous assessments are discussed. Ways of incorporating the assessments of the antecedents of career decision-making difficulties effectively into career counseling are suggested, to help career counselors better tailor their interventions to their clients' needs. The proposed categorization can also help researchers locate the most relevant career decision-making process-based assessments and decide how to use them to measure specific constructs.
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The association between career decision difficulties and negative emotions of adolescents has been researched; however, less is known about what moderates this relationship. Based on the transactional model of stress and cognitive... more
The association between career decision difficulties and negative emotions of adolescents has been researched; however, less is known about what moderates this relationship. Based on the transactional model of stress and cognitive theories, it was hypothesized that career decision-making difficulties in high school students are associated with psychological distress and this relationship will be moderated by worry. To test the hypothesis, 384 students from five public high schools in Romania (54% adolescent females, mean age 17.9 years) were assessed. Analyses indicated that career decision-making difficulties (lack of readiness, lack of information, inconsistent information) are associated with negative dysfunctional emotions, and this association is significantly moderated by worry. The results help us to better understand the circumstances in which career decision-making difficulties activate psychological distress.
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Background: Pain after surgery is normal, and treatments, including both pharmacological and psychological components, are fundamental for a proper postoperative care. While several trials have investigated the analgesia effect of... more
Background: Pain after surgery is normal, and treatments, including both pharmacological and psychological components, are fundamental for a proper postoperative care. While several trials have investigated the analgesia effect of traditional non-pharmacological treatments, such Cognitive Behaviors Therapies for pain after surgery, the newer ways of delivering psychological interventions are paucity investigated. The aim of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to determine if delivering the psychological content through Virtual Reality (VR) along with the standard pharmacological treatment return better pain outcomes then standard care in adults patients following surgery. Methods: This is a protocol of a parallel RCT conducted in one community hospital. In the following day after surgery, adults (18 to 65 years) will be randomly assigned to either (1) standard treatment after surgery (control group) or (2) VR based intervention along with standard treatment. A minimum of 27 pa...
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The present study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance across age, gender, clinical status, and informant of the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale–IV (ADHD-RS-IV) Home and School versions. The participants... more
The present study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance across age, gender, clinical status, and informant of the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale–IV (ADHD-RS-IV) Home and School versions. The participants were 1,106 Romanian children and adolescents (mean age = 12.74 years, standard deviation = 2.84, age range 6-18 years). Both parents and teachers assessed ADHD symptoms. The factorial structure of the scale was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, and measurement invariance was assessed using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. The results supported the reliability of the ADHD-RS-IV, with high internal consistency coefficients for both versions. Confirmatory factor analysis validated a two-factor model. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the measurement invariance of ADHD-RS-IV across age, gender, clinical status, and informant. ADHD-RS-IV had good psychometric properties in a sample of Romanian children and adolescents. I...
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Social difficulties is a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of the main psychological factors supposed to underlie these difficulties is the lack or low levels of joint attention (JA) with the interaction partners. The... more
Social difficulties is a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of the main psychological factors supposed to underlie these difficulties is the lack or low levels of joint attention (JA) with the interaction partners. The use of a social robot in ASD interventions has received a lot of attention in the last years. The main objective of this research is to investigate if the JA performance of ASD children is dependent on the social cues that the robot uses in the therapy sessions. Three different types of social cues are adopted: gaze orientation, pointing and vocal instruction. Furthermore, our study aims also to investigate if the robot-enhanced treatment produces similar patterns in comparison with a standard human treatment. For testing our hypothesis, we have used a single case design involving five children with ASD who received 20 intervention sessions. The results pointed to a very consistent pattern across all types of sessions: using more cues for prompting JA increases the performance of the children. These findings emphasize the importance of using more cues, such as pointing, for increasing engagement and performance engagement in a child–robot interaction session.
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The association between parental and peer attachment and youths&#39; bullying involvement is well documented. However, there is little research examining mechanisms linking the quality of relationships with parents and peers to... more
The association between parental and peer attachment and youths&#39; bullying involvement is well documented. However, there is little research examining mechanisms linking the quality of relationships with parents and peers to bullying perpetration and victimization. The present study investigated the indirect effects of attachment to the mother, the father, and peers on bullying and victimization through children&#39;s negative automatic thoughts in a sample of 476 adolescents (10-17 years). Path analysis indicated that attachment to both parents as well as attachment to peers was indirectly related to both bullying and victimization through their relationship with adolescents&#39; negative automatic thoughts. When particular cognitive contents of negative automatic thoughts were examined, only hostile thoughts emerged as a mechanism explaining the association between poor relationships with parents and peers and bullying involvement as perpetrator, whereas poor attachment with each socialization agent had an indirect effect on bullying victimization via hostility and social threat thoughts.
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Internalizing problems are the most prevalent mental health problems in adolescents. Transdiagnostic programs are promising manners to treat multiple problems within the same protocol, however, there is limited research regarding the... more
Internalizing problems are the most prevalent mental health problems in adolescents. Transdiagnostic programs are promising manners to treat multiple problems within the same protocol, however, there is limited research regarding the efficacy of such programs delivered as universal prevention programs in school settings. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the efficacy of a video-based transdiagnostic rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) universal prevention program, for internalizing problems. The second objective of the present paper will be to investigate the subsequent mechanisms of change, namely maladaptive cognitions. A two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial will be conducted, with two groups: a video-based transdiagnostic REBT universal prevention program and a wait list control. Power analysis indicated that the study will involve 338 participants. Adolescents with ages between 12 and 17 years old, from several middle schools and high schools, will ...
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Research Interests:
Smartphones and mobile devices have become ubiquitous, and with the rapid advance of technology, the number of health applications (apps) that are available for consumers on these devices is constantly growing. In particular, there has... more
Smartphones and mobile devices have become ubiquitous, and with the rapid advance of technology, the number of health applications (apps) that are available for consumers on these devices is constantly growing. In particular, there has been a recent proliferation of anxiety apps. However, there has been no review of the quality or content of these anxiety apps and little is known about their purpose, the features they contain, and their empirical support. The goal of this systematic review was to assess the commercially available anxiety apps. A list of anxiety apps was collected in January 2017, using the Power Search function of iTunes and Google Play. Of 5,078 identified apps, 52 met our inclusion criteria (i.e., being defined as an anxiety/worry relief app, and offering psychological techniques aimed primarily at reducing anxiety) and were further reviewed. The majority (67.3%) of the currently available anxiety apps were found to lack the involvement of health care professional...