Cristina Botella
Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Clinical Psychology, Faculty Member
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So far, several aspects of autobiographical memory (AM) have been found to be impaired in depression. Among others, depressed patients show the tendency to recall more negative than positive events (i.e., negative bias) and usually... more
So far, several aspects of autobiographical memory (AM) have been found to be impaired in depression. Among others, depressed patients show the tendency to recall more negative than positive events (i.e., negative bias) and usually retrieve memories that lack of specificity and details (i.e., overgeneral memories). Based on this, we designed an AM task enhanced by the use of virtual reality (VR) to specifically train the recall of positive memories. Using a single-case, multiple baseline experimental design, we explored the effects of a brief intervention consisting of two sessions of this training in a sample of 18 individuals with moderate-to-moderately severe depressive symptoms. According to the results, changes occurred at the short term only. In particular, almost all participants reported a significant improvement in at least one outcome measure 0–3 days after the intervention. However, these clinical gains were not maintained in the mid-term (from day 4 to 10). The present findings do not support the efficacy of our VR-based AM recall treatment as a standalone intervention. Nevertheless, it might represent a suitable procedure to obtain immediate and/or short-term improvements. It might also serve as a valid component to be integrated in broader protocols for patients with moderate-to-moderately severe depressive symptoms.
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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular... more
This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contac
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Background Students beginning university are at a heightened risk for developing mental health disorders. Online prevention and early intervention programmes targeting mental health have the potential to reduce this risk, however,... more
Background Students beginning university are at a heightened risk for developing mental health disorders. Online prevention and early intervention programmes targeting mental health have the potential to reduce this risk, however, previous research has shown uptake to be rather poor. Understanding university stakeholders’ (e.g. governing level and delivery staff [DS] and students) views and attitudes towards such online prevention programmes could help with their development, implementation and dissemination within university settings. Methods Semi-structured interviews, focus groups and online surveys were completed with staff at a governing level, university students and DS (i.e. student health or teaching staff) from six European countries. They were asked about their experiences with, and needs and attitudes towards, online prevention programmes, as well as the factors that influence the translation of these programmes into real-world settings. Results were analyzed using themat...
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Introduction Personality disorders (PD) have a serious impact on the lives of individuals who suffer from them and those around them. It is common for family members to experience high levels of burden, anxiety, and depression, and... more
Introduction Personality disorders (PD) have a serious impact on the lives of individuals who suffer from them and those around them. It is common for family members to experience high levels of burden, anxiety, and depression, and deterioration in their quality of life. It is curious that few interventions have been developed for family members of people with PD. However, Family Connections (FC) (Hoffman and Fruzzetti, 2005) is the most empirically supported intervention for family members of people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Aim The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of online vs face-to-face FC. Given the current social constraints resulting from SARS-CoV-2, interventions have been delivered online and modified. Method This was a non-randomized pilot study with a pre-post evaluation and two conditions: The sample consisted of 45 family members distributed in two conditions: FC face-to-face (20) performed by groups before the pandemic, and FC online (25), performed by groups during the pandemic. All participants completed the evaluation protocol before and after the intervention. Results There is a statistically significant improvement in levels of burden (η 2 = 0.471), depression, anxiety, and stress (η 2 = 0.279), family empowerment (η 2 = 0.243), family functioning (η 2 = 0.345), and quality of life (μ2 η 2 = 0.237). There were no differences based on the application format burden (η 2 = 0.134);depression, anxiety, and stress (η 2 = 0.087);family empowerment (η 2 = 0,27), family functioning (η 2 = 0.219);and quality of life (η 2 = 0.006), respectively). Conclusions This study provides relevant data about the possibility of implementing an intervention in a sample of family members of people with PD in an online format without losing its effectiveness. During the pandemic, and despite the initial reluctance of family members and the therapists to carry out the interventions online, this work shows the effectiveness of the results and the satisfaction of the family members. These results are particularly relevant in a pandemic context, where there was no possibility of providing help in other ways. All of this represents a great step forward in terms of providing psychological treatment.
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Según estudios previos el sentido en la vida está asociado negativamente con la psicopatología, el riesgo de suicido y la inestabilidad emocional en personas con trastornos alimentarios (TA). El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el... more
Según estudios previos el sentido en la vida está asociado negativamente con la psicopatología, el riesgo de suicido y la inestabilidad emocional en personas con trastornos alimentarios (TA). El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el papel mediador del sentido de la vida y sus dimensiones en la relación entre la insatisfacción corporal y la sintomatología del TA y aportar pruebas que apoyen un modelo de elaboración del sentido de los trastornos alimentarios (MESTA). 292 personas diagnosticadas con TA (93,5% mujeres) contestaron el “Test de propósito en la vida” (PIL), el “Test de actitudes hacia la comida” (EAT) y el “Cuestionario multidimensional de relaciones entre el cuerpo y el yo” (MBSRQ-AS). Se realizaron análisis de mediación múltiple. El sentido en la vida medió la asociación entre la insatisfacción corporal y la psicopatología del TA. La dimensión de Satisfacción y sentido tuvo un papel mediador mayor. El sentido en la vida podría ser una variable importante en el manteni...
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The emergence of new shared media, such as the Internet and virtual reality are changing the ways in which people relate, communicate, and live. Health care, and in particular clinical psychology, is one of the areas that could be most... more
The emergence of new shared media, such as the Internet and virtual reality are changing the ways in which people relate, communicate, and live. Health care, and in particular clinical psychology, is one of the areas that could be most dramatically reshaped by these new technologies. To exploit and understand this potential is the overall goal of the "Telemedicine and Portable Virtual Environment in Clinical Psychology"--VEPSY UPDATED--an European Community funded research project (IST-2000-25323, http://www.vepsy.com) whose specific goal is the development of different PC based virtual reality modules to be used in clinical assessment and treatment. In particular the developed modules have been using to address the following pathologies: anxiety disorders; male impotence and premature ejaculation; obesity, bulimia and binge-eating disorders. The chapter details the general technical and clinical characteristics of the developed modules.
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espanolLa obesidad constituye un grave problema para la salud de los individuos. Es una condicion medica cronica y progresiva con un alto indice de mortalidad y morbilidad. Su prevalencia esta aumentando en la poblacion infantil, siendo... more
espanolLa obesidad constituye un grave problema para la salud de los individuos. Es una condicion medica cronica y progresiva con un alto indice de mortalidad y morbilidad. Su prevalencia esta aumentando en la poblacion infantil, siendo necesario su abordaje terapeutico. En los ultimos anos, se han desarrollado tratamientos psicologicos eficaces centrados en la modificacion de estilos de vida y apoyados en las tecnologias de la informacion y comunicacion (TICs). Hasta ahora, los estudios se han focalizado en analizar la eficacia de estos sin tener en cuenta analisis de opinion de los usuarios. El objetivo del presente trabajo es estudiar la opinion que los usuarios (ninos y padres) tienen de la intervencion ETIOBE. La muestra esta compuesta por 22 ninos con sobrepeso (8-14 anos), que reciben una intervencion psicologica apoyada en una plataforma web, ETIOBE. Los usuarios valoran aspectos como aprendizaje adquirido, potencialidades, debilidades, factores que pueden estar influyendo e...
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espanolEn anos recientes se ha utilizado la realidad virtual (RV) como herramienta en el tratamiento de la Fobia a Volar (FV). El programa “Virtual Flight” ha demostrado su efectividad en poblacion espanola (Botella, Osma,... more
espanolEn anos recientes se ha utilizado la realidad virtual (RV) como herramienta en el tratamiento de la Fobia a Volar (FV). El programa “Virtual Flight” ha demostrado su efectividad en poblacion espanola (Botella, Osma, Garcia-Palacios, Quero y Banos, 2004). La presente investigacion tiene como proposito ponerlo a prueba en poblacion mexicana. Los resultados obtenidos al finalizar el tratamiento, asi como en el seguimiento a 1 ano confirman su efectividad y eficiencia al establecerse utilidad clinica, que supone analizar la aplicabilidad y posibilidad de la intervencion en el contexto en el que tenga que ofrecerse. Estos resultados incrementan evidencia empirica al uso de la RV y ponen de manifiesto la generalizacion de los procedimientos y tecnicas empleadas en poblacion mexicana. EnglishIn recent years virtual reality (VR) has been used as a tool in the treatment of Flying Phobia (FF). The “Virtual Flight” program has showed its efficacy in the Spanish population (Botella, Osma...
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Background: Studies have suggested that psychotherapy improves the Quality of Life (QoL) of participants with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, there are no studies on the differential efficacy of treatments on the QoL of... more
Background: Studies have suggested that psychotherapy improves the Quality of Life (QoL) of participants with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, there are no studies on the differential efficacy of treatments on the QoL of participants with BPD. Moreover, the relationship between QoL and resilience has rarely been studied in participants with BPD. Objectives: a) to examine whether people with BPD have worse QoL than the non-clinical population; b) to examine whether there are statistically significant differences between Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS), or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-Treatment at Usual (CBT-TAU) in the improvement of QoL; c) to examine whether participants show clinically significant improvements in QoL after treatment; d) to analyse whether resilience is associated with QoL before and after the BPD treatment; e) to analyse whether resilience is a predictor of QoL at pre...
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Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS) are two treatment protocols for people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) that have received important empirical... more
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS) are two treatment protocols for people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) that have received important empirical support. However, their possible differential effectiveness has not yet been studied. The objective of this study is to explore the effectiveness of these two treatment programs. A nonrandomized clinical trial was carried out in which both treatments were applied for six months. The sample consisted of 72 patients diagnosed with BPD. The results indicate that both groups experienced a statistically significant reduction in BPD symptom, emotional regulation, impulsiveness, dissociative experiences, suicidal risk, depression, or anger. However, the DBT condition obtained statistically significant differences in BPD behavioral symptoms and fear of suicide. DBT and STEPPS treatment are effective treatments for participants with BPD, and DBT was more effect...
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Impulsive and compulsive behaviors have both been observed in individuals with obesity. The co-occurrence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more strongly associated with impulsivity, although there are no conclusive results yet. A... more
Impulsive and compulsive behaviors have both been observed in individuals with obesity. The co-occurrence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more strongly associated with impulsivity, although there are no conclusive results yet. A multidimensional assessment of impulsivity and compulsivity was conducted in individuals with obesity in the absence or presence of T2D, compared with healthy, normal-weight individuals, with highly impulsive patients (gambling disorders), and with highly compulsive patients (anorexia nervosa). Decision making and novelty seeking were used to measure impulsivity, and cognitive flexibility and harm avoidance were used for compulsivity. For impulsivity, patients with obesity and T2D showed poorer decision-making ability compared with healthy individuals. For compulsivity, individuals with only obesity presented less cognitive flexibility and high harm avoidance; these dimensions were not associated with obesity with T2D. This study contributes to the k...
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Introduction For more than twenty years, the U.S. Department of Education has been proposing an educational change in order to create a more effective system. In this sense, the field of affective neuroscience has drawn attention to the... more
Introduction For more than twenty years, the U.S. Department of Education has been proposing an educational change in order to create a more effective system. In this sense, the field of affective neuroscience has drawn attention to the critical importance of motivation in how the brain learns (Wolfe & Brandt, 1998). Motivation is a key concept in the academic performance (Porter, Bigley, & Steers, 2003). People learn to pay attention on what interests them, which can vary from learner to learner. Each student wishes to know and acquire a specific range of knowledge, skills, and competences. Therefore, an effective learning experience has to be individualized to satisfy the interest of each learner. In their recommendations, the U.S. Department of Education proposed an education program mediated by a set of learning tools designed to personalize the learning. In this sense, the use of educational technologies is suggested as an important innovation to enhance the current system and ...
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introduction: In recent years there has been great interest in addressing the treatment of ed from a transdiagnostic perspective. Transdiagnostic treatment protocols emphasize the essential underlying processes that are common to ed and... more
introduction: In recent years there has been great interest in addressing the treatment of ed from a transdiagnostic perspective. Transdiagnostic treatment protocols emphasize the essential underlying processes that are common to ed and are conceived of for the treatment of several mental disorders. Also, comorbidity among these disorders can be more adequately addressed from this perspective. In addition, Information and Communication Technologies (icts) can facilitate access by people for whom traditional therapy is not available thereby contributing to an improvement in its cost-effectiveness. Most of the articles about online treatment protocols are efficacy studies, nevertheless it is also important to analyze the acceptability of these types of interventions. Our research group has developed a transdiagnostic treatment protocol for the treatment of ed that has been adapted to be applied online over the Internet. The aim of this article is to describe the treatment protocol and...
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Positive Psychology has gained an important role in mental health, especially since it has become clear that health is not merely the absence of illness. Concepts such as hope and optimism are two relevant Positive Future Thinking... more
Positive Psychology has gained an important role in mental health, especially since it has become clear that health is not merely the absence of illness. Concepts such as hope and optimism are two relevant Positive Future Thinking constructs related to wellbeing, life satisfaction and coping with adversities. Hope has been defined as a «positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy) and (b) pathways (planning to meet goals)» (Snyder, Irving & Anderson, 1991), while optimism has been defined as «positive generalized outcome expectancies» (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Several authors have suggested that these concepts (and others such as self-esteem and self-efficacy) are difficult to differentiate from each other, pointing out the need to clarify and delimit in a better way the particular components of each construct. In an effort to shed light on these issues, this work analyzes the relationship between levels ...
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La experiencia de emociones positivas, como alegría y satisfacción, tiene numerosos beneficios físicos, sociales e intelectuales para el individuo (Sheldon y Lyubomirsky, 2006). Una gran variedad de estudios han investigado la eficacia de... more
La experiencia de emociones positivas, como alegría y satisfacción, tiene numerosos beneficios físicos, sociales e intelectuales para el individuo (Sheldon y Lyubomirsky, 2006). Una gran variedad de estudios han investigado la eficacia de diferentes intervenciones dirigidas a promover estados emocionales positivos. El objetivo del presente trabajo es realizar una revisión de las principales intervenciones positivas dirigidas a mejorar el bienestar. Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de la última década, a través de diferentes bases de datos, combinando palabras clave como: «positive interventions», «well-being», «positive psychology» y «happiness». La búsqueda dio como resultado una serie de intervenciones autoaplicadas dirigidas a promover emociones positivas. Dichas intervenciones incluyen estrategias cognitivas y conductuales simples, tales como: escribir cartas de agradecimiento, realizar actos bondadosos e identificar fortalezas personales, entre otros (Layous y Lyubomirsky,...
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La fibromialgia (fm) y otros síndromes de dolor crónico constituyen un importante problema de salud por el deterioro de la actividad y la calidad de vida que producen. Estos problemas requieren un abordaje multidisciplinar, sin embargo,... more
La fibromialgia (fm) y otros síndromes de dolor crónico constituyen un importante problema de salud por el deterioro de la actividad y la calidad de vida que producen. Estos problemas requieren un abordaje multidisciplinar, sin embargo, el tratamiento actual todavía es insuficiente. Una forma de mejorar las intervenciones podría ser el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (tic). El grupo de investigación Labpsitec ha creado teo (Terapia Emocional On Line), un sistema abierto y autoaplicado que permite recoger datos del paciente en tiempo real en su ambiente natural, crear sesiones de tratamiento personalizadas y enviarlas a los pacientes mediante Internet. Con esta herramienta pretendemos trabajar el mantenimiento de las estrategias aprendidas por los pacientes ya que, en ocasiones, dejan de practicarlas a medio o largo plazo una vez finalizados los tratamientos. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir el programa teo-fm y presentar datos preliminares de la ac...
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There is growing evidence of the effectiveness of Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) to enhance subjective and psychological well-being in different populations, and the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are becoming... more
There is growing evidence of the effectiveness of Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) to enhance subjective and psychological well-being in different populations, and the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are becoming into a key help to increase the efficiency of this type of interventions. Recently, the use of technology to foster well-being and personal growth has been named as Positive Technology. The aim of this paper is to describe and to present data about a positive technology example (EARTH of Well-being system) and to examine its usefulness in different populations and settings. Data of four studies are presented: two with non-clinical population (university students) and two with clinical population (cancer patients). Outcomes show that this system is capable of promoting subjective well-being in both populations. Also, its efficacy was proved in different settings (laboratory and hospital contexts). Limitations and future research are discussed.
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Depression is one of the most disabling psychological disorders worldwide. A very important challenge today consists on addressing the issue of depression from a preventive perspective. A growing body of research supports the efficacy of... more
Depression is one of the most disabling psychological disorders worldwide. A very important challenge today consists on addressing the issue of depression from a preventive perspective. A growing body of research supports the efficacy of Internet-based treatments. We have developed an Internet-based program (Smiling is Fun) with the objective of helping people in prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms. It is based on classical cognitive behavioral techniques, such as behavioural activation, and also includes other positive psychological strategies to improve coping ability and positive mood. We applied this intervention program in people who had to cope at least with one stressor in their life producing interference (secondary prevention) and also in people who had to cope at least a stressor and met the diagnosis of an emotional disorder (ED) (tertiary prevention). All participants had minimal to moderate depressive symptoms. The principal objective of the present work is to present the data about the efficacy of this Internet-based intervention as a secondary and tertiary prevention tool comparing both groups.
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La fobia social es un problema de salud mental a escala mundial que no es diagnosticada y atendida en forma adecuada. Debido a que México presenta una alta prevalencia del trastorno, se puso a prueba un programa de telepsicología para... more
La fobia social es un problema de salud mental a escala mundial que no es diagnosticada y atendida en forma adecuada. Debido a que México presenta una alta prevalencia del trastorno, se puso a prueba un programa de telepsicología para miedo a hablar en público, que anteriormente probó su eficacia en población española. La muestra se conformó por 43 participantes: 26 mujeres y 17 hombres, entre 19 y 60 años de edad (M = 32.51). Todos los participantes cumplían los criterios del dsm-iv para fobia social: miedo a hablar en público. Se empleó un ensayo clínico “aleatorizado” con tres condiciones de tratamiento: asistido por terapeuta (n = 16), auto aplicado (n = 14) y lista de espera (n = 13), con medidas repetidas intrasujeto (pretratamiento, postratamiento y seguimiento a tres meses). Los resultados muestran cambios significativos intragrupo en los indicadores fóbicos en ambos grupos de tratamiento, superiores al grupo control. Los datos obtenidos apoyan la generalidad del programa de...