Paula Vagos

Vagos, Paula

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Vagos

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Paula

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Paula Vagos

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Paula Vagos completed her Licenciatura in Psychology in 2006 by Universidade de Évora and PhD in Psychology in 2010 by Universidade de Aveiro. She is an Assistant Professor at Universidade de Aveiro, an integrated research member of the William James Center for Research and a collaborating research member of the CINEICC. She is also a certified psychologist with expertise in Clinical and Health Psychology by the Portuguese College of Psychology. She was part of the research team of 8 funded research projects, of which she was the principal investigator of two and the co-principal investigator of one; all were in the area of clinical psychology (or forensic clinical psychology) and are completed. She was co-supervisor of 2 completed doctoral dissertations and is supervisor or co-supervisor of 6 students with FCT doctoral scholarships. She supervised more than 60 master's theses, most of them in clinical psychology. She has authored/co-authored more than 60 articles in international scientific journals and 19 in national peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as 9 books and book chapters. She is also the author/co-author of 10 structured intervention manuals, some of which have already been tested or are under investigation in various R&D projects. She has given more than 100 presentations at national and international conferences. She is a reviewer for several international scientific journals (75 reviews; https://publons.com/author/1215689/paula-vagos#profile). She mostly investigates social behaviors in adolescence, including social anxiety and avoidance, assertiveness, and aggression. She intends to address the psychological processes underlying psychopathology as well as develop, implement, and assess the efficacy of psychological interventions aimed at those processes, considering both second wave and third wave cognitive therapies. Her most recent interests concern mental health stigma and how to overcome it in diverse communities, and the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy as applied to parenthood.

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CINTESIS.UPT - Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde

Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde (CINTESIS.UPT), former I2P, is an R&D unit devoted to the study of cognition and behaviour in context. With an interdisciplinary focus, namely on Education, Translational and Applied Psychology

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Initial psychometric characterization for the Portuguese version of the Morningness-Eveningness-Stability-Savel improved (MESSi)
2018 - Pandeirada, Josefa; Marinho, Patrícia; Randler, Christoph; Silva, Carlos F.; Rodrigues, Pedro F. S.; Vagos, Paula
This work reports the initial psychometric characterization of the Morningness-EveningnessStability-Scale improved (MESSi) for Portuguese young-adults (N = 466). A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a three-factor model (i.e. Morning Affect, Eveningness and Distinctness) in our data, as originally proposed. Furthermore, construct validity evidence in relation to external variables (i.e. morningness/eveningness and satisfaction with life), as well as adequate reliability (i.e. internal consistency and test-retest reliability), were found. Finally, sex-based invariance and between-sex differences were investigated for the three subscales, as were correlations with age. Results point to the suitability of the MESSi for multi-cultural research on relevant and multiple aspects of chronotype.
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The children’s revised impact of event scale: dimensionality and measurement invariance in a sample of children and adolescents exposed to wildfires
2021 - Pereira, Joana; Fonseca, Ana; Moreira, Helena; Canavarro, Maria Cristina; Rijo, Daniel; Vagos, Paula
Natural disasters are potentially traumatic events due to their disruptive nature and high impact on social and physical environments, particularly for children and adolescents. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) in a sample of Portuguese children and adolescents exposed to a specific type of natural disaster (i.e., wildfire). The sample was recruited at six school units of the Central region of Portugal following wildfires in the summer of 2017 and included children and adolescents without a clinical diagnosis of a psychopathological condition associated with exposure to the traumatic event (i.e., nonclinical sample, n = 486) and those with a clinical diagnosis of a trauma- and/or stress-related disorder (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], adjustment disorder, separation anxiety disorder, or grief; clinical sample, n = 54). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a two-factor model (i.e., Intrusion/Arousal and Avoidance) provided a better fit than a three-factor model (i.e., Intrusion, Arousal, and Avoidance) and was found to be invariant across gender and age groups. The CRIES-13 showed good reliability for all subscales, with Cronbach’s αs > .79. Higher CRIES-13 scores were associated with poorer health and well-being and more internalizing and externalizing problems. The clinical sample presented with significantly higher CRIES-13 scores than the nonclinical sample, ηp 2 = .13. These results contribute to the cross-cultural validation of the CRIES-13 and support its use as a reliable and valid measure for assessing posttraumatic symptoms in children and adolescents.
Open Access
Development and preliminary psychometric study of the student version of the Teacher-Student Relationship Scale
2020-08 - Maia, Rafaela; Carvalhais, Lénia; Vagos, Paula
This study developed a version for students of the Teacher-Student Relationship Scale and evaluated its psychometric characteristics. In line with its teacher version, this student version intends to evaluate conflict and closeness as dimensions characterizing teacher-student interactions. Qualitative evaluation (i.e. via thinking aloud) of the instrument with a group of eight 7th grade students showed that the instrument had good facial validity. The instrument was then applied to 297 students, boys and girls, attending the 7th trough 9th grade. The two-factor internal structure of the instrument was confirmed, and both factors had good internal consistency values; furthermore, this measurement model proved invariant by sex. This instrument will allow (re)addressing the student's perspective on his / her relationship with the teacher and may allow further work into how this perception can impact on several aspects of the intra and interpersonal functioning of both student and teacher.
Open Access
The role of mother’s prenatal compassion and psychological flexibility in postpartum mother-to-infant bonding [comunicação oral]
2023-07 - Mateus, Vera; Veloso, Bruna; Xavier, Ana; Palmeira, Lara; Vagos, Paula; Silva, Joana Ribeiro da
The transition to motherhood encloses several challenges that can hinder women’s psychological well-being and impact mother-baby bonding. Therefore, it is important to investigate which maternal characteristics promote their bond to the infant, especially those that can be modified through targeted interventions. This work aims to examine whether mother’s prenatal compassion and psychological flexibility have an impact on mother-infant bond in the postpartum period. Participants are 298 pregnant women between 22 and 30 weeks of gestation and with a mean age of 32 years old (SD = 4.43). Women completed the Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes and the Compassion Action and Engagement Scales during pregnancy, whereas mother-infant bonding was measured at 3-months postpartum via the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire. Data collection of the postpartum assessment is ongoing. We expect that higher levels of mother’s prenatal compassion and psychological flexibility will predict better quality of mother-baby bonding. The study findings can inform future studies in designing and testing specific parental interventions to foster a positive and secure mother-infant bond in the postpartum period.
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Revisiting a taxonomy of social anxiety and assertiveness in adolescence: evidence for a cognitive approach
2020-06 - Pereira, Anabela; Vagos, Paula
This research explored a taxonomy combining social anxiety and assertiveness and further applied a cognitive approach for predicting those constructs in adolescents. Participants were 679 adolescents (mean age = 16.68; 61.3% female) who self-reported on interpersonal assertive schemas, negative automatic social thoughts, social anxiety, and assertive behavior. Social anxiety and assertive behavior were grouping variables in a cluster analysis, resulting in three groups: assertive, indifferent, and socially anxious adolescents. The moderator role of the groups was then studied within a structural equation model proposing both social anxiety and assertive behavior to be predicted by cognitive schemas and automatic thoughts. This model fitted all three groups, portraying assertive behavior as directly predicted by cognitive structures whereas social anxiety was directly dependent on automatic thoughts. Assertive deficit and social anxiety seem to co-occur and fit within a theoretical and practical cognitive approach, demanding careful consideration of specific symptomology in adolescent social anxiety.
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The abbreviated dysregulation inventory: dimensionality and psychometric properties in Portuguese adolescents
2018 - Motta, Carolina Dall’Antonia da; Rijo, Daniel; Sousa, Bruno; Vagos, Paula
Psychological dysregulation is a complex and multidimensional construct encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. Research on psychological dysregulation emphasizes its importance in relation to several psychological disorders. However, assessing psychological dysregulation is often problematic because many of the existing instruments address a specific dysregulation dimension at a time, predominantly emotional dysregulation. The Abbreviated Dysregulation Inventory (ADI) was developed to assess three dimensions of psychological dysregulation: emotional, cognitive and behavioral. This study’s goal was to analyze the factor structure, internal consistency, and validity in relation to external variables of the Portuguese version of the ADI in a sample of 511 adolescents aged between 12 and 19 years old. The 3-factor solution was confirmed, and high internal consistency was found for the three subscales. Peculiar findings on the cognitive dysregulation subscale raised issues addressed in the discussion section. Results indicated that dysregulation associates positively with aggressive behavior and negatively with quality of life. Age and gender presented small influence on the cognitive and behavioral subscales scores, respectively. Findings suggested that ADI can be a valuable self-report measure to assess cognitive, behavioral or emotional dysregulation in youths, within research and psychological intervention settings.
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An evolutionary model to conceptualize psychopathic traits across community and forensic male youth
2019-01 - Silva, Diana Ribeiro da; Rijo, Daniel; Vagos, Paula
Psychopathy has been historically associated with a lack of emotion. However, some authors argue that psychopathy may represent a tendency to externalize the experience of unpleasant emotions, including shame, what could be seen as an adaptive strategy within an evolutionary framework. Nevertheless, empirical research investigating this hypothesis is scarce. Using community (n = 295) and forensic (n = 300) male youth samples and a set of self-report measures, this study tested an evolutionary model involving pathways linking the impact of harsh rearing experiences (traumatic shameful experiences and warmth and safeness experiences) to psychopathic traits, as well as the indirect effects of external shame and shame coping strategies in that association. In addition, this study tested the invariance of this model across samples. Results indicated that the impact of harsh rearing experiences was directly and indirectly (through external shame and shame coping strategies) linked with psychopathic traits. The model explained psychopathic traits in forensic and community samples, though differences in some of the pathways were found across groups. Findings offer support for conceptualizing psychopathic traits as an adaptive strategy to cope with the impact of harsh rearing experiences, opening new pathways to prevention and intervention efforts.
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Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire - kids version (CERQ-kids) among a sample of children and adolescents exposed to wildfires
2020-05 - Moreira, Helena; Pereira, Joana; Fonseca, Ana; Canavarro, Maria Cristina; Rijo, Daniel; Vagos, Paula
The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Kids (CERQ-Kids) is a self-report questionnaire that assesses cognitive emotional regulation strategies that children may employ when they face traumatic or stressful events. However, its psychometric properties were only analyzed among participants from the general community. The goal of this study is to examine the factor structure of the Portuguese CERQ-Kids and to explore its psychometric properties in a sample of children/adolescents exposed to a potentially traumatic event (wildfires). The sample included 488 children/adolescents (Mage = 13.02, SD = 2.5, range = 8–17) who lived in the areas affected by the 2017 Portugal wildfires and who did not receive a diagnosis of a mental disorder, and a clinical group of 50 children/adolescents (Mage = 12, SD = 2.62, range = 8–16) who lived in the same areas and who were diagnosed with a mental disorder. All participants completed the CERQ-Kids and measures of emotion regulation strategies, mental health, and quality of life. The best fitting model was the original nine-factor correlated model. This model was invariant across gender and age groups. With the exception of the Acceptance subscale, the remaining subscales presented adequate internal consistency. Participants from the clinical group scored higher on Self-blame, Rumination, Catastrophizing, and Acceptance than participants from the non-clinical group. Significant correlations were found between the CERQ-Kids subscales and measures of cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, prosocial behavior, mental health, and quality of life. The Portuguese version of the CERQ-Kids proved to be a psychometrically adequate measure of cognitive emotion regulation strategies that children and adolescents may use when exposed to a potentially traumatic event.
Restricted Access
The role of self-compassion in the psychological (mal)adjustment of older adults: A repeated- measures study protocol
2022-07-14 - Tavares, Lúcia; Xavier, Ana; Vagos, Paula
Purpose: Self-compassion is associated with healthy age- ing and may be a protection factor of older adults' mental health in face of negative life events and other factors such as insecure attachment. However, fear of self-compassion may constitute an obstacle to promoting self-compassion. The role of self-compassion on the psychological (mal) adjustment of older adults requires further research with robust designs, and fear of self-compassion has not been studied in this population. We will test the moderator and mediator role, respectively, of self-compassion and fear of self-compassion, and we will analyse the longitudinal devel- opmental trajectories of these variables.Methods: A repeated-measures design with three data col- lection moments across 6 months, using a sample (180–200 participants) of community residents aged ≥65years. Data will be collected using traditional (i.e. pencil-and-paper questionnaires) and online (i.e. Google Forms) methods. Path analyses will be conducted to test moderation and mediation models. Latent growth curve analyses will be conducted to study the within-person change and between- person differences in change over time of self-compassion and fear of self-compassion. Conclusions: We expect that participants with higher self- compassion will show better psychological adjustment, regardless of attachment quality and negative life events.We expect that insecure attachment and more negative life events will increase the participants' fear of self-compassion, which will decrease their psychological adjustment. Additionally, we expect that self-compassion and fear of self-compassion will show stable developmental trajectories during 6 months. Our results will contribute to better un- derstand protection factors of older adults' mental health, which may guide future psychological interventions.
Open Access
Can psychological flexibility discriminate mothers' attachment styles? A study during pregnancy [comunicação oral]
2023-07 - Moreira, Susana; Sousa, Mariana; Veloso, Bruna; Palmeira, Lara; Xavier, Ana; Vagos, Paula; Silva, Joana Ribeiro da
Psychological flexibility (PF) has been associated with greater well-being, less psychopathology and better parent’s and child’s adjustment (Fonseca et al., 2020; Monteiro et al., 2019). [...]

Vagos, Paula

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