Xavier, Ana

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Xavier

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Ana

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Ana Xavier

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Ana Xavier. Doutorada em Psicologia, especialidade em Psicologia Clínica, pela Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra. Professora Auxiliar na Universidade Portucalense Infante D. Henrique (UPT, Porto). É investigadora no CINTESIS – pólo UPT, e investigadora colaboradora no Centro de Investigação em Neuropsicologia e Intervenção Cognitivo-Comportamental (CINEICC) da Universidade de Coimbra. É Psicóloga Clínica, com experiência na prática privada, exercendo atualmente funções no PIN – Partners in Neuroscience, Porto. Afiliação: I2P - Instituto Portucalense de Psicologia. DPE - Departamento de Psicologia e Educação. I2P Instituto Portucalense de Psicologia. Centro de Investigação em Neuropsicologia e Intervenção Cognitivo-Comportamental (CINEICC), Universidade de Coimbra.

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0000-0002-1703-4712
A61A-1289-D92D
55252745900
JRW-7948-2023

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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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Now showing 1 - 10 of 26
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    PublicationOpen 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.
  • PublicationRestricted 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.
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    PublicationOpen 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). [...]
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The me and us of emotions: Preliminary results of a program to promote children’s empathy, compassion and cooperation
    2021-06 - Mendes, Sofia; Rocha, Vanessa; Pereira, Sónia; Tavares, Marta; Menezes, Paulo; Patrão, Bruno; Silva, Rui; Xavier, Ana; Palmeira, Lara; Vagos, Paula
    Given the challenges of the modern world, specifically at schools, and the alarming increase in mental health difficulties in young people, it is crucial to universally foster social and emotional skills in the school context. This study aims to present the development and preliminary results of a program to promote socioemotional skills for children in the 3rd and 4th grade. This program named “The Me and the Us of Emotions” is integrated in the Gulbenkian Academies of Knowledge 2020 and consists of 10 group sessions included in the school curriculum. The specific objectives are to promote the capacity for emotion recognition; to teach emotional self-regulation strategies focused on reassurance and compassion; and to encourage behaviors of social connection and cooperation. Digital technologies (e.g., interactive games) are complementarily used to promote these skills. An experimental design is used, and the efficacy measures address empathy, emotional skills, and cooperation, and emotional climate at classroom, based on a multi-informant perspective (children, parents, and teachers). It is expected that the children show improved emotion regulation skills, as well as increased cooperation, empathy, and compassionate actions towards themselves and others reported by themselves, their parents, and teachers. This will contribute to foster children’s psychological well-being and, more broadly, to developing more positive and compassionate environment at schools.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The Me and the Us of Emotions: a cluster-randomized controlled trial of the feasibility and efficacy of a compassion-based social– emotional learning program for children
    2023-11-01 - Menezes, Paulo; Patrão, Bruno; Mendes, Sofia; Tavares, Marta; Xavier, Ana; Palmeira, Lara; Vagos, Paula
    There are well-established benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs for children within educational contexts. Combining social–emotional skills and compassion abilities has been seldomly done, and it may be valuable at individual and societal levels, for resilient, empathetic, and inclusive societies. This study explored the feasibility and efficacy of a program designed to promote socioemotional and compassion skills in children attending the 3rd and 4th grades, by using in-class dynamics complemented with serious games. This program, named “The Me and the Us of Emotions,” is part of the Gulbenkian Knowledge Academies 2020 and consists of 10 group sessions embedded in the school curriculum. Using a cluster-randomized controlled trial design, school classes were allocated to intervention (classes, n = 8; children, n = 163) and control groups (classes, n = 6; children, n = 132). During the program, facilitators assessed adherence to the sessions’ plan, attendance, dosage (i.e., how many sessions were delivered), and participant responsiveness. Children completed self-report measures of social–emotional skills and emotional climate at pre-, post-intervention, 3-month, and 6-month follow-ups. Results indicate that the program is feasible, with high adherence, high attendance rate, and participant responsiveness. Results also indicate empathy, soothing, and drive feelings to change from pre-intervention to all other assessment moments, for the intervention group only. Moreover, cooperation and threat changed over time for participants in both the control and the intervention groups. The current study offers empirical support for the feasibility and utility of a compassion- based social–emotional learning program on promoting children’s empathy, and emotions of soothing and vitality in the school context. Thus, these findings contribute to recent research on the potential added value of compassion practices within an SEL program.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The Clinical Interview for Psychotic Disorders (CIPD): Preliminary results on interrater agreement, reliability and qualitative feedback
    2019 - Martins, Maria João; Castilho, Paula; Macedo, António; Pereira, Ana Telma; Pinto, Ana; Carreiras⁠, Diogo; Barreto-Carvalho, Célia; Palmeira, Lara; Xavier, Ana
    Given the recent treatment paradigm shift in psychosis, focusing on the recovery process, new assessment tools are needed. The Clinical Interview for Psychotic Disorders (CIPD) is an integrative and comprehensive assessment tool for psychotic disorders. CIPD encompasses the evaluation of diagnosis, psychosocial correlates and most relevant comorbidities. The study's aims were to examine CIPD inter-rater reliability, the relationships between CIPD and other instruments assessing positive and negative symptoms and functionality, and to explore participants’ qualitative feedback. The sample included 30 individuals with psychotic disorders, aged between 18 and 62 years old. Two experts in clinical psychology conducted the interviews and independently rated other assessment tools (PANSS, GAF and PSP) to determine severity of psychotic symptoms and levels of functionality. Results indicated high inter-rater reliability for the majority of CIPD items and agreement regarding diagnosis was between 73% and 93%. Moreover, positive and moderate to strong correlations were found between CIPD, PANSS, GAF and PSP. From the qualitative analysis five themes emerged, namely: CIPD applicability and utility, comparison with previous interviews, interviewer aspects, negative and positive aspects. Overall, these preliminary results suggest that CIPD is a reliable and valid assessment instrument that seems to be well suited for people with psychosis.
  • PublicationRestricted Access
    The role of self-compassion in the psychological (mal)adjustment of older adults: a scoping review
    2020-07 - Tavares, Lúcia; Xavier, Ana; Vagos, Paula
    Background: The identification of protection factors regarding older adults’ mental health is essential. Self-compassion, the capacity to be kind towards the self during challenging times, may be one such factor. Although still scarce, some research in this field has already been conducted with older adults. Our research question was the following: what is currently known about the role of self-compassion in the psychological (mal)adjustment of older adults? Objectives: To review any study designs, in any setting, where self-compassion and any indicators of psychological (mal)adjustment were assessed in participants aged ≥60 years. Design: A scoping review of English, Portuguese, and Spanish published and unpublished materials, using the EBSCOhost Research and PubMed databases and reference lists. Search terms included self-compassion, self compassion, older adults, elderly, seniors, and geriatrics. After screening and selection of the studies, we charted the relevant data. Results: Eleven published studies (2012–2018) were reviewed. Self-compassion was associated with, and a predictor of, diverse mental health indicators in older adults. Self-compassion was also associated with indicators of physical health, moderated the relationship between physical health indicators and mental health indicators, and mediated the relationship between diverse mental health indicators. Results were obtained with participants of different nationalities and age. All studies had a cross-sectional design, and most studies recruited well-functioning community residents. Conclusions: Self-compassion is beneficial for the psychological adjustment of older adults and may also benefit their biological functioning. Self-compassion seems particularly relevant for those experiencing more negative life events. Studies with more robust methodologies are needed in order to replicate these findings.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Southampton mindfulness questionnaire: Confirmatory factor analysis and psychometric properties across portuguese clinical and non‐clinical samples
    2021-08-15 - Martins, Maria João; Marques, Cristiana C.; Guiomar, Raquel; Castilho, Paula; Xavier, Ana; Palmeira, Lara
    Objectives Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire (SMQ) is one of the available instruments to assess mindfulness and has been described as particularly suited for clinical populations. The original study of the SMQ conceptualized it as having four facets, but yielded a single factor structure. The aim of this study was to confirm the SMQ factor structure and examine its psychometric properties in clinical and non-clinical Portuguese samples. Methods The community sample comprised 243 participants, ranging from 18 to 77 years. Additionally, to assess sensitivity, two distinct samples were used: individuals with meditation experience (n = 30) and a clinical sample (43 individuals with psychosis). Factor structure, reliability, validity, and sensitivity analyses were performed. Results Confirmatory factor analyses of the SMQ seem to support one overarching mindfulness construct containing four facets, revealing an acceptable fit through a parceling method. Significant correlations were obtained between SMQ and another mindfulness measure, and also with measures of cognitive fusion, and positive and negative affect. Results also indicated significant differences in SMQ non-judging facet between meditators and non-meditators and clinical samples. Conclusions The results indicate that although the SMQ has shown adequate reliability and validity, some limitations to the measure have been found. Further studies are needed, particularly with clinical samples, to determine how the current SMQ version could be improved and whether it should be revised.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Validation of the risk-taking and self-harm inventory for adolescents in a Portuguese community sample
    2019 - Cunha, Marina; Pinto-Gouveia, José; Xavier, Ana
    This paper aims to adapt and validate the Risk-taking and Self-harm Inventory for Adolescents (RTSHIA) in Portuguese language. Results confirm the two-factor structure originally proposed (Risk-taking; Self-harm). Both dimensions presented an adequate internal reliability and temporal stability. Convergent validity and socio-demographic differences are analyzed. Preventive and clinical implications are discussed.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Children’s perspectives on using serious games as a complement to promoting their social–emotional skills
    2022-08-04 - Menezes, Paulo; Patrão, Bruno; Pereira, Sónia; Rocha, Vanessa; Mendes, Sofia; Tavares, Marta; Xavier, Ana; Palmeira, Lara; Vagos, Paula
    The use of serious games may be an appealing and complementary way to motivate curriculum-based social and emotional learning (SEL); still, investigation into this potential usefulness is scarce. This study aims to address the usefulness of serious games within the program ‘Me and Us of Emotions’. Specifically, we analyzed the differences in children’s satisfaction in sessions that did or did not use serious games as a complement to the intervention, explored the contribution of using serious games to the global satisfaction with the program, and explored children’s qualitative feedback regarding the sessions. The participants were 232 children (122 boys and 110 girls) aged between 8 and 12 years old (M = 9.09, SD = 0.80). The measures were based on the subjective appraisals of the sessions made by the participating children, including quantitative and qualitative assessments of the degree of satisfaction of the participants. The results showed that there were similar levels of satisfaction with the sessions that did or did not use serious games as a complement to the program. However, only satisfaction with the sessions that used serious games (and not satisfaction with the sessions that did not use them) contributed significantly to explaining both the enjoyment of the activities and the interest in the subjects. Satisfaction with serious games was significantly and positively associated with fun, easiness, ability to understand the session, and ability to cope with emotions. Qualitative analysis showed three main themes, namely: positive aspects, negative aspects, and opportunities for improvement of the program. Overall, these results indicate that children’s satisfaction with the ‘Me and Us of Emotions’ program is related to serious games, suggesting the relevance of using this complementary tool more often when intervening with younger generations.