Departament de Psicologia

The purpose of this study is to determine if the DHI model (DHI for its acronym in Spanish: "Desarrollo Humano Integral") affects the development of motivational quality, considering that the nature of the DHI model is integrative, as it connects the intellectual and the emotional aspects of the human being, inner disposition and external behavior, the intrapersonal and the interpersonal, and the short and the long term. Considering the above, the hypothesis of this work is that the integrative nature of the DHI model increases the probability of successfully facing the process of forming habits, and reduces the risks of abandonment, typical of an emotional, no-effort society. In the broad context of healthy lifestyle development programs, this article highlights the Integral Human Development model due to its richness and novelty. First, we describe four of the challenges that the DHI methodology faces. Second, we present the results of the assessment performed over its effectiveness, its implementation, and its four pedagogical components: motivation, reflection, perseverance in Specific, Attainable, and Measurable goals (CAM goals for its acronym in Spanish: "Concretas, Accesibles, Medibles"), and good environment. This assessment consisted of a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the results on the application of a tool developed for this study (with proven reliability and construct validity) to a sample of 66 teachers from 5 schools where the DHI model had been implemented for more than one year through the Integrated Training Operating System (SOFI, for its acronym in Spanish: "Sistema Operativo de Formación Integrado"). The pedagogical component good environment is relevant in the DHI methodology; therefore, we examine such methodology with the perspective of a new concept called motivational quality. This concept is now presented and refers to the proportion of intrinsic, extrinsic, and transcendent motivation that motivates a behavior. The conclusion is that a greater proportion of transcendental motivation contributes in a particularly effective way to the permanence of habit and, therefore, to the development of healthy lifestyles. The civil association Desarrollo Humano Integral A.C. (DHI) has created a model for the formation of healthy habits. The DHI model is not an educational program methodology, but a methodological structure (know-how) of multiple programs aimed at specific population sectors. In the school sector, DHI has implemented the Integrated Training Operating System (SOFI) and a 26-book collection for teachers and students named Be happy building values ("Para ser feliz forjando valores" in Spanish) throughout 13 grades of primary education: 4 grades of preschool, 6 grades of elementary school, and 3 grades of middle school. In the social sphere, in companies and civil society organizations, DHI A.C. has developed the "Health Values and Physical Education program" and its predecessor, "Healthy Habits".

Given the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the conditions of vulnerability of large sectors of the population, the question emerges: what are the ethical limits of technologies in patient care? This paper examines this question in the light of the “language of nature” and of Aristotelian causal analysis, in particular the concept of means and ends. Thus, it is possible to point out the root of the distinction between the identity of the person and the entity of any technology. Nature indicates that the person is always an end in itself. Technology, on the contrary, should only be a means to serve the person. The diversity of their respective natures also explains why their respective agencies enjoy diverse scopes. Technological operations (artificial agency, artificial intelligence) find their meaning in the results obtained through them (poiesis). Moreover, the person is capable of actions whose purpose is precisely the action itself (praxis), in which personal agency and, ultimately, the person themselves, is irreplaceable. Forgetting the distinction between what, by nature, is an end and what can only be a means is equivalent to losing sight of the instrumental nature of AI and, therefore, its specific meaning: the greatest good of the patient. It is concluded that the language of nature serves as a filter that supports the effective subordination of the use of AI to its specific purpose, the human good. The greatest contribution of this work is to draw attention to the nature of the person and technology, and about their respective agencies. In other words: listening to the language of nature, and attending to the diverse nature of the person and technology, personal agency, and artificial agency.

Midlife obesity and late-life weight loss confer a greater risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the exact mechanisms behind this phenomenon are currently unknown. The answer could lie on the involvement of gastrointestinal factors, such as adipokines (e.g., leptin, adiponectin, and resistin) and ghrelin. In this context, we conducted a pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 cross-sectional and 13 longitudinal studies targeting the associations between leptin, adiponectin, resistin, and ghrelin and the prevalence of general dementia, AD, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We also examined the relationship between the four gastrointestinal factors and neurocognitive outcomes and AD-related cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Patients with AD had lower blood leptin and higher resistin levels than cognitively normal participants. Lower leptin and higher resistin were associated with higher degree of cognitive impairment. Additionally, lower late-life leptin levels might be associated with higher prospective risk of dementia and AD, although more studies are needed to corroborate this. Results in ghrelin and adiponectin were not conclusive, with age, sex distribution, obesity, and severity of dementia seemingly acting as moderators across several analyses. Our work might contribute to the identification of new preclinical blood markers of MCI and AD.

Obesity has become a major public and individual health problem due to its high worldwide prevalence and its relation with comorbid conditions. According to previous studies, obesity is related to an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. This systematic review aims to further examine the present state of the art about the association between obesity and gray matter volume (GMV) as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A search was conducted in Pubmed, SCOPUS and Cochrane of those studies released before 1 February 2021 including MRIs to assess the GMVs in obese participants. From this search, 1420 results were obtained, and 34 publications were finally included. Obesity was mainly measured by the body mass index, although other common types of evaluations were used (e.g., waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and plasma leptin levels). The selected neuroimaging analysis methods were voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cortical thickness (CT), finding 21 and 13 publications, respectively. There were 30 cross-sectional and 2 prospective longitudinal studies, and 2 articles had both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Most studies showed a negative association between obesity and GMV. This would have important public health implications, as obesity prevention could avoid a potential risk of GMV reductions, cognitive impairment and dementia.

Objectives Evidence suggests the efcacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to prevent depression relapse and decrease depressive symptoms during the acute phase. However, the efectiveness of MBCT in real-world heterogeneous samples treated in clinical health settings, including primary care, has received little attention. This study had two aims: (1) to evaluate the efectiveness of MBCT delivered in primary care considering pre-treatment depression scores and (2) to explore the role of participants’ characteristics on symptom improvement. Methods Data were obtained from 433 individuals who received MBCT. Participants completed the Personality Inventory for ICD-11 (PiCD) pretreatment and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) pre- and post-treatment. Results Sixty percent presented moderate-to-severe depression according to scores on the BDI-II, 18.1% presented mild depression, and 21.7% were in the non-depressed range. The severity of pre-treatment depressive symptoms was associated with outcomes. Most individuals who lacked depressive symptoms at baseline remained in the non-clinical range after the treatment. Those in the severe group benefted the most from the intervention, since 35.6% were considered recovered. Rates of deterioration ranged from 2.1 to 2.7%, depending on the depression-baseline scores. Depression severity at the entrance, attendance, and age, but not personality traits, appear to be related to symptom improvement. Conclusions According to our results, MBCT can be efectively and safely delivered in primary care.

The active participation of teachers in the process of diagnosis and intervention of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is relevant to helping mitigate future problems in children with ADHD. In training programmes, teachers usually implement strategies to improve the child’s functioning after participating in an ADHD management-training programme. However, they receive little psycho-educational training and coaching and have low-to-moderate levels of knowledge of the disorder, mostly in terms of training in classroom management strategies. This study analyses the effectiveness of training in increasing knowledge and perceived self-efficacy with regard to ADHD in 40 primary school teachers. Twenty of these teachers participated in a long-term psycho-educational training programme on the management of ADHD (intervention multimodal group), while the other 20 did not (control group). The results of the post-treatment phase revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups of teachers with regard to their knowledge (Z = −5.427; p = 0.000; d = 0.89) and perceived self-efficacy (Z = −5.150; p = 0.000; d = 0.79), in favour of the participants who had received training. Our findings have important implications for the design of training programmes for teachers in the management of ADHD in the classroom

Background/Objective:Theaimofthestudywastoexaminethefactorstructureandpsy-chometricpropertiesoftheSpanishversionoftheMini-MentalAdjustmenttoCancerScale(Mini-MAC)inalargesampleofpatientswithnon-metastatic,resectedcancer.Methods:Prospective,observational,multicenterstudyforwhich914patientswererecruitedfrom15Spanishhospitals.Exploratoryandconfirmatoryfactoranalyses,validityandreliabilityanalyseswereconducted.Results:Factor-analyticresultsindicateda4-factorstructureoftheSpanishversionoftheMini-MAC.ThreesubscaleshavepsychometricpropertiessimilartothoseofHelplessness,Anxiouspreoccupation,andCognitiveavoidanceoftheoriginaltheMini-MAC.TheFightingspiritandtheFatalismsubscaleswerecombinedonthePositiveattitudescale.Thefourfactor-derivedscalescoresexhibitedacceptableaccuracyforindividualmeasurementpurposes,aswellasstabilityovertimeintest-retestassessmentsat6months.Validityassessmentsfoundmeaningfulrelationsbetweenthederivedscalescores,andBriefSymptomInventorydepressionandanxietyscoresandFunctionalAssessmentofChronicIllnessTherapyspiritualwell-beingscores.Conclusions:TheSpanishversionoftheMini-MACprovidesreliableandvalidmeasuresforpatientswithnon-metastatic,resectedcancer,andresultscorroboratetheinstrument’scross-culturalvalidity

En la actualidad buena parte del alumnado universitario utiliza las NTIC en sus estudios, así como en actividades formativas y de ocio. Un uso inadecuado de las mismas puede afectar a su rendimiento académico y bienestar psicológico, pudiéndose incluso desarrollar una adicción a internet. El phubbing es una manifestación ligada a la conducta de adicción a nuevas tecnologías que consiste en ignorar a otras personas por el uso del teléfono móvil o internet dificultando la interacción social con los demás. Una vez se han establecido en el estudiante estas conductas disfuncionales se hace necesario encontrar espacios educativos donde detectarlas y poder orientarlas. La tutoría universitaria es un escenario idóneo para abordar algunas manifestaciones negativas del phubbing, hecho que supondría un beneficio académico, personal, social y en un futuro laboral de los universitarios. El objetivo del presente artículo es identificar aspectos susceptibles de acompañamiento tutorial en el uso de las nuevas tecnologías de alumnado de enseñanzas universitarias del ámbito de la educación artística