Revista Interamericana de Psicología

A network approach has been offering an alternative to the conception of psychological disorders as underlying disease. The network assumption views psychological disorders as networks of symptoms of causal interaction. Network analysis offers a unique view of an individual’s system, obtained from data rather than categorization. It allows moving toward specific interventions for specific symptom relationships rather than a protocol approach. In order to provide a current overview of the network approach studies and to present the possible implications for clinical practice, a narrative review of the literature was conducted using the Scopus and PubMed databases. Studies sought to build symptom networks through cross-sectional and time-series data collection methods, allowing analysis of the symptom’s centrality in the inter/intra-individual network, enabling a specific intervention for each patient. Research suggests that changing the connectivity of symptoms and delaying the re-stabilization of an individual's network after a disturbance leads to changing from a healthy to a pathological-stable-state. Monitoring the network dynamics could predict relapse, permitting early intervention in the central symptoms. In conclusion, networks can provide information about the specific psychological mechanisms underlying the development of psychological disorders. However, research is in its infancy, and a consensus on the analysis model is necessary. It is also necessary to consider what types of variables should be included in psychopathological networks.

The aim is to examine the predictive power of perceived coaches’ interpersonal styles and youth athletes’ psychological skills profile, considering the role of gender. One hundred and three athletes (57.30 % male, 42.70 % female) between 15 and 28 years old (M = 20.40, SD = 3.08) participated in the study. Athletes’ psychological skills of motivation, positive coping and attitude control reported higher scores, differences according to gender were found. Likewise, coach’s autonomy support predicted more psychological skills in females, while coach’s controlling behavior predicted inversely positive and negative coping, attentional control and imaginery capability in males.

Background. Emotional and cognitive processing are interconnected. Several researchers studied the association between different cognitive control processes and emotional memory, defined as the long-term storage of information accompanied by activating factors that will later favor its recall. Moreover, cognitive control processes include functions that regulate and coordinate attention, memory, language, inhibitory control, and planning. Method. Since these processes are susceptible to change during development, this study analyzed the associations between emotional memory (free recall and recognition) and cognitive processes (evaluated through Corsi and Stroop tasks) at 4 and 4.5 years of age in children from households with different socio-environmental conditions. Results. Significant correlations were found between: a) free recall of negative images and Stroop performance at 4 and 4.5 years; b) free recall of neutral images and Corsi performance at 4 years; c) recognition of negative and positive images and Stroop performance at 4.5 years; d) recognition of neutral images and socio-environmental conditions at 4.5 years. Conclusions. The results of this investigation allow us to highlight the fundamental relationship between the variables studied in this age of life cycle. These processes are closely linked and need to be analyzed together to provide a greater understanding of their mutual influences throughout child development.

The objective of this research was to analyze the effect of immediate feedback on the detection and recognition memory of false and true news, using the Signal Detection Theory. For this, two experiments were carried out; in experiment one no feedback was presented; in experiment 2 immediate feedback was included. The experiments were divided into 2 phases: discrimination and news recognition memory. It included the participation of 93 young people, who judged the veracity or falsity of the news using a forced choice task, in 24 news with two types of attributes, physical and non-physical. The results indicated in experiment one, that the non-physical attributes alter the detection and memory recognition of the news, making the physical attribute of the font color irrelevant. In experiment 2, immediate feedback was found to improve detection, but not recognition, which is impaired by non-physical attributes as in experiment one. These findings show the need to present news readers with different sources of immediate verification to improve their detection, as well as the need to generate good information verification practices in the communication sector.

Previous studies show that the type of content and format of messages employed in campaigns about COVID-19 can influence the attitudes and behaviors of the population, increasing their commitment and engagement with measures to contain the disease. This study describes two experiments with 998 Brazilian adults, which main objective was to test the possible effects of two types of messages on behavioral attitudes toward the pandemic. One message was informative only, and the other was framed to mobilize empathy in viewers. The results indicate that exposure to both messages contributed to an increase in behavioral intentions of participants, when compared to others who formed a control group. Data also suggest that socioeconomic conditions are an important factor to consider when analyzing the effects of these messages on people’s behavior. We discuss the importance of considering the scientific evidence regarding the format and content of messages aired to the population. We also discuss the need to implement initiatives to protect people in more vulnerable socioeconomic conditions, so that actions in the field of Health Education may effectively contribute to combat the pandemic.