The use of heart rate variability in esports: A systematic review.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a psychophysiological measure of particular interest in esports due to its potential to monitor player self-regulation. This study aimed to systematically review the utilisation of HRV in esports. Consideration was given to the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of previous works to provide recommendations for future research. The protocol was made available on the Open Science Framework. Inclusion criteria were empirical studies, examining HRV in esports, using esports players, published in English. Exclusion criteria were non-peer-reviewed studies, populations with pre-existing clinical illness other than Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), opinion pieces or review papers. In November 2022 a search of Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCOHost identified seven studies using HRV in esports. Risk of bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Narrative review identified two primary uses of HRV in esports; stress response and IGD. A lack of theoretical and methodological underpinning was identified as a major limitation of current literature. Further investigation is necessary before making recommendations regarding the use of HRV in esports. Future research should employ sound theoretical underpinning such as the use of vagally mediated HRV and the robust application of supporting methodological guidelines when investigating HRV in esports.

Does workplace telepressure get under the skin? Protocol for an ambulatory assessment study on wellbeing and health-related physiological, experiential, and behavioral concomitants of workplace telepressure.

BACKGROUND: The daily working life of many employees requires the use of modern information and communication technology (ICT) devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. The double-edged nature of digital work environments has been increasingly highlighted. Benefits such as increased flexibility come at a personal cost. One of the potential downsides is workplace telepressure, i.e., the experience of urge and preoccupation to quickly reply to work-related messages and demands using ICT. There is initial - mainly survey-based-evidence that workplace telepressure may have negative effects on a variety of wellbeing and health outcomes. AIMS AND HYPOTHESES: Adopting the Effort-Recovery Model and the concept of allostatic load as theoretical frameworks, the present study aims to investigate the hypothesis that workplace telepressure is significantly associated with increased "wear and tear", in the form of more psychosomatic complaints, worse sleep quality (self-reported and actigraphy-based), worse mood, and biological alterations (lower cardiac vagal tone, lower anabolic balance defined as the ratio of salivary dehydroepiandrosterone to salivary cortisol, and higher salivary alpha-amylase). Additionally, the study aims to investigate the hypothesis that connection to work defined as work-related workload and work-related perseverative cognition plays a significant role in the mediation of these relationships. METHODS: To test our hypotheses, we will conduct an ambulatory assessment study with a convenience sample of 120 healthy workers regularly using ICTs for job communication. For one week, participants will be asked to complete electronic diaries assessing their level of workplace telepressure, psychosomatic complaints, sleep quality, mood, work-related workload, and work-related perseverative cognition. They will also continuously wear the Bittium Faros 180L ECG monitor, the wrist-worn actigraph MotionWatch 8, and perform saliva sampling five times per day. DISCUSSION: This study will be the most comprehensive ambulatory investigation of workplace telepressure and its psychophysiological concomitants to date and constitutes an important step towards understanding how high levels of workplace telepressure may lead in the long term to secondary alterations (e.g., hypertension, chronic inflammation) and disease (e.g., heart disease). The findings of this study are also anticipated to contribute to guiding the development and implementation of interventions, programs, and policies relevant to employees' digital wellbeing.

Notas para decolonizar os estudos transpessoais no brasil: contribuições do pluriperspectivismo participativo / Notes for decolonizing transpersonal studies in brazil: contributions of participatory pluriperspectivism / Apuntes para la decolonización de los estudios transpersonales en brasil: aportes del pluriperspectivismo participativo

O campo dos estudos transpessoais tem avançado em diversas áreas no Brasil. Comemorou seus 40 anos com uma inserção ativa nas Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) e uma ampliação de núcleos formativos e apoiadores de ensino, pesquisa e ações sociais, além de diálogos com o Sistema de Conselhos de Psicologia. Desafios são apresentados a partir do levantamento de uma série de questões importantes e ignoradas dentro da Psicologia Transpessoal no Brasil. Apresentamos o pluriperspectivismo participativo como possibilidade de decolonizar as matrizes eurocêntricas e estadunidenses, que dão suporte ao pensamento transpessoal brasileiro, buscando honrar nossas raízes históricas e incluir outras epistemologias e ontologias, que dão continuidade à crítica à lógica cartesiana moderna. Indicamos uma breve agenda de notas temáticas que carecem de um processo decolonizador no campo transpessoal: a) crítica às perspectivas de um pensamento hegemônico, em termos globais por meio da dominação Norte-Sul ou no campo das relações sociais; b) revisão das formas de "centrocentrismo"; c) questionamento da noção de universalismo das ciências e da ética; d) aprofundamento da análise crítica da supremacia restritiva da racionalidade formal técnico-científica em relação às formas de subjetividade, de vivências holísticas e integradoras e de valorização do corpo; e) revisão da noção de sujeito moderno desprovida da cocriação do humano com a comunidade, a história, a natureza e o cosmos.(AU)

The field of transpersonal studies has advanced in several areas in Brazil. It celebrated its 40th anniversary with an active insertion in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and an expansion of training centers and supporters of teaching, research, and social actions, in addition to dialogues with the System of Councils of Psychology. Challenges are presented based on a survey of a series of important and ignored issues within Transpersonal Psychology in Brazil. We present participatory pluriperspectivism as a possibility to decolonize the Eurocentric and North American matrices that support Brazilian transpersonal thought, seeking to honor our historical roots and include other epistemologies and ontologies, which continue the critique of modern Cartesian logic. We indicate a brief agenda of thematic notes that lack a decolonizing process in the transpersonal field: a) criticism of the perspectives of a hegemonic thought, whether in global terms via North-South domination or in the field of social relations; b) review of the forms of "centrocentrism"; c) questioning of the notion of universalism of science and ethics; d) deepening of the critical analysis of the restrictive supremacy of the technical-scientific formal rationality in relation to the forms of subjectivity, of holistic and integrative experiences, and of valuing the body; e) review of the notion of the modern subject devoid of the co-creation of the human with the community, the history, the nature, and the cosmos.(AU)

El campo de los estudios transpersonales ha avanzado en varias áreas de Brasil. Se celebró su 40.º aniversario con una inserción activa en Instituciones de Educación Superior (IES) y una ampliación de los centros de formación y promotores de la docencia, la investigación y la acción social, además de diálogos con el Sistema de Consejos de Psicología. Los desafíos se presentan a partir de una encuesta de una serie de temas importantes e ignorados dentro de la Psicología Transpersonal en Brasil. Presentamos el pluriperspectivismo participativo como una posibilidad para decolonizar las matrices eurocéntrica y americana, que sustentan el pensamiento transpersonal brasileño, buscando honrar nuestras raíces históricas e incluir otras epistemologías y ontologías que continúan la crítica de la lógica cartesiana moderna. Indicamos una breve agenda de apuntes temáticos que carecen de un proceso decolonizador en el campo transpersonal: a) crítica de las perspectivas de un pensamiento hegemónico, ya sea en términos globales a través del dominio Norte-Sur o en el campo de las relaciones sociales; b) revisión de las formas de "centrocentrismo"; c) cuestionamiento de la noción de universalismo de la ciencia y la ética; d) profundización del análisis crítico de la supremacía restrictiva de la racionalidad formal técnico-científica en relación a las formas de subjetividad, de experiencias holísticas e integradoras y de valoración del cuerpo; e) revisión de la noción de sujeto moderno desprovisto de la cocreación de lo humano con la comunidad, la historia, la naturaleza y el cosmos.(AU)

Atuação em urgência e emergência a partir da psicologia junguiana / The pratice in an emergency service based on jungian psychology / La práctica en la urgencia y emergencia desde la psicología junguiana

Este artigo é um relato de experiência cujo objetivo é refletir sobre a atuação de uma psicóloga no contexto da urgência e emergência no hospital a partir da psicologia jungiana. Utilizou-se como método o recurso da sistematização da experiência, que consiste em sua interpretação crítica, cujo foco é o ordenamento e a reconstrução das experiências para explicitar a lógica do processo vivido. Por meio da reflexão de situações clínicas foi possível proporcionar um lugar para a subjetividade diante do disruptivo e da objetividade institucional do hospital. Teoricamente, o texto descreve as experiências de atendimento hospitalar, espaço em que urge o inesperado e o desconhecido. Aposta-se no simbolismo como movimento da psique para lidar com aquilo que o sujeito ainda não pode nomear, significar, incluindo a vulnerabilidade, as perdas e a questão da morte e do luto, este entendido como a ruptura de um vínculo. Dessa forma, a psicologia analítica se volta para como a entrada no hospital e a fugacidade do contexto de urgência e emergência afetam a psique dos sujeitos atendidos e de que forma esse psiquismo reage às vivências disruptivas e inesperadas.(AU)

This work is an experience report whose objective is to reflect on the role of a psychologist in the context of urgency and emergency in the hospital from the perspective of Jungian psychology. The resource of systematization of the experience was used as method, which consists of a critical interpretation, whose focus is the ordering and reconstruction of experiences to explain the logic of the process experienced. With the reflection of clinical situations, it was possible to provide a place for subjectivity in the face of the disruptive and the institutional objectivity of the hospital. Theoretically, the text describes the experience of entry in a hospital, a place in which the unexpected and the unknown are faced. We believe on symbolism as a movement of the psyche to deal with what the patient cannot yet name or give a meaning, including vulnerability, losses, and the issue of death and grief, this last one understood as the rupture of a link. Thus, analytical psychology will focus on how the entry in a hospital and the fleetingness of the emergency context affect the psyche of the patients and how this psyche reacts to the disruptive and unexpected experiences.(AU)

Este reporte de experiencia pretende reflejar sobre el papel de una psicóloga en el contexto de urgencia y emergencia en el hospital desde la perspectiva de la psicología junguiana. El método utilizado fue el recurso de sistematización de la experiencia, que consiste en una interpretación crítica, cuyo enfoque es el ordenamiento y reconstrucción de experiencias para explicar la lógica del proceso vivido. A partir del reflejo de situaciones clínicas se logró dar lugar a la subjetividad frente a la objetividad institucional del hospital. Teóricamente se describen las vivencias en la atención hospitalaria, un espacio donde se encuentra lo inesperado y lo desconocido. Se considera el simbolismo como un movimiento de la psique para lidiar con lo que el sujeto aún no puede nombrar, incluidas la vulnerabilidad, las pérdidas y el tema de la muerte y el dolor, este último comprendido como un quiebre del vínculo. De esta manera, la psicología analítica se centrará en cómo la admisión al hospital y la fugacidad del contexto de emergencia afectan la psique de los sujetos atendidos y cómo esta psique reacciona a estas experiencias disruptivas e inesperadas.(AU)

Real-time extended psychophysiological analysis of financial risk processing.

We study the relationships between the real-time psychophysiological activity of professional traders, their financial transactions, and market fluctuations. We collected multiple physiological signals such as heart rate, blood volume pulse, and electrodermal activity of 55 traders at a leading global financial institution during their normal working hours over a five-day period. Using their physiological measurements, we implemented a novel metric of trader's "psychophysiological activation" to capture affect such as excitement, stress and irritation. We find statistically significant relations between traders' psychophysiological activation levels and such as their financial transactions, market fluctuations, the type of financial products they traded, and their trading experience. We conducted post-measurement interviews with traders who participated in this study to obtain additional insights in the key factors driving their psychophysiological activation during financial risk processing. Our work illustrates that psychophysiological activation plays a prominent role in financial risk processing for professional traders.

Validation of Gazepoint low-cost eye-tracking and psychophysiology bundle.

Eye-tracking and recording of physiological signals are increasingly used in research within cognitive science and human-computer interaction. For example, gaze position and measures of autonomic arousal, including pupil dilation, skin conductance (SC), and heart rate (HR), provide an indicator of cognitive and physiological processes. The growing popularity of these techniques is partially driven by the emergence of low-cost recording equipment and the proliferation of open-source software for data collection and analysis of such signals. However, the use of new technology requires investigation of its reliability and validation with respect to real-world usage and against established technologies. Accordingly, in two experiments (total N = 69), we assessed the Gazepoint GP3-HD eye-tracker and Gazepoint Biometrics (GPB) system from Gazepoint. We show that the accuracy, precision, and robustness of the eye-tracker are comparable to competing systems. While fixation and saccade events can be reliably extracted, the study of saccade kinematics is affected by the low sampling rate. The GP3-HD is also able to capture psychological effects on pupil dilation in addition to the well-defined pupillary light reflex. Finally, moderate-to-strong correlations between physiological recordings and derived metrics of SC and HR between the GPB and the well-established BIOPAC MP160 support its validity. However, low amplitude of the SC signal obtained from the GPB may reduce sensitivity when separating phasic and tonic components. Similarly, data loss in pulse monitoring may pose difficulties for certain HR variability analyses.

Validation of a Low-Cost Electrocardiography (ECG) System for Psychophysiological Research.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The reliability of low-cost mobile systems for recording Electrocardiographic (ECG) data is mostly unknown, posing questions regarding the quality of the recorded data and the validity of the extracted physiological parameters. The present study compared the BITalino toolkit with an established medical-grade ECG system (BrainAmp-ExG). METHODS: Participants underwent simultaneous ECG recordings with the two instruments while watching pleasant and unpleasant pictures of the "International Affective Picture System" (IAPS). Common ECG parameters were extracted and compared between the two systems. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs) and the Bland-Altman Limits of Agreement (LoA) method served as criteria for measurement agreement. RESULTS: All but one parameter showed an excellent agreement (>80%) between both devices in the ICC analysis. No criteria for Bland-Altman LoA and bias were found in the literature regarding ECG parameters. CONCLUSION: The results of the ICC and Bland-Altman methods demonstrate that the BITalino system can be considered as an equivalent recording device for stationary ECG recordings in psychophysiological experiments.

Psychophysiological assessment of stress reactivity and recovery in anxiety disorders.

The present study aimed to examine changes in psychophysiological arousal from baseline to a stressor phase (reactivity) and from the stressor phase to a second resting phase (recovery) in patients with anxiety disorders. Fifty adult patients with DSM-5 anxiety disorders (panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or social anxiety disorder) and 28 healthy control (HC) participants underwent psychophysiological monitoring including electrocardiogram, respiration rate, electrodermal activity, gastrocnemius electromyograph, and end-tidal CO2 for a 3-min resting phase, a 6-min mild stressor phase, and a 3-min recovery phase. Anxious patients then went on to receive naturalistic cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in a specialty outpatient clinic. Results for the reactivity phase indicated that compared to HCs, patients with social anxiety disorder exhibited heightened psychophysiological reactivity while patients with panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder exhibited attenuated reactivity. Results for physiological recovery (return to baseline after the stressor was withdrawn) were mixed, but provided some support for slower autonomic recovery in patients with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder compared to HCs. Participants with all anxiety disorders exhibited diminished change in high frequency heart rate variability compared to HCs. Generally, psychophysiological reactivity and recovery were not associated with CBT outcome, though exploratory analyses indicated that greater respiration rate reactivity and stronger respiration rate recovery were associated with better CBT outcomes in patients with panic disorder.

Towards a multi-brain framework for hypnosis: a review of quantitative methods.

Most real-world applications of hypnosis involve a pair of actors: a hypnotist and a subject. Accordingly, most current models of hypnosis acknowledge the relevance of social factors in the development of the hypnotic response. Yet, psychophysiological research on hypnosis has been mostly restricted to techniques that are studying one individual, neglecting the complexity of hypnosis as a social phenomenon. In this paper, we review evidence suggesting that a multi-brain approach to studying the psychophysiology of hypnosis could lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the neural correlates of hypnosis. In particular, we aim to highlight how this approach which relies on the information conveyed by complex verbal stimuli can be utilized to deal with the multifaceted nature of hypnosis. Furthermore, we present analytical approaches to assessing brain-to-brain coupling developed in the field of social cognitive neuroscience in the past decade, to aid the design of similar multi-brain studies in hypnosis research.

Individual differences in costly fearful avoidance and the relation to psychophysiology.

Excessive avoidance behaviour is a cardinal symptom of anxiety disorders. Avoidance is not only associated with the benefits of avoiding threats, but also with the costs of missing out on rewards upon exploration. Psychological and psychophysiological mechanisms contributing to these costly avoidance decisions in prospect of mixed outcomes remain unclear. We developed a novel Fearful Avoidance Task (FAT) that resembles characteristics of real-life approach-avoidance conflicts, enabling to disentangle reward and threat effects. Using the FAT, we investigated individual differences in avoidance behaviour and anticipatory psychophysiological states (i.e. startle reflex and skin conductance) in a relatively large sample of 343 (78 females) participants. Avoidance under acute threat of shock depends on a trade-off between perceived reward and threat. Both increased startle and skin conductance in the absence of threat of shock emerged as predictors of increased avoidance (potentially indicative of fear generalization). Increased avoidance was also associated with female sex and trait anxiety, dependent on reward and threat levels. Our findings highlight distinct possible predictors of heightened avoidance and add to mechanistic understanding of how individual propensity for costly avoidance may emerge. Distinct avoidance typologies based on differential reward and threat sensitivities may have different mechanistic origins and thereby could benefit from different treatment strategies.

Coordination Cost and Super-Efficiency in Teamwork: The Role of Communication, Psychological States, Cardiovascular Responses, and Brain Rhythms.

To advance knowledge on the psychophysiological markers of "coordination cost" in team settings, we explored differences in meta-communication patterns (i.e., silence, speaking, listening, and overlap), perceived psychological states (i.e., core affect, attention, efficacy beliefs), heart rate variability (i.e., RMSSD), and brain rhythms (i.e., alpha, beta and theta absolute power) across three studies involving 48 male dyads (Mage = 21.30; SD = 2.03). Skilled participants cooperatively played three consecutive FIFA-17 (Xbox) games in a dyad against the computer, or competed against the computer in a solo condition and a dyad condition. We observed that playing in a team, in contrast to playing alone, was associated with higher alpha peak and global efficiency in the brain and, at the same time, led to an increase in focused attention as evidenced by participants' higher theta activity in the frontal lobe. Moreover, we observed that overtime participants' brain dynamics moved towards a state of "neural-efficiency", characterized by increased theta and beta activity in the frontal lobe, and high alpha activity across the whole brain. Our findings advance the literature by demonstrating that (1) the notion of coordination cost can be captured at the neural level in the initial stages of team development; (2) by decreasing the costs of switching between tasks, teamwork increases both individuals' attentional focus and global neural efficiency; and (3) communication dynamics become more proficient and individuals' brain patterns change towards neural efficiency over time, likely due to team learning and decreases in intra-team conflict.

The Body-Threat Assessment Battery (BTAB): A new instrument for the quantification of threat-related autonomic affective responses induced via dynamic movie clips.

We present a new instrument for the assessment of responses to threat-related imagery directed towards a human body - the Body-Threat Assessment Battery (BTAB). The BTAB consists of a series of high-definition dynamic clips depicting body-threats and matched non-threat baseline behaviours. For body-threat stimuli a perspective manipulation was included to assess the effects of viewing threats from the point-of-view of the observer (POV) or from an external/exocentric perspective (EXO). Green-screen technology was used so that extraneous background information could be removed and standardised in post-production. Categorical normative data for psychological ratings (valence, arousal and pain), psychophysiological, phasic skin conductance responses (SCRs) and tonic skin conductance levels (SCLs) were obtained for all stimuli. Body-threat stimuli evoked significantly higher psychological ratings of arousal and pain, with more negative ratings of valence, relative to baseline stimuli. In addition, threat stimuli also had an increased efficacy at evoking SCRs, and these were significantly stronger relative to baseline stimuli. There were no effects of perspective on psychophysiological or psychological responses to threat imagery. The findings are discussed in the context of the utility and scope of the BTAB for supporting neurocognitive investigations of aversive imagery and body-threats specifically in the study of embodiment, body-processing and self-consciousness.

Oxytocin & well-being as promoters of affect regulation and homeostasis: a neuroscientific review / Ocitocina & bem-estar como promotores da regulação afetiva e da homeostase: uma revisão neurocientífica / Oxitocina y bienestar como promotores de la regulación del afecto y de la homeostasis: una revisión neurocientífica

Context: The term "Well-being" [WB] has many different meanings in scientific literature. Objectives: To search specific situations and related semantics for feelings of well-being [WB] associated to oxytocin [OT] release. Data sources: A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines in PubMed, BVS Virtual (Medline, Lilacs) and SIBI-USP Portal de Busca Integrada (1970-1999 & 2014-2018). Study selection: Reviews and clinical trials (PICOS) on OT, & WB and similar concepts in humans. Data extraction: Independent selection of articles by two reviewers; selection of articles by one reviewer, using predefined criteria. Data synthesis: 46 articles were selected out of 339, with 26 additional articles. Main data referred to social situations, sensorial stimuli, trust and psychiatric and health studies. Conclusions: The identified variables involved brain-body-mind interactions, and health/disease; translational neuroscience seems to be the best theoretical reference to investigate it.

Contexto: O termo "Bem-estar" [WB] apresenta muitos significados diferentes na literatura. Objetivos: Buscar situações específicas e semânticas relacionadas a sentimentos de bem-estar [WB] ligados à ocitocina [OT]. Fontes de dados: Revisão sistemática a partir das Referências PRISMA nas bases de dados PubMed, BVS Virtual (Medline, Lilacs) and SIBI-USP Portal de Busca Integrada (1970-1999 & 2014-2018). Seleção do estudo: revisões e ensaios clínicos (PICOS) sobre OT, & WB e sinônimos, em humanos. Extração de dados: seleção independente de artigos por dois revisores. Um revisor selecionou os textos utilizando critérios pré-definidos. Síntese dos dados: Dentre 339 artigos, 46 foram selecionados, e mais 26 posteriormente adicionados. Os principais dados obtidos referiam-se a situações sociais, estímulos sensoriais, confiança e estudos psiquiátricos e de saúde. Conclusões: As variáveis identificadas envolveram interações cérebro-corpo-mente e saúde; A neurociência translacional parece ser o melhor referencial teórico para investigá-la.

Contexto: El termo "Bienestar" [WB] abarca muchos significados diferentes en la literatura científica. Objetivos: buscar situaciones y semánticas sobre sentimientos de bienestar [WB] asociados con la produccion de oxitocina [OT]. Fuentes de datos: Revisión sistemática en PubMed, BVS Virtual (Medline, Lilacs) y SIBI-USP Portal de Busca Integrada (1970-1999; 2014-2018). Selección de estudios: revisiones y ensayos clínicos (PICOS) en OT, & WB y sinónimos, en humanos. Extracción de datos: Extracion independiente de artículos por dos revisores; selección de artículos por un revisor, utilizando criterios predefinidos. Síntesis de datos: se seleccionaron 46 artículos dentre 339, y mas 26 adicionales. Los datos principales se referían a situaciones sociales, estímulos sensoriales, confianza y estudios psiquiátricos y de salud. Conclusiones: Las variables identificadas involucraron interacciones cerebro-cuerpo-mente y salud; La neurociencia traslacional parece ser el mejor marco teórico para investigarlo.

Grief: A Brief History of Research on How Body, Mind, and Brain Adapt.

OBJECTIVE: Using an integrative view of psychology, neuroscience, immunology, and psychophysiology, the present review of literature curates the findings that have had an impact on the field of bereavement research and shaped its development. METHODS: Beginning with pivotal systematic descriptions of medical and psychological responses to the death of a loved one by Lindemann in the mid-1940s, this selective review integrates findings in bereavement research from studies that investigate medical outcomes after loss, their psychological predictors, and biopsychosocial mechanisms. RESULTS: Morbidity and mortality after the death of a loved one have long been a topic of research. Early researchers characterized somatic and psychological symptoms and studied immune cell changes in bereaved samples. More recent research has repeatedly demonstrated increased rates of morbidity and mortality in bereaved samples, as compared with married controls, in large epidemiological studies. Recent developments also include the development of criteria for prolonged grief disorder (also termed complicated grief). Newer methods, including neuroimaging, have observed that the greatest impact of the death of a loved one is in those who have the most severe psychological grief reactions. Research addressing the mechanisms tying bereavement to medical outcomes is relatively scarce, but differences in rumination, in inflammation, and in cortisol dysregulation between those who adapt well and those who do not have been offered with some evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations to propel the field forward include longitudinal studies to understand differences between acute reactions and later adaptation, comparing samples with grief disorders from those with more typical responses, and integrating responses in brain, mind, and body.

Tratamento de pacientes com dor lombar crônica inespecífica por fisioterapeutas: um estudo transversal / Tratamiento de pacientes con dolor lumbar crónico inespecífico por fisioterapeutas: un estudio transversal / Treatment of patients of nonspecific chronic low back pain by physical therapists: a cross-sectional study

RESUMO Estudos atuais têm investigado a orientação de tratamento que fisioterapeutas adotam no tratamento da dor lombar crônica inespecífica (DLCI) pela avaliação de suas atitudes e crenças. Porém, no Brasil, pouco se sabe sobre essa temática principalmente no contexto do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). O objetivo desse estudo foi descrever atitudes e crenças dos fisioterapeutas que atuam no SUS no tratamento de pacientes com DLCI e identificar a relação entre suas características demográficas e profissionais e as orientações de tratamento da DLCI. O estudo é de base populacional e transversal. Os dados foram coletados com um questionário demográfico e profissional e o questionário Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists. O estudo contou com 49 fisioterapeutas e os resultados evidenciaram maior concordância com crenças e atitudes relacionadas à orientação biomédica, sendo a pontuação nessa escala 15,5% maior que na comportamental, e uma correlação regular e positiva (p<0,05) entre o tempo de formação e a orientação de tratamento biopsicossocial. Concluí-se que houve predomínio de crenças biomédicas entre os fisioterapeutas que trataram a DLCI em pacientes do SUS. O estudo também demonstrou que os fisioterapeutas com maior tempo de formação foram aqueles que apresentaram maior influência da orientação biopsicossocial.

RESUMEN Estudios recientes han investigado la orientación de tratamiento que los fisioterapeutas adoptan en el tratamiento del dolor lumbar crónico inespecífico (DLCI) por la evaluación de sus actitudes y creencias. Sin embargo, en Brasil, poco se sabe sobre esa temática principalmente en el contexto del Sistema Único de Salud (SUS). El objetivo de este estudio fue describir actitudes y creencias de los fisioterapeutas que actúan en el SUS en el tratamiento de pacientes con DLCI e identificar la relación entre sus características demográficas y profesionales y las orientaciones de tratamiento de la DLCI. El estudio es de base poblacional y transversal. Los datos fueron recolectados con un cuestionario demográfico y profesional y el cuestionario Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists. El estudio contó con 49 fisioterapeutas y los resultados evidenciaron mayor concordancia con creencias y actitudes relacionadas a la orientación biomédica, siendo la puntuación en esa escala 15,5% mayor que en la conductual, y una correlación regular y positiva (p <0,05) entre el tiempo de formación y la orientación de tratamiento biopsicosocial. Se concluyó que hubo predominio de creencias biomédicas entre los fisioterapeutas que trataron la DLCI en pacientes del SUS. El estudio también demostró que los fisioterapeutas con mayor tiempo de formación fueron aquellos que presentaron mayor influencia de la orientación biopsicosocial.

ABSTRACT Current studies have investigated the orientation of treatment that physical therapists adopt when treating nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP) by assessing their attitudes and beliefs. However, in Brazil, little is known about this subject, especially in the context of the Unified Health System. This study aimed to describe the attitudes and beliefs of the physical therapists working in the Unified Health System treating patients with nonspecific chronic CLBP and to identify the relationship between their demographic and professional characteristics and the treatment guidelines for nonspecific chronic CLBP. This is a cross-sectional population-based study. Data were collected using a demographic and professional questionnaire, and the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists. Forty-nine physical therapists participated in the study, and the results showed higher agreement with attitudes and beliefs related to a biomedical orientation. The score in this scale was 15.5% higher than in the behavioral one, and the correlation (p<0.05) between the time since graduation and the biopsychosocial treatment orientation was regular and positive. The conclusion was that biomedical beliefs were predominant among the physical therapists who treated nonspecific chronic CLBP in Unified Health System patients. This study also showed physical therapists with more time since graduation were more influenced by the biopsychosocial orientation.

A comprehensive review of psychophysiological applications for ecological momentary assessment in psychiatric populations.

Psychophysiological assessment is a core method used in psychopathology research that has led to important insights in relation to the etiology and maintenance of many disorders. However, laboratory psychophysiology has limited ecological validity. This limitation has resulted in the field moving toward ambulatory recordings of psychophysiology paired with ecological momentary assessment (EMA). This review uses the results of a comprehensive review of EMA psychophysiology studies to discuss applications, advantages, limitations, and future use of this methodology, including electrocardiography, blood pressure, electroencephalography, and more. Mobile psychophysiology has several advantages, including ecological validity, temporal precision, and concurrent evaluation of internally and externally generated contexts that influence physiological response. However, it is limited by the difficulty of conducting such studies and reduced experimental control. Future research using EMA psychophysiology should aim to record over longer periods, better integrate with everyday life, determine the utility of ecological momentary interventions based on psychophysiology, create guidelines for standardization, and aim to establish reliability and validity. EMA psychophysiology is a promising direction for the field and provides novel avenues for research and treatment of psychopathology, although methodological shortcomings must be addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychophysiological Stress Assessment Among On-Duty Firefighters.

Firefighting is a hazardous profession commonly exposed to high stress that can interfere with firefighter's health and performance. Nevertheless, on-duty stress levels quantitative evaluations are very rare in the literature. In order to investigate firefighters' occupational health in terms of stress perceptions, symptoms, and quantified physiological reactions under real-world conditions, an ambulatory assessment protocol was developed. Therefore, cardiac signal from firefighters ($N =6$) was continuously monitored during two shifts within a working week with a medical clinically certified equipment (VitalJacket®), allowing continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) and actigraphy measurement. Psychological data were collected with an android application, collecting potential stressful events, stress symptoms, and stress appraisal. A total of 130 hours of medical-quality ECG were collected, from which heart rate variability (HRV) metrics were extracted and analyzed. Statistical significant differences were found in some HRV metrics - AVNN, RMSSD, pNN50 and LF/HF - between events and non-events, showing higher levels of physiological stress during events (p<0.05). Stress symptoms increase from the beginning to the end of the shift (from 1.54 ± 0.52 to 2.01 ± 0.73), however the mean stress self-perception of events was very low (3.22 ± 2.38 in a scale ranging from 0 to 10). Negative and strong correlations were also found between stress symptoms and some time-domain ECG measures (AVNN, SDNN and pNN50). It can be concluded that stress may not always be detected when using merely self-reports. These results enhance the importance of combining both self-report and ambulatory high-quality physiological stress measures in occupational health settings. Future studies should investigate not only what causes stress but also its impact on health and well-being of these professionals, in order to contribute to the design of efficient stress-management interventions.

Principles behind variance misallocation in temporal exploratory factor analysis for ERP data: Insights from an inter-factor covariance decomposition.

Temporal exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is commonly applied to ERP data sets to reduce their dimensionality and the ambiguity with respect to the underlying components. However, the risk of variance misallocation (i.e., the incorrect allocation of condition effects) has raised concerns with regard to EFA usage. Here, we show that variance misallocation occurs because of biased factor covariance estimates and the temporal overlap between the underlying components. We also highlight the consequences of our findings for the analysis of ERP data with EFA. For example, a direct consequence of our expositions is that researchers should use oblique rather than orthogonal rotations, especially when the factors have a substantial topographic overlap. A Monte Carlo simulation confirms our results by showing, for instance, that characteristic biases occur only for orthogonal Varimax rotation but not for oblique rotation methods such as Geomin or Promax. We discuss the practical implications of our results and outline some questions for future research.

Psychophysiological assessment and correction of spatial disorientation during simulated Orion spacecraft re-entry.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has identified a potential risk of spatial disorientation, motion sickness, and degraded performance to astronauts during re-entry and landing of the proposed Orion crew vehicle. The purpose of this study was to determine if a physiological training procedure, Autogenic-Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), can mitigate these adverse effects. Fourteen men and six women were assigned to two groups (AFTE, no-treatment Control) matched for motion sickness susceptibility and gender. All subjects received a standard rotating chair test to determine motion sickness susceptibility; three training sessions on a manual performance task; and four exposures in the rotating chair (Orion tests) simulating angular accelerations of the crew vehicle during re-entry. AFTE subjects received 2 h of training before Orion tests 2, 3, and 4. Motion sickness symptoms, task performance, and physiological measures were recorded on all subjects. Results showed that the AFTE group had significantly lower symptom scores when compared to Controls on test 2 (p = .05), test 3 (p = .03), and test 4 (p = .02). Although there were no significant group differences on task performance, trends showed that AFTE subjects were less impaired than Controls. Heart rate change scores (20 rpm minus baseline) of AFTE subjects indicated significantly less reactivity on Test 4 compared to Test 1 (10.09 versus 16.59, p = .02), while Controls did not change significantly across tests. Results of this study indicate that AFTE may be an effective countermeasure for mitigating spatial disorientation and motion sickness in astronauts.