The costs of coping: Different strategies to deal with social defeat stress might come with distinct immunologic, neuroplastic, and oxidative stress consequences in male Wistar rats.

The impact of stress on health and well-being is determined by the ability of an individual to cope with challenges imposed by the stressor. Animals exposed to social defeat stress show different patterns of response during confrontations, leading to distinct stress-induced consequences. Using an established resident-intruder paradigm, we explored the outcomes of adopting active or passive coping strategies during a social defeat protocol over peripheral and central nervous system (CNS) levels of inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, glucocorticoid, and oxidative stress markers in male Wistar rats. Animals that presented short latency to assume a defeated posture during confrontation-considered as susceptible to stress-exhibited increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the amygdala (AMY) and in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and decreased lipid peroxidation in the CNS, suggesting changes in antioxidative defenses as well as stress-induced neuroadaptations. On the other hand, animals with longer latencies to assume a submissive posture-considered to be resilient to stress-presented lower levels of CNS BDNF compared to short-latency animals and decreased enzymatic antioxidant defenses in the CNS in comparison to controls, which might indicate an increased risk of central oxidative damage. From the results, behavioral reactivity cannot be considered a predictor of success in responding to stress; however, the findings of this study reinforce the idea that exposure to stress has no predetermined negative effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Feminismo na terapia familiar / Feminism in family therapy

O presente estudo objetiva buscar um melhor entendimento da relação entre o feminismo e a terapia familiar e como os terapeutas podem trabalhar esta relação em terapia. Para elucidar a temática do feminismo na terapia de família, será feito um breve relato e a discussão de quatro casos. Estes ilustram diferentes situações de violência contra a mulher normalizadas pela cultura patriarcal. Argumenta-se em prol da necessidade da terapia familiar sistêmica incorporar conceitos feministas e assumir um olhar feminista possibilitando a desconstrução de padrões tradicionais da família patriarcal que reproduzem e normalizam a violência física, sexual e ou psicológica sofrida pela mulher dentro da família, com graves consequências para os filhos.

This study aims do achieve a better understanding of the relationship between feminism and family therapy as well as how therapists can better include this work in therapy, A brief analysis about feminism and four short cases will be presented. The cases illustrate different situations of violence that affect women and are normalized by the patriarchal culture. We argue in favor of systemic family therapy incorporating a feminist view that will help deconstruct traditional family patriarchal patterns that reproduce and normalize physical, sexual and psychological violence against women inside families, with serious consequences to their children.

Six-Month Outcomes of a Randomized, Motivational Tele-intervention for Change in the Codependent Behavior of Family Members of Drug Users.

Families of substance abusers may develop maladaptive strategies, such as codependency, to address drug-related problems. It is important for families to receive specialist treatment in order to contribute to the recovery process. The Tele-intervention Model and Monitoring of Families of Drug Users (TMMFDU), based on motivational interviewing and stages of change, aims to encourage the family to change the codependents' behaviors. A randomized clinical trial was carried out to verify the change in codependent behavior after intervention with 6 months of follow-up. Three hundred and twenty-five families with high or low codependency scores were randomized into the intervention group (n = 163) or the usual treatment (UT) (n = 162). After 6 months of follow-up, the family members of the TMMFDU group were twice as likely to modify their codependency behavior when compared to the UT group (OR 2.08 CI 95% 1.18-3.65). TMMFDU proved to be effective in changing codependent behaviors among compliant family members of drug users.