Experience of Vulnerable Women Narrated through the Body-Mapping Technique.

Vulnerable women are considered a priority in public policies and research agendas. It is necessary to understand better the specificities of their daily lives and the meanings they attribute to their experiences, as this undoubtedly contributes to more grounded and culturally appropriate practices. Additionally, innovative techniques in qualitative research are demanded in academia. This narrative research study was carried out with fourteen women from a Brazilian socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhood. We used the body-mapping technique to investigate the experiences of women with mental health disorders or psychosocial distress. The aim was to analyze the self-perception about daily stressors and discuss the feasibility of this technique to facilitate this group's storytelling. Data collection was performed through focus groups, guided by the body-mapping technique steps, and supplemented with individual interviews. Interpersonal conflicts and violence were the main stressors. These strongly impacted the well-being of these women and their children. Some important personal qualities and resilience were identified. Body-mapping played a fundamental role in facilitating storytelling. It amplified the linguistic possibilities for participants to express their feelings and promoted reflections about the present, past, and glimpses into the future.

The Social Support Buffering Effect in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Alcohol Use Among Brazilian Women.

This cross-sectional study interviewed Brazilian women regularly attending primary care to investigate whether the relationship between social support and alcohol use is direct or is mediated by stress, in order to support the development of recommendations related to health prevention and mental health promotion actions. The results suggest that social support affects the outcome alcohol use in the women studied by buffering the effect of stress. Based on these results, recommendations are made for amplifying the social support network that prevents stress-induced alcohol use.