Father's and mother's beliefs about children's anxiety.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has focused on parenting styles and parental behaviors associated with children's anxiety. Parental beliefs about their child's anxiety have scarcely been studied, in spite of their probable influence in parents seeking help. The present study intended to fil that gap, by exploring what parents think about their children's anxiety and whether these cognitions are related or not to their use of professional help. METHOD: In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 48 parents (50% fathers) of children (9-12 years old) with anxiety problems. Theoretical thematic analysis was performed on the transcripts. RESULTS: Three dimensions were derived from the analysis, concerning (a) the causes of child's anxiety, (b) the impact of anxiety in the child's functioning, and (c) the evolution of anxiety. Most parents perceived the child's anxiety as a permanent condition, attributing it to external and parental factors and considering that the anxiety problems have a negative impact on the child's well-being. Plus, parents who had previously sought professional help for the child's emotional problems tended to believe that anxiety could improve with child's or parents' efforts and with professional guidance, contrarily to those who had not. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. CONCLUSION: The present study highlighted important parental beliefs about their children's anxiety that might influence their attitudes and decisions (e.g., seek for professional help). Other parental cognitions should be investigated in order to understand parenting in the context of childhood anxiety.

Parenting Strategies to Deal with Children's Anxiety: Do Parents Do What They Say They Do?

Parents' perceptions about their strategies to deal with children's anxiety have been minimally explored. Based on a mixed-method approach, the current study compared the strategies that parents said they use more frequently to deal with their child's anxious behaviors and the strategies they actually used during two mildly anxiogenic interactions with their child. Forty-two parents of children with anxiety disorders, aged 9-12 years, participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were administered to identify parental perceptions about their strategies to deal with their children's anxiety. Subsequently dyadic interactions were observed and coded by two independent coders. We found discrepancies relating to four strategies. Significantly more parents used strategies based on overinvolvement and anxious behavior during the interactions than had been reported by them in the interviews. In contrast, reassurance and reinforcement of avoidance/dependence were used in interactions by fewer parents than would be expected, according to the interviews. Relevant implications for assessment and intervention with families of anxious children are suggested.

The impact of digital media on sexuality: a descriptive and qualitative study.

The beliefs about Digital Information and Communication Media (DM) impact on sexuality by people from the community are an essential field to understanding people's sexual behaviours and their response to others' sexuality. This cross-sectional, online, descriptive, qualitative study, developed in the context of the celebration of National Sexual Health Day in Portugal, intended to identify the reasons and the activities using DM related to sexuality and explore participant's beliefs about the impact of DM on sexuality. In August 2021, a convenience sample of 167 people (M = 40.01; SD = 14.67; range 19-75 years old) completed an online survey that was disseminated through social networks and that included two closed questions about internet use and an open question about their personal beliefs about the impact of DM on sexual health. The results showed that most participants were motivated to use DM to search for erotic content (51.5%). DMs are also regularly used for educational purposes, such as seeking information about sexual pleasure and satisfaction (46.1%). Regarding qualitative data, three themes were identified concerning the impact of DM on sexuality: YES, IT'S SEX, SO WHAT?, I'M MORE VULNERABLE NOW! and SEXUAL EXPANSION. DM is an indisputable resource in sexual health, like in other dimensions of health. Still, it may facilitate exposure to contexts of aggression with a harmful impact on mental health, especially for younger people. Taken together, our results reveal that sexuality is part of DM use, and people share beliefs that indicate they may be actively involved in diminishing its hazards and benefiting from its potential.

Do Maternal Self-Criticism and Symptoms of Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Mediate the Effect of History of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms on Mother-Infant Bonding? Parallel-Serial Mediation Models.

Introduction: History of depression symptoms, including before and during pregnancy, has been identified as an important risk factor for postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms. This condition has also been associated with diverse implications, namely, on the quality of mother-infant bonding. Moreover, the role of self-criticism on PPD has been recently found in several studies. However, the link between these factors has not been explored yet. Furthermore, anxiety symptoms in postpartum has been less studied. Methods: This study analyzed whether the history of depression symptoms predicted mother-infant bonding, via self-criticism and PPD symptoms. The same model was repeated with a history of anxiety and postpartum anxiety symptoms. A total of 550 mothers of infants <24 months old participated in this cross-sectional study and answered an online survey. Results: Through a parallel-serial mediation model, the results show that in a first step, self-criticism dimensions of inadequate-self, hated-self, and reassuring-self, and in a second step, PPD symptoms, mediate the relationship between the history of depression symptoms and mother-infant bonding. However, the relationship between the history of anxiety symptoms and bonding is not mediated by all the considered chain of mediators, being only mediated by one of the self-criticism dimensions, inadequate self. Conclusions: The current study confirmed the association of history of both depression and anxiety with mother-infant bonding. While in the case of history of anxiety symptoms, the relation was only mediated by inadequate self-dimension of self-criticism, in the case of history of depression symptoms, the relation was mediated by self-criticism and postpartum depressive symptoms. The buffering effect of reassuring-self on bonding and negative affect was also evidenced. Psychological and preventive interventions should address this evidence to target interventions for mother-infant bonding problems in accordance with previous and actual current maternal risk factors.

"Everything Is Gonna Be Alright with Me": The Role of Self-Compassion, Affect, and Coping in Negative Emotional Symptoms during Coronavirus Quarantine.

Self-compassion has been associated with less distress, particularly when people face stressful and negative events. This study analyzed the mediation role of coping and affect in the relation between self-compassion and negative emotional symptoms during the quarantine decreed by Portuguese Health Authorities in the first phase of the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 428 Portuguese adults (75% women; Mage = 40.8, SD = 11.6) completed an online survey comprised by the Self-Compassion Scale (predictor); Short Version of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (outcomes); The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; and Brief-COPE. These instruments were adapted to COVID 19's epidemic. Parallel mediation analyses demonstrated that self-compassionate participants were at less risk of suffering from symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress during the quarantine. Plus, the relation between self-compassion and depressive, anxious, and stress symptoms were mediated by negative affect and dysfunctional coping style, but only for symptoms of depression. The findings support coping strategies and affect as links between self-compassion and distress but also the importance of separately analyzing the role of self-compassion, negative affect, and coping on symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. Low self-compassion might increase negative affect, maintaining stress responses to face demanding events during the COVID-19 epidemic. Results were discussed in the context of the pandemic outbreak.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual Health: A Preliminary Framework Based on a Qualitative Study With Clinical Sexologists.

INTRODUCTION: In recent months, some attempts were made to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sexual health. Despite recent research that suggests COVID-19 and lockdown measures may eventually impact sexual response and sexually related behaviors, we are missing clinical sexologists' perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 in sexual health. Such perspectives could inform a preliminary framework aimed at guiding future research and clinical approaches in the context of COVID-19. AIM: To explore the perspectives of clinical sexologists about the impact of COVID-19 on their patients' sexual health, as well as the professional challenges they have faced during the current pandemic. Findings are expected to inform a preliminary framework aimed at understanding the impact of COVID-19 on sexual health. METHODS: We conducted an online qualitative exploratory survey with 4 open-ended questions with 39 clinical sexologists aged between 32 and 73 years old. The survey was advertised among professional associations' newsletters. We performed a Thematic Analysis using an inductive, semantic, and (critical) realist approach, leading to a final thematic map. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome is the thematic map and the corresponding table that aggregates the main themes, subthemes, and codes derived from participants' answers and that can serve as a preliminary framework to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sexual health. RESULTS: The final thematic map, expected to serve as a preliminary framework on the impact of COVID-19 in sexual health, revealed 3 main themes: Clinical Focus, Remapping Relationships, and Reframing Technology Use. These themes aggregate important interrelated issues, such as worsening of sexual problems and dysfunctions, mental health, relationship management, the rise of conservatism, and the use of new technology that influences sexuality and sexual health-related services. CONCLUSION: The current study allowed us to develop a preliminary framework to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sexual health. This framework highlights the role of mental health, as well as the contextual nature of sexual problems, and subsequently, their relational nature. Also, it demonstrates that the current pandemic has brought into light the debate of e-Health delivery within clinical sexology. Pascoal PM, Carvalho J, Raposo CF, et al. The Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual Health: A Preliminary Framework Based on a Qualitative Study With Clinical Sexologist. Sex Med 2021;9:100299.

Sexology in Portugal: Narratives by Portuguese Sexologists.

This article presents the emergence and development of modern sexology in Portugal through the analysis of Portuguese sexologists' narratives, to explore how they commit to a professional identity as sexologists, and to discuss how they integrate their professional role into the vast multidisciplinary field of sexology. In-depth interviews were conducted with 44 key professionals, purposefully recruited to guarantee heterogeneity concerning generation, gender, training, and practice. Content analysis focused on highlighting differences and articulations among the main professionals making up the field. The findings indicate that sexology is not seen as a full-fledged profession but rather as a specialization or a secondary field of action. The sexual medicine perspective is prevalent and more visible among physicians, thus reflecting the gap between psychosocial and biomedical approaches. A close link between clinical work and research and a gap between clinical work and health promotion were found. Despite the multidisciplinary nature of sexology being acknowledged, it is not fully implemented by the experts in the field. However, it is this characteristic that permitted sexology to institutionalize and to legitimate itself as a discourse of truth about sex, in Portugal as in other countries.