Perinatal mental e-health: What is the profile of pregnant women interested in online assessment of their emotional state?

AIM: This study explores the profile of pregnant women interested in the online assessment of their emotional status according to their sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics, history of psychopathology, and healthcare setting used (private vs. public). DESIGN: This is a comparative and descriptive cross-sectional study. METHOD: Participants were 281 Spanish pregnant women assessed with the MamáFeliz (HappyMom) website. RESULTS: Participants were probably to be unemployed, in a relationship, and generally had a high educational level and an intermediate economic status. Most of them were primiparous, had non-complicated natural pregnancies and presented healthy habits and good physical and emotional health, despite 31.3% of them had a history of psychological treatment. Our results reveal the profile of women interested in the online assessment of their emotional status, which can contribute to improving future initiatives to facilitate rapid screenings of perinatal mental health by nurses in both public and private settings.

Influence of vulnerability factors in panic disorder severity / Influencia de factores de vulnerabilidad en la gravedad del trastorno de pánico

BACKGROUND: we studied herein the predictive value for panic severity of three well-based vulnerability factors: personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion; NEO-PI-R), anxiety sensitivity (ASI), and perceived control (ACQ-R). METHOD: the sample was composed of 52 participants diagnosed with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. RESULTS: our results revealed that the anxiety facet is a better predictor of panic severity than neuroticism. Anxiety sensitivity increases the predictive value for panic severity and, finally, perception of control of emotions is the only perception control subscale that increases the predictive value for panic severity more than the anxiety facet and anxiety sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: this finding supports the assumption of the importance of taking into account the assessment of the lower order dimensions of the vulnerability factors in the field of psychopathology studies. Furthermore, the predictive value of perception of control of emotions indicates the importance of this specific vulnerability factor in the etiology of panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) and, thus, shows the necessity to include emotion regulation strategies in the psychological treatments

ANTECEDENTES: en este trabajo se estudia el valor predictivo sobre la gravedad del pánico de tres factores de vulnerabilidad bien establecidos: rasgos de personalidad (neuroticismo y extraversión; NEO-PI-R), sensibilidad a la ansiedad (ASI) y percepción de control (ACQ-R). MÉTODO: la muestra fue de 52 participantes con diagnóstico de trastorno de pánico, con o sin agorafobia, según criterios DSM-IV-TR.RESULTADOS: nuestros resultados revelan que la faceta de ansiedad es mejor predictor de la gravedad del pánico que el neuroticismo. La sensibilidad a la ansiedad aumenta el valor predictivo sobre la gravedad del pánico y, finalmente, la percepción de control de las emociones es la única subescala de la percepción de control que aumenta la capacidad predictiva más allá de la faceta de ansiedad y la sensibilidad a la ansiedad. CONCLUSIONES: estos resultados apoyan el supuesto sobre la importancia de evaluar las dimensiones de orden inferior de los factores de vulnerabilidad en los estudios psicopatológicos. Además, el valor predictivo de la percepción de control de las emociones indica la importancia de este factor específico de vulnerabilidad en la etiología del trastorno de pánico (con o sin agorafobia) lo que muestra la necesidad de incluir estrategias de regulación emocional en los tratamientos psicológicos

Influence of vulnerability factors in panic disorder severity.

BACKGROUND: We studied herein the predictive value for panic severity of three well-based vulnerability factors: personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion; NEO-PI-R), anxiety sensitivity (ASI), and perceived control (ACQ-R). METHOD: The sample was composed of 52 participants diagnosed with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. RESULTS: Our results revealed that the anxiety facet is a better predictor of panic severity than neuroticism. Anxiety sensitivity increases the predictive value for panic severity and, finally, perception of control of emotions is the only perception control subscale that increases the predictive value for panic severity more than the anxiety facet and anxiety sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: This finding supports the assumption of the importance of taking into account the assessment of the lower order dimensions of the vulnerability factors in the field of psychopathology studies. Furthermore, the predictive value of perception of control of emotions indicates the importance of this specific vulnerability factor in the etiology of panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) and, thus, shows the necessity to include emotion regulation strategies in the psychological treatments.