Ana Xavier

• PhD in Clinical Psychology
• Professor (Assistant) at Universidade Portucalense

Developmental stages present challenges that prepare the individual for new roles. Self-compassion may be a protective factor across this process. The present study aims to: (1) compare self-compassion scores in adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, and older adulthood using a cross-sectional design and a continuous multigenerational sample; (2)...

Objectives Self-compassion is a valuable resource for positive ageing and should be measured in a reliable and valid manner. However, findings regarding the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) have been inconsistent and have been particularly lacking in older adults. Hence, the present study intended to investigate the factor struct...

The present study investigated the nature and meaning of the experiences of older adults who lived through the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown periods in Portugal. Narrative Research was used to explore the lived stories of two community--resident female older adults, recruited through convenience sampling. Data was collected through...

There are well-established benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs for children within educational contexts. Combining social–emotional skills and compassion abilities has been seldomly done, and it may be valuable at individual and societal levels, for resilient, empathetic, and inclusive societies. This study explored the feasibi...

Background Self-criticism is a psychological process largely studied as a vulnerability factor for several psychological difficulties in the adult population and, to a lower extent, in adolescent samples. Thus, the availability of instruments to effectively capture this construct is important, especially for younger populations. Objective This stu...

Introduction: Mother's bond to the infant in the postpartum period plays an important role in the subsequent mother-infant relationship and the infant's socio-emotional functioning. Several maternal characteristics, such as attachment style and psychological flexibility, may contribute to the quality of mother-infant bonding, though literature exa...

This qualitative investigation explored the social and academic experiences of socially anxious adolescents and young adults in Portugal and the US as they lived through the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 10 Portuguese adolescents (mean age = 16.9 years; 50% female) and 7 young adults in the US (mean age = 19.67 ye...

The use of serious games may be an appealing and complementary way to motivate curriculum-based social and emotional learning (SEL); still, investigation into this potential usefulness is scarce. This study aims to address the usefulness of serious games within the program ‘Me and Us of Emotions’. Specifically, we analyzed the differences in childr...

Purpose: Self-compassion is associated with healthy ageing and may be a protection factor of older adults' mental health in face of negative life events and other factors such as insecure attachment. However, fear of self-compassion may constitute an obstacle to promoting self-compassion. The role of self-compassion on the psychological (mal)adjus...

Objectives Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire (SMQ) is one of the available instruments to assess mindfulness and has been described as particularly suited for clinical populations. The original study of the SMQ conceptualized it as having four facets, but yielded a single factor structure. The aim of this study was to confirm the SMQ factor str...

The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the physical and mental health of citizens worldwide. Older adults are categorized as an at-risk group due to their age, but some literature has demonstrated that the senior population has not necessarily lived through the pandemic crisis in a negative manner. This perspective that all older adul...

Given the challenges of the modern world, specifically at schools, and the alarming increase in mental health difficulties in young people, it is crucial to universally foster social and emotional skills in the school context. This study aims to present the development and preliminary results of a program to promote socioemotional skills for childr...

Em linha com a literatura, os resultados do presente estudo mostraram que os pais/mães que identificaram a presença de diagnóstico clínico nos seus filhos tendem a reportar níveis mais elevados de stress e de preocupações parentais do que os pais com filhos sem diagnóstico clínico. • Os pais/mães que identificaram a presença de diagnóstico clínico...

This study explores the mediating role of rumination and valued living in the relationship between mindfulness and depressive symptoms in a sample of women with chronic pain. Women with musculoskeletal chronic pain (N = 124) were recruited online through the advertisement of the study in several national associations for individuals with chronic pa...

Background The identification of protection factors regarding older adults’ mental health is essential. Self-compassion, the capacity to be kind towards the self during challenging times, may be one such factor. Although still scarce, some research in this field has already been conducted with older adults. Our research question was the following:...

Given the recent treatment paradigm shift in psychosis, focusing on the recovery process, new assessment tools are needed. The Clinical Interview for Psychotic Disorders (CIPD) is an integrative and comprehensive assessment tool for psychotic disorders. CIPD encompasses the evaluation of diagnosis, psychosocial correlates and most relevant comorbid...

This article aims to adapt and validate the Risk-Taking and Self-Harm Inventory for Adolescents (RTSHIA) in Portuguese. Results confirm the 2-factor structure originally proposed (risk-taking and self-harm). Both dimensions presented an adequate internal reliability and temporal stability. Convergent validity and sociodemographic differences are an...

Introduction.– Consistent research have shown that early adverse experiences have a negative impact on mental health from childhood to adulthood. Indeed, early interactions with caregivers characterized by threat, devaluation and subordination are linked to several psychological difficulties such as depression. Objectives.– This study aims to test...

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of rumination, experiential avoidance, dissociation and depressive symptoms in the association between daily peer hassles and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents. Additionally, this study explored gender differences in these associations and tested whether the proposed model was invariant across...

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious and alarming phenomenon during adolescence. There is a need for understanding the intrapersonal variables that might contribute to the maintenance of these self-injurious behaviors. Objective: This study aims to concurrently compare intrapersonal variables between adolescents with and without...

RESUMO A vergonha, entendida como uma emoção autoconsciente, multifacetada e socialmente focada, desempenha um papel central na saúde mental dos indivíduos. Nos adolescentes, é também uma experiência frequente, sendo importante a sua avaliação para a investigação e prática clinica. Este estudo pretende validar uma medida breve de vergonha externa (...

Resumo O objetivo do presente estudo foi validar a Impact of Event Scale-Revised em uma amostra de adolescentes portugueses. Esta foi constituída por 383 adolescentes com idades compreendidas entre os 12 e os 18 anos. Foram usados outros questionários, que avaliavam a centralidade da memória de vergonha e sintomatologia psicopatológica. Foram testa...

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescence is a serious public health problem. Although self-compassion is a protective factor of mental health difficulties in adult populations, its potential impact on adolescence remains scarcely explored. Therefore, we aimed to test whether self-compassion can mitigate the impact of daily peer hassles and de...

Although the relationship between negative childhood experiences, peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is widely recognized, the mechanisms involved are not fully understood, especially among adolescents. This study aims to test the mediating role of both self-criticism and depressive symptoms in the relation...

Background Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious and relatively prevalent problem in adolescence. Although several studies have identified risk factors for the aetiology and maintenance of NSSI, little is known about the impact of individual and contextual variables in such pervasive behaviors among adolescents. Objective This paper aims to...

Rumination has a crucial role in the onset, severity and maintenance of depression in adolescent and adult populations. The Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS) is the most widely self-report instrument used to assess individual differences in the tendency to engage in ruminative responses style. This paper aims to test the factor structure of the 10-i...

Introduction: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a serious public health problem due to its high prevalence during adolescence and its link to psychological impairments. Despite the theoretical emphasis on the role of emotion dysregulation in DSH, few studies have analyzed this relationship among community sample of adolescents. Objective: The current s...

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences are not only linked to mental health difficulties but also to the inability to generate positive and affiliative emotions. Individuals from these adverse backgrounds may also fear and avoid compassionate feelings from others and being compassionate for others and for themselves. Objective: This study aims...

Introduction: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a serious public health problem due to its high prevalence during adolescence and its link to psychological impairments. Despite the theoretical emphasis on the role of emotion dysregulation in DSH, few studies have analyzed this relationship among community sample of adolescents. Objective: The current s...

The present study examines whether early experiences of threat, subordination and devaluation with family influence adolescents’ negative emotional states and subsequently deliberate self-harm; and if this effect is conditioned by daily peer hassles. The sample consisted of 441 adolescents (57.6 % female) with ages between 13 and 18 years old from...

Introduction: In recent years, researchers and clinicians have shown an increasing interest in self-compassion. Indeed, several studies have suggested that self-compassion is a positive factor for mental and physical health. The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003) has been widely used to assess six dimensions of self-compassion (Self-kindness,...

This paper aims to understand the nature of the anger response and explore the relationship between anger, shame, depression and paranoia beliefs. The sample consists of 208 individuals from the general population, with a mean age of 32.67 years. Results show that external shame and depressive symptoms have a significant and independent contributio...

Early adverse experiences, particularly shaming experiences may function as traumatic memories and be central to formation of self-identity. This paper aims to analyse the dimensional structure and psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Centrality of Event Scale (CES) for adolescents. Participants were 397 adolescents with ages ra...

Introdução: O bullying nas escolas continua a ser um problema comum e preocupante. Por isso, torna-se importante identificar a(s) população(ões) em maior risco, para assim mais facilmente sinalizar e prevenir. O objectivo deste estudo é comparar entre rapazes e raparigas do ensino básico e secundário quanto à tendência para serem vítimas de bullyin...

Objetivo: É incontornável o estatuto que o conceito de qualidade de vida assume hoje na prática e políticas de saúde pública. Na infância e adolescência é ainda escassa a investigação, tornando-se crucial o desenvolvimento de instrumentos de qualidade vida relacionada com a saúde validados para esta população. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo...

Introduction: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious and prevalent problem in adolescence. NSSI is mainly motivated by the need to regulate negative affective states and to punish the self. For adolescents who self-injure, developing self-compassion can be an adaptive way to cope with undesirable emotions (e.g., depression, shame), negative s...

Introduction: Although several studies have been demonstrated that self-compassion is a protective factor of mental health problems in adult populations, the research on self-compassion in adolescence is still in its early stages. The present study aims to compare middle and high-school adolescents in self-compassion scores. It also aims to analyze...

Introduction: Although both self-compassion and mindfulness are consistently associated with positive outcomes among adult populations, research on their potential salutary effect in adolescence is still in its infancy. Objective: This study aims to explore the relationships between self-compassion, mindfulness and psychological well-being. In addi...

Self-compassion is an adaptive self-attitude when considering personal inadequacies or difficult life situations and seems to be crucial to adolescent's experience. However, self-compassion remains less investigated in adolescence. This paper aims to analyse the psychometric properties of Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003) and test its six-fac...

Although worry is an ordinary phenomenon in children, the excessive worry may play an important role on the onset and maintenance of psychopathology, especially anxiety disorders. Therefore, it seems crucial develop and validate assessment tools to measure worry among youth. The main goal of this study is to adapt and validate the Penn State Worry...

Background: Empirical evidence demonstrates that psychological inflexibility is a major issue of social and emotional functioning in several mental disorders. It is also well-established that everyday life hassles are associated with psychological maladjustment and depression. However, there are still unanswered questions about the role of psycholo...

The Early Life Experiences Scale (ELES) is a self-report questionnaire that assesses personal feelings of perceived threat and submissiveness in interactions within family. This paper presents the adaptation and validation of the ELES in Portuguese language for adolescents. The sample was composed of 771 adolescents from community schools with ages...

Adolescence is a developmental period of significantly risk for self-harm (SH). This paper aims to analyse the associations between experiences of threat and submissiveness in childhood, positive and negative affect, fears of compassion and SH behaviours. Furthermore, it aims to explore the relative contribution of early experiences of threat and s...

Os acontecimentos de vida negativos e os estilos de resposta ruminativos têm sido identificados como fatores de risco para o desenvolvimento de sintomas depressivos. Por outro lado, a adoção de uma atitude compassiva para com o próprio, sobretudo, em situações difíceis ou stressantes, é considerada uma estratégia de regulação emocional adaptativa e...

Introduction: Quality of Life (QoL) plays a remarkable role in practice and public health policy. However, research on QoL among children and adolescents is still scarce and it seems crucial develop and validate assessment tools to measure health-related QoL. Objectives: The present study aims to analyse the psychometric properties and validate th...

Introduction: In literature is well established the high prevalence of depression in adolescence. Thus, it seems important understand and measure the cognitive styles vulnerabilities for depression, such as ruminative response style. Objectives: The main goal of this study is adapt and validate the 10-item version of the Ruminative Responses Scale...

This paper presents the adaptation and validation of the Early Memories of Warmth and Safeness Scale for the Portuguese language in adolescents. The psychometric properties of EMWSS were analysed and its factorial structure was confirmed using a Portuguese community sample of 651 adolescents. Exploratory Factor Analysis supported a single-factor st...

Introduction: Social relationships are of crucial importance for our well-being. However, social relationships can be competitive for social place. This may be a source of stress, particularly in adolescents because they seek to develop peer relationships, fit in and be attractive to others. Consequently, they begin to compare themselves to others...

Introduction: Several studies have shown that emotion of shame plays a key role in understanding human functioning, particularly in mental health. In adolescence may be especially important assess shaming experiences because shame become intense in this age group, decreasing into middle adulthood, and is negatively related to psychological well-bei...

Introduction: School bullying is a world-wide behavioural problem that affects adolescents’ physical and mental health. Early experiences of warmth and safeness and, in contrast, of threat and submissiveness may have a distinctive impact on psychopathology. Objective: This study aims to examine the nature of school bullying experiences, in terms of...

Introduction: Social relationships (e.g. family, friendships and romantic relationships) are fundamental to human development and well-being. Objectives: The current study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the Social Values Questionnaire (SVS; Blackledge & Ciarrochi, 2006) in a sample of Portuguese adolescents. Furthermore we sought t...

Unlabelled: The present study explores how emotional memories, shame and submissive behaviour in adulthood are differently related to depression and paranoia, in a sample of 255 subjects from the general community population. Results show that emotional memories (especially, shame traumatic memory) are significantly correlated with external and in...

Introduction: Risk-taking (RT) and self-harm (SH) occur across the lifespan, but many types of RT and SH typically appear for the first time in adolescence. According to Vrouva, Fonagy, and Fearon (2010), it is important to measure RT and SH simultaneously because they are clinically, empirically, and conceptually linked. Objectives: (1) analyse th...

Introduction Literature has shown that early childhood experiences, especially those related to feelings of threat or safeness play a key role in emotional and social subsequent development. Objectives (1) examine the impact of early memories of warmth and safeness on quality of attachment in adolescents; (2) Explore the relationship between early...

Risk-taking (RT) and self-harm (SH) behaviours are prominent concerns that make adolescence a particularly vulnerable period. Nevertheless, the factors that may have an impact on the adolescents’ engagement in RT and SH behaviours remain less investigated. This paper aims to analyse the association between early experiences of threat and submissive...

Research has shown that the centrality of shame memories is related to psychopathological symptoms. However, little is known about the role of self-criticism on this association. The current study explored a mediator model in which self-criticism was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between centrality of shame memories and depressive sympto...

Introduction: There is considerable evidence that the quality of attachment relationships plays a key role in adaptive psychological development. In recent years, self-compassion and mindfulness have been associated with psychological adjustment and social connectedness. These emotional regulation processes are likely to be highly relevant to the a...

Introduction: Adverse experiences, in particular, early shame experiences can function as traumatic memories and become central to self-identity, and thus negatively impact on psychopathology vulnerability later in life. Adolescence developmental features turn it into a period of increased vulnerability to the impact of adverse experiences. At the...

Introduction: Studies with adults have shown that adverse childhood experiences may turn into traumatic memories that enhance the development of psychopathology. The Impact Event Scale is one of the most widely used self-report instruments in studies focusing the psychological impact of traumatic events. Adolescence developmental features turn it i...

Introduction: Risk-taking (RT) and self-harm (SH) behaviours are prominent concerns that make adolescence a particularly vulnerable period. These health-risk behaviours are clinically, empirically and conceptually associated. Thus, the assessment of these RT and self-destructive behaviours is important, in order to identify, understand and prevent...

Introduction: Recent studies have shown that childhood and adolescence shame experiences can function as traumatic memories and are related to shame feelings and psychopathology in adulthood. However, research investigating the impact of traumatic shame memories in adolescence is scarce. Objectives: This study explores the relationship between tra...

Introduction: Injuries and risk-taking (RT) behaviours in adolescence are a public health concern. Many types of RT and deliberate self-harm (SH) behaviours typically appear in adolescence, which contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in this age group. Thus, the promotion of healthy behaviours and choices is needed. Objectives...

A auto-compaixão, entendida como uma estratégia de regulação emocional eficaz e adaptativa para lidar com pensamentos, sentimentos indesejados ou desagradáveis e acontecimentos de vida negativos ou dolorosos, tem sido associada ao bem-estar emocional e psicológico. O presente estudo tem como objetivo apresentar a versão para adolescentes da Escala...

The present study explores how emotional memories, shame and submissive behavior in adulthood are differently related to depression and paranoia, in a sample of 255 subjects from the general community population. Results show that emotional memories (especially, shame traumatic memory) are significantly correlated with external and internal shame....

The aim of the following paper was to adapt and validate the Portuguese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), which measures Psychological Flexibility/Inflexibility, central components in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. We assessed the psychometric properties of this scale in both general population and clinical samples...

O Questionário de Expressividade Familiar (Family Expressiveness Questionnaire – FEQ; Halberstadt, 1986) destina-se a avaliar o ambiente expressivo geral da família e inclui itens que estão relacionados com a expressividade não-verbal e o conteúdo da expressão emocional. O presente estudo examina as propriedades psicométricas da versão portuguesa n...

A Escala de Expressividade Emocional (EEE; Emotional Expressivity Scale; EES; Kring, Smith, & Neale, 1994) destina-se a avaliar o grau em que os respondentes exteriorizam as suas emoções independentemente da sua valência emocional ou canal de expressão. Neste estudo apresentam-se as características psicométricas e a estrutura factorial da versão po...

Tem sido evidenciada empiricamente a importância da aceitação dos acontecimentos privados (pensamentos, emoções, sensações), especialmente aqueles que são avaliados negativamente, como uma resposta contrária às tentativas de alterar, evitar ou controlar as experiências negativas cognitivas e afectivas, assim como ao auto-criticismo. O presente estu...