Jose H. Marco

University of Valencia | UV · Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos

This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), one of the most important scales used to assess Meaning in Life (MiL), in a sample of Spanish people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Participants were 102 Spanish people (72.55% women) from 18 years to 68 years old (M = 37.69; SD = 12.6...

This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) in a sample of people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Participants were 102 residents in Spain (74 women, 72.55%; 26 men, 25.49%; and 2 missing data, 1.96%) age-ranged from 18 years to 68 years old (M = 37.69; SD = 12.66) diagnosed with...

Depression is a mental disorder that is associated with low quality of life, increased risk of suicide and a high economic cost for society. Meta‐analyses indicate that Meaning Centered Psychotherapies (MCP) are an efficacious psychotherapy to reduce depression in participants with chronic illness and cancer. However, to date, no systematic review...

Introduction There is a need for longitudinal studies that focus on protective factors against suicide in Spain. We analyzed the estimated prevalence of suicidal ideation in a sample of Spanish university students. Second, we explored the relationship between future suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation at T1, and meaning in lif...

Descubrir y realizar el sentido en la vida es una necesidad que todas las culturas han reconocido como fundamental en la vida del ser humano. Como psicólogos clínicos nos hemos encontrado con numerosas personas que, en un momento determinado de su vida, han perdido este sentido vital, por ejemplo, tras una ruptura, una enfermedad grave, pérdida per...

The parents’ participation in adolescents’ drug use treatment is a fundamental resource for good progress. Therefore, this pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of a brief intervention for drug-using adolescents, which contains sessions for parents and was adapted to a Brazilian sample. The protocol adaptation was tested in 28 adolescents (aged...

La participación de los padres en el tratamiento del consumo de drogas en adolescentes es un recurso fundamental para un buen progreso de la psicoterapia. El objetivo de este estudio piloto fue comprobar la viabilidad de la adaptación de la Intervención breve para adolescentes brasileños con consumo de drogas, con sesiones para los padres. La muest...

Background Although it has been suggested that family members of persons suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) endure high levels of burden, however, the process and the impact of this burden in their lives, and specifically the relation between the burden and emotional regulation has not been broadly investigated among this populati...

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) has received support for its role in understanding suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, few longitudinal studies have focused on testing this theory in university students. The present study aimed to confirm the theoretical model of the IPTS in a sample of 225 Spanish university students, using path a...

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) has received support for its role in understanding suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, few longitudinal studies have focused on testing this theory in university students. The present study aimed to confirm the theoretical model of the IPTS in a sample of 225 Spanish university students, using path a...

Background Eating disorders (EDs) are serious disorders that significantly affect not only the lives of patients, but also those of their family members who often experience high levels of burden, suffering and helplessness. If, in addition to ED, the patient has a personality disorder (PD), the psychological distress experienced by family members...

Bakground. Caregiving is a strong source of stress and leads the family caregiver to experience the burden of being responsible for the care of a severely mentally ill family member. The Burden Assessment Scale (BAS) assesses burden in family caregivers. This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the BAS in a sample of family caregi...

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are serious disorders that significantly affect not only the lives of patients, but also those of their family members who often experience high levels of burden, suffering and helplessness. If, in addition to ED, the patient has a personality disorder (PD), the psychological distress experienced by family members...

Background To date, several evidence-based interventions have been created to help relatives of people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), but few studies have analyzed the clinical situation of the family members. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to explore the clinical symptomatology in a sample of parents of people diagnosed with B...

Changes in Meaning in life (MIL) have been shown to be particularly important when people face very stressful events such as receiving a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Active coping strategies have been related to higher levels of MIL in people with a diagnosis of cancer. Objective: To explore the evolution of MIL in a sample of cancer patients at...

The most widely used instrument to assess meaning in life is the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ). To date, no study has analyzed the psychometric characteristics in the Spanish adult population. Our aim is to analyze the psychometric properties of the MLQ in a sample of Spanish participants. The sample consisted of 683 adults, 80.4% women, from...

El autoinforme más utilizado para evaluar el sentido en la vida es el “Cuestionario de sentido en la vida” (MLQ). Hasta la fecha, ningún estudio ha analizado las características psicométricas del MLQ en población adulta española. Por tanto, nuestro objetivo fue analizar las propiedades psicométricas del MLQ en una muestra de adultos españoles. Part...

Background Family members of patients with eating disorders (ED) often experience high levels of burden, suffering, grief, and helplessness. If, in addition to ED, the patient has a personality disorder (PD), the psychological distress experienced by family members can be devastating. However, few treatments have been developed for family members o...

Background: Suicide is a serious health problem, affecting not only the persons who experience it, but also their family members. Although there are few empirically supported interventions to help family members. The programme for relatives of people with Borderline personality disorder and dysregulation that has received the most empirical support...

Background Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) is effective in improving meaning in life, hope, optimism, self-efficacy, well-being, and quality of life, and in reducing stress in people with cancer. However, all the studies on the application of MCP in cancer patients have been carried out in Anglo-Saxon samples. Therefore, it is necessary to ada...

Purpose The aim of the present study was to confirm the original factor structure of the Multicultural Quality of Life Index (MQLI) and analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of caregivers of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methods The MQLI was administered to 233 relatives of people with BPD. Participants completed the...

Psicoterapia Centrada en el Sentido para jóvenes adultos con bajo sentido en la vida: un estudio piloto. Marco, J.H., 1 Perez, S.1, Felipe, A.2, Gallego-Hernandez de Tejada, B. 2, Introducción. El sentido en la vida es una variable transdiagnostica que está negativamente asociada con la desesperanza, la ansiedad, la desregulación emocional, la c...

Background Relatives of people diagnosed with suicidal behavior disorder (SBD) feel guilty, afraid, hopeless, depression and anxiety. It is necessary to help the relatives of people with SBD to reduce their discomfort and burden. Family Connections (FC) is a program that has been shown to be effective in reducing burden, depression, and anxiety, an...

Introduction Positive psychological variables, such as meaning in life and the capacity for enjoyment, are important resilience factors against negative behaviors and symptoms. These constructs are related to better emotional regulation strategies, a greater perception of control over one’s life, and better mental health in general. Adjustment diso...

Introduction Personality disorders (PD) have a serious impact on the lives of individuals who suffer from them and those around them. It is common for family members to experience high levels of burden, anxiety, and depression, and deterioration in their quality of life. It is curious that few interventions have been developed for family members of...

Introduction Suicide is a preventable death in young people. It is well known that suicide behavior is a multicausal phenomenon. However, suicidal ideation (SI) commonly underlies suicide, and Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) can help us to better characterize it and its risk and protective factors in the short term. We aimed, first, to invest...

Background Thwarted Belongingness (TB) and Perceived Burdensomeness (PB) are considered risk factors of suicide behavior in the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide and constitute the main factors of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire—INQ. Aims The present study analyzes the internal consistency, construct validity, and invariance across sex and age...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.635742.].

Background To assess three dimensions of Meaning in Life (comprehension, purpose, and mattering) the Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale (MEMS) was developed, however, the MEMS's factorial structure has not yet been confirmed in a Spanish-speaking sample. A question that remains unanswered is which of the three dimensions of MiL are associat...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the family environment due to the difficulties that have been generated by job losses, deaths, increase rates of family and domestic violence, poor mental health outcomes, and estrangement in personal relationships. “Family Connections” (FC) is an internationally renowned DBT-based program that...

The differences in meaning in life (MiL) of people with mental disorders are analyzed. Participants were 157 Spanish out-patients (28 men, 17.83%, and 129 women, 82.17%) age-ranged from 13 to 68 years old (M = 32.58, SD = 13.34) and diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum (n = 20), eating (n = 85), anxiety (n = 28), and major depressive disorders (n...

Background: Adolescence is a developmental stage when there is a high risk of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). There is recent interest in the study of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensome as variables associated with the frequency of NSSI in adolescents. Meaning in life (MIL) might be negatively associated with thwarted belo...

Los familiares de pacientes con trastorno límite de la personalidad (TLP) experimentan ansiedad y depresión, y están inmersos en un clima familiar disfuncional. Aunque existen tratamientos eficaces para el TLP, se ha prestado menos atención a los familiares. El objetivo de este trabajo fue adaptar para familiares el entrenamiento grupal en habilida...

Background: Adolescence is a developmental stage when there is a high risk of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). There is recent interest in the study of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensome as variables associated with the frequency of NSSI in adolescents. Meaning in life (MIL) could be negatively associated with thwarted belo...

Background Studies have suggested that psychotherapy improves the Quality of Life (QoL) of participants with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, there are no studies on the differential efficacy of treatments on the QoL of participants with BPD. Moreover, the relationship between QoL and resilience has rarely been studied in participant...

Emotional dysregulation is a key symptom in participants with personality disorders. The Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) has been studied with non-clinical samples; however, it is necessary to confirm the factorial structure of the ERQ in participants with personality disorders. The aims of the present study were to confirm the factorial s...

Background: Few studies have explored the prevalence and unidimensional structure of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) in Spanish adolescents. Method: In this study, we estimated the prevalence, types, and functions of NSSI in 1,733 Spanish adolescents, and we tested the unidimensional factorial structure of non-suicidal self-injury. Results: 24.6% o...

Según estudios previos el sentido en la vida está asociado negativamente con la psicopatología, el riesgo de suicido y la inestabilidad emocional en personas con trastornos alimentarios (TA). El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el papel mediador del sentido de la vida y sus dimensiones en la relación entre la insatisfacción corporal y la sinto...

Studies of people with eating disorders (ED) have indicated that meaning in life is negatively associated with psychopathology, suicide risk, and emotional instability in people with ED. The aim of this study was to analyze the mediating role of meaning in life and its dimensions in the relationship between body dissatisfaction and the symptoms of...

Emotional dysregulation, age, gender, and obesity are transdiagnostic risk factors for the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). Previous studies found that patients with ED had less meaning in life than the non-clinical population, and that meaning in life acted as a buffer in the course of ED; however, to the data, there are no s...

Low meaning in life it is associated to psychopathology in a large amount of research in clinical sample. However, the studies on meaning in life in people with eating disorders is scarce. Moreover, important NSSI rates have been reported in patients with eating disorders. The aims of the study are: (1) to analyze whether the participants diagnosed...

There are few studies about the association between bullying, cyberbullying, eating psychopathology in clinical populations. This study aims to 1) analyze whether people with eating disorders were victims of bullying and cyberbullying, 2) explore whether bullying and cyberbullying were associated with eating disorders, psychopathology and coping st...

There is a consensus among researchers about the link between low meaning in life and anxiety and depressive symptoms. One unanswered question is whether meaning‐making is a mediator of the change in anxiety and depression symptoms in participants with adjustment disorders during CBT treatment. The aims of this study were: a) to analyze whether the...

Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyse whether MBCT will reduce the general level of psychopathology, increase the quality of life, and increase meta-knowledge about their emotional state in Spanish participants with cancer. Method: The sample consisted of n = 88 Spanish oncology patients. This was a non-randomized, two-group (experimen...

Background Studies suggested that psychotherapy improved QoL of participants with BPD. However, there are no studies about the differential efficacy of treatments in the QoL of participants with BPD. Moreover, the relationship between QoL and resilience has rarely been studied in participants with BPD. Objectives: a) to examine whether people with...

Background: Studies have suggested that psychotherapy improves the Quality of Life (QoL) of participants with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, there are no studies on the differential efficacy of treatments on the QoL of participants with BPD. Moreover, the relationship between QoL and resilience has rarely been studied in participan...

Background: Studies have suggested that psychotherapy improves the Quality of Life (QoL) of participants with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, there are no studies on the differential efficacy of treatments on the QoL of participants with BPD. Moreover, the relationship between QoL and resilience has rarely been studied in participan...

Background: Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience significant affect regulation difficulties that cause serious consequences in their work, emotional, and social environments. This dysfunctional pattern also produces great suffering and a heavy burden on their relatives. Fortunately, some studies show that treatment of rel...

Background : Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a promising methodology for mental health research. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of smartphone-based active and passive EMA in psychiatric outpatients and student controls. Methods : Two smartphone applications —MEmind and eB²— were developed for...

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS) are two treatment protocols for people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) that have received important empirical support. However, their possible differential effectiveness has not yet been studied. The objective of this study i...

Theoretical models (Briere, 1992) have proposed that inadequate caregiving environments undermine the development of adaptive regulation strategies at early stages and can lead children to inadequate regulation skills for coping with distress, such as dissociation, posttraumatic stress, and NSSI. The main aim of this work was to examine NSSI types...

Objectives: The main aim of the present study was to confirm the two-factor structure of the Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury- Part II (ISAS-II), analyze its psychometric properties and test-retest reliability of parts I and II of the ISAS. Method: The sample was composed of 355 Spanish participants diagnosed with eating disorders or borde...

Researchers seem to view meaning in life as consisting of different dimensions: coherence, purpose, and significance. Meaning in life has been found to be a protective factor against several mental disorders, and an association between meaning in life and the psychopathology of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has been found. The aim of this s...

Participants with eating disorders (ED) experience identity problems, hopelessness, and suicide ideation. Research has confirmed the link between the experience of low meaning in life (MIL) and psychopathology. However, there is a lack of research focusing on MIL in ED. Objective: a) To analyze whether MIL at baseline moderates the association be...

This case study presents some factors involved in modulating the behaviors of a drug using adolescent. Therefore, the adolescent’s and a family member’s levels of self-efficacy and hope were assessed, whereas both received a brief intervention for adolescent drug use with parent sessions. The adolescent’s drug use and motivation were also investiga...

Predictores del cambio en la calidad de vida durante el tratamiento en pacientes con trastorno límite de la personalidad

Objective: The purpose of the present study was three-fold: first, to analyze the psychometric properties of a 10-item Spanish version of the Purpose in Life Test, which assesses meaning in life, in a sample of community adolescents; second, to analyze the differences between the age and gender groups; and third, to analyze whether MiL buffers the...

The Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire (IEQ) was created to evaluate the caregiver's experience of burden and the consequences of providing care to people with psychotic disorders. To date, the IEQ has not been validated with caregivers of people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The main objective of the study was to confirm...

Previous studies indicated that meaning in life was inversely associated with eating behaviors and a negative attitude toward food, body satisfaction, and borderline symptoms. However, research on the association between meaning in life and eating disorder psychopathology is scarce, and there are no studies on the association between meaning in lif...

An important goal of mental health specialists is to improve the quality of life and the adaptation of people with common mental disorders on sick leave. Meaning in life is a protective factor for people adjusting to distress and negative events. This study explores the buffering role of meaning in life in the relationship between clinical anxiety...

Background: Early intervention in workers diagnosed with mental disorders is associated with a lower incidence of relapse and shorter sick leave. However, no studies have been carried out on the effect of early intervention using an evidence-based therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), on people with sick leave. Aims: The objectives of the pr...

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been shown to be successful in the treatment of borderline personality disorder and eating disorders separately. The present study compares Standard Dialectical Behavior Therapy with a Treatment as Usual Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TAU CBT) for the treatment of borderline personality disorder and eating disord...

Studies carried out in nonclinical samples have found an association between cyberbullying victimization and eating disorder (ED) psychopathology (negative emotions, low self-esteem, unhealthy eating behaviors, and body dissatisfaction); however, these previous studies were carried out with participants without an ED diagnosis. To extend the knowle...

Objective: We aimed to compare suicidal ideation, hopelessness, borderline symptoms, frequency, types, number of different NSSI methods, intrapersonal and interpersonal functionality of NSSI in a sample of 238 patients with Eating Disorders with no history of suicide ideation or suicide attempts (n = 150); 2); with recent suicide ideation (n = 65);...

Introduction: Technology is constantly evolving in a vast number of fields. In this way, cyber victimization is associated with psychopathology, and body appearance is a primary target of cyberbullies. Thus, the literature demonstrates a clear association between bullying and unhealthy eating behaviors in adolescents. However, studies that have exa...