Orlando M. Pagán Torres

• Ph.D.
• Assistant Professor at Ponce Health Sciences University

La enseñanza de la diversidad social y cultural es un aspecto fundamental en la formación de profesionales de la psicología y en el ejercicio de la profesión. La religión y espiritualidad (R/E) son aspectos de la diversidad humana y, por lo tanto, requieren de adiestramiento clínico especializado. En años recientes el estudio científico de la R/E e...

El estudio científico de variables asociadas a la psicología positiva ha incrementado significativamente en la literatura científica en Puerto Rico. Sin embargo, hasta el momento no existe una obra dedicada a recopilar y organizar los trabajos conducidos en Puerto Rico vinculados al campo. Por consiguiente, este libro tiene como objetivo exponer un...

This research aimed to develop an instrument to measure symptoms of religious anxiety considering its physical, behavioral, and cognitive manifestations, according to the DSM-5-TR. The final sample consisted of 302 adult residents of Puerto Rico with ages ranging from 21 to 73 years (M = 42.74, SD = 12.80). Exploratory factor analysis, internal con...

COVID-19-related fear requires effective tools to assess its occurrence and associations with pandemic-related do-mains. We examined the factor structure and measurement invariance (MI) of the Fear of Coronavirus-19 Infection Questionnaire (FOCI-Q) among Hispanics (aged 21–79) in Puerto Rico, who completed an online survey. An exploratory factor an...

Religiosity is a determinant of human flourishing and a protective/risk factor on health. In recent years the DUREL has been one of the most used measures in studies of religion and health worldwide. This scale has five items to assess three domains: organizational religiosity (item 1), non-organizational religiosity (item 2), and intrinsic/subject...

In this chapter we describe a study aimed to examine the rates and the severity of DEP, ANX, and PTSD symptoms among adults living in Puerto Rico (PR) during the COVID-19 pandemic and their relationship with sex, age, income, and education level. First, we review the literature on the rates and severity of symptoms of DEP, ANX, and PTSD during the...

In this chapter, we describe a study that examine the rates and severity of DSHT and FOL among adults living in PR during the pandemic and their relationship with sex, age, income, education level, and romantic partner status (i.e., having or not a partner). First, we review the literature on the rates and severity of DSHT and FOL during the pandem...

Introducción: El presente estudio examinó los efectos de la adicción al trabajo en el bienestar psicológico y el papel mediador de la rumiación. Estudios han estimado la prevalencia de la adicción al trabajo en un 14.1%, donde uno de cada siete personas empleadas pudiera padecer de esta condición. Más allá, una gran cantidad de investigaciones sugi...

Introduction: The present study examined the effects of workaholism on psychological well-being and the mediating role of rumination. Studies have estimated the prevalence of work addiction at 14.1%, where one in seven employees could suffer from this condition. Furthermore, a large body of research suggests that workaholism has a negative impact o...

La psicología positiva (PP) es un campo joven que ha crecido velozmente durante las últimas dos décadas desde su fundación en el 1998. Su crecimiento y expansión a nivel mundial ha sido notable a pesar de las críticas y controversias que históricamente han surgido sobre el campo hasta la actualidad. Este capítulo tiene como objetivo ofrecer una mir...

En este capítulo presentamos una revisión de instrumentos validados en Puerto Rico de constructos pertenecientes al campo de la psicología positiva (PP). Se proveen descripciones breves de cada instrumento con el objetivo de familiarizar a las personas lectoras con los instrumentos disponibles. Para cumplir estos objetivos, revisamos una variedad d...

Las raíces del optimismo y la esperanza pueden remontarse históricamente a discusiones filosóficas a lo largo de las épocas. Dichos constructos están intrínsecamente relacionados con el propósito/significado y valor que las personas brindan a sus vidas. No obstante, el impacto del optimismo y la esperanza en la salud mental se comenzó a estudiar mu...

En años recientes se han realizado numerosos esfuerzos para construir alianzas que faciliten la colaboración entre disciplinas y escuelas de pensamiento con el objeto de explicar la conducta humana de manera integrada. Un ejemplo de este diálogo colaborativo han sido las investigaciones sobre religión y espiritualidad en el contexto de la psicologí...

El estudio de la psicología positiva en Puerto Rico ha rendido notables frutos. Esto se puede observar en el hecho de que en Puerto Rico abunda los estudios de variables asociadas a la psicología positiva (PP), aunque no se haga alusión directa al campo en los títulos de los trabajos. El objetivo de este capítulo consiste en discutir una serie de c...

La religión ha sido la institución social que mayor influencia ha tenido en toda la historia de la humanidad. La integración de la religión y la espiritualidad (R/E) en el campo de la salud mental ha sido sistemáticamente documentada en la literatura científica y ha sido avalada por varias organizaciones profesionales de salud mental en el mundo. D...

Religious/spiritual struggles (RSS) have been reported as a risk factor for mental health. Therefore, it is justified to explore how this construct may manifest among religious/spiritual people from diverse origins. The aims of this study were to: (1) translate and adapt the RSS Scale from English to Spanish; (2) examine its internal consistency (u...

La religiosidad y espiritualidad (R/E) son aspectos relevantes de la diversidad social y cultural. Las creencias religiosas tienen la capacidad de influir en la calidad y estilo de vida de los individuos y las sociedades, por lo que han llegado a clasificarse como determinantes sociales de la salud pública. A principios del siglo 20, hubo una relac...

Food insecurity (FI) is a household-level socioeconomic condition of limited/uncertain access to adequate food. The COVID-19 pandemic has limited the access of families to food. In a survey conducted in Puerto Rico 2.5 months after the pandemic onset, a 40% rate of FI was reported. Sociodemographic factors and decreased mental health have been asso...

Background: Persistent exposure to misleading data, fake news, and/or negative news through media negatively affects people lives. Life disruption attributed to COVID-19 pandemic-related media coverage (PRMC) may relate to psychiatric symptoms (PS) and psychological distress (PD). Purpose: We explored the relationship that high (G1, n=683) vs. low...

Background/Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic posed extraordinary challenges to governments around the world. People assessments about the quality of government management of this crisis may inform plans to respond to similar events. We explored global assessments and differences in perception about the quality of government response to the COVID-19 pan...

Social distance and lockdown measures applied during the COVID-19 pandemic may have generated/increased feelings of loneliness (FOL) and death/self-harm thoughts (DSHT) among adults in Puerto Rico. Research suggests that sociodemographic groups such as low-income households (LIHs), youngest adults, people with low educational levels (PLEL), people...

The COVID-19 pandemic may precipitate an increase in mental health problems in Puerto Rico. Sociodemographic groups such as women, low-income households (LIHs), youngest adults (YAs), people with low educational levels (PLEL), and non-heterosexuals (NHs) might be at higher risk for elevated psychological symptoms during the pandemic than their coun...

El objetivo de este capítulo consiste en exponer una perspectiva histórica sobre el desarrollo de la psicología de la religión y la espiritualidad (PRE) en Puerto Rico. El contenido está fundamentado en un diseño de investigación historiográfica cuyo objetivo es documentar las investigaciones y obras puertorriqueñas pertenecientes a dicho campo de...

El objetivo de este capítulo consiste en exponer una mirada introductoria sobre los tópicos fundamentales de la psicología de la religión y la espiritualidad (PRE). Se discutirán una variedad de temas relevantes en este campo de estudio tales como: definiciones conceptuales de términos, desarrollo de la PRE como subdisciplina, hallazgos recientes s...

Esta obra tiene como objetivo exponer una mirada introductoria, actualizada y basada en la evidencia sobre la psicología de la religión y la espiritualidad y sus aportaciones a la comprensión de la salud mental en la población puertorriqueña. También, esta obra expone una serie de recomendaciones para facilitar la integración teórica, ética y práct...

This research examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Brief Religious Coping Scale (Brief-RCOPE) in a sample of 302 Puerto Rican adults. We examined its internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), McDonald’s omega coefficient, construct validity, and factor structure. The Brief-RCOPE obtained an alpha coefficient of .94 in the...

La pandemia del COVID-19 se ha convertido en objeto de atención que ha amenazado la salud pública en múltiples formas, por lo que inevitablemente ha trastocado la comunidad religiosa. La asociación entre espiritualidad, religión (E/R) y salud ha sido empíricamente documentada en la literatura científica de salud mental. Dada la importancia de la E/...

The impact of religious coping (RC) on health has been a subject of interest in recent years. Despite the increase in research on RC, in Puerto Rico there has not been identified studies aimed to examine the mediating role of positive (PRC) and negative (NRC) religious coping in mental health variables. Therefore, the objectives of the study are: (...

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia up to date. AD is characterized by the progressive impairment of neurocognitive functions and behavioral manifestations that interfere with daily life. AD represents the fourth cause of death in Puerto Rico, highlighting the pressing need to identify neuropsychological profiles of the pat...

Editorial Volumen 4, Número 3, 2020

Este artículo tiene el objetivo de exponer un análisis crítico sobre los planteamientos expuestos por el Dr. Hernández-Pereira en su reacción a mi artículo "Dios, Religión y Desastres Naturales". Luego, concluyo exponiendo una breve reflexión sobre mi visión del estudio científico de la religión y la espiritualidad y su importancia para la psicolog...

El objetivo de este artículo es discutir una variedad de tópicos relevantes sobre la influencia de las creencias religiosas en la interpretación de eventos y desastres naturales desde una perspectiva psicológica.

Depressive disorders may cause significant impairment in social, occupational, and academic areas of functioning. This research aims to analyze the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Spanish version of the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) in a sample of 494 Puerto Rican adults. We analyzed the Cronbach alpha internal...

Como editor en jefe de la Revista Caribeña de Psicología, para mí es un placer saludarles y un honor compartir con todos una breve reflexión sobre el presente y futuro de la psicología caribeña. La limitación de tiempo y espacio exige sintetizar un tema extenso, profundo y medular a varios señala-mientos puntuales con miras a desarrollar posibles v...

Anxiety disorders may cause impairment in the functioning of daily life. This research aims to examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in a general sample of 302 Puerto Rican adults. We analyzed the Cronbach's alpha internal consistency, construct validity, discriminant validity, and fa...

The main purpose of this research was to examine the construct validity of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) in order to determine whether it is able to adequately discriminate between symptoms of depression and anxiety in the Hispanic population in Puerto Rico. This study has an instrumental design. A total of 1073 Hispanics part...

The rise of the study of religion and spirituality in the field of the heath sciences has been remarkable. Certainly, a significant increased in research has been documented within the field of psychology of religion and spirituality in the Puerto Rican context. In this article, I briefly discuss some Puerto Rican books that expose content associat...

The development of psychology has been significantly marked by the field of psychological measurement. During the last years the interest in studying the role of religious and spiritual aspects in mental health of the people in Puerto Rico has been reborn. However, until now there has been no review of religious and spiritual measures validated in...

Spirituality and religion are ancient concepts whose study has been of great interest in various branches of science. However, it was not until the middle of the 20th century, where research related to issues of spirituality, religion and health began to be important. The objective of this study is to carry out a review and bibliometric analysis wi...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the most prevalent conditions worldwide. During the last decades an increased number of studies analyzing the impact of CVDs on neurocognitive performance have emerged. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature detailing the impact of CVDs on neurocognitive performance. Our review is fo...

Introducción: La membresía es un aspecto fundamental para el avance y sostenimiento de toda organización. Por lo tanto, resulta fundamental evaluar las necesidades de los miembros con el propósito de poder atender las necesidades de la membresía para el fortalecimiento de una organización. Objetivo: Por consiguiente, el objetivo del presente estudi...

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) adolescents have higher depression rates than controls. Self-efficacy has been proposed as a mediator of therapeutic changes. Few scales assess emotional self-efficacy in adolescents. None have been validated with T1D youth. We examined the psychometric properties of the Escala de Autoeficacia para la Depresión en Adolescentes...

There is evidence of the effects of exposure to workplace bullying on victims who may manifest symptoms of depression, anxiety, burnout, somatization, sleep difficulties, and posttraumatic stress; however, few studies have examined the impact of workplace bullying on suicidal ideation. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationshi...

Religious coping (RC) is a situation management strategy that uses religious and behaviors belief to prevent and alleviate negative consequences of stressful events. The objective of this research was to assess whether high levels of RC are negatively associated with the risk of suffering depressive symptoms in a sample of Puerto Rican adults. To t...

Psychology and religion were seen as mutually exclusive and dichotomous in its beginning. However, during the last decades has taken place the incorporation of a modern vision that integrates the development of clinical techniques with spiritual basis within the clinical work, relieving the tensions between psychology and religion. The aim of this...

Satisfaction with life is one of the fundamental components of subjective well-being whose origins in research date back to the 1980s. However, no empirical research on this topic has been carried out in Puerto Rico, nor has it been statistically analyzed sociodemographic characteristics in terms of satisfaction with life. The objective of this stu...

Este artículo tiene como objetivo discutir brevemente las implicaciones éticas que pudieran estar involucradas dentro de la aplicación de la tecnología en el proceso psicoterapéutico. Además, expondremos de forma breve algunas ventajas y desventajas de la integración de la tecnología con el fin de informar a los/as profesionales de la salud mental...

Spirituality is defined as the multidimensional capacity of search for meaning and connection in relationships with oneself, other people, nature or the sacred. The aim of this study was to analyze the reliability and factor structure of Personal Spirituality Scale (PSS-R) in a sample of Puerto Ricans adults. A total of 577 Puerto Ricans participat...

La religión posiblemente ha sido el tópico que mayor controversia y debate ha generado en la historia tanto en los círculos académicos como en el sector popular. Los tópicos referentes a la existencia de Dios, el impacto de la religión en la salud física, mental y social, el aborto, la pena de muerte, entre otros subtemas controversiales asociados...

This article examines the psychometric properties of the Religious Coping Strategies Inventory (IEAR) in a sample of Puerto Rican adults. Religious coping methods are ways of understanding and dealing with negative life events that are related to the sacred. A total of 350 Puerto Ricans participated in this exploratory and psychometric study. The r...

There is evidence of the effects of exposure to workplace bullying on victims who may manifest symptoms of depression, anxiety, burnout, somatization, sleep difficulties, and posttraumatic stress; however, few studies have examined the impact of workplace bullying on suicidal ideation. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationshi...

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is the most widely used instrument to assess self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as a feeling towards oneself, positive or negative, that is constructed through a self-evaluation of one's own characteristics. The aim of this study was to analyze the reliability, validity and factor structure of EAR in a sample of Pue...

Several studies have found that countries with high religious participation are significantly associated with mental health. Religion is a social institution very important for most Puerto Rican. In this study, we review the publications that discuss the relationship between religiousness and mental health in Puerto Rican context. Despite the enorm...

No hay duda que la religión es una institución social de gran importancia para la mayoría de las personas. En este breve artículo, publicado en PSYCIENCIA, se discuten los hallazgos documentados en la literatura empírica sobre el impacto de la religión y la espiritualidad en la salud mental. Además, se expone cómo los hallazgos recientes han quebra...

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the therapeutic modalities most empirically documented as an efficacious treatment for a wide variety of mental disorders. On the other hand, during the last decades, the association between religion, spirituality and health has been well established, which has led to the development of psychotherapy mod...

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) adolescents have higher depression rates than controls. Youth have different levels of self-efficacy to cope with depression. Self-efficacy has been proposed as a mediator of therapeutic changes during depression treatment. Few instruments to assess self-efficacy for depression are available. None have been validated with T1D...