Paulo Ferrajão

Universidade Europeia · Department of Psychology

Environmental identity is a dimension of personal identity that reflects an individual’s sense of connection with nature and personal view of nature as part of her/his identity. There is a need to adapt and validate measures that assess environmental identity, namely in Portuguese. This study analyzed the validity and reliability of the Revised Env...

Background The experience of several adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has been shown to be associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Disturbances in Self-Organization (DSO) symptoms among adolescents. Defense mechanisms and coping styles are psychological processes involved in the association of ACEs with PTSD and DSO symptoms....

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is related to higher morbidity and mortality among adolescents. The present study analyzed the independent and cumulative effects of ACE exposure on the likelihood of PTSD and a CPSTD diagnosis in Ugandan adolescents. A sample of 401 schoolchildren participated in the study. The primary aim was to co...

The experience of several potentially traumatic events (PTE) is a risk factor for higher somatization symptoms severity among adolescents. Attachment orientations and dissociation may influence the link between exposure to PTE and somatization symptoms severity. We analyzed the associations between direct exposure to PTE and somatization symptoms i...

Extant evidence indicates that exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE) tend to cluster among children and adolescents. Considering that adolescents from African countries present higher risk of being exposed to multiple ACE compared to other countries, the identification of victimization profiles in this population is clearly warranted. The...

Background Adolescence is recognized as a particularly susceptible developmental period for experiencing multiple types of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), increasing the vulnerability to higher levels of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD symptoms. Some studies found that defense mechanisms play an important role on the ass...

The experience of being exposed to multiple forms of violence (polyvictimization) is a risk factor for higher severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (PTSS) among young adults. World assumptions and event centrality have been proposed as two core processes that influence the association between exposure to multiple forms of violen...

This study aimed to characterise adverse childhood events (ACEs) experiences of school-going Ugandan adolescents (female = 50.6%, with diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder: PTSD = 38.2%; mean age = 15.9 years, SD = 1.2 years). The children completed the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Latent class analysis yielded three groups of “low risk” (i...

There is strong evidence that the experience of several adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a risk factor for higher anxiety and depression symptoms severity among adolescents. Defense mechanisms may influence the link between exposure to ACEs and anxiety and depression symptoms severity. We analyzed the associations between direct and indirect...

As formulações dominantes na literatura descrevem a perturbação pós-traumática como uma perturbação da memória. No âmbito de extensa investigação extra clínica e prática clínica, apresentamos um modelo das consequências pós-traumáticas como uma perturbação da identidade, especificamente uma dissociação estrutural da personalidade. Descrevemos a dis...

Objective: There is some evidence that individuals previously been exposed to traumatic events may present higher vulnerability to PTSD because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, exposure to traumatic events may cause changes in attachment orientations which might influence levels of PTSD symptoms (PTSS) in populations subjected to “stay-home”...

COVID-19 has come to change societal organization. Due to lockdowns, work typologieshave been rethought and telework has gained strength. However, the impact of the constant use ofinformation and communication technologies on the mental health of workers needs to be considered.We aimed to investigate the impact of different work conditions on menta...

Recent research indicates that world assumptions are broad cognitive-affective schemas that affect attachment orientations in close relationships which in turn affect psychological symptoms severity. The present study analyzed if adult attachment mediated the effect of world assumptions (worthiness of the self, benevolence and meaningfulness of the...

The present study analyzed the mediating role of assumptive worldviews on the effect of defense mechanisms on post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS) in bereaved parents. Sample included a convenience sample of 153 bereaved parents and a control group of 157 nonbereaved parents. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine our hypotheses. Ber...

Background There is strong evidence that the experience of several potentially traumatic events (polyvictimization) is a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychological distress among adolescents. The identification of the variables that influence the link between polyvictimization and PTSD and other psychiatric symptoms is w...

Background Driving under the influence of alcohol represents one of the main driving crimes and a risk to road safety and public health. In Portugal, if there are well-founded doubts about the psychological fitness to drive, the competent authority may determine a psychological assessment. The present study analyses the results in the Eysenck Perso...

Parental emotional validation has been proposed of as a major explanatory mechanism of the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and children’s psychological problems. The present study examined the effect of parental emotional validation and invalidation on the relationship between exposure to IPV, and both post-traumatic stress diso...

Objective: The present study examined the bi-directional relation of world assumptions to PTSD symptoms, i.e., if world assumptions affect subsequent PTSD symptoms levels but also PTSD symptoms affect subsequent levels of world assumptions, in survivors of childhood sexual abuse during treatment for PTSD. Method: Sample included 797 individuals who...

The present study examined the differences on world assumptions following exposure to different forms of trauma, and the effect of world assumptions on levels of posttraumatic, depression, and dissociative symptoms. The sample included 4 different groups: survivors of childhood sexual abuse, grief, and whiplash and a control group. Structural equat...

Objectives: 1) Epidemiological study of the prevalence of PTSD and depressive symptoms; 2) To analyze the effect of parental style in response to children’s emotional expression on the development of PSPT and depressive symptoms in children of women victims of domestic violence. A cross-sectional study was conducted using both qualitative and quant...

This study explored the experience of both physical and psychological chronic illnesses among a sample of Portuguese war veterans. Twenty suffered from chronic PTSD (unrecovered) and 20 had remission from PTSD (recovered), and all participants suffered from a chronic physician-diagnosed medical disorder. Two semi structured interviews were conducte...

We analyzed the relationship between attachment dimensions (avoidance and anxiety) and PTSD symptoms through the mediation of the mental strategies organization, i.e., behavioral and intrapsychic strategies used to cope with traumatic events and symptoms, among a sample of war veterans. Sample was composed of Portuguese war veterans (N=60): 30 vete...

Background: War trauma related to perpetration and/or witnessing violent acts, and the processes related to recovery from Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among war veterans, has deserved little attention by research in general. The psychological impact of psychosocial consequences of war experience on personal identity and the association of...

We analyzed the role of both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance as a mediators of the effects of combat exposure on PTSD symptoms. Participants were Portuguese veterans (N=60) divided into two groups: 30 suffered from chronic PTSD (non-recovered) and 30 had remission from PTSD (recovered). Combat exposure, attachment patterns and PTSD symp...

We analyzed the effects of 3 war components-combat exposure (CES), observation of abusive violence (OBS), and participation in abusive violence (PARTC)-and sense of coherence (SOC) on the development of both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among a sample of war veterans. We also analyzed the role of SOC as a mediator of the effe...

BACKGROUND: Research found better Post-traumatic Stress Disorder treatment outcomes among war veterans with treatment adherence. Perception of lack of benefits from medication, medication side effects, and social stigma were related to treatment nonadherence. Insight about the disease promoted medication adherence. AIM: This study explored the copi...

Epistemological differences regarding case study as an appropriate validation method of psychoanalytic theory have been observed, from a position that understands psychoanalytic research as the study of meanings, and the appropriate method to research psychoanalytic theories; and an approach that favors the adoption of a scientific character, based...

This study explored the factors to which a sample of Portuguese war veterans attributed their recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were a sample of veterans (N = 60) with mental sequelae of the Portuguese Colonial War: 30 suffered from chronic PTSD (unrecovered) and 30 veterans with remission from PTSD (recovered). Two s...

BACKGROUND: Research found better Post-traumatic Stress Disorder treatment outcomes among war veterans with treatment adherence. Perception of lack of benefits from medication, medication side effects, and social stigma were related to treatment non-adherence. Insight about the disease promoted medication adherence. AIM: This study explored the cop...

This study analyzed the role of moral injury, self-awareness of mental states, self-integration of moral injury in personal schemas, and perceived social on the severity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. The sample was composed of Portuguese war veterans (n = 60) divided into 2 groups: 30 experienced chronic PTSD (non...

This study explored the factors to which a sample of Portuguese war veterans attributed their recovery from posttraumatic symptoms related to their war experiences. Participants were a sample (n = 60) of war veterans with mental sequelae of the Portuguese Colonial war: 30 suffered from chronic PTSD (unrecovered) and 30 veterans with remission from...

This study analyzed the role of moral injury, self-awareness of mental states, self-integration of moral injury in personal schemas, and perceived social on the severity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. The sample was composed of Portuguese war veterans (n = 60) divided into 2 groups: 30 experienced chronic PTSD (non...

Este estudo explorou os factores que um grupo de ex-combatentes atribuiu à recuperação de sintomas pós-traumáticas relacionadas com experiências de guerra, Os participantes foram ex-combatentes da Guerra Colonial Portuguesa (N=60) divididos em dois grupos: 30 com PSPT crónica (não-recuperados) e 30 com remissão da PSPT (recuperados). Foram efectuad...

Neste estudo foi analisado o papel do nível de integração da estrutura psíquica como mediador do efeito dos comportamentos de vinculação nos sintomas de PSPT numa amostra de ex-combatentes. Os participantes foram ex-combatentes da Guerra Colonial Portuguesa (N=60) divididos em dois grupos: 30 com PSPT crónica (não-recuperados) e 30 com remissão da...

BACKGROUND: Research found better PTSD treatment outcomes among war veterans with treatment adherence. Perception of lack of benefits from medication, medication side effects, and social stigma were related to treatment non-adherence. Insight about the disease promoted medication adherence. AIM: This study explored the coping strategies and perceiv...

Attachment behavior may explain individual differences in veterans’ mental health following war experience. However, there is no consensus on secure attachment behavior as a protective factor against posttraumatic disorders (e.g., Declercq & Willemsen, 2006; Harari et al., 2009). The differences found in research concerning the effect of secure att...

Objectives: Study of the characteristics of narratives of military personnel exposed to traumatic events in war scenario and the relationship with the level of structural integration. Methods: Fifteen participants exposed to a war traumatic event with a diagnosis of PTSD performed a trauma disclosure interview that was audio-taped and transcribed....

A investigação empírica em psicanálise tornou-se uma questão de debate na psicanálise contemporânea, tanto no que se refere à psicanálise como método terapêutico, ou como processo gerador de conhecimento científico. A ligação inseparável entre cura e investigação colocou a questão relativa ao estatuto científico da psicanálise. Registamos uma divis...

Introdução: A literatura salienta a presença em veteranos de guerra duma associação entre a experiências envolvendo morte e maior sintomatologia traumática. O estilo de vinculação seguro adulto parece ter um efeito protector face a essas experiências. Objectivos: Estudo da relação entre envolvendo morta em cenário de guerra e sintomatologia associa...

Introdução: A investigação junto de militares envolvidos em cenários de guerra destaca a existência de perturbação na organização de narrativas de experiências envolvendo morte. Objectivos: Estudo dos marcadores linguísticos em narrativas de militares expostas a acontecimentos envolvendo morte em cenário de guerra que diferenciem diferentes níveis...

Objectives: Study of the relationship between the level of integration of psychic structure and adult attachment behavior, and correlation with clinical symptoms after exposure to a war traumatic event. Methods: Thirty participants exposed to traumatic events during war, divided into two groups: a group with psychopathology after exposure to a trau...

The Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-2) is internationally established as one of the major instruments available for clinical diagnosis and scientific research, being frequently used as an auxiliary tool in the selection of therapeutic interventions. 1) To describe the methodological aspects of the adaptation of the OPD-2 into Portugues...

Previous works with military personnel deployed in International Peace Missions suggested the influence of previous exposition and presence of a personality structure as developments predictor’s factors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In a sample of military personnel deployed in Timor-Leste (N = 366) we study the association between a in...

The aim of this study was to undestand the psychological implications of participating in a peace mission, and the buffering effect of group cohesion in the manifestations of clinical symptoms during the mission. Results show that previous depression is the major predictor of clinical symptoms following exposure to a traumatic event, and that the s...

Police work has the risk of dealing with situations that may develop trauma, and other consequences on psychic functioning. In this work we propose an intervention model developed by the Psychology’s Center and Social Intervention of Guarda done in group intervention adapted to the context of police’s work and to the main issues generated on the in...

Pensar debaixo de fogo: Intervenção em grupo junto de profissionais expostos a cenários de risco. Revista de Psicologia Militar, 18, p. 173 -191. Pensar debaixo de fogo: Intervenção em grupo junto de profissionais expostos a cenários de risco Autores Paulo Ferrajão (Guarda Nacional Republicana – Centro de Psicologia e Intervenção Social da Guarda;...