Project Title: Therapeutic Playback Theatre: impact study
Fund/reference: Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) – FCT, I.P./MCTES, through national funds (PIDDAC), ref: (2022.07713.PTDC).
Principal Investigator: António Gonzales
A descriptive paragraph of the project:
This project has as general objectives to allow the introduction in Portugal of the Therapeutic Playback Theater (TPT) as an instrument of transformation of individuals in group and to know its impacts on the participants, the experiences lived in their perspective and the processes that justify these changes. TPT is a variant of Playback Theatre (TP) that takes on therapeutic goals, introduced in Israel by Kowalsky, Raz and Keisari (2019, 2022) with the advantage of integrating the benefits of group therapies and Expressive Arts in a non-pathologizing way.
Project title: Understanding the Triple Bottom Line through the lens of Green Human Resources Management and Greenwashing
Fund/reference: APPsyCI (FCT/UIDB/05299/2020)
Principal Investigator: Ana Sabino
Research Team: Ana Sabino; Ana Moreira; Francisco Cesário; Mafalda Coelho (FCT research scholarship)
Linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tblghrm/
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/tblghrm/
Synopses:
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are an urgent call for action for a global partnership that involves not only nations, but also organizations and individuals. Theoretically, sustainability has been framed by the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach, which comprises three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. Scientific research has been following this megatrend and, although there is an increasing attention on TBL, sustainability and its outcomes, literature on the effects of organizational actions on employees’ attitudes and behaviors is still scarce and, as stated by Sitka (2023), disorganized. The first main goal of our project, through study 1, is to select the measures from each of the respective TBL and adapt them to the Portuguese context and language. More than a new buzzword, sustainability is a must, as it highlights the relevance of daily choices (Rehman et al., 2020). The Green Human Resources Management (GHRM) is defined as the activities developed by the HRM system to increase employees’ environmental supporting behaviors (Tanova and Bayighomog, 2022). However, there is a line of research that also study its dark side and it is when organizations engage in greenwashing, misleading the internal and external stakeholders about their environmental performance or the environmental benefits of a product or service (Delmas and Burbano, 2011). Through study 2 we aim to verify the role of greenwashing in the relationship between GHRM and the TBL dimensions.
Project title: SCISSOR – Social Clinical Studies on Racism: Persistence of Colonial Mentality in Black Populations: A Social Clinical Study
Fund/reference: APPsyCI (FCT/UIDB/05299/2020)
Principal Investigator: Mariana Miranda
Research Team: Mariana Miranda, Marcus Lima, Dalila França, Maria Gouveia-Pereira, Emerson do Bú, Ueliton Primo, Anna Luiza Ribas. Collaborating students: Dominique Leth-Sørensen, Filipa Vieira, Leonor Garanhão e Alciomara Nosolini and Anna Luiza Ribas (FCT research scholarship). Scientific advisor: Jorge Vala.
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/scissor.project/
Synopses:
Racial oppression’s institutional and interpersonal levels have had a substantial amount of empirical attention. Little is known, however, about internalized racism and the paths through which it has such negative effects on mental health. In this paper we describe a conceptualization of internalized racism within a post-colonial context: the colonial mentality. The general goal of SCISSOR is to further establish Colonial Mentality as a key concept in the study of and social and clinical interventions with Black populations in post-colonial contexts. In particular, we will in conduct studies in Portugal and Brazil and focus on how different systems (family and other social groups) are influenced and influence the ongoing dynamic of racial oppression.
Project title: What Goes Online, Stays Online?: Examining the Role of Online Deliberate Self-harm Activities and the Relation Between Individual and Relational Factors and Deliberate Self-harm
Fund/reference: APPsyCI (FCT/UIDB/05299/2020)
Principal Investigator: Maria Gouveia Pereira
Research Team: Maria Gouveia Pereira, Eva Duarte, Inês Pinto, Mariana Pires de Miranda, Beatriz Fuschini Gonçalves (FCT research scholarship)
Synopses:
Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a major public health concern in adolescence with an impact on suicide risk. The international research evidence shows that adolescents with and without DSH are increasingly engaging in various online DSH activities. However, we found no national studies that focused on DSH-related internet use. Thus, with the present research project, we aim to provide a new approach regarding the phenomenon of online DSH representations and how adolescents interact with these contents. Besides, we intend to construct and validate an instrument to assess online DSH activities, which will be a relevant methodological contribution to future research in this field. Finally, we propose to identify which are the best suicide risk indicators. Sharing this project results will simultaneously contribute to create greater awareness about online DSH activities and to develop preventive measures and psychological interventions that better adjust to adolescent experience of DSH.
Project title:Preventing prolonged grief: Effectiveness and predictors of outcome in a palliative care selective intervention
Fund/reference: APPsyCI (FCT/UIDB/05299/2020)
Principal Investigator: David Neto
Research Team: David Neto, Alexandra Coelho, Tatiana Tavares (FCT research scholarship)
Synopses:
Prolonged grief (PGD) has been recognized as a mental disorder considering its impact and pervasiveness. This condition has been associated with several physical and mental health complications. Several groups, such as relatives of cancer patients, are at particular risk. The development of selective interventions to prevent prolonged risk is therefore paramount. The present study has 2 goals. First, to assess the efficacy of a selective intervention – EMPOWER – compared with treatment as usual condition (TAU) in terms of PGD symptoms and general distress in a palliative care unit. The second goal is to identify predictors of response to the intervention. This second goal is essential, considering the low-intensity level of the intervention. Apart from PGD risk, other factors, such as previous mental health or the nature of death, could be relevant in explaining the response to this intervention and serve as essential variables in tailoring the intervention to citizens’ needs.
