O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar relações entre habilidades sociais, indicativo de psicopatologia e variáveis biossociodemográficas em adolescentes. A amostra foi composta por 50 adolescentes de uma cidade do Rio Grande do Sul (30 meninas e 20 meninos, Midade=14 anos, DP=1,61) que frequentavam ou escola particular ou escola pública. Os participantes responderam a um questionário biossociodemográfico, o Inventário de habilidades sociais para Adolescentes de Del-Prette e, para avaliar sintomas de psicopatologia, o Self Report Questionnaire 20. Os resultados indicaram que não houve diferença na frequência das habilidades sociais investigadas quanto às variáveis sexo, idade, escola e indicativo de psicopatologia. Todavia, foi constatado que a intensidade da dificuldade em habilidades sociais está relacionada com o indicativo de psicopatologia apresentado pelos adolescentes. Esta relação foi moderada pelo tipo de escola. Assim, além do papel de variáveis biossociodemográficas, as características individuais (por exemplo, psicopatologia) devem ser consideradas em estudos sobre habilidades sociais.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social skills, psychopathology and sociodemographic characteristics among adolescents. Participants were 50 adolescents from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (30 girls and 20 boys, Mage=14 years, SD=1.61) who attended either a public or a private school. The participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the social skills Inventory for Adolescents Del-Prette (frequency and difficulty) and, to assess symptoms of psychopathology, the Self Report Questionnaire 20. Results indicated that there were no differences in the frequency of the social skills investigated with regard to genders, age, type of school attended, and the indication of psychopathology. However, the difficulty score reported on the use of social skills was related with psychopathology. This relationship was further moderated by the type of school. Thus, sociodemographic variables and personal characteristics (such as psychopathology) must be considered in social skills studies.

A case-control study assessed factors associated with HIV infection among cases (59 persons aged 50 years or older at HIV diagnosis) and controls (59 self-reported uninfected persons aged 50 years and older) from Southern Brazil. Participants answered a 142-item questionnaire that included queries on demographic characteristics, sexual behavior, substance use, and knowledge about HIV/AIDS. The participants' age ranged from 50 to 87 years and 75.4% were women. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that cases had higher odds of being male, having lower incomes, and reporting STDs. The study reinforces that HIV infection among the population aged 50 years and older is related to demographic characteristics and sexual behavior. Once mainly prevalent among younger persons, HIV/AIDS is now manifesting increasingly in older adults. This indicates the need for health care professionals to not overlook important aspects of older persons' lives. Sexuality, for example, is an important part of the life cycle. It cannot be ignored in this population.

Un estudio de caso-control evaluó factores asociados con la infección por VIH en casos (59 personas mayores de 50 años de edad al momento del diagnóstico del VIH) y controles (59 personas mayores de 50 años de edad, que se reportaron no infectadas por el VIH) de la región Sur de Brasil. Los participantes respondieron un cuestionario de 142 ítems, que incluyó preguntas sobre características socio-demográficas, conducta sexual, uso de sustancias y conocimiento sobre el VIH/SIDA. Los participantes tenían edades entre 50 y 87 años y 75.4% eran mujeres. Un análisis multi variado demostró que los casos tuvieron mayor probabilidad de ser hombres, tener menos ingresos y haber tenido ETSs. Anteriormente había mayor prevalencia de VIH/SIDA entre la población joven, ahora se está manifestando cada vez más en los adultos mayores. Esto indica la necesidad de que los profesionales del cuidado de la salud no subestimen la importancia de ciertos aspectos de la vida de las personas mayores. La sexualidad es, por ejemplo, una parte importante del ciclo de vida. Lo que no puede ser ignorado en esta población.

In the present study we present Brazilian normative ratings of pleasantness and relevance for a sample of German adjectives, with the aim of contributing to the development of psychosocial and neuropsychological instruments, among other related fields. Three judges validated a preliminary list of 186 German adjectives translated to Brazilian Portuguese. A coefficient of content validity (CCV) was obtained to evaluate the degree of agreement among the judges in two dimensions: equivalence and clearness. The final list contained 136 items. The CCV for the aggregate of the 136 adjectives was .90 for equivalence and .91 for clearness. These adjectives were subsequently rated for pleasantness and relevance by 385 Brazilian participants aged 17 to 68 years. The Brazilian ratings were compatible with the original German ratings. Agreement frequency was 73-99% for pleasantness and 44-96% for relevance. These norms may be useful for both national and cross-cultural studies between Germany and Brazil and can be used in a wide range of fields including social cognition, cognitive psychology, and clinical neuropsychology. Importantly, items from this list of adjectives can be used to develop instruments to assess memory, language, and mental representations, among other cognitive processes.

This study aimed at investigating differences in the performance of the young elderly and oldest old in tasks evaluating cognitive flexibility/inhibition (Stroop test), selective attention/working memory (Digit Span Subtest), premorbid intelligence/semantic knowledge (Vocabulary Subtest), and decision making (Iowa Gambling Task - IGT). Twenty healthy individuals were divided into two groups: 10 young elderly (M = 62 years, SD = 2.1) and 10 oldest old (M = 80 years, SD = 3.3), both with high educational level (M = 14 years of study, SD = 2.5). Results showed that the groups were only different in terms of decision making. There was also a difference in the learning process of each group; the young elderly reached more favorable scores in the IGT.

As terapias de reposição hormonal assim como as novas moléculas (sildenafil, tadalafil) que lutam contra as disfunções da ereção revelaram a demanda crescente na área da saúde sexual na segunda metade da vida. Entretanto, o lugar da sexualidade no processo de envelhecimento constitui um assunto particularmente contaminado por preconceitos. A complementaridade entre a teoria sociológica e a teoria psicanalítica permite esclarecer a dupla natureza deste fenômeno, em que o recalcamento intrapsíquico é fruto, em primeiro lugar, dos ideais culturais interiorizados. Com o propósito de uma comparação transcultural, procedeu-se à aplicação de um questionário amplo a duas amostras, uma brasileira e outra portuguesa, de maneira a caracterizar conhecimentos, atitudes, crenças e práticas sobre a vivência do corpo e da sexualidade de 187 pessoas entre 52 e 90 anos gozando de boa saúde física e mental.

Access to new drugs (tibolona, sildenafil, tadalafil) revealed an increasing demand of seniors about their sexual health. However, prejudices about older people's sexuality remain prevalent in our culture. Sociological and psychoanalytical theories combined allow understanding the double nature of this phenomenon, in which intrapsychic repression results of internalized cultural ideals. This article presents a transcultural survey comparing two samples, Brazilian and Portuguese, to verify knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices about sexuality of 187 healthy people, 52 to 90 years old.