The objective of this study was to investigate executive functions (EFs) in older adults with Parkinson’s disease (PD). It was a cross-sectional and comparative study, composed of 62 participants divided into PD group (n = 31; M age = 75.26; SD age = 7.26) and control group (n = 31; M age = 74.03; SD age = 6.95), aged 61 to 93 years, recruited for convenience in 5 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The instruments used were a sociodemographic data questionnaire; MMSE; GDS-15; BIS-11; verbal fluency tasks (FAS and animals), DEX; WCST-64 and FDT. Descriptive analyzes and Student’s t and Chi-square tests were used. The PD group had a lower performance in the WCST-64 and FDT tests compared to controls, indicating worse performance in tasks that required reasoning, cognitive flexibility and processing speed, in addition, showed difficulties in performing tasks that require EF (DEX).

Social isolation due to the global pandemic influenced not only the way how people interact, but it also brought a huge impact on the population’s mental health, regardless of their age. This study aimed to evaluate the intensity of symptoms of depression and anxiety, perceived stress, levels of loneliness, and psychological well-being in the elderly during social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study included 86 elderlies, aged 60 to 90 years old (M=70.95; SD=7.08), living in the southern region of the country. They were interviewed by a WhatsApp video call and responded about symptoms of stress, anxiety, loneliness, depression, and positive mental health. The results showed that 55.8% had high stress symptoms, 18.6% anxiety symptoms, 16.3% depression symptoms, and 5.82% moderate to severe loneliness. It was found that participants who felt more alone had lower well-being scores.

Animal Hoarding Disorder (AHD) is characterized as a special manifestation of Hoarding Disorder and psychopathology with a significant impact on the personality aspects of the individual. This study aimed to investigate personality traits in individuals with Animal Hoarding Disorder through the House-Tree-Person (HTP) Test. In addition, this study identified correlations between personality traits, the total amount of animals and the type of animal hoarded. The sample consisted of 29 participants with AHD, with a mean age of 61.39 years (SD = 12.69) and 69% were women. The mean number of animals per household was 55.35 (SD = 17.75), between dogs and cats. The most frequent responses observed in the HTP were: withdrawal (f = 88), anxiety (f = 77), organicity (f = 70), regression (f = 69), insecurity (f = 57), rigidity (f = 53) and need for safety (f = 44). Correlations were found between Dysfunctional Personality Traits and the type of animal hoarded. The HTP instrument was suitable for evaluating the characteristics of this sample, indicating the possibility of a personality profile for these individuals.

Em casos de perícia psicológica, o laudo torna-se um instrumento legal, que deve ser apresentado ao magistrado a partir dos dados coletados na avaliação. O presente artigo teve como principal objetivo verificar como são construídos os laudos decorrentes de perícias psicológicas em disputa de guarda. Foram analisados de forma técnica-científica 45 processos judiciais provenientes de cinco Cartórios de Varas de Família do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, totalizando 54 laudos psicológicos. Os critérios de análise dos documentos foram definidos a partir da Resolução do Conselho Federal de Psicologia n° 007/2003. Para isso, foi desenvolvido um protocolo de coleta de dados dos processos de disputa de guarda, exclusivo para este estudo. Verificou-se que a maioria dos laudos psicológicos analisados não possuía a qualidade técnico-científica preconizada. Analisar documentos escritos por psicólogos, oferece indicadores sobre as lacunas na formação deste profissional, que podem resultar em dificuldades significativas no processo de avaliação psicológica, em especial em contexto jurídico, o qual pode influenciar diretamente a vida e o futuro dos periciados.

The study compares personality factors, symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress between owners and non-pet owners. A total of 145 adults participated, between 18 and 78 years (M = 30.96, SD = 12.10). Participants were divided according to the type of pet they had: 1) dogs, 2) cats, 3) dogs and cats. The results suggest that people who do not have pets showed more anxiety symptoms than those who have pets. Dogs and cats owners showed higher scores of conscientiousness personality factor than participants who did not have any pets. The results reveal differences between animals owners and non-owners. There is a need for studies using mediating variables analyzes, as well as longitudinal research that can explore the feasible causal relationship between different characteristics of people who own pets and well-being.