Recent studies have documented the high prevalence of burnout among medicine and dentistry students, with potentially catastrophic consequences for both students and patients. Both environmental and personality factors play a part in burnout; perfectionism, a common trait in medicine students’ personalities, has been linked to psychological distress and increasing students’ vulnerability to burnout. Self-compassion, i.e., treating oneself kindly through hardship, has recently emerged as a buffer between perfectionism and psychological distress. While using a novel three-factor conceptualization of perfectionism (BIG3), this study aims to analyze if self-compassion has a protective role in the relationship between perfectionism and burnout, in a sample of medicine and dentistry students, through mediation analysis. We found that self-compassion significantly mediated the relationship between all three forms of perfectionism and burnout: as a partial mediator in self-critical and rigid perfectionism, as well as a full mediator in narcissistic perfectionism. Our findings underline self-compassion’s relevance in burnout prevention and management, supporting its use as an intervention target in burnout reduction programs and strategies.

Psychological reactions to pandemics and their constraints depend heavily on personality. Although perfectionism is consistently associated to depression, anxiety and stress, its role in the pandemics' psychological impact has not been yet empirically studied. Our aim was to analyze the role of perfectionism in psychological distress during the pandemic of COVID-19, testing whether it is mediated by fear of COVID-19 and repetitive negative thinking/RNT. Participants (N = 413 adults; 269.2% women) were recruited from September until December 2020, via social networks. They completed self-report validated questionnaires to evaluate perfectionism dimensions (self-critical, rigid and narcissistic perfectionism), fear of COVID-19, RNT and psychological distress (sum of anxiety, depression and stress symptoms). As women had significantly higher levels of selfcritical perfectionism, RNT, fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress, gender was controlled in mediation analysis. The three perfectionism dimensions correlated with RNT, fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress. The effect of self-critical perfectionism on psychological distress was partially mediated by fear of COVID-19 and RNT whereas the effect of rigid and narcissistic perfectionism was fully mediated. Perfectionism influences emotional and cognitive responses to the COVID-19 and therefore should be considered both in the prevention and psychological consequences of the pandemic.

IntroductionBoth original Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS; Smith et al. 2016), and the Portuguese version validated with a sample of university students (Lino et al. 2018) evaluates three second-order factors (rigid, self-oriented and narcissistic perfectionism) and ten facets.ObjectivesTo confirm the BTPS three-factors-ten-dimensions’ structure in a sample of Portuguese adults from the general population.MethodsA sample of 467 adults (70.7% females; Mean age=38.44±12.27; range: 25-82) answered the BTPS Portuguese version and other validated perfectionism measures (Multidimensional Perfectionism Scales from Frost and Hewitt & Flett; Self-Presentation Perfectionism Scale). To study the temporal stability a sub-sample of 132 participants completed the BTPS again after approximately five weeks. SPSS and AMOS software was used.ResultsThe second order model presented an acceptable fit (X²/df=3.115; TLI=.811; CFI=.825; RMSEA=.067). There was also evidence of a general factor comprising all the 45 items (X²/df=3.127; TLI=.809; CFI=.823; [JA1] RMSEA=.068). The Cronbach alphas of the three factors ranged from a=.88 to a=.92; and facets had a>.70 showing a total of a=.94. Total and dimensional scores showed significant positive and moderate to high correlations with the other perfectionism measures and their test-retest correlation coefficients were r=.85 (p<0.001).ConclusionsThis study confirms the validity and reliability of the Portuguese BTPS underlying three-factors structure. Additionally, we found, for the first time, that BTPS can also be validly and reliably used to measure a global perfectionism construct. It is our intention to develop a shorter version the Portuguese BTPS in the near future.

IntroductionScreening programs for perinatal depression are systematicly implemented in developed countries. To circumvent the most commonly pointed limitation by the primary healthcare professionals (the questionnaires length), we have developed shorter forms of the Beck and Gable Postpartum Depression Screening Scale-35. The shortest version consists of seven items, each one representing a dimension evaluated by the PDSS. This PDSS-7 demonstrated equal levels of reliability and validity as the 35-item PDSS with the advantage of being completed in as little as 1-2 minutes(Pereira et al. 2013).ObjectivesTo analyze the construct validity of the PDSS-7 using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, to use both in Portugal and in Brazil.MethodsThe Portuguese sample was composed of 616 women (Mean age: 32.29±4.466; Mean gestation weeks=17.13±4.929). These participants were not the same who participated in the psychometric study that led to the selection of the seven items. The Brazilian sample was composed of 350 women (Mean age: 30.01±5.452; Mean gestation weeks=25.17±6.55). They all had uncomplicated pregnancies and completed the European/Brazilian Portuguese versions of PDSS-24 (Pereira et al. 2013/ Barros et al. 2021), which was composed of the same items and included the seven items that compose the PDSS-7.ResultsThe unidimensional model of PDSS-7 presented a good fit in both samples (Portuguese/Brazilian: χ2/d.f.=3.439/2.653; RMSEA=.066/.069, CFI=.974/.981, TLI=.947/.957, GFI=.939/.957; p<.001). The PDSS-7 Cronbach’s alphas were .82/.83 and all the items contribute to the internal consistency.ConclusionsThe PDSS-7 is a valid and precise, economic, fast and easy screening instrument for perinatal depression, a major public health problem, both in Portugal and in Brazil.

INTRODUÇÃO: A avaliação sistemática das experiências das mulheres durante o parto representa uma importante estratégia para viabilizar melhorias na atenção à saúde materna e neonatal. OBJETIVOS: Adaptar o Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) para o contexto brasileiro e determinar as propriedades psicométricas da versão em português (do Brasil), denominada CEQ-2BR. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal com 225 puérperas recrutadas através das redes sociais. Após o consentimento informado, as participantes preencheram um formulário eletrônico, que incluía a versão preliminar da CEQ-2BR. O tratamento dos dados foi realizado através dos pacotes estatísticos SPSS e AMOS 26. A confiabilidade do CEQ-2BR foi avaliada usando o coeficiente alfa de Cronbach. Para medidas paramétricas utilizou-se o Qui-quadrado de Pearson e o T de Student e, nas medidas não-paramétricas, U de Mann Whitney. A magnitude dos coeficientes de correlação foi classificada segundo os critérios de Cohen. RESULTADOS: O CEQ-2BR demonstrou boa consistência interna para “autocapacidade”, “suporte profissional”, “segurança percebida” e “participação”, tendo sido verificado que a avaliação negativa da experiência de parto aumenta em 1,9% e 2,1%, a sintomatologia ansiosa e depressiva pós-parto, respectivamente. CONCLUSÃO: O CEQ-2BR é uma medida válida e confiável sobre experiência de parto na população brasileira, apresenta propriedades psicométricas satisfatórias, sendo recomendado inclusive para multíparas. Houve correlação entre níveis altos de ansiedade pré-natal com experiência negativa de parto. A experiência negativa de parto explica parte das sintomatologias de ansiedade e depressão pós-parto.