The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the Portuguese adaptation of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and to compare the obtained structure to the original North American version. The methods of analysis used for cross-validation of the factorial structure were the Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) and the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). PAF reproduced the original structure of NEO-FFI and CFA revealed a satisfactory fit of single-factor models for the five dimensions. The reliability analysis showed high values of internal consistency which are congruent with previous international adaptations of the NEO-FFI. Multidimensional analysis showed significant main effects of gender and academic qualifications on personality using age as covariant. The findings suggest that the Portuguese version of the NEO-FFI is a reliable instrument to measure the five dimensions of personality.

Throughout the last decades, scientific and therapeutic communities have made common efforts to collect reliable information concerning the efficacy of psychotherapies. One of these initiatives has, recently, involved the psychodrama community and its desire to achieve progress in the validation of this therapy. Based on Robert Elliott’s Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design, we followed five participants (three women, two men, aged 27–48 years) of a psychodrama group over the course of their therapeutic process, which ranged from 24 months to 5 years. For the single case study, we selected the participant who had the longest data collecting record, including one follow-up. Participants generally reported improvement in their personal therapeutic goals, decrease in symptoms and life problems, and some showed a marked increase in spontaneity levels. In the single case, these results are confirmed, and following decision criteria it is possible to assert that the participant improved in all the variables assessed and that therapy is the main cause of these changes. Furthermore, the participant frequently rated psychodrama sessions as being helpful and stated they had a transformational impact on his life. This research contributes toward validating psychodrama as an efficient therapeutic method, hopefully stimulating practitioners to integrate therapy and research—which, for years, were considered independent and incompatible—and to facilitate their use in a complementary way.

In this study, we aimed to ascertain whether it is possible to create reading contexts that eliminate the impact of word recognition on reading comprehension and permit pupils with reading disabilities (RD) to attain a level of comprehension similar to that of their peers without RD. Specifically, the study compared a traditional reading situation with one of reading with aids (joint reading). In both situations, pupils' comprehension level was assessed by means of a summary and a series of inferential questions, and we controlled the effect on comprehension of word recognition, previous knowledge, rhetorical competence, and working memory. The results showed that the aids provided during reading do not eliminate the effect of word recognition, but they do permit readers with RD to attain a comprehension level similar to that of their peers.

O presente estudo tem como objetivo apresentar dados descritivos e multivariados obtidos com o NEO-FFI, uma versão reduzida do NEO-PI-R, com uma amostra de participantes portugueses. Para tornar possível este objetivo, o inventário de personalidade foi administrado a 1178 sujeitos, 68% do sexo feminino, e com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e os 90 anos (M = 41.8, DP = 22.3). A versão portuguesa do NEO-FFI reflete a universalidade das dimensões básicas da personalidade podendo, por conseguinte, ser usada como uma versão fiável do NEO-PI-R. Estes dados reforçam os resultados obtidos internacionalmente, e serão discutidos no presente artigo à luz da literatura sobre o modelo dos cinco fatores. Os resultados revelam ainda um efeito significativo do sexo e da escolaridade ao nível da personalidade (controlando a variável idade), especificamente, no que diz respeito às dimensões de Abertura à Experiência, Neuroticismo, Conscienciosidade e Amabilidade. No que se refere à Extroversão não foram encontrados efeitos significativos das variáveis individuais referidas. Verificámos ainda que à medida que a idade avança diminuem as pontuações de Extroversão e de Abertura à Experiência.