Abstract

BARRETO-GALEANO, María Idaly et al. Cognitive validation of an instructional protocol for emotional disclosure in adult victims of political violence in Colombia. Act.Colom.Psicol. [online]. 2022, vol.25, n.2, pp.104-121.  Epub Aug 06, 2022. ISSN 0123-9155.  https://doi.org/10.14718/acp.2022.25.2.7.

Emotional disclosure (ED) allows making sense of traumatic or stressful events through a process guided by verbal or written instructions, and thus may generate benefits in psychological well-being and self-reported physical health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the understanding of three types of experimental instructions (traditional ED, ED with acceptance and commitment cues, and psychosocial ED) and one instruction for the control group (trivial ED), trough cognitive validation techniques (tests focused on meaning and verbalización of thought), in people exposed to events of political violence in Colombia. For this purpose, a qualitative study with an instrumental approach was developed, in which 42 Colombian victims of political violence, mostly women, were interviewed, chosen through convenience sampling. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by means of a mixed categorical analysis that used as a reference procedures from the Cognitive Aspects of the Survey Methodology Movement. As a result, participants differentially understood the instructions given in each protocol, focusing on aspects such as the sociopolitical context in the case of the psychosocial protocol, and on responses associated with acceptance in the protocol with acceptance and commitment cues. Difficulties were identified in the understanding of some sections of the protocols, which were adjusted. Finally, the importance of implementing cognitive validation techniques to verify the understanding of instructions, protocols or instruments is emphasized, given that the performance of the participant and the quality of the measures of the experiments may be affected by the understanding and interpretation of the proposed instructions.

Keywords : emotional disclosure; post-traumastress; cognitive validation; political violence; psychosocial trauma.

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