Alexandra Ferreira-Valente

Alexandra Ferreira-Valente is interested in the positive orientation of health psychology, pain assessment and management, effects and mechanisms of psychological pain interventions and cross-cultural mixed-method research. She is particularly focused on understanding how the association between the meaning attributed to pain, beliefs and coping responses and psychological and physical adjustment do chronic pain are mediated and moderated by culture in people with chronic pain from different countries and cultural backgrounds. She is also dedicated to the study of the mechanisms explaining the effects of self-management strategies and psychological and spiritual interventions on the adjustment to life in healthy and not healthy people. In her research work, she combines cognitive-behavioral and existentialistic approaches with the overarching and long-term aim of helping people better manage different stressors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic pain, and their effects on people’s lives.

Main 5 publications

Ferreira-Valente, A., Sharma, S., Chan, J., Bernardes, S., Pais-Ribeiro, J., & Jensen, M. P. (2023). Pain-related beliefs, coping, and function: An observational study on the moderating influence of country of origin. The Journal of Pain, S1526590023004030. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.04.012

Ferreira-Valente, A., Van Dyke, B. P., Day, M. A., Teoto nio Do Carmo, C., Pais-Ribeiro, J., Pimenta, F., Costa, R. M., & Jensen, M. P. (2022). Immediate Effects of Hypnosis, Mindfulness Meditation, and Prayer on Cold Pressor Outcomes: A Four-Arm Parallel Experimental Study. Journal of Pain Research, 15, 4077–4096. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S388082

Ferreira-Valente, A., Fontes, F. Pais-Ribeiro, & Jensen, M. (2021). The Meaning Making Model applied to community-dwelling adults with chronic pain. Journal of Pain Research, 14, 2295-2311. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S308607

Ferreira-Valente, A., Solé, E., Sánchez-Rodríguez, E., Sharma, S., Pathak, A., Jensen, M. P., Miró, J., & de la Vega, R. (2021). Does pain acceptance buffer the negative effects of catastrophizing on function in individuals with chronic pain? Clinical Journal of Pain, 37, 339-348. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000930.

Ferreira-Valente, A., Pimenta, F., Costa, R.M., Day, M.A., Pais-Ribeiro, J., & Jensen, M. P. (2021). The COPAHS study: Protocol of a randomized experimental study comparing the effects of hypnosis, mindfulness meditation and spiritual practices on experimental pain in healthy adults. BMJ Open 11, e040068. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040068.

Contacts

E-mail: mafvalente@gmail.com | afvalente@ispa.pt
Ciência ID: https://www.cienciavitae.pt/2912-CE3A-0EC5
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3684-5561
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/M_Alexandra_Ferreira-Valente