Psychology, health & medicine
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High levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms have been reported by individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). This study examined the associations between resilience, self-efficacy and coping and depressive and anxiety symptoms and whether resilience, self-efficacy and coping were predictors of depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients newly diagnosed with MS. A sample of 129 individuals newly diagnosed with MS participated in this cross-sectional study and completed an online questionnaire assessing resilience, self-efficacy, coping and depressive and anxiety symptoms. ⋯ Level of disability and employment status accounted for 13.2% of the anxiety score and avoidance coping style of denial and emotion-focused coping style of humour accounted for 36.4% of the variance in the anxiety symptom score, F (15, 112) = 6.37, p = .000. Our findings suggest that resilience and avoidance and emotion-focused coping strategies are predictive of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in those newly diagnosed with MS. Resilience and coping styles may be another target for interventions aimed at managing depressive and anxiety symptoms in those newly diagnosed with MS.
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The importance of sociocultural constructs as influences on cancer attitudes and screening has been established in the literature. This paper reports on the efforts to explore alternatives to sociocultural constructs previously associated with African-American cancer screening, but with low acceptance among community members or incomplete measurement (empowerment and collectivism) and develop a measure for a recently identified construct of interest (privacy). We report preliminary psychometric data on these sociocultural scales and their associations with cancer attitudes. ⋯ The modified collectivism and privacy scales had acceptable reliability. The privacy scale demonstrated the strongest associations with measures of cancer beliefs and attitudes. The implication of the findings and need for further scale development activities is discussed.
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Burnout is an inherent risk for those working as mental health professionals, given the nature of their work. Due to recent Medicare changes in Australia, private practice psychologists were suspected to face similar burnout risks as non-private practitioners. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships among burnout in Australian psychologists, work-setting and years of experience in that setting, mindfulness and career-sustaining behaviours (CSBs). 145 Females and 22 male Australian registered psychologists, with a mean age of 42.47 years (SD = 11.64, range 24-68), were surveyed to determine work-setting, mindfulness, burnout and preferences for CSBs. ⋯ CSB preferences only had weak relationships with burnout, which decreased after controlling for mindfulness. Several CSBs that had a detrimental relationship with burnout were identified and may be worthy of further investigation. Developing strategies to increase mindfulness may prevent burnout in Australian psychologists.
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This article presents the post-delivery perceived stress inventory (PDPSI) and its psychometric properties. This inventory is unique in that it links the measurement of perceived stress to events experienced during and after delivery. A total of 235 French-speaking, primiparous mothers completed the PDPSI two days after their delivery. ⋯ The discriminant analysis showed that the PDPSI was not sensitive to specific changes in the sample making the inventory generalizable to other populations. Predictive validity showed that the scale significantly predicted depression and anxiety in the early postpartum period as well as anxiety six weeks postpartum. Overall, the PDPSI showed excellent psychometric qualities, making it a useful tool for future research-evaluating interventions related to perceived stress during the postpartum period.
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Prior work has linked mindfulness with superior physical and psychological health outcomes. However, studies to date have infrequently tested the unique contributions of individual mindfulness facets, inadequately tested links between facets and healthcare utilization, and have not tested whether depression or anxiety may influence these links. In the current report, 40 young, middle aged and older adults (N = 121) completed measures of dispositional mindfulness, health, healthcare utilization and depression/anxiety. ⋯ Across models, observe scores - the tendency to attend to thoughts, sensations and feelings - predicted poorer, and non-reactivity scores better, outcomes even when controlling for demographic and health confounds. Depressed and anxious emotion reduced some but not all mindfulness-health links. Results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms by which greater mindfulness may facilitate better health and health behaviour.