Difficulties in emotion regulation and well-being in breast cancer

Objective

Breast cancer is responsible for disruptive changes in women's lives, causing them to experience diverse and intense negative emotions that can affect their perception of well-being. The present study aimed to characterize difficulties in emotion regulation (ER), according to Gratz and Roemer's multidimensional assessment, in women with breast cancer and to relate them with General Well-Being and its different domains: Physical, Social/Familial, Emotional, and Functional.

Method

Ninety-five Portuguese women with breast cancer aged between 32 and 75 years answered a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire and the Portuguese versions of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General. Data were collected in an oncology public hospital.

Results

In general, difficulties in ER presented negative correlations with General Well-Being and its domains. The multiple regression analysis findings indicated that two specific types of difficulties, Limited Access to ER Strategies and Lack of Emotional Clarity, play a significant role in predicting well-being, especially in the Emotional domain, which was most compromised in these patients.

Conclusions

These difficulties should be approached within psycho-oncological interventions as they are essential contributors to improving emotional and general well-being and fostering psychological adaptation to breast cancer.

Psychometric analysis of the body responsiveness questionnaire in the Portuguese population

Body responsiveness refers to the tendency to be attuned to the body's needs and use interoceptive information to guide behavior. Despite its potential beneficial effect on the development of positive body image, this construct is currently understudied. To boost research in this area, we examined the factor structure, gender invariance, and psychometric properties of a Portuguese translation of the Body Responsiveness Questionnaire (BRQ). A total of 650 men and women (aged 18-80 years) completed the Portuguese BRQ. To assess its convergent validity, participants also completed measures of body appreciation, emotion regulation, depression symptoms, and psychological quality of life. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a two-factor structure of the BRQ, which was upheld using confirmatory factor analysis: "Importance of Interoceptive Awareness" (ω = .85-.87) and "Perceived Connection" between body and mind (ω = .71-.74). BRQ scores had partial scalar invariance across gender, and no significant gender differences. Convergent and known-groups validity was supported. Participants with overweight/obesity (vs. normal weight) and middle-aged adults (vs. young adults) assigned higher importance to body signals to guide behavior. The Portuguese version of the BRQ is a psychometrically sound measure of body responsiveness and it may contribute to a comprehensive assessment of positive body image to guide intervention.

Caregiver Quality of Life: Satisfaction and Burnout

Informal caregivers (ICs) of cancer patients play a crucial role in health care. Several of the challenges they face can affect their quality of life (QoL). This cross-sectional study explored role of burnout and caregiving satisfaction in their relationship to QoL. Portuguese ICs of adult cancer patients (N = 92) answered a sociodemographic and caregiving questionnaire, the WHOQOL-SRPB BREF, assessing physical, psychological, social, environmental, and spiritual QoL domains; the Maslach Burnout Interview, assessing the dimensions of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment; and a Visual Analogic Scale on caregiving satisfaction. We tested correlations and a parallel mediation model for each domain of QoL, considering burnout dimensions as possible mediators between satisfaction and QoL domains. Our results show that satisfaction, burnout dimensions, and almost all QoL domains are correlated. Together, burnout dimensions seem to mediate the relationship between caregiving satisfaction and psychological, environmental, and spiritual QoL. Satisfaction had a significant indirect effect solely through emotional exhaustion on psychological QoL (β = 1.615, 95% BCI [0.590; 2.849]), environmental QoL (β = 0.904, 95% BCI [0.164; 1.876]), and spiritual QoL (β = 0.816, 95% BCI [0.019; 1.792]). It seems essential for mental health professionals to address these dimensions when providing support to an IC.

Biopsychosocial Correlates of Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating chronic disease that has had increasing prevalence over the last years. We have investigated whether the perceived quality of life is reduced in multiple sclerosis patients compared to control participants with a cross-sectional approach, and how it relates to sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables in MS with multiple regression. To that end, a group of MS patients (n = 50) and a control group (n = 50) that was matched for age and education level filled in the WHOQOL-BREF (perceived quality of life across four domains) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The participants in the MS group also filled in a clinical questionnaire and three instruments measuring psychosocial variables (the DASS-21 for depression, anxiety, and stress, the Brief-COPE for coping skills, and the Meaning in Life Scale). The results showed that the perceived quality of life was lower in the MS group than in the control group. Multiple regression models incorporating the variables that showed significant correlations with the quality of life indicated that age, professional status, recovery from relapses, depression, active coping, and meaning in life predicted at least one domain of the quality of life. Meaning in life predicted the quality of life in all four of the domains. Although the quality of life in MS is linked to multiple biopsychosocial variables, meaning in life seems crucial.

Quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: the role of positive psychological factors

Objective

To identify differences in quality of life (QoL) of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) between diagnosis (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis), gender (male and female), treatment condition (with and without surgery), and attachment styles (secure, preoccupied, and disconnected); to examine associations between QoL, sociodemographic, clinical, and positive psychological variables; to determine whether sociodemographic, clinical, and positive psychological variables predict QoL.

Method

The sample included 70 participants diagnosed with IBD (Mage = 43.37 years, SD = 12.81), of whom 71.4% were females and 67.1% had Crohn’s Disease. Positive psychological variables (meaning in life, positive body image, and attachment styles), sociodemographic (age, education, gender) and clinical variables (diagnosis, disease duration, surgery) were assessed as independent variables. QoL was the dependent variable, analyzed through four domains (physical, psychological, social, environment).

Results

Participants with a secure attachment style reported higher QoL (physical, psychological, and social) than participants with a preoccupied attachment style. Strong positive correlations were found between positive psychological variables and QoL. Body appreciation was a significant predictor of three QoL domains (physical, psychological, and environment). Meaning in life made a unique contribution to the social QoL regression model, and it was also a significant predictor of psychological QoL. Body acceptance by others was a significant predictor of physical QoL, whereas disease duration and education predicted environment QoL. Attachment styles did not predict any QoL domain.

Conclusion

The most significant predictors of QoL in patients with IBD were body appreciation and meaning in life. Body acceptance by others and body appreciation were the main predictors of physical QoL. Psychological interventions for patients who suffer from IBD should address body appreciation and meaning in life.

Stress-Related Growth Scale-Short Form: A Portuguese validation for cancer patients

Abstract Background/Objective

Cancer can be extremely disruptive, triggering high levels of distress, and at the same time transformative, promoting perceptions of positive life changes and growth. This study aims to analyze the psychometric proprieties of the Stress-Related Growth Scale Short-Form (SRGS-SF) in cancer patients.

Method

209 Cancer patients heterogeneous in disease stage and diagnosis completed: clinical and sociodemographic information, Distress Thermometer, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Visual-analogue Scale of Perceived Positive Life Changes, and Stress-Related Growth Scale-Short Form.

Results

The analysis of internal structure pointed to an one-dimensional scale, with high reliability (.92) measured through the McDonald`s omega coefficient. Validity was also evidenced through significant correlations with other variables.

Conclusions

The Portuguese version of the SRGS-SF seems to present the necessary psychometric proprieties to be considered a valid and reliable short tool, to assess perceptions of growth following cancer and contribute to targeted and integrative psycho-oncological interventions.

Bioinformatics-Based Activities in High School: Fostering Students' Literacy, Interest, and Attitudes on Gene Regulation, Genomics, and Evolution

The key role of bioinformatics in explaining biological phenomena calls for the need to rethink didactic approaches at high school aligned with a new scientific reality. Despite several initiatives to introduce bioinformatics in the classroom, there is still a lack of knowledge on their impact on students' learning gains, engagement, and motivation. In this study, we detail the effects of four bioinformatics laboratories tailored for high school biology classes named "Mining the Genome: Using Bioinformatics Tools in the Classroom to Support Student Discovery of Genes" on literacy, interest, and attitudes on 387 high school students. By exploring these laboratories, students get acquainted with bioinformatics and acknowledge that many bioinformatics tools can be intuitive for beginners. Furthermore, introducing comparative genomics in their learning practices contributed for a better understanding of curricular contents regarding the identification of genes, their regulation, and how to make evolutionary assumptions. Following the intervention, students were able to pinpoint bioinformatics tools required to identify genes in a genomics sequence, and most importantly, they were able to solve genomics-related misconceptions. Overall, students revealed a positive attitude regarding the integration of bioinformatics-based approaches in their learning practices, reinforcing their added value in educational approaches.

Alexithymia in anorexia nervosa: the mediating role of depression

The role of depression in the expression of alexithymia in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been controversially explained and several variables that may mask or increase the presence of emotional difficulties have scant examination in previous studies. This study aims to analyze the associations between alexithymia and state variables, such as age, BMI, illness duration, treatment duration, and medication status in AN participants, and to test the mediating role of depression in emotional difficulties. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale were administrated to 160 females: 80 participants with AN and 80 healthy controls. High levels of alexithymia were not a function of state variables. The mediating role of depression differed by the alexithymia dimension, with total mediation found for the TAS-DDF and partial mediation found for the TAS-DIF. Alexithymia is a relevant feature throughout the spectrum of AN and does not seem to be related to developmental maturation and some clinical features. Depression is probably the variable that best accounts for the variance in alexithymia, but is not a complete explanation for the known cognitive-affective disturbances in AN. Specific emotional competencies require scrutiny during psychiatric treatment.

A statistical approach to quantitative data validation focused on the assessment of students' perceptions about biotechnology

Student awareness levels are frequently used to evaluate the effectiveness of educational policies to promote scientific literacy. Over the last years several studies have been developed to assess students' perceptions towards science and technology, which usually rely on quantitative methods to achieve broad characterizations, and obtain quantifiable and comparable data. Although the usefulness of this information depends on its validity and reliability, validation is frequently neglected by researchers with limited background in statistics. In this context, we propose a guideline to implement a statistical approach to questionnaire validation, combining exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis. The work focuses on the psychometric analysis of data provided by a questionnaire assessing 1196 elementary and high school students' perceptions about biotechnology. Procedural guidelines to enhance the efficiency of quantitative inquiry surveys are given, by discussing essential methodological aspects and relevant criteria to integrate theory into practice.

Increasing awareness about antibiotic use and resistance: a hands-on project for high school students

Background

Health-promoting education is essential to foster an informed society able to make decisions about socio-scientific issues based on scientifically sustained criteria. Antibiotic resistance is currently a major public health issue. Considering that irrational antibiotic use has been associated with the development and widespread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, educational interventions to promote prudent antibiotic consumption are required.

Methodology/Principal Findings

This study focuses on the outcomes of an interventional program implemented at the University of Porto, Portugal, to promote awareness about antibiotic resistance at high school levels (15–17 year old). The project Microbiology recipes: antibiotics à la carte articulates a set of wet and dry lab activities designed to promote the participants’ understanding of concepts and processes underlying antibiotics’ production and activity, such as the notion of mechanisms of action of antibiotics. Following a mix-method approach based on a pre−/post design, the effectiveness of this project was assessed by gathering data from surveys, direct observation and analysis of artifacts of 42 high school students (aged 15 and 16 years). The results indicate that the participants developed a more comprehensive picture of antibiotic resistance. The project was shown to promote more sophisticated conceptualizations of bacteria and antibiotics, increased awareness about the perils of antibiotic resistance, and enhanced consciousness towards measures that can be undertaken to mitigate the problem. The participants regarded their experiences as enjoyable and useful, and believed that the project contributed to improve their understanding and raise their interest about the issues discussed. Furthermore, there were also improvements in their procedural skills concerning the laboratory techniques performed.

Conclusions/Significance

This study evidences the possibility of increasing high school students’ awareness about the consequences of antibiotic resistance and the importance of judicious antibiotic use. The findings inform about the educational benefits of incorporating hands-on activities in science education programs.

Prevalência da alexitimia na anorexia nervosa e sua associação com variáveis clínicas e sociodemográficas

OBJETIVO: Analisar a prevalência da alexitimia numa amostra de pacientes com anorexia nervosa e sua relação com variáveis do foro clínico e sociodemográfico, em concreto, índice de massa corporal, duração da doença, idade, escolaridade e nível socioeconômico. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 2 grupos de participantes do sexo feminino, com idades compreendidas entre os 13 e os 34 anos. Um grupo foi composto por 80 participantes com anorexia nervosa (Grupo AN) e o outro por 80 participantes saudáveis (Grupo Controle). A versão portuguesa da Toronto Alexithymia Scale - 20 items - foi aplicada a ambos os grupos. RESULTADOS: A prevalência da alexitimia no Grupo AN foi 62,5% e no Grupo Controle, 12,5%. Os valores médios de alexitimia não diferiram significativamente entre os dois subtipos de AN, e ambos apresentaram valores estatisticamente superiores aos do Grupo Controle. A alexitimia não se correlacionou às variáveis clínicas e sociodemográficas consideradas, à exceção da escolaridade, cuja associação com a alexitimia foi positiva e baixa. CONCLUSÃO: Os pacientes com anorexia nervosa apresentaram, com elevada frequência, dificuldades na regulação dos afetos, independentemente de seu peso, tempo de evolução da doença, idade e nível socioeconômico. O tratamento deve privilegiar uma intervenção sistematizada no domínio das emoções.