Spirituality in patients with advanced illness: The role of symptom control, resilience and social network
In this study, we analyzed the relationships among clinical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of patients with advanced illness. It was a cross-sectional study, with a sample of 108 patients in an advanced illness situation attended by palliative care teams. Statistically significant correlations were found between some dimensions of spirituality and poor symptomatic control, resiliency, and social support. In the structural model, three variables predicted spirituality: having physical symptoms as the main source of discomfort, resiliency, and social support. This work highlights the relevance of the relationsh...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - November 27, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Fombuena, M., Galiana, L., Barreto, P., Oliver, A., Pascual, A., Soto-Rubio, A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Why people in Benin are reluctant to undergo amputations? A systematic inventory of motives
We made an inventory of the reasons for inhabitants of Benin are reluctant to undergo the amputation of a limb. A robust six-factor structure of motives was found: Change in Appearance, Lack of Information, Fear of Hospitals and Medical Staff, Loss of Others’ Consideration and Affection, Denial of Necessity, and Spiritual and Religious Concerns. The first three motives were the most strongly endorsed. To improve people’s timely acceptance, it is important to attack the main emotional–motivational barriers by using artificial limbs imitating real ones, by providing complete information on post-operative ca...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Zounon, O., Hans-Moevi Akue, A., Cohovi Quenum, G., Clay Sorum, P., Mullet, E. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Working together for womens empowerment: Strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration in perinatal care
Women’s experiences of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum adjustment are often characterized by feelings of disempowerment, trauma, and emotional pain. Psychosocial perinatal care has not kept up with medical advances in perinatal care. Access to psychosocial care appears to be inadequate because of the following: (a) perinatal health care providers are insufficiently prepared to address emotional aspects of maternal care and (b) traditional, compartmentalized psychological services benefit only a subsection of perinatal women, often in an untimely manner. Practical and innovative psychosocial services, integrated into...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Kwee, J. L., McBride, H. L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Longitudinal association between depressive symptoms and walking impairment in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
Worsening depressive symptoms and walking impairment are significant burdens in multiple sclerosis. We explored the reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and walking impairment in a cohort of 269 people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis over 2 years. The data were examined using longitudinal panel analysis in Mplus. Baseline depressive symptoms predicted change in walking impairment at 1-year follow-up (path coefficient = .074), and change in walking impairment at 1-year follow-up predicted change in depressive symptoms at 2-year follow-up (path coefficient = .177). Our study provides preliminary ev...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ensari, I., Adamson, B. C., Motl, R. W. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Effect of perceived stress on depression of Chinese "Ant Tribe" and the moderating role of dispositional optimism
This study examines the moderating role of dispositional optimism on the relationship between perceived stress and depression of the Chinese "Ant Tribe." A total of 427 participants from an Ant Tribe community completed the measures of perceived stress, optimism, and depression. The structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that dispositional optimism moderated the association between perceived stress and depression. The Ant Tribe with high perceived stress reported higher scores in depression than those with low perceived stress at low dispositional optimism level. However, the impact of perceived stress on depre...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Liu, B., Pu, J., Hou, H. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions using the Common Sense Self-Regulatory Model to improve adherence behaviours
This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of the Common Sense Self-Regulatory Model in the design of interventions to improve adherence behaviours. Of nine eligible studies, six reported improvements in adherence behaviours and three showed moderate to large effects on return to work and lifestyle recommendations. Four studies stated how Common Sense Self-Regulatory Model constructs were addressed in the intervention and five measured illness perceptions as outcomes. Evidence was found for targeting cure/control perceptions in studies aimed at improving adherence behaviours. Future studies need to measure illness p...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jones, C. J., Smith, H. E., Llewellyn, C. D. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Web-based intervention improves social acknowledgement and disclosure of trauma, leading to a reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms
This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of web-based intervention on social acknowledgement and disclosure of trauma and to examine the mediating effect of the improvement in social acknowledgement and disclosure of trauma on the reduction of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. A randomized controlled trial was used, with 21 participants in a web-based intervention group and 29 participants in a wait-list control group completing a pre-test and post-test. Results showed that social acknowledgement and disclosure of trauma improved significantly after 1-month intervention, and this improvement mediated the redu...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Xu, W., Wang, J., Wang, Z., Li, Y., Yu, W., Xie, Q., He, L., Maercker, A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Predicting planned physical activity of individuals with arthritis: A self-regulatory perspective
Few individuals with arthritis are sufficiently active. We surveyed a convenience sample of exercisers (N = 134) to examine the utility of social cognitive theory variables, namely, self-regulatory efficacy, negative outcome expectations, and pain acceptance for predicting planned physical activity according to Weinstein’s two prediction suggestions. Logistic regression revealed, after controlling for pain intensity, self-regulatory efficacy, negative outcome expectations, and pain acceptance distinguished groups achieving/not achieving planned physical activity, p < 0.001 (28% variance). A second model adding pas...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Flora, P. K., Brawley, L. R., Sessford, J. D., Cary, M. A., Gyurcsik, N. C. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Self-efficacy mediates the relationship of depressive symptoms and social support with adherence in patients with heart failure
Poor self-care is common among adults with heart failure and leads to poor health outcomes. Low self-efficacy, depression, and low social support are associated with poor self-care, but knowledge about these relationships in heart failure is limited. Secondary data analysis of cross-sectional data from 346 adults with heart failure measuring self-efficacy, depressive symptoms, social support, and self-care adherence was conducted. Tests of mediation using multiple linear regressions indicate that self-efficacy fully mediates the relationships between depression and adherence, and social support and adherence. Bolstering se...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tovar, E. G., Dekker, R. L., Chung, M. L., Gokun, Y., Moser, D. K., Lennie, T. A., Rayens, M. K. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Conversion disorder in a preschool age girl
This article reports a case of a 5-year-old girl with clinical manifestations of a conversion disorder. Children presenting with a conversion disorder very often have multiple investigations and more than two-thirds of them are admitted to the hospital. This case illustrates the necessity of adapting, from the outset, a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and management, which helps in providing an explanatory model that takes into account stressors, factors within the child and the family, and aids in planning an appropriate psychotherapeutic intervention based on the child’s and family’s needs. (Source: J...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bouras, G., Michopoulos, I., Theofanopoulou, N., Giannopoulou, I., Christodoulou, C., Dinopoulos, A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Working with uncertainty: A grounded theory study of health-care professionals experiences of working with children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome
This grounded theory study explores conceptualisations of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis from semi-structured interviews with 10 health-care professionals working with children and adolescents. The findings suggest that a lack of a clear empirical understanding of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis leads to ‘working with uncertainty’, whereby health-care professionals utilise previous experiences to make sense of the condition and inform their clinical practice. How health-care professionals make sense of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis may influence the la...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Marks, M. R., Huws, J. C., Whitehead, L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
'I Once Stared at Myself in the Mirror for Eleven Hours. Exploring mirror gazing in participants with body dysmorphic disorder
This study provides insight into the lived experience of mirror gazing using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Photo Elicitation. A total of 10 participants who identified themselves as suffering from body dysmorphic disorder took photographs that related to their body dysmorphic disorder experience. Photographs were discussed in interviews. It was found that mirror gazing in body dysmorphic disorder is an embodied phenomenon. Motivations for mirror gazing were confusing, complex and masochistic. Overall, participants described mirrors as being controlling, imprisoning and disempowering forces that had a crippli...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Silver, J., Farrants, J. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Understanding how adolescents and young adults with cancer talk about needs in online and face-to-face support groups
We compared adolescent and young adult cancer patient and survivor language between mediated and face-to-face support communities in order to understand how the use of certain words frame conversations about family, friends, health, work, achievement, and leisure. We analyzed transcripts from an online discussion board (N = 360) and face-to-face support group (N = 569) for adolescent and young adults using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, a word-based computerized text analysis software that counts the frequency of words and word stems. There were significant differences between the online and face-to-face support groups...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Thompson, C. M., Crook, B., Love, B., Macpherson, C. F., Johnson, R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Associations between subjective social status and physical and mental health functioning among patients with hypertension
We examine the cross-sectional association between subjective social status and self-rated physical and mental health functioning in 518 Black and White patients enrolled in a community-based hypertension control research study. We found that (1) subjective social status, measured using both a proximal and distal referent group, was positively associated with physical and mental health functioning scores independent of educational level, household income, or both; (2) the effect of subjective social status on physical and mental health functioning differed significantly by race when using the distal, not the proximal, refe...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Cene, C. W., Halladay, J. R., Gizlice, Z., Roedersheimer, K., Hinderliter, A., Cummings, D. M., Donahue, K. E., Perrin, A. J., DeWalt, D. A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Patient experiences of awake craniotomy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
This study aims to understand the lived experiences of those undergoing an awake craniotomy. Six participants who underwent awake craniotomy were interviewed, and the data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Themes were identified as ‘Unspeakable Fear’, ‘Dissociation’ and ‘Control and Responsibility’. Participants discussed how surgery was a threat to the sense of self. Dissociation during surgery operated as a protective mechanism, while the surgical team all had roles in maintaining this bubble of dissociation, such as being a support to the patient’s em...
Source: Journal of Health Psychology - October 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Howie, E., Bambrough, J., Karabatsou, K., Fox, J. R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
