Polish adaptation of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) - validation in the clinical sample.

Background: Anhedonia is the core symptom of depression. Its presence has been linked to worsened prognosis. The Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) is a scale measuring desire, motivation, effort and consummatory pleasure across different domains. The aim of this paper was to confirm factor structure, assess reliability and validity of the Polish adaptation of the DARS in a clinical sample of patients with mood disorders and healthy controls (HC). Methods: The study sample included 161 participants aged 18-65 years - 34 HC, 72 patients with bipolar disorder and 55 with major depressive disorder (in depressive episode or remission). Reliability of the Polish adaptation of the DARS was assessed using Cronbach's α and the average inter-item correlation (AIC). Convergent and divergent validity was established by Pearson's correlations between the DARS and the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology- self-report (QIDS-SR), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The structure of the scale was examined by factor analysis. Results: The factor structure was consistent with the original scale. Strong internal consistency for the DARS total score (Cronbach's α = 0.95) and all subscales (0.86-0.93) was observed. The DARS demonstrated good convergent (moderate to strong correlations with measures of anhedonia and depression) and divergent validity (weak correlations with anxiety level). Conclusion: The Polish DARS demonstrated excellent internal consistency and very good validity. The scale is a valuable contribution to the psychometrics of anhedonia measures in patients with mood disorders.

Determinants of Perceived Stress in Adolescence: The Role of Personality Traits, Emotional Abilities, Trait Emotional Intelligence, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Esteem.

The aim of the current study was to examine the explanatory power of personality traits, emotional abilities, trait emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and self-esteem in predicting perceived stress in adolescents. The data were collected from 406 high school students, aged 18-22 years (Mage = 18.47, SD = 0.64). Perceived stress was assessed with the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Personality traits were measured with the Eysenck Personality Short Scale (EPQ-R-S), emotional abilities were assessed with two performance tests, the Emotional Intelligence Scale - Faces (SIE-T), and the Emotion Understanding Test (TRE), and trait emotional intelligence was measured with a selfreport questionnaire (the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, SEIS). The Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were also used. Results indicate that the strongest determinant of perceived stress in adolescents was high neuroticism. Perceived stress was also determined by low self-efficacy and self-esteem, as well as high extraversion and psychoticism. Women reported higher perceived stress than men. There also were differences in the determinants of perceived stress between graduate and nongraduate students. The obtained results suggest that the development of high self-esteem and high self-efficacy may contribute to perceptions of lower stress in adolescents and may be especially valuable for neurotic individuals and for women, who are more exposed to stress.

The assessment of cancer-related fatigue syndrome in patients with lung cancer during palliative chemotherapy.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most common problems of patients with lung cancer. The assessment of cancer- -related fatigue is therefore a significant medical problem in patients during treatment with palliative chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 100 patients during palliative chemotherapy because of lung cancer. The study was conducted in the Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Treatment of Lung Cancer in the Kuyavian and Pomeranian Centre of Pulmonology in Bydgoszcz, in the period from February to June 2016. The study used a socio-demographic questionnaire and Cancer Related Fatigue scale (CRF) consisting of 22 closed questions. RESULTS: Men accounted for 68% of the study group, people with vocational education - 61%, and people living in the city - 61%. People aged 51-65 formed the largest group. The mean value for behavioural fatigue was 5.34 points, the sensory one - 5.44 points, cognitive/mood fatigue - 4.29 points (moderate levels), whereas mean value for affective fatigue was at a serious level - 5.89 points. The average severity of general fatigue was 5.2 points (moderate level of fatigue). CONCLUSIONS: The moderate level of cancer-related fatigue occurs in half of patients treated with chemotherapy because of lung cancer, and lasts for several months. Behavioural, sensory, cognitive/mood and general fatigue have moderate levels but affective fatigue has a severe level. Radiation therapy affects the severity of cognitive/mood fatigue, lowers economic status, influences behavioural fatigue and education level, and has an effect on general fatigue. In multivariate analysis, only the reduction of economic status has a significant impact on the severity of fatigue.  .