Health-related quality of life of women with endometriosis: An Attachment-Diathesis Model of Chronic Pain perspective.

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder that occurs in women of reproductive age, and negatively affects women's quality of life. We tested 'Attachment-Diathesis Model of Chronic Pain' in a sample of Turkish women with endometriosis by analyzing the paths among attachment styles, pain catastrophizing, coping strategies, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Attachment anxiety was related to using less problem-focused coping and seeking more social support, while attachment avoidance was associated with seeking less social support as a coping strategy. Moreover, attachment anxiety and higher pain catastrophizing were related to a worse HRQoL. Finally, problem-focused coping strategy mediated the relation between attachment anxiety and HRQoL, meaning that by employing less problem-focused coping strategies, anxiously attached women experienced a poorer HRQoL. In light of our findings, psychologists may develop intervention techniques that question attachment patterns, pain perception, and coping strategies in clients diagnosed with endometriosis.

Parenthood motivation scale: psychometric properties of Turkish version and comparison between fertile and infertile women.

Compared to natural conception, being a parent via assisted reproductive techniques (ART) may have some unique characteristics and motivational bases. In this study, Turkish adaptation of the Parenthood Motivation Scale (PMS) was conducted. The factor structure and psychometric properties of the scale were examined with a sample of pregnant women (N = 457) who conceived naturally (n = 272) or via ART (n = 185). Like the original scale, findings demonstrated a six-factor structure (i.e. continuity, nurturance, relationship, identity, social pressure, and materialism) and it is a reliable measure. The two groups of expectant mothers were compared to investigate whether the scale successfully differentiates them in terms of bases of parenthood motivation. After controlling for the effects of covariates, multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that PMS successfully differentiates the women with different conception types. The participants who were impregnated via ART had significantly higher motivations in terms of identity and social pressure dimensions, and overall parenthood motivation. These findings might be associated with the collectivist nature of Turkish culture and emphasized the importance of working on these external bases of parenthood motivations to reduce infertile women's stress concerning having children.

Minority Stress and Mental Health of Gay Men in Turkey: The Mediator Roles of Shame and Forgiveness of Self.

Proximal minority stressors (i.e., internalized homonegativity, anticipation of rejection, and concealment of sexual identity) lead to depression and anxiety. General psychological factors mediate the association of proximal stressors with depression and anxiety. Based on this, the present study aimed to investigate the sequential mediating roles of shame and forgiveness of self on the relations of proximal stressors with depression and anxiety in a sample of self-identified gay men in Turkey (N = 200). The findings revealed that proximal stressors significantly predicted depression and anxiety indirectly through shame and self-forgiveness. Thus, the link between minority stress and shame should be considered in clinical practice, and self-forgiveness should be integrated into intervention programs to eliminate the negative impacts of shame on depression and anxiety among this population. Limitations and directions for future studies are presented.

Mediating role of coping in the dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relation in breast cancer patients.

The aim of the present study was to examine if coping strategies mediate dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relation in postoperative breast cancer patients. The data were collected from 90 patients in two hospitals. Regression analyses revealed that problem-focused coping fully mediated dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relation, but emotion-focused coping did not. That is, postoperative breast cancer patients who were optimistic were more likely to use problem-focused coping strategies that, in turn, led to the development of posttraumatic growth. The findings were congruent with the literature in which problem-focused coping was mostly highlighted as compared to emotion-focused coping, and in which optimism and problem-focused coping relationship was emphasized in the path of posttraumatic growth.

Correlates of depressive and anxiety symptoms among the caregivers of leukemic children.

This study aims to reveal correlates of depressive and anxiety symptoms among the Turkish caregivers of leukemic children (n = 100). The effects of demographic variables, satisfaction of the basic needs, performance on daily activities, and coping strategies on outcome variables were investigated by hierarchical regression. Accordingly, older age, lower reported income, higher number of other children to be looked after, lower levels of satisfaction of basic needs, and more use of emotion focused coping were associated with higher levels of both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, caregivers with lower education reported more depressive symptoms, and higher performance on daily activities predicted more anxiety symptoms.

Effects of illness representation, perceived quality of information provided by the health-care professional, and perceived social support on depressive symptoms of the caregivers of children with leukemia.

The present study examined the effects of illness representation, perceived quality of information provided by the health-care professional, and perceived social support on the depressive symptoms of the caregivers of children with leukemia. The sample was composed of 71 caregivers of children with leukemia living in Turkey. The obtained data were analyzed by path analysis. The results show that caregivers of children with leukemia experience higher levels of depressive symptoms when they have negative illness representation and lower levels of depressive symptoms when they perceive higher levels of social support. Moreover, they perceive higher social support when they perceive high quality of information provided by health-care professionals. It can be suggested that intervention programs which aim to increase caregivers' social support and change their illness representation in a positive way would be helpful for the caregivers showing depressive symptoms.

Activities of daily living, social support, and future health of older Americans.

The authors investigated the relation of activities of daily living (ADL) and social support satisfaction to illness status 10 years later among 4,870 married older adults in the Health and Retirement Study (F. Juster & R. Suzman, 1995). The authors tested the direct and indirect effects of 1992 ADL, as well as family and friends support satisfaction and spousal social support satisfaction on 2002 illness status. The hierarchical multiple regressions found, controlling for 1992 illness status, ADL protected against future illness, and family and friends and spousal support satisfaction had small, surprisingly positive, effects on greater 2002 illness. The ADL x Family and Friends Support Satisfaction and the ADL x Spousal Support Satisfaction crossproduct interactions were also small positive predictors of later illness. The authors discuss several possible mechanisms that explained this unexpected result. The authors concluded that, depending on whether the recipient is in need of support and depending on the source of the support, the older adults do or do not benefit from the support.

Life is short, stay awake: Death anxiety and bedtime procrastination.

In the present study, the relation between bedtime procrastination and death anxiety, and also the moderator roles of gender and purpose in life were investigated. Data were collected from 245 participants through an online survey. The results revealed that gender, but not purpose in life, moderated the relation between death anxiety and bedtime procrastination. The effect of death anxiety on bedtime procrastination was significant only for males. Further, this effect was still significant even after controlling circadian energy and self-control. The findings can be explained based on the Terror Management Theory. Bedtime procrastination can be considered risk-taking behavior, and it functions as a world view for males. Moreover, males might have regarded sleep as a waste of time, and therefore, delayed bedtime to increase their non-sleeping lifetime.

Activities of daily living, depression, and social support among elderly Turkish people.

The authors examined the effects of activities of daily living (ADL) and perceived social support on the level of depression among elderly Turkish people. Participants were 102 adults older than the age of 60 years. The authors hypothesized that (a) lower levels of ADL would predict a higher level of depression, (b) a higher level of perceived social support would predict a lower level of depression, and (c) perceived social support would moderate the relation between ADL and depression. Although hierarchical multiple regression analysis did not yield a significant effect for an ADL-perceived social support interaction, ADL and perceived social support significantly predicted depression among elderly people. Thus, perceived social support did not moderate the relation between ADL and depression among elderly people; however, higher ADL functioning and higher perceived social support predicted lower depression. The nonsignificant effect of an ADL-perceived social support interaction on the level of depression among elderly people was incongruent with the stress-buffering model (S. Cohen & T. A. Willis, 1985). The authors discuss the strengths, limitations, and possible implications of the findings.

The effect of death anxiety and age on health-promoting behaviors: a terror-management theory perspective.

The authors aimed to examine the effect of death anxiety on the reports of health-promoting behaviors and to determine the role of age in this relation using a terror-management theory perspective. Participants were 100 individuals from young adult (those who were 20-35 years of age) and older adult (those who were 60 years of age and older) groups whom the authors assigned to the death anxiety or control conditions. The questionnaire set included a demographic information sheet and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (S. Walker, K. R. Sechrist, & N. J. Pender, 1987). Before administering the scales, the authors gave the participants in the experimental condition a brief excerpt whose content induced death-related thoughts and led the participants to think about their own death. The authors calculated a 2 (young adults vs. older adults) x 2 (death anxiety vs. no death anxiety) between-subjects factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test their hypotheses. Although ANOVA results did not yield a significant main effect for age, the main effect of the conditions was significant, indicating that people in the death anxiety condition reported more health-promoting behaviors than did people in the control condition. The interaction of the age and conditions was also significant. The authors discuss the strengths, limitations, and implications of the findings.

Does Problem Focused Coping Buffer the Effects of Trait Anxiety on Depressive Symptoms of Chronic Urticaria Patients?

The present study examined the moderating role of problem-focused coping in trait anxiety-depressive symptoms' relationship in patients with chronic urticaria (CU). Eighty-eight CU patients, who applied to an outpatient clinic of Clinical Immunology and Allergic Diseases, filled out a questionnaire set including State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Ways of Coping Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory. The results suggested that CU patients high on trait anxiety reported more depressive symptoms, and the ones using more problem-focused coping (PFC) strategies reported less depressive symptoms. Also, PFC strategies moderated trait anxiety-depressive symptoms relation. Accordingly, PFC strategies did not lead to any significant difference in CU patients who were low on trait anxiety in terms of the level of depressive symptoms. However, CU patients with high trait anxiety experienced significantly less depressive symptoms if they used more PFC strategies. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.

Psychometric properties of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4-Revised (SATAQ-4R) in Turkish women.

Research suggests that rates of body image and eating disturbance are on the rise in Turkey and may be reaching levels comparable to those observed in Western societies. However, research examining theoretically based etiological factors for disordered eating via validated assessment measures is limited. The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4-Revised (SATAQ-4R) in a sample of Turkish college women. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a 6-factor scale. Reliability and convergent validity of the SATAQ-4R subscales were good. Results suggest that the SATAQ-4R is appropriate for use with Turkish college females. Future work may seek to examine the scale with Turkish men.

Exploring the link between emotional and behavioral dysregulation: a test of the emotional cascade model.

The emotional cascade model (Selby, Anestis, & Joiner, 2008) posits that the link between emotional and behavioral dysregulation may be through emotional cascades, which are repetitive cycles of rumination and negative affect that result in an intensification of emotional distress. Dysregulated behaviors, such as non-suicidal self-injury, are used to reduce aversive emotions and distract the person from ruminative processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the emotional cascade model in a non-Western sample of Turkish university students. Accordingly, a structural equation model was tested, and the results demonstrated that the emotional cascades were indeed associated to dysregulated behaviors, even when the effect of current symptoms of depression and anxiety on behavioral dysregulation was statistically controlled. Furthermore, thought suppression had a stronger relationship with all symptom patterns as compared to rumination, which may point to a cultural difference. Possible implications of the findings are discussed.

Perceived social support as a moderator of the relationship between caregiver well-being indicators and psychological symptoms.

The present study examined the moderating role of perceived social support in caregiver well-being indicators-psychological symptoms relationship. The data obtained from 100 caregivers of children with leukaemia revealed that the caregivers who were more able to satisfy their basic needs, and perform their daily activities, reported lower levels of psychological symptoms if they perceived higher levels of social support. However, perceived social support did not alleviate the level of psychological symptoms of the caregivers who reported lower levels of satisfaction of basic needs and performance on daily activities. The findings were discussed in the light of the literature.

Predicting depressive symptoms among the mothers of children with leukaemia: a caregiver stress model perspective.

The aim of this study was to find out the predictors of depressive symptoms of mothers of children with leukaemia. The potential predictors were chosen in the light of the caregiver stress model [Pearlin, Mullan, Semple, and Skaff, 1990. Caregiving and the stress process: An overview of concepts and their measures. The Gerontologist, 30(5), 583-594.], which examines the caregiver stress as composed of many factors such as the background variables, primary and secondary stressors, mediators and psychological health outcomes. This study included the caregiving tasks, basic needs of the caregivers and role strain as the stressors; coping strategies and perceived social support as mediators and depressive symptoms as the outcome variable. The participants of this study were 90 mothers of children with leukaemia. The results revealed that the satisfaction level of the basic needs and role strain were the predictors of the depressive symptoms. While emotion-focussed coping and perceived social support mediated the stressors and the depressive symptoms relationship, problem-focussed coping did not. The possible explanations of the results were explored and the implications were discussed.

The moderating role of different sources of perceived social support on the dispositional optimism-- posttraumatic growth relationship in postoperative breast cancer patients.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth (PTG) relationship in postoperative breast cancer patients and to examine if perceived social support moderates this relationship. The study was conducted with 104 women undergoing postoperative chemotherapy treatment or coming to the hospital for their routine controls. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that breast cancer survivors high on dispositional optimism and perceived social support, are more likely to develop PTG. Among the different sources of social support, only social support perceived from a private person moderated the dispositional optimism-PTG relationship. Strengths, limitations and possible implications of the findings are discussed.