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.

The psychological adjustment of children with asthma: study of associated variables

As part of a larger research project aimed to understand the impact of asthma in the psychological adjustment of children, this study focuses in the identification of factors associated with this process. The sample of this study consisted of 89 children, aged 8 to 12 with physician diagnosed asthma. To assess children’s adjustment, the Portuguese versions of the following instruments were used: School-age Temperament Inventory (McClowry, 1995) Schoolagers Coping Strategies Inventory (Ryan-Wenger, 1990); Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory - PedsQL (Varni, Seid & Kurtin, 2001); The Self-perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985), Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991); Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliot, 1990). The results revealed that negative reactivity predicts the level of anxiety/depression, task persistence and perceived coping efficacy predicts social skills and that self-esteem is a significant predictor of the perceived quality of life. A significant proportion of shared variance was also found what seems to confirm the existence of multi-determination in the process of adjustment. The main conclusion is that two dimensions of temperament (negative reactivity and task persistence), as well as perceived coping efficacy and self-esteem, play a significant role in influencing the psychological adjustment of children with asthma (AU)

Como parte de un proyecto de investigación más extenso cuyo objetivo es comprender el impacto del Asma en el ajuste psicológico de los niños, este estudio se centra en la identificación de los factores asociados a este proceso. La muestra de este estudio incluyó a 89 niños con edades comprendidas entre los 8 y 12 años y con diagnóstico médico de asma. Para medir el ajuste de los niños se utilizaron versiones en portugués de los siguientes instrumentos: School-age Temperament Inventory (McClowry, 1995) Schoolagers Coping Strategies Inventory (Ryan-Wenger, 1990); Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory - PedsQL (Varni, Seid & Kurtin, 2001; The Self-perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985), Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach,1991); Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliot, 1990). Los resultados revelaron que la reactividad negativa predice el nivel de ansiedad/depresión, la persistencia de tarea y la eficacia de afrontamiento percibida predicen habilidades sociales y que la autoestima es un predictor significativo de la calidad de vida percibida. Se encontró también una proporción significativa de la varianza compartida lo que confirma la existencia de multi determinación en el proceso de ajuste. La conclusión principal es que dos dimensiones de temperamento (reactividad negativa y persistencia en la tarea), así como la eficacia de enfrentamiento percibida y la autoestima, juegan un papel significativo en el ajuste psicológico de los niños con asma (AU)