Perceived and Received Social Support and Illness Acceptance Among Breast Cancer Patients: The Serial Mediation of Meaning-Making and Fear of Recurrence.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The literature indicates connections between social support and acceptance of a personal diagnosis of breast cancer, but these relationships are likely to be mediated due to numerous connections between social support and illness acceptance with meaning-making and fear of recurrence. We decided to investigate whether meaning-making and fear of recurrence serially mediated the relationship between perceived and received social support and illness acceptance. METHODS: The current research examined 246 adult women patients with a breast cancer diagnosis who were undergoing radiotherapy/chemotherapy treatment in oncological hospitals. This cross-sectional study based on a mediational model was reported according to the STROBE checklist. RESULTS: Our results supported the mediational model in which meaning-making and fear of recurrence serially mediated the relationship of both perceived and received social support with illness acceptance. Furthermore, the mediating power of meaning-making was more significant than the fear of recurrence. CONCLUSION: Meaning structures and anxiety played an important mediating role in breast cancer patients. Finding additional meaning and goals and experiencing lower fear enables the patients to effectively make use of social support and accept their illness. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The current study identified factors that increase illness acceptance among breast cancer patients as it showed that patients can gain a greater understanding of the nature of their illness by becoming more aware of their own goals and values and reduce anxiety by learning about their current state of the illness.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the world, and the hardships of the cancer experience are considered potentially traumatic events associated with psychological effects. One of the most important factors responsible for the patient's daily functioning is illness acceptance. Therefore, we investigated whether meaning-making and fear of recurrence serially mediated the relationship between perceived and received social support and illness acceptance. We examined 246 adult women patients with a breast cancer diagnosis. In our study, patients with breast cancer who received more social support had a better understanding of their illness and lower fear of recurrence. Moreover, women with breast cancer characterized by a sense of purpose and optimism experienced lower anxiety about a potential relapse of the disease. Meaning structures and anxiety played an important mediating role in breast cancer patients. Finding additional meaning and goals and experiencing lower fear enables the patients to make use of social support and accept their illness effectively.

Validity and reliability of the Polish version of the Self-Compassion Scale and its correlates.

This study adapts the Self-Compassion Scale into Polish and tests the validity, reliability and factor structure of its measures. In the first phase of the research (Study I), 645 respondents were assessed using the NEO-FFI Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale and a back-translated version of the Self-Compassion Scale. The aim of Study I is to analyse the factor structure of the Polish adaptation of the Self-Compassion Scale. The results of analyses using structural equation modelling and exploratory structural equation modelling confirm the six-component structure of the Self-Compassion Scale and the possibility of distinguishing a single primary factor. The results of these analyses indicate that self-compassion is conceptually distinctive from personality traits and self-judgement. In the second phase of the study (Study II), 688 respondents were assessed and the findings show that self-compassion is a predictor of depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and satisfaction with life, and is also linked to emotional intelligence. In conclusion, the findings of this study show that the Polish version of the Self-Compassion Scale is a reliable and valid measure of self-compassion.

Sense and need for power in schizophrenic patients. / Poczucie i potrzeba wladzy u pacjentów cierpiacych na schizofrenie.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the research was to analyze the sense of power of schizophrenic patients in relations with others, physicians, their need for power and influence as well as the sense of being able to have power and influence. Dependencies linked with the age and gender were also analyzed by comparing the study group and the control group. METHODS: The study group included 47 patients diagnosed with F20 (Schizophrenia). The patients in the control group did not use any psychiatric or psychological support and were selected based on the age and gender criteria. The following tools were used in the research: the Index of Personal Reactions (Bennett, 1988), the Sense of Power Scale (Anderson, John and Keltner, 2012) and an extended document history. RESULTS: Patients suffering from schizophrenia were characterized with a lower sense of power in comparison with the healthy individuals. The patients also obtained lower results in comparison with the control group with respect to the sense of power and influence. Individuals suffering from schizophrenia had a much higher sense of power in relations with their physician in comparison with the general relations with other individuals. Male patients suffering from schizophrenia scored much lower in the sense of power, ability to use the power and have influence as well as the need for influence in comparison with other men. No similar differences were observed in female groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results may be used in the therapy of patients suffering from schizophrenia - during the analysis of therapy efficiency or therapeutic relations. Consecutive research should explore issues linked with the dependency between the sense of power, the course of the illness and prognosis.

[The Machiavellianism and manipulation tactics used by patients with borderline personality disorder in everyday life and in therapy]. / Makiawelizm i taktyki manipulacji podejmowane przez pacjentów z zaburzeniem osobowosci typu borderline w zyciu codziennym i podczas terapii.

AIM: The aim of the researches was to inspect the relation between borderline personality and Machiavellianism as well as the tendency to apply various manipulation tactics in everyday life and in therapy. METHOD: The test used an original/authors' survey for testing the tendency to employ manipulation tactics as well as a MACH-IV questionnaire (Christie, Geis, 1970) for measuring Machiavellianism. The studied group included 30 patients with diagnosed BPD, 37 therapists and 30 persons in the control group. RESULTS: No differences were noted in the general indicator of Machiavellianism; however, the patients scored lower on the Tactics scale than people from the control group. Patients preferred employing the tactics of taking offense, lying and begging in everyday life. Compared to people from the control group, patients presented a larger tendency to employ tactics of begging, threatening and threatening to break off a close relationship, and a lower tendency to employ seduction. According to therapists, during the therapy patients most often resorted to lying and arousing guilt. Therapists assessed the patients' tendency to employ manipulation tactics higher than the patients themselves. CONCLUSIONS: BPD patients are characterized by a degree of Machiavellianism similar to that present in people from the control group. Patients show larger tendency to employ tactics of threatening and begging than the people from the control group. Compared to assessments made by doctors and therapists, they lower their own assessment of the tendency to employ manipulation. The longer the seniority of therapists and the larger the number of treated BPD patients, the higher the ability to perceive the patients' tendency to manipulate.