Pandemic-activated psychological growth: significance of extraversion, self-consciousness and COVID-19 related anxiety.

BACKGROUND: The sense of threat to health and life in the face of a pandemic, accompanied by difficulties imposed by lockdown, may trigger a serious crisis. Among possible consequences of such a crisis may paradoxically be the phenomenon of psychological growth. The aim of this article is to identify predictors of pandemic-activated psychological growth (PPG). The relationships between extraversion, reflective and ruminative self-consciousness and PPG were the subject of our inquiry. Additionally, a question was posed about the indirect effect of self-consciousness on PPG through anxiety. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study involved 1206 participants aged 18 to 26 years, who declared that the pandemic situation significantly threatened their important life goals. Procedure: cross-sectional design. Four online short questionnaire-measures were used: the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ), the Current Self-disposition Scale (CSS), and the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). RESULTS: Extraversion and reflective self-consciousness were direct predictors of higher PPG, whereas ruminative self-consciousness was directly related to a lower PPG. There was an indirect effect of ruminative self-consciousness on PPG through COVID-19 related anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Although the results do not confirm the permanence of a growth effect, finding PPG predictors considered as beneficial resources for coping with difficult pandemic circumstances appears to be valuable in the current state of affairs.

Lower sexual satisfaction in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multi-symptom disorder linked with a range of metabolic and hormonal disturbances. Psychological and sexual aspects of PCOS also need to be considered. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to assess sexual satisfaction (SS) in PCOS patients and eumenorrheic controls (CON). The relationships between SS, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and hormonal and metabolic profiles were evaluated. METHODS: In this study, 190 patients with PCOS (mean age 26.34 ± 5.47 years) and 197 age-matched CON (mean age 27.12 ± 4.97 years) were enrolled. All subjects completed Polish version of the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (SSQ), WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R) questionnaire. Fasting blood samples were collected to assess hormonal, lipid, and glucose profiles. Anthropometric measures were collected. Metabolic syndrome (MS) was evaluated according to the IDF-AHA/NHLBI criteria. RESULTS: Patients with PCOS and MS had lower SS vs non-MS-PCOS. There were no significant differences in the level of SS, presence of depressive symptoms, or HRQoL between PCOS and CON (P > 0.05). Negative correlations were found between the SS level and BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio in PCOS women. However, overweight or obese PCOS women did not differ in SS levels vs normal-weight PCOS patients. The social dimension of WHOQOL-BREF was the only significant predictor of SS in PCOS patients. CONCLUSIONS: SS in PCOS women appears to be undisturbed. However, MS in PCOS patients could negatively influence SS. The level of SS should be assessed in PCOS women, especially if MS is present.

[The study of the Polish version of the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Disgust Sensitivity (QADS)]. / Polskie badania nad Kwestionariuszem Oceny Wrazliwosci na Wstret (QADS).

AIM: Disgust is one of the principal emotions, typically triggered by a variety of biological and social stimuli. Several questionnaire tools have been used to assess disgust. The aim of the study was to assess psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Disgust Sensitivity (QADS), adapted from the tool prepared by the German researchers. METHODS: Eight hundred twenty subjects (631, 77% females and 189, 23% males) aged 18-69 (mean - 28 years) participated in the study. There are 3 subscale in the questionnaire: Core Disgust, Animal Reminder and Contamination. The tool consists of 37 items, the intensity of feeling of disgust is assessed based on 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the adequacy of grouping of items in the three subscales: Core Disgust, Animal-Reminder, and Contamination-Interpersonal. In our sample, females had higher levels of disgust than males. Several other psychometric variables - high degree of correlations between the subscales, and high reliability -were in agreement with parameters of the original version. The Polish version compared favourably with the original, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.94 for the whole questionnaire and 0.85 - 0.90 for the subscales. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric properties of the Polish version of QADS are sufficient to recommend this tool for diagnostic and research use.