The role of beliefs about the impact of illness on fertility and close relationships for psychopathological symptoms in women treated for hypothyroidism.

OBJECTIVE: As demonstrated in a pilot study, hypothyroidism has a highly stressful impact on some areas of functioning. This study aims to evaluate the connection between illness-related beliefs (IRBs) and the impact of hypothyroidism on fertility and close relationships, which were the strongest stressors, and the level of depressive, anxiety, and anger symptoms. METHODS: Two hundred and thirteen women being treated for hypothyroidism took part in an online survey and completed the modified Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Hypothyroidism Symptoms Severity rating scales, and a measure of IRBs. Other relevant clinical data were also collected. RESULT: Mean levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone indicated that the women were euthyroid. Four groups of participants were identified based on IRBs. The group holding a strong IRB about the negative impact of illness only on close relationships scored significantly higher on depressive symptoms than women in the other groups. The group holding strong IRBs about the negative impact of illness on both close relationships and fertility scored significantly higher on anxiety symptoms than the women in the other groups. Regression analysis showed that IRBs about the negative impact of hypothyroidism predicted anxiety, depressive, and anger symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Negative IRBs about the impact of illness on fertility and close relationships contribute to increased levels of emotional distress symptoms in women being treated for hypothyroidism.

Social support and psychosocial functioning in women after mastectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Social support has been reported as beneficial for the psychological functioning of people coping with a disease. The objective of this study was to verify whether levels of perceived social support are associated with psychosocial functioning in women who have had a mastectomy and whether specific types of social support are linked to specific indices of functioning. METHOD: Seventy women with a history of mastectomy completed questionnaires measuring their psychosocial functioning as related to their health status: Disease-Related Appraisal Scale, Acceptance of Life with the Disease Scale and Beck Depression Inventory. All participants also completed a measure of perceived social support (Disease-Related Social Support Scale). RESULTS: Women who reported higher levels of perceived social support revealed statistically significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms, higher appraisals of their disease in terms of challenge and value, and lower appraisals of their disease in terms of obstacle/loss. Women with greater social support also revealed higher levels of acceptance of life with the disease compared to those with less social support. Regression analyses showed that spiritual support was the type of support that significantly accounted for the variance in the majority of functioning indices. Some indices of functioning were also significantly accounted for by emotional and instrumental support. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESULTS: The process of psychological adjustment to a life-threatening disease such as breast cancer depends on multiple variables; however, social support, including spiritual support, seems to be one significant contributor to this process.

The Polish version of Skindex-29: psychometric properties of an instrument to measure quality of life in dermatology.

INTRODUCTION: Skin conditions have a negative impact on quality of life and it is necessary to quantify this impact. Skindex-29 is a self-report questionnaire developed to measure dermatology-specific quality of life. AIM: The objective of this study is to adapt this questionnaire to Polish conditions. The adaptation procedure involved the works on the linguistic content of the items and testing psychometric properties of the Polish version of Skindex-29, including item characteristics, factorial structure, aspects of reliability and validity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two-hundred and ninety patients (63.4% women and 35.2% men) suffering from a range of skin conditions were recruited from several dermatological out-patient and in-patient clinics in Poland. Quality of life was measured using Skindex-29 and appropriate clinical data were collected. RESULTS: The global score of Skindex-29 showed the normal distribution. Cronbach's α reliability coefficients were found to be high to very high for all Skindex-29 indexes. Factor analysis yielded four factors, in contrast to the original version of the questionnaire, for which a three-factor solution had been reported. Skindex-29 validity was demonstrated by showing the differences in the quality of life scores across different diagnostic categories, and between in-patients and out-patients. Skindex-29 global scores were found to be significantly predicted by the localization of the skin lesions on legs, anogenital areas and palms. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study support reliability and validity of the Polish version of Skindex-29, but they also raise questions to its three-factor structure.

Selected determinants of quality of life in women with urinary incontinence.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is one of the most common diseases in women. It involves uncontrolled leaking of urine through the urethra. UI incidence depends on age and in certain age groups it can affect up to 60% of the female population. The symptoms can be persistent and due to their embarrassing nature they can lead to significant deterioration of quality of life and psychological functioning. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the quality of life and selected aspects of functioning. Seventy female outpatients of a public clinic in Naleczów, Poland, were examined, and the following methods were used: the Urinary Incontinence Life Quality Scale (Szymona-Palkowska, Kraczkowski), Disease-Related Appraisal Scale (Janowski, Steuden), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Endler, Parker), Disease-Related Social Support Scale (Brachowicz, Janowski, Sadowska), and the Knowledge Appraisal Scale for Urinary Incontinence (Szymona-Palkowska, Kraczkowski). The obtained results suggest that the strongest predictors for the quality of life with UI would be: perception of the disease as an injustice and a challenge (a reverse relationship) and an avoidance-oriented style of coping with stress through companionship seeking (a positive relationship). The duration of the disease and the level of related knowledge proved to be crucial in the analysis of one dimension, i.e. distance to the symptoms.

Loneliness and time abroad in Polish migrants in the UK: Protective role of religious experience.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between time spent abroad, level of religious experience, and loneliness in Polish migrants in the UK. Factors differentiating the level of loneliness were migration time (up to one year, from one to five years, and over five years) and religious experience, which was postulated to have a protective function against the level of loneliness experienced. The R-UCLA test was used to verify the level of loneliness, and religious experience was measured with the Religious Experience Scale in participants (N = 200) who were Polish migrants. The results showed that the relationship between time abroad and loneliness is not linear-the highest levels of loneliness were experienced in those who had been living in the UK between one and five years, which is consistent with the observations of Homoncik et al. (2017). Furthermore, the level of religious experience was significantly related to loneliness in that those with high levels of religious experience displayed lower levels of loneliness than those with low levels of religious experience. These results may suggest the need for interventions to raise awareness of potential risks among people with high levels of loneliness.

The relationship between primary cognitive appraisals, illness beliefs, and adaptation to rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that negatively affects functioning; however, the relationship between cognitive appraisals and illness-related beliefs and adaptation indices remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to assess the relationship between cognitive appraisals, illness beliefs and indicators of adaptation to life with a chronic disease, such as the severity of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and quality of life. METHODS: A database search was carried out between May 13 and 18, 2022, with no time restrictions. Thirty studies (5 related to cognitive appraisals, 25 related to illness beliefs) were identified. RESULTS: The studies identified in the review were of satisfactory quality. An analysis of the articles allowed for a meta-analysis focusing on the relationship between the belief related to illness consequences and the severity of depressive symptoms, which gave an overall correlation estimate of 0.50 [0.44-0.56]. CONCLUSION: Both cognitive appraisals and illness beliefs are related to indicators of rheumatoid arthritis adaptation, such as depressive symptom severity, anxiety and acceptance levels. Further longitudinal research would be crucial in further elucidating the impact of cognitive factors on adjustment level and its trajectories over time. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Review was pre-registered at https://osf.io/gd9cw (DOI:http://10.17605/OSF.IO/GD9CW).

Cognitive impairment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: An increasing number of studies have demonstrated cognitive impairment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The literature indicates many factors play an important role in this clinical problem, such as the severity of depressive symptoms and the treatment used. The aim of this study was to systematically review studies comparing cognitive functioning between healthy participants and RA patients and to determine both the severity and potential moderators of cognitive impairment. METHODS: For this purpose, 16 studies that fulfilled all selection criteria were carefully selected. Altogether, 921 patients with RA (812 women and 109 men) and 700 controls participated in these studies. Due to the inability to perform a network meta-analysis, it was decided to determine the effect sizes for studies which used the same measurement methods. RESULTS: The analysis demonstrated greater impairment of cognitive functioning in patients with RA than in healthy controls, with effect sizes ranging from small to large, depending on the assessment method used in the study. CONCLUSIONS: The study pinpoints potential biases, lack of replication, and inconsistencies in reporting data as possible confounding factors and suggests further recommendations for assessment methods, research directions and clinical implications. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Candida parapsilosis infection following the electrosurgery procedure.

Subcutaneous mycoses are fungal infections that predominantly affect the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. The most common pathogen responsible for these infections is Candida albicans; however, another yeast from this group, Candida parapsilosis, becomes the cause of increasing numbers of mycotic infections. Recent reports suggested that this microorganism may be particularly resistant to disinfectants, which can facilitate its spread through the medical staff, instruments, and biomaterial. We report a case of a patient in whom a C. parapsilosis infection occurred as a complication following a minor electrocoagulation procedure. Because all obtained laboratory findings were nonspecific, the infection could be properly diagnosed only through cultures from the skin lesion.

The Role of Illness-Related Beliefs in Depressive, Anxiety, and Anger Symptoms: An On-line Survey in Women With Hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism may affect 3-8.5% of the population and is a growing global health problem. Objective: The aim of the current study was to assess the relationships between cognitive representations of this illness and the severity of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger in women who suffer from hypothyroidism. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design with on-line recruitment and measurements. A total of 354 women took part in the study and completed the following questionnaires: a 5-point self-rating scale that measures the three major symptoms of hypothyroidism, the Illness-Related Beliefs Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Modified (HADS-M), and a clinical and sociodemographic data questionnaire. Results: The study found a relationship between the severity of emotional distress symptoms and illness-related beliefs. These beliefs were correlated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and anger regardless of age, education, hormone levels or time since the diagnosis. In addition, the results of regression analyses, both hierarchical and stepwise, indicated that beliefs about the disease explained relatively high levels of the outcome variables (about 30% of the variance of depressive and anxiety symptoms and 16% of anger) as measured by HADS-M. Conclusions: Psychological factors seem to play an important role in the development of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger in patients with hypothyroidism. Psychosocial interventions targeting personal beliefs about the nature of the disease and its social aspects may be an effective way to reduce emotional distress symptoms.

Factors accounting for psychosocial functioning in patients with low back pain.

Low back pain (LBP) is a chronic disorder which exerts a profound impact on various spheres of psychosocial functioning, including emotional distress, functional limitations and decrements in social contacts. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between the indices of psychosocial functioning in patients with chronic LBP and a range of psychological factors. Specifically, the study aimed at exploring the relative participation of personality, social support, disease-related cognitive appraisals and coping styles in accounting for the differences in psychosocial functioning of patients with LBP. One-hundred-twenty patients with LBP took part in the study and completed a battery of psychological questionnaires: NEO-Five Factors Inventory, Ways of Coping Questionnaire, Disease-Related Social Support Scale, Disease-Related Appraisals Scale and Psychosocial Functioning Questionnaire (PFQ). The PFQ dimensions were used as dependent variables in a series of stepwise regression analysis models with the scores from other questionnaires entered as independent variables. A cognitive appraisal of the disease in terms of an obstacle was strongly related to all domains of functioning; however, other appraisals (threat, challenge, harm, profit and overall disease importance) were uniquely associated with particular domains of functioning. Deprivation of social support was a significant predictor of distress experienced in interpersonal context and of sense of being disabled. Among basic personality traits, agreeableness was negatively associated with distress in interpersonal context, and conscientiousness was positively related to acceptance of life with the disease. Problem-focus coping was linked to higher acceptance of life with the disease. Among sociodemographic variables, older age and lower educational level were related to greater subjective feelings of being disabled. Pain severity was found unrelated to any of psychosocial functioning domains. Different aspects of psychosocial functioning are best accounted for by diverse patterns of psychological factors, which suggests involvement of different psychological mechanisms in development of LBP-related disability.

The Temperament Risk Factor, Disease Severity, and Quality of Life in Patients with Psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis exerts a profound negative impact on health-related quality of life (QoL). Although the severity of psoriasis is one potential variable that contributes to decreased QoL, previous studies have shown only weak or no association between measures of psoriasis severity and QoL. We hypothesized that this relationship is moderated by temperament factors. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to verify whether the relationship between disease severity and QoL is moderated by a constellation of temperament traits (i.e., temperament risk factors) and whether this moderation takes place via cognitive-appraisal and coping processes. METHODS: One hundred fifty patients with psoriasis vulgaris participated in the study. Psoriasis severity was assessed by a standardized measure, the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), and the patients also completed a battery of psychological questionnaires assessing QoL, temperament, disease-related cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies. RESULTS: A specific constellation of temperament traits was found to moderate the strength of the association between the PASI and QoL. This constellation of temperament traits was associated with certain disease-related cognitive appraisals (i.e., threat, obstacle/loss, harm, profit, value) and emotion-focused coping strategies (i.e., self-blame, avoidance, resignation, seeking social support, and seeking information). CONCLUSION: The constellation of temperament traits is a crucial individual variable that strongly moderates the negative impact of psoriasis severity on QoL, potentially through the activation of non-adaptive cognitive appraisals and coping strategies in susceptible individuals.

[Worrying and performance on the Stroop task in women]. / Sklonnosc do martwienia sie a wykonywanie testu Stroopa przez kobiety.

BACKGROUND: Worrying is a process involving chronic, repetitive activation of unproductive thought chains whose contents are predominantly characterized by anticipation of future outcomes undesirable for the individual. Numerous studies demonstrated the role of excessive worrying in the patomechanisms of general anxiety disorder and depression as well as its associations with several non-adaptative aspects of functioning. Some neuroimaging studies suggested an association of worrying with frontal cortex activity. AIM: The objective of this study was to assess the associations of worrying with the frontal lobe functions, as measured by the Stroop Task. METHODS: Fifty female students took part in the study. Each participant completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSQW), a psychometric measure of worrying tendencies, and performed on the Color Words Stroop Task. RESULTS: No statistically significant associations were found between the worrying levels and response times on the Stroop Task. However, worrying was found to be statistically significantly related to the number of errors committed on the Stroop Task, with women characterized by higher worrying levels, making approximately two-fold fewer errors in comparison to women with lower worrying levels. CONCLUSIONS: In women, higher worrying levels may be associated with a qualitatively better performance on some mental tasks, which may probably be accounted for by the involvement of higher attentional readiness or personality traits, such as perfectionism.

Smoking Status, Body Mass Index, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Acceptance of Life With Illness in Stable Outpatients With COPD.

Smoking and obesity are important factors related to the etiology and clinical features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to carry out deeper analyses of the links between smoking status and body mass index as well as of the links between individual dimensions of health-related quality of life (QoL) and acceptance of life with disease in patients with COPD. Information about BMI, smoking status, clinical features of COPD, a COPD assessment test, and airflow obstruction indicators were obtained from 105 outpatients attending a pulmonary clinic. Analysis of covariance demonstrated that the subgroups of patients distinguished based on smoking status and BMI differed significantly in severity of Cough, Dyspnea, Limitation of daily activities, Lack of self-confidence, and Quality of sleep, independently of sociodemographic factors and clinical features of COPD. The results of our study suggest a certain path of the potential effects of obesity and smoking status on QoL. Risky health behaviors, such as smoking and at-risk body mass, only affect some aspects of health-related QoL.

Indications for psychological intervention in patients with psoriasis.

Various forms of psychological interventions have since long been proposed as potentially helpful adjuncts to standard pharmacological therapy of psoriasis. All studies investigating the effectiveness of psychological intervention in psoriasis reported its positive impact on the patients' psychological well-being and some studies also reported improvements in the skin condition as a result of psychotherapy. When making a decision about the referral of a given patient to the psychologist, both clinical (psoriasis-specific) and general (psychotherapy-specific) indications should be taken into consideration. This can allow a better identification of those psoriasis patients who are in real need for psychological intervention and who are most likely to benefit from it.

Plasma interleukin-18 and dendritic cells in males with psoriasis vulgaris.

Peripheral blood dendritic cells seem to play a crucial role in psoriatic inflammatory processes. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between plasma interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels and blood dendritic cells in psoriatic patients. IL-18 plasma levels were measured by ELISA. Phenotypes of dendritic cell subsets were analyzed by double-colour flow cytometry. Plasma IL-18 level in psoriatic males was significantly higher, whereas counts of BDCA-2+ cells were lower than in the control group. The myeloid/plasmacytoid ratio was significantly higher in the patient group compared to the control one. In the patient group, significant negative correlations between plasma IL-18 level and both the BDCA-1+ and BDCA-2+ counts were found. BDCA-1+ counts correlated negatively with percentage of skin involvement. IL-18 seems to play a role in psoriasis pathogenesis. The decreased counts of blood plasmacytoid DCs in psoriatic patients might result from IL-18 down-regulation of plasmacytoid DC precursor proliferation.

Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Reactivity in Infertile Women: The Contribution of The Dyadic Functioning and Clinical Variables.

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a factor which has been linked to higher prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in women; however, ambiguous results have been reported about the impact of infertility on women's sexual satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to compare sexual and dyadic functioning in infertile and fertile women. Furthermore, the associations between sexual variables and clinical variables (depressive symptoms, period trying to conceive, and treatment period) were assessed in infertile women sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional study involved 50 women with the history of infertility and 50 fertile women recruited from the general population. The Sexual Satisfaction Scale (SSS), Mell-Krat Scale (women's version), Family Assessment Measure (FAM-III), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered to all participants. RESULTS: Infertile women reported lower sexual satisfaction and more maladaptive patterns of dyadic functioning in comparison to the control group. As many as 45 (90%) of infertile women, compared to 13 (26%) of the control group, reported the scores on the Mell-Krat Scale indicative of the presence of dysfunctions in sexual reactivity (P≤0.001). Infertile women reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than the women from the control group (P≤0.001). Negative correlations were observed between sexual satisfaction and dyadic functioning in both groups (P≤0.05); however, the patterns of these associations were different in infertile and fertile women. For example, negative correlations were found between satisfaction with control and task accomplishment, role performance, affective involvement, and values and norms in infertile women. However, these relationships were not observed in the control group. No correlations were revealed between sexual reactivity and dyadic functioning in infertile women and the control group. Negative correlations were observed between satisfaction with control and relationship duration and treatment period as well as between sexual reactivity and period of trying to conceive. Multiple regression analyses also revealed different predictors of sexual satisfaction in both groups: affective involvement (P≤0.05) and relationship duration (P≤0.05) in infertile women, whereas communication (P≤0.05), affective expression (P≤0.05) and depressive symptoms (P≤0.05) in the control group. CONCLUSION: Infertility is an important factor affecting sexual and dyadic functioning and is linked to higher depressive symptoms in infertile women.

Knowledge of the Disease, Perceived Social Support, and Cognitive Appraisals in Women with Urinary Incontinence.

Social support and knowledge of the disease have been shown to facilitate adaptation to a chronic disease. However, the adaptation process is not fully understood. We hypothesized that these factors can contribute to better adaptation to the disease through their impact on disease-related cognitive appraisal. To analyze the links between social support and the knowledge of the disease, on one hand, and disease-related appraisals, on the other hand, one hundred fifty-eight women with stress UI, aged 32 to 79, took part in the study. Questionnaire measures of knowledge of UI, social support, and disease-related appraisals were used in the study. The level of knowledge correlated significantly negatively with the appraisal of the disease as Harm. The global level of social support correlated significantly positively with three disease-related appraisals: Profit, Challenge, and Value. Four subgroups of patients with different constellations of social support and knowledge of the disease were identified in cluster analysis and were demonstrated to differ significantly on four disease-related appraisals: Profit, Challenge, Harm, and Value. Different cognitive appraisals of UI may be specifically related to social support and knowledge of the disease, with social support affective positive disease-related appraisals, and the knowledge affecting the appraisal of Harm.

Types of outlet of the major saphenous vein tributaries in patients with chronic vein insufficiency of the lower limbs.

Chronic vein insufficiency (CVI) is a disease which, when it develops, leads to varicose veins of the lower limbs. As approximately 25% to 50% of people suffer from it, it should be recognised as a public disease. The treatment of chronic vein insufficiency is based on a surgical approach. The aim of the operation is to remove (strip) the insufficient major saphenous vein (MSV), the main cause of the disease. The major saphenous vein drains into the femoral vein and forms the sapheno-femoral junction, which is located in the hiatus saphenous within the femoral triangle. We conducted 94 varicose vein operations by the Babcock method on patients suffering from chronic vein insufficiency. This surgical treatment was performed in "Therapy", a private clinic for peripheral vessel disease. We operated on 52 left lower limbs and 42 right lower limbs. The patients were qualified for the operation procedure after physical examination and Doppler ultrasonography imaging. We identified 5 types of major saphenous vein tributary drainage. The most common was Type I, in which there were 3 tributaries draining directly into the major saphenous vein. This type consisted of 45 cases (47.87%). We distinguished here 3 modifications. In Type II, however, there were 4 direct tributaries that drained into the major saphenous vein in 23 cases (24.46%). In this group of patients also 3 modifications were distinguished. Type III occurred in 14 cases (14.89%). We identified here 2 direct tributaries that drained into the saphenous vein and divided this type into 2 modifications. Type IV occurred in 8 cases (8.51%). Here we found 5 or 6 direct tributaries depending on the number of the external pudendal veins. Type V turned out to be very rare, occurring in only 4 cases (4.25%). Among all the types mentioned a thin tributary 1-2 mm wide was found in 10 cases (10.63%). This ran from under the fascia cribrosa into the saphenofemoral junction in the hiatus saphenous. This may be one of the causes of the recurrences of chronic vein insufficiency. There is also the possibility that a tributary will be overlooked or ignored during the operation, particularly when Type IV appears with 5 or 6 direct collaterals.

Clinical and psychological characteristics of patients with psoriasis reporting various frequencies of pruritus.

BACKGROUND: Pruritus is a common subjective symptom of psoriasis whose levels may be affected by a range of variables. The objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of pruritus and its associations with clinical and psychological characteristics of psoriasis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-hundred and seventy-four patients with psoriasis took part in the study, and they were assessed on clinical (psoriasis area and severity index [PASI], localization of lesions, pruritus severity, duration of the disease) and psychological (coping, personality, cognitive appraisal of the disease, quality of life) variables. ANOVA, Pearson's χ(2)-tests, and correlational analyses were employed to analyze the data. RESULTS: The frequency of reported pruritus was found to be related to PASI (P < 0.000) and localization of skin lesions on visible body areas (P < 0.05). Patients reporting more frequent pruritus were significantly older (P < 0.05), had lower quality of life (P < 0.000), more frequently used coping strategies of resignation (P < 0.05) and self-blame (P < 0.05), and tended to appraise their disease in terms of a threat (P < 0.05), obstacle/loss (P < 0.05), and harm (P < 0.01). No significant associations were found between pruritus and basic personality traits. After controlling for age, all these variables remained significantly correlated with pruritus, whereas after controlling for psoriasis severity, only age, quality of life, and a coping strategy of resignation still significantly correlated with pruritus frequency. CONCLUSIONS: The findings emphasize the importance of pruritus in the majority of psoriasis patients and its significant association with compromised quality of life, older age, greater psoriasis severity, and a specific pattern of psychological responses to stress.

Emotional control, styles of coping with stress and acceptance of illness among patients suffering from chronic somatic diseases.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the associations of emotional control with sociodemographic and clinical variables in a sample of patients with a range of chronic somatic diseases. The relationships between emotional control, coping styles and adjustment to the disease were investigated. The sample consisted of 300 patients with the mean age of 54.60 ± 17.57 years. Courtauld Emotional Control Scale was used to measure the patients' tendency to suppress negative emotions, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations was used to measure coping styles and Acceptance of Illness Scale was applied to determine adjustment to the disease. Patients with neurological conditions showed significantly lower suppression of anger. Levels of emotional control were found to be related to gender, age and educational level but not to the place of residence. Task-oriented style of coping with stress correlated positively with suppression of depression and anxiety, whereas acceptance of illness correlated negatively with suppression of anger. Levels of emotional control are only weakly related to the type of diagnosis; however, some clinical samples may show lower suppression of anger. Suppression of negative emotions is weakly related to adjustment indicators such as certain coping styles and acceptance of illness.