Parenting Children With a Cleft Lip With or Without Palate or a Visible Infantile Hemangioma: A Cross-Sectional Study of Distress and Parenting Stress.

OBJECTIVE: Parents of children with a medical condition and a visible difference can experience challenging situations. We evaluated distress and parenting stress in parents of children with a cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P) or a visible infantile hemangioma (IH). SETTING: This cross-sectional study took place in an academic medical hospital in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Three-hundred nine parents (mean age = 40.30, 56.00% mothers) of children with CL±P and 91 parents (mean age = 36.40, 58.24% mothers) of children with IH. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Dutch version of the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form and the subscales Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility of the Symptom Checklist - 90. RESULTS: One sample t tests and mixed linear modeling were used. On average, parents of children with CL±P and of children with IH showed significantly lower parenting stress compared to normative data. Anxiety was significantly lower in parents of children with CL±P than that in the norm group. Visibility of the condition was not related to distress or parenting stress. Child behavioral problems were positively related to parenting stress, depression, and hostility. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of children with CL±P and IH report less distress and parenting stress compared to the norm. On average, these parents seem well adjusted. A practical implication is to monitor parents of children with behavioral problems.

Effects of a cognitive-behavioral self-help program on depressed mood for people with peripheral arterial disease.

The aim of the present study was to examine whether a new low-cost psychological self-help intervention program with minimal coaching could be effective in improving depressed mood in people with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Thirteen persons with PAD and depressive symptoms participated in the self-help program, grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy. They completed pre-test, post-test and follow-up questionnaires, including the PHQ-9, to measure symptoms of depression. To evaluate changes in depression scores from pre- to post-test to follow-up measurement, non-parametric repeated measures Wilcoxon signed rank tests were performed. The results showed that participants' depression scores significantly improved from pre-test to post-test and that there was no relapse from post-test to follow-up. The cognitive-behavioral self-help intervention could be an effective tool in people with PAD, to reduce symptoms of depression.

Cognitive coping and goal adjustment after first-time myocardial infarction: relationships with symptoms of depression.

The authors studied the relationships among cognitive coping strategies, goal adjustment processes (disengagement and reengagement), and depressive symptomatology in a sample of 139 patients who had experienced a first-time acute myocardial infarction between 3 and 12 months before data assessment. They assessed cognitive coping strategies, goal adjustment, and depressive symptoms by the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Goal Obstruction Questionnaire, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, respectively. Main statistical methods were Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses. Results show significant associations among the cognitive coping strategies of rumination, catastrophizing, and higher depressive symptoms, as well as among positive refocusing, goal reengagement, and lower depressive symptoms. This suggests that cognitive coping and goal reengagement strategies may be useful targets for intervention.

Post-traumatic growth after a myocardial infarction: a matter of personality, psychological health, or cognitive coping?

The aim of the present study was to focus on the relative contributions of personality, psychological health and cognitive coping to post-traumatic growth in patients with recent myocardial infarction (MI). The sample consisted of 139 patients who had experienced a first-time acute MI between 3 and 12 months before data assessment. Multivariate relationships were tested by means of Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that besides the contribution of personality and psychological health, a significant amount of variance in growth was explained by the cognitive coping strategies people used to handle their MI. As cognitive coping strategies are generally assumed to be mechanisms that are subject to potential influence and change, this provides us with important targets for intervention.

A meta-analysis of psychoeduational programs for coronary heart disease patients.

In a meta-analysis of 37 studies, the effects of psychoeducational (health education and stress management) programs for coronary heart disease patients were examined. The results suggest that these programs yielded a 34% reduction in cardiac mortality; a 29% reduction in recurrence of myocardial infarction (MI); and significant (p < .025) positive effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, body weight, smoking behavior, physical exercise, and eating habits. No effects of psychoeducational programs were found in regard to coronary bypass surgery, anxiety, or depression. The results also suggest that cardiac rehabilitation programs that were successful on proximal targets (systolic blood pressure, smoking behavior, physical exercise, emotional distress) were more effective on distal targets (cardiac mortality and MI recurrences) than programs without success on proximal targets.

Effect of a cognitive behavioral self-help intervention on depression, anxiety, and coping self-efficacy in people with rheumatic disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a new cognitive-behavioral self-help program with minimal coaching could improve psychological well-being (depression, anxiety, and coping self-efficacy) in people with rheumatic disease and depressive symptoms. METHODS: In total, 82 persons with a rheumatic disease enrolled in a randomized controlled trial were allocated to either a group receiving the self-help program or a waiting list control condition group. For both groups, measurements were done at baseline, posttest, and followup. The outcome measures were the depression and anxiety scales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and an adaptation of the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. Repeated-measures analyses of covariance were performed to evaluate changes in outcome measures from pretest to posttest and from posttest to followup. RESULTS: The results showed that the self-help program was effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety and in strengthening coping self-efficacy. The positive effects remained after a followup period of 2 months. CONCLUSION: This cost-effective program could very well be used as a first step in a stepped care approach or as one of the treatment possibilities in a matched care approach.

Cognitive coping and goal adjustment in people with Peripheral Arterial Disease: relationships with depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to study relationships between cognitive coping strategies, goal adjustment processes (goal disengagement and re-engagement) and symptoms of depression in people with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). METHODS: The sample consisted of 88 patients with PAD. Strategies of cognitive coping, goal disengagement, goal re-engagement, and depression were measured by written questionnaires. The main statistical methods were Pearson correlations and Multiple Regression Analyses. RESULTS: The results showed that a ruminative and catastrophizing way of coping in response to the disabilities was related to more depressive symptoms in this group. In contrast, coping by seeking and re-engaging in alternative, meaningful goals was related to less depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that improvements in cognitive and goal-related coping strategies might reduce the level or risk of depressive symptomatology. This confirms the need for specific intervention programs that bring about effective changes in the coping strategies of people suffering from PAD. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: As both cognitive and goal-related coping are generally assumed to be mechanisms that are subject to potential influence and change, the results of this study provide important targets for such an intervention.

Cognitive coping and depressive symptoms in the elderly: a longitudinal study.

The objective of the present longitudinal study was to examine the relationship between cognitive coping strategies and depressive symptoms at old age. At the two and a half year follow-up study, a community sample of 99 people aged 67 years and older filled out a self-report questionnaire comprising the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and a negative life events checklist. Cognitive coping strategies seemed to play an important role in relation to depressive symptoms in late life. Elderly persons with more depressive symptoms reported to use acceptance, rumination and catastrophizing to a significantly higher extent and positive reappraisal to a significantly lower extent than those with lower depression scores. After controlling for negative life events and prior depressive symptoms, acceptance and positive reappraisal retained their significant relationship with current depressive symptoms. It is suggested that intervention programs should pay attention to these aspects by challenging the 'maladaptive' strategies, and by supplying the more 'adaptive' strategies. This could be linked to the well-established cognitive therapies.

Negative life events and depressive symptoms in the elderly: a life span perspective.

This study suggests that negative life events may have long-term consequences for people's well-being. A community sample of 194 elderly people was interviewed by means of the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Negative Life Events Questionnaire. Depressed mood at old age was related to the reporting of negative socio-economic circumstances as well as emotional abuse and neglect during childhood, and to the reporting of negative socio-economic circumstances, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect, relational stress and problem behaviour of significant others during (late) adulthood. Depression scores were especially high when subjects reported the experience of many events during adulthood and late adulthood. On top of this, the interaction effect between the number of negative life events experienced in childhood and adulthood indicated that there was a much stronger association between the number of negative life events experienced in adulthood and depressive symptoms in late life, for those who experienced more negative life events in childhood, than for those who did not. It is suggested that incorporating life histories into the diagnostic interview is advisable.

Traumatic life events and suicide risk among jail inmates: the influence of types of events, time period and significant others.

Relationships between traumatic life events and suicide risk were studied in two samples of jail inmates with a low (N = 216) and a high (N = 51) suicide risk. Although nonsuicidal inmates reported a high prevalence of traumatic life events, suicidal inmates reported even higher prevalence rates. Suicidal inmates reported more episodes of sexual abuse, physical maltreatment, emotional maltreatment, abandonment, and suicide attempts by significant others. They also had experienced more traumatic life events during childhood, later life, and detention. It is concluded that traumatic life events are associated with suicide risk and that such an association remains in a population with a high prevalence of traumatic life events. It is also concluded that suicide risk is dependent of the type of life event, the timing of the event, and the type of persons involved in the event.