Health Psychology Research最新文献

Background: Νocebo Effect is known to induce adverse symptoms after negative expectations which can be manifested on a physical and psychological level. As 6th year medical students often face a wide range of clinical challenges and may be prone to negative expectations or beliefs affecting their pre-clinical and clinical success, we want to investigate how they are affected by the Nocebo Effect.

Objective: To investigate whether a nocebo effect can be induced when exposing final-year students to the clinical context of their training.

Methods: We used verbal suggestions as a nocebo mechanism and by using three tools, the Illness Attitude Scales, the Symptom Checklist-90, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, we examined the difference in scores on measures of psychometric parameters in 33 participants who were on their 6th year medical and attended three clinics for the first time during their education. The administrations were given before and after attending each clinic, and negative verbal suggestions were given prior to the first administration. We also measured whether the overall number of clinics, had an effect on psychometric parameters.

Results: The results revealed a significant increase in second administration overall in the three clinics in specific psychometric parameters but no statistically significant difference was observed after attending consecutive clinics.

Conclusion: Students reported the occurrence of adverse symptoms in the investigated psychometric parameters, which should be noted in order to avoid potential educational clinical failure.

Background: The patient's information about the disease and doctor-patient communication are both constructs whose importance is emphasized in the theory, but much less frequently researched and used in the practice.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether certain facets of health-related quality of life of hemato-oncology patients in Croatia could be predicted based on patients' sociodemographic data, the disease's determinants, the patients' information about their disease and the quality of doctor-patient communication.

Methods: 60 women and 54 men with diagnoses of both leukemia and lymphoma have participated in filling out questionnaires. The survey consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30_(version 3), EORTC QLQ-INFO25 and the Doctor-Patient Communication Questionnaire.

Results: Patients' sociodemographic data, the disease's determinants, the patients' information about their disease and the quality of doctor-patient communication predicted 26.8 % variance of global health status (F = 2.756, p < .01), 35.7% variance of physical functioning (F = 4.196, p < .01), 23.3% variance of role functioning (F = 2.291, p < .05), 29.9% variance of emotional functioning (F = 3.215, p < .01) and 27.9% of social functioning (F = 2.881, p < .01). Predictors that significantly contributed to the change in variance of health-related quality of life were age, duration of diagnosis, the existence of comorbidity, frequency of hospitalization, talking with the psychologist after getting the diagnosis and information.

Conclusion: The study offers valuable insights into an under-researched patient population and a better understanding of their health-related quality of life. The results indicate the importance of information that can be implemented in everyday clinical practice, and pave the way for further research on doctor-patient communication.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused unprecedented distress in the community but has also resulted in significant physical and psychological exhaustion among healthcare workers (HCWs). This exhaustion could potentially lead to serious effects on our healthcare system.

Objective: The aim of this study was to gain more insight on the effect of COVID-19 on burnout among oncologists and other healthcare professionals at a large academic center.

Methods: A 10-minute electronic questionnaire was distributed to actively employed physicians, APRNs, and PAs affiliated with the University of Miami. The survey encompassed a range of personal and professional characteristics, including stress related to COVID-19.

Results: The survey was distributed to a total of 739 HCWs, with 182 respondents (24.6%) completing the entire survey. The impact of the pandemic on these professionals included increased workload (59.5%), reduced leadership opportunities (32.2%), job insecurity (28.6%), and rescheduling of professional activities (22.2%). Out of the 182 respondents, 70 were primarily from the fields of Oncology and Palliative Care.

Conclusions: Several factors have contributed to increased physical and psychological stress among HCWs, such as extended working hours, sleep deprivation, job insecurity, the shift to telemedicine, the risk of contracting the virus and endangering their families, lack of childcare options, and the added pressure of homeschooling. This study serves as a foundation for more comprehensive research aimed at elucidating and guiding the development of wellness programs crucial for the overall well-being of HCWs.

Background: In recent decades, a high prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents has been reported worldwide. In Vietnam, mental health problems such as emotional and behavioural difficulties are relatively common in the adolescent age group.

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of emotional-behavioural problems and prosocial behaviours in Vietnamese adolescents and identify the role of social support in these adolescents' strengths and difficulties.

Methods: A population sample of 582 adolescents from sixth to ninth grade from four secondary schools in Vietnam voluntarily participated by completing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (α = .64) and the Social Support Scale (α = .90).

Results: The research results revealed that Vietnamese adolescents suffered from considerable levels of emotional-behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour problems. Through multible regression analysis, support from their families significantly predicted to decrease students' emotional and behavioural symptoms (β< 0; p< .05) and increasing prosocial behaviours (β> 0; p < .05). In contrast, friend support only contribute to protecting adolescents from behavioural problems (β = -.18; p < .05) and encouraged prosocial behaviours (β = .22; p < .05).

Discussion: Family support had a central role in its positive contribution to reducing emotional-behavioural and prosocial behaviour problems. Friend support only decreased behavioural problems and encouraged prosocial behaviours. These results are interpreted that educators could limit adolescents' emotional-behavioural difficulties and encourage prosocial behaviours through social support from their families and friends.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the focus on mental health, particularly on the coping strategies of healthcare workers who have faced unparalleled stress due to their pivotal role in addressing health disparities and determinants of health. Constantly operating in high-risk environments and managing the surge of critically ill patients, these professionals' psychological resilience has been sternly tested, necessitating robust assessment tools.

Aim: This study aims to refine the extensive 54-item Toulouse Coping Scale into a more pragmatic and less time-consuming instrument while preserving its statistical integrity, to support the mental well-being of healthcare workers.

Setting: The setting for this study was amongst healthcare workers in Greece, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by significant psychological demands on medical staff.

Methods: We conducted an unbiased exploratory factor analysis on the Toulouse Coping Scale's 54 items, drawing from a sample of 144 healthcare workers, adhering to strict methodological criteria.

Results: Data completeness was achieved across the sample, which comprised 40 (28%) males and 104 (72%) females, predominantly aged between 31 and 50 years. The final instrument, encapsulating two domains with a total of nine questions, demonstrated strong internal consistency, with an eigenvalue of 3.438 for the first domain and 1.478 for the second, validated by a scree plot.

Conclusion: The streamlined TCS-9 scale facilitates a more rapid assessment of coping strategies while reducing redundancy. The two-domain structure ensures that the revised scale retains the original's thoroughness in a more concise form.

Contribution: By enabling quicker and more efficient evaluations, the TCS-9 enhances the practicality of assessing coping mechanisms in healthcare settings, thereby contributing to the sustenance of health systems and the promotion of health equity.

This study aims to investigate if social support and self-efficacy play a significant role in substance use relapse. To this end, 197 substance users responded to the modified measures of social support and self-efficacy questionnaire. The participants reported moderate levels of social support and self-efficacy. In addition, the results indicated that there are gender differences in social support level in favour of males and there were differences in social support level in the duration of substance use between less than one year and one year- less than two years also between one year- less than two years and ten years and more in favour of one year- less than two years. Furthermore, the results revealed differences in self-efficacy levels in accordance with substance use status in favour of those without relapse. But there was no difference in self-efficacy level with regard to gender or duration of substance use. Moreover, the findings indicate that self-efficacy and duration of substance use play a significant role in substance use relapse but this is not the case with social support. It was concluded that giving more attention to female social support and to the self-efficacy among substance users are needed.

Objective: This study aims to identify motivators influencing individuals' commitment to maintaining positive health trajectories across different demographics. The primary objective is to leverage this knowledge to enhance patient-physician relationships and improve the quality of care.

Methods: A web-based survey collected data from 204 randomly selected participants aged 16 and older. The survey assessed participants' self-rated health, health-related habits, and motivators for a healthy lifestyle. Open-ended responses were included.

Results: Participants had a mean self-rated health score of 6.24 (scale: one to ten). Motivation scores for health-related factors averaged 3.25 (scale: one to five), with caregiving responsibility scoring 3.07 (scale: one to five), mainly among women. Motivators related to personal productivity and values scored 3.44 (scale: one to five), while cultural or religious beliefs scored lowest at 2.89 (scale: one to five). Common themes from free responses included longevity, quality of life, personal well-being, family, independence, prevention of complications, health goals, finances, and faith, listed by frequency. Among participants, only 30% had chronic diseases, but 80% of those with chronic conditions were motivated to improve their health.

Conclusion: This survey gathered valuable data on motivators for maintaining positive health trajectories. The findings have implications for improving patient-physician relationships and healthcare delivery. Understanding individuals' motivators can inform tailored interventions and personalized care approaches.

Cancer is a debilitating disease for which patients often need caretakers to help them live their lives and complete basic activities. This study aims to characterize the burden of the caretaker. A 14-question survey was sent out to randomly selected United States cancer caretakers to analyze the social, emotional, and physical burden of their caretaking. The results show that a majority of caretakers are direct family to the patient (69.5%). The patients' cancers are often in early stages with about 54.5% having stage 1 cancer and 22.5% having stage 2 cancer while only 8.5% had stage 3 cancer and 17.8% had stage 4 cancer. When asked about their motivation, caretakers most often do it because of love (58.82%) with family responsibilities/duty being the second highest reason (35.56%). When asked about their biggest burden, many caretakers said that grief was the biggest issue (30.50%) with mental health issues also being troublesome (28%). 75.6% of respondents said that being a cancer caretaker has negatively impacted their mental health from either anxiety (37.29%), depression (33.9%), or other conditions (4.41%). When asked about the negative impacts of being a caregiver, 43.5% stated they faced high financial costs to give care, and 35% stated they met a lack of social support or lost friends. In comparison, 33% stated they had negative physical impacts. The number of participants who face overwhelming or high stress nearly quintupled from baseline, from 13% to 59.5%. This cross-sectional survey of US adults demonstrates that there are clear negative impacts on cancer caregivers on their physical, financial, social, and mental health. These data underscore the importance of taking care of patients' caregivers.

Background: In a previous study, mothers' stress was demonstrated to affect the stress of their infants. However, stress is a multi-layered concept, and there is a lack of studies on the type of stress that influences infant stress.

Objective: This study examined how various types of mothers' stress influence their infants' stress by measuring stress that emanates from COVID-19, child rearing, and stress levels based on speech and cortisol in saliva.

Methods: This study was conducted in two phases, and the stress of 21 mother-infant dyad were evaluated using questionnaires, participants' saliva, and voice recording.

Results: The results demonstrated that maternal stress increased infant stress, rearing stress decreased infant stress, and COVID-19 stress did not affect infant stress. Furthermore, there was no relationship between stress measured using questionnaires and stress measured using saliva, indicating that these factors independently affect infant stress.

Conclusion: It is clear that stress is multi-layered and that it is necessary to grasp each of the various stresses and their relationship appropriately.

Tobacco consumption is one of the major public health concerns worldwide. Moreover, alternative tobacco and nicotine products (ATNPs) are growing in popularity, especially among young adults in the past decade. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated sociodemographic factors of tobacco consumption among university students. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 338 university students of a private Malaysian university from March to April 2021. Data was collected using a self-administered online questionnaire with items including sociodemographic information, user status of tobacco consumption and types of tobacco product used. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS version 26.0 to analyse the data. The prevalence of tobacco consumption in this study was 8.6% and the main tobacco product used was manufactured cigarettes. In Pearson's chi square test and Fisher's exact test, current use of tobacco was significantly associated with nationality, ethnicity, religion, school, current level of education and parents, siblings and friends use of tobacco (p<0.05). In simple and multiple logistic regression analysis, being non-Malaysian, Indian, Muslim, year 4 student and having parents or siblings who used tobacco, all had statistically significant associations with the current use of tobacco (p<0.05). Findings of this study showed that the use of tobacco among university students is concerning and warrants the need to develop and implement a strategic anti-tobacco program to limit this behaviour among university students.