The Development and Validation of the Psychological Needs of Cancer Patients Scale.

In the present research, the Psychological Needs of Cancer Patients Scale (PNCPS) was developed and validated. Based on Group 1 (400 cancer patients), the exploratory factor analysis identified a 23-item scale with six factors: value and esteem (five items, i.e., reconsider the meaning and purpose of life), independence and control (six items, i.e., private space), mental car (three items, i.e., vent negative emotions), disease care (three items, i.e., acquire knowledge about disease), belonging and companionship (three items, i.e., spend more time at home), and security (three items, i.e., living conditions be better). The structure identified with Group 1 was further tested, based on Group 2 (199 cancer patients), for reliability and validity. The results showed that PNCPS has a clear factor structure and good psychometric characteristics. By taking into account the cultural background of Chinese patients, this scale will advance the study of the psychological needs of those with malignant tumors and thus has a certain reference value for other countries.

Scale of Death Anxiety (SDA): Development and Validation.

This study developed and validated a new measure to assess the death anxiety (i.e., Scale of Death Anxiety, SDA) on an individual's somatic, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions from a symptomatic perspective in Chinese youth samples. Following a systematic process, a four-factor structure of the SDA was identified through principle components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis that revealed four aspects of death anxiety: Dysphoria, Death Intrusion, Fear of Death, and Avoidance of Death. The results of this study indicate that the SDA has a clear factor structure and good psychometric properties. The SDA supports death anxiety as a multidimensional construct, and the foundational role of fear of death in the generation of death anxiety. This scale is valuable and beneficial to research on death anxiety. This study makes a significant contribution to the literature because the SDA is the first assessment of death anxiety to include the constructs of dysphoria and somatic symptoms. And the potential clinical practice of the SDA was discussed.

Self-concept mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and abstinence motivation as well as self-efficacy among drug addicts.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood maltreatment is widely accepted as a risk factor for drug addiction from adolescence to adulthood. However, the influence of childhood maltreatment on drug treatment related variables, such as drug abstinence motivation and self-concept, as well as self-efficacy, remains unclear. This study aims at exploring whether self-concept mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and abstinence motivation, as well as self-efficacy, among drug addicts. METHODS: This study involves 816 (550 males, 226 females, mean age=34.59, range=16-58 years) drug addicts from compulsory detoxification units. Participants completed questionnaires, including the childhood trauma questionnaire 28 - item short form (CTQ - SF), Tennessee self-concept scale (TSCS), general self-efficacy scale (GSES), and drug abstinence motivation questionnaire (DAMQ). RESULTS: The structural equation model (SEM) analysis, including total and specific forms of maltreatment scores, showed that childhood maltreatment was negatively associated with self-concept, self-efficacy, and abstinence motivation. Self-concept was positively associated with self-efficacy and abstinence motivation. Conversely, significant association between self-efficacy and abstinence motivation did not exist. An indirect analysis showed that self-concept mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and self-efficacy. Critically, self-concept arbitrated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and abstinence motivation. The indirect effect of self-concept between childhood maltreatment and abstinence motivation still existed when the total scores of maltreatment were replaced by the scores of specific forms of maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that self-concept is a critical factor in understanding the relationship between childhood maltreatment and abstinence motivation, as well as self-efficacy, among drug addicts. Improving the sense of self-worth may be an effective intervention therapy among drug addicts with childhood maltreatment history.