Incremental validity of acceptance over coping in predicting adjustment to endometriosis.

Psychological acceptance has emerged as an important construct to explain low psychological distress in different clinical samples. However, the incremental validity of psychological acceptance to explain adjustment to medical conditions over other related and well-established constructs, such as coping, is relatively unclear. This study explored whether psychological acceptance significantly contributes to explain adjustment above and beyond coping in females with endometriosis. A total of 169 females (M age = 34.95 years; SD age = 6.07 years) with endometriosis and pain symptoms completed the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, the Brief-COPE, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Psychological Wellbeing Scale, and the Endometriosis Health Profile-5. We conducted Hierarchical Regression Analyses to determine the contribution of psychological acceptance to explaining adjustment. The results showed that the contribution of psychological acceptance ranged from 11 to 20% when controlling for coping, while coping explained from 1 to 8% when the model was reversed. The findings suggest that psychological acceptance is a more useful construct than coping for predicting PD and other psychological outcomes in females with endometriosis.

Measuring cognitive fusion through the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire-7: Measurement invariance across non-clinical and clinical psychological samples.

Cognitive fusion (CF) occurs when people are entangled in their private experiences. Rigid patterns of CF are a risk factor for various forms of psychopathology. The most widely used self-report instrument for assessing CF is the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire-7 (CFQ-7), a unidimensional scale with good reliability and validity. However, its psychometric properties have been studied mainly in non-clinical samples and by applying Classical Test Theory. The goal of this study was to use Item Response Theory to investigate the adequacy of the scale in a non-clinical sample and to test measurement invariance across non-clinical and clinical psychological samples. The non-clinical sample consisted of 258 undergraduate students (68.2% females, Mage = 24.3), while the clinical sample consisted of 105 undergraduate students with psychological distress (60.7% females, Mage = 23.8). The results showed that CFQ-7 assesses a wide range of CF severity among non-clinical subjects and that it is useful to discriminate different levels of CF. Moreover, the results showed the scale was sufficiently informative for a broad range of the trait. The relationships of CFQ-7 scores with theoretically related constructs provided further support to the validity of the scale. The Differential Item Functioning analysis showed that CFQ-7 is invariant across different types of population. Overall, findings in this study provide support for the adequacy of the CFQ-7 both in non-clinical and clinical contexts.

Are Multidimensional Pain Inventory Coping Strategy Profiles Associated with Long-Term Spinal Cord Stimulation Effectiveness?

Introduction: It is acknowledged that the way patients cope with pain may influence treatment outcome. In particular, psychological factors are deemed important when considering patients for suitability for spinal cord stimulation (SCS). Objective: The aim of the study is to observe how pre-implantation psychological characteristics impact the effectiveness of SCS for chronic pain. Methods: The analysis comprised data from 137 patients who underwent an SCS implant. Screening evaluation included a coping strategies profile (Multidimensional Pain Inventory) and psychiatric disorders (Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview). Based on SCS implant outcome collected during follow-up visits, patients were divided into three groups: subjects with long-term pain relief (long-term group), subjects who failed the SCS treatment and decided to explant trial device (trial explanter group [TE]), and those who chose a permanent device (permanent explanter group [PE]). Results: Results showed that most of the patients who failed with the SCS (TE and PE groups) demonstrated a dysfunctional coping profile and showed a higher presence of psychiatric disorders, which significantly influenced the experience and perception of pain. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the value of a multidisciplinary screening. Addressing psychological issues before SCS implantation can reduce the failure rate of SCS.

On the contribution of psychological flexibility to predict adjustment to breast cáncer / Contribución de la flexibilidad psicológica en la predicción del distrés psicológico en pacientes con cáncer de mama

BACKGROUND: This study explored the contribution of Psychological Flexibility (PF) to predict adjustment to breast cancer. METHOD: Sixty-four females with breast cancer completed self-report measures of PF and adjustment (anxiety, depression, negative and positive affect) at baseline, and forty-two patients returned for assessment six months later. RESULTS: Higher flexibility at baseline significantly contributed to predict lower anxiety, depression and negative affect at follow-up. The effect sizes ranged from moderate to large. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide evidence for targeting PF to prevent enhanced psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, and add to a growing body of research supporting PF as a common protective factor across different contexts and populations

ANTECEDENTES: este estudio explora el grado de contribución de la Flexibilidad Psicológica (FP) en el pronóstico de diversos indicadores de adaptación al cáncer de mama. MÉTODO: 64 mujeres con cáncer de mama completaron medidas de FP, ansiedad, depresión, afecto negativo y positivo en un primer momento (T1), y 42 de ellas repitieron la evaluación seis meses después (T2). RESULTADOS: los resultados indican que la FP en T1 contribuye significativamente en la predicción de ansiedad, depresión y afecto negativo en T2, con tamaños del efecto que oscilan entre moderado y grande. Elevados niveles de FP se asocian significativamente con niveles más bajos de distrés psicológico. CONCLUSIONES: los resultados apoyan que la FP es un factor protector de niveles excesivos de distrés en pacientes con cáncer de mama. Estos resultados se suman al creciente cuerpo de evidencias que sugiere que la FP es un factor general de protección de la salud mental, transversal a diferentes contextos y poblaciones

On the contribution of psychological flexibility to predict adjustment to breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study explored the contribution of Psychological Flexibility (PF) to predict adjustment to breast cancer. METHOD: Sixty-four females with breast cancer completed self-report measures of PF and adjustment (anxiety, depression, negative and positive affect) at baseline, and forty-two patients returned for assessment six months later. RESULTS: Higher flexibility at baseline significantly contributed to predict lower anxiety, depression and negative affect at follow-up. The effect sizes ranged from moderate to large. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide evidence for targeting PF to prevent enhanced psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, and add to a growing body of research supporting PF as a common protective factor across different contexts and populations.

The psychometric properties of the chronic pain acceptance questionnaire in Italian patients with chronic pain.

The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) measures acceptance of pain. Besides previous promising results on the contribution of pain acceptance to physical and psychosocial pain adjustment, recent findings have raised doubts on the validity of the scale. This study explores the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the CPAQ. A total of 120 patients with chronic pain completed the CPAQ and measures of depression, anxiety, pain-related anxiety, functional status, and perceived health status. Internal consistency was satisfactory, and factorial analyses yielded a 2-factor solution, but each CPAQ dimension showed a different contribution to the criterion variables.