Psychological care over patients with lymphoma and lymphoma survivors.

Lymphomas are characterized by a relatively favorable prognosis and a good five-year survival rate, but they are associated with increased psychosocial distress. There is insufficient evidence on the efficacy of psychological interventions for lymphoma patients. This review aimed to present the research findings on currently used psychological interventions for (non-) Hodgkin lymphoma patients and survivors. A literature search on English language peer-reviewed original publications on psychological interventions for lymphoma patients published prior to December 2021 was performed in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus and ResearchGate. Titles and abstracts were screened for the relevant terms including psychological intervention and psychological management along with (non-) Hodgkin lymphoma. The retrieved articles were evaluated by independent reviewers, the lists of eligible publications were compared, and disagreements were resolved by discussion. Of the 50 publications sought for retrieval, 8 articles were shortlisted based on their content. The papers were classified according to their content and the methodology employed. Research themes including "promoting resilience in lymphoma survivors", "web-based self-management interventions for patients with lymphoma", "addressing unmet needs whilst undergoing chemotherapy", and "mind-body interactive exercise" were identified and presented in this review. As the number of lymphoma survivors is increasing, future research on evidence-based interventions addressing patients' and survivors' unmet psychological needs is warranted.

Application of Eye-tracking in research on the theory of mind in ASD.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a broad diagnostic category describing a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which includes the autistic disorder. Failure to develop normal social relationships is a hallmark of autism. An inability to understand and cope with the social environment can occur regardless of IQ. One of the hypotheses of the appearance of ASD symptoms is associated with the theory of mind (TOM). ASD patients do not have the ability to attribute the full range of mental states (goal states and epistemic states) to themselves and to others. Eye-tracking allows for observation of early signs of TOM in ASD individuals, even before they are 1 year old, without the need of developed motor and language skills. This provides a window for looking at the very basics of mindreading - detecting intentionality and eyes in our environment. Studies show that ASD children fail to recognize biological motion, while being highly sensitive to physical contingency within the random movement. Their perception of faces seems disorganized and undirected, while object recognition is intact. Evidence suggests that this orientation of attention following gaze cues is diminished in ASD patients. Available data also show deficits in emotion recognition, that cannot be accounted for by impairments in face processing or visual modality alone. Such observations provide an insight into disturbances of information processing and offer an explanation for poor social functioning of ASD patients. When combined with other methods, Eye-tracking has the potential to reveal differences in processing information on a neural circuitry level. Thus, it may help in understanding the complexity of TOM mechanisms, and their role in social functioning.

What causes distress in males undergoing infertility work-up?

OBJECTIVE: This panel study aimed to identify predictors of the risk for depression in involuntarily childless males undergoing fertility work-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 255 married males aged 22-51 years seeking their first fertility work-up completed the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) at four time-points. They were tested at the baseline, before their initial fertility evaluation (T1), before their second andrological appointment, two-three months after the diagnostic disclosure (T2), and before subsequent treatment/follow-up appointments (T3 and T4). The timing of assessment was synchronized with respondent's andrological appointments and medical procedures. Binomial logistic regression was applied to develop prediction models for subgroups with the male, female, mixed, and unexplained factors of infertility. RESULTS: The risk for depression in involuntarily childless males was associated with a constellation of factors, whose importance might vary depending on the factor of infertility. However, the stage of the andrological procedure was found to be the most significant predictor of the risk for depression in the MFI, FFI and Mixed FI respondents with the greatest odds for T2 and/or T3. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study have practical implications. They should be considered in support programs for individuals and/or couples with unintentional childlessness. Infertility treatment specialists or other healthcare professionals should be provided education training programs to help them understand how age, permanent residence or education may influence male distress. They should integrate the knowledge into practice so that they can provide adequate emotional support to unintentionally childless males.

Do urban and rural residents living in Poland differ in their ways of coping with chronic diseases?

OBJECTIVE: Chronic disease is a critical life event which demands significant psychological adjustment. Coping strategies and resources such as sense of coherence, self-efficacy, etc. remain factors affecting stress response. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The examined group included patients with ischemic heart disease (n = 134), type 1 diabetes mellitus (n = 109) or rheumatoid arthritis (n = 92). 159 patients came from urban area whereas 176 came from rural setting. All patients filled up inventories of life satisfaction, severity of depression, coping strategies, self-efficacy, social support and sense of coherence. RESULTS: The analysis showed that patients from rural areas had higher levels of well-being, i.e., were characterized by lower severity of depression. The predictors of satisfaction with life included two types of resources i.e. self-efficacy, social support and two coping strategies i.e. turning to religion and self-distraction (R2 = 0.39; F = 26.87**). Life satisfaction was determined by social support, sense of coherence and positive reappraisal (R2 = 0.36; F = 29.11**). CONCLUSIONS: Rural/urban differences in the use of coping strategies may be associated with environmental or lifestyle differences. Patients with IHD, T1D or RA in Polish rural areas are high risk for depression so they may need help in finding systematic contact with specialists of healthcare.