Purpose This research aimed to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and psychological var... more Purpose This research aimed to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and psychological variables predictive of a greater functioning and quality of life in patients with gynecological cancer after their first cycle of carboplatin and taxol-based chemotherapy. Methods The sample of the present research consisted of 104 patients. The European Organization on Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were administered to each participant. Results The analyses showed that higher state anxiety levels predicted a lower role, emotional, and social functioning and a lower general quality of life. Higher trait anxiety levels and social support perceived from one’s friends predicted a greater role functioning. Similarly, having a relationship predicted a greater physical, cognitive, and social functioning. On the contrary, the presence of relapsed cancer was negatively associated with t...
OBJECTIVE Referring to Leventhal's common-sense model, this observational cross-sectional stu... more OBJECTIVE Referring to Leventhal's common-sense model, this observational cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the relationship between illness mental representations, coping mechanisms and psychological distress in a sample of women with gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). METHODS Thirty-eight women diagnosed with GTD (18 with hydatidiform mole; 20 with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia) were asked to complete the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, the Coping Orientation to the Problems Experienced, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y and the Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form. Demographic and clinical information was collected through a self-report questionnaire. RESULTS The sample did not report significant symptomatic distress in relation to GTD. Correlation analysis showed that the Emotional representations subscale of the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised was significantly associated with both state anxiety and depression; avoidant coping significantly and positively correlated with anxiety and depression, as well as with illness emotional representations. Mediation analysis revealed significant indirect effects of avoidant coping on both anxiety and depression through the mediation of emotional representations. CONCLUSION Avoidant coping could lead women to develop emotional representations of illness characterised by negative affects, which in turn enhance distress levels. Results underline the importance to promote adaptive coping strategies, along with accurate illness perceptions, to foster better psychological adjustment to GTD.
Background: COVID-19 forced healthcare workers to work in unprecedented and critical circumstance... more Background: COVID-19 forced healthcare workers to work in unprecedented and critical circumstances, exacerbating already-problematic and stressful working conditions. The “Healthcare workers’ wellbeing (Benessere Operatori)” project aimed at identifying psychological and personal factors, influencing individuals’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 291 healthcare workers took part in the project by answering an online questionnaire twice (after the first wave of COVID-19 and during the second wave) and completing questions on socio-demographic and work-related information, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Brief Cope. Results: Higher levels of worry, worse working conditions, a previous history of psychiatric illness, being a nurse, older age, and avoidant and emotio...
Objective: Fertility loss due to cancer treatment can be a devastating experience for women and t... more Objective: Fertility loss due to cancer treatment can be a devastating experience for women and the couple. Undergoing fertility preservation can be a complex decision from both a medical and emotional point of view. The aim of the present study was to evaluate which socio-demographic and psychological factors predict a high motivation to undergo fertility preservation.Methods: Fifty-eight female cancer patients who accessed an Oncofertility Unit completed: a questionnaire to collect socio-demographic characteristics and the level of motivation, the Beck-Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y, and the Fertility Problem Inventory.Results: Almost half of the sample (44.8%) declared a high motivation. At multiple logistic regression analysis only the “Need for parenthood” subscale of the FPI predicted a high motivation. We alternatively evaluated as possible predictor the construct “Representations about the importance of parenthood” (i.e., the sum of the “Need fo...
ObjectiveGonadotoxicity is considered one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatmen... more ObjectiveGonadotoxicity is considered one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatment. Although fertility preservation can be a valid solution, it also involves a challenging process. A clear understanding of the features of women who decide to pursue fertility preservation after cancer diagnosis is missing. The purpose of the present study was therefore to analyze the personality profile of female patients referred to oncofertility prior to gonadotoxic treatment.MethodsFifty-two female cancer patients took part in the study. The Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), the Response Evaluation Measure-71 (REM-71), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y Form (STAI-Y) were administered to examine personality characteristics, defense mechanisms, depression and anxiety symptoms.ResultsCompared with reference data of the Italian population, our sample reported significantly lower scores in Harm Avoidance and trait anxiety,...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
During the last year, the COVID-19 outbreak put all the healthcare workers around the world at ri... more During the last year, the COVID-19 outbreak put all the healthcare workers around the world at risk of physical and psychological sequelae. The general purpose of the present study was to assess the mental health of Italian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 outbreak and to identify high-risk groups. Here, we present results from the baseline assessment of the “Healthcare workers’ wellbeing (Benessere Operatori)” project on a sample of 1055 healthcare workers. Participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Healthcare workers who worked in COVID wards reported higher levels of anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, anger, and burnout, compared to those reported by the healthcare workers who worked in non-COVID wards. Moreover, nurses, both in COVID and non-COVID wards, were at higher risk of experiencing psychological ...
This review examines the factors that affect the decision-making process of parental couples eval... more This review examines the factors that affect the decision-making process of parental couples evaluating prenatal screening and diagnostic tests. A systematic search was performed using PubMed and PsycInfo databases. The 46 included studies had to: investigate the decision-making process about prenatal testing; focus on tests detecting trisomy 21, 18, 13, and abnormalities of sex chromosomes; be published in English peer-reviewed journals. The decision-making process seems composed of different levels: an individual level with demographic, clinical, and psychological aspects; a contextual level related to the technical features of the test and the information received; a relational level involving family and society.
Purpose This research aimed to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and psychological var... more Purpose This research aimed to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and psychological variables predictive of a greater functioning and quality of life in patients with gynecological cancer after their first cycle of carboplatin and taxol-based chemotherapy. Methods The sample of the present research consisted of 104 patients. The European Organization on Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were administered to each participant. Results The analyses showed that higher state anxiety levels predicted a lower role, emotional, and social functioning and a lower general quality of life. Higher trait anxiety levels and social support perceived from one’s friends predicted a greater role functioning. Similarly, having a relationship predicted a greater physical, cognitive, and social functioning. On the contrary, the presence of relapsed cancer was negatively associated with t...
OBJECTIVE Referring to Leventhal's common-sense model, this observational cross-sectional stu... more OBJECTIVE Referring to Leventhal's common-sense model, this observational cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the relationship between illness mental representations, coping mechanisms and psychological distress in a sample of women with gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). METHODS Thirty-eight women diagnosed with GTD (18 with hydatidiform mole; 20 with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia) were asked to complete the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, the Coping Orientation to the Problems Experienced, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y and the Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form. Demographic and clinical information was collected through a self-report questionnaire. RESULTS The sample did not report significant symptomatic distress in relation to GTD. Correlation analysis showed that the Emotional representations subscale of the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised was significantly associated with both state anxiety and depression; avoidant coping significantly and positively correlated with anxiety and depression, as well as with illness emotional representations. Mediation analysis revealed significant indirect effects of avoidant coping on both anxiety and depression through the mediation of emotional representations. CONCLUSION Avoidant coping could lead women to develop emotional representations of illness characterised by negative affects, which in turn enhance distress levels. Results underline the importance to promote adaptive coping strategies, along with accurate illness perceptions, to foster better psychological adjustment to GTD.
Background: COVID-19 forced healthcare workers to work in unprecedented and critical circumstance... more Background: COVID-19 forced healthcare workers to work in unprecedented and critical circumstances, exacerbating already-problematic and stressful working conditions. The “Healthcare workers’ wellbeing (Benessere Operatori)” project aimed at identifying psychological and personal factors, influencing individuals’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 291 healthcare workers took part in the project by answering an online questionnaire twice (after the first wave of COVID-19 and during the second wave) and completing questions on socio-demographic and work-related information, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Brief Cope. Results: Higher levels of worry, worse working conditions, a previous history of psychiatric illness, being a nurse, older age, and avoidant and emotio...
Objective: Fertility loss due to cancer treatment can be a devastating experience for women and t... more Objective: Fertility loss due to cancer treatment can be a devastating experience for women and the couple. Undergoing fertility preservation can be a complex decision from both a medical and emotional point of view. The aim of the present study was to evaluate which socio-demographic and psychological factors predict a high motivation to undergo fertility preservation.Methods: Fifty-eight female cancer patients who accessed an Oncofertility Unit completed: a questionnaire to collect socio-demographic characteristics and the level of motivation, the Beck-Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y, and the Fertility Problem Inventory.Results: Almost half of the sample (44.8%) declared a high motivation. At multiple logistic regression analysis only the “Need for parenthood” subscale of the FPI predicted a high motivation. We alternatively evaluated as possible predictor the construct “Representations about the importance of parenthood” (i.e., the sum of the “Need fo...
ObjectiveGonadotoxicity is considered one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatmen... more ObjectiveGonadotoxicity is considered one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatment. Although fertility preservation can be a valid solution, it also involves a challenging process. A clear understanding of the features of women who decide to pursue fertility preservation after cancer diagnosis is missing. The purpose of the present study was therefore to analyze the personality profile of female patients referred to oncofertility prior to gonadotoxic treatment.MethodsFifty-two female cancer patients took part in the study. The Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), the Response Evaluation Measure-71 (REM-71), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y Form (STAI-Y) were administered to examine personality characteristics, defense mechanisms, depression and anxiety symptoms.ResultsCompared with reference data of the Italian population, our sample reported significantly lower scores in Harm Avoidance and trait anxiety,...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
During the last year, the COVID-19 outbreak put all the healthcare workers around the world at ri... more During the last year, the COVID-19 outbreak put all the healthcare workers around the world at risk of physical and psychological sequelae. The general purpose of the present study was to assess the mental health of Italian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 outbreak and to identify high-risk groups. Here, we present results from the baseline assessment of the “Healthcare workers’ wellbeing (Benessere Operatori)” project on a sample of 1055 healthcare workers. Participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Healthcare workers who worked in COVID wards reported higher levels of anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, anger, and burnout, compared to those reported by the healthcare workers who worked in non-COVID wards. Moreover, nurses, both in COVID and non-COVID wards, were at higher risk of experiencing psychological ...
This review examines the factors that affect the decision-making process of parental couples eval... more This review examines the factors that affect the decision-making process of parental couples evaluating prenatal screening and diagnostic tests. A systematic search was performed using PubMed and PsycInfo databases. The 46 included studies had to: investigate the decision-making process about prenatal testing; focus on tests detecting trisomy 21, 18, 13, and abnormalities of sex chromosomes; be published in English peer-reviewed journals. The decision-making process seems composed of different levels: an individual level with demographic, clinical, and psychological aspects; a contextual level related to the technical features of the test and the information received; a relational level involving family and society.
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