The aim of this study was to examine the importance of psychosocial factors, such as emotional and instrumental social support, distress, and assumptions about appearance and its salience to one's self-worth, and to relate these factors to depressive symptoms in patients with psoriasis, according to gender. A group of 219 patients with psoriasis, aged 18-70 years completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Appearance Schemas Inventory-Revised, the Berlin Social Support Scales, and the Distress Thermometer. Body Surface Area index was used to assess the severity of psoriasis. The main contributors to depression were: female gender, beliefs about appearance and its salience to one's self-worth, greater psychological distress, and lower levels of emotional social support. Therefore, improving the body image of patients with psoriasis, by reducing its salience in their personal lives, may play a role in the prevention of depression, especially in women.

Background The amount of research about orthorexic attitudes and behaviours has increased in the last five years, but is still mainly based on descriptive and anecdotal data, yielding a variety of prevalence data and inconsistent results. The interplay between socio-cultural context and orthorexia has been poorly investigated and is still far from being understood. Method Multicentre, cross-sectional study involving Italian ( N = 216), Polish ( N = 206) and Spanish ( N = 242) university students, assessed through a protocol including informed consent, socio-demographic and anamnestic data sheet and self-administered questionnaires (ORTO-15, Eating Attitudes Test- 26 [EAT-26], Temperament and Character Inventory [TCI]). Results Higher prevalence of orthorexia (as described by the ORTO-15 cutoff) was found in Poland. Female gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), current Eating Disorder, dieting, EAT-26 score ≥ 20 and low/medium Persistence were associated with orthorexia in the whole sample. The cross-cultural comparison showed several differences among the three subgroups of students. Conclusions The associations found between orthorexic attitudes, self-reported current eating disorder, BMI and adherence to a dieting need to be supported by further research. The differences among students from the three countries seem to suggest a possible rolve for cultural elements in the construct of orthorexia.

Greater support offered to caregivers may substantially strengthen the sense of coherence in caregivers and cancer patients and, therefore, may improve the functioning of patient-caregiver dyad in a situation of neoplastic disease.

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BackgroundStudies have shown a correlation between gender and an ability to change lifestyle to reduce the risk of disease. However, the results of these studies are ambiguous, especially where a healthy lifestyle is concerned. Additionally, health behaviors are strongly modified by culture and the environment. Psychological factors also substantially affect engagement with disease-related lifestyle interventions. This study aimed to examine whether there are differences between men and women in the frequency of health care behavior for the purpose of reducing cardiovascular risk (CVR), as well as cognitive appraisal of this type of risk. We also aimed to identify the psychological predictors of engaging in recommended behavior for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease after providing information about this risk in men and women.MethodsA total of 134 consecutive eligible patients in a family practice entered a longitudinal study. At initial consultation, the individual’s CVR and associated health burden was examined, and preventive measures were recommended by the physician. Self-care behavior, cognitive appraisal of risk, and coping styles were then assessed using psychological questionnaires. Six months after the initial data collection, the frequency of subjects’ self-care behavior was examined.ResultsWe found an increase in health care behavior after providing information regarding the rate of CVR in both sexes; this increase was greater for women than for men. Women followed self-care guidelines more often than men, particularly for preventive measures and dietary advice. Women were more inclined to recognize their CVR as a challenge. Coping style, cognitive appraisal, age, level of health behaviors at baseline and CVR values accounted for 48% of the variance in adherence to self-care guidelines in women and it was 52% in men. In women, total risk of CVD values were most important, while in men, cognitive appraisal of harm/loss was most important.ConclusionsDifferent predictors of acquisition of health behavior are encountered in men and women. Our results suggest that gender-adjusted motivation models influencing the recognition process need to be considered to optimize compliance in patients with CVR.

A -study Design, B -Data Collection, C -statistical analysis, D -Data Interpretation, E -Manuscript Preparation, F -Literature search, G -Funds CollectionBackground. Cancer and its treatment enforce changes in patient functioning. the principal objective of each patient is to efficiently cope with the disease, i.e. to completely recover or at least to slow its progression. Under such circumstances, patients and their relatives require various forms of support: emotional, informational and instrumental. Objectives. the aim of the study was to determine the level and sources of support available for cancer patients and their close relatives, who deal with the latter on a daily basis. Material and methods. the cross-sectional self-inventory study, conducted at cancer centers in krakow and tarnow, included 193 pairs of cancer patients and their caregivers. the study was based on the berlin social support scales and a sociodemographic-clinical survey. Results. Cancer patients had more perceived and received social support than their caregivers. Patients identified more sources of available support than their caregivers. when the level of support was stratified according to the caregiver's relation with the patient, caregivers-partners and caregivers-children presented higher levels of perceived support than caregivers-siblings and caregivers-parents. Caregivers received less support than patients from medical personnel. Conclusions. the discrepancy between the level of social support among patient and their caregivers leads to further research on the patient-caregiver dyad, especially with regard to the consequences for the whole family's quality of life. In connection with a deficit of support for caregivers from oncologists, GP's may constitute a valuable source of support, especially emotional and informational. Key words: social support, cancer, patient, caregiver.

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BackgroundIt has been observed that psychical suffering (e.g. the feeling of losing a significant person) tends to reduce the physical pain tolerance threshold, as well as to increase the subjective sense of painfulness. The purpose of this study was to assess pain sensation among a group of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and to determine the psychological factors (emotional and relational) that contribute to both pain perception and coping with pain via the use of analgesics.MethodsThe study comprised 127 caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Questionnaires were used to elicit pain intensity, strength of emotional relationship between caregiver and patient, sense of painfulness of the loss experienced, depression level, and somatic ailments.ResultsA large majority (87.4 %) of participants reported pain complaints, while 93 % took analgesics without a doctor’s recommendation at least once a week; 8 % took painkillers daily. The strongest predictors of both perceived pain and tendency to use analgesics were sense of loss and painfulness of loss in relation to the patient’s deteriorating condition.ConclusionsThe pain experienced by caregivers may be connected to social pain resulting from the experience of losing someone they are close to. Caregivers may resort to excessive use of analgesics as a pain-coping strategy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0571-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.