The study was aimed at describing the levels of depression, positive and negative affect, optimism and health-related quality of life in a group of recently diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS) patients (up to three years since the diagnosis), taking into account gender, age, and disease duration differences, and at investigating the role of identity, sense of coherence, and selfefficacy in MS on patients' depression, positive and negative affect, optimism, and health-related quality of life. The cross-sectional study involved 90 MS patients (60% women; age: M = 37, SD = 12) with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) between 1 and 4 (mild to moderate disability). Patients completed measures of Depression (CESD-10), Positive and Negative Affect (PANAS), Optimism (LOT-R), Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) (SF-12), Identity Motives, Sense of Coherence (SOC), and Self-efficacy in MS (SEMS). Depression scores were near the cut-off level for clinically significant depressive symptoms, and negative affect was higher and health-related quality of life was lower than those in the general population. Women and younger patients reported better adjustment as time passes since the diagnosis. Results of multiple regressions indicated that higher sense of coherence was related to higher mental health, lower negative affect and lower depression. Higher self-efficacy in MS was predictive of greater positive affect and lower negative affect, whereas higher identity satisfaction was predictive of higher positive affect and optimism and lower depression. The results suggest the usefulness of
The study is aimed at examining the relationship between emotional and self-regulated learning self-efficacy, subjective well-being (SWB) and positive coping among adolescents and youths, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 485 Italian students (74% girls; mean age 19.3) filled in an online questionnaire during the lockdown period. The hypothesized model in which both the forms of self-efficacy were predictors of SWB and positive coping, and SWB partially mediated the relation between self-efficacy measures and positive coping was tested by means of Structural equation modeling. Results largely supported the hypothesized relationships and suggested paying special attention to adolescents’ self-efficacy in regulating basic negative emotions, in order to promote positive coping strategies to face challenges coming from everyday life and from non-normative events.
Preliminary evidence suggests that the proposed intervention fosters the quality of life and the psychological well-being of recently diagnosed MS patients by reducing negative affect and promoting mental health and optimism, particularly in the long term. Implications for Rehabilitation Preliminary evidence suggests that a group-based cognitive behavioral intervention focused on identity redefinition, sense of coherence and self-efficacy promotes the quality of life (increased mental health) and psychological well-being (decreased negative affect and increased optimism) of recently diagnosed MS patients (up to 3 years since the diagnosis). The first years following the MS diagnosis should be considered a good time for a psychological intervention aimed at promoting the patient's adjustment to the illness. Strategies should be found to increase the participation of recently diagnosed MS patients in psychological interventions.
Emotional and avoidant coping strategies seem to be adaptive among recently diagnosed multiple sclerosis patients. A mediating role between coping strategies and adjustment is played by sense of coherence.
Early adolescence is a period of development of emotional competence, but also of increasing vulnerability for the onset of depressive symptoms. While literature underscored that empathy promotes social relationships and psychological well-being over the life course, the possible role of high empathy levels as a risk factor for depression has been under investigated, especially among early adolescents. Moreover, although parenting practices are known to influence both empathy and depression in adolescence, few studies investigated if parenting moderates the relationship between empathy and depression. Therefore, the aims of the study were: (1) to investigate the relationships between affective and cognitive empathy and depression; (2) to investigate the moderating role of perceived paternal and maternal support on the associations between affective and cognitive empathy and depression; (3) to examine if the relationships among affective and cognitive empathy, maternal and paternal support and depression vary as a function of early adolescents’ gender. The study involved 386 Italian students aged between 12 and 14 (
M
age = 13,
SD
= 0.3, 47.9% girls) who completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire, including measures of cognitive and affective empathy, paternal and maternal support and depression. Results showed that with a mean level of affective and cognitive empathy, higher maternal support was related to lower depression for girls, whereas higher paternal support was related to lower depression for both boys and girls. Both maternal and paternal support moderated the relation between empathy and depression. In particular, maternal support moderated the non-linear relation between affective empathy and depression and the relation was further moderated by early adolescents’ gender: boys with low affective empathy reported lower depression in a context of high maternal support. Paternal support moderated the linear relation between cognitive empathy and depression, independently of early adolescents’ gender: boys and girls with high cognitive empathy reported higher depression in a context of low paternal support. The results of the study suggested that high empathy might be a risk factor for depression during early adolescence and mothers and fathers have a differential moderating role in relation to the affective and cognitive dimensions of empathy, also in relation to early adolescents’ gender.
Although drinking motives have been largely studied, research taking into account the Mediterranean drinking culture and focusing on motives specifically associated to adolescents' developmental tasks is lacking. For these reasons the study investigates drinking motives in a group of Italian adolescents and their relationships with drunkenness and high levels of alcohol consumption (wine, beer, spirits and alcopops). A self‐report questionnaire on drinking motives and amount of alcohol use was administered to 784 adolescents, boys (46%) and girls, ages 15–19. Using confirmatory factor analysis and stepwise logistic regressions, we found that: 1) motives for drinking were coping, conformity, self‐affirmation and experimentation‐transgression; 2) coping motives were positively related to the high consumption of all alcoholic beverages and to drunkenness; 3) conformity motives were negatively related to high beer consumption and drunkenness, while experimentation‐transgression motives were positively related to high alcopops consumption. Implications for prevention are discussed.
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