Background: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in cancer patients, including those with breast cancer is a special and highly conscious experience having bearing on emotional, cognitive and behavioral domains. This study examines the effect of cognitive emotion regulation on FCR with the mediation of illness perception and psychological well-being in breast cancer survivors in a structural model.
Methods: The population of this study included all women with breast cancer who were referred to Cancer Institute of Iran for their regular checkups in the spring and summer of 2022. 300 patients were recruited based on convenience sampling. They completed the validated questionnaires online for FCR, cognitive emotion regulation, illness perception and psychological well-being. Data were analyzed by using Pearson's correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling analysis.
Results: The findings indicated the model did fit the data. In addition to the direct effect of adaptive and maladaptive strategies of cognitive emotion regulation on FCR, the indirect effect of adaptive strategies on FCR through psychological well-being (β=0.148, p=0.001) and illness perception (β=0.233, p=0.001) was negative and significant. Furthermore, the indirect effect of maladaptive strategies on FCR through psychological well-being (β=0.109, p=0.001) and illness perception (β=0.212, p=0.001) was positive and significant. Therefore Psychological well-being and illness perception negatively and significantly mediated the effect of adaptive strategies on FCR and positively and significantly mediated the effect of maladaptive strategies on FCR.
Conclusion: Patients who possess adaptive strategies of cognitive emotion regulation, less-threatening perception of illness and higher psychological well-being were exposed less to FCR. Psychological interventions for strengthening these factors in breast cancer survivors are suggested.
Positive psychology, as a new domain of psychology, is focused on understanding and describing happiness and mental wellbeing and predicting their associated factors. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the virtue of courage scale and its relationship with social health and life quality among university students. Materials and Methods: The research method was based on tool construction and development. The statistical population consisted of 10221 students of the Islamic Azad University of Sari Branch in the 2017-2018 academic year. Of whom, a sample of 384 subjects was selected. The required data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire of psychological courage regarding Islamic scholars 'views, the 26-item World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-26) questionnaire, and the Keyes Social Health Questionnaire. Nonparametric Spearman's rank-order correlation and multiple linear regression methods were used to determine the relationships between the items. The scale's content validity was assessed by the Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR) indices based on Leo's Table. SPSS was used for data analysis. Results: The obtained results suggested that the value of the first factor equaled 5.47; therefore, it was a significant factor in factor analysis. In total, 7 factors explained 60.10% of the variance. The correlation coefficients between the subscales and the total score of courage, quality of life, and social health scales indicated a proper concurrent validity of the courage scale. To investigate the validity of the 31-item scale, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) was calculated, ranging from 0.83 to 0.93. Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the psychological virtue of courage scale have been supported; thus, it could be used in future research studies. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between courage, quality of life, and social health in this inventory.
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