Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) can be a traumatic and stressful experience for women but there are wide-ranging differences in the ways in which women respond and adapt to BC. This systematic review examines which sociodemographic, disease-related, and psychosocial factors near diagnosis predict later psychological adjustment to BC. Methods:Database searches were conducted in nine different health-related databases from 2000 to December 2015 using relevant search terms. Full-text, peer-reviewed articles in English that analyzed potential predictors of psychological adjustment in longitudinal studies were considered for inclusion.Results: Of 1780 abstracts 41 studies fulfilled inclusion criteria. Consistent sociodemographic and disease-related variables predictors of adjustment were income, fatigue, cancer stage, and physical functioning. Psychosocial factors, particularly optimism and trait-anxiety, as well as perceived social support, coping strategies, and initial levels of psychological functioning were found to be predictive of later depressive and anxiety symptoms, psychological distress, and quality of life for women with BC, in predictable ways. Other psychosocial variables, such as cognitive and body image factors, predicted psychological adjustment but were explored only by a few studies. Conclusions:The majority of studies showed a significant relationship between psychosocial factors and psychological adjustment. These results point to specific sociodemographic, disease-related, and psychosocial factors that can help to identify women at the time of diagnosis who are at risk for long-term psychological challenges so they can be referred for psychological support that targets their specific needs and can improve their quality of life and mood, and decrease indicators of anxiety, depression and psychological distress.

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS), a self-report measure aimed at assessing identity processes of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. We tested its factor structure in university students from a large array of cultural contexts, including 10 nations located in Europe (i.e., Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland), Middle East (i.e., Turkey), and Asia (i.e., China, Japan, and Taiwan). Furthermore, we tested national and gender measurement invariance. Participants were 6,118 (63.2% females) university students aged from 18 to 25 years (Mage = 20.91 years). Results indicated that the three-factor structure of the U-MICS fitted well in the total sample, in each national group, and in gender groups. Furthermore, national and gender measurement invariance were established. Thus, the U-MICS can be fruitfully applied to study identity in university students from various Western and non-Western contexts.

Studies on the impact of work-family dynamics on both parenting and children’s outcomes are scarce. The present study addressed this gap by exploring how parents’ negative (conflicting) and positive (enriching) experiencing of work and family roles related to children’s internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors through its association with the quality of parent–child relationships. A sample of 317 dual-earner couples with preschool children was used to conduct a dyadic analysis of both within- and cross-dyad influences of parents’ work-family experiences on child problem behaviors. Our results indicated that the way parents balance work and family is associated with their parent–child relationships, which in turn is differentially linked with their children’s behaviors. We found that mothers’ work-family conflict (WFC) contributed to children’s externalization difficulties through its detrimental associations with their own and with their partners’ parent–child relationship quality. By contrast, mothers’ work-family enrichment (WFE) was negatively linked to children’s externalization difficulties through its positive link with the mother–child relationship. Fathers’ experience of WFC was associated with both children’s internalization and externalization difficulties through its negative association with their own father–child relationship quality. In addition, fathers’ experience of WFE also linked to children’s externalization difficulties, but only indirectly, via its positive association with the quality of their relationship with the child. Further implications of these findings for advancing understanding of the impact of work-family dynamics on intrafamily relationships, as well as for individual and organizational interventions, are discussed.

Objective: Information about psychological intervention with couples coping with breast cancer is not well-disseminated. This can be explained, at least in part, by the absence of knowledge about the efficacy of this kind of intervention. The aim of the present systematic review is to identify and describe psychological interventions for couples coping with breast cancer and evaluate their efficacy. Results: Of 129 abstracts, 13 were extracted for further analysis and a final ten studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. Data were extracted from each study regarding study sample characteristics, design, results and methodological limitations. The results obtained were mixed in regard to efficacy, although the overwhelming majority of studies (eight studies) found benefits for both women and their partners in some dimensions, such as quality of life, psychological distress, relationship functioning and physical symptoms associated with cancer.Conclusion: Psychological interventions for couples coping with breast cancer appear to be effective for both women and their partners. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of couple-based interventions and, to identify for whom and how they are more effective.

No abstract

Research on the work-family interface has not consistently addressed how the positive and negative features of work-family dynamics conjointly relate to the experience of parenting, and still fewer studies have explored these interrelationships from a dyadic perspective. The present investigation addressed this gap by examining the extent to which mothers' and fathers' reports of work-family conflict and enrichment influenced their own and their spouse's parenting experiences. Each member of 346 dual-earner couples completed measures of work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE), along with measures of parenting attitudes and competencies. A dyadic analysis revealed that WFC and WFE differentially affected the quality of parenting attitudes and competencies. In addition, a differential pattern of crossover effects between partners was found, particularly with respect to the effect of mothers' work-family dynamics on fathers' parenting experience. More specifically, while only one significant partner effect was observed for women (from fathers' WFC to mothers' increased relational frustration), four partner effects were found in men's parenting experience (from mothers' WFC to fathers' increased relational frustration, reduced sense of competence and reduced attachment; and from mothers' WFE to fathers' increased involvement). Further implications of these findings for advancing understanding of the impact of work-family dynamics on intrafamily relationships are discussed. experiences. Yet, despite the recent proliferation of research on the work-family interface and

Findings indicated that the diagnosis of BC is accompanied by an array of challenges that affect parental roles and parenting. Further studies are needed to explore these issues more sensitively. For now, however, the evidence suggests that the families of women with BC, and particularly the women themselves, may benefit from informal and formal support aimed at helping them cope effectively with this challenging life event.

No abstract