Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mental adjustment mechanisms and somatic symptoms in cancer survivors, a topic with limited research in Psycho-oncology. Methods: In this exploratory cross-sectional study, 88 cancer patients were surveyed using the Somatic Symptoms Scale (SSS-8), the Somatic Symptom Disorder Scale (SSD-12), and the MiniMental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (MINI-MAC). Additional questions were asked regarding cancer stage, treatment, and illness relapses. Data collection occurred over one month at a local oncology unit. Results: Several significant correlations were observed between the scales and subscales of the instruments applied during this study. The most important results showed that maladaptive adjustment mechanisms were significantly associated with somatic symptoms, while adaptive mechanisms were not. However, "fighting spirit," an adaptive mechanism, acted as a moderator between somatic symptoms and their psychological impact (effect size t = 0.157, p < 0.05). Lower "fighting spirit" scores correlated with higher SSS-8 and SSD-12 scores, indicating its potential protective role. Conclusion: A more specific assessment of somatic symptoms and their link to mental adaptation to cancer is needed. Psycho-oncological interventions should address both adaptive and maladaptive adjustment mechanisms due to their significant influence on patient outcomes.
Effective communication is essential in healthcare, prompting the inclusion of communication courses in medical education. However, the effectiveness of such courses for Romanian medical students has not been evaluated. This pilot study investigates the impact of an ethical communication course on Romanian medical students' communication self-efficacy, communication skills, and the perceived importance of communication. Students attended a 3-month course on ethical communication, covering active listening, assertive communication, conflict management, non-verbal communication, patient- centered care, and ethical considerations in various medical fields. The course was developed based on the European Psychiatric Association guide regarding ethical aspects of communication with patients and their families. The data were analyzed on a sample of 24 students who completed the questionnaires at pretest and posttest. Students reported higher levels of medical communication self-efficacy and perceived importance of medical communication after the course. However, no statistically significant differences were found in health professionals’ communication skills. Future courses should include more patient interactions and varied teaching methods. Further research with larger samples and control groups is needed.
The purpose of this article is to investigate the role of emotional regulation (ER) as a process underlying a variety of symptoms associated with Lynch syndrome (depression, anxiety, fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), insomnia, fatigue, pain, and subjective cognitive difficulties in patients with Lynch syndrome. Firstly, we provided an overview of the main psychopathological symptoms found in cancer patients and their impact, and then an overview of emotional regulation strategies and discussed the main impact ER strategies have on cancer patients, especially emotional suppression and experiential avoidance, as found in evidence-based studies. Recent research has shown that two ER strategies generally considered maladaptive, emotional suppression and experiential avoidance were significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, FCR, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. We propose that experiential avoidance and emotional suppression may be common transdiagnostic mechanisms for a common set of psychological symptoms in Lynch syndrome patients, a hypothesis to be tested in a future study.
Background: The prevalence of smoking among students is a growing concern, particularly among medical students. Being associated with stress, competitiveness, and various social influences, smoking can have detrimental effects on self-esteem and self-efficacy and may create a vicious cycle that may contribute to student’s well-being and academic performance outcomes. We aimed to investigate the relationship between self-esteem, self-efficacy, and smoking habits among medical students and their sociodemographic correlates. Methods: A cross-sectional study on 456 medical students was conducted via an online survey using structured questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, smoking habits, nicotine dependence, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Results: The prevalence of smoking was 31.1% The scores of self-esteem and self-efficacy were positively correlated with smoking habits (W1=0.957, W2=0.975, P<0.05). Students presented rather low smoking addiction with male students having slightly higher scores than female students on self-esteem and self-efficacy, military students had higher self-esteem scores than civilians with physical activity having a positive correlation with non-smoking behavior. Conclusion: According to our results, self- esteem and self-efficacy were slightly positively correlated with smoking habits. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant association between other social factors and smoking. Our results may develop a theoretical basis for medical students’ psychological variables studying for further implementation of university educational programs and preventive interventions empowering students towards an overall better quality of life, addressing, among others, smoking behaviors.
