Spanish adaptation of the Personal Meaning Profile-Brief: Meaning in life,psychological well-being,and distress

Background/ObjectiveThis study aimed to adapt the Personal Meaning Profile-Brief (PMP-B) to the Spanish-speaking population and investigate its psychometric properties. The PMP-B is a 21-item instrument that assesses meaning in life through seven sources: relationship, intimacy, achievement, self-acceptance, self-transcendence, fair treatment, and religion.MethodParticipants were 546 Spanish adults comprised of a community sample (n = 171) and university students (n = 375). The PMP-B, the Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale were administrated.ResultsThe PMP-B showed a bifactor structure with one general factor and seven subfactors. Measurement invariance was found across age, gender, and samples. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were generally good. Older people showed higher PMP-B scores than younger people. The PMP-B scores, especially relational sources of meaning, were positively associated with psychological well-being and negatively related to psychological distress, mainly to depression.ConclusionsThe validity evidence gathered in this study supports the reliable use of the PMP-B to measure meaning in life. The PMP-B can be a noteworthy contribution to the meaning-centered research.     

Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) in cancer patients

Background/Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess psychometric properties of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), evaluate the measurement invariance with respect to sex, age, and tumor location, and to analyze associations between social support and sociodemographic and clinical variables among individuals with resected, non-advanced cancer. Method: A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to explore the dimensionality of the scale and test invariance across sex, age, and tumor localization in a prospective, multicenter cohort of 877 patients who completed the BSI-18 and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Results: The results show that 3-factor and 1-factor measurement models provided a good fit to the data; however, a three-factor, second-order model was deemed more appropriate and parsimonious in this population. Alpha coefficients ranged between .75 and .88. Test of measurement invariance showed strong invariance results for sex, age, and tumor location; strong invariance over time was likewise assumed. Less perceived social support appears to correlate with all BSI factors. Conclusions: The study confirmed the tridimensional structure of the BSI-18 and invariance across age, sex, and tumor localization. We recommend using this instrument to measure anxiety, depression, and somatization in epidemiological research and clinical practice.     

Empathy in adolescence: Relations with emotion awareness and social roles

In this study, we aimed at gaining a better understanding of the individual differences contributing to feelings of empathy in adolescents. Therefore, we examined the extent to which emotion awareness (e.g., recognizing and appreciating one's own and the emotions of others) and a tendency for certain social roles (e.g., helping or teasing peers when being bullied) are related to adolescents’ levels of empathy. The sample was comprised of 182 adolescents aged between 11 and 16. Empathy and emotion awareness were assessed using self‐report measures. Peer reports were used to indicate adolescents’ different social roles: Bullying, defending the victim, and outsider behaviour. Outcomes demonstrated that evaluating one's own and the emotions of others, and more defending nominations were associated with both affective and cognitive empathy, whereas aspects of emotion awareness which are linked with internalizing symptoms were related to empathic distress, suggesting maladaptive emotion appraisal. Furthermore, outsider behaviour was associated with empathic distress, emphasizing a self‐focused orientation. In contrast, more bullying was negatively associated with cognitive empathy. Overall, these outcomes demonstrate that, besides social roles, emotion awareness is an important factor for adaptive empathic reactions, whereas emotion dysregulation might cause distress when witnessing the negative feelings of others.     

Psychological distress in university students: A comparison with general population data

Objective: While the mental health of university students is recognised internationally as an important public health issue, more epidemiological data are needed that allows benchmarking with general population data. Methods: All enrolled students from two large Australian universities were invited to complete a web‐based survey. Anxiety‐mood disorders were assessed using the Kessler 10. A total of 6,479 students participated in the study with sociodemographics generally consistent with the university population. Results: The estimated prevalence for mental health problems was 19.2% with 67.4% reporting subsyndromal symptoms. These rates were significantly higher than the general population. Psychological distress was associated with disability and lower academic achievement. Predictors of distress included: full‐time status, financial stress, being aged between and 18 and 34 years, being female, and in a subsequent undergraduate year of their degree. Conclusions: The extremely high prevalence of mental health problems in university students provides evidence for this being an at‐risk population. Implications: The results highlight the need for universal early interventions to prevent the development of severe mental illness in university students.     

Prevention of marital instability and distress. Results of an 11-year longitudinal follow-up study

Divorce and destructive couple conflict are major risk factors for many forms of dysfunction and psychopathology in the family. Couple relationship education has been offered in an attempt to reduce those risks and enhance couple outcomes. The current effectiveness study had two aims: to assess (a) the long-term effects of relationship education and (b) the ability of partners to remember the skills typically taught during the communication skills training. One hundred and one couples from two studies, in which the effectiveness of the EPL (Ein Partnerschaftliches Lernprogramm für Paare [A Learning Program for Married Couples]) was investigated, were followed-up 11 years after the training. In the first study, EPL-takers had a significantly lower divorce and separation rate (27.5%) than non-EPL-takers (52.6%). This finding was replicated in a second study, showing a 20% dissolution rate in EPL-takers. For those couples still together, the rate of happy relationships was 80% at the eleven-year follow-up - thus, there is optimism for longer married couples who are willing to focus on improving their relationships. Only about 55% of the partners could remember at least one speaker skill whereas 70% remembered at least one listening skill taught during EPL. Consequences for prevention programs in the couple domain are discussed.     

Is marriage/cohabitation beneficial for young people? Some evidence on psychological distress among Norwegian college students

Although a large number of studies have examined the association between marital status or cohabitation on the one hand and psychological distress on the other, few have looked specifically at young people. Theoretically, the effects of marriage may be expected to vary with age, and differential selection into or out of marriage/cohabitation may also have different implications at different age levels. This paper uses cross‐sectional data on about 2300 Norwegian college students aged from 19 to 30; for nearly 1000 of these two‐wave panel data are also used. Psychological distress is measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and linear regression analysis is used. Cross‐sectional analyses show that among female students marriage/cohabitation is associated with less distress. For male students the association changes with age; in the youngest group, married/cohabiting men are more distressed than those living alone, this is reversed beyond about 23 years of age. The longitudinal analyses show that termination of marriage/cohabitation is associated with increased distress. Going from single living to marriage/cohabitation does not seem to have any effect, however. These results are interpreted as providing some tentative support for social selection effects, and for the stressfulness of terminating a marriage or relationship of cohabitation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships with Parents, Spousal Reciprocity, and Psychological Distress in Middle-Age Adults

Data from 301 middle-age couples were employed to investigate links between their recalled parents’ parenting styles and perceptions of reciprocity with their parents, as well as their current perceptions of spousal reciprocity, on their psychological distress. The research extends Baumrind’s theory of childhood parenting styles and Youniss’ theory of late adolescents’ perceived reciprocity to a developmental model for middle-age psychological distress. Differential effects were found according to the gender of both the offspring and the parent. There were significant positive findings only if the opposite-sex parent was perceived as authoritative, and significant negative findings if the same-sex parent was perceived as authoritarian. Regression models indicated mediated, integrated relationships (through maternal and spousal reciprocity) for females, but no mediations were found for males. Significantly more variance in emotional distress was explained by spousal reciprocity than by the parent related variables, and for the men than for the women.     

Relationships Between Physical Symptoms,Emotional Distress,and Pain Appraisal in Fibromyalgia: The Moderator Effect of Alexithymia

Alexithymia is a personality construct that is frequently identified in fibromyalgia (FM). Previous studies have explored the relationship between alexithymia and emotional distress in this disease. Yet, the additional link with factors of pain appraisal is unknown. This study examined the moderating effect of alexithymia in the relationship between emotional distress and pain appraisal in 97 FM women. A control group of 100 healthy women also participated in the study. All participants completed several self-reports about pain experience, sleep quality, impairment, emotional distress, pain appraisal, and alexithymia. FM women showed significantly more difficulty in identifying and describing feelings, but less externally oriented thinking than healthy women. In the clinical group, difficulty in identifying feelings and difficulty in describing feelings significantly correlated with lower sleep quality, higher anxiety and depression, and increased pain catastrophizing and fear of pain. Difficulty in describing feelings significantly correlated with higher pain experience and vigilance to pain. Externally oriented thinking was not correlated with any of the clinical variables. Difficulty in identifying feelings moderated the relationship between anxiety and pain catastrophizing, and difficulty in describing feelings moderated the relationship between anxiety and fear of pain. Implications of the findings for the optimization of care of FM patients are discussed.     

An exploration of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with distressed young people

This mixed methods study explored the effectiveness and experience of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with young people. An effectiveness study allocated 80 young people aged between 13 and 25 years from four Youth Information Advice and Counselling Services centres in England to two groups: an integrated counselling and coaching group, based on the Personal Consultancy (PC) model, and a humanistic counselling group. Self-report measures of distress were administered at baseline and endpoint. Findings of the quantitative analysis showed that although baseline distress levels between groups were equivalent, post-intervention levels were significantly lower in the integrated group. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of qualitative experiences from five young people from the integrated group explored possible reasons for these results. Five master themes emerged: making sense of past, present and/or future, developing a sense of agency, management of affect, enhancing interpersonal relationships and development of self. Findings indicated that young people responded well to the integrated treatment; attending to intra-psychic issues alongside their developmental challenges seemed to have a beneficial effect on their sense of agency in particular. In conclusion, PC may be an effective means of reducing distress in young people.     

Inter- and intra-group differences in psychological concerns among international students

With data gathered from 47 university counseling centers in the United States, this study addresses both inter- and intra-group differences in symptomatology at intake among international students. In Study 1, symptomatology among international students was explored in comparison to US ethnic groups. In Study 2, intra-group differences in symptomatology among international students were examined. In Study 1, data consisted of 14,421 international, White American, African American, Asian American, and Latina/Latino American counseling center clients who completed the CCAPS-62 at intake. Partially supporting our hypothesis, results indicate significant findings among international students in the social anxiety and academic distress domains of the CCAPS-62. Contrary to our expectations, Asian American students reported significantly greater concerns across many domains when compared to other groups. In Study 2, international students (n = 607) were further divided into five continents of origin: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe. Results indicate that in multiple domains, international students from Asia and Africa reported significantly greater concerns than those from Europe, North America, or South America. Implications of findings for university counseling centers and universities at large are discussed.