Psychological adjustment and heart rate variability in ovarian cancer survivors

Introduction: Body image, posttraumatic growth, quality of life, coping, and social support are relevant concepts to ovarian cancer survivors. This study aimed to examine the associations among these concepts as well as their relationships with heart rate variability (HRV), which is an index of vagal tone. Methods: an exploratory and correlational study was conducted on 25 ovarian cancer survivors. We used self-report measures to assess psychological variables. HRV parameters recorded for this study were analyzed in the time domain and in the frequency domain. Spearman correlations were performed. Results: Positive attitude coping strategy was associated with psychological and physical distress related to problems of appearance (Rho = -.57, p < .01), emotional functioning (Rho = .53, p < .01), and global health (Rho = .47, p < .05). Problem solving coping strategy was correlated with a higher posttraumatic growth, namely greater personal strength (Rho = .44, p < .05) and better relationships with others (Rho = .40, p < .05). Seeking social support was associated with growth in relationships with others (Rho = .40, p < .05). Higher HRV parameters were associated with higher physical functioning (SDNN: Rho = .59, p < .01; RMSSD: Rho = .54; p < .01; pNN50: Rho = .56, p < .01; HF: Rho = .58, p < .01). The ratio of low-frequency to high-frequency power (LF/HF) was negatively associated with posttraumatic growth (i.e., personal strength: Rho = .51, p < .05; new possibilities: Rho = -.54, p < .01). Discussion: Positive attitude and problem solving coping strategies may facilitate psychological adjustment to ovarian cancer. The strong association between markers of vagal tone and physical functioning offers insights on the possible role of vagus nerve in ovarian cancer survivors. These findings should be further investigated by future studies with larger samples and longitudinal designs

Does Guided Written Disclosure Reduce Distress and Improve Psychological Functioning in Patients with Skin Diseases?

Background. Skin diseases (e.g., psoriasis and systemic sclerosis) are generally associated with negative psychosocial outcomes. Although different psychological interventions have been used to improve the quality of life of dermatological patients, the effects of the guided written disclosure (GWD) protocol have not been previously examined in these patients. Moreover, little attention has been paid to positive psychology constructs. Methods. This study investigates the effectiveness of GWD on positive and negative functioning in dermatological patients. Pre- and 1-month post-intervention measures included emotion regulation, sense of inner peace, skin-related symptoms and functioning, sense of coherence, and psychological distress. Results. A total of 196 consecutive outpatients were randomly assigned to GWD and active control groups, of whom 60 (30.6%) completed the study and 45 (GWD: n = 24; AC: n = 21) provided complete data. Our results did not show any significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the outcome variables, whereas non-completers reported higher levels of distress, unpleasant skin-related emotions, and lower cognitive reappraisal compared to completers. Conclusions. These findings show a poor compliance, and suggest that expressive writing is not well accepted by patients and is not effective in improving positive and negative psychological functioning in dermatological patients