Introduction. Defined by chronic, musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia is often comorbid with depression and anxiety. In these cases, the first line medical treatment can be successfully combined with psychological interventions. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy are among the most widely studied approaches in relation to chronic pain, including fibromyalgia. The objective of this review is to analyze the efficiency of these psychological treatments for alleviating emotional distress in fibromyalgia. Method. The search was conducted on the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science online databases. Clinical trials that fulfilled eligibility criteria were included in this review. A meta-analysis was performed on depression and anxiety scores at post-test. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Chi2 and I2 indicators. For evaluating publication bias, we resorted to a funnel plot graph. Results. A total of 17 reports were selected, among which 4 articles studied the efficiency of acceptance and commitment therapy. Main demographic characteristics were homogenous throughout the included samples. The overall effect was -0.31 (95% CI: -0.47 to -0.15) for depression, and -0.15 (95%: -0.29 to -0.02), reaching statistical significance. Conclusions. Both psychological interventions proved to be efficient for decreasing depression and anxiety in fibromyalgia. For this reason, we believe psychotherapeutic protocols can be reliably implemented within multicomponent treatments, facilitating emotional adjustment in the context of physical disability and pain. Future research directions include the exploration of change processes and multiple moderators, enabling the development of tailored psychological treatments in fibromyalgia.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the fast progression of modern society, occupational stress has recently reached alarming levels with consequences for doctors’ psychological well-being. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship among emotional stability, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction of medical doctors. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 280 medical doctors from Romania between February 2021 and September 2021, in the period between the third and fourth pandemic waves, who were evaluated by the DECAS, ASSET, and Satisfaction with Life scales. Our results showed that emotional stability is negatively correlated with psychological well-being (r = −0.526, p < 0.000) and positively correlated with life satisfaction (r = 0.319, p < 0.0001). Between psychological well-being and life satisfaction, we found a negative correlation (r = −0.046, p < 0.001). This study shows that there is a correlation among emotional stability, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction, which is why it can be considered that Romanian doctors have generated coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most severe disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) spectrum. Negative automatic thoughts (NAT), cognitive fusion (CF), and experiential avoidance (EA), as part of psychological inflexibility (PI), can be considered important dysfunctional cognitive processes in schizophrenia. Methods: In the present study, two samples were included: a target group consisting of 41 people with schizophrenia (23 females; aged 44.98 ± 11.74), and a control group consisting of 40 individuals with end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) (27 males; aged 60.38 ± 9.14). Results: Differences were found between the two groups, with patients with schizophrenia showing an increased frequency of NAT, as well as higher levels of CF and EA (psychological inflexibility), compared to the control group. NAT were the mediator in the relation between the schizophrenia diagnosis and CF, as well as EA. Conclusion: Individuals with schizophrenia present a specific dysfunctional pattern of cognitive functioning, in which negative automatic thoughts represent a distinctive pathway to cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance.

Background: Left undiagnosed and untreated, the association between multiple sclerosis and mental health difficulties significantly increases the multimorbidity risk in these patients. Hence, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the prevalence of neuroticism, depression, and anxiety in MS and to explore the cumulative impact of these psychological factors on the disease expression. Methods: A literature search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases, according to the PRISMA guidelines. Also, the potential risk of bias was assessed using the AXIS tool. Result: After a rigorous full-text examination, among the 756 identified studies, 22 investigations were considered for the systematic review, and 10 studies were selected for the meta-analysis. The prevalence of neuroticism in the studied population was 24.06% (95% CI: 16.79–33.34), of depression 20.77% (95% CI: 7.67–33.88), while the presence of anxiety was found in 23.94% (95% CI: 6.21–40.36). Conclusions: The main finding of this research confirms that psychiatric disorders often co-occur with MS, impacting the clinical symptoms and life quality of patients living with this illness. For a better understanding of the interaction between personality, depression, anxiety, and the disease symptoms, future research should consider conducting comparisons on more homogenous studies.

Background and Objectives: Defined by chronic pain, rheumatic diseases are often co-occurring with anxiety and depression. Among the available psychological interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapies have an already-proven efficiency in these cases. However, the need to adjust their structure became ubiquitous during the post-pandemic period. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of a single-session, process-based cognitive-behavioral intervention for patients with rheumatic conditions within an in-patient setting. Materials and Methods: A total of 31 participants (mean age 58.9 years) completed the single-session intervention. Assessments were conducted prior to the intervention, post-intervention and after one month. Results: Pearson’s correlations, paired samples T tests and a covariance analysis based on the Linear Mixed Model were performed for exploring the relations between baseline variables and evaluating the impact of the SSI intervention. Immediately after the intervention, a significant reduction in cognitive fusion (p = 0.001, d = 1.78), experiential avoidance (p = 0.001, d = 1.4) and dysfunctional behavioral processes was observed. At the one-month evaluation, participants reported decreased pain (p = 0.001, d = 1.11), anxiety (p = 0.004, d = 0.55) and depression (p = 0.001, d = 0.72). Conclusions: The single-session, process-based approach represents a promising intervention in healthcare contexts, as an integrative part of a multimodal rehabilitation treatment in patients with rheumatic conditions.