Introduction. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term disorder significantly impairing the somatic, emotional, and psychological functioning of its sufferers. Previous research has shown that affected individuals are characterized by an increased level of anxiety and depression. Currently, there are two main treatment schemes for RA; the first uses anti-inflammatory drugs, and the second utilizes biologic agents. This begs the question whether sufferers differ in intensities of pain, anxiety, and depression depending on the type of treatment and what the determinants of these affective states in patients treated using different methods are. Methods. The study comprised 85 patients affected by RA (including 57 receiving biologically inactive medication). Research participants filled out a set of questionnaires measuring levels of anxiety and depression, intensity of experienced pain, strategies of coping with pain, and ego resiliency. Results. The collected data was analyzed through intergroup comparisons, calculating simple correlation coefficients, developing and solving regression equations. The results imply that the choice of treatment differentiates the intensity of pain experienced by patients. Those receiving biologic agents reported lower levels of pain compared to those taking anti-inflammatory medication. It has also been noted that there are distinct configurations of conditions conducive to anxiety and depression in both anti-inflammatory and biologic agent groups. Discussion. The observed constellation of dependencies between variables indicates that the choice of treatment scheme differentiates pain levels. This confirms the assumption that pain intensity, coping strategies, and ego resiliency depend on the severity of anxiety and depression.

Objectives. The study aimed to investigate the psychosocial predictors of bruxism. The association of various psychosocial factors such as alexithymia, emotional processing, state and trait anxiety, and stress with awake bruxism was analysed.Methods. The study involved 52 volunteers diagnosed with awake bruxism. The toolkit that was used included the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS), the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the State- and Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI), with independent individual psychological diagnoses being made for every patient. The results were statistically analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24.Results. The obtained data clearly show that psychological traits—both permanent dispositions (e.g., state anxiety and alexithymia) and temporary states (e.g., trait anxiety, emotional processing deficits, and psychological stress)—are significant determinants of awake bruxism. The percentage of explained variance indicates the presence of other factors as well.Conclusions. Psychosocial factors such as state anxiety and trait anxiety, alexithymia, and perceived stress are as important as somatic causes in the occurrence and maintenance of awake bruxism. The profile of the obtained data suggests the possibility of preventing or minimizing the symptoms of awake bruxism through properly constructed psychoprophylactic interactions.

Aim.Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most severe chronic diseases. In many cases it leads to disability and results in a decreased quality of life and increased levels of anxiety and depression. The problem that needs to be addressed is the following: which mental processes lead to increased levels of depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis?Methods.210 patients with rheumatoid arthritis hospitalized in rheumatology wards took part in the research. They filled in illness perception questionnaires (IPQ-R) and questionnaires for testing strategies of handling stress (Mini-COPE) and the level of depression (CES-D).Results.The observed correlation coefficients indicate that several elements of the perception of one’s disease moderately contribute to a high level of depression. Moreover, frequent use of dysfunctional coping strategies contributed to high levels of depression. Dysfunctional coping was moderately linked to depression.Conclusion.The conducted analyses confirmed the links between the beliefs about the disease and levels of depression and showed that the use of dysfunctional coping strategies mediates the relationship between the following elements of the representation of the disease:illness coherence, emotional representation, psychological attribution, risk factors,andthe level of depression.

Objective: Ego-resiliency is attributed the status of a “meta resource” that is responsible for a flexible selection of coping strategies depending on the requirements of a specific difficult situation. A considerably burdensome critical life event is the development of a chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Apart from coping with the symptoms, a fundamental task confronting patients is maintaining their quality of life. This raises the question of whether ego-resiliency serves as a mediator between coping strategies and quality of life. Materials and Methods: 210 RA patients were invited to participate in this study. They were requested to complete a questionnaire that included the Satisfaction with Life scale, the stress coping inventory Mini-COPE, and the Ego-Resiliency scale. The collected data were analyzed by a simple mediation procedure and estimation of simple correlation coefficients. Results: The analysis demonstrated that ego-resiliency (r = 0.46; p < 0.001) and emotion-focused coping (r = 0.39; p < 0.001) determined life satisfaction. Additionally, ego-resiliency mediated the relation between emotion-oriented coping strategies and life satisfaction. Partial mediation was observed (a = 0.45**; b = 0.36**; c = 0.39**; c’ =0.22**; R² = 0.24; F = 35.65; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our observations partly support the assumption about a controlling role of ego-resiliency in the process of selecting coping strategies according to demands of situations.

Cel: Zaburzenia depresyjne, które należą do najczęściej występujących przewlekłych zaburzeń psychicznych, dotyczą do 15% osób przed 25 rokiem życia i mogą wiązać się z szeregiem niekorzystnych zjawisk takich jak: porzucenie nauki, uzależnienia i czyny samobójcze. Z badań wynika, że studenci stanowią grupę szczególnie obciążoną ryzykiem wystąpienia depresji. Wiadomo, że wiele przypadków depresji w tej populacji pozostaje niezdiagnozowanych i nieleczonych. Z tego powodu szczególne znaczenie ma opracowanie odpowiednich metod diagnostycznych. Skala Depresji Kutchera (wersja skrócona) jest powszechnie stosowanym testem przesiewowym do wykrywania młodych osób zagrożonych depresją. Składa się z sześciu pytań dotyczących głównych objawów depresji. Celem pracy było sprawdzenie trafności teoretycznej polskiej wersji skali do oceny depresji KADS (wersja skrócona) na próbie złożonej ze studentów metodą konfirmacyjnej analizy czynnikowej.Metoda: W badaniach wzięło udział 1589 studentów w wieku 18-24 lat, którzy anonimowo i dobrowolnie wypełnili kwestionariusz KADS oraz ankietę demograficzną. Wyniki: Konfirmacyjna analiza czynnikowa wykazała dobre dopasowanie rozwiązania jednoczynnikowego do danych empirycznych. Uzyskane parametry to SB χ² (15) = 968.688, p < .001, RMSEA = .053, CFI = .958, SRMR = .029 oraz ładunki czynnikowe w przedziale od 0,40 do 0,80.Wyniki: Konfirmacyjna analiza czynnikowa wykazała dobre dopasowanie rozwiązania jednoczynnikowego do danych empirycznych. Uzyskane parametry to SB χ² (15) = 968.688, p < .001, RMSEA = .053, CFI = .958, SRMR = .029 oraz ładunki czynnikowe w przedziale od 0,40 do 0,80.Wnioski: Badania wersji polskiej testu KADS w grupie studentów w wieku 18-24 lat wykazały, że test ten cechuje się trafnością teoretyczną i wysoką rzetelnością. Dalsze badania powinny zostać skoncentrowane na trafności kryterialnej narzędzia.

Background The Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is one of the most popular diagnostic tools used to assess depression symptoms, both in epidemiological studies and other types of research projects. The aim of the presented study was the assessment of the psychometric qualities of the Polish version of the scale. Participants and procedure The study was conducted on a group of patients suffering from a somatic illness and at risk of developing depression (n = 826) and among healthy individuals from the general population (n = 1160). Results The results confirmed the factorial structure of the questionnaire. Convergent validity was confirmed by correlations with other measures of affect and resources consistent with the theory. Conclusions The results of our analyses confirmed that the Polish version of the questionnaire is satisfactory in terms of construct and criterion validity and provides a reliable psychometric tool.