Dimensions of Resilience and Their Predictive Utility Among Clients With Anxiety Disorders or Depressive Disorders: A Factor Analytic Study.

The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale is a commonly used measure of resilience. However, while resilience is considered multidimensional, the specific dimensions embedded within this scale remain equivocal. The aim of this article was to contribute to this debate by analyzing responses from a large sample obtained within a mental health setting.

A novel method for the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life patient-reported outcome measurements.

Background: This paper presents a novel methodology for translation and cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality-of-life patient-reported outcome measures, incorporating the Delphi method. Specifically, we describe the process of translating the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-7 from English to Norwegian using this method.

Methods: The multistep translation method combined the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life guidelines, an Expert Panel review, and the Delphi method.

Does Illness Behavior Contribute to the Understanding of Self-Efficacy and Quality of Life Among People With Hearing Loss? A Test of Concept.

Purpose: The study sought to first confirm the mediating role of self-efficacy (SE) in the link between hearing loss and reduced quality of life (QOL) and introduce the construct of illness behavior (IB) as a further correlate of self-reported QOL that may itself be mediated by SE.

Method: Cross-sectional data were attained using a questionnaire that was completed by 61 adults with self-reported acquired hearing loss.

Results: Support was provided for low SE being a barrier to QOL, with hearing loss only predictive of emotional QOL when SE was an intermediary (mediating) variable.

Predictive Validity of Resilience in the Treatment of Individuals With Anxiety and Depressive Disorders.

The current study sought to evaluate the predictive validity of resilience among individuals with anxiety and/or depressive disorders. Receiver operating characteristics were calculated for each of the 25-item and 10-item versions of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, evaluated against psychological distress and treatment response, at screening and post-treatment. New referrals to an anxiety and related disorders clinic were recruited for this purpose ( = 672 at screening, = 349 post-treatment).

Pathways to psychological wellbeing for patients with bladder cancer and their partners-in-care.

Purpose: The goal of the current analyses was to describe pathways through which Psychological Wellbeing might be better understood for clinical participants with bladder cancer and their partners. This was achieved by applying Roy's Adaptation Model that provides a framework with which to understand responses to challenging circumstances that has proved useful in the study of a range of chronic conditions.

Methods: The sample comprised 119 patients with a diagnosis of bladder cancer, and 103 supportive partners.

Medical student selection criteria and junior doctor workplace performance.

Background: Medical school selection decisions have consequences beyond graduation. With generally low attrition rates, most medical students become junior doctors. Universities are therefore not just selecting students into a medical course; they are choosing the future medical workforce.

E-health: psychosocial challenges for South Australian rural mental health consumers.

Introduction: Rates of mental health issues are increasing, coupled with insufficient resources to provide appropriate support. This is a particular challenge for rural areas in Australia that face significant social inequities including a scarcity of health resources. E-health initiatives are often proposed to maximise the number of rural mental health consumers able to receive support.

Toward an Understanding of Patients' and Their Partners' Experiences of Bladder Cancer.

Background: Bladder cancer is characterized by recurrence and progression, ongoing surveillance and treatment, adverse effects, and complications and is associated with chronic ill health that may compromise relationships, social activities, and employment.

Objective: The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of quality of life disruptions among both those diagnosed with bladder cancer and their supportive partners (spouses or other family members).

Interventions/methods: Couples were recruited from a tertiary care public hospital database.

A pilot study: Can the UFOV assessment be used as a repeated measure to determine timing of on-road assessment in stroke?

Background/aims: Useful Field of View scores are predictive of on-road performance post-stroke. No objective data exist to determine if the Useful Field of View (UFOV) assessment can be used as a repeated measure in the post-stroke population to determine timing of occupational therapy on-road assessment as recovery occurs. The aims of this study were to determine whether there is a practice effect if the UFOV is administered at one, two and three months' post-stroke and to assess optimal time post-stroke to refer to an on-road assessment.

The Role of Negative Affect in the Assessment of Quality of Life among Women with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of negative affect (defined in terms of lack of optimism, depressogenic attributional style, and hopelessness depression) on the quality of life of women with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: Participants (n=177) completed either an online or paper questionnaire made available to members of Australian diabetes support groups. Measures of optimism, attributional style, hopelessness depression, disease-specific data, and diabetes-related quality of life were sought.

Patterns of 'Abnormal' Illness Behavior among Healthy Individuals.

Objectives: We extend the seminal work of Professor Issy Pilowsky by presenting a contemporary re-conceptualization of abnormal illness behavior (AIB) as a general psychological phenomenon evident among healthy community members.

Methods: Participants (N = 344) completed a self- report questionnaire comprising health information and well-validated psychological measures from the field of somatization (eg, AIB, attributional style for physical symptoms, cognitive distortion of somatic information, illness likelihood, maladaptive coping).

Results: Cluster analysis of illness behavior responses resulted in 3 unique groupings distinguished by key health and psychological variables.

Predicting wellbeing among people with epilepsy using illness cognitions.

Objective: This study sought to examine the synergistic contribution of illness-related perceptions (stigma, severity, and threat) and illness behavior to wellbeing among people with epilepsy. Poorer wellbeing was expected among those who perceived greater stigma, illness severity, and threat and had more extreme illness behavior.

Methods: Individuals with a diagnosis of epilepsy (N=210), recruited through local and online support groups, completed a questionnaire comprising demographic and epilepsy-specific information, and validated measures of illness perceptions and behavior, epilepsy-related quality of life, and general psychological health.

Norwegian translation, and validation, of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) and the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7).

Introduction And Hypothesis: The goal was to translate into Norwegian, and validate, short versions of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) and the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7) using a sample of women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor dysfunction.

Methods: Modified European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Guidelines were used for translation and cultural adaptation. Of 212 eligible Norwegian women who consented to participate, 205 completed the questionnaires, of whom 50 were retested after 1 - 3 weeks, and 76 were tested 6 months after surgery.

Predicting success in medical school: a longitudinal study of common Australian student selection tools.

Background: Medical student selection and assessment share an underlying high stakes context with the need for valid and reliable tools. This study examined the predictive validity of three tools commonly used in Australia: previous academic performance (Grade Point Average (GPA)), cognitive aptitude (a national admissions test), and non-academic qualities of prospective medical students (interview).

Methods: A four year retrospective cohort study was conducted at Flinders University Australia involving 382 graduate entry medical students first enrolled between 2006 and 2009.

Comparisons of the utility of researcher-defined and participant-defined successful ageing.

Aim: To investigate the impact of different approaches for measuring 'successful ageing', four alternative researcher and participant definitions were compared, including a novel measure informed by cluster analysis. Rates of successful ageing were explored, as were their relative associations with age and measures of successful adaptation, to assess construct validity.

Method: Participants, aged over 65, were recruited from community-based organisations.

The relative contributions of function, perceived psychological burden and partner support to cognitive distress in bladder cancer.

Objective: Bladder cancer is a genitourinary disease of increasing incidence. Despite improvements in treatment, outcomes remain equivocal with high recurrence rates. It is associated with poor psychosocial outcomes due to reduced functioning of the genitourinary system.

Appearance Investment, Quality of Life, and Metabolic Control Among Women with Type 1 Diabetes.

Background: Concomitants of Type 1 diabetes management include weight gain and dietary restraint. Body image concerns, particularly among women, are therefore common.

Purpose: The study evaluated associations between the appearance investment component of body image, age, quality of life and self-reported metabolic control were examined, along with the practice of insulin restriction as a weight control strategy.

My mother told me: the roles of maternal messages, body image, and disordered eating in maladaptive exercise.

Purpose: The current study examined the relevance of familial environment (negative maternal messages) to the phenomenon of maladaptive (obligatory) exercise, defined as exercise fixation. Weight/shape concerns and exercise frequency were examined as potential mediators, evaluated both with and without eating disorder symptoms as a covariate.

Method: Self-report data comprising sociodemographic details and measures of parental weight messages, body image, obligatory exercise, and disordered eating symptoms were completed by 298 young female attendees of health and fitness centres.

Patients' perspectives regarding long-term warfarin therapy and the potential transition to new oral anticoagulant therapy.

Objectives: To examine patients' perspectives regarding long-term vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy and the potential transition to new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) such as dabigatran and rivaroxaban, and to determine if factors such as residential location affect these opinions.

Design Setting And Participants: Patients on VKA therapy for at least 12 weeks completed a questionnaire specifically designed for the study. They were recruited while attending point-of-care international normalized ratio (INR) testing at six South Australian general practice clinics during the period July-September 2013.

Motivational and psychological correlates of bodybuilding dependence.

Background And Aims: Exercise may become physically and psychologically maladaptive if taken to extremes. One example is the dependence reported by some individuals who engage in weight training. The current study explored potential psychological, motivational, emotional and behavioural concomitants of bodybuilding dependence, with a particular focus on motives for weight training.

Correspondence between alternate measures of maladaptive exercise, and their associations with disordered eating symptomatology.

Aims: The study sought to contribute to the measurement of maladaptive exercise by examining the psychometric properties of a variety of instruments and classification algorithms. The primary aim was to identify the items or scales necessary and sufficient to quantify the construct. A secondary aim was to comment on the construct validity of these measures by examining their relationships with disordered eating symptomatology.

Patterns of emotional expression and responses to health and illness in women with functional voice disorders (MTVD) and a comparison group.

Objectives: To determine whether emotional expression, alexithymia, illness behavior, and coping strategies differed between women with muscle tension voice disorder (MTVD) and those without voice disorder and between women with and without mucosal pathology of the vocal folds, and to explore possible links between psychosocial constructs and clinical features in women with MTVD.

Study Design And Method: A within-subjects design matched 20 women with MTVD and 20 women without voice disorder on validated self-report measures of the psychosocial constructs. The effect of mucosal pathology was assessed using between-groups analyses.

Transition from the spouse dementia caregiver role: A change for the better?

One in 15 Australians over 65 experience dementia, and are commonly supported by spouses. Evidence demonstrates declining wellbeing for these caregivers as their role continues. There are indications of improvement once caregivers transition out of the role (recovery) but alternate suggestions that caregiving stress may be too damaging to be appeased (wear and tear).

Construct validity and temporal stability of the abridged 31-item Illness Behaviour Questionnaire.

Objective: Key psychometric information was sought for three newly derived dimensions from an abridged Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ-31): Affirmation of Illness (AI), Concern for Health (CH) and General Affective State (GAS). The construct validity of these scales was examined along with their test-retest reliability and long-term stability.

Design: A longitudinal, observational study was conducted with 675 participants (general community members and those with either asthma, diabetes and chronic pain or chronic fatigue syndrome) providing self-report questionnaire data at baseline, with additional information sought at three (n = 483; 71.