OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the extent to which illness perceptions and coping strategies among women diagnosed with breast cancer explain psychological distress at diagnosis and at 6 months post diagnosis relative to demographic and illness-related variables. METHODS Women were recruited to the study shortly after diagnosis. A total of 90 women completed study materials (Illness Pe...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Effective prevention of cardiovascular events in people with hypertension requires optimal control of blood pressure. Despite advances in management, poor adherence to antihypertensive medications is often reported as the major reason attenuating treatment efficacy. Research has provided limited evidence of associations between illness perceptions, satisfaction with consul...

BACKGROUND This study attempted to longitudinally investigate neuropsychological function, illness representations, self-esteem, mood and quality of life (QoL) in individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and compared them with both healthy participants and a clinical comparison group of individuals with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). METHOD Neuropsychological evaluation was adminis...

Three experiments assessed the effects of mood on symptom appraisal, health behavior self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and perceptions of vulnerability. Ss in Experiments 1 and 2 were acutely ill, whereas Ss in Experiment 3 were healthy. In each experiment, happy, sad, and neutral moods were induced. In Experiment 1, Ss who experienced sadness reported more aches and pains and greater discom...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Clinical responsiveness to cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) varies. Recent research has demonstrated that illness perceptions predict active engagement in therapy, and, thereby, better outcomes. In this study, we aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of a modification of the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (M-IPQ) designed to predict resp...

OBJECTIVE To investigate diabetic patients' perceptions of illness and treatments, and explore relationships to adherence and blood glucose control. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Forty-nine type 1 and one hundred and eight type 2 diabetic patients completed questionnaires assessing illness perceptions, treatment beliefs, and adherence to medications, diet, and exercise. Blood glucose control wa...

Leventhal's common sense model has provided a useful framework for explaining psychological distress in several chronic illnesses. The model indicates that a person's perception of their illness and their coping strategies are the key determinants of their experience of psychological distress. The present research examines whether illness perceptions and coping strategies are related to levels ...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND Patients with chest pain or palpitations often have poor outcomes following a negative cardiac evaluation, with symptom persistence, limitations in everyday activities, and reduced health-related quality of life. The aims of this study were to evaluate illness perceptions before and after negative cardiac evaluations and measure the ability of a self-report questionnair...

Objective Leprosy has rarely been the subject of health psychology research despite its substantial impact. Our aim was to explore illness perceptions in patients and their health care providers in Surinam. The Common Sense Model (CSM) was the guiding theoretical model. Design Patients with biomedically cured leprosy and their health care providers completed the B-IPQ and took part in semi-stru...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to test the association between psychosocial factors and delay in uptake of treatment and treatment non-adherence in Indonesian women with breast cancer. METHODS Seventy consecutive patients with breast cancer who were treated at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Indonesia were recruited. They completed a demographic form, the non-adherence questionnaire...