Background. Psychosocial consequences of psoriasis have been studied extensively. Feelings of stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress are common consequences for patients with...Show moreBackground. Psychosocial consequences of psoriasis have been studied extensively. Feelings of stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress are common consequences for patients with psoriasis. However, research on the prospective influence of psychosocial factors on psoriasis symptom severity is scarce. Thus, in this study, it is researched if feelings of stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress are related to the exacerbation of psoriasis symptoms six and twelve months later. Method. This prospective study examined through four multiple regression analyses if the predictors stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress influenced clinician-assessed and self-administered psoriasis severity after six and twelve months. The type of dermatological treatment and baseline disease severity were included as control variables. Data was collected among 49 psoriasis outpatients using an extensive questionnaire containing multiple self-report questionnaires and through clinician-assessed psoriasis severity. This was conducted at three time points: baseline, at six months, and twelve months. Results. Solely for one predictor a significant effect was found, indicating that higher feelings of stigmatization during baseline measurement predicted lower self-administered psoriasis severity after 6 months (ß = -.38, t = -2.25, p = .03) No other significant effects were found for any predictor, regardless of the clinician-assessed or self-administered severity or the time point (all p ≥ .06). There were predominantly no to small effect sizes found (-.36 ≤ r ≤ .30). Conclusion and discussion. The results of this study cannot substantiate the effect of perceived stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress on psoriasis severity later. However, a lack of power, the extended interval between measurements, and low mean baseline scores can partly explain the lack of results. Future research should enhance their research design by considering more control variables such as treatment adherence, alcohol consumption, visibility of the lesions, and coping strategies. Besides, a broader range of disease severity should be included. As psoriasis has a serious psychological impact, it is worthwhile to continue the research on the effect of psychosocial factors on psoriasis severity. Previous research suggests the existence of an effect, and establishing this could enhance and increase the use of tailored psychological interventions in the treatment of patients diagnosed with psoriasis. This subsequently can contribute to alleviating their disease burden.Show less
Background: Psoriasis is a common chronic skin condition characterized by red plaques, itching, scaling, and thickened skin. Stigma from the general public against people with psoriasis is a...Show moreBackground: Psoriasis is a common chronic skin condition characterized by red plaques, itching, scaling, and thickened skin. Stigma from the general public against people with psoriasis is a prevalent issue. Stigma in psoriasis has been studied mostly from the patient's perspective, while very little research has been done on public stigma from the perspective of the general population. There are several factors that may play a role in the stigmatization of people with psoriasis, such as knowledge, familiarity and empathy. Understanding these factors is crucial for developing effective interventions to tackle stigmatizing attitudes. Aims: the aim of this study was to explore potential factors that are related to stigmatizing attitudes from the general public towards individuals with psoriasis and to investigate how these factors were linked. Methods: This study was a sub-project of a bigger study and had a cross-sectional repeated measures within-subjects design. The sample consisted of 150 respondents from the Dutch population, with an average age of 33 years (SD = 13.1), comprising 48 men and 118 women. The respondents had to read a vignette about an encounter with a man with psoriasis after which we measured stigmatizing attitudes towards this person. The study assessed various factors related to these stigmatizing attitudes, including knowledge, familiarity, and empathy. Results: Less knowledge was associated with higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes (R² = 0.16, F(1, 149) = 29.11 , p < .001), as well as less familiarity with other people that have skin diseases (R² = 0.06, F(1, 149) = 10,04, p = .002). However, these relationships were not mediated by empathy. Discussion: This study highlights the potential significance of knowledge and familiarity in reducing stigmatizing attitudes towards people with psoriasis, suggesting the importance of interventions aimed at increasing public understanding and interactions between individuals with and without psoriasis. While empathy did not mediate the relationship between knowledge, familiarity, and stigmatizing attitudes, it is too early to conclude that empathy is irrelevant. By reviewing other studies, we found that empathy could be examined more extensively in several ways. Therefore, by considering different ways of measuring empathy, we can potentially see its role. Consequently, future research should further investigate and expand the ways in which empathy is assessed.Show less
Stigmatization is an impactful consequence of living with a chronic illness. Previous studies found that people with Parkinson’s Disease (PwP) also suffer from stigmatization due to their visible...Show moreStigmatization is an impactful consequence of living with a chronic illness. Previous studies found that people with Parkinson’s Disease (PwP) also suffer from stigmatization due to their visible uncoordinated motor and/or behavioral symptoms, such as a tremor or an expressionless face. Previous studies also found that personality may be a determinant of stigmatizing attitudes, especially the personality trait openness to experience (OtE). However, OtE as a potential determinant of stigmatizing attitudes towards PwP in the general population has hardly been researched. As people who are high in OtE are more likely to be intellectually curious and more accepting of new ideas, they are also more likely to have more knowledge about, for instance, health and illnesses. Having knowledge about an illness is also linked to having less stigmatizing attitudes towards the illness. Taking these past findings into consideration, the objectives of this study were to 1) examine the extent of stigmatizing attitudes towards PwP in comparison to a healthy individual; 2) identify the potential relationship between OtE and stigmatizing attitudes towards Parkinson’s Disease (PD); and 3) investigate whether this relationship is mediated by having knowledge about PD. This study firstly measured whether PwP evoke more stigmatizing attitudes than a healthy person using vignettes. The results showed that a PwP evokes higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes than a person who appears healthy (Wilks’ Lambda = .34, F(1, 138) = 266.84, p < .001), partial η2 = .66. However, the hypotheses which state a potential negative relationship between OtE and stigmatizing attitudes (all p-values > .05), as well as a potential mediation effect of knowledge about PD on this relationship (all all p-values > .05 and all 95% CI include 0), were rejected. Some of the used measures had poor psychometric properties, so reliability and validity tests are recommended for future use of these measures. This study contributes to PD stigmatization research through the fact that, unlike most previous research, it measured stigmatizing attitudes from the perspective of the general population and, 2) it showed that PwP are indeed more stigmatized compared to a healthy individual. However, more research on OtE and knowledge about PD is needed to determine whether the determinants indeed play a role in stigmatizing attitudes towards PwP.Show less
Stigmatizing attitudes play a large role in health conditions such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and are an important part of the psychosocial impact of PD. To decrease these stigmatizing attitudes...Show moreStigmatizing attitudes play a large role in health conditions such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and are an important part of the psychosocial impact of PD. To decrease these stigmatizing attitudes towards PD patients, de-stigmatization interventions should be tailored to predictors and target groups of these stigmatizing attitudes. This study aims to examine the extent of stigmatizing attitudes towards PD patients in the general public, and to identify potential predictors of these stigmatizing attitudes. In addition, it aims to compare the extent of stigmatizing attitudes towards PD with healthy individuals, psoriasis, and a common cold. Participants were asked to read four vignettes about PD, healthy individuals, psoriasis and a common cold, and fill out questionnaires that measured their stigmatizing attitudes. In addition, they were asked to complete questionnaires that measured possible predictors of stigmatizing attitudes towards PD. Additionally, a 4 x 1 within subjects’ design (four conditions; PD, healthy control, psoriasis, common cold) was used to examine the extent of stigmatizing attitudes. The sample consisted of 140 participants (60% females; Mage = 31, SD = 12.67). In total, 69.3% of the participants thought that the person described in the PD vignette was unattractive and 59.2% felt compassion towards this person. Also, it appeared that germ aversion was predictive of stigmatizing attitudes towards PD patients. The other potential predictors were not predictive of stigmatizing attitudes towards PD patients. Additionally, it appeared that the stigmatizing attitudes towards the PD condition (M = 14.59, SE = 0.17) were higher than the healthy control condition (M = 10.43, SE = 0.16), and lower than the psoriasis condition (M = 15.50, SE = 0.21) and the common cold condition (M = 15.87, SE = 0.18). De-stigmatization interventions should be tailored to creating awareness and giving psychoeducation about the behavioural immune system (BIS), since germ aversion is an indicator of the BIS. It is likely that diseases such as PD activate the BIS, and that avoidance of pathogens may be an underlying mechanism of stigmatizing attitudes towards PD patients. Therefore, by tailoring de-stigmatization interventions to this, someone’s stigmatizing attitudes towards PD patients might decrease.Show less
Previous research has demonstrated that musicians have a higher level of motor skills and motor learning abilities than people without musical training. In addition, cognitive reserve has proven to...Show morePrevious research has demonstrated that musicians have a higher level of motor skills and motor learning abilities than people without musical training. In addition, cognitive reserve has proven to influence several cognitive functions and to prevent age-related cognitive decline. However, little research has been done in relation to the effect these variables have on procedural learning ability in an untrained motor task in older adults. This could contribute to explore which of these predictors, whose beneficial effects have been extensively studied in relation to several other variables, is more relevant for predicting procedural learning ability specifically, with implications in movement rehabilitation. In the current study, the level of musical training and cognitive reserve, controlling for age, was expected to predict procedural learning ability in a new complex motor task. Additionally, the level of musical training was hypothesized to be more predictive than cognitive reserve in the outcome procedural learning ability. To test these hypotheses, a within-subjects experimental design was used where N = 16 participants performed a computerized pursuit-rotor task and a serial reaction time task, in addition to answering various questionnaires that measured their level of musical training and cognitive reserve. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression model was conducted. The results indicate that the level of musical training and cognitive reserve, controlling for age, did not significantly predict procedural learning ability. Possible explanations for the current lack of significant findings may relate to the small sample size included in the study and its low heterogeneity, as well as to the design of the experiment in relation to the self-reported measures that were included, and the difficulty of the pursuit-rotor task. Thus, future research should replicate this study including more heterogeneous and larger samples, as well as by overcoming the mentioned limitations, and by following the proposed suggestions for further research. Finally, if musical training proves to be a relevant predictor of procedural learning ability, it could have implications for triage in movement rehabilitation in health settings and for healthy lifestyles recommended to the population.Show less
Background. Stigmatization frequently occurs in individuals with a skin condition such as psoriasis, which can negatively influence their mental health and disease status. While stigma is known to...Show moreBackground. Stigmatization frequently occurs in individuals with a skin condition such as psoriasis, which can negatively influence their mental health and disease status. While stigma is known to be the leading cause of disability for these individuals, little is known about stigmatizing attitudes among the general population and its correlates. This study aimed to examine stigmatizing attitudes towards psoriasis among the Dutch population and investigated possible predictors. Methods. An online survey was administered to 124 participants, which were recruited based on convenience sampling. A 3 x 1 within-subject cross-sectional design was used, investigating the difference in stigmatizing attitudes towards the health conditions psoriasis and common cold (included due to COVID-19), and a healthy control condition. To describe the different conditions, vignettes were used. A one-way repeated measure Manova examined differences between the three conditions on stigmatizing attitudes (assessed by a social distance scale, a direct and indirect version of the impact of skin condition in daily life scale, stereotype endorsement scale, and emotion ratings). In addition, zero-order correlations and multiple regression analyses investigated possible predictors of stigmatizing attitudes towards psoriasis, including sociodemographic variables, familiarity and knowledge about psoriasis, indicators of the behavioral immune system and fear of corona. Results. Manova analysis displayed higher stigmatizing attitudes towards individuals with psoriasis as compared to the control group (p<.001). Besides, overall higher stigmatizing attitudes towards a common cold as compared to the psoriasis group were found. Higher stigmatizing attitudes towards psoriasis were correlated with lower knowledge, higher pathogen disgust, higher perceived infectability, male gender, and familiarity with psoriasis. No correlations were found regarding age, education, fear of corona, or gem aversion. Multiple regression displayed male gender, higher levels of pathogen disgust, and lower levels of knowledge about psoriasis to be predictors of stigmatizing attitudes (p<.05). Conclusion. Stigmatizing attitudes towards psoriasis is shown to be prevalent in Dutch society. As stigmatizing attitudes were shown to be related to reduced knowledge and male gender, future interventions might focus on these factors. Besides, different age groups and professions could be investigated in future studies. Further research is needed, as stigma towards psoriasis is rarely been investigated among the public.Show less
A dysfunction in conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is believed to be an important mechanism in chronic pain. Few studies investigated the role of expectations in pain modulation, while there are...Show moreA dysfunction in conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is believed to be an important mechanism in chronic pain. Few studies investigated the role of expectations in pain modulation, while there are indications that pain sensitivity can be affected by expectations. The present study examined whether expectations modulated the effect of conditioned pain stimulation. Since earlier research indicated gender differences and physiological stress levels might play a role in CPM as a response to positive or negative information, the present study will take gender differences and objective stress levels (heartrate and skin conductance levels) into account. Healthy participants (57 of each sex) between 18 – 35 years of age were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: 1) participants were told positive expectations, that holding the non-dominant hand in a cold-water bath will decrease the pain intensity of the test stimulus (analgesia group), 2) participants received the information that the conditioned stimuli will increase the pain intensity of the test stimulus (hyperalgesia group), 3) participants received no information about the effect (control condition). Results were analyzed with a mixed ANOVA. The results show that positive or negative expectations modulated the CPM effect compared to the control condition (p = .006). This effect was not dependent on gender. Conditioning stimulation increased skin conductance levels, but not heart rate in the hyperalgesia group. Higher skin conductance levels as a response to negative information were more visible in males compared to females. The present study suggests that inhibitory CPM can be influenced by verbal suggestions, and that a dysfunction of descending inhibitory pathways seems not the only possible cause of a reduced inhibitory CPM. Future research could examine if positive expectations can influence the altered CPM efficacy in patients with chronic pain.Show less
