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Behavioral Sciences
Special Issues
Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases
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Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 2859

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sara Gostoli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: adaptation; chronic disease; coping; emotional burden; emotional support; mental health; psychological distress; psychological intervention; psychological well-being; quality of life
Dr. Giulia Raimondi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: methodology; psychometrics; quality of life of patients with skin conditions; psychological distress; emotion dysregulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The management of life-long physical conditions can deeply affect mental health, psychological well-being, and quality of life and result in difficult adaptation. People suffering from a chronic disease could develop helplessness, discouragement, hopelessness, or mood disturbances, which, in turn, could worsen their medical prognosis. Moreover, since managing a chronic illness could impact the sense of self, especially when symptoms are painful or impair social and school/work functioning, difficulties in how these people cope with everyday life might arise. Finally, these medical conditions could also burden families or caregivers, with inevitable repercussions on the support received and the management of the chronic illness itself. Healthcare providers play an important role in supporting the mental and physical consequences of the chronic disease; however, their availability could be limited. Therefore, there is a need to implement effective interventions aimed at improving psychological distress deriving from a chronic medical condition, with a particular interest in those factors that might foster or hamper them, and the impact of those interventions on medium- and long-term prognosis.

This Special Issue aims to advance the understanding of how emotional support to people with chronic diseases might be provided. We are seeking articles enhancing knowledge on interventions addressing psychological distress, from the development, implementation, evaluation, and translation into practice, including factors that might underpin and affect long-term health conditions.

Dr. Sara Gostoli
Dr. Giulia Raimondi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • adaptation
  • chronic disease
  • coping
  • emotional burden
  • emotional support
  • mental health
  • psychological distress
  • psychological intervention
  • psychological well-being
  • quality of life

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1727 KiB  
Article
Fear of Recurrence and Progression in People with Heart Disease: Risk Factors and Implications for Emotional Support
by Sarah T. Clarke, Barbara M. Murphy, Robert Hester and Alun C. Jackson
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 479; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040479 - 6 Apr 2025
Viewed by 293
Abstract
Support to manage fear of recurrence and progression (FoRP) is a major concern and a commonly unmet need for people with chronic illness. The current study identified profiles of and risk factors for FoRP in people with heart disease. A sample of 241 [...] Read more.
Support to manage fear of recurrence and progression (FoRP) is a major concern and a commonly unmet need for people with chronic illness. The current study identified profiles of and risk factors for FoRP in people with heart disease. A sample of 241 participants completed 44 cardiac-specific FoRP items and provided demographic, clinical, and psychosocial information. Cluster analysis identified three profiles: a high-, moderate-, and low-FoRP group. Patients who were younger, had a comorbid health condition(s), and higher levels of uncertainty and cardiac-related distress were at the most risk of higher FoRP. By characterizing the nature and correlates of cardiac-FoRP, this study enables health professionals to understand the specific concerns of their patients and assists in identifying those at greatest risk. The findings extend the emerging field of cardiac-FoRP research and will assist in the development of a cardiac-specific screening measure and of tailored and targeted interventions to support cardiac patients in their emotional recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases)
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13 pages, 249 KiB  
Article
Impact of Collaborative Care on Depression in Patients Aged 60+: A Secondary Analysis of the GermanIMPACT Study on Behavioural Activation
by Sigrid Boczor, Sanaz Ashrafi, Frederike Bjerregaard, Christiane Bleich, Thomas Grochtdreis, Dagmar Lühmann, Martin Härter, Lars Hölzel, Michael Hüll, Iris Tinsel, Martin Scherer and Thomas Kloppe
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040462 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 287
Abstract
Depressive disorders are highly prevalent among older adults (60+) in Europe. Activating these patients was a core component of the GermanIMPACT study, which evaluated collaborative care in a cluster-randomized primary care setting. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in PHQ-9 remission. The [...] Read more.
Depressive disorders are highly prevalent among older adults (60+) in Europe. Activating these patients was a core component of the GermanIMPACT study, which evaluated collaborative care in a cluster-randomized primary care setting. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in PHQ-9 remission. The aim of this secondary analysis was to investigate which activities were planned and whether their implementation or non-implementation was associated with depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) after 12 months. Behavioural activation data were collected by the care managers. A categorization for activity type (collected as free text) and activity implementation status was developed. The association of successfully implemented activities, planned-not-implemented activities, and the number of activities per patient with the 12-month PHQ-9 total score was calculated using logistic regressions (adjusted for age, gender, living situation/baseline PHQ-9). A total 2188 activities were planned for 136 patients; 66% were successfully implemented. Mean age was 71 (±7) years (78% female; 52% living alone). Activities focusing on “self-care/spirituality” improved the PHQ-9 outcome (OR 1.540; p = 0.048), while planned-not-implemented activities overall worsened it (OR 1.16; p = 0.007). Patient activation is key to treating depressive symptoms in old age. Particularly ‘self-care/spirituality’ activities could be planned, and organizational activities should be closely supported. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases)
15 pages, 467 KiB  
Article
Emotional Dysregulation, Hopelessness and Dysmorphophobic Concerns Among Hospitalized Patients with Autoimmune, Inflammatory, and Metabolic Skin Disorders
by Tonia Samela, Giorgia Cordella, Valeria Antinone, Maria Beatrice Pupa, Alessandra Vendoni Capitani, Dario Didona, Luciana Di Girolamo, Anna Rita Giampetruzzi and Damiano Abeni
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(3), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15030354 - 13 Mar 2025
Viewed by 447
Abstract
Chronic disfiguring skin conditions profoundly affect patients’ quality of life (QoL) due to their physical, psychological, and emotional consequences. Although the presence of depression and anxiety symptomatology in dermatological patients is well established, the specific roles of emotional dysregulation, dysmorphophobic concerns, and hopelessness [...] Read more.
Chronic disfiguring skin conditions profoundly affect patients’ quality of life (QoL) due to their physical, psychological, and emotional consequences. Although the presence of depression and anxiety symptomatology in dermatological patients is well established, the specific roles of emotional dysregulation, dysmorphophobic concerns, and hopelessness in this population require further investigation. This study aimed for the following: (1) to assess symptoms of emotional dysregulation, dysmorphophobic concerns, and hopelessness in hospitalized patients with severe dermatological diseases; (2) analyze whether emotional dysregulation mediates the relationship between dysmorphophobic concerns and hopelessness. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 120 hospitalized dermatology patients. Patients completed standardized measures, including the Emotional Dysregulation Scale (EDs), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and the Questionario sul Dismorfismo Corporeo “Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire” (QDC). Disease severity and pain perception were assessed using the Physician Global Assessment (PGA) and the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Significant associations were observed between emotional dysregulation, dysmorphophobic concerns, and hopelessness. Emotional dysregulation partially mediated the relationship between dysmorphophobic concerns and hopelessness (indirect effect: b = 0.013, CI [0.004, 0.026]). Higher dysmorphophobic concerns were associated with emotional dysregulation, which, in turn, predicted greater hopelessness. Emotional dysregulation seems to play a critical role in the relationship between dysmorphophobic concerns and hopelessness in dermatological patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases)
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22 pages, 1085 KiB  
Article
Adapting and Implementing a Blended Collaborative Care Intervention for Older Adults with Multimorbidity: Quantitative and Qualitative Results from the ESCAPE Pilot Study
by Josefine Schulze, Dagmar Lühmann, Jonas Nagel, Cornelia Regner, Christine Zelenak, Kristina Bersch, Christoph Herrmann-Lingen, Matthew M. Burg and Birgit Herbeck-Belnap
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(1), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15010079 - 17 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1235
Abstract
Multimorbidity poses significant challenges for patients and healthcare systems, often exacerbated by fragmented care and insufficient collaboration across providers. Blended Collaborative Care (BCC) is a promising strategy to address care complexity by partnering care managers (CMs) with primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists. [...] Read more.
Multimorbidity poses significant challenges for patients and healthcare systems, often exacerbated by fragmented care and insufficient collaboration across providers. Blended Collaborative Care (BCC) is a promising strategy to address care complexity by partnering care managers (CMs) with primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists. This study aimed to adapt and pilot a BCC intervention for patients aged 65+ with heart failure and physical–mental multimorbidity. Our objectives were to assess the feasibility of the study procedures, patient recruitment, participant satisfaction and acceptability, and to identify necessary adjustments for improving intervention delivery. We evaluated goal attainment and intervention fidelity through standardised electronic documentation by CMs, and patient acceptance and satisfaction through semi-structured interviews. A monocentric, one-arm pilot study involved nine patients with a mean of 6.7 contacts with their CM over three months. Patients’ health goals primarily focused on lifestyle changes and psychosocial support. The intervention was generally well-accepted, with no reported negative consequences. Difficulties in establishing working alliances with PCPs were a barrier to effective implementation. The analysis indicated the need for minor procedural adjustments. Next steps include launching the ESCAPE trial, a large randomised-controlled trial across different European healthcare systems and developing strategies to facilitate PCP involvement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases)
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