Search Results (32)

Background/Objectives: The increasing population of childhood cancer survivors presents new challenges for healthcare systems worldwide. While advances in oncological treatments have dramatically improved survival rates, survivors face a broad spectrum of late effects that extend beyond the biological to encompass profound psychological and social dimensions. Methods: This quasi-systematic review synthesizes data from recent studies on adolescent survivors, revealing significant disruptions in cognitive function, mental health, social integration, education, romantic relationships, and vocational outcomes. Results: This review highlights the inadequacy of a solely biomedical model and advocates for a biopsychosocial approach to long-term follow-up care. An emphasis is placed on the necessity of personalized, interdisciplinary, and developmentally informed interventions, especially in countries like Poland, where structured survivorship care models remain underdeveloped. Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of integrating medical, psychological, and social services to ensure adolescent cancer survivors achieve not only physical recovery but also meaningful life participation and emotional well-being. Full article

Sexual health is a vital aspect of overall well-being, yet individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face significant stigma and discrimination, affecting self-esteem, relationships, and sexual expression. This review examined the recent literature (2020–January 2024) on intimacy and sexuality among adolescents and young adults with ASD, incorporating 32 studies. Findings highlight poorer sexual health among autistic individuals compared to the general population, with difficulties in forming romantic relationships and navigating sexual interactions due to hypersensitivity. Autism is also linked to non-conforming gender identities and asexuality, exposing individuals to dual stigma within the LGBTQ+ community. Autism-related traits hinder sexual health knowledge, increasing risks of victimisation, abuse, and sexually transmitted infections. Comprehensive sexual education and inclusive support are crucial to address these challenges and promote sexual well-being for autistic individuals. Full article

Background. Attachment between romantic partners has been investigated primarily through self-reports assessing the two dimensions of avoidance and ambivalence/anxiety, typically formulating items according to observable psychological properties. However, this approach produces correlated dimensions, with a limited distinction between their features. In this work, we hypothesize that a definition of avoidance and ambivalence driven by their theorized cognitive–evolutionary functions can lead to a clearer-cut distinction between the two (i.e., lower correlation), still maintaining or even further highlighting the expected avoidant and ambivalent characteristics. Methods. To test our hypothesis, we administered to an adult population a battery of self-reports measuring attachment and related properties—i.e., psychological well-being, couple satisfaction, and emotion regulation. We assessed attachment through two classical attachment self-reports—the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) and Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS)—and the novel, theory-informed Attachment–Caregiving Questionnaire (ACQ), building a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) connecting attachment with the other constructs. Results. Our results demonstrate that measuring attachment through the ECR-R/RAAS and the ACQ leads to similar properties but a more evident characterization of avoidance and ambivalence supported by the ACQ. Conclusions. These first findings suggest that the cognitive–evolutionary definition of these two dimensions may be advantageous and should be further investigated. Full article

Objective: This study aims to adapt the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale for the Portuguese population and examine its association with sociosexual orientation, as measured by the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, highlighting the relevance of this association as a public health issue. Methods: The Fear-of-Intimacy Scale was validated through confirmatory factor analyses. A multigroup analysis, employing confirmatory factor analysis, was conducted to evaluate the consistency of the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale across individuals in and out of romantic relationships. The reliability of the model was assessed using various indicators, including Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s omega, composite reliability, the average variance extracted (AVE), and the square root of the AVE. Results: The results indicated robust psychometric properties for the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale, with a well-fitting model identified. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance related to being in a romantic relationship or not were established; however, error variance invariance was not achieved. Although most dimensions of the two instruments displayed positive and significant relationships, the correlation values were generally modest. Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of understanding the relationship between fear of intimacy and sociosexual orientation within the Portuguese context as a significant public health issue. Adapting the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale enables culturally sensitive research and supports clinical interventions aimed at improving relational and psychological well-being, thereby addressing broader public health challenges. Full article

Psychological well-being is the experience of fewer negative emotions, such as feelings of loneliness, depression, and low mood, and more positive emotions, such as taking pride in one’s life, being enthusiastic about one’s life, and having a highly satisfying purpose in life. In other words, it describes an individual who is happy and free from psychopathology. Psychological well-being in romantic relationships is influenced by several factors, such as empathy, relationship stability, and quality of sex life. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between psychological well-being and empathy, quality of sexual life, love, relationship intimacy, and relationship stability among women in romantic relationships. This study included 415 female participants aged 23–45 who had been in a romantic relationship for at least 12 months. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Data Form, the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS), the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), the Sexual Quality of Life Scale—Women’s Form (SQLS), the Relationship Stability Scale (RSS), the Passionate Love Scale (PLS) and the Romantic Relationship Closeness Scale (RRCS). Independent group t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis, and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The analyses found that the variables that predicted psychological well-being were the relationship satisfaction sub-dimension of the relationship stability scale, quality of sexual life, empathy, and having children. In addition, correlational analysis revealed that empathy, sexual quality of life, intimacy in romantic relationships, relationship satisfaction, and relationship attachment were significantly positively correlated with psychological well-being. In terms of demographic information, it was found that scores for evaluating options in the relationship increased as education level increased; scores for investing in the relationship increased as education level decreased; passionate love was more common among working women; having children increased psychological well-being but decreased intimacy in romantic relationships; and quality of sexual life increased as seriousness in the relationship increased. The results of this study may be useful to psychologists and psychiatrists in their studies of female clients, to sociologists and public health specialists in their studies of women, and to policy makers in determining public health policies. Full article

In certain situations, romantic engagement with a partner can have detrimental effects on an individual’s well-being and overall health, exhibiting features attributable to addictive behaviors. Considering the clinical significance of this phenomenon and its prevalence among adolescents and young adults, the objective of this study was to investigate the potential associations between some risk factors for love addiction in a sample of university students, with a specific focus on adult attachment, separation anxiety, and defense mechanisms. A total of 332 participants (M_age = 23 years; SD = 2.462) completed a survey consisting of the Love Addiction Inventory—Short Form, Relationship Questionnaire, Seven Domains Addiction Scale (Separation Anxiety domain), and Forty Item Defense Style Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation, and a multiple mediation model was also implemented. Results showed that fearful attachment was significantly and positively associated with love addiction. Furthermore, this relationship was mediated by separation anxiety and neurotic/immature defense mechanisms too. These findings contribute to the existing literature on love addiction and provide valuable insights for future research and clinical practice. Full article

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among relationship satisfaction, perceived attachment injury, and perinatal depression for Women of Color (WOC) who have given birth within the last 12 months. In addition, this study aimed to examine the impact of relationship satisfaction and romantic attachment quality on these mothers’ attachments to their newborns. The sample consisted of 120 WOC with perinatal depression. Linear regression and hierarchical multiple regression were used for data analysis. The results indicated that (a) lower relationship satisfaction is predicted with higher severity of perinatal depression, (b) attachment insecurity predicts the severity of perinatal depression, and (c) relationship dissatisfaction, attachment insecurity, and a disrupted attachment bond between mothers and their newborns are predictive of perinatal depression. The results of this study have significant implications for couple and family therapists addressing the needs of pregnant and postpartum WOC. Ultimately, fostering healthy couple relationships during these critical times can play a crucial role in enhancing maternal mental health and overall family wellbeing. Full article

Romantic relationships serve as one of the most important relationships in adults’ lives, yet the influence of relational dynamics on suicide ideation (SI) is limited and longitudinal associations are unclear. The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide has been applied to romantic relationships broadly and supports motivations of suicide (thwarted belonging and perceived burdensomeness) and relationship satisfaction to be predictors of SI. An online daily diary study (n = 94 adults) was conducted to examine romantic relationship dynamics and mental health indicators in adults over 10 days. Multilevel growth modeling results revealed that higher perceived burdensomeness, but not relational satisfaction or thwarted belonging, was associated with higher initial levels of SI. However, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belonging, and relationship satisfaction were not associated with rates of change in SI over time. Further, no interaction effects between either relationship satisfaction and thwarted belonging or perceived burdensomeness were found in association with trajectories of SI over the 10-day period. The results of this study indicate that relational satisfaction, through a commonly used global assessment of relational wellbeing, may not have a substantial influence on SI, particularly in individuals with mild SI levels. This may be due to relational satisfaction being relatively consistent, while SI is prone to short-term fluctuations. However, additional research is recommended to address other relational dynamics’ influences on SI. Full article

Research affirms that survivors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience psychological distress that affects their romantic partners, and that a bi-directional effect between PTSD symptoms and romantic relationship satisfaction exists, indicating that improvements in the romantic relationship may lead to the improved well-being of the survivor. Indeed, as romantic partners of PTSD survivors are both negatively impacted by the distress of the survivor, and romantic relationship satisfaction can affect the distress of the PTSD survivor, partners are a key stakeholder for mental health. Unfortunately, theoretical models have not adequately captured the experience of this population to properly illuminate their experience and provide appropriate treatment directives. This paper examines the informal caregiving integrative model to determine its applicability to the romantic partners of PTSD survivors with respect to the determinants, mediators, and outcomes. The current literature on romantic partners is used to evaluate the adequacy of fit, as well as to provide the components unique to partners. Future directions, clinical implications, and limitations of current research are explored based on the results of this review. Full article

Loneliness arises when there is a discrepancy between one’s desired and actual social connection with others. Studies examining the effects of loneliness in romantic relationships show that people who are lonely are less satisfied and committed to their romantic relationships. The present study explored the association between loneliness and romantic relationship well-being. Using a cross-sectional design, loneliness was correlated with relationship commitment, trust, and conflict. Relationship awareness, but not relationship distraction, statistically mediated the association between loneliness, relationship conflict, and relationship trust. The indirect effect of loneliness on relationship well-being was only present in people reporting low and medium levels of psychological inflexibility. Implications are discussed for acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions for persons in romantic relationships. Full article

The research question in this paper concerns elements of nature, such as earth, water, fire, and air, as they have a dual meaning, indicating both hazard and heritage. The relationship of cities with blue–green infrastructure is an example of this. Cities might be surrounded by either water or forest, though the latter has been less investigated as a nature-based solution for climate change adaptation. The connection between water and architecture can also be seen in the seafront type of architectural design, in the architecture of harbours, port facilities, aquariums or thermal baths. This paper aims to present a comprehensive analysis of all of these various architecture programs that were carried out during the first half of the twentieth century. Although the styles of Art Nouveau and Interwar were widely spread, otherness in regional geographical locations drew lessons from the vernacular architecture. Inspiration was drawn mainly from southern Europe in the Cycladic islands for the interwar/international style and towards the east and centre of the continent in Romania and Hungary and up to the north in the Baltic states for the national romantic art nouveau style. A local seismic culture is prevalent in areas that are affected by earthquakes. In the context of the geological conditions related to water and earthquake hazard, the anthropic reshaping of rivers and canals (and alluvial soil deposits) generates liquefaction vulnerability. Significant also is the way in which the urban wildland interface shapes the relationship between wild green space and cities. Urban protected nature parks and urban forests contribute to wellbeing but are also vulnerable to wildfire. This research attempts to find equivalents to the local seismic culture in cases of climate change-induced hazards, such as floods and wildfires, in Romania, Italy and Portugal. As part of the project presented for the case study featured in this paper, significant documentation was achieved through literature reviews and field trips. For the latter, walkscape methodology was used, which was also useful for the first round of results and the mapping required to indicate earthquake hazards near water locations in Bucharest, Romania. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has dramatically worsened people’s psychological well-being. Our aim was to examine for the first time the concurrent and longitudinal relations of family resilience with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and the moderating role of socio-demographics. For people having a romantic partner, we also explored whether family resilience and dyadic coping were uniquely related to well-being. One cross-sectional study (N = 325) and one 10-week follow-up study (N = 112) were carried out during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (April–May 2020) in Northern Italy. Adult participants completed an online questionnaire in both studies. Correlation, multivariate regression, and moderation analyses were carried out with IBM SPSS version 28 and its PROCESS macro. Significance of differences in correlation and regression coefficients was tested through Steiger’s procedure, Wald test, and SUEST method. Family resilience was found to relate more strongly to eudaimonic (versus hedonic) well-being concurrently and to hedonic (versus eudaimonic) well-being longitudinally. The concurrent or longitudinal relations with hedonic well-being were generally stronger for females, part-time workers, and people undergoing multiple stressors. For people having a romantic partner, family resilience was concurrently associated with well-being independently of dyadic coping, whereas dyadic coping was longitudinally related to well-being independently of family resilience. Family resilience was found to protect, in the short term, the psychological well-being of people facing the pandemic outbreak. Its protective role mainly concerned hedonic well-being and was more pronounced for more vulnerable people. For persons having a romantic partner, however, dyadic coping seemed to have equal, if not greater, positive short-term effects. Full article

Background and Aim: The coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on the health and well-being of communities and individuals around the world. One of the concerns about the COVID-19 epidemic is the impact of social isolation due to social distancing on the mental health of older adults. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mental health and loneliness among seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 211 retirees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences were selected by available sampling method in 2021. Data were collected through the Demographic, Mental Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the Adult Social and Emotional Feeling Questionnaire (SELSA-S). Data were analyzed using paired t-test, one-way analysis of variance, covariance, and chi-squared tests. The significance level was considered 0.05. Results: The mean age of participants was 71.26 years and the results showed a significant relationship between feeling lonely and mental health (r = 0.535, p = 0.001). There were statistically significant relationships between mental health and social functioning (r = −0.204, p ≥ 0.001) and depression (r = 0.501, p = 0.001) and also between mental health and three subscales of loneliness: romantic loneliness (r = 0.001, p = 0.001), social loneliness (r = 0.493, p = 0.001), and family loneliness (r = 0.289, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Feeling lonely during the coronavirus disease pandemic has a negative effect on the mental health of older adults; therefore, it is necessary for mental health professionals to improve the mental health of the elderly with proper planning and interventions. Full article

Enduring romantic love is highly significant for our wellbeing, and there is much scientific evidence for its value. There is also evidence that marital sex is important for the flourishing of wellbeing for both partners. Casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs) are often characterized in a non-normative way, as sexual behavior occurring outside a committed romantic relationship. However, the prevailing normative description is negative, perceived as superficial behavior that harms our wellbeing. Although sexual activities are linked to many psychological and physical health benefits, these are rarely attributed to casual sex. Instead, scholars and laymen have warned against the negative consequences of non-committed sex, particularly for women. Yet, positive reactions to casual sex, such as satisfaction, confidence, self-knowledge and social engagement, are stronger and more common than negative reactions. Accordingly, the two major aims of this article are to understand the complexity of CSREs better, and to substantiate the claim that in various circumstances, CSREs contribute to our wellbeing. Full article

Background: Infidelity is a relational process common in all types of romantic relationships and has been established as one of the main causes of relationship breakdown. However, little is known about this type of transgression in adolescent romantic relationships, although it manifests as a fairly frequent behavior involving different motivations. Even less is known about the emotional impact of infidelity on the offending person and its association with hostile behavior and psychological well-being. Methods: Through an experimental study (N = 301 Spanish adolescents (190 female and 111 male; M_age = 15.59, SD = 0.69; range from 15 to 17), we sought to analyze the effect of manipulating two types of motivations for infidelity (sexual vs. emotional dissatisfaction) on negative affect, hostility, and psychological well-being. Results: The main results revealed that committing infidelity motivated by hypothetical sexual (vs. emotional) dissatisfaction was indirectly related to lower psychological well-being through its effects on increased negative affect and hostility. Conclusions: Last but not least, we discuss these findings, highlighting the possible implications of infidelity for the psychosocial and psychosexual development of adolescents. Full article