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Emotion Regulation in Patients with Psoriasis: Correlates of Disability, Clinical Dimensions, and Psychopathology Symptoms

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Abstract

Purpose

There are known connections between emotions and psoriasis; however, we have not established a clear pathway for this association. This study aimed to explore correlates of difficulties in emotional regulation in patients with psoriasis and predict the influence of emotional regulation in psoriasis disability.

Method

Two hundred and twenty eight participants completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Self-administered Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, Psoriasis Disability Index, and Brief Symptom Inventory. Spearman’s correlation and a hierarchical stepwise multiple regression were carried out to analyse associations.

Results

Results indicated that patients with the most recent diagnoses experienced greater difficulty in acting in accordance with goals (r = .16, p < .05) but lesser difficulty in engaging in goal-directed behaviour (r = −.15, p < .05). Those with greater satisfaction with treatment exhibited fewer difficulties in emotional regulation (r = −.23, p < .01). The patients who experienced greater difficulty in emotional regulation perceived greater psoriasis severity (r = .15, p < .05) and disability (r = .36, p < .05), reported more psychopathological symptoms (correlations between .46 and .56), and missed work/school more frequently (r = .24, p < .05). Impulse control proved to be the strongest predictor to psoriasis disability (β = .34).

Conclusion

The results highlighted the relationship between emotional regulation difficulty, disease characteristics, and psychological variables in psoriasis disability emphasizing the importance of including a broader approach in clinical management of psoriatic patients.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank CESPU [project 04-GCQF-CICS-2011N] for their financial support, all patients who participated in the study, and the Portuguese Association of Psoriasis (PSOPortugal) for assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CESPU Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra, 1317, 4585-116, Gandra, Portugal

    Sofia Taveira, José Rocha & Ana Teixeira

  2. UCIBIO, REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Tecnologia Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal

    Vera Almeida, Maribel Teixeira, Isabel Almeida & Ana Teixeira

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  1. Vera Almeida
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  2. Sofia Taveira
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  4. Isabel Almeida
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Correspondence to Vera Almeida.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Almeida, V., Taveira, S., Teixeira, M. et al. Emotion Regulation in Patients with Psoriasis: Correlates of Disability, Clinical Dimensions, and Psychopathology Symptoms. Int.J. Behav. Med. 24, 563–570 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9617-0

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