Psychological Flexibility, Stigma, and Quality of Life in Psoriasis Patients

Abstract

Psoriasis is a disease that negatively affects the quality of life, and is commonly seen together with depression and anxiety. In our study, the relationships between the psychological flexibility levels, psoriasis severity, depression, anxiety and quality of life of psoriasis patients were investigated. For this purpose, 118 psoriasis patients and 118 healthy controls were evaluated with Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire. Also, patient group were applied the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Psoriasis Area Severity Index, Psoriasis Internalized Stigma Scale and Dermatology Life Quality Index. It was observed that the psychological flexibility levels of psoriasis patients were lower than healthy controls. Psoriasis patients with low psychological flexibility had higher depression, anxiety, and internalized stigma scores. There was no correlation between the severity of psoriasis and depression, anxiety, and stigma. Stigma and HAM-D scores were found to be independent risk factors for reduced quality of life. Our findings emphasize the necessity of psychological evaluation in psoriasis patients and show that psychological treatments will positively contribute to the person's quality of life. According to the results of our study, awareness, acceptance and cognitive decomposition interventions aimed at increasing psychological flexibility may be useful in this population.