Horowitz, N.S. and Wenzel, L.B. (2009) Psychosocial Consequences of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease. In: Hancock, B.W., Seckl, M.J., Berkowitz, R.S. and Cole, L.A., Eds., Gestational Trophoblastic Disease, 3rd Edition, Wiley, Sheffield, 460-469.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Illness Perception in Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Patients: How Mental Representations Affect Anxiety, Depression, and Infertility-Related Stress

  AUTHORS: Letizia Carnelli, Valentina E. Di Mattei, Martina Mazzetti, Martina Bernardi, Rossella Di Pierro, Alice Bergamini, Francesca Pella, Giorgia Mangili, Lucio Sarno, Massimo Candiani

  KEYWORDS: Gestational Trophoblastic Disease, Illness Perception, Anxiety, Depression, Infertility-Related Stress

  JOURNAL NAME: Open Journal of Medical Psychology, Vol.6 No.1, December 7, 2016

  ABSTRACT: Gestational Trophoblastic Disease encompasses a group of pregnancy-related disorders that derive from the placenta. Taking Leventhal’s Common Sense Model as a starting point, this study aims to investigate how illness perception could influence patients’ psychological adaptation to these rare diseases. Thirty-seven women completed: the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, the Beck Depression Inventory Short Form, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Fertility Problem Inventory. Results show that the perception of severe illness consequences significantly predicts the level of anxiety patients reported at the time of questionnaire completion. Furthermore, mental representations of illness present a significant association with infertility-related stress. Specifically, the belief in the efficacy of the treatment results in fewer feelings of discomfort and isolation from family and social context due to infertility-related problems. Since patients’ illness perception was found to have a specific impact on both anxiety and infertility-related stress, this variable should be considered in the planning of a clinical intervention.