1. Illness uncertainty and illness intrusiveness as predictors of depressive and anxious symptomology in college students with chronic illnesses
- Author
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Larry L. Mullins, John M. Chaney, Alayna P. Tackett, Christina M. Sharkey, Dana M. Bakula, Kristina I. Suorsa, Alexandria J. Mullins, and Kaitlyn L. Gamwell
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Intrusiveness ,Allergy ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Universities ,education ,Anxiety ,Severity of Illness Index ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,Epilepsy ,0302 clinical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,030225 pediatrics ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Students ,Psychiatry ,Depression (differential diagnoses) ,Asthma ,Type 1 diabetes ,Depression ,Uncertainty ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,medicine.disease ,Chronic Disease ,Quality of Life ,Female ,Self Report ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,Psychosocial ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
To examine predictors of psychological functioning in college students with chronic illnesses.Participants (N = 1413) included 364 students with self-reported diagnoses of asthma or allergies, 148 students with other chronic illnesses (eg, epilepsy, type 1 diabetes), and 901 healthy students. Data were collected between November 2013 and May 2015.Participants completed online measures of psychosocial functioning, including illness uncertainty, illness intrusiveness, depression, and anxiety.Students with chronic illnesses other than asthma or allergies evidenced the greatest levels of anxious (p. 05), but not depressive symptomology. Additionally, this group reported greater illness uncertainty and intrusiveness (p. 05) compared to their peers. Uncertainty and intrusiveness independently predicted depressive and anxious symptoms for students in both illness groups.Compared to peers with asthma or allergies, college students with other chronic illnesses reported higher levels of anxious symptoms. Illness uncertainty and intrusiveness appear to be predictors of psychological distress, regardless of illness.
- Published
- 2017
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